‘Why did I buy this??’

I was currently walking around holding a glowing green glob on a stick. As the street vendor who sold it to me said, it was a Myriad city delicacy. A mostly dead slime on a stick.

‘Why is it pulsing…?’

I wasn’t disgusted par say, it was more in the lines of, eating strange things from a stranger in a strange place. Looking at Bartha with her cheeks stuffed with at least 5 of them, and Dorota who was nonchalantly chewing on hers. I was peer pressured to take a bite.

‘Tastes like sour candy. More, sour than candy though…’

‘Well now it’s just a matter of time before my stomach starts melting itself from the inside’

We were currently in the main square, making our way to ‘Borras & Chomp’ the local adventurers’ hub and tavern. Taking our sweet time, since we did arrive really early, we had a lot of time to sightsee and eat strange things like the slime stick. A complete plus was I found a shop selling a book titled ‘Magic and Scrolls for the magically Inept’.

‘I just have to chant the word to make it work, but I need mana again... I don't know how mana works....’

The scroll itself would take the mana you had inside you to fuel its power. Unfortunately, it wasn’t as helpful as I thought. Since I had no idea how much mana the scroll needed to function or how much mana I had in the first place. But I could properly research it once I reached home anyways. Rather my mind was currently trying to convince myself that this wasn’t a complete waste of time.

‘Even if I can’t talk with the elves or drink with the dwarves… it’s still technically not a waste of time…’

‘I mean I can see how the adventure guild works in this world… Or maybe hear stories of the outside world...’

With such thoughts in my head, we had arrived at the doors of ‘Borras & Chomp’. It was located a lot further away from the residential areas, on its own with no neighboring buildings. The street was mostly empty, with the occasional carriage moving past the area. My first impression of the exterior of the place, was that it was identical to the Travelers Haunt in Karman Pass. The same medieval looking wood and brick buildings you find everywhere in the city.  

‘But I guess adventurers or mercenaries won’t really have much luxury in the first place’

‘I guess it’s a lot larger, can’t say I’m not disappointed, actually has 8 floors not including the ground floor...’

You can really tell the difference in class in the city. While the mansions of the nobles almost felt as though they were modern, with working bathrooms and lights. The peasants or regular people were the actual ones living in the dark ages. Most people were walking around in plain linen clothes, I stuck out like a sore thumb in my outfit.

Entering through the double doors, my first instinct was to scan the surroundings. In hindsight that was probably the worst decision I ever made. All eyes were on me. It’s not a pleasant feeling having the attention of over 30 people who can easily take my little life. My first impression on them wasn’t the best either, a haughty noble entered the tavern and just scrutinized everyone with his arrogant eyes.

‘Ah fuck…’

‘Ignore… ignore… just find the front desk or something quick….’

Noticing the bar at the very end of the large hall, I immediately made my way there. While trying my best to ignore the burning gazes and the large sharp weapons everyone seemed to have.

‘That axe is almost the same size as Bartha…’

----

As Richard calmly walked towards the bar, not a single person had stopped looking at him. To everyone the current Richard, was a noble who was either arrogant or powerful. Someone who, from just entering the tavern arrogantly gazed at every single person there. But for Richard, the very moment he noticed what his gaze had done, his eyes quivered. It was subtle, almost impossible to notice for the normal person.

Of course, there was an exception. Dorota who currently looked like a red tomato, holding her laughter in. Her eyes that seemed to follow Richards every move since that day in the study room, it was simple for Dorota to see through Richard. For Dorota his subtle reactions and habits were interesting, and cute. Realizing what was happening in his head, she was almost at the brink of losing it.

‘Ah… he paused before he took a seat, he doesn’t know what to do… I can actually feel the gears turning in his head…’

Looking at Richard who was now currently sitting at the bar. Dorota was waiting in anticipation for his next move. The bartender a bald tough looking man, with a long curly dark brown beard that reached his chest. A stained white tank top emphasizing his arms muscles. Even with his beer belly he had an absolute commanding presence.

To such a person, Richard without even blinking his eyes stared him dead in the eyes as he said,

“You got any milk?”

“….”

----

For some reason I felt as though the gazes on me seemed to have changed. An awkward silence seemed to have descended in the tavern.

‘Was it something I said?’  

With a hearty guffaw and a slam on the table the large man tending the bar was the one who ended the silence. Almost giving me a heart attack at the suddenness of his actions.

“Boy, here at Borras & Chomp…”

‘Yes?’

“We don’t serve children”

‘What children? I’m pretty sure this body is like 24… is the adult age higher in this world?’

The thing is, I have never drunk a single drop of alcohol my entire life. Nor have I been to an actual bar. Alcohol and I don’t mix for personal reasons, and I had no friends to go to bars with in the first place. Just because I’m in a different world doesn’t mean I’m going to change my alcohol habits. The reasons simply ran too deep. Even excluding my own reasons, Richard's fatality rate risers higher the more he drinks.

