“This girl is a little… not human…”
Mo Tan shrugged. He didn’t have any issues with the attitude of the black-haired, straight-haired girl in front of him; he just very realistically felt that the other party was a little inhuman.
After all, normal people shouldn’t have wings on their backs, right?
That’s right, wings. The girl had a pair of wings behind her, about half a meter in diameter, light gray in color. They had been slightly spread out behind her since earlier, occasionally flapping gently, seemingly playing a crucial role in maintaining her balance.
This was clearly not a normal characteristic.
“What are you looking at, goo?” The girl pouted. “If you’re not buying anything, don’t block the doorway, goo! Are wings that rare, goo?!”
Hmm, but her language function was quite normal, at least compared to a certain dog-girl…
“Then give me something to drink,” Mo Tan raised his hand to help the winged girl in front of him steady the plate that was about to fall, and smiled, “The most expensive one.”
“Goo!?”
The wings on the girl’s back trembled, and then she revealed a sweet smile with at least twenty-plus spoonfuls of sugar: “Please come in, customer, goo!”
As Mo Tan followed the girl towards the bar, he gently asked her, “Are you the owner here?”
“No, goo~” The girl shook her head, wiping the plates on her head with the rag in her hand as she walked. “The one over there reading a book is the owner, goo. He just reads stories and makes up stories all day, goo~”
Mo Tan nodded. He saw a young man in a red robe sitting by the bar, reading a book. He was undoubtedly the owner of this Wanderer's Inn.
This was a scholarly The half elf, with short, light golden hair and pointed ears, and a pair of gold-rimmed glasses on his nose, looking handsome and refined.
“Jun Jun!” The girl in front of him giggled and kicked the rocking chair under her boss with her small foot, interrupting his thoughts immersed in the story: “A customer has arrived~”
The man somewhat blankly put down the incomprehensible “Deaf Pig Z” in his hand, looked up at Mo Tan in a daze, and after a long while, finally managed to squeeze out a sentence: “Are you buying?”
“Yes, I’m buying,” Mo Tan nodded seriously.
“Ah~ That’s wonderful.” The man, referred to as Jun Jun by the winged waitress, immediately showed a smile with twenty-plus spoonfuls of affinity: “Welcome to the Wanderer's Inn. I am the owner here, Jun Wu.”
“Goo!” The girl beside him immediately froze. “I forgot to introduce myself! I’m Wei Yang, goo, Jun Jun’s only laborer, goo!”
A hint of a smile flashed in Mo Tan’s eyes as he casually pulled over a cushion and sat down: “Tan Mo, I suppose I’m a traveling Bard~”
“Most of our guests here are Bards,” Jun Wu pushed up his glasses, then shrugged helplessly, “But most of them just come to chat, the kind who can talk for half a day just on free cold water…”
Mo Tan blinked: “Isn’t that romantic?”
“It’s truly romantic, goo,” The girl named Wei Yang pouted, stuffing all the plates, cups, and saucers she was carrying behind the bar, and placing the rag on her boss’s head. “It doesn’t generate any revenue, goo! They’re too stingy to even spend a few copper coins, goo!”
With that, she turned to Mo Tan with a sweet smile and gracefully went behind the bar.
It was estimated that whatever she brought back later wouldn’t be too cheap…
“It seems Wei Yang likes you,” Jun Wu raised an eyebrow at Mo Tan, pulled the rag from his head, and chuckled, “She was just saying those things. Wei Yang likes to tidy and organize things, and I like to listen to stories. As for revenue, that’s secondary~”
Mo Tan nodded absently, then glanced at the ‘colleagues’ not far away who had already started strumming tunes: “Like the interesting stories those few are telling?”
Those Bards seemed to be singing together about an event concerning the Holy Church United. The general content seemed to be about the son of a certain High Priest and a Holy Maiden eloping overnight a few months ago…
“Sort of,” Jun Wu smiled bitterly. “But as the owner here, I’ve heard similar stories dozens of times these past few days. However, few people tell the complete version, which is that the handsome young man in the story was caught and had his legs broken the next day.”
Mo Tan whistled exaggeratedly: “You know so much~”
“Not bad,” The young The half elf smiled shyly. “I basically know most of the interesting stories nearby, but those are all things I’ve heard from others.”
