“…I… I know that showing off was my idea, but… isn’t this a bit too much…?”

Aaron gulped down his saliva and whispered, leaning down to Zoemi’s ear.

The boy was also the one to suffer the brunt of the splash zone, having his clothes stained with the blood of the poor marital artist that did not know who are they going against.

“We want to attract people recruiting others into the dark sect. Being ruthless should be the requirement, don’t you think? At least that’s how I understood the information we had on them.”

The black-haired man made an indifferent expression and followed the panicking man at a brisk pace.

“Just in case… do any of you have money to actually buy something in the tavern or should I…?”

“I have the money! You can stay put from now on!”

Zoemi whispered inconspicuously, to which Alan hissed at him,

smacking his side with his heel.

“As you wish. Just watch out for that leash. Remember to not actually try to pull me away, because then it will snap.”

The black-haired man agreed without a delay and reminded the young man while flicking the thin stipe of pressed leather with his fingers.

Alan and Aaron’s feet touched the ground only at the tavern’s door and only because t would be way too awkward for Zoemi to enter the establishment with the two of them sitting on his shoulders.

The person guiding them ran off as soon as the black-haired man stopped paying attention to him, but that was not important – he fulfilled his purpose and henceforth became obsolete.

“A table for three, please.”

“…?”

As they entered, the black-haired man took lead once again and called out to the barkeeper, who raised his brows at the peculiar clients.

Zoemi acted as if the place was some high-end establishment with a reservation required, while in truth it was merely a small town inn where everyone would sit wherever they liked as long as the spot was free.

“By that I mean we want a table for just the three of…”

“Zoemi, enough!”

The black-haired man smiled maliciously and stepped towards the confused barkeeper who was still blissfully unaware about who was he dealing with – but this time Zoemi was immediately stopped by the sharp tug on his leash enforced by Alan.

“..as you wish, master…”

Zoemi glanced back at him and breathed out seemingly pissed off, even though that was merely an act.

“We would like to order some food and drinks, what do you have to offer?”

Slightly relieved about the complacent behavior of the black-haired man, Alan took the lead, holding Zoemi’s and Aaron’s ashes short, and asked the barkeeper who only then noticed the dog collars and the setup that the trio presented.

“…yeah… so today we have…”

Although clearly weird, clients were clients, and seeing the ready-to-bust purse that the young man pulled out of his clothes made the initially hesitant man become more welcoming…

———

After the meal, the trio stayed at the table and observed the other patrons coming in and out of the tavern.

“…”

In particular, Aaron seemed to be the most impatient one, as his leg was bouncing up and down in a nervous movement as he was staring at the door barely blinking.

“…do you want to make a bet…?”

“…what kind of bet…?”

Zoemi and Alan could not have ignored the poor self-control on the side of their youngest companion, and the black-haired man whispered conspicuously to the reddish-brown-haired man who responded curiously, also whispering.

“…if you win, I will fulfill one wish – any wish – as long as it’s within my power…”

“…and if I lose..?”

The black-haired man smirked devilishly, making the younger man become flustered.

“…you are considering losing? Oh well, we can make it equal – if I win then you will be the one to fulfill my wish if it will be within your power…”

Zoemi snickered but then his expression softened and he suggested without batting an eye.

Alan had to consider things for a few seconds, before squinting his eyes and staring at Zoemi with suspicion.

“…what are we betting on…?”

It turned out he was not opposed even with the variable stakes that could be nothing special to basically everything within their possession.

“…is our young friend who seems to be thinking that he is outsmarting us actually waiting on the dark sect’s recruiters that he talked about, or is he waiting for the reinforcements from his sect? Maybe a step further and warriors from the Star Pagoda will show up in bulk to avenge the head of the justice magistrate…? The bet is who of the three parties will show up.”

Zoemi tilted his head to the side and pointed at Aaron with his chin before shrugging his shoulders as if the last two options he mentioned weren’t utterly terrifying.

