The bard fantasized again.

Chapter 123 Establishing Prestige
【Tang Qi's Guide to Longjin City】

As a peripheral area of ​​'Dragon Gold City', 'Dragon Tail Pass' has always been a rather ambiguous region.

You could say it's part of Dragon City, since its residents, like the citizens, pay a monthly 'residence tax'—one silver coin or one gold coin for a 12-month residency right.

However, the city's various public services, such as the 'sanitation workers' union, do not take care of this area, making the environment of the whole area sometimes worse than the slums of Longjin City.

At least the streets there are clean, and you don't smell the stench of horse manure.

In fact, there are city guards patrolling there 24 hours a day.

This is important, as it means the area is safe.

This also means that the 'Red Turban Gang' will not do anything too outrageous there.

If you want to seek justice from the guards at Longwei Pass, you'd better pray they're in a good mood today.

Otherwise, you'll probably only get a "I'll come over after I've finished dealing with things" response, which usually means they won't show up.

So you'd better not compare Longwei Pass to Shenjing District, because the people in those slums will only raise their voices in a sarcastic tone and mock you as "stinking outsiders"...

Clearly, more noteworthy than why Tang Qi summoned the guards is what he did to do to get them to come.

But regardless, the adventurers' mood was always low:
"Call the city guards? What's the point of calling these freeloaders? They won't uphold justice at Dragon Tail Pass."

"I heard that last time a drunkard caused trouble at the Wine Estate tavern in the center and beat up the bartender there."

Finally, too lazy to distinguish who was right and who was wrong, the guards simply fined each of them 5 gold coins under the pretext of 'mutual fighting'.

The bartender, dissatisfied with the judgment, was taken directly to jail and detained for three days.

"Haha, of course they'll do that, since it means they'll lose five gold coins!"

"Shh, keep your voice down, they're coming in..."

To the drunkards, the clatter of the city guards' iron boots was crisp yet grating.

The cheerful tunes that inexplicably lingered in my ears no longer seemed pleasant to listen to.

The white-robed figure, surrounded by three black-robed figures, suddenly shouted:
"What happened to you!?"

This is a short slang term commonly used by guards; in other words, it means "Someone come and tell me what happened."

Tang Qi stepped forward:

“These Red Turban Gang thugs were causing trouble, so I killed them.”

"Huh? He actually admitted it so readily?"

The drunkards couldn't help but start whispering among themselves.
"If these thugs are intent on extorting money from him, they might even punish him for 'endangering citizens'—even if there's a reason for it, he might still be fined a large sum of money!"

"Is it about buying peace with money? Then why summon the robe-wearers in the first place?"

It's not just because of the stereotype that guards would act this way.

Furthermore, if an adventurer were to handle this matter, they would make the same decision—

What's the difference between not taking money that's offered to you and going to a brothel for free and then pulling up your pants?
But things didn't go as they had planned.

Almost the instant he saw Tang Qi's face clearly, the 'white-robed' man suddenly burst into laughter:
"So it was you? Didn't we agree to go for drinks at [Mermaid's Song] together? I haven't seen you for a whole month!"

Since it's the city guard, the only one who can wear a 'white robe' is this thirty-three-year-old who has already taken up the position of captain of the guard.

Tang Qi suddenly realized that he still couldn't remember the other person's name, but that didn't matter:
"It's just because work this month has been so busy, my friend."

But I have some free time right now. If you don't mind, why don't you wait until you've finished your business and then have a good drink all night at our tavern?

The pork chop with star plum here is absolutely amazing. Of course, if you'd prefer the fish skin from the "Mermaid's Song" dish, I can find someone to buy it for you—it's on me.

"Fish skin? Ha, you actually remember what I like—"

But there's no need for all that today. They've already called me a friend, so what's there to say?

The captain of the guard patted his chest, acknowledging his agreement.

"Lately, I keep hearing those newspaper vendors singing 'The Golden Oak,' and the song just won't go away; my ears are practically calloused. So, is this one of your taverns?"

"I suppose so. It's only the first day of business, and we've already run into some Red Turban Gang thugs causing trouble."

Tang Qi pointed to Catherine behind him.
"You know, alcohol numbs the big head, so you start thinking with the small head."

"So you killed them?"

As friendly as he was, he wouldn't be so formal with the chief of staff, and gradually straightened his expression.
"What evidence can prove your statement?"

Tang Qi glanced around at the adventurers sitting in the lobby, ignoring their wide, staring eyes, and said:
"In order to threaten them, these thugs admitted that they were the 'Red Scarf Gang' themselves."

And you can ask the guests about everything that happens in the tavern.

I can assure you that after insulting the girl behind me, they even threatened her personal safety.

Considering the Red Turban Gang's behavior, I cannot let them leave.

"Alright, let me ask you about the facts first."

Thanks to the blessing of the "Commoner Hero" title and the harmonious atmosphere of their last chat, the guard captain maintained a friendly attitude throughout.

They are also happy to spend more time understanding the truth.

Normally, he wouldn't have the time or inclination to think about so many things.

After all, as the head of the guards, he inevitably had dealings with the higher-ups of the Red Turban Gang.

