CHAPTER 417: ARC 6, CHAPTER 33: FAMILIAR FACE... OFF

Bardic music threw the room into a rhythm, backed by lively chatter and clinking of froth-spilling mugs. Only three tavern wenches appeared to be working, one behind the bar and two serving the eight tables in the place.

By the bar, Ben was already leaning an arm on the table, talking to the young woman with braided black hair. Jotou peered around. ’Some of them aren’t looking, but most of them are... As if me and Ben look subtle. They’re probs used to adventurers though.’

Jotou caught her foot tapping and her head bobbing in a rhythm. She searched for the source of the song; there by the side right by the wooden stairwell, were four musicians on string instruments and one with a flute.

The blonde squinted at the flutist who tapped her boots to her own song. "Jotou, guess what?" the bright red-armoured figure called.

’Chicken butt.’ Jotou crossed her arms, "You got us a room?"

"That, annnd I’ve got plans tonight, if ya know what I mean," he nudged her shoulder with an elbow twice.

"Congratulations and I don’t need to know that," Jotou knitted her brows. "Also, how?" her face scrunched.

He clicked his tongue through the helmet, "I worked my charms with that barmaid over there—succeeded. Though I guess she is a barmaid in the middle of nowhere, her difficulty isn’t that high," he pondered aloud.

Jotou squinted, "Dude... Whatever, look I’m not staying in the same room as you if you’re-"

"Got that covered, she has a room in the back, don’t worry," the grin could be heard. "You have the room upstairs all to yourself."

"Oh, so you’ll be upstairs in about eight minutes then?" Jotou raised a brow.

"Come on dude."

"You’re right, sorry. Two?"

"Oh just because you’re a girl now it takes you longer and you get to brag? Get outta here," he mocked while waving his hands.

"Well actually, it takes about the same- Never mind," Jotou winced her eyes.

"Dude, TMI," Ben replied.

The blonde glared directly up at him silently.

"What?" he shrugged.

"I’m gonna go get a drink; hopefully there’s something sweet," Jotou walked towards the bar.

"Cool, cool, I’m gonna talk to some tables, see if I get any info on missions, maybe gamble a bit," he uttered before quite literally grabbing a chair and pushing himself into the conversation of the nearest table.

The barmaid set a clean glass back up on the shelf, "What can I get ya love?"

"Sweetest drink you got?"

"I can get ya liqueur, aye. Cream, coffee or fruit?"

"Cream—whiskey if you can," Jotou’s eyes gazed at the flutist across the room.

While the barmaid started pouring a drink into a clean glass, the flutist’s dance grew slower and she opened her eyes, seemingly coming to the end of her notes. Her eyes met the blonde’s, to which Jotou averted her gaze and turned to the barmaid instantly.

"Thanks," Jotou received a milky brown drink and pushed a gold coin forward. "Keep the change." The barmaid smiled wide and nodded, thanking the blonde.

"I’ll get a drink on her then Blake," the husky voice of the flutist woman waltzed up to the bar and took a seat next to Jotou—arms spread open on the bar counter.

The barmaid shook her head with a smirk, "Wonderful playing tonight. How many more nights ya here for?"

"Hm, depends. But probably for a couple more days before hitting the road," the bard replied.

"Good, dad’s gonna whack ya with a lute if ya don’t soon," the barmaid stated and started preparing a drink without an order.

"That old man doesn’t know good music when it blasts in his ears," the flutist gave a sigh, then tilted her chin in the blonde’s direction with a devious glint in her eye. "Someone as pretty as you in a tavern like this is a rare sight. Coming from the guild?"

Jotou propped her arm up on the bar and leaned her head onto her hand, facing the bard, "Pretty much. Just staying for the night."

She crossed her leg over the other and swayed her high boot, "Night you planning to remember? I promise I look better up close~"

The blonde had a fleeting smile, "I’d like to say I don’t forget a pretty face, but it’s harder to forget a prettier song. All the way from Kria?"

"Aye~ Then again, so are you Thundering Blade of Kria," she said with a scratch in her voice proudly. Her light-brown hair longer than before, yet still in a scanty top and short skirt she was.

Jotou chuckled through closed lips. "Jotou Howllett—pleasure," she gave her hand to shake.

The bard slowly took her hand and planted a kiss on the back of it, eyeing up as she did, "Pepper—Pepper Flahkes."

Jotou raised a brow while withdrawing her hand, "Pseudonym of some sort?"

"Nah. Just parents with hilarious humour," she rolled her eyes.

’Pepper... Pepper? Pepper...’ Jotou’s eyes darted around. "Have we met before?" she cocked her head.

"Well apparently you knew of me and I knew of you," she said with a hearty laugh.

