85 - Joyful Evening

"Di-d-d y-you know? Our serg… sergeant told me that the knight profession i-is the only o-orthodox path on the way to t-the t-top! All other p-professions across the woo-rld are scattered and everyone looks for a way blindly… Only knigh-tss go with a c-clear path!”

Terren, who was completely drunk after two tankards, got more cheerful as he started to boast about the knight’s profession.

“What the heck are you talking about? Orthodox path? I thought the roads were paved normally in other countries…” Garran, who already drank five tankards while only being tipsy, looked at his friend with a weird look.

“Pffft!” Cara started to laugh in an unladylike manner as she wheezed.

Nord snorted in amusement as he was hugging his tankard.

An hour passed after their first drink, and everyone was in a good mood. Peals of laughter resounded from other tables in the inn too, as the regular customers came after their work was done.

The old lady and another young maiden who bore a similarity to her showed up with trays of tankards while smiling, giving the men their drinks. It seemed that it was the busiest time of the day, and so they couldn’t even stop for rest.

Everyone was enjoying themselves except for one.

Illyan, who had kicked the fourth tankard down his throat, was red in the face and had curled the edge of his lips. However, nobody noticed that his eyes were completely clear.

At the same time, he was listening to Terren’s words with interest. While the words seemed to be gibberish to others, he could understand what they meant.

‘Orthodox path? Are there other paths like spiritualists? Hmm… In any case, learning this won’t hurt me. Orthodox or not, it will be the foundation for me to pave my own path…’

When he let Terren finish his words, he asked him.

“Huh, is that sergeant of yours strong?” Illyan asked while acting drunk. He wasn’t professional, but in front of other drunk kids, he had no problem acting.

“Of course! He is a-already a Fl-flow master! I saw him c-crush a stone in his hand!” His cheeks reddened in excitement as he recalled how valiant his higher-up was.

“Flow master?” Nord repeated in confusion.

“O-oooh, you actually don’t k-know since you are n-not in the military… A g-rand scholar doesn’t know-hahaha!”

“Shut up and just tell us!” Nord pointed his finger at Terren as he cursed at him.

“To become a knight, one must train in certain t-techniques… The first stage i-is to become one with the Flow… Although the f-first stage, it is already a b-big achievement… Y-you need to create inner flow within your body-y which can then strengthen you, make your moves smoother, a-and can do much m-more with other auxiliary tec-techniques! For example, the leader of the V-venomous Viper Gang was a deserter w-who became a flow master and l-learned how to p-poison people through his own flow…”

After saying this, Terren hiccuped as he drank from his tankard of stale ale.

Illyan’s eyes shined at the new information.

‘Good. Even if I can’t get the technique from Terren today, I can still take it from that gang…’

“Deserter?” Garran looked weirdly at Terren.

“Well, this is s-supposedly nothing new… I heard t-there is some w-war going on for y-years in the south. H-however, this one is cunning as a f-fox and so he wasn’t caught y-yet and actually made this gang…” Terren shook his head in disappointment, seeing the military having the criminal under their nose yet doing nothing to stop him.

Others also became silent when they heard him. While they were all here just for a month, they noticed the state of the town. Guards were lazing off, gangs were promenading themselves on the streets, and news of peasants-turned-bandits ambushing the carriages and wagons was becoming more frequent.

Of course, once the talk came to bandits, the group’s thoughts came to that fateful night when the bandits attacked them…

Only to be massacred and their bodies taken by those mysterious guys.

Fortunately, the atmosphere at their table wasn’t gloomy for too long as the surroundings influenced their mood.

The lively atmosphere in the inn was quite unique, even for someone like Illyan. People had fun as some were betting who was stronger and started arm wrestling, while others were playing some kind of cards.

Everyone had fun despite having a hard time during the day. And so, they didn’t think too hard as they changed the topic.

“By the way, how is Garran doing in the guild? You still haven't told us yet.” Nord was the one to change the topic as he turned to Garran.

“Oh, you don’t wanna know… It is terrible! The seniors who came before me use me as a servant and make me do their duties on top of mine! If I wasn’t good at it, then I wouldn’t even have time to sleep…”

Just as everyone was listening to Garran’s complaints, Illyan turned his attention to the old lady who was coming to give them new drinks.

