Chapter 02 - Too powerful or too foolish.

The next day, on a shopping street in Arlam, a three-story building appeared overnight. The building's facade was completely black and glossy. The entrance was a double door made of dark glass that perfectly reflected everything in front of it, but made it impossible to see inside. Above the front door was a sign written:

SANCTUARY BAR and RESTAURANT

All the people who passed in front of the establishment stopped in front of the entrance, and looked at their reflection in the door. Not even members of the nobility, clergy or magicians had access to mirrors of this quality, but the owner of this place put huge mirrors for doors. Another thing that drew attention was the architecture and the quality of the building's painting, never seen before in this world. Everything in this building screamed aristocracy, so no one dared to enter. But it was strange that such a luxurious place existed on this shopping street where members of the aristocracy rarely passed. Even stranger was the appearance of this place overnight. The people who passed through this street every day couldn't help but be amazed.

A few hours after dawn, two guards on patrol on this street stopped in front of the bar.

- What the fuck is this? Said Ron, a forty-year-old fat and very bearded guard .

His patrol partner, Emmet, was fifteen years younger than Ron, thinner too.

- This wasn't here yesterday. Who does this belong to? It can only be from the royal family, some duke or the guild of magicians.

- What about the church? Asked Ron.

- Are you crazy? Let no one hear this blasphemy! The church doesn't have this kind of business. - Emmett whispered to Ron.

Ron just smirked at Emmett's naivete. There were fingers of the church in all kinds of businesses. From brothels to the sale of slaves. But Ron said nothing.

- Shall we take a look inside? - Emmet asked fearfully.

Ron did not respond immediately. He was thinking about what excuses they could give to enter the establishment. Whoever owned this place was not someone they could offend.

- Lets go in. Let's just say that we came by to greet the owner for opening the new business and say that he shouldn't worry about safety while we are on the street patrol. Maybe he'll even give us some coins for our diligence.

Having said these things, Ron followed the instruction that was written on the door, which said: PUSH.

Upon opening, Ron was greeted by a very nice cold air. But the biggest surprise was when he looked inside the bar. The place was huge, much bigger than a person could imagine when he saw the building from the outside. The place was just beautiful. Beautiful in a way he had never seen before even in the Gala hall of the royal palace or church temples.

The counter was twenty meters long, and behind it were thousands of types of drinks placed on top of shelves on the wall. There were also dozens of kegs of various types of beer. None of these types of drinks even existed before in this world.

There were several lamps on the ceiling ensuring that the place was well lit. There were also metal boxes on the walls that expelled cold air. At the far end of the bar there were large tables 1.5m long, 80cm high. In the center of these tables were several colored balls placed close together forming a triangle.

In the bottom right corner was a raised platform that Ron didn't know what it was for either.

There were many other details that Ron failed to notice at the time because he was interrupted by a man who approached them. The man wore a very, very strange outfit.

- Hello, customers! Welcome to Sanctuary . Come, come. - Alain said, hugging Ron and Emmet by the shoulders and guiding them into the bar. - As the first Bar customers, drinks and food on the house just for today.

Hearing this, Ron and Emmet got excited and followed the man.

Alain motioned for them to sit on two stools in front of the counter. And he passed them the drinks and food menu.

Ron and Emmet took the menu and saw several strange names followed by a price. They had no idea what it was.

- Sir, what is this? - Asked Emmet?

- That, dear customer, is a menu. It shows the names of our drinks and foods and their prices. Ignore the prices, today it's on the house for you, brave city guards!

Ron and Emmett were flattered by the greeting. They have never been treated so well in a place so obviously out of place for them, judging by the prices they saw on the so-called menu.

They started to read the names on the menu, but there were so many... they didn't know what to choose. Finally, Ron said:

- Sir, could you recommend something to us? We have never heard of anything written here, except perhaps beer and wine.

- Sure, sure. Mike, two hamburgers with fries and Coke. - Alain shouted to the chef.

Mike is one of the otherworldly chefs that Alain hired to work at the sanctuary.

Ron and Emmet looked forward to the food.

Ten minutes later, Alain brought the food on a tray and served it.

They were simply stunned by the look and smell of the food. The bread was of an appearance they had never seen before, with small grains of something on top. The meat had a juicy appearance. And there were other things inside the bread that they could not identify. There were also two huge glasses with black liquid inside with small bubbles bursting on the surface.

Ron and Emmet did not waste much time admiring. They both took the food with their hands and took a big bite. As he bit, some of the meat juice ran down Ron's beard. They felt a real explosion of flavor in their mouths. The two closed their eyes while chewing, happiness was written on the face of both.

- This is the most delicious thing I've ever eaten in my life! - Emmet spoke with emotion.

- I want to eat this every day for the rest of my life, even if I go bankrupt. - Ron said.

Alain was very happy to hear that.

- Try the cola . - Alain said with a mischievous smile.

Ron and Emmet took their glasses and took a small sip. Ron opened his eyes wide and started drinking without stopping, only stopped when the glass was empty. When he was done, he put his hands on his head and started to shake it.

