It was hectic in the tavern today. The third tier had started almost a week ago, and the latest additions to their village had brought the population to just over six hundred people. That included a few that had made their way over from the neighboring villages as well. Most of the new residents were relatively unskilled. No getting lucky finding a hidden brewer like before.

However, Roger had been doing a good job of running the town and he made the best of what they had. Jessica was a little biased when it came to the cute mayor, even if he wasn't a rabbit person like herself. As a waitress in the only tavern in the entire village of Elstree, she overheard all kinds of gossip, so she knew that many others also thought he was an excellent mayor. The recent arrival of new people had caused a small boom in the construction of buildings, especially new homes, but it also managed to finally make the tavern busy.

Prior to the expansion, Jessica, the cook, and the owner, who also happened to be the brewer, were enough to keep the place running. Now there was a second waitress helping out, and a new busboy. Both were recent additions to the area. Frida, the new waitress, was from the latest group of residents the Network sent in. She was one of the insectoid races and looked a little like an upright-walking ant.

The busboy was a human, one of the most common species here, but she didn't know his name. He had been one of those who walked in from another village. Roger had made Elstree the envy of the nearby villages, and they had gained almost twenty people who decided to migrate from one of the others nearby.

Jessica hadn't learned his name, not because she didn't care, but because he seemed to be mute. He was able to make himself understood well enough with hand gestures, and seemed to have no trouble taking verbal directions. However, it seemed like he wasn't all there mentally. He was a little old to be a busboy, but Roger hadn't known what else to do with him. Cook, as everyone called the racoon woman who was the chef here, had taken a liking to him and enjoyed showing him how to do things around the kitchen.

A raised hand interrupted her musings, there were so many patrons now that she was constantly taking or delivering orders. She had to wend her way through the riot of tables to get to this one. The originally spacious room was now crammed full of tables and customers. It was so crowded that if two people leaned back at the same time, they were liable to bump heads. On the way back to the kitchen she was sorry to see Chrisly and his gang of adventurers come in and kick a table of residents out, stealing their place.

Now that recruits were in the area, Chrisly always traveled with a full team. That meant himself and four others. She wasn't exactly sure why adventurer teams were almost always five people, but that seemed to be just the way it worked. He was making constant rounds these days, looking for any of the tutorial recruits. Roger had agreed to keep the tutorial adventurers out of town, but he fulfilled his agreement in a sneaky way.

On both ends of the road, he had posted large signs that read, 'no one in adventurer gear allowed'. It was Chrisly himself who had told Roger that he would be able to identify the recruits by their gear. The mayor had used this to 'prevent' the recruits from entering town without antagonizing them. At least that had been the hope.

There had been an incident early on with a group of three insectoid recruits who didn't get the hint. Roger had tried to explain that as long as they were wearing adventurer gear they couldn't enter, while hinting that they were welcome in if they just took off their armor. Sadly, they didn't seem to get it.

The adventurers showed obvious signs of recent injuries, however, so the large crowd of villagers behind Roger had been enough to scare them off. Those bugs must not have a good grasp on the reality of the situation, because if they had forced the issue, the insects would have easily won. The difference in power between a serf and a classer was astronomical, especially if they were full adventurers like these clearly were. Luckily they had left, and hadn't returned. Jessica heard later that Chrisly and his group had ambushed them, and killed them all.

That might be good news. If all of the recruits were killed, then Roger was relatively safe. Chrisly and his family didn't care who ran the village as long as that person knew who was really in charge, and it wasn't one of the tutorial participants.

It seemed not all of the recruits were as thick-headed as the insects. In the tavern, right now, was a group of four beast people who were obviously not part of the village. They, however, had gotten the message and were wearing regular clothes with no sign of weapons or armor. The fact that they weren't residents was only obvious to the villagers because they knew who lived here, it was such a small place. Another reason was because, as serfs, they recognized the way classers carried themselves. It was something most adventurers didn't even notice.

If Chrisly and his crew realized there were other adventurers here, there would probably be violence. No one in the tavern was going to tell them about it, though, and he was unlikely to notice himself. Not with his nose so far in the air anyway. Still, she was happy to see that the two groups were on almost opposite sides of the tavern, less chance of an accident. The beast people at least recognized that Chrisly's group was different. Probably because the 'no adventurer gear' didn't apply to them.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Back in the kitchen she told Cook the table's order and caught the busboy's eye. "A table just left and Chrisly and his arrogant group took it over. Make sure you clear the table off fast."

