After devouring his first proper meal in over a day, Eze sat back, digesting while sizing up the shop.
Before entering, he’d assumed it was either terrible food, awful service, or a shady place, explaining the lack of customers.
But that clearly wasn’t the case.
The shop was old, simply decorated, and in a less-than-ideal location, but the food was great, and the little girl serving was warm and friendly—so why no business?
His gaze wandered, settling on the busy girl—since the place itself seemed fine, the issue must lie with the staff.
“…I see.”
Sure enough, Eze soon noticed something off.
Beneath the girl’s maid headpiece, hidden among her smooth black hair, were faint, horn-like shapes deliberately concealed.
Combined with her strikingly unique red eyes, Eze was certain—she was a human-demon half-breed.
The current human-demon war had lasted a decade, but their intermittent conflicts stretched back over a millennium, with hatred deeply ingrained.
Yet, even in such a hell, tales of love transcending race existed—beautiful stories of half-breeds born from such unions, though rare.
Most half-breeds came from far uglier origins: large-scale human or slave trafficking, or “atrocities” committed by armies occupying towns.
As a result, neither humans nor demons accepted them, and even their families despised them, often abandoning them at birth.
A shop run by a half-breed?
No wonder people steered clear.
The man who seemed like the owner, wearing a hat, was probably hiding his own horns for the same reason.
But the disguise wasn’t working, as the empty shop proved.
Besides Eze, the only other customers were two men sitting near the door.
“…Hm?”
As his thoughts drifted to them, Eze sensed something wrong.
Both were burly, muscular, nearly two meters tall, built like walls of flesh.
They wore light armor for mobility, with finely crafted weapons at their waists—clearly adventurers.
And their eyes roamed the shop with ill intent.
As Eze watched their movements, one of them looked up, barking in a crude voice:
“Hey, kid, another jug of hot wine!”
“Coming”
The girl who’d served Eze answered, bustling about before bringing over their order.
“Here you go, please… aah!?”
As if planned, one of the men suddenly kicked her leg, catching her off guard.
She fell backward, the jug of hot wine smashing onto her, scalding liquid splashing everywhere.
The two culprits exchanged a glance, grinning maliciously as they stood.
“Hey, what’s with this kid? Can’t even handle something as simple as serving wine?”
The one who’d ordered spoke, lifting his foot and stomping mercilessly on her leg.
“Look, my boots are ruined! These are red fire lizard leather—they degrade in water. How you gonna compensate me?”
The size difference pinned the girl down, and with the pain of burns, tears streamed uncontrollably.
Yet she couldn’t say anything, only apologizing repeatedly:
“Sniff… I’m sorry, I’m sorry… it was… my fault…”
The scene was, quite literally, unbearable to watch.
A crowd quickly gathered, drawn by the commotion, including some guards, yet no one stepped in to help.
Beyond fearing the men’s size, they likely thought helping a half-breed wasn’t worth it—some extremists might even cheer this on.
“G-Guests, you…”
The man behind the counter, likely the owner, and a chef who emerged from the kitchen tried to intervene but were stopped by the other brute.
“What? Your staff’s incompetent and causing trouble, and we can’t teach her a lesson!?”
He signaled his partner, who glanced at the growing crowd, deciding it was time for the next step.
He yanked off the girl’s headpiece, revealing her horns—the mark of her identity.
“Wait… give it back…”
She tried to grab it, but another harsh stomp crushed her efforts.
The man smugly waved the headpiece:
“Tch, tch, tch, no wonder she’s so clumsy—look at these horns, a mongrel!!”
“Sniff… I’m… not…”
“A mongrel daring to open a shop in human territory? Tch, disgusting. Planning to sell this city to your ugly kin, huh?”
“No… sob—no—”
The burns and brutal treatment left the girl’s face pale, her voice growing weaker.
“…That’s enough.”
Eze shook his head.
Even among his past two years’ experiences, this was among the worst, and he couldn’t just stand by.
He pulled out his meal money, left it on the table, stood, and walked expressionlessly to the man stomping on the girl.
The brute glanced at the scrawny guy with irritation.
“Huh? Who are you? Get lost!”
“I’m not in your way—you’re blocking mine.”
“You’re looking to die!!!”
A fist the size of a sandbag swung at Eze’s head with surprising speed—though they acted like thugs, these guys were strong.
But against a former hero, they were still lacking.
Eze dodged lightly, tripping the man with a subtle move, sending the meaty thug crashing to the ground.
The force of his own punch backfired, leaving him bloodied, teeth broken, writhing on the floor, unable to stand.
The other brute, seeing this, charged furiously:
“What did you do!?”
“Nothing, he tripped.”
Eze shrugged, his blatant provocation enraging the man, who grabbed his collar and lifted him.
Then—
“Cough cough—cough cough cough—pfft—”
At that moment, Eze coughed violently, spitting a mouthful of blood, startling the man, who let go and stepped back.
Eze dropped to one knee, clutching his chest, wiping his mouth dramatically, and pointed at the man with a hoarse, blood-choked voice:
“You… hit… hard…”
“No, no, I didn’t—”
“Yaaahhh!”
Before the man could explain, Eze grabbed a nearby stool and smashed it over his head, sending the brute collapsing to the ground.
Done.
Technically, Eze was totally pulling a scam, and with guards in the crowd, he wanted to avoid leaving any leverage against him.
But the problem wasn’t solved.
Looking at the two men on the ground, Eze frowned.
Two adventurers, coordinated and premeditated—this wasn’t random trouble; they were likely hired.
But why?
Eze couldn’t figure it out.
The stunned girl, still reeling from the assault, shakily stood using the table, staring at the frail-looking Eze.
“Big brother, are… you okay?”
“Yeah, fine, cough cough—see ya.”
Without lingering, Eze grabbed the two men, tossed them into a roadside trash bin like garbage, and hurriedly vanished into the crowd.