Chapter 210: To the Dusk Shadow Association
But the latter didn’t seem to mind.
“What’s wrong with it? This is how we Half-Beastmen are!”
“…”
Fine, then.
The group pouted, then felt like something was missing.
Then they realized one person hadn’t spoken.
So they all turned in unison to the unassertive Bai Ya. Five raised mugs hung in mid-air, waiting for her to say the final line of the toast.
Bai Ya’s face instantly turned bright red.
She was a bit of an introvert to begin with and slow to react. Now, with so many people staring at her, her mind went completely blank.
After a long, awkward pause, she finally managed to raise her overflowing mug of beer, blushing as she stammered in a small voice—
“Ch-Cheers…”
「Two hours later.」
The din inside the tavern continued unabated. The smell in the air grew stronger, and a large barrel of ale was already two-thirds empty.
It turned out that the “process” of drinking was pretty much the same, whether in his previous life or in this Otherworld.
If you were to break it down, it could be roughly divided into eight stages—
Reserved and modest → Increasingly chatty → Getting excited → Contemplating life → Lecturing on world affairs → Swearing eternal brotherhood → Talking nonsense → Passing out cold.
And from the looks of it, Lu Wei and Marcus had already entered the “contemplating life” stage.
Urzha was doing a bit better; he was just starting to get excited.
Geluo and Andrew were lightweights and had already started discussing “the systemic injustice of the Kingdom’s current laws against non-human races.”
As for Hess, he had passed the hell out and was “dead to the world” long ago.
In contrast, Bai Ya was the most normal of the bunch. Although her cheeks were flushed, she still seemed perfectly lucid.
“Captain, you should drink a little less…”
Tugging quietly on Lu Wei’s sleeve, she reminded him with some concern, “Don’t we have to go sell blind boxes tomorrow? We should head back early…”
“Nonsense!”
Lu Wei glared. “With big brother Marcus’s full support! What are you worried about!”
“Exactly! Acting is my specialty!”
Marcus let out a loud, drunken burp. “HIC—! No one will be able to see through it, I guarantee it!”
“I have complete faith in that… Right, where were we just now?”
Lu Wei stuffed a piece of roasted meat into his mouth and casually wiped his hands on the soundly sleeping Hess next to him.
Marcus frowned, trying to remember. “We were talking about, uh, right, the meaning of life!”
“Oh, right! So what’s the point of us working so hard, adventuring, and earning money?”
Lu Wei shook his head, his tone mournful. “Sigh, in the end, it’s all for nothing, isn’t it?”
“Exactly! Even the King, so what? He’s gonna die sooner or later!”
Marcus was even bolder, blurting out a sentence that could get you sent to the gallows in the Royal City.
Fortunately, such comments weren’t uncommon in a tavern, so no one paid any mind.
“It’s the same for all those big shots. Even if they get recorded in the history books and Minstrels sing tales of their deeds, it’s all meaningless!”
“In my opinion, the meaning of life isn’t how you live, but how you die!”
Gulping down a mouthful of beer, Marcus began to share his unusual perspective.
“Take goblins, for example! They eat, they steal, they sleep, live for a dozen years in a stinking hole, and then get squashed like a pile of mud. It’s the height of stupidity!”
“We humans only live for a few decades, hic… Huh? What was I trying to say?”
“Never mind. The point is, choose how you want to die, and it will naturally tell you how you should live!”
“That’s why, in a few years, I plan to go to Giant Dragon Island and get myself torched by Dragon Flame…”
???
‘After all that talk, his final choice is to go get himself killed?’
Hearing Marcus’s “ultimate goal,” Bai Ya’s jaw dropped, her face a mask of utter confusion.
Lu Wei, however, nodded in deep agreement.
“Indeed, that makes so much sense! Even though I didn’t understand a single word!”
“Of course! This is the Enlightenment I’ve gained from over a decade of adventuring!”
Marcus took another swig of his drink, his expression shifting from excitement to indignation.
“Speaking of which, adventuring is getting harder and harder these days. Back in my day, I could just take a stroll through the forest and earn enough to cover my expenses for ten days or more!”
“But now? If you’re unlucky, you might even lose money!”
“Sigh, it’s all because those guys at the Adventurer Association were bought off by the Kingdom. That new Hero Bill from a few years ago was complete nonsense!”
“You probably don’t know this, but overnight, the prices of all spoils of war dropped by twenty percent…”
The topic suddenly shifted from “the meaning of life” to the “Hero Bill,” showing that Marcus, just like Geluo and Andrew, had also entered the “lecturing on world affairs” stage.
