Rich Heavy-Smoking Boss Lady (6)
Before I could even grab him, Ukun yanked out his hammer and kicked open the inn door, charging outside.
"Uh... Bertrand... Is it really okay to just let him go like that...?" Idi scratched her head in confusion, asking slowly.
"Of course not." I immediately chased after Ukun.
He was already out of sight in the courtyard, with only the sound of his footsteps pounding beyond the stone wall.
By the time I reached the road, I spotted Ukun sprinting toward the bathhouse plot next door, hammer raised high over his head.
"Hey, you bastard!"
The moment I caught up and grabbed his collar from behind, the hammer flew from Ukun's hand.
With a terrifying whoosh cutting through the air, it shot straight forward and embedded itself in the wall of the under-construction building.
The deafening crash sent the workers scrambling out in panic, thinking the whole structure was collapsing.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" the site supervisor bellowed.
Ukun roared back, "You motherfuckers who need your thick skulls hammered flat on an anvil! What kind of bullshit is it to build an inn right next to another inn?!"
And that was the whole story.
The surveyors had come and gone, but one day, wagons loaded with workers and materials suddenly flooded the plot.
The crew got right to work, efficiently leveling the ground and rapidly erecting the building's frame.
Ukun had spotted it immediately, recognized the inn structure, and lost his shit.
Caught by the collar, he thrashed so violently that I pretended it was a mistake and let go. Truth be told, I thought it was fucked up too.
Ukun lunged forward and seized the supervisor's belt.
"Wh-whoa? Let go! That's assault too!"
"You fucking prick! You from that Grancis outfit or whatever? Huh? Does it make any goddamn sense to build an inn right next to another?!"
"It's our land, our money—what business is it of yours?!"
The supervisor didn't back down an inch from Ukun's fury, shouting right back. But he couldn't match a dwarf's strength, so he was left dangling awkwardly, belt gripped tight and swung around like a ragdoll.
"Argh! I can't take this!"
Finally, Ukun hoisted the guy up and hurled him away.
The airborne supervisor crashed into other workers and tumbled across the dirt.
"Fuck! Call the guards! We'll do this by the law, you little runt!"
"Call 'em, you bastards! Before they get here, I'll smash your jaws so you can only slurp porridge for the rest of your lives!"
I grabbed Ukun's shoulder and pinned him down.
"Hey. Calm down. We can talk this out."
"Talk? Talk it out? You telling a dwarf who's drawn his hammer to solve this with words?!"
He shoved me roughly with his thick arm. I played it up, staggering dramatically into the outer wall shoulder-first.
Of course, the half-built wall on that side of the structure—barely up to the first floor—came crumbling down entirely.
"Nooo!"
The supervisor screamed at the wreckage.
I brushed the dust from my hair and strolled back out.
"Sorry about that. So, why build here and make it dangerous...?"
He gawked at my shameless attitude, speechless.
"Be careful. You should build somewhere safer."
I dragged the still-fuming Ukun back to the inn by the arm.
"Oh! Right! Forgot my hammer!"
As soon as we hit the courtyard, Ukun remembered and bolted back to the site.
Another crash and some screams later, he returned grinning ear-to-ear, hammer in hand.
"Haha! Serves 'em right! Totally demolished it!"
Peering over the stone wall, the building was now just a pile of rubble and trash.
The 'Rosens Trading Company' wagons safely loaded up and returned to the city.
It wasn't enough to fully normalize prices yet, but if they kept making these runs, stability would come quick.
Rosens' fierce backlash seemed to rattle the Grancis side a bit—proof came in the form of unfamiliar faces spotted around town, lightly armed and moving in groups of three or four, stone-faced.
No idea what they were up to, but they looked like company mercenaries trickling into the city bit by bit.
They'd patrol in small, scattered units, then swarm if shit hit the fan somewhere.
Nothing overtly threatening in peacetime, so the guards couldn't touch them, and they dispersed too fast to pin down anyway.
I dragged a bathhouse sunbed to the front of the inn and lounged, soaking up the sun.
