Jeremiah felt like he was about ready to throw a bar glass at a teenager's head.
Nelson was a nice kid, but as the only source of help he had, the incessant questions were starting to become infuriating. Since the Red Knuckle Gang had been defeated the previous week, the bar had been packed to the gills every night, and he essentially found Nelson off of the street and threw a few gold coins at him just to have someone else there with him. But as the pimple faced halfling came up to him once more, he sighed deeply when he saw the full tray of drinks that he was carrying.
"Table four, Nelson. Those drinks are for table four," Jeremiah said without looking up from filling the ice buckets.
"Oh, that's right. Sorry Jer, I'll get this down eventually," Nelson said enthusiastically before he walked off. Though he was about ready to strangle the kid, Jeremiah couldn't help but find his attitude and slight lisp at least a little endearing. He lugged the empty metal buckets to the back of house, wiping the sweat from his brow as he set them on the top of the ice machine. It had been a long time since he had felt so sore, but as he walked through the swinging door to a crowd of rowdy clientele, the smile on his face was wider than it had been in a long time as well.
The paper lanterns that hung around the ceiling illuminated dozens of smiling faces. The citizens of Mori Town were well rested and well fed for the first time in what felt like forever to Jeremiah, and he still had a hard time believing how quickly their situation turned around. Just not being forced to work grueling hours was enough of a blessing, but the delivery of emergency rations that had arrived the previous day was a surprise that no one in town had been expecting.
Just as he was about to serve another group, he looked up as the bell connected to the front door jingled. The moment that the yellow cloak entered, the entirety of the bar fell silent, with every patron taking note of the young half elf casually strolling toward the bar. As he pulled out a stool and took a seat, an imposing half giant wearing a simple cotton shirt and trousers walked up to him, his towering presence like a mountain overlooking a small village. Jordan lowered his hood as he looked up at the man, recognizing him as one of the villagers that was exhausted as he returned from chopping wood for the Red Knuckle Gang. The giant dropped the keg of ale he had been drinking on the ground with a loud thud, and placed his hand onto the shoulder of the young elf.
"Hey everyone, this is Jordan Hamilton!" He bellowed, and immediately whispers began circulating throughout the crowd. The giant reached into his pocket with his free hand, throwing a small cloth pouch onto the counter that landed with the jingle of coins. "Would anyone else like to buy a drink for the hero who defeated the Red Knuckle Gang and freed us all?!" He shouted with an infectious and hearty laugh, slapping Jordan playfully on the back as the bar erupted in cheers.
The small half elf used all of his strength to remain seated during his new friend's congratulatory back pats, and spent some time greeting the grateful citizens of Mori Town. After a few minutes, the patrons were finally shooed away from Jordan by Jeremiah, and the half giant that had started it all gave him a final slap on the back before returning to his keg, nearly causing Jordan to spit up the swig he had just taken. After coughing and sputtering for a few moments, he looked up to see Jeremiah pointing and laughing at him.
"The great hero of Mori Town, such a regal and fancy young lad," he teased as Jordan wiped the beer foam off of his cloak.
"This is the thanks I get for saving this town and lining your pockets? Mockery?" Jordan asked dramatically, eliciting another laugh from the bartender.
"I will admit, business has been booming since you freed our boys and girls from the basement. I still can't believe you went in there and fought them all those guards yourself though," Jeremiah said, shaking his head and polishing a glass as he spoke.
"Well, it wasn't really a fair fight," Jordan said with a shrug as he swirled his drink. "My parents and I found out pretty quickly that Forest would just go around to local jails and look for the most violent offenders. All they were good for was intimidating groups of villagers that are peacefully trying to live their lives. But once any of them had to actually fight, it felt like facing a kid that was trying to copy something he saw his parents do," Jordan said as he sipped his drink, managing to retain all of it in his mouth this time.
"Your parents?" Jeremiah asked, picking up another glass from the pile next to him and polishing it.
