"Why are you here drinking and crying?"
"I had to take up a blade and kill."
"Why did you have to kill?"
My entire family was in danger."
"So why are you crying?"
"Because killing hurts." -- Anon Guest
"I looked into their eyes," said the killer. "I had tried every other method to stop them, but they refused to be swayed. So I had to stop them with a blade."
"You got to know them," said the barmaid. "Many who come here say that's a rookie mistake."
"Proud to be a rookie, then," said the killer. "They were people too. Assholes, I admit. Dedicated to causing trouble for defenceless folks, but..." they took another swig. Wiped their face. "Still people. Ma always told me that violence is the first resort of fools, and the only thing that works when everything else has failed."
"That's wisdom I don't get to hear here," said the barmaid. "Though those viewed as weak tend to expect violence against us a lot sooner than those who are seen as strong. I wish more were told things like that by their Ma's."
"Same," said the killer. "If more were told... I wouldn't have had to take up the sword."
The regular roughs crowing about their kills cheered someone's bloody victory. Including how cruel they were with their victims. The barmaid had to serve drinks to them, and suffer their groping hands reaching for her body.
"None o' yer Mams raised ye right," she snapped, pointing to the weeping killer in the corner. "Him over there is twenty times the man any of you are."
[Photo by Tengyart on Unsplash]
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