Angels' Haven
Elisha walked along, studying the address Madam had given her through Kate. Entertainment District, Block 6, Street 3. Angels' Haven. A place she had seen mentioned only occasionally on the bulletin boards. It must have some degree of recognition if it came up at all. She intended to scout the place first to see whether Madam's bar suited her concept.
As she had heard before, the Entertainment District was packed with establishments that opened at six in the evening and catered to the nightlife. It was the most popular spot among foreigners and the place where one could meet the greatest number of angels. A few angels worked during the day, but not many. True to its popularity, the district was crowded with people. Men and women alike filled the streets with cheerful faces. Of course, angels were also wandering about in revealing outfits that showed off their bodies.
Leaving behind the dazzling array of colorful signs, she made her way toward the outer edge of the district. The building in Block 6 was Angels' Haven. Like most structures in Eden, it was a four-story building with white walls. The first floor appeared to be a bar, while the upper floors served as a hotel. She passed through the automatic doors and stepped inside. It was only around six-thirty, so only a handful of customers were present.
The classic, tasteful interior was finished in wood and carried a subtle woody fragrance. At the central bar, angels in bartender uniforms that subtly accentuated their curves were working. Low partitions separated the surrounding tables. It was a quiet bar rather than a noisy club-style establishment. A quick glance suggested the work was divided into two roles: bartenders serving customers at the bar and angels sitting with customers at the tables to converse.
Among the bartenders, a familiar face caught her eye.
“Stella?”
“Elisha? What brings you here…?”
Stella had been wearing a puzzled expression, but she stopped mid-sentence when their eyes met. The fact that the bar where Stella worked belonged to Madam was an enormous coincidence. After a brief hesitation, Stella smiled again.
“So you’ve become an angel. Come sit here.”
Elisha took the empty seat in front of her. Stella spoke first.
“Before I hear what you came for, let me make you a drink to celebrate.”
“Thank you, Stella.”
Stella began mixing a cocktail with practiced movements. It was an elegant motion, different from the flashy flair bartending she had seen elsewhere.
“It’s called a Cosmopolitan.”
The cocktail Stella handed her was beautiful in color. Elisha lifted the glass and took a sip. A sweet yet refreshing taste lingered on her tongue. Elisha would probably like this flavor.
“It tastes good.”
“It’s quite popular with female customers.”
“May I ask you a few questions?”
“About the job?”
“Was it that obvious?”
She had only been pretending to be a curious first-time visitor to a bar, yet it seemed her inexperience showed in front of a veteran angel. Stella gave a soft laugh.
“Newly made angels who are still looking for work tend to stand out.”
“How embarrassing.”
“Angels who haven’t been around long tend to act exactly as they were taught at the training center.”
That was certainly true. Thinking back, she had prioritized the methods learned at the center.
“Don’t try to assign meaning to every single action. People are surprisingly insensitive to others’ reactions or emotions.”
“But to seem natural…”
“Overreacting and overexpressing everything actually looks more unnatural.”
“Then how do you decide which reactions to give?”
“Only through experience. The more customers you deal with, the clearer it becomes which reactions you can let pass and which ones you should respond to. As you keep accumulating experience, you’ll eventually learn not only how to match the other person but also how to make them match you.”
“Thank you for the advice.”
A senior angel with long years of field experience really is impressive, Elisha thought. She finished the cocktail while gauging whether she could work well here. No—asking an experienced senior was still the wiser choice.
“Would it be all right for a beginner to work here?”
“Compared to a rowdy place, this is better for gaining experience. The customers’ emotional range is small and stable, so you can learn calmly.”
“I see.”
She received many more pieces of advice and information about the work. Among the various conditions, the fact that most customers were at a level suitable for her concept seemed especially fitting. The relatively well-behaved customers came here simply to relax, so there were extremely few rough customers. Stella explained that among the aggressive ones, some ignored pre-arranged play and tried to force things. If she entered a room expecting only service and was forcibly penetrated, she would lose her virginity—an outcome fatal to her concept.
The place seemed suitable for work. She wondered whether she should meet Madam as well and discuss employment. She asked her future senior about Madam, only to learn something unexpected: Madam was the head chef working in the kitchen.
“The head chef?”
“Unusual, isn’t it? Madam working as the chef.”
“It’s so far from what I expected that I don’t even know how to react.”
