TBF 02

Chapter 02 …

At Iz’s Tavern, Part 2 — Rampage

At Iz’s tavern, Alphilis shares drinks with her traveling acquaintance, Sister Anorn. But then a gang of rough-looking troublemakers barges into the tavern…?

“Hey, you brat over there—what the hell did you just say, huh!?”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“You were staring us down, weren’t you?”

“Quit picking fights, you worthless bums.”

“Who the hell are you calling worthless!?”

Alphilis and Anorn, who had only moments ago decided to ignore the newcomers, exchanged glances without a word.

The men around them whispered nervously among themselves. Judging from the reaction, the pair’s first impression had been correct—the men who had entered earlier were apparently infamous local thugs. And now they were harassing a young man.

Even the tavern patrons whom Anorn had considered nudging into action seemed reluctant to get involved.

Well, “young” was relative; the man might actually have been older than Alphilis. But he was clearly still at that hot-blooded age. If he had simply ignored them, the thugs might have backed off. Instead, he had fired back directly.

From where Alphilis and Anorn sat, they could only partially see the confrontation, but even they could tell the atmosphere had turned dangerous.

Anorn muttered quietly.

“That boy’s in trouble.”

“Anyone who can’t judge how dangerous an opponent is won’t live long—on a battlefield or anywhere else.”

“What a merciless thing to say. Young men are supposed to be hot-blooded. Besides, how many are there?”

“Six when they came in. Two are openly carrying weapons. The rat-faced one and the horse-faced one are hiding daggers in their jackets. The other two have knives tucked into their boots. Honestly, anyone stupid enough to provoke people like that is asking for it. If you don’t have the strength to fight, then you need to learn how to avoid one. It’s his own fault.”

Alphilis answered casually, as though it were obvious.

Anorn had been watching her the whole time. Alphilis had only glanced at the men for maybe two seconds when they entered. Could she really have noticed all that in an instant?

Anorn frowned suspiciously, but then reconsidered.

(Maybe I’ve been underestimating this girl.)

Earlier they had laughed off the story about the forest wolf, but now that she thought about it—

“Leaving it alone will leave a bad taste in my mouth… I’ll go help.”

“Huh?”

Just as Anorn drifted into thought, Alphilis stood up and strode straight toward the center of the commotion.

Caught off guard, Anorn let out a completely foolish-sounding response. But by then Alphilis was already marching toward the thugs.

“Hey! Honestly… fine then.”

Thinking she could at least provide backup if things got ugly, Anorn followed after her.

Though truthfully, part of her probably just thought it looked entertaining.

“You guys should stop this already.”

“Who the hell are you?”

“Does it matter? You’re bothering the other customers.”

“More importantly, you’re bothering me.”

There goes the Sister adding unnecessary comments again, thought Alphilis, though she never took her eyes off the rat-faced man.

Still, stepping in now had been the right choice. The man had been just about to draw the dagger hidden in his jacket.

The young man being harassed clearly hadn’t noticed.

If the dagger had come out, things definitely wouldn’t have ended peacefully.

The horse-faced thug glared threateningly at Anorn and Alphilis.

“This punk called us worthless bums. We’re just making him pay for it. Stay out of it if it’s got nothing to do with you. Oh wait—not ‘you guys.’ Guess you’re just a couple of sluts.”

The others snickered crudely.

They were obviously trying to provoke Alphilis, but she wasn’t foolish enough to lose her temper over something like that.

“It happened over drinks, didn’t it? You’re all drunk, trading insults like idiots. Grown men fighting over that is pathetic. Tell you what—I’ll buy drinks for both sides, so let’s all calm down and enjoy ourselves.”

“Well now, sounds like the lady’s reasonable. Fine by me—if you’ll pour us drinks personally… heh heh.”

“A giant woman like me pouring drinks wouldn’t make the booze taste any better. I’ll ask the owner to bring out something expensive instead, so be satisfied with that.”

It was true that Alphilis was tall—about as tall as an average man.

Though she was undeniably beautiful, she had no awareness of it whatsoever. And due to certain events in her past, her height had become a complete complex for her.

The horse-faced thug exchanged looks with the rat-faced one and grinned unpleasantly.

“Then let the Sister over there pour our drinks instead. Hey, Sister, get over here!”

“No, I seriously think you should leave that Sister alone. Really.”

“What’s your problem? First this is no good, then that’s no good—who the hell do you think you are? You think our mood’s gonna improve because some oversized woman pours us drinks herself!?”

A vein bulged on Alphilis’s forehead.

As if I care, she thought.

