'He's just a bartender here? With the way he held himself, I could have sworn he was the owner.' Raven thought to himself upon seeing that, but he did not immediately cross out his previous thoughts. Sometimes, owners liked to do the work alongside their workers. Maybe it was a similar case here.
He made his was over to a small table at the side of the tavern and chose to observe in silence. Before long, a shadow blocked his view. He had sensed the person coming but had made no moves because it was simply one of the sultry waitresses of the tavern.
"What can I get you, handsome? You look a bit on the young side, but I can make it work out." The lady winked at Raven while he stared up at her.
"A glass of water will do." Raven said gruffly, not needing to do much to alter his voice. A little influence from his Dark Magic was all it took. It was a trivial thing that he did not even need magic for, but magic made it more convincing.
"Whatever you say, handsome. I'll be right back." The waitress twirled around and walked to the bar to get a glass of water for Raven. She returned shortly after that. "If you need anything else, just give me a shout." She waved and walked off to tend to other customers.
Right now, the mood in the tavern was still a bit charged from the earlier fight. Everyone was talking about it so Raven was able to quickly get the gist of it.
There had been two people involved, both members of guilds, but two opposing guilds. Normally, everyone kept to themselves, but recently, there had been a bit of tension between the two guilds, as they had both stumbled upon a nest of monsters and had fought over its ownership, leading to losses on both sides. When the two grunts of the guilds saw each other, an argument that led to blows ensued, which led to the young man from earlier kicking them out of the tavern. And also, Raven had been correct. The man whose name was Ruso, was the owner of the tavern. He looked quite young, but he was already thirty.
Ruso had been an adventurer, apparently. That was the reason behind his strength. He was no ordinary bartender or tavern owner. He had been part of a guild in a larger city, but had retired to take over his father's business after he had passed.
Raven observed the man for a while longer, but the man turned and their eyes locked for a moment. Without making any extra movements, Raven simply turned his gaze elsewhere. He was shocked that the man had noticed his hidden gaze so easily, but he felt it made some sense.
Raven passed some time in the tavern. There was an inn just a short distance from the tavern owned by Ruso. He made a stop there and booked a stay for the night. He had already organized his next trip, and would be leaving the following day.
Just as Raven collected the keys to his room, the door to the inn swung open and Ruso came walking in. He looked at Raven and Raven stared back, before he made a gesture outside to him, indicating that he wanted to speak to him. Curious, Raven decided to follow him and see what it was about.
"You are the one I've been waiting for." Ruso was direct and opened the dialogue with that line.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Raven was shocked. That was the last thing he expected to hear. He expected Ruso to have become suspicious or curious about him because of the short incident in the tavern, but he did not expect Ruso to say he had been waiting for him.
"This is what I mean." Ruso pulled out a pendant that hung around his neck. When it was revealed, Raven saw that it looked like a thick dark gold coin that was inscribed with various tiny symbols.
"I don't know what that is." Raven examined the pendant with some confusion. He was prepared to flee at a moment's notice if anything went wrong, but he was also curious about what the pendant was, and what Ruso wanted.
A frown crept onto Ruso's face when he heard that. He looked at the pendant and back at Raven for another moment before deciding to explain. He simply felt that Raven was being untruthful to him.
"This is the Chaos Pendant. It was handed out to the trusted comrades and subordinates of a certain individual before their death. When the time was right, it was said that a person who would retake the inheritance of that individual would appear, causing the Chaos Pendant to react." Ruso gave a vague explanation and looked at Raven expectantly. He thought Raven was playing clueless so as to avoid trouble. But Raven truly did not know what Ruso was talking about.
'He is a descendant of a servant of the Demon King. He is trustworthy.' The voice in Raven's head made an appearance again, startling him slightly, but he managed to keep a straight face.
'Trustworthy? I still don't know what you are, and you are telling me he is trustworthy.' Raven responded spitefully, but he did not throw aside the words of the mysterious voice. He was not stupid and already had a few ideas as to what it was and why it was stuck with him.
"So, the Chaos Pendant let you know who I was. Do you know anyone else with one?" Raven held his chin and asked Ruso. The older man smiled, seeing as Raven seemed to have stopped playing dumb.
"Let's talk elsewhere. This place is too open and exposed." Raven shook his head and gestured around them. Ruso also nodded, agreeing with Raven. He was led back into the inn and up to Raven's rented room where they could have a more secure discussion.