Avoid bar fights, please! part 4

Today the tavern was full as usual, it's been a week since Ryu took charge and things have been going better than anyone could have expected. Most people were glad to have a place to hang around and make a bit of cash doing quests now that the mines were closed. There were others that came to the tavern to see the stunning beauties working there, and there were even some of the merchants that went to the tavern exclusively to eat Ryu's cooking. But today there were two tables put together filled with beer and the best snacks the silver goddess tavern had to offer.

The heroes were finally able to reunite with the excuse of meeting to discuss business. The only thing Ryu did was give Hiraku a piece of paper with a list of supplies he wanted to acquire, once he read it Hiraku nodded and that was the end of the business discussion.

They felt as if they had been separated for a very long time and so many things happened that they felt the need to gather and have a good time.

"Drink! drink! drink!"

Luke exclaimed cheering Bob to finish his drink in one go. Ayumi was busy getting stuffed on Ryu's cooking and Hiraku was laughing to his heart's content. Since Ryu was the one making the snacks he was coming and going from the kitchen.

"Ryu, I need to know what exactly did you do to convince the girls to wear that dress? I never thought something like that was possible"

Ayumi asked with her mouth still full of fries, but instead of Ryu, Anne replied excitedly.

"Actually I don't mind wearing clothes like this, this dress is super comfy and the design is lovely! It made me so happy to finally have some nice clothes"

Luke couldn't take his eyes off of Anne, when she noticed it she got back to her usual cold glare making Luke flinch.

"You say that, but even though I made this dress myself, I'm not accustomed to wearing something so revealing. And because of my... figure... it looks perverted. Men won't stop staring at my cleavage, I can't remember the last time someone looked at my face while asking for their food"

Helena said shyly, trying to cover her bosom to no avail.

"Don't say that Helena, you look so pretty"

Said Ryu jokingly staring blankly at Helena's chest, making her blush and the others laugh wholeheartedly.

Claire was doing her best to tend to the tables, but since both Anne and Helena were having fun with their friends instead of helping, it proved to be an impossible task. The place was so crowded and they were so understaffed that even Dylan had to serve food, making the old miners frown when they noticed they weren't being served by one of the tavern's beauties as they expected.

Rina was so focused serving drinks that she didn't notice when a man she knew all too well walked in through the door. Even though she hated his guts, since he was an 'outstanding' citizen and he had done nothing illegal she couldn't ban him from the tavern. But every time Thomas came to the bar she would do her best to serve him last and sometimes even making small mistakes like serving him uncooked food or pouring a beer on his lap. These were, of course, honest mistakes that she accidentally made on purpose to make him understand that his presence was not welcome at the tavern.

Thomas sat on a table at the corner of the room just like any client and asked for his beer to be served on the table. Instead of joining the joyous laughter of everyone around him, he just stared at Hiraku's table trying to eavesdrop on anything that could be useful.

Thomas was desperate to take the tavern out of business before winter ended, but no matter who he sent to mess things up, they either came back covered in bruises or claiming to be in love with the silver goddess.

His last resort was to side with Hiraku's business betting on the alleged rivalry between the two groups. But not matter what, all he saw was just a group of friends hanging together, they didn't even seem to be discussing business.

He knew Luke and Bob since he saw them at the brothel every time he went there to speak with madame Bianca, but the rest were a mystery to him.

Ryu seemed completely harmless, not only he was a wimp but also he seemed to be in a low position in the group since he had to stand up every so often to serve them food. Helena looked like a gentle big sister to the group, with a kind smile always painted on her pretty face, but he didn't spend much time looking at her face anyways.

Even though he knew it was Ryu who made the bet, Thomas suspected that it was under Anne's command. She was tall, with a slender yet curvy figure and her silvery hair was so charming it earned her the nickname silver goddess. She must be the one behind everything since, not only she proved to be quite strong in the battlefield, but also she saved many lives that day with a mysterious medicine. She was powerful, resourceful and most important of all, she was single. Some could argue that being single doesn't mean anything, but Thomas knew from experience that if a man wanted a woman they would do anything in their power to get her, so that meant that no one was more resourceful nor more powerful than her.

If only he was ten years younger he would have seduced her, but now even that poor barmaid was able to get out of his clutches.

When the food came to his table, Thomas made a disgusted expression. It was a simple stew and a measly salad, he stirred the soup with the spoon as if he was looking at one of the uncooked dishes Rina would serve him every time he came to the tavern.