But drunkards never listened to reason.

And somehow, things just kept getting worse.

(Actually… why is the Sister even following me? She’s only making this worse!)

But by now, events had already gone far beyond the peaceful resolution Alphilis had imagined.

These thugs were never going to stop at merely having drinks poured for them.

And more importantly, there was no chance this Sister would quietly serve them alcohol.

No sooner had that thought crossed her mind than an unnaturally sweet voice rang out.

“Oh my, please wait just a moment. I’ll bring your drinks right away.”

“Now that’s a Sister who understands us.”

“(Wait… was that the Sister!?)”

It was a voice Alphilis had never heard from Anorn before.

Overly cheerful—almost absurdly fake.

If this weren’t such a tense situation, Alphilis would probably have burst out laughing.

Anorn wore a broad smile, beaming pleasantly.

But her eyes…

Her eyes weren’t smiling at all.

Even the young man who had been harassed seemed to sense what was coming next from the look on her face, because he slowly backed away.

Alphilis couldn’t help imagining that perhaps the exact same thing had happened before she arrived.

Meanwhile, the rat-faced thug noticed nothing at all. Judging from his expression, his head was already full of obscene fantasies about what he planned to do with the Sister.

(This is why drunk idiots are hopeless… Don’t blame me for what happens next.)

Ignoring Alphilis’s concern entirely, Sister Anorn continued acting like a tavern waitress charming regular customers.

“Oh, your drinks have arrived. Since this is my treat, shall I pour for you?”

“Nah, I should be the one buying you drinks. In return, you pour mine.”

The man was completely delighted by the Sister’s unexpected beauty.

Maybe he thought he’d gotten lucky.

He had no idea a bomb had just dropped into his lap.

“Then allow me to pour for you. Please come over here.”

“Alright, alright, got it.”

“Don’t forget your cup now.”

“Oops, right.”

“And if you could lower your head a little, it’ll be easier.”

“Lower my head? By the way, Sister, your legs are pretty nice too. But why lower my—”

“Because I’m gonna do THIS, asshole!”

SMASH!

Everyone watching gasped.

Including Alphilis.

The Sister had smashed a liquor bottle over the man’s head.

Caught completely off guard, the rat-faced thug collapsed to the floor twitching violently.

“You bitch! What the hell did you do!?”

“Huh? I cracked his skull with a bottle. Can’t you see that?”

“T-that’s not what I mean! What kind of Sister does that!?”

“Preaching holy sermons to trash like you would be a waste of breath. Crack your skulls open like this, though, and even scum like you might finally meet the Lord. I’m graciously showing worthless garbage like you the path to heaven. Try appreciating my kindness.”

Anorn snorted contemptuously.

The men were no longer just angry—they were turning pale.

“T-this bitch is insane!”

“The hell are you talking about!? You think pathetic little-dicked bastards like you could handle a woman like me!? I’d pay more attention to a damn fly buzzing around. Go crawl back home and screw each other instead, you useless freaks!!”

Spitting language utterly unfitting for a nun, Anorn thrust up her middle finger at them.

At this point, Alphilis and the Sister looked far more like the hooligans.

And this Sister clearly had a lot of experience with fights.

“Y-you said it… You actually said it! About the thing we’re sensitive about!!”

Wait, THAT’S what they’re upset about!? Alphilis thought.

Then one of the thugs lunged forward.

Things had almost calmed down, and now this Sister had completely blown it up again. Alphilis silently vowed to complain to her later.

Even so, her body had already begun moving.

She swept the attacker’s legs out from under him and slammed a clenched fist down onto his neck as he lost balance.

Without even turning around, she kicked up a nearby table behind her.

One thug dodged the table and reached for the knife in his boot—

And the instant he looked up toward her, a scream burst from his throat.

“GYAAAAAH!”

Just before he raised his head, Alphilis had stomped down hard on the knife handle while it was still halfway drawn.

The blade pierced straight through the man’s foot and pinned it to the floor.

“T-this woman…!”

Realizing she was far more dangerous than expected, the remaining men spread out and drew their weapons.

The surrounding patrons panicked. Even Sister Anorn cast Alphilis a worried glance.

But Alphilis herself remained perfectly calm.

“You should stop now. Three of you aren’t enough to beat me. Take your injured friends and leave while you still can.”

“We’ve got swords, damn it! And you’re unarmed!”

“Oh? Then doesn’t that make it pretty embarrassing? Three grown men with weapons against one unarmed woman?”

“Shut up! After all this, there’s no way we can back down!”

Alphilis let out a large, deliberate sigh.