Secretly, he took out a small bottle full of a concoction that he prepared before they met up and held it tightly in his arm.

When she came close to them, he took two of the drinks and, with a nimble movement of his fingers, poured the content into the tankard that was in the same hand with which he held the bottle. This was only possible thanks to his acute control of his body, which allowed him to do this without anyone noticing.

“Thank you! Here you go, Terren, Garran.”

“T-thank youuu!”

“Ghahaha, thanks! That’s what I needed the most right now!”

With a small smile, he gave the tampered drink to Terren and the untampered one to Garran to make it less suspicious.

After that, he stopped caring about taking any information and just enjoyed the evening. While he came with ulterior motives, there was no need to not enjoy the moment he was living in.

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He started to drink the ale, which although couldn’t make him drunk, it still tasted quite good. As he wasn’t used to drinking it, a froth beard appeared on his mouth.

After a while, they even borrowed the same cards that the people at other tables played with from the inn and learned how to play with them.

“What is this play called?”

“I think I heard someone call it a ‘Thieves’ Trove’...”

The goal of this game was to hold a card called Thieves’ Trove until the end of the game. The way to end it was very simple. Every time someone lost all their cards, they were out of the game.

You needed to watch others' expressions and act based on that.

Most of its rules were simple as most players were uneducated people, and so they learned it quite easily despite being drunk…

Unfortunately, while everyone was going through some wins and losses, there was one person who completely failed.

“What the heck, Terren? Can’t you be any less obvious?”

Looking at the guy who couldn’t control his expression, most of them laughed and thought that he was completely drunk. Which wasn’t completely wrong, but it wasn’t completely right either.

Only Illyan’s eyes shone with joy.

In this manner, the entire evening passed as they enjoyed themselves to the fullest, Illyan included.

It wasn’t until much later when the inn owner behind the bar called out loudly.

“In an hour it will be curfew! Drink up your last drink and either pay up for the room or leave!”

They concluded that it was time to go back and came out of the inn with wobbling legs, especially Terren, who couldn’t even stand on his legs without someone supporting him.

“Ugh… We overdid it…” Cara was mumbling as she saw Nord retching not far away from them.

“Don’t be like that. Once in a while it is not so bad!” Garran, on the other hand, laughed as his face turned red as a tomato from all that alcohol. While he still had dark bags under his eyes, he was much more energetic.

“Hah… You are maybe right, but what do we do with these guys?”

Cara pointed at Terren, who was just standing there with a foolish smile.

“I guess I will help him out to get into his accommodation… After drinking so much, I need a little fresh air.”

Illyan, who was quiet until this moment, spoke up. He was already supporting Terren, so they weren’t surprised that he offered to do this.

“Wouldn’t it be better if I help you? I have it closer to the barracks than you do.” Garran also offered himself, seeing Terren leaning on Illyan.

“No need, while I may not look like it, I am quite strong.” But Illyan turned him down with a calm smile.

“What do you mean you don’t look strong? You would be considered a giant in our village…” Cara, who was listening, muttered her disbelief in his words with an astounded expression.

Illyan ignored her words as he started to walk off while waving his arm.

“Until tomorrow, Cara, Nord.” With those words, he left into the darkness of the night.

“Wait for me!” However, Garran immediately ran after him. He didn’t want to return alone at such times. It wouldn’t be weird if he was mugged. The

times they believed in guards protecting them were gone the moment they saw the guard at the southern gates lazing off during their work.

In a few minutes, they stopped at the guild where Garran was currently living.

“See you later, Kaoran. It was fun with y'all.” After saying that, he disappeared through the doors.

Illyan turned silent at this as he continued while holding Turren, who had completely passed out. However, his tempo visibly slowed down.

The entire evening was for this. He came out with them to inebriate Terren and tamper his drink. What he gave him was a type of relaxant that made a person relax not only physically but also mentally. You would stop thinking about difficult stuff and would be in a much better mood.

However, the drug was much more potent when mixed with alcohol and could make the person almost too open. Thankfully, Terren was an upright young man and didn’t make a scandal.

Not only that but he was still weak, and so the relaxant worked just fine. On aborigines, this didn’t work as their strengthened blood made them more resistant against this or any other drug. The other useful trait of this drug was that it amplified the chance of losing the memory during his drunk state. It was a win-win situation for Illyan.

