The Female Knight of Doom - TFKOD 13: Worshipful Departure

The kitchen table had always been an area for Hewlett to discuss to the tavern staff. With the side door to the back alley and the door to the front storefront shut, the kitchen became a separate space that could be utilized as an office.

At the end of each month, he would put on his tattered suit and sit at the desk to organize the month’s accounts. The employees knew that the suit meant a change in status. As long as he wore it, he was no longer the bartender who could make antics; he was the owner of the tavern.

If he wore it to speak with someone, then what he had to say must be major.

On Alice’s first day, when she first came to this tavern, Hewlett sat at this table in this crappy suit and decided to hire her.

Now, he was sitting across from her again, but he didn’t look as eased as last time. Looking at him, she became increasingly tense, pressed her lips together and remained silent.

Is it terrible to believe that he’s going to dismiss her? By all accounts, that was impossible. As far as she knew, he had never dismissed anyone.

But what else could be important?

Hewlett looked at her as if he was having trouble expressing what he was about to say.

He couldn’t escape it, though, and eventually said, “Alice, I’m sorry, but the tavern is closing.”

This news was even more unpredictable than his decision to dismiss her.

In her perception, the tavern had existed forever. She had never imagined that one day the place would actually close.

Hearing him say that, she finally understood why he had been in a trance for the past few days.

She desperately asked, “Why?”

“Its owner sold it.”

“I thought you were its owner.”

Hewlett sighed, “I wish I am, but unfortunately, all I own here are the tables, chairs, as well as the knives, forks, bowls, and pots. The shop is owned by someone else, and I’ve never been able to save enough money to buy it. The other day, the owner informed me that he had sold the entire property, including the shop and land, and asked me to leave within a month.”

“Isn’t the new owner going to rent it out again?”

“I asked around, and the person who bought the place is a baron under the city lord. He’s going to tear it all down and build a more imposing tavern. In any case, there’s no place for me in this city anymore. I’m leaving. For the last month, I’ll double your paychecks. That’s all I can do.”

Evidently overwhelmed by this unexpected news, Hewlett gave Alice no time to reconsider the question of her dwellings.

She stammered, “Where are you going? What about Lina?”

He shook his head, “I don’t know yet. I’ve saved up some money over the years—maybe enough to open another tavern elsewhere if I get the chance. Either way, though, I had to leave the city. As for Lina… I haven’t asked her about her plans, but I doubt she’ll come with me.”

Alice didn’t press him on how he had come to this conclusion. She had served at the tavern for a year and understood that the employees all had dark pasts.

Of those people, Lina probably had more secrets than anyone else.

After they concluded the conversation, she emerged from the kitchen feeling insecure about her future.

Now that her place and her job were gone, what was she going to do? What else could she do?

It was then that she absolutely realized that she was merely a child. In the face of such tough circumstances, she had no solution.

The conversation was over, and they packed up their things and got ready to leave.

Alice looked up at Lina, who wasn’t smiling. She had never seen her like this before.

She believed that the relationship between Lina and Hewlett was hard to describe; she thought they were confidants, “Lina, what are you going to do once the tavern is gone?”

Lina shook her head and didn’t respond.

The tavern was about to close, but was still opening for the day.

Hewlett planned to sell all the wine stored in the cellar within the month and had put up a notice in front of the tavern for a limited-time offer. The waitresses were pumped up as well, determined to earn as many tips as possible during this final period so they could figure out how to survive when they couldn’t find work afterward.

It didn’t take long for Immortal Rom to visit.

By all accounts, a mercenary like him shouldn’t be stationed in a war-free city for long.

Alice originally thought he was captivated by Lina, but upon closer inspection, his pursuit of her didn’t seem violent. Maybe he just wanted to rest and flirt with the tavern waitress before his next fight for survival.

In any case, he had always been the waitresses’ favorite kind of customer—attractive, no trouble, and considerate with his tips. So, when he entered, they all flocked around him.

Two days ago, she hadn’t gone over to the side of the Immortal Room because she was flustered.

