The Tavern

It was deep in the night, and heavy snow was falling. The freezing wind howled in from Odin Icefield, sweeping everything before it in a frenzy. Snowflakes as big as fists, almost frozen into snowballs, fell from the sky and pelted the thick blanket of snow with a constant patter.

A dim red glow shone along the edges of the heavy clouds overhead. Whenever this eerie light appeared, people across the Western Continent knew that the true depths of winter were about to arrive, bringing the three hardest months of the year. They said the red glow in the sky was the blood and fire stirred up by the evil gods worshipped in Odin Icefield as they battled the Gods revered by the people of the continent, staining the heavens this color.

In the northwest corner of the commercial district in southern Berely City, less than two miles from Berely University City, a small tavern blazed with light and rang with laughter. The night was in full swing.

The tavern had a narrow entrance, just wide enough for two or three people to pass through shoulder to shoulder. A sign hung above the door: a gaudily dressed beauty leaning against a huge, rust-covered greatsword. The sign, made of black ironwood, swung wildly in the freezing wind, occasionally banging against the wall with a dull thud.

This was the Sword and Beauty Tavern, the favorite haunt of students from the Berely Army Academy.

Past the tavern door and down a narrow alley lay a small courtyard, large enough for perhaps a dozen two-horse carriages. A row of two-story buildings stood along the north side. The upper floor was an inn, and the ground floor housed the tavern.

The tavern's owner, Greatsword Joe, was a middle-aged man whose left cheek had been slashed away by a sword, leaving half his face almost like a skull. Thirty years earlier, he had been a veteran who'd clawed his way out alive from the meat grinder of the Continental-Island War. The tavern was his family's legacy. After taking it over from his father, he had used his connections in the army to turn the little place into a favorite gathering spot for Army Academy students, and business had steadily improved.

Behind the modest bar, Greatsword Joe's large hands—the same ones that had once gripped a greatsword and hacked furiously at orcs—held a rag as he worked to polish an enormous beer stein. Several barmaids, whose looks were merely average but whose figures were spectacular, stood behind the counter, laughing uproariously and flirting with the dozen or so disheveled Army Academy students crowded in front of them.

Though it was already the dead of night, the students paid no heed to Army Academy rules. They were here, drunk and carousing. Many of them belonged to the Round Table Knights, and their leader, Black Horse House, was holding court in the tavern tonight. With him here, they didn't have to worry about discipline or the like.

One corner of the tavern was quiet. Black Horse House, tall and powerfully built, sat sprawled at a round table with several core members of the Round Table Knights. Rabbit Charlie, famous for being a coward who feared death, sat there too, though his standing was clearly low—no one even spared him a glance.

Black Horse House gulped down mouthfuls of fiery liquor. The alcohol sent his blood surging wildly through his veins, and his eyes had begun to redden.

Born into a viscount's family with a distinguished military record, and with a father who was a renowned general in the War Ministry, Black Horse House was brimming with confidence. Tonight—tonight for sure—he would crush the Iron Fist Brotherhood, which had opposed him for three years, once and for all.

Three years earlier, the Round Table Knights had been the biggest student group in Berely University City. Every student there had lived beneath their shadow. Back then, simply extorting money from students born to timid, cowardly nouveau-riche families earned Black Horse House nearly a hundred gold coins in pure profit every month.

At the time, Black Horse House had just started studying at the Army Academy. His older brother, having graduated, had only just passed the leadership of the Round Table Knights on to him.

A hundred gold coins in monthly profit, all of it his—enough to buy Black Horse House several months of a life filled with wine and women. Even now, he still remembered those days of glory and ease. A hundred gold coins was a fortune. For a young man like him, that kind of monthly income meant he could eat and drink whatever he wanted, with no shortage of pampered young ladies from nouveau-riche families to keep him company.

But the good times came to an abrupt end when a student gang called the Iron Fist Brotherhood suddenly rose to power.

Led by Lin Qi, the Iron Fist Brotherhood was devious and cunning, with one underhanded scheme after another. In just three short months, the arrogant, overbearing Round Table Knights had been beaten until their swagger vanished. Other student gangs had also seized the chance to emerge, and Berely University City was no longer dominated by the Round Table Knights as it once had been.

Naturally, Black Horse House's monthly income went from a hundred gold coins in pure profit to a deficit.

A deep-seated grudge, a crushing humiliation! Black Horse House had imagined countless times how he would personally beat Lin Qi into begging on his knees, then reunite Berely University City under his rule. But Lin Qi was far too devious and cunning, his schemes and tricks far beyond anything Black Horse House could counter. Three years had passed. Black Horse House had suffered setback after setback and fallen for trick after trick, while Lin Qi's Iron Fist Brotherhood had only grown stronger.

Fortunately, today they had captured Vik!

As one of the Iron Fist Brotherhood's core members, Lin Qi couldn't possibly ignore Vik's fate!

Black Horse House slammed his beer stein down on the table and declared, "Today, right here, I'm going to make Lin Qi kneel and beg for mercy!"

Nearly a hundred members of the Round Table Knights raised their glasses and burst into laughter. They shouted that they would crush the Iron Fist Brotherhood once and for all, restore the Round Table Knights' glorious rule over Berely University City, and make the students' gold coins, silver coins, and coppers flow into their pockets like water.

Black Horse House burped with satisfaction and clapped Rabbit Charlie on the shoulder. "Charlie, you did well this time. You didn't disgrace our Army Academy! Remember, we're the regular army. They're nothing but a bunch of rogues. We'll beat them—we definitely will!"

That was the pride of the Round Table Knights: every member was an Army Academy student, and they considered themselves the regular army.

And Lin Qi's Iron Fist Brotherhood? Dozens of its core members were students from various universities, while its hundreds of peripheral muscle and errand runners were, in truth, a gang of thugs Lin Qi had gathered. In that regard, Black Horse House had done Lin Qi no wrong.

Just as Black Horse House was boasting that he would utterly defeat Lin Qi and the others, shadows flickered outside the tavern. A group of unidentified people had already approached.

A few low, muffled grunts sounded. Several servants tending the horses outside the tavern were struck unconscious from behind.