“Hehe, Madam is so kind that she ends up considering the angels too much, so the bar doesn’t make much money. That’s probably why she was given the role of Madam.”
Among the stories Stella told was the current situation in the Entertainment District. With the proportion of foreigners increasing every year, more foreign owners who paid large sums to secure business rights were appearing. Most of Eden’s existing bars had been run by Madams who had been assigned their roles, but the less greedy and gentler Madams were being pushed out by the aggressive business practices of the foreign owners. Since the main customer base consisted of foreign visitors to Eden, the bars had fallen behind in responding to demands. They also lost out in scale because they relied on personal connections, blood ties, and regional ties to band together.
Angels' Haven, in such circumstances, was a bar that drastically cut operating expenses to reduce spending and did not pressure the angels to increase sales.
“They pressure angels to increase sales?”
“That’s what angels from bars run by foreign owners say.”
Stella leaned forward, bringing her face closer, and spoke in a low voice.
“There are places that force angels into the peak of pleasure and then forbid climax, only allowing it when sales targets are met. Some even grant permission for sleeping with customers based on sales performance.”
“That’s cruel.”
To forcibly seize and shake the angels’ only source of joy—and moreover, to force their work behavior—was that not illegal?
“Isn’t that illegal?”
“A contracted angel is the contractor’s property, so it’s not really illegal. It’s a loophole that exists because Madams wouldn’t do such things. And now that you’ve become an angel, Elisha, you’ll understand—angels don’t get angry even when subjected to that kind of pressure and treatment.”
“That’s true.”
Indeed it was. It would be nice if they could feel joy, but since they could not feel emotions, there was nothing to get angry or protest about. Thinking about it, the methods seemed to treat angels from a human perspective.
“That’s why even doing that doesn’t raise sales all that much. The angels are only complying to a certain extent with that treatment.”
She wondered whether the owners knew how the angels thought. Perhaps they did and still acted that way.
“Does Madam work as the chef herself to cut expenses?”
“No, she simply likes cooking. Because she reduced the number of chefs, she’s always busy, though.”
So she really was just a workaholic. Elisha tried to recall what it felt like to like work, but the original Elisha had not been the type to feel a sense of accomplishment or enjoyment from it. She seemed to have found enjoyment in exercise instead.
After talking a while longer, Elisha expressed her desire to work at the bar. Stella said it was not a particularly busy time right now and told her to meet Madam for an employment consultation. She contacted the kitchen through the intercom, mentioned the consultation, and soon Elisha was able to meet Madam.
Even in a chef’s uniform, Madam’s voluptuous figure could not be hidden. Removing the hat from her abundant brown hair, she spoke.
“Elisha? Oh my, you really have become an angel.”
“Hello. I finished angel training yesterday and came looking for work.”
“You’re in quite a hurry to find a job.”
Madam, who had been sweating in the hot kitchen, wiped her forehead with a handkerchief.
“The air conditioning is broken, so it’s like a sauna in here. Shall we have that consultation?”
Elisha explained the concept she had devised. Madam laughed at the iron-walled woman concept but said it suited the bar well.
“Unfortunately, our bar can’t pay a high salary. Is that all right?”
“It’s fine.”
“I know you girls aren’t originally greedy for money, but thank you anyway.”
Madam’s gaze and expression carried both apology and pity. The apology was understandable, but the pity was not.
“All right. Start working today. For a while, you can just observe and learn.”
“Thank you.”
While Madam stepped away to handle the employment report and paperwork, Elisha sat at a table and observed the angels dealing with customers. The angels, dressed according to their concepts, conversed with the customers who had come to see them and poured drinks. Even without any physical contact, the male customers wore satisfied expressions as they talked. She could not hear what they were saying from a distance. It would be rude to interrupt while they were entertaining customers, and lingering nearby was not a good option either. Still, she could watch and learn what reactions the angels gave when customers showed certain emotions. She was beginning to get a sense of how to induce emotions as well. Rather than reacting to the other person’s emotions, it seemed to be a method of acting out emotions first to provoke a response from the other side.
Although her table was in the corner, no customers came near. Most customers were drinking at the bar, and at most six tables were occupied. The angels working the tables rested in the break area and came out only when a customer seated at a table specifically requested them. Occasionally, customers who noticed her seemed to search for her face on the table’s nomination screen. Of course, since she was a newly hired angel, those customers could not find her and looked puzzled before nominating others.
