Home of the Brave

Xia Luwei recounted the story of encountering the Minotaur on the road in detail. After listening, the boss touched her beard with her hand, revealing an intriguing expression.

"Minotaurs are usually in groups of at most three to five. It's really rare to see more than ten at a time... I guess they are planning to attack a certain village or town, right?"

"I think so too." Xia Luwei agreed.

"But having said that, you can still be safe when you encounter such a large group of ferocious monsters. Your luck is really extraordinary!"

"Yeah, it would be troublesome if it started..." Xia Luwei nodded in fear, but then realized that the topic seemed to be off the track. "Well, I would like to ask, has this happened before? I mean, the sudden mass poisoning of a large group of minotaurs like today...ah, it doesn't have to be poisoning, it's a similar situation anyway."

"Well, as far as I know, it doesn't seem to have happened." The boss shook his head.

"Then, can you guess the reason?"

"The reason..." The boss frowned for a while, and then asked, "You said that you met Dai Yang soon, did he not say anything at the time?"

"He said that the Minotaur may have been food poisoned by eating poisonous mushrooms, but that's not certain..."

"Then, maybe that's it?" The boss shrugged helplessly, and made a rather irresponsible conclusion.

"but…"

"Miss Cavalier." The boss suddenly called her in a solemn tone. "You know, the world we live in is extremely vast, and miracles happen anywhere we don’t know. No one can know everything in this world. If I were you, I would take today’s encounter It’s Albers’ asylum, and then I express my sincere gratitude... Don’t you think this attitude is wrong?"

Albers is the **** of storm on the continent of Palamis and the patron saint of travelers. Xia Luwei couldn't help feeling that she was too unreasonable when she heard the boss say so, so she nodded. Following the appearance of the boss, put his hands on his chest, and extend prayers and gratitude to the patron saint of travelers.

When the two of them were about to end their prayers, Dai Yang, who had placed the goods, came out from inside. As their attention turned to the black-haired youth, the topic of the Minotaur ended.

"Oh, are you all ready?"

"A cup of Seymour, thank you."

The black-haired youth naturally sat on the chair next to Xia Luwei, picked up a wine glass and placed it on the bar in front of him, asking the boss for his payment.

"You kid, you're not at all polite..."

The boss shook his head and smiled bitterly, took out a wine bottle from the cupboard behind him, and poured the light red transparent liquid into his wine glass.

Dai Yang kept staring at the boss until it was almost 80% full, then nodded in satisfaction, then took a sip from the wine glass, squinting his eyes and showing an expression of tasting carefully.

"...Tsk, the taste of 726 is still almost the same, isn't there no one from 723?"

"Hey, the one from 1973 is intended to be dedicated to Emperor Frost and Snow. Do you want the whole town to pay for your greed?"

"There is always more, right? I know, you brew one or two more barrels every year."

"Since it is a spare, of course you have to wait for the tribute to be delivered to Emperor Frost and Snow without incident before you come back to open the seal."

"That means I can look forward to it from now on?"

"Tsk, don't use this cunning language. You kid, in some respects, you look more and more like your old man..."

The boss and the black-haired young man just chatted with you and me, and the sensitive words "Frost Snow Silver Emperor" and "tribute" appeared from time to time in the conversation. However, the two of them looked like no big deal. Xia Luwei couldn't help being confused as she listened. She took a sip of honey water, closed her eyes to calm her mood, then opened her eyes, and plucked up the courage to join the conversation between the two.

"Excuse me, what do you mean by ‘tribute’?"

"Huh?...Ah, are you asking about ‘tribute’?"

Dai Yang answered her. The black-haired young man waved his hand indifferently, explaining with a voice that didn't feel nervous at all.

"It's something dedicated to Silver Emperor Frost and Snow every year. For example, it's like ground rent."

"Land... rent?"

"Well, after all, this is the place of the dragon. In order to get permission to continue living on this land, the town will offer tributes to the silver emperor Frost and Snow every year."

"In other words, does that dragon force you to give tribute every year? Isn't this... Isn't this excessive?"

Xia Luwei suddenly cheered up, feeling as if she had somehow found a position of justice. However, the boss next to her broke in and shattered the hope she had finally raised.

