The door to the Sakura Tavern stood ajar.
Ding-a-ling.
With the chime of the bell, Zheng Qing pushed the door open and entered. He saw no other customers, nor any servers.
Sunlight streamed through the broad windows and fell across the tavern, glazing the dark red bar with light. It looked like toast spread with fresh jam, stirring a sense of contentment in one's heart.
The air was filled with the mingled scent of wood and liquor. With no one around, that fragrance seemed especially pure in the empty room. A swarm of Firefly Beetles clustered among the ceiling beams. Apparently startled by the three uninvited guests, they all beat their wings, puffed out their bellies, and scattered orange-yellow light across the floor, making the entire tavern even brighter.
As though it had heard the bell, a rag swiftly hopped onto the bar and began scrubbing the countertop with a huff and puff. Several glasses clattered out of the cabinet and lined themselves up neatly, while a bottle full of juice bowed and poured into them one by one.
"What's that?" The Fat Wizard's attention was entirely on those glasses.
Xiao Xiao stepped forward first, picked up a glass, and sniffed it.
"Apple juice. A mild beverage for replenishing magic power."
As he spoke, his gaze swept over the rows of colorful bottles in the liquor cabinet. "According to the old customs of wizards, there really was a tradition of abstaining from alcohol during the Magic Ban Festival. But these days, hardly anyone follows all those rules anymore..."
"Senior Colmar definitely knows we're here." Zheng Qing raised the last glass and clinked it against the one in the Fat Wizard's hand. "She probably means for us to wait here..."
"Just sit here like idiots and wait?" Xin drained half his