Nameless King

"I came here because your leader asked me for help. Don't you know that? What mediocrities..." Cursed Swordsman shook his head.

The guards didn't like his tone, but they remained silent. They knew of the man's bad reputation before them. However, he was strong, that was what was needed.

"Okay, you don't really have to know everything. Here, this is the reason I'm here." Cursed Swordsman pulled a scroll from his belt pouch.

Parchment scrolls usually had something important written on them or were taken to guilds to hang a task there. It could be anything, an assassination, a simple farming aid, or something on a larger scale.

On the scroll was a picture of some kind of monster, something that looked like a mixture of an insect and a lizard.

'Great, he did come here to help us after all!' the guards thought at the same time.

"Sorry, we didn't realize right away that you were here for noble purposes." The guards bowed, "Please come in, Elder is waiting for you."

"Good. I hope this won't take long." Cursed Swordsman stepped forward, "Guys, you need more training, in which case you wouldn't have to wait for someone like me. I'll help you, but it's only luck, not an inevitable outcome."

"Of course! You're absolutely right!" The guards exclaimed.

They completely agreed with what he said and understood that they were largely to blame for the monsters threatening their village.

"Eh, we should get better, but strong people always miss something important. We're not them, not everyone can reach the same level, even if they make a huge effort." The guardian said quietly, but the Cursed Swordsman heard him anyway, even though he was very far away.

'Huh, he's pretty rough as always. It's definitely part and parcel of his character.' Wain thought as he followed Cursed Swordsman.

The village was lively. It was a large and densely populated village, like a small town, but with a cozy atmosphere.

Many people were selling something in their shops, caravans of merchants passed through the streets, and there were signs on the buildings of the many establishments of this village.

"Hmm, from the looks of it, it's pretty quiet here, so it won't be a bad thing if I relax a bit." Cursed Swordsman looked at the large sign.

The sign had an overflowing mug of beer, bits of jerky, and cheese. It was one of the dozens of bars in this village, and a pleasant smell of alcohol and a cheerful atmosphere emanated from it.

Cursed Swordsman went inside and sat at the only free table in the center.

"Welcome!" A pretty girl immediately approached him, "What can I get you?"

"Beer... Just beer... as much as possible." Cursed Swordsman said hoarsely.

"Sure. I'll be right with you. Please wait a little while."

'This is rather unexpected. I thought his recollection would be violent, like Code of Light and Darkness, but it turned out to be the opposite.' Wain said inwardly.

For the next hour, Cursed Swordsman drank his beer without worrying about anything. He enjoyed the taste in the pleasant atmosphere of the bar.

Crackle.

A group of three men entered the bar, they rudely kicked the door open as they made their way to the man behind the bar.

"Hey, where's the owner of this bar? We have important business for him!" One of them said.

The bartender flinched. These three did not exude a benevolent aura, on the contrary, one could only expect trouble from such people.

"Excuse me, could you explain in more detail what your problem is?" The girl asked.

Bam.

One of them hit the bar.

"The owner of this place owes us money! Where the hell is he! Bring him in now!"

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that..." The girl lowered her head.

"What? Are you stupid?!"

"I don't know where he is. Please go away, you can come back later and discuss things with him. I can't help you with that." The girl timidly replied.

"Hey guys, you're too noisy!" Suddenly someone said.

It was a man in iron armor, a big iron axe, and a shield in his left hand.

"Mind your own business! Your job is to keep drinking beer, no more."

"Damn, I didn't know there were bandits in this village. What a shame." The man took a big sip.

The trio frowned but didn't continue the conflict with him; they went back to talking to the girl.

"If you can't get the owner, we'll get our own!" The man stated.

"Stop!" A muffled, gruff voice sounded.

A short old man with a cane stepped out of the door.

"I'm the owner of this place, and this is the first time I've seen you! Get out of here, or you'll be sorry! You can still just stay fools, not bandits." The old man pointed his cane at them.

The bandits frowned. They didn't expect the bar owner to be here tonight.

'Damn! Why did that old man decide to visit his bar tonight?!' They exclaimed inwardly.

According to their information, the old man rarely came here. He preferred to rest, as he had turned over the bar's management to his assistant. The owner was already old, so he wanted to rest.

"Guys, the old man is right. Everybody makes mistakes. It's such a good day, you shouldn't ruin it, just leave, and maybe next time, I'll even buy you a beer." The man with the axe said.

The bandits hesitated. They looked at the old man, the girl, the coins in the cash register, and the people in the bar and made a decision.

"Let's go." Their leader said as he headed for the exit.

"Get out of here." The old man shouted.

The bandits were furious at the humiliation, but they understood that fighting in the bar was suicide. They weren't strong enough to stand up to a dozen men.

"Fuck!"

One of the bandits couldn't take it, he needed somewhere to vent at least some of his rage, and he picked a target.

Bam.

With his hand, the bandit knocked over a beer mug from one of the customers. The beer spilled all over the man. Unfortunately, the bandit didn't notice that the beer quickly turned into thin ice.