“Boy, if you want milk go back and suck it from your mommy’s tits”

Giving me a once over with his eyes, he added with a sly smile.

“And send her back here, I’m sure we can show her what a real man is like”

I already figured that asking for milk seemed to be a taboo here. But something didn’t sit right with me when he joked about my mother. A crude joke, something you would commonly hear in game lobbies. Something I should be completely desensitized to, yet I felt angry.

I was so far from home. There were so many things I still avoid thinking about, blocking them with other random thoughts. My mother remarried when I was 25, back than I would’ve been considered a complete parasite. I had no job, never left my room and only ate whatever my mother provided me. She had every right to get rid of scum like me, but she didn’t. She was there every step of the way until I got my shit together. The only family and friend I had in that world.

If there was anything my piece of shit father had taught me in his short life. I should keep my anger to myself. But I always seemed to smile more whenever I got annoyed or angry at people. Maybe I was happy deep down every time I got angry, the feeling of finally letting out all my pent-up aggression on someone. I guess I was more like that piece of shit than I thought. I could feel my mouth moving to form a smile.

----

Dorota was by far the most stunned by Richards actions. The Richard who drank alcohol as though it was water, asked for milk in a bar. She was with Richard almost 24/7 the past week, she had never seen him touch a single bottle. Even than since he was sitting at the bar, she thought he might start drinking again. She was ready to see Richard make a fool of himself while completely getting absolutely hammered.

Of all the things she thought Richard would’ve done once he sat down, this was not among them.

“And send her back here, I’m sure we can show her what a real man is like”

Just when the tough looking man had spoken this, Dorota felt Richard’s presence change. It was the same feeling from back in the study, at the same time she felt something else.

‘His demeanor… feels… weird…’ A/N: wonder why...

Richard was smiling,

*chuckle*” It seems you misunderstood; the moment I saw you I couldn’t help but wonder if you could produce milk, with that pregnant belly I almost mistook you for a woman.”

“Boy…”

“Now that I’m up close, I doubt any woman would have their pubes crawl up their face like yours.”

The man’s hand on the table was tightening into a fist.

“Seems the runt doesn’t know his place…”

“Insulting old Borras in his own tavern… Seems your mother was too busy whoring herself to teach you manners…”

“Maybe he’ll let you live if you leave the maid here…”

"Hey hey Borras you going to let some random whore son talk shit to you??"

Dorota could hear snickers and insults coming from all round her. She was slightly wary, even with her and Bartha together it would be hard to leave. From the looks of things, the entire tavern would go against them and Richard if a fight broke out. At the same time, the sun was out so she was a lot weaker. Still, it wouldn’t be impossible; she was confident in herself and Bartha. It just felt like a waste of her powers.

“Are you sure you don’t produce milk? I can hear the puppies who seem to be craving some…”

“Young mast-”

Before Dorota could make Richard stop, so they could leave, a large hand grabbed Richard by the collar easily lifting him up from his seat. The hand with small green tipped spikes coming out of the skin was attached to what used to be the tough looking bartender named Borras. Now a completely hideous monster, twice the size and his skin a greyish green. His eyes bulging out with his bloody veins visible on his face. His beard completely covering his lips and mouth that was open in a snarl with sharp shark like teeth.

“It seems… I should remind the city of why this place is called Borras and Chomp…”

“Once I’m done with you, I’ll find and grind every single one of your family members into meat soup”

Even while hanging almost 5 feet off the ground, Richard looked calm. His hands in his pockets as he stared down at the ‘man’ holding him up.

“It seems I was wrong…”

‘Too late now kid…’

“Who knew I was talking to an animal this entire time”

As if that was the last straw, Borras opened his mouth wide to devour Richard in the most gruesome fashion he could. He was determined to chew until Richard’s meat and bones were made into dark bloody sludge. To any onlooker Richard was a dead man.

“<Explosion>”

A silent mummer, almost impossible to hear unless you were close. Borras eyes that were bulging out of his eye sockets, seem to widen even farther. Dorota who was still calm in this situation was terrified when she heard Richard. She was also the first to react.

‘Does he want to take half the city with him?!’

“BARTHA!”

Immediately calling for Bartha and grabbing her hand as they both disappeared into their shadows.

“You-”

That was all Borras could utter, as a bright red light enveloped the entire tavern.

----

As the red light faded, where once a large tavern stood was now a giant crater. Surprisingly not a single person was dead. <Explosion> was a tier 5 magic spell, something that would normally create a gaping hole in a mountain. Every single person there was on the floor stunned. The ones that fell from the higher floors had bruises on their bodies. Their gazes fixed on the only person who was still standing, the black haired noble. A grand mage capable of such fine control that the entire tavern was disintegrated without (mostly) harming a single person. They were utterly terrified. He stood there towering over Borras, as if looking down on every thing with his arrogant gaze.

Unbeknownst to them, the one who was the most terrified and confused was the person who had caused all this. Dorota who was looking at him from the shadows was also confused, since she could read his expressions. 

‘He’s a damn lunatic...’