The silent man nodded and was out the door immediately. Mentally he might be slow, but he did his job quickly and efficiently. Jessica took a moment for herself to grab a quick bite and a drink and went out to deal with the pompous ass that was their village's protector. She made her way to their table, letting Frida handle everyone else for the moment.

The busboy was still collecting the remains of the previous patrons meal. There was a lot left since they had been forced to leave mid-meal. The adventurers were making his life difficult by moving the dishes around when he tried to grab them, and chucking pieces of food at him. The mute man took it stoically while Chrisly watched with a smile.

Hoping to distract them, Jessica stepped up and asked for their orders. It seemed to work as the group turned their attention to her. At the same time, she noticed the group of recruits getting up and making their way to the door. She breathed out a sigh, that would be one less issue to worry about.

"What can I get you all today?" She asked.

One of the hanger-ons was the first to answer. "I'll take whatever you'll give me honey."

The others laughed and slapped him on the back, even the lone female of the party.

Jessica had also been a waitress before coming to the tutorial, so it wasn't her first time dealing with sleaze. She tried to deflect him with humor. "Ale and the stew is the best I got, next?"

They all laughed, even the one who had propositioned her, and gave their orders. Thankfully none of the other adventurers felt the need to harass her, at least until she got to their slimy leader.

"Well, I think I'm hungry for a little more than just food today. Why don't you come back with us when we head out." His eyes ran up and down her body. Watching him mentally undress her made her fur squirm.

"Sorry, I have to work late tonight, thank you for the offer though." It burned her to be polite, but she knew who had the power in this situation.

Chrisly's hand shot out with a speed that only classers can manage and he grabbed her wrist. With a quick tug, Jessica found herself falling into his lap, his other arm wrapping around her.

His mouth was pressed against her ear as he whispered, "Well, if you can't stop by later, then let's have some fun now."

Jessica's heart was pounding as she felt his foul breath on her cheek. She wanted nothing more than to push him off and run out, but she found herself frozen. Her body had betrayed her, between fight or flight, it had chosen the third 'F', leaving her helpless and panicked. Chrisly's hands started to move over her body, one hand tugging at the bottom of her tunic, trying to pull it out from her trousers. With every fiber of her being she tried to will herself to move, to push him off, anything, but she just couldn't do it.

A loud clang echoed through the suddenly quiet tavern and the hands pawing at her fell away. Her body finally unfroze and she stood up, spinning around as she did so. The busboy was there, holding the tin ladle from the stew pot that had been left on the table. Family style was a common way for them to eat, so many of the tables had one large pot that they served themselves from.

There was something wrong with the ladle though, it was terribly deformed. Everyone else was still as she finally noticed the dent in Chrisly's head. His eyes were rolled back and his body was limp. The adventurer closest to the busboy yelled out and tried to grab him.

"You son of a…" was all he managed before the ladle came down on his head as well. Now that her body was working again, it seemed her brain must have frozen instead, because it wasn't until she saw the adventurer collapse that she realized what had happened to Chrisly. The busboy had brained him with the ladle to save her. After taking out the adventurer as well, the large spoon was now all kinds of bent and twisted.

Her thoughts finally caught up with the situation and she yelled out, "Run, they're going to kill you!"

The party of beast people recruits had almost made it to the door when Chrisly had first grabbed her. Seeing one of their kind being harassed they had paused, but hesitated to intervene. After the busboy had brained her attacker, they all were suddenly holding weapons.

"This way, we'll protect you!" They had been afraid to stand up to the well equipped adventurers before, but watching the slow busboy do what they feared to, they were shamed into action.

Still the busboy was just standing there, so Jessica gave him a shove to get him moving. Once in motion, he showed a high level of dexterity as he jumped up on the nearest table and used them as stepping stones to the door. It made for a quick passage in the otherwise crowded space. Chrisly's sycophants were still scrambling out of their seats, trying to overcome their shock, when the team of recruits helped rush the former busboy out the door.

She was relieved to see him escape, but she wasn't sure what he would do now. When Chrisly woke up, he was going to do everything in his power to kill that man. His only hope was to travel to another town, away from Chrisly's family. The recruits wouldn't be able to help him with that, however, they were bound inside the zone still. Only the residents were able to travel freely.

It wasn't until she noticed that everyone was now staring at her, that she realized the busboy was the least of her concerns. Without him around, the adventurers needed someone to blame, and it looked like she was on the menu. Her traitorous body froze up on her again.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.