Only this time she didn't even notice his presence.

Usually he wouldn't even try the food since it may even be contaminated, and even if it wasn't, his experienced palate was not accustomed to peasant's food. But the aroma that came out of his bowl with every movement of his spoon woke up his stomach who urged him to try a bite.

Every cell in his body was drooling to eat, the more he resisted, the more he wanted to try it.

His trembling hand held on the spoon and slowly put it in his mouth with a fearful expression on his face, as if he was going to eat a spoonful of hot charcoal. What he expected to be the dull flavor of the random mix of 'whatever there is in the kitchen' turned out to be the most delicious meal he has ever tasted.

Meat would melt in his mouth as if it was made of clouds and the vegetables were soaked in the juicy flavors of the soup. Every single ingredient had a voice of its own in what seemed to be a celestial choir of angels driving his senses into oblivion.

When he finally snapped out of it there was no more food on his table. Asking for seconds would be improper for someone of his social standing, but before he could notice it he was already calling Claire to his table.

"Is there something wrong mister Thomas?"

"Of course there is, this food was almost edible, but I'm afraid I might get an upset stomach. Why are they eating different food? I wanted to try that"

"I'm very sorry, that's not possible"

"And why would that be?"

Thomas was starting to lose his temper, completely forgetting the actual reason why he even came to the tavern.

"Because only the cook knows the recipe, and as you can see he is currently busy"

Just when he was about to make a scene, a loud bang drew his attention to the table where the heroes were drinking.

"I dare you to say that again, you bitch!"

Luke slammed his hand on the table and everyone went silent.

"I said it, you're just a playboy who completely forgot about his duties to his comrades"

Anne shrugged, she was just stating a fact and didn't mean to offend Luke, that was just a bonus.

"How dare you call the silver goddess a bitch!"

Dylan popped out of nowhere, but he was quickly sent out flying to the table next door, Luke swatted him like a fly, but everyone else kept quiet seeing the scene unfolding in front of their eyes.

"At first I thought you rejected me because you were having trouble adapting, but then you started moving your ass in front of Ryu seducing him, don't think I didn't notice! and now you're building yourself a male harem. How low you've fallen"

Luke sneered, causing Anne to blush from embarrassment and anger at the same time.

"I refused you because I didn't like you in the slightest, you are as handsome as you are devious. I'm so thankful you showed your true colors or else I might have ended with a self entitled bastard like you. As for my personal life, it's none of your concern"

"Luke, I think you overstayed your welcome in this place, you should go now"

Ryu attempted to calm things getting Luke out of Anne's sight, but Luke wasn't going to leave peacefully.

"You imbecile, it's all your fault, everything! If it wasn't for you I would've been with Anne and the group wouldn't have separated. You think you're a big shot playing the boss, but you're just an overrated cook, we all know who really owns the place"

Ryu remained calm, but Bob couldn't stand seeing Luke insult Ryu, he was his friend and he still hasn't apologized for what he said back then. Bob's heart felt heavy every time he remembered the things he said to Ryu after the massacre at the hill, and this led him to try to appease Luke by putting his hand on Luke's shoulder.

When Luke felt Bob's hand he shook it off turning the table upside down, Anne was so mad she punched Luke on the face causing him to bleed. Helena and Ayumi took cover behind the bar while Anne and Luke started a fist fight that looked like a martial arts display.

None of them actually knew what they were doing, but their stats made them faster and stronger, just having enhanced reflexes allowed them to fight like professionals.

Except they didn't know what was going on their surroundings.

When Dylan stood up he tried to help Anne, but he was too weak and too slow to even get close so he did the only thing he could. He grabbed a chair and threw it at Luke, but he dodged it with cat like reflexes causing the chair to hit one of the miners nearby.

Everyone joined the fight without knowing what they were even fighting for, lots of drunk miners and only a few girls led to an all out brawl. Violence spread like a wild fire and even Rina joined the fray.

Rina punched a guy who was standing on a table directly on the nuts, he kicked another who had a chair on his hands straight into the family jewels and then he kneed a guy's balls who was leaning on the bar trying to reach for the beer.

She had developed her own fighting style after tending the bar for so long, it was so brutal that miners twice her size would cower in fear whenever she got angry, and she wasn't scared to use her discipline to keep her tavern from suffering any more losses.

