FVN Chapter 559: Ghostbusters (XII)
Chapter 559: Ghostbusters (XII)
The tavern occupied the ground floor of an old timber building whose dark beams had been polished smooth by countless years of use. Warm lantern light pooled across lacquered wood, painting the interior in shades of amber and gold while leaving the corners steeped in comfortable shadow. Red silk tassels hung from carved rafters overhead, swaying gently whenever the door opened and a gust of cool evening air slipped inside. The scent of strong liquor mingled with roasted meat, spices, and faint traces of incense, creating an aroma that seemed to cling stubbornly to the walls themselves.
Rows of wooden tables filled the spacious room, each one crowded with patrons speaking in lively voices. Some laughed loudly over cups of rice wine, while others sat in quieter groups, discussing business, rumors, or matters best kept from wandering ears. Some were Awakened, while others were merely mundane. Ceramic bottles rested beside half-finished meals, and the occasional clatter of chopsticks or mugs blended seamlessly into the tavern’s constant hum of conversation. The atmosphere was energetic without becoming chaotic, carrying the sense that everyone present had come not merely to drink, but to belong to the shared warmth of the establishment.
Behind a long counter stood shelves packed with porcelain jars and glass bottles, their contents ranging from clear spirits to richly colored brews. A bartender moved between them with practiced efficiency, filling cups and exchanging familiar greetings with regular customers. Near the back of the room, a small raised platform hosted a pair of musicians whose gentle melodies drifted through the tavern like a lazy stream, softening the rough edges of the surrounding noise.
Despite the bustle, the tavern possessed an undeniable elegance. Intricate screens divided portions of the room into semi-private spaces, their surfaces painted with mountains, rivers, and flowering trees. The lantern light reflected off polished wood and glazed ceramics, giving the entire establishment a subtle glow that made it feel older than it truly was.
The bartender heard the faint jingling of bells from the doorway. He glanced up for a moment, before returning to his action of cleaning a cup.
"I’ll have to ask you to leave. This is no place for child...ren?"
Finally getting a good look at the two customers, he blinked. The first was a young man of unimpressive height, carrying a strange encroachment with his presence. How young the man was... couldn’t quite be discerned. The second was a girl who definitely couldn’t be an adult, with dark bags under her eyes and a tense demeanor. Her eyes constantly shifting between customers as if any of them could pull out a knife at any moment.
...What he saw was more than enough for the bartender to kick them out. The girl was a Foxian, so she could only realistically be in her thirties — maybe forties if she was exceptionally youthful. If the boy was from a long-lived species, then he was likely only in his forties as well. Otherwise, he was a mere teenager.
However, these two youths would not be getting kicked out. The reason being the fact that the bartender just noticed a familiar presence — the kind his Awakened regulars from the Cloud Knights emit, but on the stronger side.
The boy’s presence seemed to make the world a little darker, the shadows a little deeper, the light a little dimmer... meanwhile, the girl carried a faint sharpness, an edge that made everything seem more suspicious. Wrong. Whatever can go wrong will go wrong.
They were Masters. No matter their age, that automatically made them more adultlike than most grown men could brag. To not only survive the horrors of the Dream Realm, something the bartender has only ever heard of, as well as to willingly put their lives at risk to conquer the Second Nightmare... he wasn’t sure he could muster up the courage to even attempt that.
Moreover... it was the law. Those infected by the Nightmare Spell were considered legal adults. It only made sense. How could they be expected to stake their lives against Nightmare Creatures and even their fellow man, just to be told that they couldn’t drink?
"Ah... forget what I said. Have a seat. What can I get you?"
The macabre young man nudged the terrified girl, causing her to jolt out of her paranoid trance. She sent the man beside her a resentful look, before nervously turning to the bartender.
"Uh, hello. Can we get a shot of Five-Grain Jade Elixir and... milk?"
***
Their drinks swiftly arrived, slid across the smooth bar table in a move of dexterity. The Five-Grain Jade Elixir was a golden wine that emitted an earthy, crude aroma, as if stuffed and mixed with nothing but sediments. Sunny gazed down at it for a moment, then turned to Huohuo, who had a glass of milk in front of her.
They swapped their beverages — Sunny grabbing the milk, and Huohuo getting the wine.
The bartender seemed to be choking on something.
Sunny sent him a curious glance, before shrugging. He took a swig of calcium-rich glass.
"What was it you wanted to talk about, Huo squared?"
Huohuo frowned.
"Please don’t call me that. And..."
She had a strange expression on her face.
"Nothing, actually. Madam Hanya seems to think we’re best friends, or something stupid like that. N—No offense!"
She shuffled a little further away from Sunny, as if prepared to make a run for it. He rolled his eyes.
"So... you brought me here for nothing?"