Mo Tan nodded, then lowered his voice and asked, “What about things from other places, like the story of a dragon being shot down by a brave warrior in the Northwest continent’s ruined capital a few days ago?”
“I know,” Jun Wu nodded faintly, then glanced at the harp in Mo Tan’s arms and chuckled, “I can even tell you more detailed information, and there are some existing ballads.”
Mo Tan gently stroked the strings: “What if I want to know more?”
The other party glanced at Wei Yang, who had just come around from the back, then shook his head slightly: “That won’t be something you can exchange for with a cup of Golden Berry Iced Wine.”
“Your drink, goo~” Wei Yang handed the golden drink, emitting a refreshing aroma, from the tray to Mo Tan, bowing with a smile. “That will be two gold coins, goo.”
Mo Tan casually took out two gold coins and handed them to the girl, who was happily flapping her wings, then turned to Jun Wu and shook his money pouch: “How much will it take?”
“Stories for stories,” The elegant The half elf shrugged. “That’s the rule, I can’t help it~”
Mo Tan stood up, casually plucking two notes, and chuckled, “That’s simple. I’ve indeed collected quite a few stories recently.”
The young owner, however, shook his head: “I basically know all the interesting stories and anecdotes from around here, and those won’t get you anything. However, if you can give me a very excellent adapted poem, it’s not out of the question. Of course, it has to be something everyone unanimously agrees is good.”
“Everyone?”
“Me, Wei Yang, and the current guests in the inn,” Jun Wu lightly tapped the “Deaf Pig Z” in his hand and chuckled, “Even if it’s a story everyone is familiar with, as long as the Bard poem you compose can amaze everyone present, then it’s valuable~ And I will naturally give you something of equal value in return.”
This was clearly an internal rule of the Wanderer's Inn, and also a special treatment for talented individuals by this organization, which presumably held a large amount of information and rumors. Mo Tan was not surprised by this at all.
“No problem,” He stood up, then placed the harp in his hand aside, and smiled at Jun Wu, “I think I am quite talented~”
The latter shrugged noncommittally: “Most people think so, but…”
But before he could finish, Mo Tan began to sing!
Without musical accompaniment, he stood there and abruptly began to sing loudly!
His originally gentle voice, with a hint of wickedness, suddenly became deep and resonant, shaking the entire room like a clap of thunder.
He sang loudly:
“The wind howls, the horses neigh!”
“Heroes are howling, heroes are howling!”
“The central tower is ten meters high, everyone in the east and north of the city has gone mad.”
“Young hero Dave vomited a lot of blood~”
“There are two tavern owners in the city showing off their heroism~”
“They picked up their great hammers and long staffs!”
“They put on their plate armor and magic robes!”
“Protecting their property, protecting their loved ones~”
“Protecting their nephews, protecting all of Pato!”
“The wind howls, the horses neigh!”
“Lang En is shouting, Lang En is shouting!”
“The Chief Steward jumps high, the Whisper Evil Cultists cut off their tails to protect themselves~”
“Smoking all over like Old Wang is barbecuing~”
“A knight comes with a Holy Light-wrapped greatsword!”
“The two owners are flirting and bickering!”
“The Evil Cultists roar in despair!”
“Greatsword is good, greatsword is good~”
“Greatsword is good, I want the whole set of greatswords!”
…
After the song ended, the entire inn was silent…
Five seconds later, Wei Yang was the first to break the silence. The tray she held in her arms crashed to the ground with a ‘clang’.
Almost at the same time, Jun Wu and his chair fell to the ground.
And the surrounding Bards, who had just been halfway through their fun, simultaneously gasped, then looked at Mo Tan with almost worshipful eyes, losing all their composure and cheering loudly!
“Good!!!”
“Brother, you’re amazing!!”
“Where did this happen!?”
“I’m going to blow this song up!”
…
“Uh, brother… can we talk in private?” Jun Wu, struggling to get up from the ground, pulled Mo Tan with a face full of cold sweat. The latter was currently closing his eyes and bowing to the countless non-existent audience in his mind.
Mo Tan blinked at him, pulling out the “Tree Bottle Mold” that Beao had given him earlier: “Here, borrow this.”
Jun Wu, momentarily stunned, instinctively took it, then was kicked to the ground by Wei Yang, who had just recovered from her daze: “What are you taking?!”
