Cold alcohol went down his throat.

Gulp gulp.

Saif, the mercenary who had hurriedly emptied all his alcohol, put his glass down roughly with a bang.

“Ugh, the taste of the alcohol here never changes.”

The clerk who had come over quickly filled his glass again. Saif, who had also filled his mouth with the dried snacks on the table, finally let out a deep sigh.

He got caught up in an absurd incident and was detained for several months. On top of that, he was also held responsible for smuggling and poaching, which were quite lucrative activities, and had to pay a huge fine.

Thanks to that, he was practically penniless, but thanks to the emergency funds he had hidden away in case something like that happened, he was able to somehow get back into mercenary work.

Moreover, Saif was in a very good mood today. It was because he had a good commission for the first time in a long while.

So, for the first time in a long time, he invested in himself.

It was a holy place where dark dreams and hopes gathered.

It was an extremely dangerous amusement park where you could make a fortune overnight if you did it right, but if you weren’t careful, you could lose everything you’ve built so far.

He was here several times, but he lost everything and never made any significant profit.

But Saif decided to try again. He had brought enough money. Now he just had to call the clerk and ask for directions…

Just imagining himself returning triumphantly with a bundle of gold in his arms brought a smile to his face.

He happened to spot a clerk running somewhere in a hurry and raised his hand.

But, at the next moment.

Shatter!

The loud sound of a plate breaking cut through the noise of the bar.

“What a nasty business.”

Almost simultaneously, the irritated voice of a young man was heard.

“What kind of side dish is this? What a waste of time. I heard it was a place where a lot of people gathered, so I even took the time to come here myself.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll exchange it right away.”

The clerk who had passed by Saif earlier was seen bowing his head.

There were also several mercenaries beside the young man who was making a fuss. As if they were trying to protect their employer, the mercenaries stood up from their seats and straightened their shoulders, glaring at the clerk as if they were going to eat him up at any moment.

Since the place was what it was, the clerks were also just guys who used to do odd jobs. So of course, they weren’t all that big, but the mercenaries had strong shoulders that made the clerks look ridiculous.

Thanks to that, the face of the young master who was causing a ruckus was not properly visible because it was obscured by the large figures.

“Okay, bring me the best liquor you can. Leave this tasteless snack aside. Go out and buy something else.”

The young man took out his money pouch and threw it on the floor.

In an instant, the surroundings became quiet. Saif forgot the situation for a moment and his eyes widened.

The clerk also froze in place.

All the things that poured out of the young master’s pouch were gold coins. The number was not small.

‘All of that?’

The bewildered clerk looked back and forth between the gold coins spilled on the floor and the young master still sitting awkwardly on his chair.

Saif also craned his neck to check the bastard’s face, but he couldn’t see it properly because it was obscured by the clerk’s body standing awkwardly.

After a long moment of deep silence, the clerk finally began to move. After sweeping up the gold coins again, the clerk politely returned the bag with both hands.

“I’ve been rude. If it’s okay with you, I’d like to serve you inside instead of providing other dishes.”

Saif’s brow furrowed slightly. By ‘inside’ he obviously meant the hidden lounge and gambling hall.

‘That kid made a mistake.’

In a place like this, you shouldn’t show off your money carelessly. You’ll get mauled to death by a pack of lynxes.

It’s true that he had fantasies about this place, but it was also difficult to look at it with rose-tinted glasses. If he loses his mind even a little, he’ll quickly lose everything he owns and become penniless.

No, it’s if you just lose, you’re lucky.

If you owe a huge amount of money to the administrators here and can’t pay it back, then in the end…

“Inside?”

As expected, the young master’s questioning response, completely unaware of the situation, came back.

The clerk explained in a much more polite voice than before.

“This is a space for special guests. It’s not a place that just anyone can enter. We should have invited you there from the beginning… we made a mistake.”

“Hmm, I guess so.”

But… was it just his imagination that the greenhorn’s voice felt strangely familiar? That can’t be.

Saif sipped his slightly cooled drink and quietly watched the place where the commotion occurred.

“I will go prepare. Please wait a moment.”

The clerk, with his head bowed, ran out.

Only then was Saif able to see the face of the man who had been causing a commotion.

Gulp.

The alcohol that had been in his mouth poured straight back into the glass.

The face full of irritation, half-buried in a wooden chair with his arms crossed, was so handsome that it was hard to forget it once it was seen.

His pure white silver hair that seemed to sparkle on its own and his golden eyes that seemed to be thinking of something indecipherable glanced around the inside of the bar.

The blond man sitting right next to him and the young man with a slightly smaller build among the mercenaries both looked like familiar faces he had seen somewhere before.

“…”

Saif jumped up without a second thought. He thought he could make a fortune overnight and run away without looking back, but when he pushed back his chair, the sound of it caught the attention of the group.

