Chapter 26

Poison Butterfly

The guests, brimming with anticipation, were visibly excited.

It felt like a big hit was coming.

Excited guests were bound to order drinks, and when they ordered drinks, they would need snacks.

'These people should be enough for today’s sales, right?'

When the group said they would order food when they arrived, I thought, 'It would be better to order the food first, even if the person paying comes later,' but I figured they must have their own reasons, so I decided to prepare the ingredients first.

"Ha, ha... Then I'll start preparing the ingredients. If any other guests arrive, please let me know."

"Sure, I will."

After asking the one-armed man to call me when the others arrived, I ran to the kitchen.

To prepare food for twelve people, I had to start moving quickly now.

I ran to the kitchen as if I were flying and started diligently preparing the ingredients.

'What should I sell? Since it’s lunchtime, they probably won’t be very hungry. Would Jajangmyeon, dumplings, and Gochae Choyuk be enough? No, they’ll be drinking, so should I buy a few chickens?'

When Gae-in finishes cleaning, I’ll ask her to buy a few chickens. I decided on the dishes to serve in my head.

I washed the bok choy, peeled the onions, and neatly cut the bamboo shoots.

I checked the remaining alcohol.

I put the pot on to boil the noodles and was busy preparing the ingredients when I heard someone calling me from outside.

"Owner! Owner! There are guests, take their orders."

I dried my hands on the apron and quickly ran out to see that about ten more guests had arrived and were sitting at a table opposite the first group.

"Welcome!"

I greeted the new guests and headed to the first group to take their orders.

"What would you like? We can quickly prepare our special dishes: Gochae Choyuk, Sichuan-style noodles, and dumplings. Ah, grilled chicken is also possible, though it will take some time."

Grilled chicken, of course, is a must with drinks, so I planned to ask Gae-in to go to the market and buy chickens in a hurry.

As I rubbed my hands together in anticipation of what they would order, the one-armed man looked at me and smiled, then placed his sword on the table.

*Thud*

At the same time, the other eleven guests also placed their swords on the table in unison.

*Thud Thud*

My hands trembled in disbelief, and as I stared blankly at the one-armed man, he took a bag from his pocket and threw it on the table.

The bag opened, and about ten silver coins spilled out.

'F*ck!'

*Thud Thud Thud*

I turned my head to the sound from the opposite side.

The guests at the opposite table also placed their swords on the table, and the one-eyed man with a scar on his face took out about ten silver coins and placed them on the table, saying,

"Owner, we’ll order the same. It’s been a while since we’ve been here."

The one-eyed man laughed like a hooligan.

A voice I had heard somewhere before, a face I had seen.

'That, f*cking!'

It was definitely the guy who had half-destroyed my inn on the first day, turning it into a mess.

My body trembled with anger and despair.

'Come to think of it, the one-armed guy on the opposite side?'

My body trembled as I tightly gripped the Zhuge family’s token in my pocket, but I remembered my brother’s advice.

"Brother, you can show the Zhuge family’s token at any time, but be careful and think carefully when dealing with martial artists. The Zhuge family’s influence is great, but there are many complicated relationships in the martial world that don’t care about it."

The advice that showing the token could make me a target, like a special inspector.

It was a possible scenario.

The Zhuge family was the top gang in the area, and they would have many conflicts with other gangs and disputes over territory.

They would also have hitmen, and as they say, blood calls for blood.

Thinking about it, this Zhuge connection wasn’t all good.

It came with a strong background and just as many enemies.

In the end, I gave up on showing the Zhuge family’s token and had to choose a second option.

Just as I was clenching my lower lip and making up my mind to move, Gae-in, who had finished cleaning, popped out of the side door.

She wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand, looking like a South American model.

It was nice to look at without any bias, but now wasn’t the time.

"Owner! I finished cleaning...? ...? ...!!!"

Gae-in, who had helped in her parents’ restaurant, could tell the situation just by peeking out of the side door. Her eyes widened.

She covered her mouth in disbelief and collapsed.

It seemed her legs gave out from the shock of possibly losing her first job on the first day.

Anyone would react that way.

Gae-in, the youngest, had to earn money to feed her younger siblings. If she found out that her first job was being shut down by thugs, such a reaction was natural.

I couldn’t just leave Gae-in sitting there.

If she stayed there, it might not just be the job that was shut down, but her life.

I quickly moved between the two tables and swept up the silver coins.

Since I couldn’t stop the disaster, I had to at least secure some compensation.

After quickly collecting the silver coins from both tables, my next task was to run to Gae-in, who had collapsed.

I ran to her, grabbed her hand, and started running towards the inn’s exit.

Seeing the martial artists and the money they had put down, I knew my inn wouldn’t survive today. I wanted to get as far away as possible.

As I ran through the crowd, pulling Gae-in, rough shouts from both sides started to reach my ears.

"Hmph! I will settle the grudge of losing my arm the other day today! I, of the Red Blood Sect, cannot share the same sky with you!"

"I have been waiting for this day, gnawing on the eye I lost to you. Brothers of the Black Forest, thank you for gathering to avenge my lost eye. Let’s show the scum of the Red Blood Sect the power of the Black Forest! Oh!"

"Kill them! Don’t let a single one live!"

"Uaaaaa!"

The shouts of the mad psychopaths.

As their voices filled my ears, it felt like time was slowing down.

"Die!"

I quickly looked around at the shouts, and a chair flew from somewhere.

I pressed Gae-in’s head down and ducked.

'Ah... They say time slows down before you die. Is my first inn going to be my grave?'

A guy behind me jumped onto the table and swung his sword, and a dagger thrown from one side grazed my head.

Gae-in, with tears streaming down her face, was terrified by the flying dagger, and another chair flew past us.

It was a scene of utter chaos.

I dodged the flying chair, and broken pieces grazed my cheek, splattering blood. I held Gae-in’s hand and ran towards the door, crossing the battlefield like a war zone.

I don’t know how I made it to the door, but as I slipped out and lowered my head to cross the threshold,

*Thud*

An airbag burst in front of my face.

"Ah!"

"Ugh"

*Soft*

I ran out and collided with something entering the door.

I, Gae-in, and the soft thing we collided with tumbled in a heap in front of the inn’s door.

The airbags surrounding us.

We rolled on the ground, but the airbags protected us from all sides.

As we tumbled and ended up on one side, a shout reached my ears.

"Ah, Miss!"

A voice calling out desperately.

I shook my head to clear my mind.

In front of me was a woman in green, with two buns on her head, looking at me with a flushed face.

"Is, is this some kind of rudeness?"

Her cold and icy voice, and the woman clutching her chest.

'Could it be? An airbag?'

I quickly scanned the woman’s attire.

It could be a big problem, but when I confirmed her clothes, only despair rose.

She looked like someone who wasn’t just rich.

Her figure, wrapped in the finest silk, required an immediate apology.

"I’m sorry. A disaster struck the inn, and I had to take cover in a hurry, so I didn’t see what was in front of me."

"A disaster?"

*Crash*

As she asked, the door, which had just been fixed, burst open, and a guy rolled out, then quickly ran back inside.

I pointed at the guy with my finger in response to her question.

She, with a face full of embarrassment and anger, quickly asked,

"Is, is the inn owner inside, and how is he?"

"Um? If you mean the owner...?"

"Is he...?"

The woman, looking at my mouth, swallowed hard.

"It’s me, but...?"

*Crash!*

As I answered, a chair flew over our heads from inside.

The woman, with a look of disbelief, asked,

"