“What’s it to you?” the drunk man asked. That was a rather odd question, given it was Lillia’s chair he’d been about to throw. “Put him down,” one of the man’s companions said, putting a hand on the hilt of his sword. “One warning. We protect our own.” “You should have protected your own by keeping him from running his drunk mouth,” Wanda spat. “Try to start a fight and I’ll make cymbals out of your heads. You’re a lot of babies that haven’t wet their swords in a real fight — or woman.” A few people let out amused snorts at that, which only served to anger the group even further. Lillia’s expression tightened even further. She clapped her hands together and the shadow holding the man in the air released him, dropping the drunkard to the ground with a thunk.” “Get out of my tavern. Now.” The group of adventurers stiffened, as if strings had been attached to the tops of their heads and jerked taut. Fear washed over their features as, to everyone’s disbelief, they marched straight out of the tavern and onto the street. Rodrick recovered the fastest, striding out the open door before any of them could even turn around. “If you come back here without a written apology, I’ll throw you out on your ass,” the warrior said. “And don’t even think about trying shit, or Ifrit will bend you into a pretzel and blacklist you from buying anything from him.” Reya walked up alongside him. Reya blew out a sigh. Evidently, Madiv still had a few things to work through. “I think you might have gotten a few things twisted, but I’m sure you’ll get there eventually. Just don’t go sharing that around if you don’t want to cause Lillia trouble.” “I will not breath a word,” Madiv swore, pressing a hand to his chest. “For the time being, I will keep an eye on the ruffians that the Q — Lillian dismissed from her presence to ensure that they do not attempt anything ill advised.” With that, the vampire swept out of the room and slipped through the door like a shadow in the night. Reya watched him leave, then shook her head and looked back out at the crowded tavern. “It’s pretty incredible, isn’t it?” Rodrick asked. “I won’t admit this to anyone else, but I was starting to wonder if we’d ever actually get things moving. I’m happy for Lillia and Arwin.” “Not just them. We’ve got a ridiculous amount of money now. Most of that will probably go into fixing up the street and getting some Read the latest chapters on NovelHub - completely free!” Rodrick nodded in agreement. “Momentum is important. We can’t let up now that people have learned about us in proper. But… keep an extra eye on Arwin, would you? We can’t have him working himself to death.” “We all will,” Reya said. Something nudged her leg and she looked down to see an imp in a maid outfit holding out a mug to her. She smiled and took it from the small monster. “Thank you.” The imp nodded and scurried off. Rodrick’s nose scrunched. “Where’s mine?” “Over here,” Anna said, emerging from the darkness carrying two mugs. She handed one to Rodrick, then nodded to Reya. “Lillia said we should take a moment to breathe. It’s been one hectic day.” Reya sipped from her mug. It tasted like apples. She smiled. “It damn well has.” It was nighttime by the time Arwin finished in the smithy. Despite his promise, after resting for around an hour and making sure nobody else had plans of showing up unannounced, he returned to the back room and made several more sets of Wyrmling scale armor. There was still a lot of work to do, but he was satisfied — and exhausted. He emerged from the smithy, locking the door behind him to make sure nobody got any ideas about all the gold they had in its back. As he turned, he spotted Madiv sitting on the top of a rooftop, watching over the street. The two men exchanged a nod before Arwin walked over to the Devil’s Den and headed inside. There were only a few people still there, but he could tell from the messy tables and imps scurrying around, wiping everything down with rags, that it had been quite busy. Reya, Rodrick, and Anna had gathered at one table and were happily chattering away, all clearly drunk. A smile passed over his lips. They deserved it after the hard work they’d put in. There was no sign of Lillia, which meant she was probably doing something in the kitchen. Arwin started toward it, but he paused just a few steps into the tavern as he spotted a familiar face. Jake sat at one of the tables with a mug of ale and a plate of beautifully charred meat before him. “Well, if it isn’t Ifrit,” Jake said, sending Arwin a smile. “You’ve been a busy man.” “I try,” Arwin said. He nodded to the food. “How are you liking it?”