With some distance ahead of him to his new mission location. Kiyoshi stops by a nearby town to stock up on supplies. He walks around the town with his hat on his back to avoid drawing attention to himself, since this town and the towns neighboring it were in the midst of a civil war, and any mysterious strangers could be seen as a spy. Strolling along the roadway, Kiyoshi could observe commoners tending to their chickens and sheep, and other livestock. The women and men surveyed Kiyoshi as he passed by whilst the children kicked balls and chased dogs in the street.
Kiyoshi continued wandering until he arrived at a tavern called The Liquid Gold Tavern. The old wooden building looked centuries-old as termites eating away at its structure. Drunken men stagger and fall amongst themselves with clothes soaked in urine and vomit. Kiyoshi trekked up the old wooden stairs, which creaked and squeaked with each step Kiyoshi made. Making his way inside the tavern, Kiyoshi avoided the drunk and disarrayed men stumbling on themselves.
Inside the tavern, Kiyoshi was surrounded by rough and rugged men. The sweet smell of food and wine mixed with the bitter smell of vomit and old meat created an effluvium smell that filled the air and turned Kiyoshi's stomach. Whilst large men sit around tables on wooden barrels eating large portions of meat and drinking enormous mugs of beer.
Kiyoshi strolls over and takes a seat at the counter. He requests a beer while the bartender passes. She slides a mug of beer across the counter to Kiyoshi, who in return throws her a gold coin from the kingdom of Zion. Before she can comment, Kiyoshi tells her he wants all the beer he can get with that coin. With that, nine more mugs of beer slide into the direction of Kiyoshi, who drinks all ten mugs of beer without hesitation.
Without even noticing, Kiyoshi manages to draw the attention of the other bar patrons as they wonder how a scrawny and raw-boned man could handle beer like that as Kiyoshi orders another round of ten beers. On the opposite of the Kiyoshi to the left, a group of Vikings stares intensely at Kiyoshi as continues gulping mugs of beer down. One of them was a large man standing at seven feet four inches tall of Caucasian descent. His long orange hair was dirty with pieces of meat and beard, and his bread was stained with beer.
The large man leaves his table surrounded by equally large men and walks over to Kiyoshi and takes a seat. He leans over, resting his arm around Kiyoshi's shoulder, and whispers into Kiyoshi's ear. He remarks that he and his men observed Kiyoshi drinking beer like a real man and proposes a deal to Kiyoshi. If Kiyoshi could out-drink him, Kiyoshi can ask him for anything, but if he wins, Kiyoshi pays for all the beer he and his men could drink. With a devilish smile on his face, Kiyoshi agrees to the terms of the deal and the two men begin drinking.
After almost two hours of drinking and sixty mugs of beer later, the large collapses to the ground, unable to drink another sip. Whilst Kiyoshi continues drinks beers even after a hundred and twelve mugs of beer, unfazed by the alcohol as he drinks the beer like kool-aid to the horror and amazement of the other patrons in the bar and the bartender. The other men at the table quickly picked up the large man on the ground as he staggers to his feet. As they drag him to his sit, He calls for Kiyoshi to sit with them.
With a ghoulish smile on his face, Kiyoshi agrees and sits next to the men. Next to the large men, Kiyoshi looked like a toddler. All seven men stood at least seven feet in height. The one that lost to Kiyoshi introduced himself as Asger as he smiled, shaking Kiyoshi's arm as it wiggled like a wet noodle as Kiyoshi shook his arm. Asger complimented Kiyoshi for being an extraordinary man as he Asger had never lost a beer drinking competition before.
"So boyo, what do you want as your reward? I am a man of my word." Remarked Asger as he continued smiling at Kiyoshi with the rest of his men, looking on with concern. With a small smile on his face, Kiyoshi asked if the men knew anything about the state of affairs in the town of lutter en paix.
With Kiyoshi's question still lingering in the air, Asger and his men's faces quickly grew from happy to serious as Asger's joyful blue eyes turn those of a demon. He quickly responded by asking Kiyoshi if he was a spy to which the young samurai responded, no he is looking for his lover who he heard was on the other side of the town of lutter en paix.
With the men still not convinced, Kiyoshi pulls from his pocket a painting of Aniko and shows it to the men. The men watch the painting intensely and begin laughing, remarking on Kiyoshi's marvelous taste in women. Asger then states that just like the other neighboring towns, the town of lutter en paix is in the midst of a civil war as the kingdom of Tucson has evaded them and put puppet rulers to oversee their territory. But a group of natives called anges du sol is fighting back to suppress the Tucson evaders back, and that's all he knows.
Asger then pulls out a card with a barcode from his pocket and tells Kiyoshi that a boating Vikings and if anytime he needs to travel via sea scan this card with his communication stone and contact them. Kiyoshi places the card into his pocket and thanks Asger and his men for the information and leaves the tavern.
As Kiyoshi leaves the town, he looks at the painting of Aniko upset that Asger and his men had stained it with meat and beer. He sticks it back into his pocket, remarking to himself that he will have to paint it over when he gets the chance.
Hours later, Kiyoshi arrived in the town of lutter en paix, and in front of him was a coward of citizens protesting against a group of Tucson soldiers as they chant free Sarah Grutte Pier. As Kiyoshi continued to approach the coward, a stranger in a grey hood runs into him and spills a piece of paper into his hands. The letter reads: Please meet us at the old platoon bar tonight at eleven. Please don't be seen till then. Kiyoshi quickly sticks the paper back into his pocket and disappears into a nearby alley as the Tucson soldiers disburse the coward.
Gunshots ring out as the men, women, and children run back into their homes as Tucson soldiers dressed in their silver armor with an emblem of a man pushing a stone wheel on their chest. The soldiers continued to patrol the streets even with the coward disburse as they continued to look for members of the anges du sol group.
Kiyoshi continued moving through the town, avoiding the soldiers until night finally fell and the soldiers themselves disburse. With the time being minutes to eleven, Kiyoshi stands in front of the Old Platoon Bar awaiting the mysterious person he met today.