I'm opening the wooden door!
The clamor and vulgar language poured into Ul's ears, making him frown.
Though both Fairy Tail and the Pati Tavern were noisy, the noise at Fairy Tail had a cheerful feel to it. The Pati Tavern, on the other hand, was simply loud...
"Welcome!"
As soon as Ul stepped through the door, a voice rang out beside him.
Ul glanced toward it and saw that the speaker was a gorgeous waitress dressed provocatively. She was smiling brightly at him!
After looking the waitress over a few times, Ul glanced at the tavern's motley assortment of patrons.
Ul suddenly realized that perhaps she was the only "good person" in the entire tavern!
......
Ul's arrival caused no stir in the tavern. Only a few people near the entrance looked over when they heard the waitress's greeting.
And then!
They couldn't take their eyes off him.
As mentioned earlier, in Stigug, a handsome man was like a bright flame in the dark, impossible to miss against his surroundings.
And this was especially true in the Pati Tavern.
Because here, a pretty boy like Ul was synonymous with... an easy target!
An easy target in every sense of the word!
As soon as Ul entered the tavern, everyone who saw his face stopped what they were doing and turned to watch, wearing expressions that said, "Let's see how this plays out."
Sure enough!
Ul hadn't taken more than a few steps into the tavern when a burly, ugly man suddenly stood up from the crowd and strode over to block his path. He folded his arms across his chest and looked down at Ul with a mocking grin...
"Hahaha... I told you Hande would be the first to pick on a newcomer. You lost. Pay up!" As soon as the ugly man appeared, a burst of laughter came from somewhere in the crowd.
Then another voice spoke up, sounding annoyed. "Fine, you got lucky. Here's your money!"
"Hahahaha..."
The two hadn't bothered to hide their bet. When the crowd heard the disgruntled voice, another wave of gleeful laughter rose through the tavern.
......
The noise around him didn't affect Ul!
Head down, he kept walking forward as if he hadn't seen the ugly man standing in front of him.
The closer Ul got to the man, the more amused the tavern patrons looked...
Thud!
Ul walked straight into the ugly man. It seemed he only noticed someone was standing there now. He raised his head slightly, looked at him, and asked in confusion, "Did you bump into me?"
"???"
At Ul's reaction, not only did the onlookers freeze, but Hande himself was taken aback!
"This kid... has some nerve!"
Just as the thought appeared in everyone's minds—
Ul spoke again!
His expression changed as if by magic, suddenly twisting into "anger," as though he were the one who'd been wronged. He demanded, "You actually dared to bump into me? You bastard, drop dead!"
"Bang!!!"
After a furious "roar," Ul struck out in a rage.
A heavy punch slammed into the ugly man's abdomen. The force instantly doubled him over like a shrimp. Clutching his stomach, he let out a few pained groans and slowly dropped to his knees!
The scene unfolded like a scene from a third-rate play, leaving everyone present stunned!
Clearly!
None of them had imagined things would turn out this way. It was completely beyond their expectations.
After all, they'd assumed this "newcomer" would either go around Hande or beg him for mercy. It hadn't even occurred to them that the "newcomer" might make trouble first...
......
"You... you bastard, attacking me by surprise... Cough, cough!"
Hande was in decent shape. Though Ul's punch had brought him to his knees, he recovered quickly and spoke to Ul, his face twisted with pain and anger.
"Attacking you by surprise?" Ul sneered.
"Who says I attacked you by surprise?"
"You dared to bump into me just now. That was a provocation!"
"You provoked me because you wanted to fight!"
"Since you picked a fight with me, how can you complain when I hit back?"
"At most, I was acting in self-defense. And you dare call it a sneak attack?"
"Bang, bang, bang..."
Ul's mouth was like a machine gun. The more he spoke, the more worked up and angry he became. By the end, he lost control and beat the ugly man up all over again.
Watching Ul's brutality and hearing Hande's nonstop screams, the tavern patrons shuddered involuntarily!
"He's a tough one. Hande's really in for it this time!"
People who regularly mixed around Stigug were generally good at reading others. Most of the time, they didn't pick fights at random. They chose their targets first and only made a move when they were sure of their chances.
But there were always exceptions!
Some people were hard to size up from their appearance alone. If anyone ran into someone like that, all they could do was accept their bad luck.
Clearly!
Hande was the unlucky one this time.
......
......
Ul beat him for several minutes, until his own hand started to ache. Only then did he let the ugly man off the hook!
He walked over to the bar!
Ul casually ordered one of the cheaper drinks, then started chatting with the waitress behind the counter, probing for information...
......
"Hey, kid, you've got some skill! Which guild are you from?" The waitress behind the bar was a friendly sort, and it didn't take long for her to warm up to Ul.
"Fairy Tail. Have you heard of it?"
"Fairy Tail? You're a Mage?" The waitress seemed surprised.
"That's right! By the way, do you know where Jeris has gone lately? I haven't been able to get in touch with him." Ul deliberately used the name Gu Yi had told him instead of "Jericho," the name on the wanted poster. He figured it might lead to something unexpected.
Sure enough!
When the waitress heard the name "Jeris," she didn't show any sign of recognition and casually replied, "Jeris? He ran off. I heard he stole some kind of treasure a while back, and he's fled to the Jiying Kingdom."
"He fled the country?" Ul was surprised. The answer was unexpected.
"This is getting troublesome."
Ul felt that the job he'd taken was getting more and more difficult!
After chatting a little longer with the waitress about Jericho, Ul finally left the Pati Tavern.
......
......
Not long after Ul left, three more "newcomers" arrived at the Pati Tavern!
"Hey, everyone, come take a look! What's going on today? There are so many 'newcomers'! And two of them are gorgeous girls..." As soon as the three "newcomers" entered the tavern, they caused a commotion.
Hande had finally started to recover!
When he heard someone say "gorgeous girls," his eyes lit up. He hurriedly shouted, "Nobody move! Leave them to me. There's no way I'll misjudge someone twice in one day!"
The ugly man Hande strode toward the tavern entrance.
Just then!
A gust of wind blew, pushing open the tavern's wooden door...
Light streamed inside, slowly revealing three figures: one man and two women.
Blond short hair, long red hair, and a white ponytail.
The three different hair colors looked particularly striking in the sunlight...
Before you continue