Heavy rain poured outside the tavern, the sound of it rushing in with a constant patter. The seven people who entered carried no umbrellas, yet not a single raindrop clung to them. Still, every patron in the place could feel a bone-chilling cold emanating from their bodies.
Achoo. A patron sitting near the door could not hold back a sneeze, then hurriedly covered his mouth in panic, terrified of drawing the attention of these villains.
Those seated by the counter glanced at the seven, then at the wanted posters spread on the bar, comparing them. Their faces turned ashen one after another.
“Boss, got anything to eat or drink?” The leader of the seven was a black-faced burly man with a full beard. He asked in a rough voice.
“Yes, yes, we have fine boar meat, delivered fresh this morning. Also bread, ale, wine, and fruit wine…” The tavern owner, hunched over behind the counter, replied in fear.
“Boar meat? Good. Cut us thirty pounds to start,” the black-faced man said gruffly. The people by the counter quickly recognised him as the leader of the Seven Deadly Sins Thief Gang, Wrathful Max, with a bounty of a full fifty thousand gold coins.
“C-cut thirty pounds…” Hearing Wrathful Max’s words, the owner froze. Though boar was not a magical beast, its meat was quite expensive. The flesh was slightly sour but delicious when roasted properly. Most importantly, it was dense and tough. Ordinary people could not eat much of it. Thirty pounds at once, could the seven of them finish it?
“Yes, and a few pounds of bread too,” Wrathful Max continued, misunderstanding the hesitation. Seeing the owner still stunned, his face darkened. “What are you standing there for? Hurry up.”
“Y-yes…” The owner jumped in fright, quickly wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and turned away.
The tavern fell silent for a moment, only the rain and thunder outside breaking in constantly. It was already late autumn, but winters in Morning Wind’s Fearless City were usually mild. Even in late autumn, thin clothing sufficed without much chill. Yet now the tavern felt like an ice cellar. If not for the downpour outside, the patrons would surely have scrambled to flee.
“I have heard that those who kill many carry curses from the undead, bringing cold air with them. These seven appearing here made the place turn so cold instantly. It must be because they have slain too many…” Old John, ever knowledgeable, whispered to the others.
The rest nodded hurriedly, feeling even more terror from the seven.
However…
“Hey, can you turn off the cold air? The weather is cold enough already. Keep blowing and we will all catch colds!” A short figure sitting beside Wrathful Max said in a thin, delicate voice. This short one had a clown face painted on, looking terrifying. Though the voice was deliberately hoarse, it sounded like a young girl.
Without doubt, she was Envy Clown, with a bounty of twenty thousand gold coins on the poster.
“Carrying cold air is basic common sense in our line of work. I tell you, love the job you do. If your entrance does not shock the whole room, what kind of chivalrous thieves are we?” Wrathful Max said reluctantly, but he still waved his hand. The patrons then noticed a thin, worn white-covered magic guide book floating beside him. Whatever he did, the temperature in the tavern instantly returned to normal.
The patrons: “…”
Bloody hell, the chill was artificially created by you lot?
“Leader, what next? I hear the lord of Fearless City colludes with the Church’s bishop, doing plenty of evil. Shall we go cause trouble for them?” A voluptuous young woman in somewhat shameful nun attire said. She wore a single eyepatch covering one eye, giving her a somewhat cold aura. This was naturally Pride Nun, bounty ten thousand gold coins.
“I wonder if Fearless City has any handsome, skilled young men. I am really looking forward to it,” a blond woman in maid outfit sitting beside Pride Nun said in a coquettish tone.
As soon as she spoke, the surrounding patrons could not help shivering. Even the other six at the table seemed somewhat unnerved.
“Y-you, can you not talk like that…” Envy Clown hugged her shoulders and said to the maid sister.
“This is my character setting. If not like this, how can I show my, you know, right, Leader?” The maid miss threw a flirtatious glance at Wrathful Max, her face full of allure.
Maid, bounty ten thousand gold coins.
“Yes, yes, you are doing great. In our thief gang, you are the most in character,” Wrathful Max nodded approvingly with some sweat. Beside him, Envy Clown muttered, “I think she is just being herself…”
“So hungry. Is the roast meat ready yet?” At that moment, a dark-skinned girl could not hold back and slapped the table shouting. The girl beside her also stared eagerly at the roast meat and bread on a nearby table, looking ready to snatch it. These two girls were naturally the Gluttony Sisters. The darker-skinned one was Gluttony Elder Sister, the other Greed Younger Sister, each with bounties of fifteen thousand gold coins.
The patrons at that table had lost all interest in drinking after the seven entered. Noticing Greed Younger Sister’s gaze, how could they hesitate? They hurriedly offered the whole platter of roast meat.
“Thank you,” Greed Younger Sister said crisply, then seemed to realise something wrong. She coughed, deliberately roughened her voice, and repeated, “Thank you.”
The patrons at that table: “…”
Of the seven thief gang members, only the last one remained. A bald head, listless from the moment he entered, slumped on the table looking drowsy. Truly befitting Sloth Baldy.
But just then, the bald one spotted the bounty posters the people at the counter were examining. Seeming very curious, he suddenly jumped up and walked over. The patrons by the counter jumped in shock and quickly made way, only to find he was merely interested in the posters, picking them up one by one.
“T-these, I got them in Kus City. They asked me to deliver these bounty posters to the mercenary guild in Fearless City…” Old John said tremblingly.
The bald one looked fiercely menacing, with thick, arched eyebrows. Though clearly drawn on, they still gave others immense shock. When he saw the last poster, his originally listless face changed dramatically. “How is this possible!!!”
“What is it, G… Sloth Baldy?” Envy Clown asked curiously.
The bald one waved the posters agitatedly. “The leader’s bounty is fifty thousand gold coins, vice leader yours is twenty thousand, the nun and maid each ten thousand, the Gluttony Sisters each fifteen thousand, but why…” He walked to the table, slammed the posters down with a smack, pointing at the last one for Sloth Baldy, and said word by word, “why is my bounty only fifty gold coins!!!”
Everyone paused, then could not help bursting into laughter.
“No helping it. Every battle you find a spot to hide and refuse to fight…” Wrathful Max said, holding back laughter.
“Is that not what you, the guild leader, told me to do? I am matching the sloth setting!!!” the bald one said indignantly. In his agitation, he directly called out the guild leader’s name. Wrathful Max was naturally Ye Chui in disguise, and the bald one was naturally Green.
“In Kus City, your bounty was still three hundred gold coins, was it not? Now ours have all risen a lot, only yours dropped to fifty. Seems those posting the bounties think you are not important,” the nun, that is Shiris, said with a smile.
Green’s deliberately menacing painted face looked even more ferocious. He said angrily, “Next battle, I absolutely will not hold back. I will fight!”
Almost the instant Green’s words finished, a vigorous shout suddenly came from outside the tavern.
“Seven Deadly Sins Thief Gang, we know you are inside. We are the Blue Star Mercenary Group, here on a mission to capture you…”
Green’s eyes lit up. “My chance has come…”
