The Female Knight of Doom - TFKOD 10: Private Alley Meeting

The normal person’s daily life required just a copper and silver coins.

Alice had seen gold coins just a few times in her life. She hastily raised her head and identified that the person who had given her the money had walked to an inconspicuous corner of the tavern, sat down, and lowered his head.

He appeared out of place in the entire tavern.

He wore a long black cloak with a hood that covered almost all of his face, exposing only his ruddy lips.

Only folks who wanted to hide from the world would dress this way. Usually, they were either fugitives or mages with myriad foes—in short, questionable people.

One of the tavern’s ground rules was to never question customers where they came from. They welcomed everyone equally, whether it was a prince or a fugitive.

She had never encountered such a situation before and didn’t know what to do. She silently pulled Lina aside and revealed the gold coins in her hand.

Fitting to her knowledge, Lina looked collected.

“You can keep them if they’re given to you, but don’t go over there just yet. I’ll go see what’s going on.”

Alice stood at the bar and watched as Lina took the menu and walked toward the man.

It wasn’t long before she came back and slipped the menu into Alice’s hand, “He doesn’t drink. He just wants a plate of fried onions and wants you to bring him his food. He dresses so oddly. He’s probably a family member of Death, so be wary. You don’t want to be made into a ghoul.”

Even Alice had heard of them.

They were followers of the God of Death who commonly operate in the funeral industry, digging up graves and installing tombstones. If the relatives of the deceased couldn’t afford a burial, the followers of Death would take the body away.

When her mother died, one of them took her body away. It was said that they were all necromancers who made puppets out of dead bodies to manipulate… Alice never dared to imagine where her mother’s body went.

In general, people shunned the followers of Death, even using their name to daunt children.

She didn’t wish anything to do with them, but someone had just given her two gold coins and requested to see her, so she couldn’t hide.

She took the platter of fried onions and tread to the corner of the tavern.

The man saw her coming and lifted his hood slightly. Her eyes widened in shock when she recognized the man’s and cerulean eyes and pale golden hair peeking out from his temples.

“E—” The man put a finger to his lips and shook his head.

She placed the fried onions on his table, closed her mouth, and lowered her voice, “Lord Etienne?”

He shifted his hood and nodded, glancing around uneasily, “It’s not appropriate for me to show myself in a place like this. Is there somewhere I can speak with you?”

Alice was anxious and agitated.

She never thought she would have a second chance to see Lord Etienne in this lifetime.

She pursed her lips, afraid she would scream, and dipped her head. She pulled the corner of his robe and led him through the kitchen and out the side door of the tavern.

Outside was a secluded alleyway, excellent for a confidential conversation, as no one normally came this way except when the tavern was unloading.

“No one usually comes here,” Alice spoke. “This is the place.”

Etienne nodded once.

Out of caution, he didn’t remove his hood, keeping his face hidden in the shadows, “I heard you were working here as a waitress, so I came to see you. Are you doing well?”

“Not bad,” She wanted to say that she was doing quite well, but that didn’t really fit with reality. After all, she was constantly in a tight spot. “Everyone in the tavern takes care of me quite well. I have money for rent, too.”

“That’s good,” Etienne breathed, as if relieved. “Have you seen the mercenary that the God of Doom and you mentioned?”

“Mercenary?” Alice remembered what the God of Doom had said to her in the small prayer chamber: “You mean Immortal Rom? I haven’t seen him yet.”

He acknowledged, “If you meet that man, don’t go with him. Mercenaries are treacherous people. If you leave with someone like that, your life’s trajectory will deviate in an uncontrollable direction. If you encounter something you can’t solve, come to me at the temple. The temple apprentices will inform you. In any case, don’t trust the promises of the Thirteenth God. He is much more threatening than you can imagine. You’re still young and inexperienced, so don’t put yourself in danger.”

She could hear the worry in his voice, and it made her feel warm inside, “Don’t worry. I can take care of myself here.”

Etienne scrutinized Alice’s expression by the lamp coming through the kitchen window of the tavern.

He saw that her face was illuminated, revealing her youthful innocence. Nothing had happened to disturb him yet, but what would happen afterward? Having grown up in such an environment, it was likely that this young girl would degenerate further in the future.

Besides, even if she did, it had nothing to do with him. After all, he didn’t come today at the risk of being seen out of indifference and pity; he was mainly worried that his initial compassion would bring about unforeseen and deadly aftermath.

The Lord High Priest’s caution was not empty; Etienne could bring unimaginable disaster to the world or cut his future short altogether because of his initial weakness.

However, he could not completely ignore Alice. The girl in front of him bore a striking resemblance to him. While he had a protector to plan his future, this girl was left with nothing.

With this thought in mind, he pulled out another gold coin and placed it in her hand, “Alice, promise me you won’t follow the God of Doom.”

