Welcome back, all. You may be able to guess what may happen from the name, our friend's poison/alcohol tolerance will be tested. Comment and review, and enjoy.

''First you take a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes you.''
-F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Valiant opened the door for the pair, the harsh wind instantly flowing into the room and assaulting the faces of the patrons. Hearing the protest of a few, Naofumi quickly shut the door behind him as the whipping wind outside was cut off. Facing the inside, this bar certainly looked to resemble a bit of the one that the otaku favored in Melromarc. Four torches spread out in the corners of the tavern provided just enough light. The smell of alcohol and smoke was present in the air.

''One of the nicer ones,'' Naofumi slowly walked down into the tavern's sunken floor, noting the Yaks that were spread out drinking their mead and engaging in shouting matches and slamming their grooves on the dark oak wood tables. He continued on forward, looking to the barkeep in the center square counter. A few of them cast sideways glances at him and Valiant as they continued ahead, the clicking and thumping of their boots and gear being the only sound that filled the air since they walked in. ''Are you Pagus?''

The Yak in question turned around, setting down the tool he was using to keep the kegs locked as he locked eyes with the pair. ''Depends, who, or more importantly; what. . .are you?'' Naofumi huffed once again as the auburn colored Yak narrowed his eyes and sized the pair up. Same with the other two, who were initially skeptical, but not enough for any hint of prejudice to be present. Their mission of going to find more information about the possible mole inside the kingdom did not yield much, and they did want to do too much to possibly reveal their intentions, so this one would make or break their investigation without any further consideration on what to do next.

''Just a pair of traveling adventurers, we heard there may be some trouble going on here,'' Naofumi said, Pagus scoffing and pointing at the pair. A few of the patrons got up and left, the scrapping of their chairs against that the aged wooden floor screeching and scrapping as more came and went.

''We have about as much as a problem as the two of you being here,'' Pagus inched closer.''We Yaks don't want problems; at least not ones we know we can't handle. And I shouldn't even be caught talking to either of you.''

Valiant quirked a brow, hoping what the Yak was not saying what he thought he was. He had enough of hearing that kind of stuff from his days in boot camp; ponies not being as appreciative of diversity or just plain being hateful towards other species or those not quick on the uptake as the rest. It sickened him that any species could racist and feel little to no remorse. ''You're saying you only speak to Yaks then. That right?''

Pagus handed the pair a mug of some pale yellow liquid. The smell was strong, and the vapors made Valiant's eyes tear up. It smelled like. . . some kind of fruit bomb. When he reared back and looked to Naofumi, he looked to be unaffected, as if nothing was placed in front of him.

''What I said, ponyboy-'' Pagus poured himself a bit of the liquid in a shot glass and drunk some, harshly hissing at the burn that rushed down his throat and the wave of heat that settled in his stomach. ''AAAAHH! That's the stuff! What I mean is that we typically only trust Yaks or those we choose to trust. And as of this point, you are neither. The race of either of you are is irrelevant, at least to me.''

''So, how can we get you to trust us?'' Naofumi asked, looking to see Pagus roll his eyes and chuckle. ''And what's this?''

''Lychee and peach mead, it's a stable of the town. It's one of the stronger drinks we have, and mostly only Yaks can handle it. If you can stomach a mug of the stuff, I'd be more willing to talk to you,'' Pagus gestured to the mugs with a bland expression. Nothing else looked to sway him until the pair took his offer.

''A drink? That's how we can prove ourselves? A drinking contest?'' Valiant looked at the cup, not believing the proposition that the Yak put in front of them. A simple drink enough should be nothing much to do in order for Pagus to trust them.

Pagus laughed a bit, catching the eyes of a few patrons that soon settled down once he did. Something told Naofumi that this would be more than what he aimed to make it out to be. ''You say that now, but I have heard stories of the few ponies that almost ended up passing out or getting severe poisoning from a few sips,'' Pagus said, tapping a hoof to the barrel behind them. ''This stuff could possibly kill you if you don't have a good tolerance; we Yaks do, however.''