“Cough, cough! Anyway, hurry and follow me!” Jun Wu, who had climbed up from the ground again, adjusted his glasses, and dragged Mo Tan and Wei Yang at a trot, rushing into the inner room of the hall amidst the still-unsettled wails of the Bards behind them.
…
“You’ve got something, friend,” Jun Wu leaned against the doorframe of the room, looking at Mo Tan with a pained expression. “A magic-modified Yellow River Cantata, huh~”
Wei Yang also flapped her wings, laughing dryly: “I didn’t expect you to be a player too, goo.”
Mo Tan spread his hands: “I never said I wasn’t, and you two feel more like NPCs than I do. It’s rare to see players who can become owners right off the bat~”
“Just good luck,” Jun Wu shook his head. “Wei Yang and I don’t like fighting and killing. Our guide quest was to work at this Wanderer's Inn, and then the owner here got promoted, and I passed some kind of assessment and inexplicably got promoted myself~”
Wei Yang interjected with a giggle: “There was no way not to get promoted, goo. Including the previous owner, there were only three people in Kalan City, so there were no other candidates at all, goo.”
Jun Wu chuckled awkwardly: “That’s true. Kalan City is a small place, but I quite like this kind of life. Want to add each other as friends?”
Mo Tan naturally accepted their friend requests and also replied to Yi Dong, who had been bombarding him with messages since earlier.
“If you two think that impromptu Bard poem was good, and the information within it is quite valuable…” Mo Tan gently put his arm around Jun Wu’s shoulder, and whispered into his ear, “Would you consider a long-term cooperation?”
The elegant The half elf young man was slightly startled: “Long-term cooperation?”
“A High Paladin visited Pato City a few days ago because of a disturbance caused by Evil Cultists, but the specific information should still be under wraps. After all, the city lord and the local Holy Church United bishop both died tragically there. If it gets out, it will probably damage the reputation of those Theocrats.” Mo Tan revealed an elusive smile, casually took Jun Wu’s glasses and put them on his own eyes: “Tsk tsk, so they’re plain lenses… Here, have them back…”
Taking his glasses back and putting them on, Jun Wu asked as calmly as possible: “What you just said, is it true?”
He naturally knew about what happened in Pato City, but only that a High-Rank Paladin from the Holy Church United had visited a few days ago. He wasn’t clear about more specific information…
If what this ‘Bard’ player said was true, then submitting this information would definitely be a great achievement. One must know that ‘public secrets’ and ‘exclusive news’ are absolutely two completely different concepts!
Although he had no ambitions and didn’t like fighting and killing in the game like most people, Jun Wu also didn’t want to be a low-level staff member in this small place. He, who liked to collect all kinds of stories and Legends, rarely heard anything new in Kalan City anymore…
“I think it’s quite reliable, goo!” Wei Yang nodded while gently poking her cheek. “Such a powerful Paladin wouldn’t just visit Pato City for no reason, would he, goo?”
Mo Tan yawned lazily and glanced at Jun Wu: “Do you trust me?”
The latter didn’t think for too long. After only a few seconds, he nodded and replied: “Alright, then what do you need?”
“Very simple,” Mo Tan said lightly, “Everything you know…”
Jun Wu didn’t immediately refuse this seemingly unreasonable request, but instead looked at Mo Tan with burning eyes: “Give me a reason.”
“Things seem to be getting interesting, goo!” Wei Yang murmured softly, her deep blue eyes blinking twice. “It seems we’ve encountered an extraordinary guest.”
Mo Tan’s answer was very concise: “Because what I know might not be less than what you know.”
“For example?” Jun Wu’s glasses, used to enhance his artistic aura, flashed.
“The orcs of Anderhill Ruins are preparing to go to Mount Sumir, the dragon that was accidentally injured came from Tian Zhu Mountain, and in the Southeast, two territories in the Violet Empire have experienced small-scale friction at the border, namely Marshall Territory and Fire Claw Territory. This is because the former is suspected of engaging in underground slave trade, and a certain Evil God cult that caused a big stir in Pato City earlier also seems to be one of the buyers…”
“Deal.” Jun Wu replied without hesitation.
“I have a question, goo!” Wei Yang suddenly tilted her small head and asked, “How do you know so much, goo?”
Jun Wu also nodded curiously.
Mo Tan rolled his eyes: “Are you players?”
“Yes, yes!”
“Do you have many friends?”
“Not many…”
“I do.”
“…”
Chapter 82: The End