As Lu Wei listened, he suddenly heard a familiar name.
“If you ask me, I bet it’s the Dusk Shadow Association pulling the strings behind the scenes. They don’t want the Adventurer Association getting too powerful…”
‘Hm?’
‘Hold on a second!’
Lu Wei suddenly interrupted, “Big brother Marcus, have you heard of the Dusk Shadow Association?”
“Of course, I…”
Marcus was about to answer when he suddenly remembered that Lu Wei was a suspected member of the Dusk Shadow Association. In an instant, the alcohol wore off, and he sobered up considerably.
‘Shit!’
‘I forgot about that!’
‘I didn’t just say anything bad about the Dusk Shadow Association, did I??’
“Ahem, of course I’ve heard of them. I’ve always held such a great organization in the highest regard.”
A moment later, under Lu Wei’s puzzled gaze, Marcus sat up a little straighter and said with a completely serious expression:
“You— no, I mean, *they*… They are the Guardians of the world, an existence for which everyone should be grateful.”
‘Holy cow, they’re that awesome?’
Hearing this, Lu Wei also sobered up and quickly asked:
“Can you tell me more about them? I’m very interested.”
“Well…”
Marcus was taken aback, unsure what Lu Wei was playing at.
But on second thought, he figured Lu Wei might be trying to gauge the Dusk Shadow Association’s reputation among the common folk. So, he immediately smiled and began to praise them.
“Of course! After all, for an organization like the Dusk Shadow Association, which holds such noble Faith, their glorious deeds should be remembered by every person with a conscience!”
“They have black hair and black eyes, like the invisible hand in the Dark Night, silently maintaining the world’s stability. They prevent the light from becoming so scorching that it burns everything to ashes, while also stopping the darkness from completely devouring all hope!”
“The ‘Blight Disaster’ in the south a few years ago, and even earlier, the Dwarf civil war in Iron Rock Castle… they were the ones who did it… No, I mean, they were the ones who *solved* it!”
“They act with a low profile, seeking neither fame nor fortune. They possess great Power but never use it to bully the weak. Their wisdom is unparalleled, yet they are content to remain in the shadows. I, Marcus, admire this kind of organization the most—one that gets things done without seeking glory!”
“I’m in awe, truly in awe from the bottom of my heart!”
“This toast is for the Dusk Shadow Association!”
As everyone watched, Marcus got so worked up that he slammed his hand on the table, stood up, and raised his mug high. With his face flushed red, he couldn’t have looked more sincere.
It was clear that, just as he himself had said, his acting skills were indeed impressive.
He might have even started to believe his own bullshit.
Seeing this, Lu Wei was also deeply shaken.
‘So after all this, they’re a righteous organization that does good deeds without seeking recognition!’
‘From the sound of it, they’re definitely a ‘lawful good’ alignment, no doubt about it!’
‘Just as I thought, all my previous worries were for nothing!’
‘I can finally relax. Even if someone finds that black feather, it definitely won’t cause any trouble!’
‘Who knows, I might even be praised and supported by everyone!’
“Well said!”
At this thought, Lu Wei also stood up excitedly and raised his mug high.
“To the Dusk Shadow Association!”
“Uh…”
Nearby, seeing the two of them suddenly stand up, Bai Ya, Urzha, and the other two were completely baffled, but they subconsciously raised their mugs anyway.
“To the Dusk Shadow Association…”
“CLINK!”
With a dull clatter, the golden liquid sloshed as the six mugs clinked together once more.
But that wasn’t the end of it.
After all, any friend who frequents the taverns of Fantasy Worlds knows that if someone suddenly raises their mug and shouts “To so-and-so!”, then everyone else is obligated to raise their mugs in agreement.
And so, upon hearing the commotion, all the customers in the Sunken Ship Bay Tavern raised their mugs as well… even though more than half of them had never even heard of the “Dusk Shadow Association.”
As for the small fraction who had heard of it, they couldn’t understand what was worth celebrating about a Mysterious Organization whose alignment was so “hard to distinguish between good and evil.”
But the mood had been set, and not joining in would show a serious lack of “tavern etiquette.”
And so, a few seconds later, regardless of whether they were human, Dwarf, or Half-Beastman, everyone present raised their mugs high and joined Marcus and Lu Wei in a chaotic shout:
“To the Dusk Shadow Association!”
“To the Dusk Shadow Association!”
“To the Dusk Shadow Association!”