Now, she could only rely on the prophecy of that god. She believed that the fate of the mercenary in front of her was affiliated to her and that traveling with him would ensure her life until she turned seventeen.

Then, she would be an adult, resilient enough to survive and intelligent enough to decide whether to become a follower of the God of Doom or traverse the rest of her life alone.

Alice approached Immortal Rom and implored him once more, “Please accept me as a disciple and teach me swordsmanship.”

Immortal Rom didn’t think she would make such a request again.

He couldn’t help but turn and look at her intently. She had given up so simply the last time she brought it up that he misjudged her perseverance. From Immortal Rom’s point of view, her eyes were bright and her figure dexterous; she should be quite suitable for learning the sword.

However, he was a forty-year-old man. Taking a teenage girl as his disciple would cause a lot of trouble, so he could never agree to it.

He was about to say no when Lina spoke up, “Please say yes to her. The tavern is closing, and the child will soon have nowhere to go.”

This put Immortal Rom in a difficult position. He liked Lina and was reluctant to reject her request outright. However, the idea of accepting a young girl as an apprentice worried him.

After thinking about it, he said to Alice, “For Lina’s sake, asking me to take on an apprentice is not completely impossible. However, I’m a famous mercenary, and I don’t know how many people would want to be my apprentice. I can agree to take you in, but the tuition fee is nothing less.”

Alice was overjoyed to hear him relent, “Of course, as long as you can accept me.”

Immortal Rom decided he would have to name an exorbitant figure, just enough to dispel her unrealistic fantasies without making it noticeable that he was being deliberately challenging.

He thought for a moment and said, “Two gold coins.”

Without any quests, two gold coins was roughly half a year’s income for Immortal Rom. Even for a distinguished mercenary like him, this was considered a small amount of money.

In terms of his reputation, charging two gold coins as a commission for serving a master was considered reasonable and even cheap. However, Immortal Rom was convinced that the little girl in front of him couldn’t manage that much.

Unexpectedly, Alice’s eyes lit up at once.

When she went to the landlady’s place that morning, she had taken a gold coin and put it in her pocket.

She pulled out the shiny gold coin and put it in Immortal Rom’s palm, “This is the deposit. The remaining half will be paid when you start teaching me.”

He stared at the gold coin in his palm in surprise and reflexively picked it up, putting it in his mouth and taking a bite.

Indeed, it was real.

As a mercenary, Immortal Rom had his own survival rules, the most crucial of which was to never let go of money already in his possession.

He stuffed the coin in his pocket and glanced at Alice again, “If you back out later, I won’t return the money to you.”

She nodded, “I know.”

Immortal Rom didn’t intend to ask her where the money came from. Money was money, and it never had a fixed owner. Even if the money had been stolen, it had nothing to do with him.

However, by accepting the gold coin, he was also committing to taking on a female apprentice, “There are some things I have to say in advance. I’m a mercenary. I have no fixed residence. I often have to go to war. I can’t stay in one place for long. You’ll have to follow me around after you become my apprentice.”

At this point, Alice had already realized this, “It’s okay. I can go to war with you as a mercenary.”

He gave her a look, “Although there is no threshold for being a mercenary, the Mercenary Union doesn’t want women, and no one will hire women as mercenaries.”

She responded stoically, “If it’s an apprentice of ‘Immortal Rom,’ no one should think to check his gender.”

She was right, and Immortal Rom was amused to hear it.

“That’s true. I’m a well-known figure in the Mercenary Union. Recently, people in the union have often suggested that I take on an apprentice. So, as long as you follow me, no one should suspect your identity.” He stated this while staring at Alice.

He thought the kid was sharp and quite likable. Besides, girls were usually more reliable than men. When he got older, his physical strength and concentration would decline. When he arrived at the battlefield, he would need a trustworthy apprentice.

Considering this, it might not be a bad idea for him to accept a young female apprentice now.

With this thought, the big mercenary’s eyes became gentle, “Let’s go. I’ll take you to change your dress.”

…

A/N:

Alice is dressing up as a boy, but only temporarily. She will change back when she grows up.