The silver-haired young man turned his head involuntarily toward the noise. That is, the apprentice knight Arendt von Eckhart let out an unexpected exclamation.

“Oh, you look familiar.”

“…”

“You don’t seem to have had much to drink, so why are you getting up? You’re not trying to run away, are you?”

Ki-ki-ki-ki.

Saif forced his stiff neck to turn.

The young man smiled wickedly, just like he did on that nightmarish day.

“It’s nice to see you after such a long time. Come here and say hello, mister.”

Arthur and Richt, who happened to be nearby, also noticed him and frowned.

“What? Do you know him?”

“Well, you can say that?”

Arthur answered Rider’s question vaguely.

It was also easy to figure out the identities of the mercenaries accompanying those three people.

Saif’s face turned pale.

Arendt chuckled and snapped his fingers.

“At this point, we’re on good terms. Sir, can we talk for a bit? It’s fate that we met like this.”

Now Saif was almost on the verge of tears.

But he knew from past experience that rebelling was useless. In the end, he had no choice but to hunch his shoulders and join them.

It was quite a rare sight to see a vicious mercenary who looked like he would rob someone of their money, sweat profusely.

The sight was even more bizarre because the person sitting right next to him, laughing heartily, was Arendt, who was barely half Saif’s size.

Arendt wrapped his arm around the mercenary’s shoulder.

“This is difficult. I never expected this kind of situation. Isn’t that right, sir?”

“Yes… that’s right.”

Saif nodded with difficulty, hunching his shoulders.

Thud, thud. His large frame shook limply every time Arendt patted his back.

The other knights, who had heard Arthur’s brief explanation of the situation, could not help but look at him with dismay.

Is that a knight or a local thug?

But since the person being treated like that was a guy who did bad things as if it were nothing, there was no point in nitpicking.

Arendt, placing his hand on Saif’s broad back, spoke darkly.

“That’s why I told you to live well. If you had, you wouldn’t have ended up like this.”

“…”

Gulp.

Saif swallowed dryly. His pale face looked pitiful.

Richt let out a deep sigh and opened his mouth.

“So, what are we going to do? There’s not much time for fooling around.”

The clerk would be back soon.

Arendt tilted his head, making a “hmm”.

“That’s right. I never thought I’d meet someone I recognize here. It’d be troublesome if you went outside and complained…”

The apprentice knight, who had been lost in thought for a moment, blurted out the question without thinking.

“Come to think of it, corpses can’t speak, right?”

“…!”

Saif was shocked, and the other knights were also terrified by their junior’s unimaginable remarks.

Fortunately, Arthur, who was somewhat familiar with Arendt’s antics, came to Saif’s rescue.

“We told you that there’s no time for that. It would take longer to kill him secretly and dispose of the body.”

“That’s true. Well, then I guess there’s nothing we can do. It seems like our destination is the same anyway.”

Bam.

Arendt tapped Saif on the shoulder again.

“Let’s go together.”

“Yes, yes, yes?!”

“Why? What’s the problem? Aren’t you here to have some fun too, sir?”

Arendt smiled faintly at his surprised face.

“Unfortunately, the mercenaries I hired don’t know how to play. I would really appreciate it if you could teach them some tricks.”

“…”

“If you don’t like it, well, we could put in some effort to… What can we do?”

In the end, there was only one answer he could give.

Saif hung his head and muttered.

“I will go…”

“We’ve gained a reliable colleague.”

He heard Richt’s voice, which made it hard to tell if he was joking or being serious.

As the story was concluded, the other knights disguised as mercenaries nodded their heads in agreement.

Arendt was Arendt, but honestly, it seemed like everyone else was out of their minds too. Was it because they were all infected by that crazy guy’s madness, or were they all just weird from the beginning?

Since he only lives once, he’ll live it well.

Belated regret crept in, but it was already too late.

Salty drops of water, whether tears or cold sweat, fell one after another, but no one pitied him.

Soon the clerk came running in with two more people.

“Thank you for waiting for a long time. I will take you inside.”

“…Wait a minute. Aren’t you Saif?”

At that moment, one person who recognized Saif frowned.

Then Arendt responded shamelessly.

“He’s my friend. Is there a problem? I just happened to meet him and I’d like to go with him.”

“Oh, I see. That’s not a problem, it’s no trouble.”

The man with a bright face waved his hand to deny any problems with the request.

Saif forced a smile. His back was getting more and more moist. Saif knew who that man was.

He was the chief manager of the lounge, whose job was to filter out the swindlers who came only to gamble and keep them from mixing with the real rich and noble guests.

It seemed like he had personally run out to fish out Arendt, who seemed like a rich kid and a naive fool, not knowing that the young master was no different from a baby viper hunting for prey.

‘This is going to be a mess.’

As he trudged along with the group heading to the lounge, Saif just gave up.

If he could just return safely, he would firmly resolve to live a good life.