The group arrived in front of a liquor establishment with a sign that glowed green above saying: "Lose Your Marbles!"
Donovan inwardly prayed.
Dean was already starting to regret this.
Tiero was more excited than ever. This was the first time in a while that he'd be drinking with others.
And Vincent… well, he was indifferent to the situation.
A drunk man was on the side of the entrance, knocked cold and mumbling in his sleep. There was a dog on his side, eating the man's bread that was in his pocket.
Suddenly, a female staff member from inside the bar stepped outside, saw the unconscious man, and shouted, "Old man Jiro! Clean this mess up, will you?!"
A voice resounded from inside, "Shut the hell up! Can't you see I'm busy here?! You do it!"
"Ugh! Me, me, me, it's always me!" complained the female staff as she walked back inside.
Tiero explained, "The sleeping guy beside the entrance is someone who regularly comes here, and always falls asleep in that same spot… Also, Jiro is the owner of this establishment. He's a good friend of mine, but still, you guys should, uh, behave."
"Now come on!"
Tiero went up the small flight of stairs, and entered. Vincent entered second, followed by Dean, and Donovan.
"Huh? Hey, old man Jiro! Tiero's here!" shouted the same female staff from earlier. She was wearing a white shirt with a black apron, and she had dark hair and ordinary features.
"Hey, Rika! How've you been?" said Tiero as he leaned in for a kiss, followed by the female staff member named Rika backing away.
"Ugh, I frickin' hate old guys…" Rika walked away.
Mr. Tiero… Donovan's image of Tiero was falling apart. He doesn't want to keep watching.
"Bahahahaha! She got repulsed by you!" Dean laughed.
Vincent was, well, looking around the barroom.
A high chandelier hung from the ceiling. Wooden tables and chairs were scattered around. The exterior of the building looked horrible, but the interior was a sight to see.
"Hmph! Kid can't respect her elders! Whatever, go find a table while I talk to Jiro," ordered Tiero as he walked towards the bar.
"Man, old dude got rejected! Phew, got a good laugh outta me…" Dean walked towards an empty table that was near a large window.
It was a rectangular table with exactly four chairs. Dean was the first to take a seat, followed by Vincent and Donovan. The two latter sat beside each other.
"…So, Vincent, what's up with you?" asked Dean as he crossed his legs.
Nice. I thought I was going to have to ask… Donovan glanced at Vincent beside him.
"Ah… man, I feel like sh*t… So f*ckin' tired, y'know?" Vincent leaned back on his chair.
"Tired, how?" Dean asked again.
"Well… two days ago, Sunday… I went back to my parent's house to celebrate my dad's birthday… I had a fun time and everything… Other relatives showed up, it was lively…"
"But I didn't expect my ex to show up, too…"
Dean's left eyelid twitched. He wanted to laugh, but the fact that he was talking to someone who had a girlfriend before irritated him. After all, he's been single his entire life.
Donovan… well, he couldn't relate whatsoever.
"She and I… We talked about the past, reminisced and all that… Then, before she left, she told me that she had been cheating on me all along during the relationship…"
At that, Dean put a hand on his mouth, running his fingers around it. F*ck. That was close. I almost laughed…
"After that, on Monday, I told my sister about it since she kept bugging me about it…"
"Then, my mom forced me to do every household chore… Turns out that my sister told mom, dad, and my four other siblings about it, and my mom was angry at me for choosing someone like her…"
"Ahhh, I'm sore all over… It's been such a long time since I washed the laundry of seven people, cooked food for seven people, and sh*t like that…"
"That's… basically it."
Dean cleared his throat.
Donovan didn't know what to say. Then, he gave Vincent a pat on the back. "It's gonna be alright, man."
Damn… I can't relate, but I can feel his sadness…
"Thanks… Actually, why the hell am I even here? I gotta go…"
"Hey—"
But before Vincent could stand up, the female staff Rika brought six plates to the table with delectable food. Roasted chicken, fish, eggs, noodles, a large plate of rice, rice with an egg on top, and sauce…
"Many thanks, Rika." Tiero finally arrived as Rika walked away without a word.
Vincent's mind instantly changed. He stayed rooted to his chair.
Tiero sat beside Dean, and that earned him a grumble from the blonde man.
"Oh, come on… I'm not that smelly, am I?" asked Tiero with a frown.
"Not that, old fart…" Dean sighed exasperatedly.
Finally, Rika returned with four glasses of beer, as well as two bottles of alcohol. She carried the two bottles with her tail from behind her. It resembled a cat's tail.
