Returning the Favor IV

The dinner rush was another challenge, but thanks to the short reprieve, the Wild Boar Inn team was ready for the next round.

Using the break, Mila made a simple handheld sign that people outside the inn could hold to show where the end of the line was. During the lunch rush, there had been cases of customers blocking the corridor between the entrance and the tavern, so Mila had asked them to wait outside the inn until there were free seats in the tavern. Unfortunately, there had been much chaos outside the inn as some customers refused to line up properly, so Mila had to occasionally leave the tavern to maintain the order outside. She wasn't sure how effective the sign would be, but she had seen it being used by other stores when there was a sudden rise in customers, so she had some hope.

It took some time to explain the usage of the sign to the first customers that had to wait outside, but they would explain to their successors. There would surely be some intimidated by the line and decide not to join it, but that couldn't be helped given their service capacity.

The family, excluding Margaret, and Carolyn, worked hard during the dinner rush. There were inquires concerning Margaret's condition given her absence, but no one made any trouble because she wasn't on the floor. Unfortunately, that didn't mean there was no trouble at all.

It was close to the end of the dinner rush, when most tables were occupied by regulars, that the incident happened.

Crash!

Suddenly, a patron knocked over a table near Carolyn as she was carrying a tray of used plates and mugs. When she turned to look toward the noise, she found a scruffy middle-aged man leaning on the collapsed table and noticed that he was sweating excessively and had sunken eyes. After handing the tray over to Marco, she went back to check on the customer.

"Are you alright?" she asked as she tried to help him up.

She didn't know why, but the man slapped away her hand and struggled to stand up by himself.

"Don't look down on me..."

"It's fine Carol, I'll take over from here."

Mila had dealt with her fair share of drunks before, so she felt more comfortable handling this customer herself rather than put Carolyn at risk. Mila filled a mug with water and then brought it to the man. There was a small pipe running from the well to the kitchen, so she didn't have to go outside for water.

"Here, it's a refill. It might taste a little different, but don't mind it."

This was a classic trick employed by Margaret and it worked even on repeat offenders because by the next day the taste of the drink was too vague in memory for them to realise that it was water. The groggy customer took the mug from Mila, but just as he was about to pour it down his throat, he suddenly roared and threw the mug at Mila's face. His retaliation was outside her expectations, so Mila was too slow to respond to the mug and the surrounding customers had also thought there wouldn't be a problem, so the most they managed to do was stand up.

Fortunately, Carolyn had been paying close attention to Mila and the customer even as she served other customers, so she could react to the situation accordingly. She picked up an empty mug and threw it the moment she heard the drunk customer roar. The empty mug collided with the mug of water and diverted it from hitting Mila. At the same time, Carolyn quickly made her way in front of Mila, separating her from the man.

"Ah!!!"

The man charged at them, but other customers made it in time to hold him down. Even while his limbs were restricted, the man continued to struggle desperately, like a wild beast. It was hard to dismiss him as just a drunk now, but even Carolyn wasn't sure what was wrong with him.

"Carol! Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. And you?"

"I'm good, too. I was definitely worried for a moment there. Thanks for the help, but don't be so quick to put yourself in danger."

"I just couldn't help myself."

Even if it came to a fight, Carolyn didn't think she would lose, but she knew not to mention that. While the other customers dragged the unruly man out of the inn, Marco and Rod also approached the two to ask about the situation and their conditions, but after a quick summary, Mila sent them back to work.

"We can't let a little fuss like that put a damper on things. One round of drinks on the house!"

"Oh!!!"

Mila clenched her teeth as she calculated how much they would lose from these free drinks, but she didn't want to risk losing customers discouraged by the incident. Thanks to Mila's quick wits, the tavern remained bustling right up to closing time.

...

"Augh... Ow..."

In the shadows of the slums, a battered figure trudged along by leaning on walls. This was the same delirious man who had made trouble at the Wild Boar Inn. Though he was more injured since then, the other customers had only thrown him out of the inn, so they weren't at fault. The cause of most of these injuries was him stumbling to the ground or bumping into someone while trying to walk and getting pushed away. He had several opportunities to stop and rest somewhere, but his itchy throat and intermittent headache wouldn't let him become distracted from his goal.

The man continued his journey, until finally, he reached a small house with a lamp above the entrance. With relief and anticipation, the man eagerly knocked on the door.

"Doctor! I need more medicine! Doctor!"

A couple of moments after the man started banging the door, he heard a click and the door slowly opened, revealing a man with long grey hair and the face of an amicable elder.

"What's wrong, Jimmy? Already out of your medicine?"

"Hehe, yea. Can I get some more?"

The man called Jimmy, held out his hands while trembling with excitement. The elder smiled at him, and then gently blew at his face. At first, Jimmy was confused, but a sudden drowsiness took over and made him faint.

"Are you finished?" asked someone from inside the house.

"Just about."

The elder pulled Jimmy into the house and then closed the door. The first room after the entrance was the living room, where a young man waited with a briefcase in hand. The light of a candle on the table next to him illuminated his hands and waist, but his face remained hidden in the darkness.

"So, this is the subject?" the young man asked.

"That's right. I explicitly told him not to take the medicine before drinking alcohol, but he didn't listen to me and made a scene. How troubling."

"I see. Will this have any effect on our business?"

"No no. His symptoms won't be enough to alert anyone, so I can continue to save these poor citizens after moving to a new clinic."

"That's good to hear."

The young man then placed the briefcase on the table and opened it to reveal several fist-sized transparent packets of white powder.

"You may inspect your order to ensure that it meets your expectations."

"I have no doubt in your service, but I'll do a check nonetheless."

The elder left the man's body under the table and then picked a packet to examine. He would need to open it to be certain, but he had handled this powder for so long that the sound from shaking the packet was enough for him to feel assured.

"Looks like another perfect delivery. I'll make sure to send over a tip with the second half of the payment."

"We would be honoured, but there's no need to feel obligated to pay more than what is required."

"Haha, it's always nice dealing with you folk from the Continental Courier Service."

"We greatly appreciate your praise."