Chapter 44: The Invitation
With a single glance, Hikigaya knew. This bar, which only had a pathetic-looking door tucked away in an alley, was not a legitimate establishment.
The people here didn't fit the definition of ordinary citizens, nor were they government personnel or military.
"They're all mercenaries, aren't they?" Hikigaya asked.
Most of them carried the same scent as the members of the mercenary organizations on the periphery of the Nine Gods Group. It seemed Black Prince Alexander's circle of acquaintances was quite broad.
"The young brother is right," Kara said, appearing out of nowhere again. "But they're all decent fellows. No need to worry; with Alec here, no one dares to bully you."
He was then met with a glare from Alexander.
"Shut up, Kara," the Black Prince said to him seriously. "I have no intention of letting you die here."
Kara was instantly left scratching his head in confusion.
At that moment, a shirtless man of Arab descent walked over, stumbling drunk.
"Hey! Barkeep!" he shouted loudly. "Why don't you have any boys here? Oh... wait, turns out there's some good stock right here!"
He had spotted Alexander and Hikigaya.
The room suddenly fell silent. Everyone stared straight over. Some people placed their hands on their weapons.
"FUCK!" Kara's face darkened as he stepped in front of the man. "I haven't seen you before. Who let you in?"
"Cut the crap, barkeep!" The man pushed Kara back unpleasantly. "I'm going to have a go at these two!"
A series of "clacks" echoed through the room. The hostesses slipped out from the customers' arms, and as if by magic, pulled out subcompact pistols, daggers, and other weapons from scraps of fabric that shouldn't have been able to hide anything.
All of them were aimed at the man.
"Kara, this kid is drunk," someone stood up and said.
"You've been getting quite arrogant lately, Big Bear," Kara's muscles seemed to bulge even more, his eyes turning red.
"You dare cause trouble on my turf?"
"Alec, I know what you do for a living." The speaker clearly didn't know what Alexander's actual profession was.
"We aren't thieves. Out of respect for Kara, this ends here... hm?"
He suddenly realized the youth of East Asian descent had somehow walked up beside him.
"Get lost, kid. I'm not into little boy—"
The last sentence of his life ended there. Hikigaya had already pierced through his neck with a single finger.
It happened too fast. His companions hadn't even reacted to the fact that their boss was dead before two of them were hoisted up by Hikigaya and slammed together head-to-head.
Bang!
Their heads were driven into their chest cavities. Their limbs twitching, they were tossed aside like trash by Hikigaya's feet.
There were three people left. In their terror, they drew their guns and fired wildly, but they emptied their clips only to find the youth in front of them completely unharmed.
Then, Hikigaya gifted each of them a finger—a hole was punched through from their foreheads to the backs of their heads. Without sequence, the three lifeless bodies hit the ground simultaneously. The scent of blood completely permeated the bar.
Shaking the blood off his hand and patting his jacket as if there were actual dust on it, Hikigaya scanned everyone in the room.
"Is anyone else 'drunk'?" he asked. "My life motto is to find joy in helping others. Speak up, and I'll help you sober up."
No one spoke. A series of clatter-shatter sounds rang out as people subconsciously let go of their glasses and bottles.
Kara and the Arab man, who had been in a standoff, were staring in a daze. Meanwhile, Alexander retracted the magic he had been about to cast amidst the sound of shattering glass.
After a few seconds of silence, the Arab man turned and bolted.
Then he flew—Hikigaya turned and slapped him against the wall with his palm, turning him into a mural. He was literally flattened; a man weighing dozens of kilograms was turned directly into a painting. The moisture in his body was instantly evaporated, and fragments of organs along with skin were embedded deep into the concrete.
"Are there any more of your friends here?" Hikigaya asked Alexander.
"Only Kara and his girls." Alexander shrugged, then patted Kara on the shoulder.
"Now you know why I said what I did earlier, right? It was for your own good."
"Today's drinks are on the house!" Kara said decisively.
He had once seen Alexander play a "passing through" game on a battlefield, casually crushing an enemy army the size of a regiment. From then on, he knew that "magician" had another meaning in this world. This youth had the same scent as Alexander; he was likely from that world as well.
"How could I let that happen?" Hikigaya walked over and said. "I just finished a job across the ocean and got your place dirty. Is it okay?"
It should be said that because he had just finished a "job" and had been chatting well with the Black Prince, otherwise...
"Brother, you're looking down on me by saying that." Kara shuddered. He felt a sliver of killing intent leaking from Hikigaya—but even that sliver nearly froze him solid despite his history of surviving war. "Actually, this is considered clean."
He clapped his hands.
"Girls, don't just stand there." He gestured. "Take the meat to feed the dogs. Bring out all the liquor."
This seemed to be a signal. Noise returned to the bar, and the scene restored itself to its former state. Or perhaps it wasn't restored that well; for instance, the girls seemed to move through the crowd even more fervently to show off their charms, while the men became much better behaved—they weren't nearly as loud when using profanity.
Kara had a solution for this: he turned on the sound system and played high-tempo dance music. This made the atmosphere in the bar look, at least on the surface, no different than before.
However, neither Hikigaya nor Alexander cared about this. Except for Kara, the lives of the people here were no more precious in their eyes than anyone else's. They were just here for a drink.
The deafening dance music had built up a bit of an atmosphere, enough for the two to have a drink together. Kara brought a bottle of whiskey and filled the glasses for both Hikigaya and Alexander.
The two clinked glasses and each took a sip.
"What do you think?" Alexander asked.
"I don't know how to appreciate fine alcohol." Hikigaya took another sip.
"The last time I drank this kind of liquor, I thought the taste was very pungent."
"And now?"
"I feel it doesn't taste as good as beer."
"You'll get used to it." Alexander also raised his glass for another sip. "I actually didn't like drinking before, but now..."
He drained it in one gulp. His expression made Hikigaya feel as if he were drinking a Coke fresh out of the fridge.
"Every time, it's a hard-won survival, so I gradually grew to like it."
"I see." Hikigaya looked thoughtful. "That 'King of the End' you mentioned to me last time—any leads?"
"About that, there's been a bit of an issue lately." Alexander stared at his glass, watching the liquid flow from the bottle to refill it. His expression seemed somewhat excited. "If my idea is correct, it's a magnificent discovery. That way, my father's life of pure hardship might gain a little bit of consolation."
"What kind of idea?"
"I originally thought it was the 'King of the Past and the Future,' but now it seems that's not the case. There should be a deeper hidden meaning. This exploration is getting more and more interesting. Do you want to come along?"
The enthusiastic Black Prince extended the invitation just like that.
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