I became the slime toy of the evil dragon girl?

Chapter 116 The Tavern Was Quiet Again

Honeydew Town, early morning.

Sunlight pierced through the thin mist, illuminating the damp marks left on the stone path from the previous night.

This time it wasn't wine stains; this town hadn't had a night of revelry long enough to require cleaning the streets the next day.

The streets were deserted, with only a few vendors pushing carts loaded with wilted vegetables and a few bunches of berries that didn't look very fresh.

The expressions on their faces had lost their anticipation for getting up early to do business; instead, they showed numbness and a habitual waiting.

Waiting for customers who may never come again.

The owner of Bingo Tavern pushed open the wooden door and hung up a "Open for Business" sign, his voice sounding particularly clear on the quiet street.

He stood at the doorway, looking at the street that used to be bustling with people but was now as deserted as a ghost town, and sighed deeply.

"Sigh~"

That sigh encapsulated all the regret and helplessness of the past two years.

He recalled two years ago, when Sweet Forest still existed.

How prosperous Honeydew Town was back then!

Adventurers come and go, merchants throng the streets, and businessmen from all over the country, even alchemists, flock to buy the specialties of Sweet Forest.

His Bingo Tavern was packed from morning till night, the aroma of ale mixed with the boasts of adventurers wafting for blocks.

The tavern expanded from one floor to three, and he once thought he was about to become the most successful tavern owner in the eastern part of the Ash Kingdom.

It's all that damned black dragon's fault!

Two years ago, Vivian, supposedly the name of that terrifying black dragon.

Who knows why the Black Dragon would choose this girl's ethnicity? Could the Black Dragon possibly transform into a great beauty?

Upon hearing of the fame of the Sweet Forest, the Black Dragon directly dispatched monsters to seize most of its resources and even established teleportation arrays and monster camps.

High-level adventurers disdain coming for such "scraps," and low-level adventurers are no match for monsters. As a result, Honeydew Town quickly declined, falling from a bustling area that surpassed most cities to a deserted state.

The tavern's business plummeted.

From being packed every day, to barely making ends meet, and then not selling a single drop of alcohol for three days. The owner's heart sank little by little.

Until last month!

Hope seems to have been rekindled! The kingdom dispatched eighth-tier heroes, destroyed the monsters' teleportation array, reclaimed that month's produce, and slaughtered the monster camp!

Upon hearing the news, the well-informed tavern owner was so excited he couldn't sleep for days. He seemed to see the past glory beckoning him, and the tavern was once again packed with adventurers, gold coins clinking and jingling.

And that is indeed the case!

The sweet forest, lost and then regained, has attracted more than just adventurers.

Even the most famous theater troupe, "The Curtain of Dreams," came to the border town of Honeydew.

This has attracted many tourists, and Bingo Bar boasts a superb location.

This wave of people is eating their fill.

He even started to plan—

Should we hire two more staff members? But we already have ten, and we even spent a lot of money to hire a few beautiful female adventurers as shills.

Should we take out all the good wine that's been piling up in the warehouse? — The water they sell in the store has clearly been mixed with a little wine!

If we take out more good wine from the warehouse, won't this business be a huge loss?

then----

The monsters have returned! And they've brought even more monsters and magical materials, looking like they're seeking revenge.

At this point, the tavern owner still thought this was a huge boon!

Ideally, these monsters in the Sweet Forest would attract high-level adventurers as well.

It would be best to simply open up the forest into a new battlefront!

Then I'll directly set my sights on the number one liquor tycoon in the eastern part of the kingdom!

However----

The speed at which hope was shattered was so fast that it caught everyone off guard!

Something outrageous happened.

The entire Sweet Forest vanished into thin air.

It was completely carried away by the monsters! Leaving behind only a huge crater!

What does this feel like? It's like you're competing with someone for a house, you've already moved in, you have the advantage, and you're sure to win! But then one day you push open the door and find that the entire house, including the foundation, has been moved to someone else's living room.

The sky is falling!

The very foundation upon which Honeydew Town depended for its survival, the specialty of Sweet Forest, is gone.

What are adventurers even doing here? Just looking at that huge pit? What are merchants even buying? Just air?

The tavern's business plummeted to rock bottom.

Forget about regaining our former glory; we'd be lucky to sell even a few cups of fruit juice a day.

I've already started to miss those female adventurers who could occupy a table and drink a glass of juice all afternoon.

"I should have sold the tavern sooner—" the owner muttered to himself, a phrase he had said to himself countless times.

When the hero "liberated" the forest and business briefly rebounded, many people advised him to sell at high prices and expand to other towns. But he was greedy; he felt that good times had finally returned and couldn't bear to part with the business he had built up with his own hands.

The results of it?

Now this tavern has become a hot potato that I can't shake off, even if I want to.

Give him another chance, he'll definitely sell! Immediately! Right now!

He walked back to the tavern with a gloomy face and began to routinely wipe the tables and chairs.

Although hardly any customers would sit down. Just then, the tavern door was pushed open.

He was neither a carefree adventurer nor a shrewd businessman.

They were several people dressed in dark gray, hooded robes.

They moved very quietly, their footsteps almost silent. After entering, they quickly glanced around the empty tavern and then went straight to the darkest, most secluded table in the corner to sit down.

The shop owner's heart skipped a beat. This wasn't the type of customer he was used to.

There was a chilling feeling about these people. It wasn't a murderous aura, but a more restrained, and more unsettling quality.

They spoke in hushed tones, almost inaudible, with only a few indistinct syllables occasionally catching the ear, like—

"ceremony?"

"Residue?"

"observe?".

Damn it, could they be some kind of cult members?

They were quite generous. They ordered the most expensive drinks and gave me gold coins worth far more than the drinks themselves, and even specifically told me not to disturb them.

The shop owner was both frightened and helpless. He certainly didn't want to serve such a suspicious guest, but he was even less willing to offend someone who might bring gold coins.

Even though these people have a slightly eerie air about them.

It's not entirely unacceptable to tolerate gold coins.

Moreover, this eerie town of Honeydew, with its deserted taverns, seems to suit the tastes of those who like to keep things secret, making it a good place for them to discuss matters.

He just hoped that this group of plague-like people would finish their conversation soon and leave.

He wiped the cup, his gaze unconsciously drifting out the window to the west of the town.

That's the direction of the original site of Sweet Forest; now only a giant pit remains.

Then I remembered the abandoned cellar on the west side of town. The last time I passed by there in the middle of the night, I was so scared by a few ghostly figures that I wet my pants.

I wonder if the young widow next door saw that my pants were all wet — never mind, I don't want to think about it anymore, the more I think about it, the more annoyed I get.

"Give me another chance—" he muttered to himself, staring at the empty glass, "I'll definitely sell this damn tavern!"