Emperor's Reckoning

The atmosphere inside the tavern was riddled with laughter from the local adventurers. Luna kept her eyes on Lyon whose hand she held tightly. Her heart raced unlike the ignorant fools that enjoyed their drinks. The foul stench was bothering her nose and mood, but not as much as how Aloy started a fuss out of nothing.

The deliberate bump was seen by anyone with their eyes opened. It was blatant bullying against a newcomer. However, from the laughter, Luna could understand that these had happened often and more importantly, welcomed. A custom for the brute and lazy.

Aloy was smirking back as he crossed his arms, waiting for a response from the cloaked couple. One curse word, or even just a furrowed brow, was enough for him to start something. The group had been acting mysteriously with their cloaks and hardly gave a glimpse of any faces.

Lyon let out a sigh before he shook his head. He kept walking forward whilst holding Luna's hand. He was unperturbed by the gazes of the drunk adventurers, nor the experts hid among them. He was just making the world.

Luna let out a sigh of relief as she followed Lyon up. She looked at him and caught a smirk on his face. She immediately frowned. She had seen him smirking a lot, when he was in danger, when he was fighting, or when the situation was undoubtedly terrorizing for one's soul. However, the Lyon she knew was also a young man that's full of mischief.

Aloy furrowed his brows as the waves of laughter from the nearby adventurers turned into boos. He was expecting a scene, some quick bucks, however, he seemed to have been neglected.

"Oh, look, Aloy is getting pissed, haha!"

"There is only one way for Aloy to redeem himself, a fight!"

"Fight, fight, fight, fight!"

The tavern chanted the action Aloy should take with a unison tap of their wooden cup against the wooden table. Some that didn't have a drink ready, used their palm to follow the rhythm. Meanwhile, the bartender could only wipe his glass faster at the heightening tension.

The crowd was reversed by the simple act of Lyon ignoring the problem. He simply walked out of the troubles before the morale tension inside the tavern shifted.

"Lyon, don't..." said Luna softly as Lyon approached Cecile's table.

"Heh, what happened to the old farmer?" Lyon chuckled whilst pointing at him.

The old man passed out with his eyes opened staring at the roof. His body was stiff as a frozen sculpture, but his chest still keep heaving up and down.

"He is a sleep," said Kesya with a grin.

"Nobody slept like that, Kesya," Lyon rolled his eyes under his hood.

"Really? You never see someone sleepwalking?" Kesya crossed her arms as she tilted her head. "It's hard to believe."

"Are they even that common?" Lyon shrugged.

"Never mind that, you just can keep your hands tied," Cecile sighed.

"Huh?" Luna was dazzled in confusion. She didn't know what Cecile meant, but her cheeks gave out a red hue. "What do you mean?"

Cecile drank her cup before pointing out at Lyon's other hand, "Still quick as ever." she gulped down her drinks.

"You noticed?" Lyon chuckled. "A pretty penny for a fair day of work."

"Fair huh?" Cecile couldn't help but chuckle.

Luna furrowed her brows before she took a peek at Lyon's other hand. It was holding something. ( So that what that smirk was for, he had stolen something from the bump, or was it after the bump? ). She gulped, the man she was holding was able to steal under the hundred eyes and a single hand. They might be the bully but he was the thief.

"Alright, leave some room for me to sit on," said Lyon before Kesya moved over.

"The table is really small for all of us," Assid furrowed his brows. "Such incompetent."

"Hey, it's a small settlement, what do you expect?" Lyon chuckled before he let Luna sit on an empty seat.

"Oi!"

A call-out made rose the tension inside the tavern once more.

One adventurer smirked before he nudged his friend's arm, "Aloy is going to at it."

"He is been scolded by the boss numerous times but always got away with it, it's fine."

"Must have been the boss's idea to keep him, he is our entertainer in this base."

"Shh!! Keep your mouth shut, those cloaked guys might hear you."

"The fuck do they care?"

"We don't know yet, that's the fucking point stupid!"