"It's nothing too much. Even when the Gulambel Kingdom ruled here, don't you still have to pay taxes to the king and nobles? Besides, compared to all kinds of taxes that will come up without knowing when, The tribute to the dragon is much less."

"Much less means..."

"It's the specialty here." Dai Yang shook the wine glass in his hand and explained in a pleasant tone. "Every year the town has to hand over six barrels of the highest-quality wine as a tribute to the silver emperor Frost and Snow, and then you can live a comfortable life for a whole year without worry. There is no need to worry about robbers coming to patronize, and there is no need to worry about having them. The army entered, except for a little more monsters, everything else was simply impeccable."

"By the way, the wine dedicated to the dragon is brewed by my own person."

The boss touched his mustache triumphantly and made a final addition to Dai Yang's explanation.

"Haha, Sean is the leader of the town’s winemaking. The Bordeaux I mentioned earlier was actually made by him. A bottle of Bordeaux can be sold at a very high price on the black market. The tribute of Emperor Frost and Snow is actually very valuable."

Dai Yang said with a chuckle, then raised his head and drank the remaining wine in the glass, then handed it over.

"Continued Cup."

"...Hey, the glass of wine you just drank is worth thirty lien?"

"Don't be stingy, anyway, you are all self-produced and brewed, what does it matter? Speaking of which, didn't you say that you want a set of glasses made in Venice? I helped you find out when I went to the city to buy goods this time. ."

"real?"

"Of course, do you want to know the following?"

Dai Yang chuckled, shaking the wine glass in his hand, acting like "if you want to know, fill it for me". The boss frowned and looked at him, then sighed helplessly, then turned to get the wine bottle.

At this moment, there was a sudden "clam", and the two of them turned their heads in surprise, and saw that Xia Luwei seemed to be thinking about it, and accidentally knocked the wine glass in front of her to the ground. The wooden beer mug slammed on the ground and made a dull sound, attracting the sight of other guests in the tavern. Under the gaze of everyone, Xia Luwei, who was already depressed, became more and more at a loss.

※※※

"Well, it seems that we were too engaged in the conversation, but missed Miss Cavalier..."

The boss's words seemed to round off Xia Luwei, and Dai Yang quickly picked up the wooden cup that fell on the ground, and gestured "don't care" to the drinkers looking here.

"I'm really sorry, then I will take you to rest, please come with me."

The boss walked out of the bar, ready to take Xia Luwei to the hotel room on the second floor.

Xia Luwei followed the boss up the stairs next to the bar, glanced back at the black-haired young man who was still sitting on the bar, and then whispered: "Excuse me, that...how much is the accommodation fee?"

"Accommodation fees? Ah, please don't worry, the prices in this shop have always been fair and honest." The boss seemed to have misunderstood her meaning, and smiled back and promised. "The accommodation fee is Qilien a day. Because there are quite a lot of rooms in our shop, I will arrange a single room for you. Miss Cavaliers, you can rest assured."

"Qilien..."

"Yes, is there any question?"

"No, no. Then please give me a single room."

Xia Luwei quietly breathed a sigh of relief. There were only one hundred and sixty liens left in her pocket, and this was all her property. Originally, she was ready to stay out if the accommodation fee was too expensive, but the price quoted by the boss was almost half cheaper than outside. It seemed that she could finally get a good rest tonight.

Under the leadership of the boss, Xia Luwei came to a guest room at the end of the corridor. After opening the door, she found that the furnishings inside were cleaner than expected, and she couldn't help smiling happily. Her performance fell in the eyes of the boss, who thoughtfully stroked her mustache, and the corners of her mouth raised a slight arc.

"Then, if nothing else, I won't bother you. Please take a good rest."

After leaving this sentence, the boss closed the door and left. Xia Luwei took off her armor, put her sword and shield next to the bed, then lay on the wooden bed covered with soft plant fibers, and began to think about tomorrow's actions. Although she wanted to draw up a preliminary plan for her future actions before going to bed, it didn't take long before fatigue and tiredness quickly occupied her body.

Xia Luwei yawned, unconsciously sinking into a dream in the fragrance of wine floating from downstairs...