At this point, Luke had already left the inn. The street was just as chaotic and busy as before. The light of dusk shone on everyone's faces, carrying a desolate feeling like birds and beasts scattering in all directions.
Luke was not in a hurry to return, but there was nothing left for him to do right now.
At that moment, his gaze accidentally caught something. A small figure flashed past at the corner of the street.
It looked somewhat familiar.
Luke thought for a moment. The chances of him seeing wrong were not high. After thinking about it, he quickened his pace and walked toward the street corner.
But when he turned the corner, he did not see the familiar figure from earlier, which left him somewhat puzzled.
So he continued forward.
Before he realized it, he had arrived at the entrance of a tavern.
There seemed to be quite a few people inside. Listening from outside the door, it was even noisier than the street, as if all kinds of people had gathered within.
It was currently summer, and the tavern entrance was just like the Western-style taverns Luke remembered, with two fan-like wooden doors that could be pushed inward and outward.
After thinking for a moment, Luke pushed the door open and walked in.
The wooden doors made a creaking sound, but it did not interrupt the tavern's noise. At the same time, however, many gazes gathered on Luke.
Seeing that he was wearing a cloak and looked mysterious, many people lost interest and looked away.
They continued their conversations.
"Kurud, Demacia is about to attack. Are you still not planning to close your tavern?"
"Hey, even if the sky falls, I still have to make money first. I'll think about it once I really hear news of Demacia."
"All I can say is you've got guts. Even at a time like this, you're still thinking about making money."
"After I finish this drink, I'm preparing to leave. I've always wanted to go north anyway, so I'll take this chance to head that way."
"Did you all see the conscription order from above? The pay is generous. As long as you join the army now, they give you thirty gold."
"Ha, would you dare take money paid for your life?"
"Sigh! I never thought even Noxando would become unsafe. I've lived here my whole life."
"Who hasn't?"
"More drinks!"
All kinds of discussions rang out constantly.
Luke walked straight to the bar. In truth, his gaze had already swept through the room, but he had not found the person he was looking for.
He found it strange. Logically speaking, the other party should not have disappeared so quickly.
"What would you like, sir?"
Kurud was the tavern owner. Seeing Luke, he walked over and asked.
Luke took out a gold coin and placed it on the bar. "Bring me your best wine."
Kurud glanced at it and said, "Sorry, sir. The price of wine has gone up now. Our best wine costs this much."
As he spoke, he raised three fingers.
Seeing this, Luke did not hesitate and took out two more gold coins.
"Right away, sir."
Kurud took the gold coins, then turned around to prepare the wine.
Since he dared run a tavern in a dangerous war zone, the price of wine naturally had to rise sharply, or there would be no point.
Luke did not mind the three gold coins.
Aside from being famous for war, Noxus was also known throughout Runeterra for one other thing.
Its winemaking.
The people of this country loved alcohol, and the liquor they brewed was also extremely fine and highly praised.
One of the more famous kinds was wine. Since the regional flavor was different, Luke did want to try what Noxian alcohol tasted like.
While the owner was pouring the wine, Luke sat quietly the whole time.
In one corner of the tavern, the gazes of three people swept toward him from time to time. Then they spoke in low voices.
"He looks like a traveler. Came alone."
"Looks like a fat sheep. Did you hear that clinking sound when he took out money just now?"
"Boss Mar, do you think we can make something off him?"
The person named Mar glanced at Luke again from the corner of his eye, then nodded slightly with a calm expression. "Looks easy enough. Keep an eye on him. We'll do it once he leaves the tavern."
The three exchanged looks, then tacitly returned to drinking.
During this period of war along the border, when the law was weak, naturally there was no shortage of even bolder people who directly challenged it.
Even Noxus naturally had its own laws and restraints. Theft, robbery, and murder all had different punishments.
But when war arrived and the law no longer worked effectively, some people began to harbor crooked thoughts.
Such people often used violence to obtain enormous benefits.
"Sir, your wine."
Kurud placed a carefully prepared glass of wine in front of Luke. A unique fragrance wafted from the glass, and a stalk of mint had been placed inside.
The wine was purple with a hint of bright red. It looked very clear and indeed made people want to take a sip.
Luke picked it up and first sniffed it, analyzing the ingredients inside.
