Chapter 30: The Tavern Massacre
“Hey, give me another one,” Leona said, having finished her drink. The dwarf couldn’t help but be impressed by how she remained unaffected by the alcohol.
…Of course, her heart wasn’t actually beating.
“I don’t mind telling you about it, but do you want the whole story, or just the highlights?” the dwarf asked Abyss, mixing another drink for Leona. “You’re quite young. If you hear the full version, it might ruin your appetite for the drink. It’s a bit gruesome.”
Abyss laughed. “Your worries are as unnecessary as a ghoul’s liver. Tell me the whole story. I want to hear the full version.”
With no new customers coming in, the dwarf had time to kill. He cleared his throat, spat out the tobacco leaves again, and began recounting the events of that fateful night.
The incident that led to the tavern’s decline happened five years ago. Before that, “Ugly Dwarf and His Wife’s Tavern” had been a favorite haunt for drunkards in Golden Griffin City. In addition to Leona’s beloved “Blazing Elk,” the dwarf, named Dar, had inherited many secret recipes from his father. These unique drinks couldn’t be found anywhere else on the continent. As a result, his tavern was always packed. He had hired a nimble dwarf lad as a waiter, and two female dwarf dancers as one of the tavern’s main attractions. In this bustling metropolis, it was no exaggeration to say that they were making a fortune.
However, on an ordinary night, as Dar was serving the merry drunkards in his tavern, bringing them fine or cheap drinks as they requested, disaster struck. The alcohol had loosened the patrons’ inhibitions, making them forget their daily worries and anxieties. They linked arms, forming a circle, and sang hymns to the Nine Gods, their joyful voices loud enough to make one want to cover their ears.
This was usually Dar’s favorite time, as the customers, caught up in the revelry, were rarely stingy with their coin.
Just as the song reached its climax, the tavern door was suddenly flung open.
Dar was about to greet the newcomers when he noticed something strange about their appearance.
They all looked human, both men and women, dressed in dark blue robes. Their exposed faces were aged and somewhat deformed. Upon closer inspection, their faces were generally human but with subtle differences: their eyes were larger than those of humans. They didn’t have the beautiful almond-shaped eyes of elves, but round ones, resembling those of marine creatures. And they seemed older than their apparent age, their faces wrinkled, their hair grey and patchy. It was hard to imagine what a group of elderly people, dressed in matching robes, were doing barging into a tavern late at night.
The waiter and the dancers also sensed trouble and immediately retreated behind the counter, watching to see what these silent strangers would do.
One of the drunkards noticed the newcomers and greeted them warmly, inviting them to join in the drinking.
However, the response he received was the collective raising of slender, conical daggers from beneath the robes of the intruders.
“For the Lord of Submergence!” one of the old men shouted in a raspy voice, and the others echoed his cry.
Before the slow-witted drunkards could comprehend what was happening, the intruders raised their daggers high and lunged at them.
“Ah!” A scream pierced the air, followed by a chorus of cries as the tavern descended into chaos. With speed and strength that belied their age, the old men frantically stabbed their daggers into the bodies of the drunkards, blow after blow. Blood splattered, staining their clothes crimson. Some of the victims were even stabbed through their eyes, the daggers entering their sockets and emerging from the back of their heads, killing them instantly.
No one expected this group to start a massacre. This was Golden Griffin City, the capital of the Western Empire, where the nation’s most elite guards were stationed. Who would dare act so recklessly? Unless they didn’t value their lives.
However, these madmen truly didn’t care about their lives. After killing all the singing patrons, they didn’t flee but calmly arranged the bodies in a circle, feet facing outwards, and then stabbed their daggers through their hearts, pinning them to the wooden floor.
The others in the tavern were terrified. Several patrons who hadn’t been singing and were spared cowered on the floor, paralyzed with fear, soiling themselves. Dar and his two employees huddled behind the counter, too afraid to make a sound.
The screams from the tavern naturally attracted attention from outside. Someone must have alerted the nearby patrol, for a group of heavily armed soldiers kicked open the door and stormed in, their faces grim.
The sight that greeted them, a scene straight out of hell, the strong stench of blood and other foul odors, momentarily stunned the soldiers. But, trained for such situations, they immediately charged, swords flashing, and quickly dispatched the madmen. The intruders were no match for the soldiers. Their headless bodies collapsed, spraying blood, their heads rolling across the floor, twisted expressions frozen on their faces. The sight was so horrifying that Dar’s young waiter fainted on the spot.
The soldiers swiftly dealt with the situation, taking two survivors for interrogation and removing the bodies, leaving behind a floor stained with blood and filth.
The subsequent interrogation didn’t reveal any real answers. The two captured madmen refused to speak, only cursing the Nine Gods as foolish idols. They eventually died in their cells.
For a long time after that, people in Golden Griffin City were afraid to sing hymns to the Nine Gods. Some even stopped donating to the Church. Fear of the unknown cultists kept people from seeking entertainment at night.
Although Dar wasn’t blamed as the victim, few people dared to enter “Ugly Dwarf and His Wife’s Tavern” after such a gruesome incident. His employees resigned, and even though he spent money replacing the tavern floor, he couldn’t convince the terrified public to return. Now, the only patrons who frequented his tavern were newcomers to Golden Griffin City and a few old drunkards who valued good wine more than their lives.
Dar, having suffered this misfortune, was indignant. After finishing his story, he rubbed his red nose and said, “Damn that Lord of Submergence! I can’t believe such a cult exists in Golden Griffin City. I wonder if there are any remnants. I hope the Lord of Storms will unleash his divine wrath and burn them all to ashes!”
“This ‘Lord of Submergence’ can not only influence people’s minds but also alter their appearance?” Abyss pondered. “I can’t help but suspect a connection between him and the monster I encountered in the illusion…”
“What are you going to do?” Leona asked, taking a sip of her drink. “Kill him?”
“Continue investigating. Since he came looking for trouble with me, I have to return the favor,” Abyss said, taking a sip of his drink.
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