In a tavern somewhere along the borders of the Velven empire...

"Fight!" "Fight!" "Fight!" "Fight!"

The table on the right side of the tavern was moved to the edge to create an empty space.

A fighting ring was formed by a group of men with the rope lent by the tavern owner Mrs.Wilbert.

Two people were standing on either side of the ring while the crowd around them cheered.

"You think you can beat me little girl" A burly man with a short beard sneered at his opponent. His pale red hair was rusty from the sun exposure.

The golden lion emblem on his chest was the identification tag belonging to the golden lion mercenaries of Orion. It was a name that was derived from the crest of the Orion royal symbol, the Golden Lion.

The mercenary was wearing a sleeveless leather shirt that exposed his bare muscles which clenched every time he spoke.

"We'll see about that"

His opponent, a bright blue-haired girl smirked. Her eyes were a shade of crystal green akin to emeralds. She was gazing at him in a relaxed manner, without any sign of fear or panic.

"Aren't you cocky?" The burly man was irritated by her attitude.

He was annoyed by the fact that he, a senior mercenary of the Golden Lions, was challenged by a newbie mercenary beast girl.

He had asked her out for a drink after seeing her pretty face. But she did not respond and ignored him. He was embarrassed at being rejected in front of his men and asked her out again.

Things escalated at a quick pace and it ended up at a standoff. One of the customers in the tavern suggested a duel and they borrowed the space from the tavern to hold it.

"Gallon!" "Gallon!" "Gallon!"

The golden lion mercenaries cheered for their colleague. Since his opponent was a beast girl quarter his size, the output of the duel was evident to them.

"If you are so confident......." The girl walked up to Gallon and stood in front of him.

""Then how about we bet on it?"

"Bet? You wanna bet with me? Hah!" Gallon scoffed.

The girl was bold enough to challenge him without knowing her place. Now she wants to bet?

Then so be it.

"One hundred gold coins." Gallon smirked and looked at his opponent from top to bottom.

"One hundred golden coins IF you win against me, little girl"

"Yeaaaah, that's right Gallon! Put her in her place"

"Know your place, women! How dare you stand against the Golden Lion mercenaries!"

The men behind Gallon started cheering for him.

"One hundred gold coins? That's it? That's how much your pride's worth?" The girl asked sarcastically. She turned to the side, her lips curled into a mocking smile.

"Two hundred gold coins!"

Gallon increased the bet money. He was getting more and more pissed by the girl's attitude. She was not even looking at him or listening to him.

"Three hundred gold coins!"

"Haah" The girl merely signed and rolled her eyes.

"Four hundred... No! Five hundred gold coins!"

Oblivious to the fact that the girl was egging him, Gallon continued to raise the bet money. There was a deep frown between his brows.

"Show her the pride of the Golden Lion mercenaries!" A voice came from the back of the crowd, riling up the rest of the men.

The girl turned to her left and caught sight of blue hair the same shade as hers standing at the back of the crowd in the direction the voice came in. A pair of fox ears were visible between the blue hair.

"Yeah! Show her Gallon!"

"Show her what you got!"

The Golden Lion mercenaries continued to cheer.

*Thump*

"Eight hundred gold coins!" Gallon declared, throwing a bag full of gold coins on the floor.

"Hmmm...." The girl glanced at the bag and shrugged.

"Fine"

"But" Gallon picked up the bag and gave it to one of his men standing in the front row.

"When I win. Which I will. I'm gonna have a lot of fun with you little girl"

"..." The blue-haired girl did not answer but merely smiled at his declaration.

To keep the fight fair, Gallahan, a veteran mercenary who frequented the tavern volunteered to be the judge.

Gallahan, Head of the Tullus mercenaries, was intrigued by the turn of events that led to the fight. His grandson, Will, a novice nineteen-year-old mercenary, stood beside him to watch the show.

"The rules are simple. Whoever is the first to stay down for a count of ten loses" Gallahan announced the rules of the duel.

"No weapons are allowed. You are allowed to only use your physical strength against your opponent. Now...."

Gallahan urged the two to shake hands.

"Shake hands for a fair fight"

"Get ready for a fun night" Gallon shook her hand. Although it was calloused and hard compared to others, her hand was too small compared to his.

"I don't think so" The girl answered with a smile on her face.

The two went to the opposite sides of the ring and waited for the signal.

"Three... two... one... Begin!" Gallahan announced the start of the fight and took a few steps back.

"I'll let you have the first hit since you're a little girl" Gallon sneered at her.

"It's not my style" The girl answered, taking out a pair of fingerless leather gloves from her pocket.

"Oh! You can go ahead and attack me. I don't like getting blood on my hands. Hence the gloves."

"Come on. Hit me. If you can..." The girl tilted her head and smiled at Gallon.

"You!" Gallon's face flushed red in anger. He had never been treated in a flippant way. The nerves on his calloused hand became visible when he clenched his fists tightly.

"How dare she talk like that to Gallon!"

"Get her Gallon!"

"What are you doing!"

Gallon shouted. His opponent was dozing off instead of focusing on him.

"What? I thought you were still talking" The girl yawned and blinked her eyes.