Strange heads peeked over the wall, eyeing the inn as they passed from south to north.
Once they vanished from sight, more appeared from the opposite direction.
They circled the inn repeatedly, numbers swelling to nearly twenty.
Sensing the sketchiness, Kali crawled out from the house, growling low.
"Kali. Inside. You'll get hurt."
At my relaxed tone, he wagged his tail and trotted over. I closed my eyes, stroking his back.
Even blind, I tracked their movements by sound.
The steady footsteps turned erratic and noisy—they were about to rush in.
Bold as hell for a daylight private revenge hit. Not their first rodeo.
Here they come.
"Gaaah!!"
I opened my eyes to screams. Guys were dangling from Beldra's Curse Ropes at the courtyard entrance.
"What the—?!"
"Over the wall!"
But Idi had traps rigged there too. Soon, more were snared in ropes or slammed by curse barriers, dropping like flies.
At the same time, horrific noises erupted from behind the inn.
"Demons!"
A guy flew over the roof from the back and thudded into the front yard. A distant splash followed a fading scream—into the Buren River.
Pelle must be stretching her legs.
"What're these idiots?"
Marim, back from deliveries, blinked into the yard as the entrance clogged. She glanced at the fly-trapped fools and shrugged, heading inside.
"Master."
Kosa approached quietly, standing demurely.
"Is something wrong? An accident?"
"Nothing, Kosa. Go back to work."
"Yes, sir. But I still hear pained groans around us."
She lingered, scanning the unseen. I explained the situation.
She asked, mildly surprised, "Is that really okay...?"
"What choice? They come charging in with knives and axes at their belts."
"I see..."
She nodded slowly, still puzzled. No wonder—she'd arrived to demon hunters and now Grancis thugs. Was this an inn or a war camp?
"You never mentioned this happens often... I'll get used to it."
I chuckled, rising from the sunbed and crossing the yard.
"Grancis guys, right? Here for payback over the inn next door?"
"Eek! Let us go quick!"
"Villains always play the victim, huh."
I flicked one hard in the forehead. He slumped unconscious.
I knocked out the rest the same way, then fetched rope from the shed. Idi came out and released the curse ropes.
I bound their wrists behind their backs, stringing them up.
Part of me wanted to raid their camp right then, but I held back for Hildeva's request. She'd asked me to watch from behind while she handled things.
Back on the sunbed, chilling until they woke. Then I chased the lot off.
Tethered together, they cursed, tripped, and dragged south.
That night, the site lay abandoned in the wreckage we'd trashed.
After Ukun and my 'accidents' leveled it—and we crushed their revenge squad—Grancis seemed to shelve the inn project for now.
Probably planned to undercut us with cheap rates right next door, steal our guests.
Like I'd sit idle, blind.
After circling the ruins, I headed inside. The hall rang with Kosa's song.
Her lute melody and serene bard voice, under firelit warmth, soothed the soul.
I perched on a backless bar stool, listening.
Francois murmured beside me, "Kosa asked me something."
"What?"
"If I'm the lady of the inn."
I grinned at her. "Think she read your past?"
Francois blinked, flustered. "You... think so?"
"Who knows. If she caught that scene, no wonder the misunderstanding."
She flushed, lips tight. Then, hesitantly: "Bertrand, but when will you... again..."
The door swung open. A few men and one woman entered, claiming an empty table.
A man pulled out her chair—likely the boss, high-status.
Black hair, droopy eyes with dark circles underneath, lazy smile.
She shrugged off her leather jacket; a man took it instantly.
Black corset barely contained her ample cleavage, topped by a prominent mole.
Knee-high black boots, elbow-length black gloves. Any stranger would peg her for a brothel girl—decadent vibe.
She extended a hand imperiously. One man placed a cigar there politely.
She lit up; another struck a match.
"Uh... no smoking inside..."
Idi hesitated, approaching.
The woman inhaled deeply, eyeing her leisurely.
"Excuse me... sir... no smoking indoors..."
She blew smoke right in Idi's face.
Idi coughed, waving it off. The woman laughed.
"Cute little thing. How much for you?"