Why is He Here?

The tavern was filled with people, but they all held their breath, watching the center of the hall with tense expressions.

"Boss Duan Mu..."

Upon seeing Duan Mu, Diao Ao's eyes lit up, looking as if he had found a savior. He hurried over, "You're finally awake."

Diao Ao's words immediately drew everyone's attention to Duan Mu.

The man drinking in the center of the hall put down his cup and slowly turned to face Duan Mu.

Duan Mu looked up. The man had narrow eyes that exuded a killing intent so potent it made everyone present tremble.

The moment their gazes met, Duan Mu felt as if the entire world had been covered in a scarlet hue. It even affected his sense of smell, making him feel as if he were inhaling the rich scent of blood.

What intense killing intent!

Duan Mu's expression remained unchanged, but a flicker of seriousness crossed his eyes.

Unlike when he was unconscious, the awakened man now possessed an imposing aura that was not intentionally displayed but rather an inherent pressure.

This made Duan Mu understand why the villains in the tavern had become so unusually quiet.

"Boss."

Habutae stood behind Nishijin-ori. Seeing the tense atmosphere between Duan Mu and Nishijin-ori, and with her high regard for Duan Mu, she quickly spoke up, "This is Boss Duan Mu, the person who helped me yesterday."

"Mm."

Nishijin-ori nodded and slowly stood up.

Buzz!

The moment he stood, the space vibrated. Duan Mu felt the air around him become incredibly thick, making it extremely difficult to move.

A strong sense of danger made all the hairs on Duan Mu's body stand on end.

The spiritual pressure that surged towards him instantly tensed Duan Mu's nerves, and he instinctively became defensive.

With his own spiritual pressure erupting, Duan Mu met Nishijin-ori's gaze with a cold stare. An eerie aura, seemingly emanating from the depths of his soul, silently permeated the entire tavern.

Their confrontation created an almost tangible pressure that hung over them like dark clouds, causing the villains in the tavern to hold their breath.

Are these two going to fight?

Diao Ao swallowed and cautiously began to inch towards the tavern entrance. He couldn't help but be afraid. Both individuals in the room were lunatics who killed without blinking and whose eyes never got tired. If they were to fight... setting aside who would win, anyone in the tavern who got in the way would definitely be killed!

"Sip sip~~~"

Just then, a strange sound broke the tavern's silence.

Everyone with taut nerves turned to look. What greeted them was... Uzuki, sitting behind the bar and drinking strawberry milk through a straw. The sound had come from the straw.

The sight made everyone's lips twitch.

Even Duan Mu's cold gaze couldn't help but freeze. He glared fiercely at Uzuki, thinking, This bastard truly has no sense of tension. Your boss is about to fight, and you're still over there drinking strawberry milk.

"Uh... sorry..."

Uzuki was startled by everyone's gazes and quickly spat out the straw. She could naturally see the tense atmosphere in the room. However, due to the barrier, she couldn't feel the clashing spiritual pressures between the two, so she didn't feel it was particularly dangerous.

"The alcohol is good."

Just then, Nishijin-ori spoke. As he spoke, the powerful spiritual pressure fluctuations instantly dissipated, as if they had never existed.

"I'll be back. I'll bring the money for the drinks and the commission next time." With that, he walked directly towards the tavern exit. Seeing this, the villains in the tavern parted ways with a rustle, forming a neat path as if they were lining up to send him off.

Duan Mu hesitated for a moment and didn't try to stop him, letting the man walk past him.

Firstly, he felt that the "Great Villain" wouldn't default on his debt. Secondly... the spiritual pressure exchange just now made Duan Mu realize that if the man truly wanted to leave, he wouldn't be able to stop him.

"Don't worry."

Habutae appeared beside Duan Mu at some point and whispered, "My boss is quite decent in other aspects, aside from his preference for killing strong people he encounters. The way he acted just now was because he didn't have money, and he felt..."

"Enough nonsense!"

Nishijin-ori's cold voice cut in, causing Habutae to shiver. The burly "girl" quickly scurried after him, "Boss, I was just trying to explain! Boss Duan Mu is a really good person."

Watching their retreating figures, a strange look flashed in Duan Mu's eyes.

Vice-Captain level!

And even among the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, he's a very strong Vice-Captain.