Valiant and Pagus continued to bicker back and forth about the drink as Naofumi took a sniff and swirled the drink around, there being a slightly syrupy consistency. Opening his mouth and taking a drink, it flowed down his throat and some of the drink coated his tongue for a moment before following with the rest. Mmmm.

''This actually ain't bad,''Naofumi thought, smacking his lips and frowning a bit when his cup ran dry. He noticed the conversation between the pair pick up a tad, with Valiant attempting to sway the argument in his favor when Pagus began to point out the flaws of him objecting to him wanting the pair to drink with the possible risk of them being poisoned or worse.

''-And another thing-'' Pagus pointed to Naofumi. ''-your friend here-wait. You drank the whole cup?'' Valiant stopped his mouth from making the next thought that was about to come out before looking at the otaku who presented the mug to Pagus completely empty. ''How are you not on the floor right now?''

Naofumi shrugged and took Valiant's mug when it looked like he wasn't going to drink any of it. ''It's not as bad as you make it out to be; it's more like really sweet peach juice.'' Pagus looked dumbfounded as he began to down that mug as well.

''Well, turns out you can trust him,'' Valiant snickered as Naofumi finished that mug as well, being completely unfazed. ''That good enough for you?''

Pagus was not convinced so easily. He figured maybe that he was using some kind of magic to dull the effects or something. Even some of the less experienced Yaks ended up getting hammered just after half a mug, and here he was just downing the stuff like no tomorrow. Trickery, he thought. And for him to have some. . .travelling hero or whatever he claimed to be to just strut in and act as if his drinks were nothing was the equivalent of him being disgraced, and that was one thing he not known for.

Luckily, the main drink that would put him on his butt would have yet to arrive.

If he could handle it.

''Well, it looks like you can manage that, but I'm still not convinced.'' Pagus smugly said, casting a sideways glance at Valiant. ''And I mean, most of us Yaks aren't lightweights, so it shouldn't be toosurprising. If you can take what I got next for you, I may be a bit more willing to hear you out.''

''You said this one though,'' Valiant replied in a lowly tone, tapping his hoof on the counter.

''Do you want the info or not?'' Pagus asked simply.

''Fine,'' Naofumi waved a lazy hand back and forth as he took off his hood and got comfortable. How bad could another drink be? ''What else you got?'' Pagus went over to another barrel used a key to unlock the tap and pour out a mixture that was a deep red and even smelled stronger than the previous drink, the scent almost hitting Valiant in the nose and causing him to shake and cough violently as Naofumi only quirked a brow and munched on some of the peanuts that were set out in a nearby bowl. ''And what's that?''

''Idrium Rum. This is way stronger. The alcohol content is pretty high.'' Pagus noted the looks of some of the Yaks looking over after smelling the drink being dispersed and the smell emanating in the air. Great. He would have to keep more of an eye out for any unruly Yaks looking to snag a drink if the opportunity presented itself.

''H-How bad?'' Valiant held his nose in his hooves, shying away from the counter.

''About 78%. And that's exceeding what's normally allowed by Prince Rutherford for the masses every so often, so I often refrain from doing this without giving a nod to the advisors to let them know, but I think I can take a chance here. Just don't come crying to me if you have issues after.''

''Aren't you supposed to care about your customers when selling them drinks like this?'' Naofumi titled his head a bit and wondered. Pagus's response struck a chord within Naofumi that actually made a lick of sense.

''If you're choosing to make a choice like this when it involves your life, it's up to you to be careful. I only intervene when needed.''

Huh. . .that was. . .a bit of a skewed way to think.

Pagus poured the drink in a shot glass, filling it to about almost half before setting it down in front of Naofumi and looking at the otaku, challenging him silently to take the drink. At this point, he could care less about the money; he wanted to prove this smartass wrong.

