A Heart-Pounding Back-Alley Date with Erina
Well... things inside the 'Big Button' clothing shop didn't go as badly as I'd feared.
The tailor was still falling over himself apologizing for his son's misconduct, insisting he would give us anything in the store we wanted. In the end, it was settled by simply telling him we'd take the dress Erina had tried on—the one stained with my semen. As it happened, the color was a light shade of white, so from any distance the stain was barely noticeable.
"Please, pick out one more each, the both of you! Will that really be enough?!"
"This is plenty. Thank you so much for your kindness."
"Kindness, nonsense! Come browse at our shop anytime from now on, the two of you! For you alone, I'll make everything half price!"
Terrified that the tailor might catch on, and too embarrassed to browse anything else, we offered our thanks in a hurry and slipped out like we were fleeing the scene of a crime.
The problem was this: I hadn't realized it inside the shop, but once we stepped out into the bright open air, the fabric of Erina's dress turned out to be thinner than I'd thought, letting a hint of what lay beneath show through. Her chest was at least covered by the bra she wore, so it passed for see-through fashion—likely to turn a few heads among otherworlders still unfamiliar with the garment, but while the bra itself was visible, her nipples stayed hidden.
The real problem was that my semen had soaked a round patch over her most private area, and through it, the parted crease of her pussy was faintly visible. We couldn't swap it out, either—she'd already soiled the brand-new merchandise.
"I'm sorry. I went and picked this kind of dress again... I should have tried on something modest. It was just so pretty, I couldn't help myself..."
"Here, put this on. No—wait, it might be too heavy on you."
After a moment of indecision, I took off the shirt I'd been wearing and had Erina put it on, then pulled my gambeson back on over my undershirt. My shirt was large enough that, layered over her dress, it seemed to roughly cover the problem areas.
If it was going to come to this, I should have just dressed her in a man's shirt from the start.
"I... I feel like I'm nothing but a burden to you, Master..."
"You're not. When you think about it, that semen is mine. As the irresponsible producer of it, I bear my share of the blame too. I should have washed you more thoroughly."
"Next time I'll be sure to wear panties wherever we go. I promise!"
Yes, let's make sure you wear panties from now on!—it felt too ridiculous to actually say, so I simply took Erina's hand in one of mine and the horses' reins in the other, and headed for Greenhill's residential quarter.
...
"We need to be careful from here on."
"Yes. I heard it from Manager Greengote. He told me there's a back alley near here where bad people gather."
Coming here once a week, I was confident nothing much would happen in broad daylight. The vermin who lived here were gloomy, insect-like creatures that hated the light. Unlike at the market, they hid away somewhere through the daytime, then came crawling out one by one from who knew where the moment the sun went down.
Even so, just in case, I checked one more time that the luggage lashed to my horses, Gale and Thunder, was tied down tight. The money pouch holding the weekly wages I owed Master Humson in particular had been sealed inside a locked box as a second layer of protection, and I had already drawn the three-section staff from my belt and unfolded it, ready in hand.
I had also worked out a plan: if trouble did break out, I would put Erina on Thunder's back and send her home while I stalled for time. These days, preparing that much in advance was the only thing that kept my mind at ease.
"So this is the place... The sunlight never really reaches in here. It's gloomy. And dirty, too..."
We had only gone a little deeper past the ordinary residential streets, yet Erina felt the atmosphere change at once. It was the kind of eerie, desolate air that would make you believe a murder had taken place here mere moments ago. Moss furred the stone paving, and bloodstains of unknown ownership spread across the walls.
And in the alley proper, in every narrower side passage, the same unidentifiable lumps of shit and phlegm lay flung about carelessly, mingled with the dried traces of semen and love juices left behind by people who had coupled there—a combination that turned the stomach. Even though I was forced to visit this place regularly, coming here with Erina at my side doubled the disgust.
I can't put this off any longer. I have to come up with something, one way or another. If no vacancy opened up in the market, I would simply have to buy a permit for land near the general store and build a new extension, expensive as it would be. Humson was bound to object.
"But there's not a soul in sight. It's enough to give you chills... There are just more rats than anywhere else. Maybe that's a blessing..."
Even after we had made our way some distance into the back alley, no figures appeared beyond the scurrying rats, and Erina grew puzzled. Still, for a woman not to flinch at creepy rats crossing her path, I thought she deserved credit.
"No. Listen closely."
Besides the rats, this place was crawling with living things. They were all simply hiding somewhere.
"Oh—over there."
Erina had finally spotted a leper crouched behind an oak barrel, watching us with nothing but his eyes showing. I warned her to keep her voice as low as possible and not to point at anyone, in case it invited trouble.