Huohuo averted her gaze.
"No? Just, uh... I might need something to say to Madam Hanya if she asks..."
Sunny snickered.
"What is she, your mom?"
"No! And please don’t say that in front of her, or she might make my punishment worse..."
"Sounds pretty motherly to me."
Huohuo’s tail, which had been completely normal up until this point, glowed and suddenly detached, floating besides her head as Tail shifted into his foxlike form.
"Hm... wait, he’s not wrong. She’s really got you on a leash."
In response, she simply grabbed the furry Heliobus and shoved him down.
"Mister Tail, you’re going to make a scene!"
Grumbling, the Heliobus eventually returned to his spot as Huohuo’s tail. Sunny observed the strange phenomenon for a moment, before curiously asking.
"You don’t really like your job that much, huh? Why keep it?"
She awkwardly chuckled.
"Uh... you know. At first, I didn’t really have a choice because of Mister Tail, and when I finally got the chance to resign... I chickened out."
Sunny snorted, causing Huohuo to shrink in embarrassment. Eventually, she looked up at him with a nervous smile, asking:
"What about you? I thought you said that going on dangerous adventures was stupid unless you’re looking for treasure. Why would you join the Astral Express? Didn’t you want to open up a Memory shop and get rich?"
Sunny stayed silent for a few moments. In his head, he was going through everything he knew about Huohuo, whether it was bits of useless information or otherwise.
She had been apart of his cohort in the Forgotten Shore, along with Sparkle and that one Legacy dude. Considering her words just now, it was apparent that she must have known him decently well — not well enough to know that everything he said was the truth and nothing but the truth, however. Back when Guinaifen brought up the idea of interviewing him, both Huohuo and Tail vouched for his dishonesty, meaning that they either didn’t know his Flaw... or were covering for him.
In any case, he doubted it. Huohuo seemed to genuinely dislike him. In fact, he bet that she was only acting polite because she was scared of him. Her Flaw — if that was what her crippling fear was — was something out of a Nightmare... the First, to be precise.
...What? He thought the pun was pretty good!
She was unable to act in ways that most people would consider normal, simply because her mind always found a way to twist it into something terrifying. The only way her fright could be described was either as panphobia, the fear of everything, or a Flaw that gave her panphobia.
...Or perhaps it was a Flaw that intensified existing fears. That was much more acceptable. Anyone with the former would definitely go mad, living in a world that seemed to always be out to get them, even if it wasn’t.
That wasn’t to say that Huohuo wasn’t mad. But, well... that kind of Flaw would probably lead to suicide. Unless she’d be too afraid to commit to it?
Sunny internally shook his head. In any case, he had the general idea of how forthcoming he should be with Huohuo. Her questions weren’t too intrusive, so he could answer them comfortably. He lazily leaned back.
"Oh, me? Well, I first joined the Express to look for a way to get rid of an Aeon’s space cancer baby in my body. I managed to handle it, so it doesn’t matter much anymore. As for my Memory shop, Sunny’s Brilliant Emporium has been online for a while now. And I am pretty rich, actually."
Huohuo blinked, mumbling under her breath.
"Space cancer baby..."
She paled, before turning away.
"O—Oh, uh... congratulations?"
They settled into a silence, with Huohuo downing the entire glass of her wine, asking the bartender for a refill. Sunny considered asking about why Tail was a tail, before dismissing the idea. It was possible that [Sunny] had once known, all the way back when he was a Sleeper. Asking would be suspicious.
He could simply say that he forgot why, but that wasn’t something people would easily forget.
A few minutes later, Sunny was completely perplexed.
This small girl... just downed twenty shots of Five-Grain Jade Elixir. And the bartender wasn’t stopping her!
Huohuo’s cheeks were flushed, eyes slightly hazy as she grumbled:
"Good enough..."
That wine must have been strong enough to even intoxicate Masters. What was she even thinking?!
After a few moments, Huohuo slowly turned to him with an unfocused look. She glared.
"You... you are a lowly piece of inhuman scum who should go rot in the depths of the Black Sea, be swallowed by an Unholy Titan, then dropped into a volcano as a pile of Unholy feces. Then, a tentacle monster inside the volcano should reach out and molest your digested corpse. And it should all be publicized!"
She then let out an exhale, one that she seemed to be holding in forever.
The bartender stared at Huohuo for a short moment, before walking away like he didn’t hear anything.
Sunny, meanwhile, was too stupefied to say anything. His jaw hung open.
Then, he asked:
"...Oh!"
Wait, that wasn’t a question...
He shook his head, clearing his mind.
"What could I have possibly done to deserve all that?"
Huohuo side-eyed him.
"What do you think?"
Sunny looked down at his empty glass of milk.
"No idea..."