Valiant dry heaved but managed to wipe some of the drool that began to run down his mouth as he looked to Naofumi and touched a hoof on his thigh. "Y-You don't have to-COUGH!-do this."

Taking the drink in one hand and casting a look just as equally challenging to Pagus, Naofumi smirked and downed the whole glass, completely uncaring of what would happen. Mmm, this drink was more of a fruit punch flavor, with a bit of fizz to it as he smacked his lips and saw his reflection in the liquid once he paused halfway to stop and close and eyes and down the rest. "Ahhhhhh. . ."

Pagus slammed a hoof on the table in retaliation, still unbelievably miffed at what Naofumi did. Was this kid some kind of natural alcohol distillery or something? That was his strongest drink he had on call, and he. . .just chugged it like water.

Again.

The mirth in Naofumi's eyes seemed to shine brighter than even the purest of lights; he knew he was second to none when it came alcohol drinking; his immunity did at times make it suck a bit that he couldn't get drunk even if he wanted to, but the more he thought about it, the less he would actually want that or Raphtalia tearing into him.

A few of the patrons began to look on with mild interest, noting what had transpired; Pagus was getting his just deserts and he looked to be absolutely suffering every second of it as he grit his teeth so rough, nearly all of them were sure that it would only take the slightest mistake for him to crack his teeth.

And Valiant soon found himself on the ground from the fumes, drifting in and out of consciousness, babbling to himself.

"You think you're hot stuff, huh?" Pagus asked, nearly turning red with anger.

Naofumi didn't want to embarrass the Yak, at least not any more than he already did, but he did need what he came here for, and the quicker with the fewer eyes, the better. "I drunk both of what you wanted, and I think I proved myself, haven't I? We just want to know if anything's been going on here, is all." Naofumi held his head in his open palm, slowly using his peripheral vision to check his surroundings the best he could.

Pagus wanted to see just how far this kid would go, he wanted to salvage his pride; no Yak, Pony, or whatever came through here and treated his drinks like bottom shelf. He worked hard to establish himself, and while none of them spoke now, he was sure the others would begin to talk and claim lies about his business, his livelihood, his everything. But it was something. . .in the kid's eyes.

That told him otherwise. He dared to question it, but a nagging feeling in his head told him not to. At least not now.

"Ok, look," Pagus whispered, writing something down on a piece of paper, playing the action off as if he was reaching for something underneath the counter. Ugh, he knew he would probably regret this. ''You didn't hear this from me, but I have heard some commotion going on down by the port, and I do mean commotion.''

''Like?'' Naofumi asked.

''Not sure, but the only thing I know is that a few of my boys end up reporting about a few hooded figures during the night. According to them, it would be quick; shakedowns for anything they could get their hooves on and leaving as quickly as they came,'' Pagus moved forward to collect the empty mug, leaving the piece of paper right by Naofumi's hand in the process. ''Be as good as a place as any to start.''

Naofumi stood up and began to gather Valiant after setting some bits on the counter. He had to ask this. ''Why trust us so easily? We could be with those hooded figures. You never know.''

Pagus rubbed his chin and nodded. He did have a point, but so did he. And he wouldn't just do this for any Yak or whatever came through his tavern doors. If he could take his strongest stuff to the head like it was nothing, it would definitely be something that earned his respect and ire to a degree. Why was he doing this, really? He owed them nothing, but there still sat something that gently nudged him in the otaku's direction. He. . .couldn't quite place it.

''Why do any of us do the things that we do? It's a mystery.'' Pagus said, merely shrugging and cleaning up the area the pair sat at. ''Plus, if you are those figures in question, then it only helps me to protect my business more by having the two of you taken care of if you end up slipping up. Plus, I've taken a bit of liking to you, kid.'' Pagus chuckled, still trying to wrap his head around what he had done. ''What's your name, by the way?''

Taking his time to help Valiant stand up, Naofumi stared up at the Yak and simply responded. ''Call me The Shield Hero.''