Dispute

Jefferson struggled to get to his feet.

He had some fighting skills. As he struggled, he pulled the Long Dagger from his boot.

Roy guessed he must have Dark Moon Elf blood. His attacks were vicious and swift, his angles incredibly tricky. The instant the dagger flipped around in his wrist, it easily pierced the sailor's soft leather vest beneath his left ribs and slid in along the edge of the eleventh rib.

The sailor had not expected the drunken elf to strike so ruthlessly. By the time he reacted, a sharp pain had pierced his diaphragm, making it difficult even to breathe.

Enduring the agony, he grabbed the Long Dagger's hilt and tried to kick Jefferson away.

By then, Jefferson had already pulled out the bloodstained dagger. He rolled rapidly backward, intending to vault over the railing of the suspended terrace and jump into the dense undergrowth below.

Several fingers on the sailor's bloodied hand had been severed by the sharp dagger, but his palm remained pressed over the bleeding wound.

The other sailors noticed the fight and immediately surrounded Jefferson.

Seeing one of their own stabbed through by that drunken elf, the sailors could no longer remain calm.

With several loud shouts, visible Battle Qi surged over the sailors' bodies as they pounced on Jefferson almost simultaneously.

Although Jefferson was quite skilled, there were more than ten sailors, and they worked together with perfect coordination. Their charge sealed off nearly every route of escape, with someone getting in front of the railing first...

The fight ended as soon as it began.

Four sailors pounced on Jefferson at once, pinning him firmly to the terrace floor. They grabbed his messy curls and yanked his head up before smashing it viciously against the floor again. Blood immediately streamed from his head, and his struggling limbs went limp.

Surrounded by more than a dozen sailors, Jefferson was dragged into the alley behind the tavern.

Blood flowed from Jefferson's head, leaving a broken trail across the floor.

Like the waitress in the tavern, Roy stood frozen beside them in terror. The tavern's Boss also ran out from the wooden shed packed with barrels of wine.

Mage Benjamin crouched beside the sailor lying on the ground. As he recited a short spell, he unfurled a Magic Scroll.

Rays of light fell over the sailor, and the expression on his face grew even more pained.

"What a nuisance!"

Benjamin muttered, then reluctantly poured a bottle of pale red potion into the sailor's mouth.

Roy had seen this kind of miraculous magical potion at Mrs. Winnie's Potion Shop...

The burly sailor hurried out from behind the tavern and rapidly said something to Benjamin in Imperial Language. Benjamin froze for a moment, sharply questioned him, then began helping bandage the sailor lying on the ground.

They moved quickly and had no time to pay attention to Roy.

The sailors who returned one after another from the back all wore dark expressions. Some even glared at Roy, the tavern Boss, and the waitress with hostile eyes.

Once all the sailors from the back alley had returned, they did not linger in the tavern. Instead, they headed straight for the entrance at a brisk pace.

With help from the others, the burly sailor who seemed to be their leader carried the wounded sailor onto his back and followed them out.

No one in the tavern tried to stop them...

Benjamin said nothing more. Before leaving, he merely patted Roy on the shoulder, casually placed a stack of Kole on the table, and took the unfinished bottles of sparkling wine with him.

He was the last to leave, and the sailors at the door were clearly waiting for him.

They ran quickly. Rather than following Brown Street into town, they went down the stone steps along the edge of the tavern toward the sea and disappeared into the dense woods.

At that moment, the waitress, who had bravely gone to check the back alley, let out a scream from behind them. "Ah!"

Roy's head throbbed. Things seemed to be getting worse and worse...

This was the first time Roy had witnessed someone draw a blade in front of him. There had not even been much of a fierce fight.

Both sides had been ruthless. Less than a quarter of an hour had passed from the first bloodshed to the sailors' escape.

By then, it was already too late for Roy to leave.

In truth, he had no way to simply walk away either, because the tavern Boss and waitress both knew him.

Everyone lived on Brown Street. Even if they could not call each other by name, they saw one another often enough.

Jefferson lay in the alley behind the tavern. That group of sailors had slit his throat. Blood had dyed his battered leather armor red. His clothes were still on him, the bloody dagger was still in his hand, and the money in his pocket was still there, though there were barely any Kole in it.

The tavern Boss appeared calm. After asking Roy to remain, he ran off to summon the Elf Rangers of Castleton Harbour.