“…if he is waiting for the latter, then he underestimates the distance between the Star Pagoda and this town. Even if the Heavenly Archer sect’s observers had the law of Pisces and our location was revealed, it would be impossible for either the Heavenly Archer sect or the Star Pagoda warriors to show up here unless they were conveniently stationed nearby…”

Alan furrowed his brows and began explaining his thought process in a hushed voice.

“…then, you are thinking that the dark sect’s recruiters will be the ones to grace us with their presence instead of the other ones…”

“… hey, don’t put words into my mouth…!”

The black-haired man smiled and raised his brow, to which the young man turned the other way fuming.

“…then…?”

Zoemi rolled his eyes before leaning closer to Alan and inquiring.

“…someone from the Heavenly Archer’s sect will show up, but not in bulk. Only a few martial artists will arrive, maybe fewer… The next day though… It’s when we can expect both Heavenly Archer sect AND Star Pagoda mustering more forces to take us down…”𝒐𝓥𝓁xt.𝗇𝓔t

The young man breathed out and declared, not sounding very enthusiastic about the prospect he himself came up with.

“Oh-ho! Quite an insightful guess I would say. As for me, I am betting that either someone from the Raging Bull sect or the Great Ram sect will pay us a visit instead.”

“Huh?! When was that an option?!”

Zoemi’s devilish smirk returned on his face as he announced, straightening his back and leaning into his seat, causing Alan to flinch and raise his voice in anger.

“Why are both of you so noisy…?”

As their talk stopped being only an exchange of whispers and reached the volume of a heated quarrel, Aaron looked away from the door and looked at them as if they were embarrassing him.

“Sh-shut up! Grown-up things!”

“Ugh…!”

Alan’s face turned red and he shushed the boy while pulling onto the leash attached to his collar, making Aaron let out an uncomfortable voice while being tugged sharply towards the table.

“Grown-up things…? Alright… what were you going to have me do if you would win…?”

Zoemi only glanced over at Aaron, focusing more on Alan and especially on what he had said…

“N-nothin…!”

“THE VILLAIN THAT SAVAGELY ATTACKS OUR SECT MEMBER! COME OUT WHILE YOU HAVE THE CHANCE OR WE WILL DRAG YOU OUT!”

The young man flinched and gasped, getting completely red in the face – but thankfully for him, someone began shouting shockingly loudly from the outside, completely drawing out his response and taking all the attention away from him.

The tavern wasn’t empty and every single patron was staring in disbelief between the group of travelers amongst whom the target of the shouting must have been a part of, and the entrance of the tavern.

Everyone waited for the reaction.

Will someone from the group stand up and come out, or will the members of the Raging Bull sect barge in first?

“Owner. Go and tell the annoying fellow that if he wants to talk, then he needs to come in…”

Zoemi sighed and waved his hand at the bartender, whose eyes become wide like saucers.

“…because if I will be forced to leave this building, he and whoever he came here with will need an eight star level law of Virgo user – at least – to be able to walk again.”

“!!!”

The black-haired man added as his face lost any trace of kindness and his glare became so piercing that it sent chills down the spine of anyone unfortunate enough to witness it.

“…”

Still, the bartender did not budge, frozen in place, glancing nervously at the door.

At least he did not request Zoemi and the other two to leave, because that would become a whole lot more dangerous for him…

*thump*

“Alright! You had the chance to leave on your own two feet!”

Either way, it turned out that the loud person outside was not a patient type, and barged into the tavern the very next moment.

The person in question turned out to be a rather spunky-looking youngster that seemed to be only slightly younger than Alan.

The Raging Bull sect uniform was a given, but the pompadour hairstyle that the blond-haired marital artist was rocking definitely made Zoemi do a double take because of the shock.

“You! The black-sheep-looking guy! You’re the one I’m looking for, aren’t you?!”

The delinquent-like martial artist looked around before locating Zoemi and shouting while pointing his index finger at the black-haired man.

“Nope. You got the wrong guy, sorry.”

Zoemi merely scoffed and shook his head, having a hard time stopping himself from laughing at the image that he never expected to see in that world.

“HUH?! No! It must be you!”

The pompadour-rocking marital artist shouted, stomping his foot in anger before shaking his head and declaring.