Chapter 111 - Let's Have A Drink?
Chapter 111 - Let's Have A Drink?
Manda made her way back to the surface as fast as possible. The place had already become so dangerous that she no longer wanted to stay there any longer. By the number of dead Two-Tailed Rats she witnessed, it was definitely not something that only a mere one or two combined nests can handle. She realized that it was even more terrifying than what she initially assumed.
This might be connected to the recent Beast Tide so she decided to go back and report it to the Adventurers Guild immediately. Although all of the Two-Tailed Rats might have already been killed, she still wanted to report it so that the Adventurers Guild could check it out.
The thought of associating Ban with the killings never crossed her mind as she saw Ban as someone below her due to his age. If only she considered something like that, things would have become easier for her, and it would be more difficult for Ban.
…
After meeting that strange woman, Ban made his way home without delay. He went back to Boss Mario's place to report that he was already done with the task.
Boss Mario was pacing back and forth as he waited for Ban's arrival. He was now getting worried as the time had already been almost two hours and yet there was still no sign of Ban returning soon.
Just as he was about to go to the Kuys Bar to report it to Kuys, he suddenly saw a figure with ragged clothing waving his hand to him. At first, he did not recognize who it was as it was already dark, and not to mention that Ban's appearance really looked miserable, with his clothes being torn apart and dirty.
"Ban? Are you okay?" Boss Mario asked worriedly, looking at his clothes.
Ban smiled at him before answering, "Yes, Boss Mario, only my clothes got torn but I'm not really wounded. But I do have some minor bruises but they will heal tomorrow as I'm already an X-Mortal Human."
He had some spare clothes on his Dimensional Storage but he chose not to change as it can testify that he really was killing Two-Tailed Rats earlier.
"Are you sure? Just tell me if you feel something is wrong, I can bring you to Doctor Wakwak so that he can treat you!" Boss Mario asked once again.
"Alright, I'll tell you if something is wrong but you really don't need to worry about me, I'm fine."
"Well, if you say so. So, how about it? Did you kill them all already? And what took you so long?"
"Yes, I already killed all of them but there are more Two-Tailed Rats there than I expected so it took me a long time to finish all of them." He said.
"Err- by more, how much are you referring to?" Boss Mario asked with full curiosity. If there was really more, then he should try to compensate Ban for it.
"There are more than 20 of them, but fortunately they aren't that strong so I was able to kill them without a problem." Ban decided not to tell the exact numbers as he was worried that Boss Mario might suspect something.
Although he was known for his unusual strength, it wouldn't be reasonable for a newly awakened person to start killing off fifty or more Beasts of the same level within two hours.
"That many? You should not have risked your life unnecessarily… I told you before that you can come back if you can't handle them, right?"
"Well… I managed to take care of them so…" Ban smiled wryly as he scratched his chin lightly.
"This brat…"
"Well, I did not face twenty Two-Tailed Rats at once Boss Mario, I killed and faced them one by one so it was really safe."
"Sigh! Alright! Just be careful next time. You only have one life Ban… Don't waste it!"
"I know… You don't need to worry about it, Boss Mario. I also don't want to die early." Ban smiled as he patted Boss Mario's dropped shoulder.
He must have been really worried about him. Aside from Kuys, it was Boss Mario who he was always with in the past years that he lived in the city. If he considered Kuys as the one that is the closest to him, then Mario would be the next one after his spot.
Boss Mario released a deep sigh as he finally decided to make a smile. "Well, now that you've finished the task successfully, how about we grab a drink at the Kuys Bar? Don't worry, my treat."
"Sure… But I won't be drinking that bitter drink you gave me last time." Ban said with a smile.
"Tsk! Sure, sure!" Boss Mario smiled as he clicked his tongue recalling that incident where he offered Ban to drink a bottle of beer.
Ban, who thought that it was also some kind of soda, happily accepted and slurped it down immediately in a huge mouthful.
