Overwhelming Firepower

The Drunken Badger Tavern looked like it had survived more cave-ins than celebrations.

Its stone walls were blackened with soot, patched unevenly with different shades of rock, as if repairs had been made with whatever was closest at hand.

The wooden sign above the door creaked softly in the heat, its carving crude but unmistakable, a badger sprawled on its back, tankard clutched in one paw, tongue lolling out in defeat.

Unlike the forges outside, no open flames roared here. Instead, warmth seeped from within, steady and heavy, the kind that settled into one’s bones.

The scent that had drawn Robert in grew stronger. Roasted meat, thick stew, spilled ale, and something faintly metallic, as if even the food had absorbed the town’s nature.

The door itself was reinforced with iron bands, scarred with dents and scratches that suggested it had been slammed shut more than once, possibly during a brawl rather than a storm.

When Lucen pushed it open, the sound of hammering outside faded, replaced by low voices, rough laughter, and the clatter of wooden mugs.

Inside, the tavern was dim but lively. Thick beams supported a low ceiling stained dark from years of smoke. Long, heavy tables filled the room, their surfaces carved with names, symbols, and the marks of idle knives. Every chair looked sturdy enough to double as a weapon.

The patrons matched the furniture.

Miners and blacksmiths filled the room, broad-shouldered and thick-armed, their clothes still dusted with ore or streaked with grease.

Weapons rested openly at their sides or leaned against tables within easy reach. Each seemed eager to show off their masterpieces.

A few heads turned when Lucen’s group entered. They simply took a quick glance and then went back to drinking.

The people of Gurbundy didn’t really care who the newcomers were. That would be a waste of their precious time, which would be better spent continuing to drink.

Behind the counter stood the tavern owner, a massive man with forearms like anvils and a beard braided short to keep it out of the fire. Even he was drinking as he continued working.

The tavern owner finally noticed them when they reached the counter. He didn’t stop drinking.

A thick wooden mug was tilted back in one hand as he sized them up over the rim, eyes sharp despite the lazy angle of his posture. He swallowed, set the mug down with a heavy thud, then wiped his beard with the back of his hand.

”What’s this? New faces, I see...” The Tavern owner refilled his mug and started drinking again before continuing to speak.

”What is it you want? A mug of ale costs ten copper coins, food costs five copper coins, and if you wish to stay in a room, it costs one silver coin. Mind you, that this is the only establishment here that offers room and good food for travelers.”

When Bram heard that a room cost a silver coin, he wanted to say something, but Lucen gestured to him to stop.

Lucen then took out a gold coin from his pocket and placed it in front of the Tavern owner with a smile on his face. ”Four rooms for my companions and me, of course, with food and drink. I also need someone to tend to our horses. I think my payment would suffice for all that, and keep the change.”

The tavern owner’s face changed when he saw the gold coin. He already knew from the equipment Lucen and the other four were wearing that they would be some sort of nobles, but he didn’t expect them to pay so much.

Normally, when nobles come here, especially noble children, they thought they could stay in the Tavern for free, and they even have a lot of demands, like wanting to rent out the entire place and pushing out the other customers.

Of course, the Tavern Owner and the people of Gurbundy would not care for their fancy titles and kick them out of the town.

A few would retaliate, but this was a town under the Iron Duke’s domain, meaning if they caused trouble here and it was found out they were at fault, their entire families might get wiped out.

So at most they could only do some minor disturbance or try to at least beat up the Tavern Owner, but it never goes their way.

The Tavern Owner then showed a bright smile as he pocketed the gold coin.

”It would seem that you are quite different from those arrogant noble pricks who have been here before. The name’s Bromdir Kurvek.”

The tavern owner said, thumping a fist against his chest once. ”I own the Badger, I break up the fights, and I decide who sleeps under my roof. If you need anything or want to know something, you can come to me.”

Bromdir swept his gaze over Lucen’s group once more, slower this time. ”You lot are better than the others of your ilk. You paid fairly, so I promise you that you’ll get as much as you paid for.”

He turned and barked an order toward the back. ”Four stews, heavy on the meat. And bring out the good ale.”

Upon the mention of the good ale, a few of the patrons looked towards Lucen’s group, but quickly went back to drinking their own stuff when they saw Bromdir glaring at them.

Then he looked back at Lucen. ”As for the horses, I’ll have someone see to them. They’ll be fed well enough.”

Bromdir once again drank from his mug before continuing to speak. ”A warning, though, you’d better keep your belongings in check. A few young ones have gotten the bad habit of nicking a few coins from travelers and merchants.”

”No need to worry about that, we can fend for ourselves.” Lucen smiled as he tapped and gestured at his arquebus on the side and the sword on his waist.

”Aye, it would seem you do, but if possible don’t kill the lads, they’re just a bit mischievous, that’s all. They mean no harm.”

”No need to worry about that, we’ll just teach them a little lesson so that they won’t do anything stupid like that again. A little scare at most.”

That answer seemed to please Bromdir. He grunted, satisfied, and waved them away with a thick finger.

”Good. Those lads need a good scare. Take any table that isn’t already claimed. Rooms are up the stairs to the left, don’t try the doors marked with chalk unless you fancy sleeping with a hammer imprint on your face.”

”Thank you. Also, before you go, can you tell me about the rumors of a dwarf in this area?”

When Bromdir heard Lucen’s question, he once again looked at the group and drank from his mug.

”Oh, so you’re one of those people. There have already been quite a few mercenaries and some nobles who came wanting to meet the dwarf. I’ll get straight to it then, the dwarf you’re looking for is currently living here in Gurbundy, if you want to meet him, that’s easy enough since the old stump is not actually hiding, but if you want him to do something now, that’s a different thing.”

”Is that so... Well, I guess I’ll just try my luck then.” Lucen heard what he wanted to hear and flipped a silver coin in front of Bromdir.

”Heh, then I hope you have enough luck. The old stump has built a forge near the mines. You can also wait for him to come here since he does drink almost every day, but you shouldn’t talk business while he’s drinking.”

Bromdir added as he handed Lucen and his group their mugs of ale. Lucen nodded once as he and the others sat on a nearby table that was now empty.

”So there really is a dwarf here.” Robert was the first to speak. ”Now what do we do?”

”Hm, talking to him about business while he’s drinking is rude, especially for dwarves. They treat drinking ale as something as important as life itself.” Lucen commented while drinking the ale in front of him.

”Then we’ll observe him for now.” Sir Thalos responded while also drinking the mug of ale. Bram did not say anything as he simply nodded his head.

While their group conversed, the food arrived. It was a stew with a lot of meat. The dish seemed simple, but the smell was quite intoxicating. Lucen took a sip and was quite surprised.

As a person from a noble family, he had tasted a lot of things, but compared to his past life, most of the food in this world was nothing special. Yet this dish, this simple-looking dish, had a lot more flavor than most of what he had eaten in this lifetime.

He saw his companions having similar reactions. Robert was already muttering about what could be in the stew. Sir Thalos had a look of ecstasy as he took a bite of the meat, which melted in his mouth. Even Bram, who rarely showed much on his face, had his eyes wide open as he ate the stew faster.

As the tavern grew louder and the night deepened, another group of people entered the tavern.

Unlike Lucen and his group, who were wearing normal clothing with some leather armor hiding the Thornehart insignia, this new group was practically screaming that they were a noble son and his escorts.

They took a seat at an empty table and asked for food and drink. A few of the patrons were already frowning at the pompous look on the noble son.

Still, no one acted out, seeing as even though he acted irritatingly, he still paid properly, which was much better than some of the nobles who passed by recently.

After a while, everyone went back to minding their own business as the clatter resumed.