What is the Yellow Bird Tavern

The time reached nine o'clock in the evening, and the tolling of the church bell could be heard from afar.

As the last rays of the setting sun were swallowed by the mountains, a scarlet glow rose slowly along the eastern sky, staining the earth the color of blood; it was a blood-red full moon, known to the people of this world as the [Crone Moon].

There are three moons in this world: the Silver Crescent Moon, the Deep Blue Dark Moon, and the Scarlet Blood Moon.

In occultism, the Crone Moon symbolizes madness, rage, jealousy, fear, and death; no ritual should ever be performed when the Crone Moon occupies the zenith, unless you specifically desire a chaotic and insane conclusion.

Lude stepped onto the cobblestone road, which still held the residual warmth of the day, and walked into Blackwater Town.

Following Lude's footsteps, rows of timber-framed houses rose on both sides of the street, and smoke curled toward the sky from chimneys built of red brick; behind many low window lattices were heavy linen curtains, with the dim, yellow light of kerosene lamps leaking through the gaps.

The scent of roasted bread, accompanied by the aroma of stew, echoed through the streets—it was the time for dinner.

Lude couldn't help but rub his stomach; after three days of fasting, he was ravenous, feeling as though he could eat an entire cow.

Just as he was thinking this, a black ox carrying a rider passed by him, and the docile beast even lifted its eyelids to glance at Lude.

"Friend!" Lude called out. "Is there any place to eat around here?"

The man on the ox's back looked at Lude with confusion, pointed toward the direction of the church, and spoke in a Gothic dialect with a thick accent:

"You head toward the center of town, there's a Yellow Bird Tavern you can go to; plenty of outsiders like to eat over there."

Although he was puzzled by what kind of lousy name "Yellow Bird Tavern" was, Lude still headed toward the center of town.

Walking along the narrow streets, streetlamps lit one by one by the Night Watchman glowed before his eyes, the sound of barefoot children playing reached his ears, and the scent of ordinary families' dinners lingered in his nostrils; this peaceful atmosphere brought a long-lost tranquility to Lude's heart.

Before long, Lude arrived in front of a timber-framed house filled with smoke and boisterous noise.

The doors of the timber-framed house were wide open, and from a distance, one could hear the clamor of voices inside—the excited shouts of gamblers and the cathartic roars of drunkards; as he drew closer, Lude caught a strange, mixed odor that was difficult for an ordinary person to identify.

This was the worst part; Lude's sense of smell was far too keen, so much so that he could distinguish...

The acrid scent of cheap tobacco, the urine-like stench of sour beer, the human musk radiating from clothes soaked through with sweat, and the smell of foot odor mixed with spoiled cumin—all these scents fermented in the warm air, presenting themselves in their most intense form.

And right in front of the tavern's main entrance, a gold-leaf sign bore a name that left Lude speechless—

Golden Eagle Tavern!

Friend, your Gothic is truly something; isn't this Golden Eagle just a damn Yellow Bird!

Standing in front of the "Yellow Bird Tavern" and hesitating for a moment, Lude decided to go in anyway; after all, there was at least a bed for him to sleep in.

But the moment he stepped inside, a petite figure suddenly darted out from the dark alley beside the tavern and collided head-on with Lude.

With a "Thud!", the young girl sprawled onto the ground in front of the tavern.

The girl on the ground rubbed her head in pain, a large bump visibly swelling on her smooth forehead.

This was the price of colliding with an alchemical body capable of resisting bullets—it was essentially the same as slamming into a solid, hard tire.

The poor kid's head must have been ringing...

Lude estimated the girl's height to be around one meter forty; her figure looked lean and thin, though not quite to the point of malnutrition.

She possessed all the traits of a Dust-Born: a cunning expression in her light purple eyes, and her honey-colored hair tied into a small, perky ponytail at the back of her head.

This little ponytail was particularly eye-catching; it looked just like the leaves on top of a pineapple...

The girl wore a light brown coarse cotton dress that had been washed until it was faded, with white lace sewn onto the edges with rough stitches. The waist of the dress was tied hastily with a matching cloth belt, outlining the shallow contours of a young body just beginning to develop.

Around the girl's slender neck was a wide, light blue silk ribbon, tied into a bow at the back.

The girl wore no shoes; she had simply wrapped a strip of dark brown linen from her ankles, creating a makeshift legging that covered her feet like stirrup socks, revealing ten small, dust-covered toes and a pair of narrow, reddened heels.

Looking at the thin-limbed girl, Lude glanced at her right hand, which she was deliberately hiding behind her back, and extended a hand with a smile: "Are you alright?"

However, the girl didn't take his hand; instead, she made a bizarre face at him. She scrambled up with a nimble roll, lowered her body, and darted under Lude's arm, disappearing into the shadows of the crowd and the buildings in a few flashes.

"Interesting." Lude chuckled to himself, but he didn't give chase, instead walking into the tavern.

Under the low ceiling, rough log tables and chairs were crowded together without any order, and most of the tables were full; lumberjacks in canvas pants, swarthy-faced carters, and soldiers with their jackets open were all red-faced and loud, exchanging spit as they talked.

Lude lit a cigarette, using the scent of tobacco to mask the stench in his nostrils.

"Give me a glass of whiskey, make it strong." Lude frowned, took a deep drag of smoke, and exhaled it slowly through his nose. "And bring me some food to fill my stomach, then get me a room—one for a single person."

"Um..." The bartender, who was also the owner, reached out and pulled a dirty glass from under the bar.

But just as the bartender poured a splash into the glass, it suddenly appeared in Lude's hand. He rubbed his fingers together, sparks flew to ignite the liquor in the cup, and then he wiped the glass wall with his flame-touched fingers, leaving the glass shining as if new.

"There." Lude placed the cleaned glass gently on the bar. "Pour the drink."

"Yes, sir."

The bartender hurriedly opened a new bottle and poured the enticing amber liquid for Lude.

Having worked as a bartender in the frontier for so many years, he had long since mastered the art of reading people and knew exactly who he couldn't afford to offend; just by seeing that display, he realized that the person before him was likely a [truly noble] big shot.

Not a noble or a bureaucrat, but someone far more dangerous—a big shot who could decide their life or death with a single thought.

"Sir, that will be 320 Pfennig. It's just..." The bartender stammered, hesitating before continuing, "The rooms for today are already full. Could you perhaps wait here for a moment? I'll have someone clear a room out for you right away."

"Go ahead." Lude immediately took out his wallet and pulled out a small roll of purple banknotes.

But as he pulled out his wallet, Lude's fingers brushed against the pocket next to it—sure enough, his intuition was correct; during that previous collision, a small item he had kept in the side pocket of his wallet had vanished.

This was quite interesting.

Lude had realized from the very beginning that the girl was a pickpocket, but he had assumed she was after his wallet.

Yet, he hadn't expected that the girl would have no interest in his wallet at all, and instead, she had taken that item.

So, why would the girl be interested in that thing, and how did she even know that such an object was inside his coat?

"Interesting..." Lude raised his eyes to look at the bartender. "The matter of the house can wait. Tell me about that girl."

"Very well, sir," the bartender replied respectfully.