Chapter 58: Why Aren’t You Speaking?

An amber drink was placed before her, but Celeste hadn’t taken a single sip.

After all, she didn’t like drinking while waiting for someone.

However, there were always those who wouldn’t let her have her way.

“Hey, little lady.”

A heavy cloud of alcohol-scented breath approached from her side.

A thick, fleshy palm slammed onto the edge of the bar counter.

The newcomer appeared to be roughly fifty years old, his face greasy and his collar hanging open.

His neck was flushed red, as if he had already drunk far too much.

“Drinking here all by yourself? Aren’t you lonely?”

He leaned in closer, his boozy breath mixing with foul halitosis.

“How about having a drink with me?”

Celeste did not turn her head.

She didn’t even look at him, acting as if nothing was happening.

Suppressed laughter drifted from several tables behind them.

A young woman wearing a short leather skirt took a sip of her drink and mocked him with a smile.

“This guy… he just charges in the moment he sees someone pretty. Isn’t he afraid of offending someone he can’t afford to provoke?”

“Heh.”

The red-haired woman across from her sneered, her voice full of disgust.

“He’s drunk to this point; how could he possibly know what he’s doing?”

She glanced sideways toward the bar, her lips curled in a look of cynical amusement.

“Besides, hasn’t he succeeded several times already? Wasn’t there that one this afternoon?”

The young woman chuckled.

“Maybe he isn’t drunk at all and is just putting on an act. If he really offends a big shot, the worst that happens is he kneels, kowtows, and apologizes. Then it’s all over.”

“…What’s truly strange is the people he hooks up with.”

The red-haired woman paused, lowering her voice.

“Haven’t you noticed? Not one of them has ever returned to this tavern.”

Hearing this, Celeste glanced at the drunkard beside her.

Surprisingly, she sensed a trace of Magic Power on him that did not belong to him.

Beside the bar, the drunkard was completely unaware that he had become the subject of conversation.

Seeing no reaction from Celeste, he didn’t retreat; instead, he leaned his body forward even more boldly.

“Why aren’t you speaking? Little lady, you — “

“You smell of blood.”

Celeste spoke, interrupting him.

Her words caused the drunkard’s movements to freeze instantly.

His smile turned rigid, and a faint crack seemed to appear in his composure.

“Bl-blood? A smell of blood?”

His voice rose for a moment before he forced it back down, pulling his face into an even more strained smile.

At the same time, he sniffed himself.

“Where is it? Don’t talk nonsense!”

He clearly hadn’t done anything today, so how could there be a smell of blood?

This person in front of him was probably trying to bluff him…

“Now you do.”

The voice remained very light, as light as a feather.

But the drunkard was stunned.

“…Huh?”

He raised his eyes in confusion, wanting to see what the girl was talking about, but in the next second, his vision split.

The entire world divided into two halves before him.

It wasn’t until he crashed heavily to the floor that he regained his senses.

It wasn’t that the world had split, but rather his own head…

He had been split open by the girl, and his fresh blood dyed his own corpse red.

“M-Murder!”

Screams exploded from all directions.

Many people feared that Celeste would continue her attack, so the customers closest to her fled in terror.

Chaos instantly swept through the entire tavern.

However, after the initial outburst, their screams and fear were quickly replaced by a different, more subtle emotion.

“He… he got what he deserved!”

The young woman who had been speaking earlier looked at the headless corpse.

Her face was pale, but she didn’t look away; there was even a hint of excitement in her eyes.

The red-haired woman said nothing.

She stared intently at Celeste’s back.

After a long silence, she whispered, “But killing someone in the tavern… that’s a violation of the rules, isn’t it?”

As the words fell, the air in the tavern suddenly stagnated for a moment.

Someone followed with a light laugh.

“Tch, she’s in trouble.”

“I heard the bartender of this tavern is no ordinary man.”

As if to confirm those words, the bartender who had been shaking drinks set down his glass.

He cast a faint glance at the headless corpse before looking at Celeste.

“Miss, taking action in our tavern is against the rules.”

His gray eyes narrowed slightly.

Bronze Rank Magic Power quietly permeated the tavern, making it difficult for most of the patrons to breathe.

At this, Celeste finally raised her head.

The dark hood slid back, revealing an excessively young and beautiful face.

She met the bartender’s gaze.

The indifference displayed in those blood-red eyes caused the bartender to instinctively take a step back.

After realizing he had lost his composure, the bartender took a deep breath, and the way he looked at Celeste changed drastically.

If it had been contempt before, it was now solemnity.

Celeste didn’t speak. she simply took something from her robes and placed it gently on the bar counter.

It was a mark.

It had a silver base, engraved with a climbing agave plant.

The craftsmanship was exquisite, with every vein of the leaves clearly visible.

Under the tavern’s ambiguous purple light, it reflected a stunning brilliance.

The bartender’s expression changed the moment he saw it.

The gravity in his eyes vanished, replaced by a look of deep respect.

He took a step back in silence, nodded to Celeste, and then returned the mark to her.

“…So it is Lady Nightingale.”

His voice was very soft.

He then stepped aside, revealing the staircase leading to the second floor of the tavern.

“Please, follow me to the VIP room on the second floor.”

“Lady Rose is already waiting for you there.”

The other patrons in the tavern could not hear their conversation.

In their eyes, the bartender who was supposed to cause trouble had grown inexplicably respectful, and the girl was now walking up to the second floor.

The second floor was a place where only true VIPs of the tavern could enter.

For a moment, the tavern became so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.

“…I didn’t expect his retribution to come so quickly.”

Long after, the red-haired woman picked up her glass and drained it in one gulp.

She knew that the drunkard had offended someone he truly couldn’t afford to provoke, and the fact that the girl had killed him would eventually be brushed aside.

This was how the world worked; whoever held power held the true right to speak.

***

The VIP room on the second floor was completely different from the noisy tavern hall downstairs.

It was a simply furnished room with walls made of dark oak.

Under the glow of yellow lamps, it possessed an indescribable warmth.

In the center of the room was an oval long table with a few teacups standing on it.

Surrounding the table were sofas covered in red carpets, which appeared expensive at a single glance.

The moment Celeste stepped into the room, her footsteps faltered almost imperceptibly.

Rose.

The legendary Councilor of the Witch Council was currently leaning lazily against the sofa.