- Aaargh ! My head feels like it's going to freeze! - Shouted Ron.

Alain laughed.

- It happens when you drink something too cold too fast.

Emmet also liked the drink very much, but he was not as eager as Ron.

- Let me make a refill for you. - Alain took Ron's empty glass, put it under a tap in a machine, pressed a button and the glass filled again.

This time Ron went back to eating the burger and occasionally took generous sips of the drink.

Although the food at the sanctuary was very delicious, it had no special magical effect. On the contrary, they could do a lot of harm if consumed in excess, like coca-cola for example.

- You are forgetting the french fries. - Alain remembered.

Immediately Ron and Emmet took a handful of fries and put them in their mouths. Then they took a sip of Coca-Cola to help it get down. The combination was just perfect.

After they finished eating, Ron suddenly felt that his breastplate became too tight .

-Satisfied or want more? - Asked Alain.

- I can't stand to eat anything else. I can hardly breathe, I don't know how i will do patrol like that. - Ron said.

On Earth they would be the perfect stereotype of policeman , Alain thought.

- I want to eat more, but I feel like I can't. And we have to do patrol. Let's rest for a few minutes and then leave, Ron. - Said Emmet, satisfied.

Ron nodded.

While the two were resting, the door to the Bar opened and a man entered. The clothes he wore indicated that he was either nobility or a very wealthy merchant. The man stood in the doorway looking at the bar in shock. After finally waking up from the shock, the man walked over to the counter and sat down.

- Good morning, sir. - Said Alain, while giving him the menu. Ron and Emmet recognized the man. He was a very wealthy merchant named Lamar Ortan , who owned many establishments on this street. His appearance in this bar was not at all strange. A place like this appears out of nowhere in his territory, of course he would come to know the competitor.

- Ron and Emmet, shouldn't you two be on patrol? I don't pay you extra to sit around doing nothing. - Said the man coldly.

With a lot of effort, Ron and Emmet got up, thanked Alain for the meal and left.

Although it was still early, Alain took a Buorbon and poured a small dose into two glasses. He pushed one for the man, and took one for himself. The man looked at the glass that Alain poured him, and then looked at Alain, who drank all the liquid in his glass at once.

- I don't think you came here to eat or drink. Say what you want. - Said Alain.

Normally, Lamar would intimidate the owner of this bar and take the place for himself. But a person capable of creating an incredible establishment like this, overnight, should have an impressive background. So he decided to test the waters and figure it out who owned this place.

- I just came to introduce myself and greet you for this beautiful place. - Lamar said politely. Those who knew him rarely saw this side of him.

- Ohh. Thank you very much for the compliment. - Alain pointed to the drink that he served to the man. - Please taste this Bourbon, as a sign of my appreciation.

Lamar looked at the drink and took the glass. First he observed the color, it was medium amber. He had never seen a drink with such a beautiful color. Then he smelled it. It smelled of mild seasoning and aromas of sweet oak.

- Drink slowly, it can be a little strong if this is your first time with this type of drink. - Alain warned.

Lamar accepted the recommendation and took a small sip of the drink. The taste was mild with shades of burgundy, oak and nutmeg. The persistence in the mouth was long, dry, pleasant, with a slight caramel flavor. The best drink he had ever drank. He turned the rest of the drink over in his mouth and blew out a satisfied breath at the end. Lamar looked at the empty glass, then looked at the thousands of drinks on the shelves.

- Where did you get these drinks? Asked Lamar. He already imagined how much gold he would get if he could do business with the producers of these drinks.

- Business secret. - Said Alain with a charming smile. - But I can say that you will never see these drinks anywhere else outside my bar. And no, I don't intend to sell them out.

- The person behind you must be very powerful. Few people are able to keep this hot potato just for themselves, without sharing. - Said Lamar, obviously disappointed and upset by Alain's response.

- There is no one behind me. I am the sole owner of this place, and this place is protected only by me.

Lamar looked Alain in the eye, searching for the truth.

- Trying to read my mind, huh ? Did you find anything interesting? - Alain said playfully. He was not at all upset about it.

- No ... I can't read anything ...- Lamar said . Not being able to read Alain's mind was not a surprise; in the world there are many people capable of protecting their minds.

Alain pointed to something behind Lamar, who turned and looked at where Alain pointed. There was a sign hanging on the wall behind him, which he hadn't seen when he entered the bar.

"The Sanctuary bar and restaurant is a neutral zone. Fighting is strictly prohibited on the premises. Here, all races are welcome, no matter if you are a criminal outside these doors or not, as long as you obey the house rules. Those who break this rule will be punished at the owner's discretion, it doesn't matter if you are a king, emperor, pope, Templar saint or supreme magician. "

When Lamar finished reading, he was shocked. He turned and faced Alain again, as if seeing him for the first time.

- You are either too powerful or too foolish. - Murmured Lamar .

- Something tells me that we will find out very soon.