As long as it's not too outrageous, he can turn a blind eye, especially in the Dragon Tail Pass area.

A guard who hates evil and upholds justice cannot possibly don the 'white robe' of power at the age of thirty-three. After carefully inquiring about the cause of the incident, and looking at the corpses lying on the ground, he couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement:
"As expected of the formidable character who protected that white boar all the way through the Dawn and Dusk Forest. Friend, you are more dangerous than I imagined."

The moment the word 'friend' is uttered, the nature of the whole matter is already defined.
"Even the Red Turban Gang are at least law-abiding citizens who pay taxes."

According to Long Jincheng's "Crimes of Endangering Citizens"—"murder of citizens with just cause"—the penalty should be damages of less than 1000 gold coins.

Failure to pay on time will result in a sentence of up to five years of deportation or up to three years of hard labor...

But clearly, they 'died in the dungeon,' right?"

"Of course, my friend."

Tang Qi never expected that he wouldn't even have to pay a fine.

He had actually made his judgment long ago—

Stopping the villains who were about to leave the tavern to discuss their next move was not just to prevent them from retaliating later.

More than anything, after confirming Catherine's unyielding stance, they realized this was a good opportunity to solidify the tavern's position.

Tang Qi had considered singing some little songs of friendship to jokingly send the Red Scarf Gang away.

Paying some money to establish a good relationship with a local bigwig can certainly help maintain the tavern's stability.

But there is clearly a more fearsome, more authoritative, and more worthy local leader to curry favor with, so there is no reason to settle for second best.

So he immediately ordered Ambition to leave through the back gate and rush to the city gate—

I heard from Chuck a while ago that the captain of the guard had offended the cavalry commander, Orion Silver Shield, because he refused to let the young lady of the Silver Shield family into the city.

To avoid trouble, the lord decided to let him stay at the city gate a little longer, so every night he would set up a fire at the city gate, grill some meat skewers and drink some ale with a few of his men, treating it as a vacation.

The purpose of luring them to Golden Oak to clean up the whole conflict was not to get them to pay a fine.

Rather, it was to 'establish authority'.

The city guards represent half of Longjincheng's law enforcement force.

In front of these drunkards, Tang Qi's true purpose was to make everyone realize through a friendly exchange with the captain of the guard that the Golden Oak was not without a background.

Any tavern that wants to ensure long-term, stable operation inevitably needs to prove itself to people.

The owner of the [Sewer Pipes], the dwarf [Bronzebeard], was a high-level adventurer who chose to retire seventy years ago.

This would help him resolve many problems with his own force when conflicts occur.

The owner of 【Mermaid Song】married into a wealthy family and has connections with rich businessmen. She befriends nobles who need to make money, so no one would be foolish enough to cause trouble on the nobles' turf.

Even the two taverns in Longwei Pass rely on the 'protection' of the Red Turban Gang, paying large sums of money every month and occasionally having to treat these thugs to drinks in exchange for stable business operations...

Therefore, Tang Qi must first kill the villains to demonstrate his 'skill' and make adventurers think twice before causing trouble.

Summoning guards to display his 'background' would allow him to maintain a certain level of intimidation over the drunkards and even the Red Scarf Gang thugs when he left the tavern.

After all, the Red Turban Gang didn't want to provoke the Robemen.

The captain of the guard wasn't oblivious to Tang Qi's intentions, but he was happy to help his tavern build its prestige.

It wasn't just because of the growing sense of closeness that made them seem more and more pleasing to the eye, although that was the main reason.

More importantly, because it meant he suffered no loss.

It's not even troublesome.

He only killed a few Red Turban Gang thugs, why would he need to seek justice for these gang members?
Besides, it's just a matter of having his guards patrol the Golden Oak a couple of times; it's not like he's personally patrolling it.

The 'white robe' of power often meant that he only needed a casual remark to make his subordinates follow his lead wholeheartedly.

Doing this will also allow him to enjoy free Star Plum Wine.

And the price he paid was simply to say one sentence—

“Since they died in the underground city, I have no reason to collect your fine. But you actually called me here for such a trivial matter…”

Tang Qi understood what the guard captain meant:
"I'll deal with the body later. Shall I invite the brothers into the private room for a drink first?"

"Then I must try the plum wine here and see how it differs from the one in Longjin City."

"What I can guarantee is that it's a secret recipe, and it's definitely sweeter."

"If it's not as good as 'The Mermaid's Song,' I won't come here every day."

Tang Qi greeted the head guard and invited several drunkards from a private room on one side out.

The appearance of the 'white-robed man' sobered them up most of the time, and they weren't angry at Tang Qi's actions at all.

If you want to survive in Longjin City, you'd better not mess with the Robemen.

They can really take you to prison to calm you down.

Gradually, the whispers in the tavern began to change—

"No wonder he dared to kill so openly, it turns out he had a brotherhood of sworn brothers behind him?"

"That's good. At least it shows that this tavern can survive for a long time."

"The Red Turban Gang might have to suffer in silence, since they dare not provoke the Robe Clan."

"Haha, a toast to Star Plum Wine, a toast to Golden Oak!"

(End of this chapter)