There were not many added ingredients that affected the wine's flavor. It was largely natural, with the taste of natural fermentation. Overall, there was nothing wrong with it.
Then he gently took a sip. It was slightly astringent at first, followed by the fragrance of grapes, carrying a faint hint of mint. Only after that came the flavor of alcohol, sweet and fragrant.
The quality of the grapes was definitely good. Although it was still a little inferior compared to the wine Luke brewed himself, among wines, its quality was still on the higher side.
While Luke was tasting the wine, the tavern door opened again. The first to walk in was a travel-worn man with a rough face. He strode to the bar and slammed a pile of silver and copper coins onto the table, then said boldly, "Boss! Two cups of strong liquor!"
"Coming right up."
Kurud glanced at him and said nothing more. After taking the money and counting it, he went to prepare the liquor.
At that moment, another creaking sound came from the door. Everyone's gazes unconsciously gathered there, and this time, no small number of people showed surprise and confusion.
The one who walked into the tavern this time was a little girl. Her face looked delicately carved, pink and very cute. She had fiery red hair, held a tattered doll in her hand, and carried a damaged little bag on her back. The dress she wore was mottled and ragged, and the sleeves were strangely short.
It looked as if it did not fit her at all, long on one side and short on the other, and also as if she had worn it for a very long time.
People thought she was with the rough-looking man, but the rough man merely glanced at her before looking away. The two clearly did not know each other.
The little girl climbed onto a high stool, her eyes barely rising above the bar. Then, in a childish voice, she deliberately spoke with boldness. "Excuse me, two cups of milk!"
While preparing the strong liquor for the previous customer, Kurud glanced at the little girl. "Little girl, milk is not cheap right now. Did you bring enough money?"
Milk had never been cheap. Its production was already low to begin with, and now, with Demacia about to attack, the price had risen sharply.
It was not much cheaper than the most expensive liquor.
The little girl still said boldly, "Just bring it. I have plenty of money!"
"Is that so? How much do you have?"
Kurud looked toward the tavern entrance, wanting to see when this little girl's family would arrive.
However, he did not wait for anyone. Instead, he was startled by the sound of a large coin pouch being slammed onto the table.
The coin pouch was bulging. When it hit the table, the opening was forced apart at once, and what was even more startling was that several gold coins rolled out from inside. One of them was rolling toward the edge.
Luke happened to be sitting near the edge. He reached out, caught it, and placed it back without saying a word.
He swept a glance over it. The few gold coins that had rolled out could only be described as a tiny fraction compared to the ones inside the pouch.
At this moment, sitting on the bar was clearly a coin pouch filled with gold coins. It immediately attracted the eyes of everyone in the tavern.
"Is this enough?"
The little girl asked in an innocent voice.
Kurud swallowed, feeling his mouth go dry. Based on experience, he had already sensed that something was not quite right about this little girl.
How did such a small child have this much money?
Besides, at a time like this, it was not suitable to reveal so much.
He hurriedly put down what he was doing, picked up the scattered coins, then took one coin from the pouch and said, "This is enough. Put the rest away."
"Okay."
The little girl obediently responded, took back the coin pouch, and placed it into her little bag.
Then she sat on the stool, wearing a delighted and expectant smile as she began waiting patiently.
At this moment, the tavern returned to its previous noise.
As for this unexpected customer, many people stopped paying too much attention.
The three people sitting in the corner exchanged glances. Each of them saw greed in the others' eyes.
"Feels like this one has even more money."
"Isn't that obvious? That bag of money alone is no small sum."
"We'll take both. Let's deal with this one first."
At this moment, Mar stood up. He was extremely tall, at least two meters, with a broad build. His two thick arms were bare, with several blade scars on them.
A large saber was slung diagonally across his back. He was basically one step away from having "do not mess with me" written on his face.
Then the two people behind him also stood up. The three walked together toward the little girl.
"Little girl, it's almost dark. It's not too good for you to be out alone, is it?"
Mar came to the little girl's side and struck up a conversation.
The little girl looked up at him and blinked. "I'm not alone. Tibbers is with me."
As if showing him off, she raised the teddy bear in her hand and shook its arm like it was greeting him. A smile appeared on her cute face.
