"One thousand one hundred and eleven riders," said a man with a red face from drinking too much. "Imagine that!"
A girl sat on his lap and hung around his neck in a spoiled manner. Occasionally, the girl fed slices of bacon to the man's mouth.
There were three other men sitting around the large table, and each was accompanied by a servant girl in their very, very skimpy and revealing clothes. They were under a fairly shady sea hibiscus tree, on the outer right side of the bar.
"From what I hear," said the girl across the table from the first man. "The one who did that was not a human, but a demon."
The girl was sitting on the second man's lap and it seemed that he had penetrated her so that she was in a half-lying position with her hands resting on the table. The girl moves her hips in a slow rhythm, the man smiles broadly, and he folds his hands up, keeping his head up while enjoying the girl's swaying and the twinkling stars in the sky.
The third man, to the left of the first man, was kissing wildly with his servant girl. He glanced at the girl who spoke just now.
"What are you talking about?" he said. "Oh, you women. There's no such thing as demons in this world, you idiot!"
And he resumed his kiss with the servant girl, this time even squeezing her breasts.
The fourth man, to the right of the first man, was sitting on his haunches with a large wooden cup in his right hand.
His sitting position was slightly away from the table as the servant girl was squatting and doing something to his genitalia using her mouth. His left hand was on the girl's head, assisting the movements of the girl who was working to give him special service.
"Not really," the fourth man said in response to the third man. "If we, as riders, believe that there are still types of dragons that we don't know about until now, can't we say the same thing about those creatures that are believed to be demons?"
"Nonsense!" the third man snorted and chuckled. "People's myths are just the result of their fear of things they don't understand, my friend." And he used his mouth to cup one of his servant girl's nipples.
"I'm just saying what I think," said the fourth man, winking at the girl on the second man's lap.
The girl blushed while she herself was moving her hips to give the second man pleasure.
"Demon or human," said the first man, "it doesn't matter. What matters is the ability of that person or demon to bring down dragons and their riders. Who is that person? Or, what does it look like? No one knows, even after all these years."
"Yeah," said the third man, "nor are there any traces of the victims."
"Hey," said the girl clinging to the first man's neck. "I heard from some riders who visited here this afternoon that the last rider might have disappeared around the west coast in the South Country."
"That's doubtful," said the second man without turning his gaze to the stars in the sky. "I heard that too. Large amounts of blood were found on the grasslands, as well as on the beach. The dried blood could be that of a wounded fisherman or a cattle herder."
Then a tall, bulky person appeared with a few others in front of the bar.
The four men looked at each other, as did a few others on the outside of the bar.
"Hey," the fourth man said in a half-whisper to his three friends. "Isn't he the Emperor's cousin?"
"Yeah," the first man gulped. "Magnius the Mighty. This is the first time I've seen him this close."
"Holy shit!" the third man said. "He's big and tall, man."
The man called Magnius was 40 years old. His tall, muscular figure is an easy thing to recognize. Also, because of his almost completely white eyeballs, as well as all the hair on his head and body.
He was the cousin of the emperor of the Central Empire and came from the al-Banix race, the race that inhabited the central land. A vast landmass is known as the Central Empire since two decades ago.
The al-Banix race became the highest caste race compared to the other eight races—two of the races had been considered extinct, due to the greed and cruelty of the Central Empire. While the other two races became slaves to the power of the emperor and other nobles.
Ignoring the looks the people outside the bar gave him, Magnius entered the bar with six other men who were imperial soldiers.
The appearance of the seven men who had just entered the bar made the noise and clamor in the bar suddenly stop, all gazes were fixed on them, especially on Magnius' tall figure.
A middle-aged man with luxurious clothes on his body hurriedly came down from upstairs and directly approached Magnius with a demeanor that showed politeness-just call it that if you are reluctant to replace it with the word ingratiation.
"Lord Magnius," the middle-aged man bowed. "Welcome to my humble bar."
Magnius grinned, he glanced at the few people who had stopped their activities while looking at him. As if, he was emphasizing to the middle-aged man the simple words that contradicted the reality he was witnessing.
"What brings you to this place, my lord?" asked the middle-aged man. "Ahh, forgive me. I am Avarius, the owner of this estate."
"I need some information," Magnius replied in his raspy, heavy voice.
"Aah, I see," Avarius nodded. "Come, my lord," he invited Magnius and his six bodyguards upstairs.
After Magnius left the floor, the men resumed their respective activities, but some a big question mark on their heads about the appearance of the emperor's cousin in such a place.
Inside a large and luxurious room, a room permanently reserved for a select few, Avarius provided the emperor's cousin with the best possible service.
Six imperial soldiers sat on two rows of plush sofas: Three on the right and three on the left.
Magnius himself sat relaxed with one leg bent upwards on a large, thick mattress, his back supported by two large pillows.
A dozen beautiful girls dressed so scantily that they were even shirtless entered the room, each carrying a tray. Some of them served food and drink to the six imperial soldiers, while others served Magnius.
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TO BE CONTINUED ...