Chapter 146 - Cornered
The curse assassin was feeling extremely pressured as he saw Ren's group enter the pub. It wasn't just him that looked agitated, even the other patrons were looking a bit agitated as well. Turns out this pub was a place frequented by small-time criminals that weren't part of Iselv's group. They were some normal patrons as well, they too were looking at Ren but not for the same reason as the criminals, they were looking at him because Ren was famous, and some of them have witnessed his fight against the elder lich.
The noisy pub suddenly turned silent as they all looked at Ren. Seeing that all the attention was on him, Ren smiled at the surrounding people and spoke.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb everyone's meal. I'm just here to talk to a friend of mine, so all of you can go back to what you were doing. Oh, also in celebration for the creation of New Grenton, Drinks are on me!"
"YEAH!" The patrons suddenly loosened up when Ren said he was paying for the drinks. Ren then passed a bag of gold to a waitress and told her to give the patrons as much they can drink. Once everyone had a beer at hand, they raised their mugs and shouted.
"TO NEW GRENTON!" Then the silent atmosphere suddenly turned noisy once more. The assassin joined in the fun and acted natural. He also stopped looking at Ren and his group as he concentrated on eating.
He had no choice but to stay, if he left at this moment he would garner the attention of everyone in the pub. Even if he doesn't do anything Valdel for some reason was already suspicious of him. So his only chance now was to hope that they would leave him alone. He needed to act like them being here was a bit surprising but not something that affected him too much. Usually, it wasn't that hard for him to act, but because of the pressure he was receiving from Ren's presence, he was having a hard time.
Still, he did his best and tried to act as natural as possible, and after a few seconds of eating, the assassin was feeling extreme pressure just from trying to lift his spoon. When he was about to put the spoon into his mouth, he noticed that someone suddenly appeared in front of him.
"Hey, is this seat free?" The moment the assassin heard this voice, it felt like the world around him turned silent and only his heart beating could be heard. He started sweating profusely as he tried his hardest not to show his anxiety. Time seems to stop when he heard this voice as felt like death was standing right beside him, this was usually just a simple expression, but right now the truth was, death was really standing right in front of him. He then calmly raised his head and as expected Ren was there smiling at him. The assassin felt parched as he licked his lips before answering.
"Yeah that seat is free, you can sit there if you want to." That was all he could say as naturally as possible before he continued to eat. He was acting like everything was alright, but inside he was panicking. He could feel his stomach crunching in pain as he wanted to puke at this very moment. This was to be expected cause right in front of him was the monster that could beat something like an elder lich with a smile on his face.
The assassin really wanted to excuse himself and run away as far as possible, but he couldn't. Right now he needed to eat his meal and finish it alongside his drink, even though he couldn't stand it anymore and every bite just makes him want to vomit more.
It would be simplicity itself for Ren to separate his head from his body. That was if Ren was feeling merciful, it was entirely possible that he would be tortured. Even while thinking about all these things, the assassin tried his very best to remain calm as he ate his meal. It was at that moment Ren spoke again.
"So, I just wanted to ask what do you think of the idea of New Grenton? A kingdom that will help the commoners rise from their positions, a kingdom where you can be anything you want to be."
"It sounds like a dream... I hope that it can become a reality. Though for me, I just wish that I can have enough pay to live for the next day." The assassin answered in a way that made him seem like a normal citizen of Grenton. Yet what Ren said next sent chills down his spine.
"Of course it can be a reality, but as for your dream well that depends on you." Ren didn't say anything out of place, but the way he said it made the assassin unconsciously tremble. He then saw Ren showing a smile that made the assassin even more scared.
"I guess it is... Thank you for the free drinks, but I need to go now." The assassin was about to stand up and leave, but then he was assaulted by an invisible force that made him unable to stand. He then once again felt Ren's killing intent directed at him.
It was at that moment the assassin knew that it was all over. He knew that even if he tried his best he couldn't match up with the monster sitting in front of him. If he were a normal first-grade assassin, he would've tried to kill himself the moment he knew he couldn't escape. But he wasn't that kind of person, he was a coward that only wanted some easy money to live his life in luxury.
Ren showed his vicious smile at the assassin, and with a gentle voice spoke to him.
"Now, now, isn't it too early for you to leave? How about you drink some more. Since there's a lot of things the two of us need to talk about, right, Mr. Assassin."