Chapter 35: Manners make the man

Having completed the soul bond with Kindred in the spirit world, I returned to the real world with the exhausted Ahri.
I navigated the crowded streets, filled with the festival atmosphere, searching for lodging.
I worried there might be no rooms available because of the festival, but the first inn I checked said they had a vacancy and could accept guests.
Although, it was closer to a tavern than an inn.

I unpacked our belongings in the assigned room and briefly sat on the bed, watching Ahri, who must have been running around quite a bit in the spirit world.
Perhaps not fully recovered from her fatigue, she had barely managed to stand until we reached the inn.
As soon as we entered this room, she threw off her cloak and collapsed onto the floor as if diving.
‘I know she’s tired, but she seems to be exaggerating quite a bit.’

‘Against someone feigning illness like this, I need to throw out some bait and make her bite.’
‘In this state, if I take Ahri out to the streets, she’ll probably collapse midway,’ I thought.
When I suggested she rest at the inn, saying she looked like she might collapse, Ahri shot up, insisting she absolutely had to go to the festival.
The bait was taken; now I just needed to reel her in.

As planned, having cured Ahri’s feigned illness, I lightly bonked her on the head with my fist and told her not to try such tricks because they wouldn’t work.

As planned, having cured Ahri’s feigned illness, I lightly bonked her on the head with my fist and told her not to try such tricks because they wouldn’t work.
Huh, why did I say that twice?
Huh, why did I say that twice?

Just as we were about to head outside, the tavern owner approached us, holding something in both hands.
The owner was a Vastayan with a reptile-like appearance, but strangely, he didn’t say a single word to us, communicating solely through gestures.
‘He’s quite the silent type,’ I thought, looking at the items he brought.

They were masks.
One was the very mask of Kindred I had seen endlessly in the spirit world.
The other was a fox mask, etched with the exact pattern on Ahri’s cheeks.
When I asked if he meant for us to wear these outside, he simply nodded.

Perhaps it was to get us into the festive spirit; grateful for the owner’s consideration in personally handing us masks, we each took one and put it on.
Ahri looked so good in the fox mask that I inevitably ended up wearing the mask of Kindred, known here as the Taker.

Walking around outside wearing a mask felt a bit awkward, but it was bearable since I wasn’t the only one wearing one.
Many people on the street were wearing masks just like us, so we blended in naturally among them.
In fact, those without masks stood out more.

Until darkness fell, we enjoyed the festival to our heart’s content.
Ahri moved to eat the food she had tried to obtain through illicit means earlier.
I wandered here and there with Set, savoring the time we spent together, just the two of us, after a long while.
Of course, it wasn’t just wandering; I also bought a few things to give as gifts when we returned.

As it was getting time to head back to the tavern, I started looking for Ahri, who was likely still wandering the streets.
She was nowhere to be seen, and just as I began to worry she might have been kidnapped, cheers erupted from the street, naturally drawing my steps in that direction.
And there was Ahri, with one person passed out, and countless plates piled high on a table.

Pushing through the crowd, I asked Ahri what happened.
Apparently, that person had approached Ahri while she was eating alone and tried to hit on her.
Naturally, Ahri refused.
The man then offered to pay for all her food.
But he must have said it wouldn’t be fun if he just paid, suggesting a contest: if she won, he’d pay.
If she lost, she would have to do as the man said, but as you can see, the result was Ahri’s complete victory.

Drawing more attention from the crowd would become burdensome, so I lifted the food-coma-induced, immobile Ahri and escaped the scene.
Whether she understood my feelings or not, Ahri kept yelling from above to put her down, attracting widespread attention.
Left with no choice, I ran towards the tavern at the fastest speed I could manage.

After all the excitement at the festival, I started to feel hungry myself.
I looked at the menu and asked the owner for dinner.
Ahri clung to me, saying she wanted to eat too.
‘Can she still be hungry after eating all that?’
When I told her to pay for her own food, Ahri, who had spent all the money I gave her on snacks, pouted and sat down next to me.

‘Acting cute like that won’t work,’ I thought, waiting for the food.
Suddenly, a group from the next table approached our table, specifically targeting Ahri.
They looked heavily drunk, and I worried about what nonsense they might spout.
As expected, my ominous feeling wasn’t wrong.

“Hey, Vastayan ladies. What brings you here?”

“If you came here to earn money, I can introduce you to some good work. Interested?”

Even Ahri seemed to think this was wrong, disgust showing clearly on her face.
Set wasn’t asleep yet, so to avoid causing any further commotion, I flatly stated our refusal to them.

“We came here not for money, but to meet someone. So, we respectfully decline your offer.”

To avoid further entanglement with them, I stood up from the table to move.
The moment I turned my back, they grabbed my shoulder.

“Hey, hey. Don’t leave so coldly.”

“Isn’t that child the result of a mistake made while doing that kind of work anyway? You should be used to it, why play hard to get?”

What… what did those bastards just say?
They called Set a mistake?
If they had just backed off, I would have let it pass quietly, but this was absolutely unacceptable.
I needed to thoroughly teach them that there are some things you just don’t say.

“Manners. Make the Man.”

I went to the entrance of the tavern, closed the door, and locked it, ensuring they couldn’t escape.
They were chuckling as if my actions were amusing, but I had no intention of forgiving them.

“Do you know the meaning of these words? If you don’t, allow me to enlighten you.”

“Ha! Just because you have a somewhat pretty face…”

Crack!

I hooked a glass from the table onto the handle of the staff I bought on the street earlier and flung it at the guy approaching me.
The glass hit him squarely on the head, and he collapsed backward, unconscious.

This single act plunged the tavern into silence.
Ahri, seemingly frightened by something, had shrunk into a corner.
As they continued to stand there dumbfounded, I pointed my staff at them provocatively and spoke.

“Are you just going to keep standing there? Or are you going to have a round with me, youngsters?”

Elegantly yet powerfully, beautifully yet sharply, I opened my eyes.