“Then go ahead and try!”

The first man charged with a shout.

Alphilis hopped backward in a single step, dodged the slash, grabbed a nearby bottle, and smashed it across his face.

As he rolled on the ground clutching his face, another man rushed her with a knife.

She hurled a chair into him and sent him flying.

Without pause, a swordsman brought his blade down from overhead.

This time Alphilis herself was off-balance, but she twisted aside and added force to the descending arm with her own hand.

Unable to stop the momentum, the man’s blade sliced into his own inner thigh.

“Guh—!?”

Before he could recover, Alphilis drove a kick into his solar plexus.

The man collapsed, vomiting onto the floor in agony.

“Do you understand now? I suggest you leave. I’m not confident I can keep holding back much longer.”

“D-damn it…”

“Oh, and make sure you carry your injured friends properly.”

To anyone watching, it had happened in the blink of an eye.

It was so overwhelmingly skillful that even those preparing to jump in and help could only stare in stunned silence.

Sister Anorn was still holding up another bottle—an even larger one than before—but now she had nowhere to swing it, and looked awkwardly disappointed.

Apparently she had intended to help too.

“Hey, get up already.”

“We’ll remember this, you bitches!”

“Feel free to come back if you want an even worse beating.”

The thugs staggered away supporting one another, fleeing in miserable defeat.

The surrounding patrons were already struggling to suppress laughter.

“Heh… pfft…”

“Hey! You forgot something!”

“GYAH!”

Apparently Anorn had hurled the unused bottle at the retreating thugs.

And somehow, she hit another one directly in the head.

“Y-you went too far, Sister.”

“I think you’re too soft. Could’ve crippled every last one of them. Bastards like that never let things go. And they’re persistent.”

“I don’t kill or use violence unnecessarily. Besides, whose fault do you think this became such a mess in the first place—”

Before she could finish, the tavern patrons swarmed around her.

“That was amazing, miss!”

“Haven’t felt this refreshed in ages!”

“Sorry this happened because of me!”

“Let me buy you a drink!”

“That was satisfying to watch! Drinks and lodging are free tonight!”

Caught in the chaos, Alphilis was practically crushed by the crowd.

“H-hey, everyone, calm down! Sister! Help me here!”

“Not my problem.”

The heartless Sister casually walked upstairs.

Meanwhile downstairs, Alphilis remained trapped among an enthusiastic crowd of men.

“Considering the possibility of retaliation, we should probably leave town first thing tomorrow morning… Well, I’ll rescue her eventually. Still…”

Anorn had known Alphilis for a year now, but this was the first time she had seen her fight.

She had assumed the girl was strong from the beginning, but handling that many opponents instantly—

And barehanded, no less.

“But thinking about it carefully, maybe it’s only natural. Does she even realize how strong she actually is?”

Alphilis had casually mentioned defeating a three-meter forest wolf.

But ordinary forest wolves, even large ones, were only about the size of a grown man.

Even a pack leader would only be slightly bigger—not even two meters.

A lone three-meter specimen would almost certainly have been the ruler of the entire region.

A monster destined to become a Demon Lord someday.

And Alphilis had not only subdued it nearly unharmed without killing it—

She had apparently negotiated with it afterward and used it as a pillow.

“Monsters only negotiate with those who possess power equal to their own. If she registered with the guild, she’d easily be B-rank or higher. What a waste. And on top of that… black hair. That probably means she can use magic too.”

In this era, most commoners had brown hair.

Blonde hair was common among nobles, who claimed it came from ancient unions with gods or divine races, though the truth was uncertain. On this continent, belief in gods was weak to begin with.

Mages, meanwhile, sometimes developed hair colors matching their magical affinity—red for fire, for example.

Of course, not everyone experienced such changes. It only happened to those with exceptional power.

Though considered an honor among mages, most combat magicians dyed their hair to conceal their abilities.

Black dye was the easiest and cheapest to obtain.

As a result, black hair had become associated with either high-ranking magicians or those with affinity for dark magic.

“Combined with those sword skills, if she can also use magic, she may be dangerous… I doubt it’s dark magic, but I should probably ask who trained her, just in case.”

From the second floor, Anorn glanced down at Alphilis while sinking deep into thought.

She found the girl naïve and charming.

But because of the true nature of her own work, she was beginning to think she absolutely needed to learn more about Alphilis.

“What a horrible woman I’ve become… I’ve got plenty of secrets myself.”

If Alphilis could see Anorn now, she would probably be shocked.

The foul-mouthed, violent Sister was gazing down at her with an expression full of sadness.