Initially, he did not intend to hurt her. But, seeing her doze off, the last bit of sanity inside him snapped.

"You punk!"

Gallon charged at this opponent at full speed.

A single punch will be more than enough to teach her a lesson. He wanted to end the fight soon so that he could see her repent. But for that to happen,

'Where did she go...?'

Gallon looked around confused. He could have sworn that she was right there a second ago!

*Whistle*

"Up here Dum-Dum" The girl was sitting on top of a beam above and waved at him.

"Get down here!"

"Yeah yeah......" The girl shrugged and jumped down at the opposite side of the ring.

"Ta-da!"

Gallon didn't spare a minute and ran towards her.

*swing*

*dodge*

*swing*

*dodge*

If one were to blink their eyes, they would miss the moment.

Moving left and right within seconds, the girl dodged each of Gallon's punches.

"Gallon!" "Gallon!" "Gallon!"

As the crowd roared in excitement, another blue-haired individual with fox ears decided to capitalize on the event.

"Who will rise victorious? Place your bets here!"

"Ten gold coins on Gallon!"

"Fifteen on Gallon to win!"

The Golden Lion mercenaries unilaterally placed their bets on Gallon to win.

"Is that all you got? Tsk Tsk" The girl clicked her tongue.

"Grrr!"

*swing*

*dodge*

Each time the girl provoked her opponent, the number of bets against her increased.

"Five gold coins and three silver coins on Gallon to teach her a lesson"

"Wow! Beastmen have incredible reflexes" Will exclaimed in awe to his grandfather.

"Do youngsters not know how to use their eyes nowadays?" Gallahan whacked his Grandson's head.

"Huh?" Will held his head. The place where Gallahan had hit him, hurt.

Gallon swung his fists like a maniac. But like a slippery fish in water, the girl got away each and every time. When he swiped his legs across the floor to knock her off her feet, the girl used his shoulder as a boost, jumped over his head, and made a perfect superhero landing.

"You fight like a girl!" Gallon sneered at her. He was tired of the parlor tricks.

"Well, I was going easy on you but..."

*whistle* *whistle*

The girl turned to the sound of the familiar voice. A blue-haired fox beastman was visible among the heads.

'Enough stalling. It's done'

'Got it'

With a slight nod towards each other, the words that needed to be said were conveyed in an instant.

"But... since you're asking for it. I don't want to disappoint"

"Stop talking!" Gallon cursed and ran towards her with his fists.

Without a moment's notice, the girl jumped on him and landed a solid punch on his right chin.

Right. Left. Right. Left. Left. Right.

A hailstorm of punches rained down on Gallon without a second's gap.

When she finally stopped, Gallon took a few steps back in a hazy state. He shook his head repeatedly to clear his mind. He felt exasperated by the sudden onset of attacks.

"What? Does this girl's punch hurt a lot?" The girl taunted him.

To add fuel to the fire, she motioned him to come towards her with her hands.

"Come on"

"Hiyaah!" Gallon ran towards her like a mad bull. He was ready to send her flying with a single throw.

Not knowing it was the major mistake he had made despite being a veteran mercenary. He had completely underestimated his opponent and only regarded her at face value.

*swing*

Having closed the distance in microseconds, the girl dodged Gallon's fists and squared a punch on the solar plexus, cracking a perfect uppercut and sending him falling backwards.

To finish the fight, she jumped in the air, rotating her body in a clockwise direction, and kicked Gallon in the face.

*thud*

The crowd turned silent. Every one of the spectators gawked at the sight of the unconscious man on the floor.

"Not gonna count?" The girl asked a jaw-dropped Gallahan.

"Oh!" Gallalan came back to his senses and started counting.

"Ten... nine..."

The Golden Lion mercenaries were still quiet. They were staring at Gallon's mountain-like body with a sense of disbelief.

"Eight... Seven... six"

Only Gallahan's voice doing the countdown was heard throughout the tavern.

"Five... Four... Three..."

Even the other guests, who were seated away from the fight, listened while holding their breaths.

"Two..."

Gallahan walked up to the girl and raised her left hand in the air.

"One!" He announced in a voice audible to everyone present inside.

"The Nero mercenary wins!"

After a moment's confusion, the tavern erupted in cheers and applause.

"YEAH!"

"WOOOOAHHHH!"

Gallahan took the bag of gold coins from a spaced-out Golden Lion mercenary and passed it on the winners' hands.

A group of men including Mr.Wilbert, the tavern's owner, broke through the crowd's formation and lifted the girl on their shoulders.

"My girl won! She won!" Mr.Wilbert exclaimed.

The group carried the girl and placed her on top of the bar counter.

"Nobody's paying today! All drinks on me! Wooohoo" The girl declared, raising the bag of coins in the air, earning another wave of cheers.

"YEAAAH!" "Thank you, warrior goddess!"

At the same time, two robed men with hoods covering their heads observed the celebration from a safe distance. They watched as the crowd carried the winner and placed her on top of the counter.

"Is that her?" asked the man in the brown robe to his companion.

"Yes..."

The pair of blood-red pupils inside the dark hood creased into a sinister smile.

"That's her"