"Ah, finally!" Tiero rejoiced.
Rika set the four glasses down, and she turned around, setting the two bottles of alcohol with her tail. After that, she walked away.
This made Dean, Vincent, and Donovan stare.
Tiero noticed their curious stares. "Ah, she's from a bloodline of half-humans, half-cats. Forget that, let's dig in!" Tiero immediately took the two plates with chicken and sauce.
"Hey! I was gonna get that!" said Dean.
"Slowpoke." Tiero laughed.
Dean forced himself to calm down. Then, he went for the plate of fish.
Vincent bit his lip, taking the steaming bowl of hot noodles.
Donovan took the two plates of fried egg and the omelet rice.
Tiero looked at the three youngsters in front of him. He smiled.
Dean surprisingly ate with good table manners. The way he held his knife and fork was like a gentleman's. Then, he reached for the ketchup.
Vincent's face was sweating. Turns out, the noodles were spicy!
Donovan took his time with his food. This was the first time he was eating omelet rice. He reached for the ketchup as well. Dean was still in the middle of using it.
"Be patient," said Dean as he took his sweet time with the small bottle of ketchup. Seeing this, Tiero raised a brow.
"Who the heck puts ketchup on fish?" he asked.
"Well, me!" Finally, Dean gave the ketchup to Donovan.
"Vincent, my boy, are you alright?" asked Tiero. Vincent was sweating bullets as though he had just ran a marathon.
"F-F*ck…" Vincent stopped eating his bowl of noodles, and started chugging on his cold glass of beer.
"Hahahaha! Slow down!" Tiero couldn't contain his laughter.
Mm. This is good fish. Dean ate his food "joyfully."
Suddenly, they heard a deep voice resound throughout the bar room, "Rika! Stop goofing around and get back to work!"
"Shut the hell up, old man!"
Tiero chuckled. "It's always so lively here because of those two."
Donovan couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Tiero, if you don't mind me asking, what's your history with, uh… Mr. Jiro?"
Tiero chugged on his large glass of beer. "He's an old friend. I, he, and a few others belonged to a friend group, and we were always together when doing missions… There were 10 of us… But as time passed, an injury forced me to stop my Visitor work, Jiro focused on putting up this establishment, and the others… well, focused on their own thing."
"I was the first one to quit. So, stuck at Category 1 of Typhoon Rank, I became a handler. Jiro's also forever stuck at Category 1 of Typhoon Rank… I'm a Fighter-type, and he's a Tank…"
"The others from our friend group kept going. Some are the current Shades and Raincoats of today, while the rest also retired, just like me and Jiro…"
As Tiero finished telling his story, Dean, Vincent, and Donovan had stopped eating to stare at their handler.
Tiero was a powerhouse! So was the owner of this bar! And they were friends with a few of the Shades and the Raincoats!
Shades… Raincoats… It's been a while since I've heard these…
They're the greatest powerhouses of Umbrellas!
Donovan's food was still in his mouth. Shades are a group of individuals who are at Category 5 of Typhoon Rank, and the same could be said for the Raincoats… The Shades are those who protect Umbrellas in a time of crisis, while the Raincoats only take orders from the highest authority in Umbrellas… Holy sh*t… Turns out, Mr. Tiero has some connections!
Dean and Vincent were thinking the same thing as well.
"This is the first time I'm hearing of your rank," said Dean. He continued eating.
Tiero chuckled. "That's right. I didn't feel the need to tell you guys. Well, you only just need to ask."
W-Wait, this is my chance… Donovan calmed his nerves and finally asked, "Mr. Tiero, do you know of a person named Benedict Volgard?"
Dean, as well as Vincent, were confused and curious. They've never heard of a "Benedict Volgard."
Volgard… His brother? Dean had guesses of his own. And so did Vincent.
"Ah…" Tiero finished his glass of beer. Reaching for the bottle of alcohol, he then said, "Your brother was a part of our friend group. Heh, I still remember our old spars where he'd lose most of the time… After all, Mages are weak against anything that always wants to get close to them in combat."
"But before the day of my retirement, he asked me for one last spar. I lost…" Tiero chuckled as he sipped on his small glass of alcohol.
Suddenly, he removed his neck tie, unbuttoned his shirt, and revealed his chest to them. "He gave me this." On his chest was a large burn mark.
Dean didn't want to stare at an old guy's chest. But Vincent and Donovan were listening to Tiero's story as if they were watching a movie.
"I still remember when he apologized to me relentlessly that time because of this scar he gave me… But it was no big deal. I find scars cool anyway. And no, this is not the injury that forced me to stop." Tiero chuckled once again as he poured himself another drink.