Although he had expected it, when Nishijin-ori truly displayed his Vice-Captain level spiritual pressure, Duan Mu still felt a faint sense of alarm.

"Hoo~~"

Seeing Nishijin-ori leave, the villains in the tavern all let out deep breaths.

"Wow, he really lives up to being a Great Villain. That pressure was terrifying."

"I'm going to the restroom first..."

"Uh, me too."

"..."

The tavern instantly became noisy. Some people began discussing what had just happened, while others flocked to the bar.

"Hey, Elder Sister Uzuki, Lord Nishijin-ori actually said the sake was good. Does that mean he drank something different from me?"

"Exactly! Exactly! It's not like we don't have money. If there's good sake, we should get to drink some too."

"Tell me, how much does it cost."

"..."

Uzuki squinted and said, "You all filled your cups from the sake barrels yourselves. Did you see that woman pouring from any other barrels?"

"Then why did Lord Nishijin-ori say the sake was good?"

"How should I know? Maybe he has unique tastes." Uzuki said impatiently, "Drink it or don't. If you want good sake, go buy it from the areas with lower numbers."

The crowd exchanged glances and then stepped forward to pay, lining up at the sake barrel where Habutae was pouring to get a cup.

These guys...

Duan Mu watched the crowd sipping the low-quality sake one small sip at a time, his expression utterly bizarre.

He couldn't understand why, with so many places to drink in Rukongai, these people were all coming here to drink Uzuki's overpriced, low-quality sake. Besides, they weren't the type to spend money on drinks. Don't they usually just steal if they want a drink?

Is drinking in a bar that comfortable?

Shaking his head, he didn't delve further into the thought process of these villains. Instead, he sat down at the bar and asked, "When did he wake up?"

"I don't know. Anyway, when I came to open up, he was already sitting there."

Uzuki pulled out a bowl of ramen from under the counter and handed it to Duan Mu. "He's been quiet as a clam. Besides asking me when you woke up, he's just been sitting there drinking the sake that "fierce woman" poured for him. He drank six cups in total, and I've put it all on your tab."

Fierce woman?

Duan Mu froze for a moment before realizing that the "fierce woman" Uzuki was referring to was Habutae.

"Oh, right, how much is the commission this time?"

Duan Mu took a bite of ramen and casually replied, "One million Ring."

"Huh? Then how could you let him leave!!"

"...I wanted to stop him." Duan Mu squinted. "Don't worry. If he really intended to skip out on the bill, he wouldn't have waited until I went downstairs to leave."

Although Habutae hadn't finished her sentence, Duan Mu understood her meaning.

Nishijin-ori's act of suppressing him with his Spiritual Pressure was meant to convey one thing:

I don't have money, I'll owe you for now; I'm stronger than you, so don't try to stop me.

While he understood, Duan Mu still felt incredibly annoyed. Why was someone who owed money acting so high and mighty? Displaying Spiritual Pressure was one thing, but using it to pressure the creditor and scare him? Who was he trying to intimidate?

Duan Mu grew more and more angry. He should have invited Elder Sister Kūkaku to help him out yesterday.

Actually, this was a misunderstanding on Duan Mu's part. Nishijin-ori had originally only intended to display a bit of his Spiritual Pressure, but he hadn't expected Duan Mu to react so strongly.

If he had withdrawn his Spiritual Pressure at that moment, it would have given the impression that he was afraid of Duan Mu, and the two would have remained at an impasse.

In the end, it was Uzuki who gave him an out, making him reluctantly say that the 'sake was good,' which allowed him to say what he had originally intended.

Ring-ring-ring—

Just then, the bell hanging above the bar suddenly rang.

"Eh, a commission."

Uzuki quickly stood up, but then remembered that Duan Mu wasn't out working today and sat back down. "You go up and handle it yourself."

"I feel like you're becoming more and more unprofessional."

Despite saying that, Duan Mu still carried his ramen out of the bar and went upstairs along the side staircase.

"Hmm?"

When Duan Mu reached the second floor and saw the figure pulling the bell rope, he was slightly taken aback.

Why is he here?

"Um..."

The person's eyes lit up when they saw Duan Mu holding the ramen. They said timidly, "Boss, I... I want to... learn Kido from you."

"Ah, right, I'm Yamadatarō. We met yesterday."

My older brother's child came over and hogged the computer. I finally got it back to write after he fell asleep, so the update is a bit late