"I guess," Jotou smiled. "You’re from Kria, right? Born I mean."

She gave a nod and a hum. "Folks were Burntish though."

"Did you ever go to school in Old-Town?"

Pepper backed her face away and tipped her chin up. "Aye... Sorry, am I supposed to be remembering you?" she squinted and smiled.

With a gentle upturn of the lips, Jotou shook her head, "No, I think I’m confusing you for someone else. Not to worry." ’Looks like she doesn’t remember you Ana. Not surprising though.’ "You should know I’m taken though."

"Fair enough," she took a swig of her drink just as the barmaid set it down.

"You’ve come a long way from Cheers at Veers. Here," Jotou slipped her hand across bar, covering something till she revealed it to be an armite piece.

Pepper’s eyes bubbled and stealthily slipped her hand over Jotou’s to grab it and feel it. "This is..."

"Don’t flash it," Jotou wrapped her hand around Pepper’s and closed it. "Keep it as a tip~"

"Aight then... I will," she pocketed the coin.

"Jotou, you sly dog, aren’t you already romancing someone," Ben loudly proclaimed as he approached.

"That’s not what’s happening here..." Jotou narrowed her gaze.

"Oi arsehole! I’m not done with ye!" "Crash! Clang!" a gruff voice yelled out before a glass mug was shattered onto the back of Ben’s armour.

"What the hell d’you do?" Jotou knitted her brows.

"Uh, might’ve failed my sleight of hand and got caught cheating in a game of blackjack."

"Really...?"

The red-bearded man from behind held Ben’s pauldron and gripped the metal, "I want the gold ye took ye bloody bastard."

"Ben..." the blonde sighed.

"Hey, if I walked away with it, it’s fair game, I gave back the gold from the round I got caught, he can’t prove I cheated before," Ben defended.

"Oi Charlie ya knobhead, ya better be paying for that glass from ya own pocket!" the barmaid yelled over.

"Oh shut it ye slag," the man shouted back with a bit of a drunken slur. "Clunk!" "Ah!" a wooden mug knocked into the side of his head.

"That’s no way to be talking to a lady," Pepper moved her hand away from behind the bar, having flung the mug.

"Ye wanna go ye bitch!?" the bearded man raised his fists. "Thud!" He got knocked back and pushed into a table; his large frame slumped onto it and down came the table with him onto the floor, all the drinks spilling over.

"Oops," Ben, the one who punched him, uttered. The five who were sat at the table all shouted and glared at the armoured figure and the fallen man.

"Great..." Jotou took a slow sip of her drink. The five men rolled up their sleeves and readied their fists in drunken annoyance. The red-bearded man rolled and got back up on his feet, ready for a fight.

"Oi that’s enough, take it outside!" the barmaid yelled.

"Oh you know that’s not gonna happen," Pepper said with a crooked grin.

"Jotou, come on, combat’s started!" Ben looked back as they were getting ready to rumble and the band by the side began to play more active music.

Jotou raised her glass, "Yeah, good luck with that." "Thump!" The blonde moved her glass away just in time as an empty wooden mug flew past Ben and thudded against the bar. "Hey, watch it you dumbasses!" she protected her drink.

"Crash! Thud! Klink!" The brawl had started and drunken punches were being thrown left and right. Ben joined into it, but could not seem to get a solid punch in and his armour was a pain for anyone else to hit.

A plate of unfinished food flew across the room, crashing into another table and exploding into porcelain fragments. The disgruntled patrons groaned and grumbled as they got up and took whatever they could grab.

The barmaid, resigned to her fate, ducked under the bar for safety. Soon enough, food and cutlery were being thrown and a chain reaction of unintended harm took over the entire tavern.

"Dumbass ey?" with a slight bruise to the cheek, a man aimed his fist for the blonde.

Jotou held her drink in both hands and moved her head to the side as the punch came in for her face. She ducked her head down as the other punch came from the other side.

"Yeah, I think that was about right," unfazed, Jotou stayed on the seat of the bar and kicked her leg forward, high enough to kick him up the chin. With her foot in the air she booted him in the chest and caused him to stumble backwards into someone else.

"Fancy work," Pepper peppered in a soft applause.

Jotou gave a smirk, a wink and took a sip of her drink. A body flew towards the blonde, prompting her to get up and twist herself to the left, drink in both hands. "Crash!" The figure knocked over the stool and simply started to snore.

She immediately had to duck her head again to avoid the incoming thrown mug. Tables and chairs hit the floor, grunts and shouts were galore. ’Guess I’ll just get to my room for the night...’

"Hey, Blake was it? The red-armoured guy got a room upstairs, do you have the key?" Jotou leaned her head over the bar counter.

The clearly annoyed barmaid glanced up, "I gave it to him!"