"There are two more here right now, besides that man."
"Where? Can you see them, Master? Ahh?!"
Skitter-skitter.
Just then, a bundle of rags—indistinguishable from the garbage dumped against the wall—stirred to life, and on four withered, grotesque limbs it scuttled like a cockroach from our end of the alley into a side passage and vanished. With no face to be seen, it looked less like a person than some enormous insect.
"I'm scared...."
Squeeze.
Somewhere along the way, Erina had buried herself in my arms. The soft press of her breasts and the warmth of her skin traveled up through one of my arms.
"I tried my best to pretend I wasn't, but I can't help it. I'm scared, Master. I thought the scariest place in this country was the Stonefield auction house."
"Next time, you won't have to come here at all."
It felt exactly like walking into a haunted house at an amusement park with my girlfriend. Come to think of it, the back alley wasn't entirely a bad place.
"Hmmmm, Luciel."
"Eek!"
Just then, someone flung open the rotten wooden door right beside us and appeared.
It was Mary, the back-alley prostitute. Whether she had meant to startle us or had simply been waiting for us to reach this exact spot, the door flew open so suddenly that Erina nearly toppled over in fright.
"...Where are you off to today? Going to see that dwarf who makes your weapons again?"
"Long time no see, Mary."
I acknowledged her, cold as ice. Sure enough. This is where we run into her.
I'd been tangled up with Mary plenty of times before, and every single time it had cost me dearly, so these days the mere sight of her face had me scrambling to run the other way. There had even been a time I gave her a little money to quit prostituting and start a new life. It was a waste. For a few days after that, she did vanish from the back alley, but once the money ran out she had apparently had no choice but to come back here and sell her body again. Just as she'd said with her own mouth—milking cocks was easier than milking cows.
Still, what she was wearing today looked better than last time. Her old clothes, truth be told, hadn't covered her top or her bottom properly—she had looked like a raving madwoman. Her hair seemed less wildly tangled than before, too. Compared to back then, perhaps she was at least being somewhat selective about the customers she sold herself to now?
Either way, if she was planning to pester me again—snack seller, snack seller—trying to pry treats out of me or shake me down for settlement money, she had best give up early. A prostitute gets one chance at a new life. That is plenty. Handing money to a whore to spend freely was a mistake from the very start.
"Hmmmm..... pretty....."
But Mary didn't wear the look of someone angling for material things from me. Her eyes were fixed on exactly one thing: Erina, hiding behind my back.
"Hey there, pretty lady with the pale skin and the big tits—have you slept with Luciel?"
What did she just say... big tits...?! This bitch really was raised in a gutter!
"Mary! You—seriously!"
"One look and I can tell you're his new girlfriend. You don't live around here, do you? Where are you from? No, wait—before that, are you dating Luciel? Or are you married?"
"I, I'm...."
While Erina fumbled, flustered by Mary's blunt questions, I crossed my arms and planted myself in front of Mary with an angry expression. I hadn't wanted to pull aggro, but it looked as though I would have to give her a piece of my mind. Mary seemed determined to put me in an awkward spot.
"Mary. Watch your mouth."
"This town is so shabby that even if you searched it top to bottom, you'd never find a woman that pretty with tits that big. Not bad at all. Nothing's sagged, and with an ass that big she'll bear children well. Funny—she oddly suits you, clever Luciel. So, is she good at sex?"
Slap.
"Yes! Very well! My breasts are big and it feels amazing! Plus, I was a virgin! So don't you worry about it!"
"Hmm...."
The word virgin sealed Mary's lips for a moment. She had probably assumed she could compete on the physical side—breast size, figure—with nothing but her own technique, but it seemed that Erina having been a virgin made her concede she ranked a step below as a sexual partner.
"So there won't be any more need for my pussy, then? You had sex with me around this area before, and just last time you had me suck your cock. Back then you came so much I could barely swallow it all."
Smack!
"Ahh!"
Erina gasped and covered her mouth with her hands—because I had brought my palm across Mary's cheek with all the strength and feeling I had.
"Sure, I made a mistake and slept with someone like you back then, but it wasn't good, and I didn't want it. So from now on, don't act like you know me when you see me! I won't acknowledge you either."
I took Erina's hand and pulled her along at once. Insulted by Mary in the crudest sexual terms, Erina nonetheless seemed more shaken by the sight of me striking a woman—even as I led her away, she kept twisting around to look back at Mary.
"Don't look back!"
"Ah—y-yes!"