"Yeah, they were the ones who actually deserved all of those thanks," Jordan said with a smile. "Like I told you during our last conversation, this is the first place that I came to after leaving home, so they actually only live a few days away. I called them over once I learned about everything that Forest and his crew had done, and they used their connections with the Anti Gang Guild in Tenkumachi to get that emergency supply drop and funding for Mori Town. Once they had Forest's confession, the process was quite smooth," Jordan said with a shrug.
"Oh yeah, what ended up happening with that squeaky idiot anyway?"Jeremiah asked.
"Once I made him and his thugs show me where they were keeping all of the fighters, they were more than happy to help me keep an eye on the Red Knuckles while the help from Tenkumachi arrived. I didn't ask for too many details when he was actually taken in, but the officer that put him into the airship that they came on said that he was headed to Kuramusho."
"Oh, I see," Jeremiah said with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.
"What's that smug face for?" Jordan asked jokingly. "I've never even heard of the place."
"Eh, let's just say that Forest is probably getting what's coming to him, so are you sticking around at all? You're more than welcome to stay in the extra room upstairs for free if you'd like," Jeremiah said, gesturing with his thumb to the stairs that led up to the second floor.
"Thank you man, I appreciate the offer, but unfortunately I need to be moving on. Tenkumachi is the closest city, and I either need to find a pilot or learn to pilot my new airship," Jordan said with a shit eating grin.
"New- Nelson, those fries are for table 5!," Jeremiah shouted, cutting himself off as the bumbling teenager pivoted to a different table. "Airship?" Jeremiah asked, returning to his normal speaking volume.
"Oh yeah," Jordan said with a devious smile.
"What did you do, kid?" Jeremiah asked, his concern increasing with every passing moment.
"Well, Forest had to transport all of the lumber that he was stealing from you guys, and he did it via airship. The Anti Gang Guild will make sure that the money Forest made off of everyone's hard work will be returned to Mori Town, but I guess he owned this ship already from some previous business dealing. Obviously he didn't obtain it legally, and there's no paperwork for it, so it's my new sweet ride," Jordan said as he pointed out the window. He turned his head, looking out to see a small airship visible just past the town entrance. The mixture of the hull's auburn color and the metallic veins along the sides pulsing with purple arcane energy made it a difficult sight to miss.
"Oh wow, this trip really worked out for everyone except Forest, huh? I love that," Jeremiah said with an approving tone and a small nod.
"Still though, you and your parents didn't have to do that for us." Jeremiah asked, shooing away a frantic looking Nelson who was holding two full trays.
"Yeah I did," Jordan said with a jovial yet slightly more serious tone. "A lot of people that my parents have sailed with or just met across their travels have a lot of different reasons for wanting to be Jifu Riders. Most of them just want to have fun with their pals and see new places, which is probably about 80% of the reason I want to be one too. But I also have another mission to accomplish, so to speak: a bet with my friend."
"Oh?" Jeremiah said, ignoring several thirsty patrons that had lined up as his curiosity had been peaked.
"We trained together for the last 10 years, but decided to go our separate ways since it was pretty clear that neither of us were going to be able to take orders from the other. But before we split up, we promised to make every town or city we went to more fun by the end of it. Which would have been really wholesome if it didn't end in an argument about which of us is more fun, so now it's more about proving a point to that asshole. Every place I go will be way more fun by the time I'm done with it, no matter what Derrick says, this is what I declare!" Jordan shouted, raising his half filled mug as it was clear that his low alcohol tolerance was starting to affect him.
He celebrated with the other citizens of Mori Town well into the night, and once most of the town's citizens had left or were unconscious on the floor, he stood at the threshold of bar's entrance as he waved goodbye to Jeremiah. As the half orc bartender waved goodbye, he noticed that the atmosphere of the bar was as colorful as the day that Jordan had first entered. But as he left this time, the color that he added to the bar stayed behind, and Jeremiah smiled as he polished his final glass of the night.