Seeing that Terren fell asleep, Illyan frowned. If he was unconscious, then he was useless.

Smack

“Huh?!”

With shock, Terren woke up and looked around in confusion.

“Oh, you are awake, Terren?” Illyan played dumb as he looked at Terren.

“What happened?”

“What do you mean?”

“Ugh, I felt pain for a moment…” Terren’s face crooked as he felt the pain at the back of his head.

“Isn’t that from that spar of yours? Obviously, your body is hurt. You will need to rest after this.”

“Ah… I guess you are right.” As if just realizing, Terren nodded his head.

As they walked, they started small talk. Terren was extremely honest under the effects of the drug and was talking to Illyan with a smile.

“By the way, you said that the sergeant of yours can easily crush stone with bare hands. Is it true?” Illyan asked with fake wonder.

“Of course! I don’t have a reason to lie!”

“Doesn’t that make whatever technique he used to achieve this a godly scripture? It must be amazing. Did you learn it already?”

“Y-yes! It is a type of breathing technique that will strengthen your burst power in battle and will create a Flow within you in the long t-term… The entire technique is divided into four smaller techniques. The one I learned is the first one: Flow Breathing. The second one is called Aura Igniting, the third one is called Mind’s Eye Opening, and the fourth one is… Warlord’s Conquest!”

Terren said this with a proud face as if he had already achieved the peak of martial arts himself. And Illyan was very much happy to listen to it as he got new information from almost every sentence that Terren spoke.

“That sounds so amazing…” Illyan said with widened eyes. However, his eyes dimmed after a while.

“I think I already saw someone like that during the wars. They were like unbeatable heroes on the battlefield… Unfortunately, he met his opponent one day and lost. He was heavily wounded. But not to the point where it would be impossible to save him. But I couldn’t save him because of one simple reason… This certain energy which I now know is called ‘Flow’ wouldn’t let me save his dying organs… I don’t know if it was just the ability of his flow but it automatically defended him even though it was detrimental in this situation…”

Illyan made a regretful expression.

“At one point, I also wanted to gain this ‘Flow’. Not to kill. To save others. If the patient's Flow is blocking me, then my Flow would be able to nullify it… Unfortunately, I am not a fighter but a physician. I can’t get the technique anywhere and the military’s conditions are not very good…”

At this, Terren stopped as he looked at Illyan seriously. Then he nodded in agreement.

“R-right… Just for the first part of the technique, I need to serve for six years before being allowed to retire. Otherwise, you will be deemed a deserter. That’s why most soldiers would decide… To not learn the t-technique since they didn’t want to be in such harsh commitment… I wanted to be a knight anyway, so I don’t care, but for scholars like you… E-especially since you want to save and not to kill…”

His legs stopped, and he almost fell if Illyan didn’t hold him. Terren made a conflicted face. His brows scrunched up, and it looked as if he was frowning.

But it didn’t last long as his face slowly relaxed.

“Kaoran. Can I trust you?” Terren asked tentatively.

Illyan knew that it was time. He thought about what he should say, but in the end, the simplest way was the best solution.

“Yes!” One word was enough.

“I will tell you how to d-do this breathing t-technique. B-But! You can’t tell anyone! You and I would be dead!”

Seeing Terren’s serious expression, there was a hint of hesitation on Illyan’s face. But it didn’t last long. It was a high-risk, high-reward type of action. When he was in the wagons with others, he also thought about going to the military, but once Terren mentioned that you had to be one for at least six years, he dropped the idea immediately. Even if he did have the time, he didn’t want to spend six years as a small-time soldier. He got another option this evening by knowing that the Venomous Viper Gang’s boss knew the technique too, but that would be risky. He didn’t know how strong the Flow Master was. Not to mention, the man was a Flow Master when he deserted. Who knew how strong he was now.

‘Maybe he is already a… Aura Master? Are they called that way?’

But this thought passed in his mind as quickly as it disappeared as he answered Terren.

“Don’t worry, I will never tell anyone about this!”

Terren’s serious expression melted as he beamed.

“Then listen properly…”

As Terren started whispering something, Illyan looked around and even tried to use his Spiritual Perception that he didn’t use for a long time because of the strain in using it. Once he checked that nobody was close, he listened to Terren’s explanation with a serious expression while his inner thoughts were running wild with delight.