Erina ducked her head at once like a child being scolded. I felt bad for having snapped at her too, but I resolved to get out of this place first and explain myself later.
We had left Mary well behind us, and we were just turning the corner of the long, long back alley when I stole a glance backward. Mary was still standing in that same spot—the exact place where my palm had met her cheek—staring blankly after me.
"I'm sorry."
It was only when we arrived in front of Humson's workshop that I met Erina's eyes again and attempted a serious conversation. I wanted to settle my feelings before meeting Humson, and I wanted to apologize to Erina, too. My anger at Mary hadn't fully subsided, but that didn't make shouting at Erina any less wrong.
"It's all right. I... I understand how you felt perfectly well, Master. That woman from earlier... Mary, was it? I could feel it—she was deliberately trying to insult the two of us out of jealousy."
"Jealousy?"
"Yes. I think that woman is in love with you, Master Luciel."
"In love with me? No. That woman loves the snacks I carry, the goods I own, and my money. She's a prostitute who'll sell her body to any man for a single copper."
"I may have elf blood in me, but I'm still a woman. A woman's heart is something only a woman can know. She's jealous because I stay by your side like a lover. I can't say whether she covets your wealth, but the way I see it, she was in love with you."
"Doesn't matter. Whether a whore like that loves me or not."
"...And, Master? Whatever women you met in the past, whoever you may have slept with—I don't care in the slightest. I've heard all about how hard life was for you after you came here."
...
An angel. If angels exist in this other world, this is exactly what they would look like. And I had haggled this angel down to a mere three gold coins. Was I truly allowed to have her all to myself?
"Still, I'll admit it startled me a little. It was the first time I'd ever seen you strike a woman. You've always been so kind to everyone as the owner of the general store that I never even dared imagine this side of you existed."
"That's..."
I started to explain, then gave up—because Erina was smiling and holding me gently, as if to comfort me.
"...Kiss me before we go inside. Erina. Right now, I want to kiss you."
"Yes. Hehe♡"
Erina rose slightly onto her toes and brought her lips to mine. Humson would be waiting inside for me to arrive, so I couldn't take my time with the kiss the way we had on Wallpaper Hill. Regretfully, I ended it after about thirty seconds, tied Thunder's reins in front of Humson's workshop, and unloaded the luggage I'd brought.
"You brat, I'll toss you in the forge and burn you alive! Didn't I tell you not to grip it at an angle like that?!"
The moment we opened the door and stepped inside, heat came rolling out from deep within the workshop—they were in full swing. The instant Erina looked in, her eyes went wide once more at the piles of finished weapons stacked up front, all ready for shipment. Compared to the state of the place when I'd first met Humson, this was genuinely clean and orderly. We'd sold off a great deal of the stock that had piled up to empty the interior, but more than that—there was now someone whose job was to keep it tidy.
"...I'm sorry. My hand went numb, that's all..."
"Casting is a sacred act—breathing a soul into a weapon! How do you mean to forge a sword without even that much patience?!"
Someone was being chewed out. That's right—Humson's apprentice. Astonishingly enough, Humson had recently taken an apprentice into his workshop. Had a pupil of such remarkable skill really come to him of his own accord—skill enough to crack the perfectionism of a man who couldn't rest until every step of every process passed through his own two hands? No. In truth, it was closer to the opposite. Who was the apprentice, you ask? You'll do a double take when you see.
"Careful, Erina. None of the weapons in here have an edge, but you could still hurt yourself on a sharp point if you bump into one wrong."
"Who's there?! Who barges into a workshop without so much as a knock!"
Humson barked at us in a voice wound tight with irritation. Judging by the tone, Master Humson had barely slept again last night.
"Haven't finished today's work yet, I take it?"
Grinning, I stepped into the inner workshop, holding out the box of Bacchus I'd brought.
"Oh, it's you, Gathergold... Only now you show up? You were so late I figured you weren't coming today at all. Thought you'd spread a blanket out in the back alley and bawled yourself to sleep!"
All that grumbling—he was clearly full of fight yet.
"Something came up. And today I've brought a new employee for you to meet!"
"A new employee? Hm, the one you mentioned before—"
When Humson's gaze met Erina's, peeking out timidly from behind me, he scrunched up his face and let a bead of sweat slide down from the corner of his eye, as though he had seen it coming.
"So this is the elf that gutless weakling tried to rape."
"Ah!"
"Ah!"
Erina and Humson's apprentice had most likely gasped at the exact same moment. Because the apprentice Humson had opened his heart and taken in was none other than that hulking brute who had once tried to rape Erina in that isolated house—Smith the blacksmith's son, Rex.