Chapter 259: Night Bar
———Lynda———
<7: 57 pm>
“Ourgh… Ugh…” Histon groaned as the alcohol caught up to him. I know he wasn’t planning on doing anything else today with it being so late and all, but this is still quite a sight. The whole table is filled with expensive drinks.
The fact that he is alone makes the scene even less charitable. The place is way more quiet with most people going home or everyone being so stuffed or drunk that they can’t really afford to be active, which makes the scene even more melancholic for a simple case of a guy being drunk by his lonesome. Not like he was drinking his sorrow away.
Good thing his sister isn’t here to see this, otherwise he might never hear the end of it.
As for me. I’m also all alone on the… Monday night. Glery leaves to go do something on her own and everyone else seems to have their own plan for the rest of the day. There’s a limit to how much we can indulge in all the food and ambience of this place. Most are going to get sick of it before the party is actually over. The venue is also open for longer than most are willing to stay in the first place. Most people don’t even stay at an all-you-can-eat buffet until the time limit is over, let alone an entire day.
Now that a lot of people have left and the venue is more cleared out… yep, it’s massive. It looks like they really did clear out the audience seats and shift things down to ground level. No idea how they did it exactly, could be due to a built-in mechanism for all I know.
Now as to what I was planning on doing. Now that a lot of people are gone I’d imagine that a few unfamiliar faces I see would’ve felt more comfortable to talk. I want to know them a little bit better than simply what their face is like.
I walked up to the bar again and sat down to see those few unfamiliar faces also being there. I might not be able to get all of them to talk, but I should at least strike up a conversation with this bartender that I don’t know. She doesn’t seem to be conversing with anyone else.
“So. You’re not from around here. What’s your name?” I asked her the moment she walked over.
“Me? No one important. Name’s Druis.” For a moment I thought she wouldn’t even tell me her name. I feel like a lot of people have been skipping the introduction nowadays. “Just a simple bartender. I work under a modest shop of fine wine.”
“…That brand, Spiritseek, right?” That’s the only brand I am seeing around here, and I doubt they bring in a bartender from an unaffiliated brand.
“Indeed.” Since that’s the case, then the earlier statement is just false. It’s a pretty well known brand despite being much younger than its competition. I heard it start off as a family business of sorts before suddenly booming into a small empire of its own. Now I’m starting to feel suspicious of it considering the association with this place. “So, what do you want this time?”
“Something light will be good.” I won’t want to make a mess out of myself like last time. No need for a surprise this time around.
She nodded and quickly got to work while I looked at the other people at the bar, most of them were quiet with only a few small talks I couldn't make out.
It feels like I’m walking into a lion’s den even if these people probably are a reasonable bunch. Them being strangers in a place where I know most people’s faces gave off a dangerous vibe that might be due to my bias. The unfamiliar faces I’ve seen so far have all been exceptional in some way and pack quite a punch.
“Here you go, young lady.” She said before placing down another colorful drink. Hmm… It tastes more like a fruit juice… “Sounds like you got a lot on your mind, or are my eyes deceiving me?”
“Huh?” I didn’t expect her to be the one to start the conversation, but this works for me. “I was just thinking about all the new faces I’ve never seen before. A lot of people from outside of town are showing up here. I know for a fact that some of them probably have quite a story to tell, like that woman with messy blue hair.”
“Interested in those things? I suppose that’s only natural. Everyone starts to realize that there is more to this world than they think. It’s not as if we don’t have a vast history to look through already, but now you zoomed out and saw that you have been only focusing on a very small piece of a massive tale. Everything so far feels so quaint in comparison.” She said, pretty much explaining my feeling in detail and perhaps with more words than I would’ve used. “I guess I can talk with you about it. Everyone here is weirdly quiet. Being from different walks of life despite their hardship would do that. A bit of distrust is natural.”
I know she’s not talking loudly but shouldn’t she be a bit afraid of earning their ire? Speaking of which, she seems to be familiar with this stuff already.
…So what should I even ask her in this instance? There’s technically a wide range of things I could ask, but I doubt I have the time to ask her everything, and I don’t know if I’ll get any satisfactory response or not.
“...I know it might be a bit personal, but did you know about all the magic stuff before the thing happened?” That would tell me a lot about whether she's going to be knowledgeable on the topic or not.
“Oh… Around my teenage years, that was like twenty-something years ago.” She dismissively explained… She doesn’t look like she’s in her mid thirties to me, more early twenties.
“...You look pretty young, you know?” I pointed out.
“I think I’ve maintained my looks pretty well all this time. That’s not a surprise.” She said with a light chuckle.
“...What does a life knowing magic before the Eclipse feels like? I know people speculated about a scenario like that, but what is it actually like?” I never really get a concrete answer from anyone else I know for sure knows that magic existed beforehand.