Helena and Ayumi were both playing dodgeball with the many mugs and bowls being thrown near where they were standing.

Hiraku was the only calm person on the whole tavern, he was still sitting at his chair making the minimal movements required to dodge anything that came at him while sipping on his beer. When someone was about to fall on him he stood up and walked a couple steps, still sipping his beer.

Meanwhile Anne and Luke were giving it all in a skirmish that could've lasted forever since they weren't taking any damage. Luke would block every kick and Anne was so quick to dodge that Luke was helpless.

Thomas crouched behind a table not wanting to miss a moment of the fight, when he noticed something.

There was a guy on the floor, a puddle of blood had formed beneath his head, he wasn't moving. It was the cook, he saw the exact moment when he was hit by the chair Luke dodged, Ryu was so unlucky that he received it with the back of his head and soon after he lost his consciousness.

Everyone was so focused on the fight that no one noticed this but him.

And evil grin appeared on Thomas face, he might have just solved every problem without even lifting a finger. He just had to make sure that Ryu dies and everything he ever wished for would become true.

As soon as Ryu dies, no one would be able to cook the food that kept the tavern afloat. They will soon be forced to close the tavern for good and the only place with enough food stored would be madame Bianca's brothel. As soon as the tavern closes its doors madame Bianca would buy the place and eventually raise the prices, forcing people to sell themselves into slavery just to see another winter.

This would not only allow her to get many slaves at a bargain price, but also she would be seen as the town's savior, since she's willing to feed the poor people who would die a horrible death otherwise.

Thomas was already thinking on different ways to spend the money he would get after this and the first thing that came to his mind was buying Helena for himself.

He wouldn't dream of acquiring the silver goddess, since madame Bianca already had plans for her, but the busty one would do a great work warming his bed.

Every passing second got him closer to his goal as the puddle of blood grew in size, when suddenly, a skinny girl dressed in rags that appeared out of nowhere fell on the floor right next to Ryu.

She was crying but she couldn't muster the strength to scream, she did the best she could to cover Ryu with her body from the stuff being thrown all over the place. She yelped in pain every time she was hit, but wouldn't let go of him. She even attempted to drag him out of harm's way, but she was too weak to do anything.

It was Sera, who after hearing the loud noises coming from the tavern, walked downstairs only to see the violent encounter. Everyone was so drunk they couldn't care less if someone got hurt. Her eyes scanned the whole tavern to see if her sister was safe, but what she saw instead shook her to the core.

Ryu was dying in front of everyone and nobody helped him.

He was the only person besides her sister Claire who had ever helped her out of the kindness of his heart. Not only did he save her life without asking for anything, he also treated her with respect. That was something unthinkable in this town where everyone would strive to survive and care only for themselves.

She had never thought of having a boyfriend before, but since Ryu treated her, she thought about him the whole day. Even though only a couple days passed, she had so much free time that she already developed feelings for him.

She wasn't so optimistic to ever think that Ryu would look at her as a woman, but she wanted to at least let him know her feelings.

When she saw him covered in his own blood her mind stopped working, all she wanted was to keep him safe, she walked as fast as she could, once she got close to him she endured the pain of being hit over and over with the hopes that the fight would end soon.

But Thomas thought differently. He couldn't raise a hand against Ryu because it was known that he was under the protection of the silver goddess. But that filthy girl was another thing entirely, he could just say that he tried to save Ryu's life from a beggar that wanted to kill him after robbing him.

He was just about to draw his dagger to stab the girl when a loud scream stopped everyone on the spot.

"The cook is dying!"

Rina yelled to the top of her lungs. Anne and Luke stopped their fight and Helena ran to heal Ryu, but Anne was faster. She popped the cap of a clay bottle and poured the liquid into Ryu's mouth.

After that Rina stood on a chair and asked everyone to leave the place, without even caring if they paid for their drinks. Only Ryu's friends remained with a grim expression marked on their faces.

Hiraku tried to say something but Anne stopped him.

But not everything was lost for Thomas, he could still land the killing blow just not in the way he thought at first.

"He was hit by the chair the young man behind the silver goddess threw"

Thomas said as he left the place, now, even if Ryu survives, at least he knew for sure that both groups would be enemies, allowing madame Bianca to back up Hiraku's group in exchange for acquiring the tavern.

Soon after, Ayumi, Bob, Luke and Hiraku left the tavern and walked back to their place in absolute silence.