"And that's it..." the waitress finished, a faint blush on her face. "W-Would you like a drink, sir?"
Julian shook his head and rose from his seat.
"I didn't bring any cash, so I don't want to intrude."
The waitress tilted her head.
"Cash? Umm... we don't use cash."
His expression remained firm, hiding his slip-up.
But even so, the waitress stood up and said, "Everyone who's drinking here will pay with their bodies."
"...?"
The waitress flinched, and before a misunderstanding could form, she added, "I-I mean, they'll work for us! One night of fun for them is a week of working for us. None of us here actually have jobs. Even me, I came here to drink with my husband a few days ago, and I'm working as a waitress to pay the inn owners back."
It was a bit of a strange system. So if they ate once, they would need to work a week to pay it off? Wouldn't that mean they would starve for six days?
As if spotting his confusion, she quickly gave a short explanation:
"The imperial family hands out rations every day for free. These kinds of activities are only for those who want more, you know?"
"I see... well, I'm still not interested," Julian replied.
"I understand, sir." The waitress bowed. "But if you're ever hungry, just know captains don't pay. Your protection is enough work for us all."
Hearing that, Julian gave her a faint chuckle and replied, "I'll have one room then for the night. The ceremony starts tomorrow, after all."
Her expression lit up, and without waiting a second, she ran to the back door, likely telling the inn owners about him.
A moment later, she ran back out with a key, which she placed down on the table in front of him.
"This is the most luxurious room in the inn, reserved only for people as esteemed as yourself. On that note... will you be needing any nightly companions?"
"Hmm?" Julian raised a brow, then shook his head. "No, thank you. I'd like to be undisturbed."
A relieved expression appeared on her face, and after a little bit of small talk, she went to attend to the other customers. As for him, he grabbed the key and began walking toward the staircase.
And as expected, the customers all stopped gossiping as a deathly silence descended. All of them stared at him, but he didn't glance back.
However, from a certain few, he sensed miasma, while from others, killing intent.
As Julian went up the stairs and to his room, he couldn't help but let out a sigh.
'Looks like this night might not be as peaceful as I was hoping...'
(A few hours later, inside the master bedroom...)
Julian opened his eyes to a creak in the floorboard just outside his room.
He had gotten a few hours of sleep, and he was energized again. However, he really wasn't expecting the customers to be so lively, at least not this soon.
One of them began lockpicking his door, while the others unsheathed their sabers, ready to charge into the room.
'This is a bit disappointing...' Julian thought, approaching the door, and while the lockpicking was still happening, he abruptly opened the door, staring at the four armed customers in front of him.
"Can I help you?"
But it seemed like they didn't want his help, as the moment those words came out of his mouth, a saber flew straight for his throat.
Yet instead of panicking, Julian unsheathed his own saber and then, with one quick motion, slashed the attacker's arm off.
"AAAAH—"
His scream was cut short with another slash of the saber. Just this time, it went clean through his head, spilling brains all over the nearby customers who had just realized what was going on.
"Move in!"
"Attaaaaaack!"
The lockpicker was kicked aside as the two customers from the back kicked off the ground with surprising speed and dashed up to Julian, both attacking at once.
As their blades came from above, Julian, with a single hand, swung upward, parrying the two of them and sending them flying into the ceiling.
But they quickly recovered. Getting back to their feet, they dashed again, and so the dance between two sabers against one continued. Yet, even if they were desperate enough to kill him, the longer the fight went on, the sooner they began to realize that they stood absolutely no chance.
And with that realization, their survival instincts kicked in.
"Huh!? Hey! Where do you think you're going!?" one of the customers screamed, while the other suddenly dashed toward the window, his back turned to everyone.
"Fuck you! I'm not dying for some piece of shit pipsqueak's respect!" the other replied, and as he leapt, prepared to smash through the glass, he suddenly halted in midair.
Julian's ring grew, as his expression turned to one of amusement.
"Pipsqueak?"
At his words, the customer who hadn't given up yet tried to catch him off guard, but Julian had enough of their games.
With a single swing of his saber, he tore through the customer's defenses, shattering the sword and then cutting him vertically in half, all the while not even turning to face him.
His attention was on the snitch floating in the air.
And of course...
"Lockpick, come in as well," Julian urged.
But clearly, the lockpick was even more of a coward than the one currently hanging in the air, as without even caring for his safety, he took a step backward, slipped on the pool of blood, and smashed his head against the wall, breaking his neck.
"..."
"..."
Julian coughed, turning back to the one in the air.
"Well, your friends are gone. But you might live if you answer a few questions."
The customer nodded several times.
"Y-Yeah! I'll tell you anything, just—"
—SHATTER
The glass shattered as an arrow came flying in, aimed directly for the customer's head.
Time slowed down for Julian. He reacted swiftly and effectively. With the use of telekinesis, he created a barrier that blocked the incredibly fast arrow.
Or that was what he thought, until the arrow continued past the barrier. He tried directly using telekinesis, but that didn't work either.
And despite his best efforts, the arrow tore into the shoulder of the customer.
Julian had managed to move him aside just in time to avoid the vitals. But within seconds, the customer began foaming at the mouth, his expression turning pale. And before long, he stopped breathing, his body going limp.
A massive frown appeared on Julian's face as he approached the shattered window, looking down. However, the streets were empty, and so were the rooftops.
Whoever shot that arrow was gone without a trace.
'That arrow went straight through my Spiritual Essence. Is it a Soul Artifact?' Julian thought, and after absentmindedly tapping on the windowsill a few times, he went up to the customer and yanked the arrow out of him.
The tip was laced with a black liquid, and since he wanted to find out more, he broke it off and stored it inside his pocket before finally going downstairs.
The waitress was still happily serving drinks, and aside from a few select customers, the others were too drunk to pay attention to him.
And without informing anyone about what happened, Julian left the inn.
He had a lot on his mind, and since he already got some sleep, he would spend the rest of the night observing the city firsthand.