Jotou inhaled as she drew her head back and peered at the scene. "Nice that we finally met, I’ll be off to my room now. Hope we meet again," Jotou raised her drink to the bard.

Pepper clinked against the drink with her own, "Till we meet again."

"Ben! Hey!" Jotou yelled into the chaos. Ben was failing to land a punch still, while a glass bottle shattered over his armour and he grabbed the man who did it before grappling him to the floor. "Ai, ai, ai..."

Jotou entered into the mess, hopping over a fallen chair with a hand covering her drink. "Woah," she completely bent her knees down, avoiding two punches being flung at the other.

She twirled back up and leaned back from the serving tray tossed across the room and hit the guy next to her in the nose. It bounced back and Jotou caught it with a free hand.

The blonde stepped forward, her footwork in a rhythm. A drunken man with reddened eyes glared at her and went to tackle her to the ground. "Whack!" The wooden serving tray met his face first, sending him to the floor.

She bumped into the back of a person being knocked into her and she swirled around, feet close together before she elbowed him in the chest, causing him to continue and fall over.

The stiffness in the wind alerted her to a chair being swung from behind her. She side-eyed it and spun around, bending her knees to avoid it. A burly woman held onto it with one hand, having missed.

"Thwack-Thack-Plack!" Jotou raised herself up and used the side of the serving tray to hit the woman’s wrist, then inner elbow making her drop the chair reflexively before the blonde used the flat end of the tray against her face.

The woman stumbled back and held her nose, allowing Jotou to dart quickly towards, "Crispy! Ben!" He was on the ground wrestling one man down while the red-bearded man dogpiled onto him.

His helmet eventually faced her standing still somewhat away, "What!?" he shouted.

"I need the room key!"

Ben groaned and one arm reached down to his belt while he fended two people off from prying into his armour. "Here!" he tossed the single silver key dangling on a cord towards the blonde.

Except the aim was not at all close and flew across the room from where she even was. As the key flew through the air, Jotou held the tray like a disc and threw it towards the key’s direction.

"Cling!" The cord got caught by the tray and the key landed onto it, but the tray continued flying and landed behind a table—beyond the mess of people...

Gently groaning, the blonde stepped ahead in the direction. She swerved, danced and hopped through the punches, kicks and various food and broken material on the ground. The wind of a punch brushed past her nose as she paused.

She ducked her head underneath, took a large sip of her drink and twirled to where she was heading, licking her lips as she did. "Eah," Jotou verbalized as she almost got hit by the wooden pole of a broom.

She checked her drink that was halfway gone and glared at the wolf-man who swung at her. Her eyes scanned the floor and picked up the fallen stool. "Clack!" She blocked a hit and threw the stool at him.

The man whacked it away with his forearm, but it gave time to Jotou to slip lower and away. She grabbed a broken chair leg and tossed it across the room towards Ben and bonked the red-bearded man in the head.

Ben turned his head in her general direction and gave a thumbs up. Jotou gave a thumbs up back and bent her knees down, avoiding the pole that was about to hit her head. "Seriously?"

The man held the pole in both of his hands with a gleeful grin.

Jotou’s eyes widened, "Shit, watch out!"

The man turned behind him with haste and then back at the blonde after seeing nothing incoming.

Jotou was already gone and was striding towards where the tray fell. She showed her middle finger behind her as she finally spotted the tray with the silver key.

She grabbed the key and hung it around her left hand that still held her drink. "Whiff!" Narrowly she avoided the pole aimed at her legs.

She walked backwards and stepped onto a fallen chair, balancing herself on its legs as she stuck her tongue out at her assailant. He swung for her torso.

Jotou leapt back onto one of the only unfallen tables and avoided the bruise. Her drink splashed and sploshed against her palm, but it did not spill as she stood on the tabletop.

She grabbed the pole from the man who tried to stab it forward and wrestled with it for control. With both arms, the man grinned, realizing Jotou did not have the strength to disarm him.

Jotou raised her brow and simply kicked him in the face, sending him back with the broom stick. She tapped her foot to the music and downed the last of her drink, savouring every drop.

There lied a spark in her eyes and a smirk as she stood victoriously above the mess and ongoing brawl. She raised her arms, glass and key in hand, "I declare the victory belongs to me, the Thundering Blade of Kria and Cravolta!"

"Woo!" Pepper hollered, sat atop the bar counter. The entire brawl paused and they all glanced up at her. An unspoken truce formed immediately as all remaining tavern patrons rushed for the blonde woman on the table.

It seemed not in anger or bloodlust, but most were happy to throw in punches and kicks, to the merriment of the band playing and the detriment of the three workers who hunkered down behind the bar.

It was loud. It was fast. ’It was fun.’