He buttoned his shirt, but didn't bother to tie his necktie.
I see… So Benedict was friends with Mr. Tiero… That answers my question… Ah, but I'll ask him for the Visitor Records some other time.
Donovan asked again, "Mr. Tiero, who's Mei?"
Upon hearing this, Dean choked on his food.
Tiero coughed, putting down his glass of alcohol.
Vincent and Donovan didn't know what expression to make upon seeing this.
Donovan, what have you done…? Vincent sighed.
"N-No one… mention that name around me…" Dean chugged on his glass of beer.
Tiero slammed his fist on the table. "Ugh! Yeah, that's right! That damn woman…! All I wanted was to have coffee with her, but she gave me a look of contempt and refused! All I did was confess to her, and that was such a long time ago! What about all the days where we did missions together?! Did all of that mean nothing to her?!"
Ah… So "Mei" was also a part of their friend group… W-Wait… Is "Mei" the beautiful woman I met earlier in the Portal Chamber…? Donovan was starting to connect the dots. Which wasn't a lot.
"Ah… So you two got rejected too, huh…? I can relate…" Vincent said as he finished his glass of beer.
Donovan looked at Dean. And don't tell me… Did he also get rejected by her? Sigh…
"That damn woman… Can we stop talking about her? Just remembering her is making me want to burst a vein… Which is dangerous for my old age…" Tiero calmed down.
Mr. Tiero, you don't look that old… Actually, how old are you?
Donovan wanted to ask, but he refrained from doing so. He then finished his plate. He looked at his glass of beer which he hadn't touched yet…
It's been a long while since I've tasted beer, both in my previous life and the life of Donovan…
He grabbed the glass, and started drinking. Setting it down, he sighed in relief.
It's not that bad. This is good beer!
Everyone had mostly finished their plate of food. Now, it was time for the alcohol… Except for Donovan, since he wants to finish his beer first.
"Here, let me get that for you two…" Tiero then carefully and properly poured Vincent and Dean some alcohol.
Dean brought the glass to his nose, smelling it. F*ck. This smells strong. Ah, screw it.
But before Dean could even take a sip, Vincent had already finished his glass!
"More…" He brought his glass to Tiero, wanting him to pour him another.
"Haha… Eager to drink your worries away, are you?" Tiero poured Vincent another.
Mr. Tiero… Don't you want the Visitors that you're in charge with to be perfectly functioning for tomorrow to do their missions…? Donovan watched the three as he was close to finishing his glass of beer.
Vincent drank his glass in one go once again!
Dean finally found the courage to drink. He drank slowly. Agh… Been a while since I tasted alcohol… F*ck…
Tiero laughed heartily as he watched his two Visitors desperately want to get drunk. "Hahahaha! Have some more, you bastards! Donovan, hurry up and finish your beer already!"
The drunken handler poured Dean and Vincent another.
Finally, Donovan finished his glass of beer.
"Donovan… It's your turn, lad…" Tiero smirked as he filled a glass with alcohol and handed it to Donovan.
Vincent finished his… third, fourth glass? He doesn't remember anymore. He was a lightweight when it came to alcohol, so he was already feeling its effects.
Dean finished his second glass. Sh*t… I'm a bit of a lightweight too…
Donovan steeled himself. Reaching out with his right hand, he grabbed the glass cup of alcohol from Tiero.
He stared at the liquid with a color he couldn't discern. I don't remember if I'm a lightweight or a heavyweight when it comes to alcohol… But here goes nothing, damn it!
Donovan finished his glass in one go.
"Attaboy! I know you can handle one more!" Tiero poured him another.
Donovan finished it once again.
"One more!" Tiero poured another…
Donovan finished his glass with ease.
"One more for everybody!"
Tiero poured himself and the three some more. That was the last drop. Onto the second bottle…
Everyone drank at the same time. "F*ck!" Dean said out loud.
Sh*t! I got carried away because of Mr. Tiero! And now I know that I'm a lightweight… I can't think clearly…
Tiero opened the second bottle. "Lads… Whoever is knocked out cold first will be the one to pay the bill…"
Dean, Vincent, and Donovan felt their hearts drop to their stomachs.
"You're on, old fart…" said Dean in a low voice. He absolutely did not want to pay the bill. And this was the first time he felt fear in a long time! Donovan and Vincent felt the same way.
Tiero chuckled. "That's the spirit…"
Donovan felt despair. They say that the second war was worse than the first…