Seeing Sno's pretty face—the kind that made people want to punch him—appear in his field of vision, Kaspars displeasedly planted the cue in the rack beside the billiard table and waved at the people around him, signaling that they could leave first.
Most of those playing billiards with Kaspars knew what kind of business he was in, so none of them showed any dissatisfaction. Only after all unrelated parties had left did Kaspars walk up, thump Sno on the chest, and say:
"Hell, how many shots did you fire today? You reek of gunpowder so badly it's practically soaked into you!"
"I just spent the morning at the shooting range and went through about three pounds' worth of ammunition. By the way, am I a little early?" Sno said, pulling out his silver pocket watch and giving it a token glance.
"Early or late, it doesn't matter." Kaspars had no intention of arguing with him over that. With a wave of his hand, he said:
"Come on. I'll take you to meet your combat instructor."
Following the limping Kaspars out of the Brave Man Bar, the two quickly crossed Backlund Bridge and arrived at Cherwood Borough, one of the most livable—not a typo, literally easy to live in—areas in Backlund.
It was not like West Borough or Empress Borough, where only wealthy merchants and magnates could afford to live, nor was it like East Borough or Bridge Borough, where one had to face all kinds of security risks. It had relatively good public safety, relatively reasonable prices, and relatively decent air quality.
"The instructor I found for you is a retired knight. His luck wasn't great, though. He had only just become a full knight when the era of the High-Pressure Steam Rifle arrived."
"Because he didn't have any notable