The Bartender Skirmish – The Beast Queen’s Ruefulness

How did it come to this?

Our people fighting against such a small town. Swords clashed while magic was thrown around, destroying what tenuous tranquility there was. We weren’t even allowed to spare the civilians, all because of a crazy Executioner. So what if she was the Adventurer God? In my eyes, she was nothing more than a cold-blooded murderer.

Not even two seasons had passed since I woke up from my fifteen year slumber. In that time, we were finally treated as people rather than beasts to be put down. Formal trade relations started to form, allowing me to finally give my people full bellies. And now? To save ourselves, we had to become the very beasts we were shunned as, throwing away all the progress built up. It was a slap in the face, really, leaving me to wonder if we would ever escape this cycle of oppression.

I looked around the battlefield once more. Our sides were locked in a forced stalemate, taking care to put on a show for the oblivious tyrant. It took all my team had to avoid any injuries while not killing anyone. Of course, if the Executioner decided to look closer, we would all be executed on the spot. However, she was currently engaged with her party members, barely paying any attention to her surroundings. I knew that this could never make up for killing the innocent, but I had to minimize the bloodshed as much as possible.

“So why haven’t you stopped the Adventurer God?” An old man stood across, watching my every move. By his looks, he was a simple bartender that shouldn’t have been on the battlefield. Dressed in a vest tuxedo and wielding a shaker, what else would he be? And yet, without a doubt, his mana control revealed his unparalleled strength, aside from the Executioner and me. I might be slightly stronger, but that didn’t mean I had a chance to win.

“What would you do if some person held half your country hostage? It doesn’t matter where that Executioner is, she can easily destroy us. I care for my people too much to let that happen. [Fireball].” I shot flames from my hands, aiming towards the old man with a side step. However, the man caught it with his shaker and redirected it towards the sky.

“And that means you can kill others without regard?” he said, swinging the shaker in a cross-cut. It didn’t matter how blunt the weapon was; he wielded it like a honed sword. I barely managed to block the strike with my arm.
Even as I grunted under the pressure, I gave a pained smile. The old man looked both resigned and annoyed as he took a step back.

“Then tell me,” he began, “why is the Adventurer God after Melora?”

“...I’m sorry, who?”

“Melora, the bartender-in-training at the Adventurer’s Guild.”

“...and who is that?” Was this Melora who the Executioner was after? She sounded like any other person. “Is she special or strong?”

“Probably strong enough to destroy the world if she chose to.”

“Wait a moment…” I stopped in my tracks, trying to process this new information. This man claimed his junior was stronger than a god, and she was a bartender? How did that make any sense? “If you’re saying, then assuming you’re right, that should answer the question. Supposedly, this Melora had put me and the Executioner into a coma, and she’s now taking revenge.”

“But aside from one spat at the guild, Melora doesn’t even know the Adventurer God,” the old man explained, rubbing his temples in annoyance.

“Well, regardless, that crazy ***** wants her dead.”

“And that’s the insane thing,” he yelled, waving his shaker in practiced motions. “What does the Adventurer God expect to happen? She should know why the ranks of an adventurer exist. Sure, the individual variation can cause outliers in the lower ranks, but starting from B-rank, it’s almost impossible to beat someone who’s higher. Even the gods have their rankings, and there’s no way the Adventurer God is stronger than Melora.”

A cold sweat broke out on my face as I connected the dots. “Is that really how pointless our battle is? Pawns on a board where our foe can flip the table? If what you’re saying is true, she could wipe out everything in an instant.”

“Exactly. So unless the Adventurer God has some surefire way to kill her, this is nothing more than death march, one that nobody will return from.”