That's when his expression began to change, his eyes went wide as he immediately coughed up the beer with his eyes almost popping out of his eyelids. It turns out that was not able to handle the bitterness of the beer causing him to instinctively spit it out.
Kuys berated Mario about it, saying Ban was still a kid so he should not drink beer or any alcohol yet. Recalling those pieces of memory, Boss Mario could only smile as he deeply wished that things would still be the same in the future.
As Boss Mario's bakery store was located just a dozen meters away from Kuys Bar, they immediately arrived at their destination within a minute.
Boss Mario pushed open the door forcefully, acting as if he was the owner of the establishment. His mood was very good at the moment as he recalled those memories causing him to act like he was on the top of the world.
He sauntered haughtily towards Kuys table and sat forcefully at the stool. He raised his hand to make an order but before he could speak a single word, he suddenly felt a pain in his forehead.
"Ouch!" He looked around and it was then that he noticed that Kuys had actually flicked him, and quite forcefully at that.
"Why are you acting so cocky brat…" Kuys asked with a smug face.
"Why! Can't I act how I want now?" He said as he rubbed the pain on his forehead.
Kuys just shrugged off his question before he turned his attention to Ban, who was just behind Boss Mario this whole time.
"How was your task, Ban-kiddo?"
"It's alright, I've already killed all the Two-Tailed Rats and destroyed their nest while I was on my way back." Ban said..
"It's good that you destroyed their nest as the other rats might occupy it for their own if you did not destroy it. Good job!" Kuys said as he gave Ban a huge thumbs up.
"Anyways, did this brat already give you your reward?"
"Not yet!"
"What? I knew it… Hey brat, you should have given him his reward immediately the moment he completed that errand." Kuys said with a frown.
"Sorry… I forgot!" Boss Mario smiled wryly as he reached into his pocket and carefully counted 15 Gold Coins before handing it to Ban.
"Boss Mario, I think you've handed me 5 more Gold Coins than the promised rewards." Ban said as he handed back the 5 extra Gold Coins towards Boss Mario.
"No! You said that you killed twice the normal amount so it's also only right that I give you compensation in return. You risked your life so that those rats won't bother me anymore, so just accept it. And besides, it was really just cheap considering that your life was on the line."
"Well... Okay!" Ban answered after seeing Boss Mario's determined expression.
"Good job brat!" Kuys also gave Mario a thumbs up seeing his attitude.
"Anyways, Ban, you should go and change your clothes now so that we can have a drink together." Boss Mario said.
"Alright, I'll be right back!" Ban said as he sprinted towards the attic.
He also needs to help the others on serving the customers so he just took a light shower directly. Eva wanted to come inside the shower together with him, but he decided against it saying that it won't take long. Eva was adamant at first but she later decided to concede as she just hopped above the bed to wait for him.
Ban wore his Kuys Bar uniform immediately after shower and before he went down the stairs, he stored the sword inside his Dimensional Storage so that he can access it easily if something comes up.
Eva hopped into his shoulder as he stepped out of his room in the attic as he started to descend down the stairs. And just as he was about to continue down, he suddenly heard a ruckus on the second floor, the floor where the other employees of the Kuys Bar were staying.
His curiosity was piqued so he decided to go there and check what the ruckus was all about.
However, even before Ban could arrive, he suddenly saw a flowing water coming from one of the bathrooms of the second floor. Ban realized that something might have happened as the water won't overflow that easily on the floor if there wasn't.
He immediately ran towards that bathroom and knocked on the door repeatedly, "Hey? Someone there? Are you alright?"
Hearing no answer, Ban decided to just burst right in as he was now more certain that something really happened inside, after hearing that the shower was still on and yet no one was answering.
"Help me a bit, little Eva!"
Ban retreated a few steps as he charged on the door with a shoulder bash. He expected the door to break in one thrust but the door was actually quite sturdy.
After two attempts and not getting any result, he decided to shoulder bash it along with Eva.
Boom!
The door was finally broken and he was finally able to see what's happening inside.