“It was weirdly miserable. The masquerade that everyone has to act under means that everyone is harshly restricted in what we can do, and the few people at the top can easily sweep us under the rug if need be. They are way more influential than you think they are.” She explained. That does sound quite oppressive and probably brings a lot of stress.
“I would’ve thought the world would’ve felt less oppressive and not the other way around.” I remarked.
“Well, it’s not all bad. You can cause a lot of mischief to the regular folks who can’t even perceive mana. Also the sense of self-importance is through the roof for people who know that magic actually exists. It was more of a problem, admittedly. Those Mage Remnants are a bunch of crazy elitists.” She replied while not sounding particularly bothered by what seems to be a sensitive talking point. “Also, you tend to be targeted if they’re particularly jealous of your skillset. They might try to capture you and do weird experiments on you like in those movies. It’s pretty rough if you’re not under the protection of an Ahdeid.”
“How does that even work though? I heard that inhumane experimentation like that tends to not work out?” I came across an article about that in the library, and I doubt it’s wrong.
“You’re not wrong, but the thing about those guys is that they’re not the most… thorough people. Something probably happened in the past that made them so close-minded and uncompromising as a collective. I still make fun of them for it though.” She said before walking over to serve another customer. Seems like Mage Remnants were a big part of the Pre-Eclipse world. Which considering how there seems to be nothing about them that leaked out is quite an achievement, despite the fact that they seem to be looked down upon by anyone outside the group. They’re probably not actually incompetent, but I never interacted with any of them so I might never be able to gauge how they run things.
…What does this school even fall under anyway? With such a clear focus on magic that obviously other institutions can’t pivot to in such a short time frame…
“Back to what I was saying, they all had their own issues. I barely interact with them nowadays, so I don’t really know what happened since. It has been almost a decade since I properly interacted with them.” She said once she came back from serving the others. I wonder if other people in the bar knew her beforehand, since they don’t seem interested in inquiring anything from her like I am. It definitely made me an odd one out right now. I just need to roll with it and not think about it too much.
“So what about you then? Were you associated with them or not?” Considering she talked about them so early in the conversation the relation between the two sides can’t be skin deep.
“Probably too closely related for my liking. I have split off from that group for a long time now as I had explained. You’re lucky this place doesn’t have those moles hiding about. The moment those two came here the influence of that group disappeared in a flash.” She must’ve been talking about Coach Wana and Rico. They are still an enigma in many respects. Rico for example is clearly someone who isn’t an ancient practitioner of magic. Her parents are still around and from what I know there wasn’t any obfuscation on that front. There were many people who knew her since her childhood. She’s a much bigger headache to figure out than Coach Wana who at least we know for sure isn’t someone from around here originally.
“...So why did you break off then?” I asked while tilting my head.
“Because of everything else I was saying, of course. Even the Grandmaster acts like they’re a bunch of lowlife and only keeps them around in case they do something funny.” She replied. “Of course you probably can’t treat them like a joke like we can. There are still some formidable bunch in there, so don’t get it twisted. The only reason I framed them like a joke is because the people you study under share that sentiment. If they see you respecting them too much it might be a problem.”
“Is that even gonna happen if they don’t wanna touch this area with a ten-foot pole?” There’s a very low chance for me to ever come across one of them. I guess maybe if I leave the town? But why would I do that when this is probably one of the safest places on Earth right now.
“I’m only saying it as a precaution. I don’t really come here often as you already figured out. I’m just saying what I know.” She elaborated before looking at the empty glass.
“I’ll take a refill." I answered the silent question and she quickly gets to work while also taking that time serving other customers as well. I think I should strike up a conversation with at least one of them, right?
“You know, I doubt you’ll get them to talk.” Druis said as she came back with my drink.
“Really? I don’t think it’ll hurt to try.” How did she even realize my intent anyway? Was I too obvious?
“It’ll just be a waste of time. For most of them you’re just an insignificant person not worth wasting their words for. It doesn’t help that you don’t look like someone with a lot of innate potential or accomplishment, if I were to be blunt.” She said with no reservation whatsoever. What, will they talk with people in Perfect Class and not me, is that what it is? I swear I’ve seen some of them talk with the guys from there. “Don’t make such a face. They tend to not be impressed by many things, even including someone so weak and unknown being bold enough to talk to them. It happened more than you think, you know? I certainly don’t know what you do but all the locals here could about is that one group of students that feels monstrous in many ways. It's hard to not at least interact with them for a brief period. It is what it is.”
I didn't expect to come here just to have that fact rubbed in my face again… It’s pretty damn frustrating…
“...I’ll take something stronger this time. Surprise me a little.” I bitterly said before putting down the now empty glass.