Thieves' Guild in the Tavern (Seeking Follow-up Reads)

The one who stepped forward to stop everything was a tall, thin tavern waiter. Despite being in such a rundown tavern, he dressed like a butler from an ancient Castle, his small suit clearly altered.

It looked as though the alterations had been made to facilitate movement and combat.

Whenever he made a welcoming gesture, one hand remained behind his back. Gu Xi had a feeling that if he showed any hostile reaction, a Dagger would immediately be driven into his throat.

Had he walked into a den of thieves?

Gu Xi frowned and was about to leave, only to discover that the waiter had already blocked his retreat.

Left with no choice, Gu Xi followed the waiter up to the Second Floor.

Once upstairs, Gu Xi noticed that the tavern, which did not look particularly large from outside, had a whole different world on the Second Floor, with many small rooms.

Though each room could fit only a bed and a bedside table, there was no way to tell from outside the tavern that it had this much space.

Pushing open a door, the waiter said calmly, "Please wait here. Hot water will be brought up shortly."

With that, the waiter stepped back and vanished from the doorway.

Only after the waiter left did Gu Xi finally relax.

Everything about the waiter's movements had told Gu Xi that he was a fairly capable assassin.

But a group of assassins running a tavern here? That made no sense.

As he pondered this, Gu Xi looked around.

He noticed that although the room was clean, it lacked even the slightest trace of life.

The whole room looked as though no one had used it for years, and the air carried a musty smell.

Gu Xi took a few steps around the room, hesitated, and ultimately chose not to sit on the bed.

Just then, Maid in a red dress entered, dragging a large tub behind her with an awkward expression.

She was Shaya, the one who had nearly argued with Gu Xi earlier. The large Wooden Barrel she dragged was filled with hot water, yet she handled it as easily as if it were a bottle of mineral water.

As she hauled the Wooden Barrel into the room, Shaya raised her head and tried hard to put on a smile.

"Guest, would you like me to help wash you?"

"No need. Could you bring me some food instead? My stomach isn't well, so I need something softer."

"Fine. Please wait, guest."

With that, Shaya withdrew, casually shutting the door behind her.

After she left, Gu Xi locked the door, removed his foul-smelling clothes, and used some water to clean his skin before climbing into the Wooden Barrel.

As the warm water soaked his body, Gu Xi felt so comfortable that he nearly cried out.

But he knew this was not the time to indulge himself. He quickly scrubbed away the grime on his body and cleaned up his hair, at least making himself smell less awful.

Only after finishing all that did Gu Xi climb out of the Wooden Barrel.

Meanwhile, in the tavern kitchen, Shaya told the waiter about Gu Xi.

"That guy said his stomach isn't well and that he needs something softer. What code is that?"

The waiter, who was simmering soup, added chunks of meat and red wine to it before looking up at Shaya.

"Have you considered that maybe he wasn't using code words? Maybe that's simply what he meant."

"How could that be possible!"

Shaya looked utterly unconvinced.

"What's so impossible about it? The underworld knows that we're the Thieves' Guild, sure, but there are always commoners who don't know who we are. Isn't it normal for one or two people to come in for a drink?"

"That's not normal at all, okay? I've been here for three years, and I've never encountered anything like this."

"Well, you have now. All right, the soup's ready. Take some bread up with it. Tell him to eat quickly and leave. It's fine while it's daytime, but once night comes, even we won't be able to protect him."

As he spoke, the waiter ladled the freshly cooked soup into a bowl.

Shaya still looked unconvinced.

However, she did not argue with the waiter. Once the soup was ready, she took a tray, placed the soup and a piece of white bread on it, and easily carried it out of the kitchen one-handed.

As she walked, she muttered, "This is crazy. After training for so long, this is the first time I've actually served food to a customer."

Gu Xi had no idea what was happening downstairs. Using the hot water, he washed his clothes, sniffed them to make sure there was no strange smell left, then hung the dripping garments over the headboard.

Gu Xi had already decided that as soon as his clothes dried even a little, he would leave immediately.

This tavern was clearly no decent place.

But just as Gu Xi spread out all his clothes to dry, the door was suddenly pushed open.

Gu Xi turned his head and saw Shaya entering with a tray.

"I remember locking the door."

"You did. But locks like that are useless to us. Here's your food. Tell me, what are you doing here?"

"I fell into the Isis River. I needed somewhere to wash up. How could I go out reeking all over?"

"You fell into the Isis River? You do realize this place is a full three blocks from the Isis River, right?"

"I know. I'd been walking all the way here—I just hadn't found a suitable place to bathe."

Seeing that Shaya was about to lose her temper, Gu Xi could only explain helplessly.

"But there's also a tavern across from our place. Why did you choose ours?" Shaya still refused to believe that Gu Xi had come in for such a trivial reason. In her eyes, he had definitely entered because he had a mission.

Gu Xi did not know how to answer Shaya's question. In the end, he said, "Your sign looked familiar, so I came straight in. What, is there a problem with that?"

"No." Shaya finally believed Gu Xi.

Somewhat dejected, she said, "Your food is here. If you've got nothing else to do, leave quickly. Otherwise, when night comes, you won't be able to leave even if you want to."

After saying that, Shaya set the food on the table beside the bed and prepared to leave.

When she reached the door, Gu Xi suddenly called out to her.

"Wait, do you have any other services?"

Shaya glanced at Gu Xi's waist. "Sure, but I don't do that. If you want it, I can call someone over for you."

"No, I mean, from the way you were talking, is this place the Thieves' Guild or an intelligence safehouse?"

Realizing that Shaya had misunderstood, Gu Xi hurriedly explained.

At Gu Xi's words, Shaya's eyes lit up as well.

"The Thieves' Guild? Are you planning to steal something?

I knew you had a mission. Hurry up and tell me—I'll give you a twenty percent discount."

Seeing Shaya so excited, Gu Xi hesitated instead.

At that moment, Shaya strode up to Gu Xi, her face nearly pressing against his.

"What's wrong with you? Why are you being so hesitant? Can you do this or not? If you can't, then stop yapping."

"I'm not planning to steal anything. I'm looking for someone to help me do something."