This teddy bear looked furry, and one could tell that someone had carefully sewn it, filled with attentive care.
After years of pulling, the stitches at the joints of its limbs had already been exposed. As for the pair of black, hollow eyes it should have had, one button was missing.
This teddy bear, like the clothes on the little girl, was full of the marks of age.
"Is that so?"
Mar laughed twice, then said, "Where are your mom and dad? They must be looking for you anxiously right now."
At a time like this, it was hard not to think this little girl was a lost child, and her parents were surely searching everywhere for her right now.
Judging by her clothes, it was clear that she had been lost for a long time.
A lost little girl like this, carrying such a large sum of money, made it very hard for people not to be tempted.
Now he only needed to confirm the situation with her parents before making a move.
Hearing this, the smile on the little girl's face disappeared. Her eyes dodged downward, and her voice grew a little quieter. "That's impossible."
A trace of uncontrollable sadness could be heard in her tone.
Mar pressed, "Why?"
"Because they're already dead."
The little girl clearly did not want to continue discussing this with Mar. After answering this question, she turned around. At just the right time, Kurud had also finished preparing the milk.
He filled a porcelain cup and brought it over.
"Thank you."
Seeing the milk she had been thinking about, the little girl clearly became happy all at once. The smile on her face swept away the gloom from earlier. After politely thanking him, she picked up the cup and took a big drink.
When she put the cup down, the area above her lips had been stained with milk.
But judging from her satisfied expression, she was clearly extremely pleased with this sip of milk.
"Tibbers, the milk at this place tastes really good."
She held up the teddy bear in her hand, speaking to it as if sharing the experience.
Behind her, Mar and the other two had not left. They exchanged another glance.
At this moment, Mar spoke again. "Little girl, it isn't safe to carry that much money on you. Where are you going next? Why not let us escort you for a while?"
The little girl said innocently, "No need. Tibbers will protect me, right?"
She shook the teddy bear in her hand. Her gaze never left it.
These words made Mar and the other two burst into laughter. As if he had already obtained her agreement, he unceremoniously sat down on the chair beside her. "Don't worry. We'll protect you. But before that, buy the three of us a drink first. After talking so much, our mouths are a little dry."
Bang!
At that moment, the rough man who had ordered strong liquor earlier drank the wine in his cup in one gulp. His face became slightly flushed, and then he slammed the cup heavily onto the table with a loud sound.
"Are you three done yet?"
He widened his eyes and looked toward Mar and the other two.
In fact, many people in the tavern had already noticed the situation there. Everyone knew exactly what the three of them wanted to do.
At this point, the three of them had already annoyed quite a few people.
The rough man was the first to be unable to endure it.
Mar glanced at him sideways and said coldly, "What does it have to do with you?"
The rough man said loudly, "You're interrupting my drinking. Get lost!"
"Is that so? Why don't you get lost and drink somewhere else? Right now, you're the one bothering us!"
One of the men standing behind Mar suddenly spoke. With a cold smile, he rested an arm on Mar's shoulder. "Do you know who he is? Mar Kardon."
As soon as that name came out, the expressions of quite a few people in the tavern changed.
The rough man's expression also darkened slightly.
"Mar Kardon? That bounty hunter?"
"Hiss, I didn't expect him to be here."
"Who is Mar Kardon?"
"You haven't heard of him? This guy is a bounty hunter. He takes any job, and he'll do anything for money. Most importantly, he's strong. A lot of people can't do anything to him."
"Shh, don't let him hear you."
Low discussions sounded from all around the tavern.
A faint smile appeared on Mar's face, and he looked at the rough man with a pressuring gaze.
The rough man's face turned somewhat pale, and in the end, he chose to pick up his other cup of liquor, leave the bar, and sit down at a table.
Most bounty hunters had no real standard of good or evil. As long as there was money, they would do anything.
Not to mention, in this kind of war-torn region, it was even more the domain of bounty hunters. Demacia's strong offensive had made them increasingly rampant and lawless.
Mar was a famous bounty hunter in this area. He had done several big jobs, and everyone acknowledged that his strength was not simple.
At this moment, even though people knew that he had clearly set his sights on the little girl's bag of money, no one dared stand up and say anything anymore.
It was not worth getting trouble all over themselves for someone else's matter.
