Chapter 199
The sky outside Shareon City was dark, full of cold wind and danger, but inside the Howling Fang Inn, it was a different world.
The air stank of sweat, cheap alcohol, and smoke. The wooden floor was stained with spills and old blood. Loud laughter roared through the hall, mixing with the clinking of mugs and the sound of wild music.
The Howling Fang Inn was chaos wrapped in wood and smoke. Located near the south edge of Shareon, it was a haven for criminals, mercenaries, and the scum who had nowhere else to go.
Its signboard—half-hanging and splintered—creaked in the wind. Inside, the scent was thick: cheap perfume, rotten meat, unwashed bodies, and alcohol so strong it could peel paint off a wall.
The main hall was large, but packed. Tables were filled to the brim. Plates of half-eaten meat lay forgotten as men slammed mugs together.
A pair of thugs were arm wrestling on one table, blood already dripping from a cut on one of their hands. A bet was going on at the next table—knives thrown at a wooden post, the loser taking a blade to the thigh.
Above the crowd, on shaky wooden platforms, girls danced in thin, sheer cloth, swinging their hips, shaking their breasts, teasing the drunk, wild crowd. One of them bent over, letting a man bite a coin from between her thighs. He laughed, tossing his head back with bloodshot eyes.
One dancer poured wine straight into a man's mouth while he grabbed her waist. She didn't mind. This was the game.
Two men were fighting in the far corner, fists pounding one another into bloody pulp with one already missing teeth but no one cared.
Blood just added to the mood.
At a center table sat a gang of rough-looking bastards. Scarred faces, missing fingers, and cruel grins. One of them—tall, bald, face like a smashed rock—held his mug up and yelled, "To the whores and the coin they helped young ones lose their virgin dick!"
Laughter boomed. A nearby girl gave him a slap and a wink.