The inn was quiet and empty. In fact, apart from a few locals, no one else was there. The tables were old and dark but sturdy.
Behind the counter, a bald man stood idly, his eyes following a fly near the ceiling. He sighed and poured a drink.
He lazily swirled the glass and placed it in front of a man whose neatly pressed clothes shone brightly.
He glanced briefly at the man's eagle-headed cane and then turned to the girl accompanying him.
"A cup of hot tea for you."
Then he walked away. But before disappearing behind the doorframe, he muttered something that sounded like a curse to the world.
"Cheers, Jia!"
"Sargon, you really need to quit this drinking habit."
"Why? Because it'll eventually kill me? Hmm, guess what? Whether I drink or not, I'm going to die. What's the point of living two more days if I can't taste this bitterness?!"
"How foolish....."
She took a sip of her tea.
"So, what now? What are you going to do about the Beggars' sect?"
"Unfortunately, they can't be eradicated because, in the first place, poverty can't be eliminated."
"So the problem is just poverty?!"
Sargon looked at Jia. He placed the glass on the counter. "So what did you think the problem was? A childish inferiority complex? The name of that damned sect is the Beggars'; without them, there is no sect. Got it?!"
Jia shrugged. "It's not like that's the only way."
"Of course! There are many ways, but dealing with those creatures is very costly. In fact, I can compare them to snakes that can be both useful and harmful."
He tapped the counter three times to call the bald man.
"You can use them to kill pests, but if you step on their tails too much, they'll bite you!"
"So what should be done?"
The bald man reluctantly returned to the counter.
"Yes, sir?"
"Refill, please."
Sargon shook his head. "You need to learn about them."
At that moment, the sound of the inn door opening was heard.
Sargon raised his glass and brought it up to his face.
"Right on time!"
Jia immediately turned around. A burly man with a dusty face stood at the inn's entrance. He wore a long coat. Two guns were strapped across his chest, and two more were holstered at his waist. Besides the guns, a broad-bladed sword hung from his waist, looking very heavy. The man's boots reached up to his knees, with the tops folded down.
The man smelled of blood; even without that stench, his face showed he had recently sent a few people to the gates of hell.
The man walked forward. The floor creaked under his steps.
Jia eyed the man with astonishment.
[How does he carry that sword around?]
The man took off his brimmed hat and placed it on the counter.
"A southern whiskey," he said in a deep voice.
The bald man became a bit flustered. He cautiously grabbed an old bottle from the shelf. He was about to pour a glass, but the man snatched the bottle and took a few gulps.
Almost half the bottle was emptied in one go.
"Well?!" Sargon said seriously.
The man hesitated for a moment. "Your guess was right. The Beggars' sect revealed the hidden path."
Sargon smirked. "Predictable fools."
Sargon gestured for Jia to look over her shoulder. However, none of the people present reacted. Sargon laughed. "It seems they've gathered all their forces after our relatively friendly encounter."
"If you knew what they were going to do, why didn't you take any action?" Jia asked in surprise.
Sargon smiled. "Oh, Jia! Why do you think Black Clover is sitting with us now?"
He pointed to the burly man who had just finished his second bottle.
Then he continued calmly, "We diverted the flood, and now we have to wait for the result."
Jia, not understanding the connection between Sargon's actions, asked, "Well, you didn't do anything special, Sargon. You went to the slums a few times and then threatened the beggars…"
Sargon tilted his glass forward like a chess piece: "As I said, the first step was to know the enemy. So I placed a few spies among some of the Beggars' contacts. I knew they would try to take advantage of this situation, so it was likely they would show a path to the reactionary Murim and ask them to leave them alone in return. The next step was to identify that path before the deal was finalized. Then, the only thing left was to set a trap and disrupt the fragile relationship between Murim and the beggars. To do this, I had to make it seem like the beggars sold out the Murim group. That's why I publicly summoned one of the beggars to take us to the meeting place. This would make the Murim spy who got the information from the beggars see me and accuse the Beggars after the ambush on their group…"
Then he turned to Black Clover: "And you, as agreed, left that sect's young master alive, right?"
"I killed half of them, but as you requested, I arranged for them to escape the structure and head here."
"Haha! That's great, and now we have the Beggars' sect on our side in this fight. Jing-Wei Tian is cautious but vengeful. When he concludes that the Beggars betrayed him, he'll quickly seek revenge, and this way, we hit two birds with one stone!!"
Jia, her mouth agape in astonishment, nodded and raised her tea cup.
Black Clover laughed. "But Sargon, you didn't need me for this. You could have kept the money. You're quite the monster yourself!"
[What?? Did this guy just call Sargon a monster?]
Sargon laughed. "Oh! Come on. The science of structures isn't that flawless."
Black Clover looked at him mockingly and shook his head.
[There's no way Sargon is that strong. I knew he was messing with him.]
Sargon placed a pouch of spirit stones on the counter. Black Clover put on his hat, took the pouch, and placed it in his bag.
"I'll be waiting around here for your signal."
He lowered the brim of his hat and left without another word.
Sargon also placed a few silver coins on the counter and loudly told the bartender, "Keep the change for yourself!"