Even if someone wanted to be a hero, they needed the strength to do it. Although the rough man had backed down, no one looked down on him.
At least he had stood up once.
At this time, several people even got up and left the tavern.
"Little girl, did you see that? None of them are as strong as me. With me protecting you from now on, you will definitely be very safe."
At this moment, Mar looked again at the little girl, who had been quietly drinking her milk.
After hearing him, the little girl still shook her head and repeated, "No need. Tibbers will protect me."
Mar's face stiffened, and a hint of coldness appeared in his eyes.
Since his purpose had already been exposed, it seemed there was no difference between using soft methods or hard ones.
He snorted coldly and directly reached out, planning to snatch it by force.
Suddenly, he felt someone squeeze in behind him.
One of his underlings was pushed back two steps and cursed angrily, "Damn it, what are you doing?"
Mar turned around and discovered that the cloaked guy had, at some point, sat down on the chair next to them.
He was slowly drinking the wine in his cup.
When had he sat there?
Mar realized he had not noticed at all.
At this moment, Luke had already removed his cloak, revealing a smiling face. "Since the three of you are so impressive, I wonder if you have any interest in taking a job from me."
"Oh?"
Mar ignored the issue from earlier and gained some interest. He said, "Hiring us is not cheap. What do you want us to do?"
Luke's face maintained its smile from beginning to end. "I want the three of you to go find a pillar and smash yourselves to death against it, so you stop embarrassing yourselves by staying alive."
As soon as his words fell, the entire tavern suddenly went quiet.
Everyone looked at the brave man who had spoken, their eyes full of disbelief.
Someone actually dared provoke Mar at a time like this?
Mar's face instantly turned cold. He slowly reached for the hilt of the saber on his back. "I was originally planning to leave the tavern before looking for trouble with you, brat. I didn't expect you to be this blind."
Cold smiles appeared on the faces of his two underlings. In a place where the law was becoming less and less reliable, even if Mar killed someone in the street, he could protect himself.
If anyone had to be blamed, blame this kid for being blind.
He was simply looking to die.
At this tense moment, Luke calmly and unhurriedly finished the last sip of wine in his cup, then suddenly moved.
With a rustle, his cloak rose, blocking Mar's vision. Then sword light flashed.
The two underlings only saw a streak of light vanish before their eyes, and contemptuous cold smiles still remained on their faces.
However, at that moment, they noticed Mar constantly making gurgling sounds. When they looked over, they saw him covering his neck in terror with one hand, and a large amount of blood was flowing from there.
Then his body fell backward, his eyes filled with disbelief. Even in death, he had not managed to pull his weapon from behind him.
As his hand loosened weakly, a large amount of blood sprayed from Mar's neck.
"Mar?"
"Boss!?"
The two underlings widened their eyes, still not understanding what had happened. But they knew this cloaked man must have done something.
So they angrily drew their weapons, a dagger and a shortsword, both flashing with cold light, and without another word, slashed toward Luke.
This time, they saw Luke's sword movement clearly. They only felt that the sword was unbelievably fast, appearing before their eyes in an instant.
Then... then what happened?
They no longer knew.
Both men showed terror on their faces as they covered their necks, constantly retreating while blood sprayed everywhere. Soon after, two new corpses appeared on the ground.
A few drops of blood splashed into the little girl's cup of milk, which she had already drunk more than half of. This made her immediately furrow her brows and puff up her cheeks in displeasure.
"Sorry for dirtying your milk. I'll compensate you with two cups later."
Luke put away his longsword and stood beside the little girl as he spoke.
The little girl looked up at him, seemed to think for a moment, then nodded. Her furrowed brows relaxed. "Okay. I forgive you."
"Let's leave this place first. The environment has gotten dirty."
As Luke spoke, he walked outside.
The little girl looked at his back, exchanged a glance with Tibbers, then jumped down from the high stool and followed step by step.
From beginning to end, neither of them looked at the three corpses on the ground.
After they left, the wooden doors made creaking sounds. Only then did the people in the tavern take a deep breath, and some wiped the cold sweat from their foreheads.
They looked at the corpses of Mar and the other two on the ground and swallowed.
In an instant, he had killed all three of Mar's group.
Just who exactly was that man?
"What's your name?"
"Annie. This is Tibbers."
