[b][color=#a4161a]"Food and cold drink, for starter. What you got?"[/color][/b]

The bartender eyed one of the thermoses on the counter and smiled with subtle pride. [color=#9FE2BF]"That will be our specialty, fresh iced lemon te--"[/color]

The noblewoman's nose wrinkled. [b][color=#a4161a]"Do I look like a waif to you? None of those pompous leaf juice! I'm talking alcohol, yeah? What's in those kegs, huh?"[/color] [/b]

The bartender sighed. Already two people rejected his carefully blended iced tea today, and one of the rejections came from a tea drinker herself. In resignation, he just shrugged. If this lady didn’t like tea, that wasn’t his’s lookout.

[color=#9FE2BF]"That would be corn whiskey—-fresh batch made last month. For the food, we have deep-fried chicken in batter."[/color]

[color=#a4161a][b]"Sold!"[/b][/color] The noblewoman smacked her hand on the wooden surface, disturbing Jazdia who sat on the other side of the table.

As the bartender skipped to fetch the order, Jazdia beckoned Kaito and Chounan to sit at the same table. She had finished one letter and had it compactly rolled into a small tube. Leaving them for a while, she saddled that tiny burden on a pigeon's back and walked toward the door. 

[color=ec008c][b][i]"Rata forod meglin pad óurqu, noro lim meldë!"[/i][/b] [/color]

Just to make sure, she had shown the bird the mug sketches of Cedar before letting the flying critter fly to the northern horizon.
Then she returned to the table. Might sound presumptuous, but the elf looked far more relaxed now. Maybe because of the tea. 

Without preamble, she began. [color=ec008c]"Before I... my company took over this establishment, we conducted some research regarding potential competitors and other disruptive entities. One of these entities is The Black Serpent Guild. But our intel on them was sufficient for business purposes only."[/color]

There was a long pause. 

[color=ec008c]"All we know about them is they are a prominent spices importer on the black market. Keito, Mr. Chounan, as someone who understands the street of Rascade, I would like to hear your input on this matter."[/color]