She pushed his hand back, “No, I can’t take your money. Please take back the gold coins from just now as well. As a tip, this is too much. I can’t take it.”

He shoved the money hard into her hand, “Take it. I don’t have any use for money in the temple. It’s better to put it away. If you encounter any difficulties, you can use this.”

Alice stared at him, but it was troublesome because Etienne’s attitude was so resolute that she couldn’t ignore him. His visage at that moment was akin to the time in the temple, and she realized that she was not in a position to reject him.

If her mother were still alive, Alice probably wouldn’t have accepted Etienne’s money. Her mother’s pride was great, and she would never have allowed her to take money she didn’t deserve.

But Alice was just a kid and didn’t have clear values or a strong will. She felt ashamed, but she received the money anyway.

As she put the gold coins in her coat pocket, she heard something drop to the ground nearby.

She shifted her head and saw a figure standing on the corner.

She recognized the figure’s appearance at once and exclaimed in astonishment, “Burke?”

The figure took two steps forward and stood in the moonlight. There was no doubt that it was him.

Etienne made no sound; he did not want to be recognized. He no longer made a point of saying goodbye to Alice. He pulled his hood up, pivoted, and disappeared into the night.

Alice and Burke regarded each other in disbelief.

They stared at each other for a while.

Finally, Alice opened her mouth first, “Why are you here?”

Burke raised something in his hand, “Master forgot something. I came to deliver it to him. I thought I’d come by to see you. Who was the person who just talked to you?”

She opened her mouth, not knowing how to answer.

Etienne had come dressed differently just to avert being seen in the tavern. Moreover, if she told Burke about Etienne’s identity, she would have to tell him everything that happened in the temple as well.

She trusted Burke, but she felt that the fewer people who knew about this matter, the better.

She shook her head, “It’s nothing. Just a tavern guest.”

Alice wasn’t lying when she said that, still Burke’s brows crumpled, “If it’s just a regular customer, why would he give you gold coins?”

It was really awful when the two of them pushed for the gold coins. He saw it. The gold coins were shiny and could clearly be seen, even at night. Why would a normal tavern guest give such a valuable coin to a waitress?

Alice looked at his expression and suddenly understood what he was thinking.

He must have thought she was like the other tavern waitresses who met with men outside.

It was complicated to clarify, but Alice frowned and spoke anyway, “It’s not what you think!”

Burke looked at her distressed, “Don’t worry. I won’t say anything. But that person is actually…”

“It’s someone I used to know. They heard that I was working here and came to visit me.”

“Is it your mom’s… friend?”

Seeing that he had found an explanation on his own, Alice breathed a slight sigh of relief, “Yes, that’s right.”

Perhaps because her relief was too obvious, Burke still looked doubtful.

She sighed heavily, “What do I have to say for you to believe me? Never mind. It doesn’t matter if you don’t believe me. Whatever you saw here today, please don’t tell the landlady about it. She’ll repossess the house if she suspects I’ve done something wrong.”

After hearing Alice say that, he half-heartedly asked, “You really didn’t do anything?”

“Really.”

He also let out a long breath, “All in all, it’s good that you aren’t fooled.”

Perhaps because his last words unveiled a lot of concern, Alice smiled at him, “Don’t worry. I won’t do anything I’ll have to apologize for. Aren’t you here to deliver something? Bring it in, and I’ll take it from there.”

He handed her the props prepared by the master and left.

Alice held the tiny cow head ornament and returned to the tavern through the kitchen door.

Lina seemed to have been watching this whole time, and when she saw Alice return with the ornament, she recognized it at once, “Ah, this is the figurine I commissioned the Master Carpenter to make for Hewlett to put at the foot of his bed. Was it his apprentice who came by just now?”

“Yes, his apprentice, Burke.”

“Give me the stuff.” Lina said, “I’ll inform Master Carpenter. Also, that guy just left? He hasn’t checked out yet.”

“Ah, that’s okay. I’ll settle it for him. All he wanted was a plate of onion rings.”

Lina gazed at her a little disapprovingly, “Although I won’t meddle in the personal affairs of the waitresses, I’ll give you some advice. A man who asks a woman to pay the bill isn’t trustworthy.”

Alice knew that Lina had misinterpreted, “Not that at all.”

She observed Alice, still with a skeptical look in her eyes, “That’s fine.”

Alice didn’t think about these interludes for the latter part of the evening; she was too engrossed.

Bacchus Night usually lasted until morning, and by three in the morning, most of the people at the event were wasted. She had never stayed up so late, and she was extremely drowsy that her upper and lower eyelids were fighting. After staying up until dawn, Hewlett and the fat chef hurled out the drunks who were still dozing outside the tavern.

They closed the door and announced to the waitresses, “Go back and get a good night’s sleep. You can come in a little later in the afternoon.”