Time passed, and it was past eleven. As was typical for bars with many nighttime customers, all twelve tables were now full, so she moved inside the bar. There were no good seats left, and she also wanted to observe what the bartenders did. Including Stella, six bartenders were each handling between one and three customers, mixing cocktails. Ah—she would have to start calling her senior now.
The bartenders’ skill in leading conversations with their respective customers while making cocktails was tremendous. Objectively speaking, she was not ready to do that yet.
“Who’s that young lady?”
“She’s our bar’s new hire.”
“She looks so clueless—definitely a newbie. Haha.”
“I like newbies. They have a fresh charm.”
“Oh? A newbie coming into the Haven? It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
“Hmm, wasn’t there one about two years ago?”
“How did you get her? Everyone’s desperate to scout because the supply of angels is so low.”
The three male customers sitting side by side in front of her senior chatted among themselves about her, apparently on friendly terms. So the supply of angels really was low. During the time she and Linda had been training, not a single new trainee had arrived. It had been said that even two arriving at the same time was extremely rare, so the monthly total was probably one or two at most.
One of the three men spoke to her with a friendly face.
“Hey, miss. What’s your name?”
“My name is Elisha. Please take care of me.”
“If you want us to take care of you, you’ve got to show some sincerity, don’t you?”
“Uh…”
Despite his scolding tone, the customer’s face showed amusement. Was he angry? But his expression looked like he was having fun… Unable to tell whether it was a joke or anger, she froze, unsure how to respond. The customer beside him laughed and spoke.
“Hahaha! That’s such a newbie reaction! Teasing her is fun.”
“Everyone, please don’t tease the new girl too much.”
“Hey now, this is all experience.”
“It’s good to experience and learn in advance.”
“We’ve been watching angels for a long time, so we know a thing or two.”
“About the angels’ secrets, that is.”
The trio of middle-aged men whispered as if sharing a secret, then burst into laughter again. Maintaining an appropriately smiling face, Elisha asked her senior.
“What should I do in a situation like that?”
“The most appropriate response is to play along with the joke first, and if it doesn’t seem like a joke, apologize.”
“I see.”
She needed to prioritize facial expressions over words. She should also take follow-up measures just in case. Experience really did seem important.
“A fresh newbie angel straight out of the training center is so adorably clueless.”
“Once they gain experience, they become sly and there’s no fun in teasing them anymore.”
“Still, isn’t the reaction too uniform? They should diversify the way they produce these products.”
“You don’t get it. The charm lies in how they each change into different forms as they accumulate experience.”
“Maybe we could monopolize a newbie angel and shape her to our own tastes?”
Hmm. It seemed what they said about knowing the angels to some extent was true. The fact that her senior did not react suggested she was good at keeping secrets.
“Everyone, I asked you to be careful with dangerous topics. Please protect other people’s fantasies.”
“Oops. Of course we’ll keep it between us.”
“Honestly, even if we told the truth, no one would believe that angels are artificially made dolls.”
“Look at Stella. Does she look like a doll? She’s just a person.”
Stella stopped the men from leaking the angels’ secret by serving each of them another cocktail.
“Ahem, let’s refrain from dangerous words from now on, friends.”
“Stella’s quick on the uptake—I like that.”
“That’s why she’s a regular.”
“And the cocktails taste good too.”
These men really talked a lot. Even without Stella responding much, they chattered on their own. She only needed to occasionally change her posture or expression to participate in the conversation.
“Ah, one more piece of advice for the young lady—never go if that huge bar over there tries to scout you.”
“What was it called again—Big Dick & Hull? Anyway, the guys there have bad character.”
“They treat angels like sex slaves.”
“Anyone who does that to such kind, kind angels deserves divine punishment.”
“Right. If it weren’t for angels, who would deal with ugly middle-aged men like us?”
“You’re the only ugly one here. Who are you calling ugly?”
“Let’s face reality, friends. Is there anyone here who isn’t single?”
At one man’s words, everyone fell silent. Objectively speaking, the men’s appearances were not extremely ugly. The plump one had a thick nose and lips that could almost be called cute, while the thin one had narrow eyes and thin lips that gave a cold impression but was otherwise ordinary. The third had several large scars on his face and a square jaw with bulging eyes that made him look menacing. Still, to her eyes, none of them had particularly bad appearances. Perhaps there were other reasons besides looks. In any case, the men looked quite dejected. Was being single such a sad thing?