Roy had just seen three Elf Rangers handling a case near the Goddess of Freedom Temple. Now, three more hurried over. They wore light armor and carried Elf Long Swords at their waists, looking remarkably heroic.

These Elf Rangers really are busy.

But Roy did not dare make any snide remarks now. He simply sat quietly beside the waitress.

The Elf Rangers began confirming Jefferson's identity. Roy discovered that both the tavern Boss and the waitress knew the deceased, Jefferson.

Then the Elf Rangers began investigating how the incident had started.

According to the tavern Boss, touching a girl's hand was nothing, especially since Jefferson and Lucy knew each other. Their argument had begun because Jefferson wanted to buy a drink on credit, while the waitress Lucy did not want to pay for him, fearing he would later deny the debt.

As for why those human warriors had fought Jefferson, they had merely been helping Lucy out of the situation. Jefferson's reaction had been too extreme, and he had drawn a blade on the group of human warriors, causing one of them to fall first.

Only then had the enraged humans dragged Jefferson into the back alley.

Everyone had thought Jefferson would receive a vicious beating and then wait for the Elf Rangers to arrive.

But no one had expected those human warriors to be so hard-hearted. They had slit Jefferson's throat outright...

The tavern Boss described the incident objectively and did not favor either side.

Miss Lucy, the tavern waitress, looked utterly aggrieved.

She admitted that she had met the Dark Moon Elf Jefferson at an open-air square dance.

After becoming tired from dancing on two occasions, Lucy had brought Jefferson home for the night. Elves believed in the feelings that sprang from such brief encounters...

But later, Lucy discovered that Jefferson had no proper job. He usually took on shady tasks to earn a little money. Whenever he had money, he spent it freely, and whenever he had none, he tightened his belt and went looking for work.

Jefferson had been short on money these past few days, so Lucy had barely paid him any attention.

Normally, in such circumstances, Jefferson would quietly disappear for a few days. Once he had money again, he would reappear with a bouquet of flowers.

Yet that fellow had actually come to the tavern that morning, sat there for half the day, and refused to leave...

If he had not pestered Lucy and wanted her to buy him another drink, none of what followed would have happened.

The Elf Ranger recording these details looked at the waitress with open disdain. There had not been a single moment of eye contact between them.

A fair-skinned Elf Ranger sat across from Roy, with two cups of water on the table.

His gaze was sharp, and he liked to stare directly into Roy's eyes while asking questions. He asked Roy many questions.

Roy answered them all truthfully.

For example, how they had met at the docks and how Roy had agreed to be their guide...

How the sailors had rented several rooms at the wooden inn before coming to the Seaside Tavern to drink...

And how they had arrived aboard a Five-Masted Sailing Ship and had only just disembarked...

Holding an exquisite Quill Pen, the Elf Ranger recorded every word Roy said on a sheet of white paper.

"If we need anything else, we'll find you again."

The Elf Ranger spoke to Roy with a stern face.

Roy obediently nodded. After being questioned by the Elf Ranger, he stood off to the side with his head lowered.

He had somehow become caught up in this mess just to learn some news about the outside world. It really was not worth it.

The Elf Rangers took Jefferson's body away.

Elven lives were precious, and the Rangers would continue investigating the matter. But they were short-handed for now and did not rush to pursue the murderers.

Of course, no one would admit that this had anything to do with Jefferson being a Dark Moon Elf.

The tavern did not seem to have been affected. Before the Elf Rangers had even left, the waitress had already begun mopping the blood from the floor.

The tavern Boss also returned to the wooden shed inside the tavern to rest.

The tavern had suffered no losses. The Elf Rangers would follow the existing clues to hunt down the killers, and no one paid any attention to Roy.

Realizing there was nothing left for him to do, Roy headed outside. Just then, a somewhat frail elf timidly slipped past the three Elf Rangers. He held a bundle in his arms and peeked cautiously inside from the entrance.

As he brushed past Roy, Roy caught an accidental glimpse of several Basil Leaves stuck to his trousers, as though he had just crawled through the woods...

His hair was a mess, probably unwashed for a long time. Worried it might stick up, he had wet it and forcibly smoothed it down.

Roy stepped out of the tavern...

Then Roy abruptly stopped. He suddenly remembered that the only place nearby where basil trees grew was outside the walls of the Goddess of Freedom Temple. There was nothing like that anywhere else.

Could the person he had seen climbing over the wall by the Goddess of Freedom Temple that morning... have been him?