"I'm not done with you, who told you to sit," said Aloy with his chin rose and his forearms tightened. The smirk on his face was quite obnoxious, even for the fellow adventurers in the tavern.

Meanwhile, outside the tavern, was a figure that no one dared to mess with. He stopped just before the entrance before his ears twitched.

"Oh..." he smiled. "Looks like Aloy is making a scene again, heh, keeping that guy is the right choice after all."

The figure avoided the entrance with a short jump before peeking from the window. He smirked as he could discern Aloy almost immediately due to the others sitting down nicely. "Now then, let's see what that cloaked guy could do, this should be fun, hmm?!"

His eyebrows rose as his pupils shrunk. From the cloaked group, there were two, facing right straight at him unbudging. ( I was found! ) his blood rose as he felt his goosebumps rise. His heart skipped a beat but after he brace himself with a blink of his eyes, the two cloaked cultivators darted away.

"Huh..." the figure furrowed his brows. "Is it my imagination?"

Lyon didn't even pull his chair yet before Aloy called him. He let out a sigh and then looked over the group with a helpless sigh. "What can I say?"

Cecile shook her head as she drank her wooden glass. She slammed it down before she crossed her arms under the cloak. She looked at Lyon then smirked. "I hope it won't escalate."

"This world is crazy, who knows, I might have to fight his great grandfather or something after this," Lyon shrugged his shoulder before he turned around.

Cecile gave about a snorting laugh.

"What did you say?" Aloy furrowed his brows as he undid his crossed arms.

"Oooo..." the adventurers responded before following with little chuckles.

Aloy made heavy steps as he approached Lyon, but the latter didn't back down and also walked forward.

"Oh yeah! Showdown!"

"You have a lot of nerve pipsqueak!" Aloy smirked as he looked down. "Look, you hardly reached my chin."

"When I feel like I don't want to seek problems, problems somehow make their way to me," Lyon sighed, disregarding Aloy's remark.

"Heh, then you should apologize," said Aloy with a smirk. "Maybe a top-grade bead would be sufficient for disrespecting me."

"Man, he is extorting him," one adventurer chuckled.

"I'm sorry, but I'm a homeless man," said Lyon with a visible smirk. "Now if you excuse me."

Lyon turned around and left the encounter. The tavern sunk into deep silence as he walked away with audible steps.

"Woah..." Luna couldn't help but be impressed by how Lyon handled the situation. ( Isn't this the part where he rampaged his way? Is he being possessed? ).

"You're back without blood," commented Lumina. "That's rare."

"I'm not killing for joy, Lumina," Lyon chuckled. "Besides, the guy is paying our tabs."

Lumina let out a rare smile.

"We have some naughty eyes looking from the window just now, I wonder who he is," said Cecile.

"As expected of Empress herself, she noticed him without even giving it a glance," Kesya crossed her arms and nodded firmly.

"Oh really? We are being watched?" Lyon sat down and gave his back to the rest of the tavern. "I feel like this place is a little bit off, but maybe that's just my feelings."

"Yeah, we can't count on that, sorry Lyon, but a woman has superior guts than a man," Cecile jested.

( Yeah well, Luna has been giving a few red flags so... ) Lyon shrugged before he grabbed the wooden glass. "Let me guess, plain water?"

"Juice!" Kesya grinned.

"Fuck," Lyon shook his head and nonchalantly drank the juice, unaware of someone standing right behind him.

"Looks like you need to be taught some manner," Aloy said coldly before his hand aimed to grab Lyon's head and slammed it toward the table. "Next time you're here, call me seni—"

*Gulp!

"Bah, stupid juice," Lyon rolled his eyes before he raised one of his brows. "Hmm?" he turned around to see Aloy's wrist was grabbed.

Aloy had his pupils shrunk as he looked up to a person for the first time in a while. He saw the glare of a man that was bigger than him from under the hood. However, the tavern was stunned the moment Aloy's feet slowly left the ground.

"Heh," Lyon let out a smirk as he spread his legs and laid his forearms against the table behind him.