Endless Evolution: Last Star

Chapter 1967: Amber Halo

Tap.

A glass filled with a bright purple liquid appeared in front of Adam. It was the cocktail Haworg had made for him at the start of their conversation.

“It’s on the house. Although I think I should tell you that no one here ever pays for anything. In the usual way.”

“Hmm?” Adam tilted his head before looking at the glass. “What does that mean?”

Haworg shrugged.

“I don’t need money or any ordinary resources that would cost as much as my cocktails or appetizers. This place is for exchanging information, and so that monsters like me don’t die of boredom. Something like that.”

Adam stared at his reflection in the purple liquid.

“So I have to tell you something interesting in exchange for this drink?”

“Under normal circumstances, yes, but as I said, you don’t have to pay for it. You’re not just a rare guest, but also the reason for a lot of the news that other monsters have brought me.”

Haworg grinned as a glint flashed across his eyes.

“You can consider it your cut, something like that. You know, the K4-Phantoms don’t often defeat the Viscounts. It’s a rare event, and it’s worth a lot, especially to people like me, who value information above all else.”

Then, he pointed to the cocktail.

“Go ahead, try it. This one appeals to both monsters and the Phantoms. I think it should suit you too, even if you rarely try anything like this.”

Adam didn’t refuse and took his first sip.

A few seconds later, he smiled contentedly and nodded.

“Yeah, it’s pretty good. This isn’t the first time I’ve tried something made by a monster. Sometimes it’s as good as this cocktail, but… there are also times when it’s the opposite.” Adam’s face turned pale for a moment as he recalled a few such unpleasant moments.

“Hahaha!” Haworg laughed heartily. “Yeah, I’d have to agree with you on that. But there’s one thing that both humans and monsters feel the same way about.”

“Hmm? What’s that?” Adam was confused, though in reality he knew the answer, he just hadn’t thought about it right then.

Haworg proudly raised a finger as if he were revealing a great secret to Adam.

“It’s coffee, my young friend. Well, to be completely honest, tea counts too, but the differences in tea are much greater than those in coffee. Coffee, whether for monsters or humans, has the same taste and serves the same purpose.”

Adam blinked a few times as the corners of his mouth turned up. He remembered something.

“Huh, what about that spicy coffee with frosted apple and mint flavor?”

For a few moments, Haworg froze.

Then, he frowned. He wasn’t angry or tense, but rather, a hint of envy was visible in his gaze.

“How do you know about that?”

Adam understood everything from his reaction as his smirk widened.

“Prasyx treated me to it, just recently. I’m sure someone like you, who gathers all the rumors and information about the Gray Sea, must know who Prasyx is, right?”

Haworg’s eyebrow twitched as he leaned forward, resting his large hands on the counter.

“Of course. You’d be hard-pressed to find a monster in the Gray Sea who doesn’t know who Prasyx is. Well, unless we’re talking about newbies like you, who haven’t had a chance to hear about him yet.”

For a moment, Haworg fell silent before nodding deeply.

“So you’re already familiar with him, and he even treated you to that special coffee. I see, that’s to be expected, given your accomplishments.”

Meanwhile, Adam had already finished his drink, which didn’t go unnoticed by Haworg.

“How about another one? But I’m not talking about a cocktail or some unusual drink – I mean coffee.”

“The spicy one again?” Adam smirked.

Haworg gave a wry smile and shook his head.

“Nah. I don’t have that kind of coffee. I mean, you can add pepper to coffee that’s already brewed, but the effect won’t be the same. But I do have salted caramel, milk, and coffee. I’m sure you, as a human, will like this combination.”

“Sure. That sounds more than good.”

Aside from coffee, tea, and a few other ingredients, almost everything differed between monsters and humans. But spices were an exception to some extent.

Sure, both humans and monsters had unique and even strange spices, but something as common as salt, sugar, or pepper was found in every cook’s or bartender’s kitchen, regardless of their race.

While Haworg was busy making coffee, Adam decided to look around. For some reason, he felt very comfortable here.

Perhaps he was tired of seeing nothing but the dead lands and dangerous monsters everywhere and was glad to be back in a simple bar, or perhaps Haworg understood what his guests needed to have a good time here.

“This bar. How did it even come to be? Was it your idea?” Adam decided to ask. He’d been wondering about this ever since he realized there was actually a bar beneath the island.

Haworg nodded deeply.

“Yes. I created it many hundreds of years ago. I’d long had the idea of opening my own place, but I didn’t want to do it in Izardo, Varreyn, or any other crowded place.

“I wanted it to be a remote, even desolate place, but still significant. In other words, I wanted what I have now, to have guests, but not too many, and for each guest to be of high caliber and quite interesting.”

He waved his hand without turning around.

“At first, I thought about opening a bar on the shore of the Tarnished Lands, but I realized that sooner or later, many monsters would find out about my bar, and I’d have to deal with a large number of guests. That’s not bad, but many of them would be weak, and that didn’t fit my goals.”

Adam nodded. He had been listening intently to Haworg.

“That’s exactly why you decided to settle on Island A165, right? There aren’t many people here, and weak monsters wouldn’t be able to get here even if they wanted to. That way, you got what you wanted.”

Hargod smirked as he turned around. He was holding two cups of coffee.

“Indeed. I don’t have many guests, but they’re all worth serving as a bartender. You’re one such example.”

Adam smiled and took a cup of coffee in his hands.

Very soon he would find out where Breydar was, but for now, nothing was stopping him from enjoying the bitter drink with its pleasant sweetness.