Walking on the street, Annie did not seem affected at all by Mar and the others' deaths. She introduced herself, then introduced the teddy bear she had never let go of.
"What about you?"
"My name is Luke."
Luke also simply gave his name. He had indeed not seen wrong earlier.
The little girl named Annie was one of the champions he knew of.
The Dark Child, Annie.
Speaking of this little girl, her life could also be considered very pitiful. Now she had no family in the world and was wandering alone through Noxian territory.
Luke had not expected to run into her here.
However, although this little girl was wandering alone, judging by the large sum of money she carried, one could tell that her life was not especially bad.
As for safety, those three men from earlier had actually been completely unable to do anything to her.
After all, the teddy bear Annie held in her arms truly was not to be trifled with.
His gaze swept over the teddy bear. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Annie, what plans do you and Tibbers have next?"
"Me and Tibbers?"
This was Annie's first time hearing someone ask her such a strange question. She tilted her head and looked at Luke. "Why are you including Tibbers?"
Luke smiled. "Isn't he your partner and bodyguard?"
Annie blinked her big eyes. "But he's just a teddy bear."
Luke fell silent for a moment, then said, "So you knew."
"Of course I know. Tibbers is a gift from Mommy."
A pure and cute smile bloomed on Annie's face. She raised Tibbers in front of her and looked into its eyes, showing delight. "But Tibbers isn't just a teddy bear. All adults think he's just a fluffy toy. Only I know he's more than that, and now you think so too. That's great. Tibbers, this is the first time someone has recognized you."
She looked genuinely happy from the bottom of her heart, moving Tibbers's limbs and making him dance.
Then she happily looked at Luke and said, "Tibbers says he's happy too."
She turned her head, but she did not notice that her cute Tibbers, whose eyes looked like little black buttons, revealed a somewhat human expression.
There was a bit of suspicion, a bit of shock, and a bit of fear, like slices of a pie chart.
Luke glanced at the teddy bear, smiled slightly, then looked back at Annie and asked, "So, back to the question from earlier. Annie, what plans do you have next?"
"Plans?"
"I mean where you're going next, or what you want to do."
"I don't know."
Annie now understood what he meant by plans and shook her head. "Annie doesn't seem to have any plans."
All this time, she had simply walked forward. Wherever she ended up was where she ended up.
If there was something she wanted to do, she did it immediately.
But most of the time, what she wanted to do was talk to Tibbers.
Luke confirmed, "You really don't have any?"
He watched as Annie lowered her head and began thinking.
After a while, Annie raised her head. Her eyes were bright and sparkling. "Annie wants to find a good friend! And... Annie wants to find Mommy."
When she said the latter part, the light in her eyes dimmed a little, and she lowered her head as her voice became quieter.
"Didn't your parents already die?"
Luke asked. Although the topic was a little too realistic and cruel for a child, he knew Annie could actually accept it, and she also knew what death meant.
"Daddy and my stepmother died..."
Annie seemed to remember something sad from the past, and a few traces of gloom and sorrow appeared on her face. She did not seem to want to say anything else after that.
Luke roughly knew the reason. Annie's father and stepmother had died in a fire, and that fire had been unconsciously released by her.
"In that case, why don't you come with me?"
Luke placed his hand on Annie's head and spoke softly.
Annie raised her head in confusion. "Come with you?"
Luke explained, "It means I'll take you around and make sure you eat good food."
"Eating good food is fine, but no spicy food. Annie hates spicy food."
Annie understood his words literally. Judging from her disgusted expression, she really did hate spicy food quite a lot.
Then she raised her head again and stared at Luke with pure, big eyes. "Daddy said some people approach Annie with bad intentions. Just like those three bad men earlier. Are you after Annie's money too?"
Luke laughed loudly. "Money? I can have as much of that as I want."
Annie tilted her head and continued staring at him, as if thinking about something.
Then she suddenly straightened her gaze and nodded to herself. "Okay then. Annie will follow you for now."
She could naturally tell that some people approached her with impure motives.
And Tibbers would help her deal with those people.
But she felt that the person in front of her was not that kind of person.
On the contrary, she actually quite liked this person she had met for the first time.
Since that was the case, then she would follow him for now.
// I hope you enjoyed this massive release!
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