“Yum! It was delicious! Aaah!” Yoichi rejoiced, capturing the attention of other customers sitting at the counter. The young tamer acted as if he hadn’t eaten in years and, even the drunk people in that place were impressed by his strange behaviour.

“Wow. Are you done yet?” Enatsu chuckled, who should have been the hungrier of the two. Looking into his coloured ceramic bowl, half ramen was still there. ​​

Kenji screaked, resting its two front legs on its tamer’s legs, explicitly asking him to eat something.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, bud! This ramen was so tasty that I forgot to leave you a piece!” Yoichi answered, lowering his gaze to the Nekage. “Excuse me, Kenzo… could I have another piece of meat for my demon?”

“Of course, there’s no problem!” Kenzo responded, happy to please his customer.

After feeding Kenji and Sora with ramen-flavoured meat, Yoichi and Enatsu grabbed the two small black ceramic glasses resting in front of them. They turned face to face, ready for a toast.

“Cheers to our new trip, man! May Goldhaven bring us luck!” Yoichi smiled, knowing that Enatsu was not yet convinced to become a tamer.

“To Goldhaven! Oh, and to the Sleeping Owl!” Enatsu cheered, banging his glass against Yoichi’s.

*ding* The two glasses touched each other, and drops of sakè fell on the floor.

A moment later, both companions drank the typical liquor down the hatch, slamming the empty cups down on the bar.

Suddenly, as if by magic, something happened in Yoichi’s mind. When the taste of the sakè spread into his palate and descended into his throat, the young tamer unlocked a memory of his previous life.

The sensations arising from alcohol and that sour, full-bodied flavour restored processes in his mind, and blurry images began to appear before his eyes.

Withdrawing from reality for a few moments, Yoichi experienced a chaotic sequence of broken memories, each of which had as protagonist his hand clutching one of those ceramic cups.

One toast after another, his hands had touched hundreds, thousands of glasses of sakè. Just then, in his new reality, the same hands began to tremble.

What are these memories? Those hands… they were mine? Who were all those people? He pondered as the beats of his heart accelerated.

“Hey, Yoichi. Are you feeling all right, man?” Enatsu asked, noting that his eyes were lost in the void.

It’s not possible. It’s as if these images belonged to another life, a previous life. That was me! I really wasted all that time on… on… drinking?! Yoichi continued to think frantically. When Enatsu’s hand touched his arm, memories suddenly faded.

His eyelids began to blink again, hydrating his dry eyes. The tavern floor was slowly focused, and his gaze rose, crossing that of Enatsu.

“All right? Maybe this sakè was too strong for you,” Enatsu commented, maintaining eye contact.

“No, no. In fact, it was yummy! Don’t worry, I’m fine. Thank you for asking,” Yoichi replied, without adding any more details, knowing that anyone in that room could hear him.

After that strange episode, the two adventurers thanked the innkeeper and his beautiful daughters and prepared to foot the bill.

“Er… I told you before I didn’t have any money, did I? I swear I’ll give them back to you very soon,” Enatsu whispered in Yoichi’s ear, then returned to smile at the innkeeper as if nothing had happened.

“Two silver coins. These sakes are on the house!” Kenzo exclaimed, with his usual smile printed on his face.

Yoichi grabbed his leather pouch and opened it, grabbing a gold coin. If such a large meal costs only two silver coins, it means that three gold coins are a lot of money! He realized, surprised.

“Hey, you! Don’t you dare pay!” a male voiceover boomed, coming from their backs.

Taken by surprise, Yoichi and Enatsu turned around. A tall, skinny man, walking on a stick, approached the bar. A long leather coat and heavy boots with iron tips gave him a veteran look.

“You’re Yoichi, right?” he asked, looking at the young tamer. Yellowish medical bandages were wrapped around his neck to the chin.

Yochi confirmed with his head, not considering it necessary to respond to that strange, not-so-friendly-looking subject.

“I’ve been waiting for someone to kick the ass of that Kato piece of shit for a long time, and here you are, popped out of nowhere! Haha!” the man joked aloud, suddenly changing his expression and beginning to laugh. “Let me buy your lunch for you and your friend. It’s the least I can do to pay you back for the show you offered me!” he continued.

His shoulder-length hair was covered in a quirky leather hat, similar to that of a cowboy, but with a pointed visor at the forward end.

“Um… okay. I don’t think there’s a problem, thank you,” Yoichi stated, squeezing out a friendly smile.

“Nice! Put it on my tab, Kenzo!” the stranger replied, making a gesture with his hand not resting on the stick that allowed him to stand.

“Are you fine? Um…” Yoichi inquired, implicitly asking that man for his name.

“How rude, I swooped here without even showing up! Hyobe, my name is Hyobe,” he affirmed, shaking hands with both Yoichi and Enatsu. The merchant looked down on that strange man, confused.

“What are those wounds? I suppose you weren’t born crippled,” Yoichi spoke, interested in knowing the answer.

The man in the bizarre hat was about fifty years old, but his movements were similar to those of an older man. Yoichi only needed one glance to realize that the wounds on his body were compromising.

“Come, follow me to the table. Do you want anything else to drink?” Hyobe added, beginning to limp to one side of the room.

“No, we are fine” Enatsu answered, taking his friend’s place and following the mysterious man, letting himself be guided by curiosity.

If this guy was a thug, Kenzo would have warned us. Kenji didn’t have any reaction, too, so I don’t think he has bad intentions. Yoichi thought while the rest of the Sleepy Owl clientele continued to act carefree.