Chapter 78: Making a Kill

"You give the box to us, and we will pay for your food and the entire bill," Lyra said carelessly, as if she were granting a grand charity to beggars.

Downstairs, the Vesper Moon Pack boy let out a smug laugh. He loved this kind of performance. He looked at Lyra with eyes full of flattery, then turned back to the balcony.

"You bunch of rogues, you should thank Lady Lyra. Not only are you getting a free meal, but you also get double your money back. If you still refuse, don’t blame us for being impolite. Even if we pay ten-fold for this box, it’s just pocket change for us!"

Moon’s eyes flashed with a peculiar light behind his bamboo hat. A faint smile, full of mockery, crossed his lips.

He looked at the Vesper boy, then at Lyra, who was standing with her chin tilted high like a proud peacock.

"Ten-fold?" Moon asked softly, his voice traveling down clean and clear.

"You will pay ten-fold for our bill if we give up this box?"

"Of course! Ten-fold, twenty-fold, we don’t care about this small amount of siki!" The Vesper boy shouted back proudly, crossing his arms. The crowd downstairs murmured in awe at his grand display of wealth.

Even the waiter’s eyes shone with greed.

"Alright. Since you are so eager to give charity, we will accept it," Moon said calmly. He turned his head slightly toward the box. "Axe, call the waiter inside. Let them calculate the bill."

Nox pulled Moon’s sleeve, whispering anxiously, "Moon, what are you doing? We have money. We don’t need their stinky coins. And if we leave, they will take our table!"

Moon patted Nox’s hand, his eyes curving into a crescent shape. "Don’t worry. Let them enjoy the box."

Nox was still a little upset.

After all, they were also some young princes who used to boss people around in the taverns.

The waiter quickly ran upstairs, his face full of smiles as he entered the box.

Axe handed him the wooden tablet containing their orders. The waiter took a quick look, and suddenly, his smile froze.

His hands began to tremble, and cold sweat dripped from his forehead.

"What’s wrong? Calculate it loudly so the esteemed guest downstairs can hear," Axe sneered, crossing his arms.

The waiter swallowed hard, walked out to the railing, and spoke in a trembling voice.

"E-Esteemed guests... the bill for the upper-floor private box number three... including the Dire-Beast Bone-Marrow Broth, the eight-serving order of roasted duck, Roasted Alpine Hare Platters, Spiced Ram Ribs, Eight Bowls of Steamed Grain, Platters of Crusty Bread, Century-Old Malong Wine, Fermented Honey, and Pitchers of Bitter Frothy Ale, and the premium private box room fee... comes to a total of... five hundred siki."

"What?!"

The Vesper Moon Pack boy’s smug expression instantly cracked. His hand, which was casually playing with his leather purse, froze in mid-air.

Lyra also lost her footing slightly, her eyes widening in pure shock. Even the red ponytail girl gaped, her jaw almost dropping to the floor.

Five hundred siki! That was an astronomical price for a single meal in a place like Malong City! Regular wanderers could live comfortably for months with that kind of money.

"Five hundred siki... and ten-fold... makes it five thousand siki," Moon said in a slow, deliberate tone, breaking the dead silence of the tavern.

He looked down at the Vesper boy with a very gentle smile. "Young Master, your pocket change is quite large. Please, pay the bill."

The tavern fell into a deathly silence.

The rogues and commoners downstairs were staring at the two wealthy groups with wide eyes, holding their breath.

The words were already thrown out in public. If they backed down now, both the Vesper Moon Pack and the Lyris Ash Pack would become the biggest laughingstocks in the entire Southern region.

The Vesper boy’s face turned from white to red, then from red to black. He glared at the waiter as if he wanted to skin him alive. "Five hundred siki?! Are you robbing us?! Why didn’t you say it earlier?!"

The waiter cried out in grievance, bowing frantically. "Young Master, they ordered the best things we have! They asked for a sumptuous meal for eight people with our specialty! I thought... I thought you knew!"

Lyra’s heart was bleeding.

Five thousand siki! Even though she was the Alpha’s daughter, carrying this much money on a casual trip was almost impossible.

She bit her lower lip so hard it almost bled.

She looked up at Moon’s group, seeing their tattered clothes, and felt a huge sense of humiliation. These gutter rats actually had the ability to spend five hundred siki on a single meal?!

The Vesper boy gritted his teeth, his hands shaking as he took out his extra pouch and a few valuable stones to make up the amount.

He threw them up to Moon and said loudly. "Take it! Five thousand siki! Now get out of the box!"

"Thank you for the hospitality," Moon said smoothly. He didn’t care about their glares at all. The fool has come to his door to make his life easier. Who would refuse it?

The group walked out of the private box.

Oshan was carrying his massive bundle, Axe and Ugo were chuckling softly, and Marina was skipping happily beside Moon.

Nox felt a huge weight lift from his chest.

Seeing Lyra’s face turn red with anger was the best feeling he had in days.

When they reached the first floor, Moon didn’t lead them out of the door.

Instead, he walked straight to the largest empty table right in the middle of the crowded lower hall.

He waved his hand at another waiter who was standing nearby in awe.

"Waiter, bring us another table full of food. Use the same ingredients as before. We will pay full price."

The waiter was stunned, but immediately nodded like a chicken eating grain. "Yes, sire! Right away!"

Upstairs, Lyra and the Vesper boy had just entered their private box.

The food was indeed steaming and smelled wonderful, but looking down from the railing, they saw Moon’s group sitting comfortably, waiting for a brand new feast.

The five thousand siki they just paid felt like a heavy slap right on their faces.

They had spent a fortune just to eat their leftover box. This thought alone gnawed at his bones, yet he couldn’t throw them away.

His pocket money was already gone.

Lyra clamped her hands tightly onto the railing, her eyes burning with rage, but she couldn’t say a single word.

They had already established themselves as the "charitable high-class pack." If they caused trouble now, it would only prove they were petty.

Downstairs, Moon’s table was soon filled with large platters of roasted meat and wine. The group started to eat and talk merrily.

Because the first floor was very crowded, it was the best place to gather information.

The local rogues and merchants around them were drinking and gossiping loudly, completely unaware that Moon’s divine sense was subtly covering the entire area.

"Hey, did you hear? The three big academies are holding their unified recruitment in West Grand Plaza in two weeks," a man at the neighboring table whispered after taking a huge gulp of ale.

"In two weeks? So early? I thought it was next month!" another rogue replied, surprised.