The Perverted Dragoness Reina and the Kind Black Witch
Reina's new residence in Orbie was a house just large enough for two or three people to live in comfortably. It was no sprawling noble manor—more the sort of place a moderately well-off upper-class citizen might keep. The walls and barred windows offered the bare minimum of security, and its location put the guild far away while the brothels sat close enough that opening a window at night never failed to let the scent of women drift in. For Reina, that was perfect. Even if the city itself was rundown, people came and went constantly, and a thriving red-light district meant money was circulating. Street cleaning stayed relatively tidy, and the brothel row in particular was so lavishly decorated that it suited a red-haired woman like her beautifully.
Cleanliness, huh.
Reina recalled yesterday's advice. Catching a disease was out of the question, and she couldn't be bothered traipsing in and out of churches, so the moment she woke she sank into a wooden bathtub, warmed herself through, and started her morning by replaying yesterday's humiliation with a thoroughly pleasant mood.
A potion to purify the body, fragrant herbs that amplified her natural allure, a magical powder that did wonders for warding off illness—and one drop of her ever-favorite arousal potion, flicked into the water. The tub was so perfect she could almost believe she'd stepped into heaven.
Ahh—♡
A delicious scent flooded her nose, and her lust bubbled up hot and thick. That single drop of arousal potion teased her inverted nipples from the inside out, made her hooded clit stand stiff, and sent little jolts through her with every swirl of bathwater. Reina gripped the rim of the tub with both hands and let out soft, happy breaths. She wanted nothing more than to reach down and touch herself right then—but she held the urge in check, savoring the delicious stretch of time while the potion, herbs, and powder soaked into her sex and skin.
Maybe I should skip masturbating today and head out still worked up? Being a little hot and bothered sounds like more fun~!
Heheheh.
A laugh far too vulgar for a proper lady rang through the bathroom, and she didn't care one bit. If the city soldiers—men who drew the kingdom's pay—could end up in that state, she couldn't stop wondering what kind of atmosphere the guilds and clans they'd warned her about would have. Her anticipation wouldn't settle.
When I stopped by once under the excuse of moving here, I was so busy sneaking off to meet the guild master that I never bumped into anyone or even looked around. I knew absolutely nothing.
Hoping the place would suit her hobbies the way they'd claimed, she raised her expectations, rose naked from the tub, and padded around the room until she found clothes. Unlike her usual favorites, these were slightly shabby and ill-fitting: a loose brown outfit layered under leather armor, with a battered axe in hand. The belted skirt was short, and she wore no underwear. Looking at herself in the full-length mirror, she saw how the wrong-sized gear left the undersides of her breasts hanging free—but for Reina, that level of exposure was no problem at all.
In other words: even better.
"Like this, anyone would take me for a bottom-rung adventurer, right? My looks stand out, sure, but on a street crawling with whores, maybe that cancels it out a little?"
It was a haughty claim, but it was also true.
Flawless skin, a face that radiated strength, breasts under 120 centimeters spilling out of gear that didn't fit, thick thighs and a plump ass—and with a skirt that short and no panties underneath, anyone with half an eye would realize she wasn't wearing underwear.
"I'd love to push the exposure further, but then I'd just get treated like a whore and that'd kill the fun… More than anything, outfits like that are way more enjoyable when someone forces you into them… Ufufu…"
There was definitely some exposure going on, but female adventurers who wandered around in bikini armor under the dual excuse of "combat mobility" and "husband-hunting" weren't unheard of. Compared to those marriage-desperate women, she was still on the milder side. And more than that—Reina knew of far worse outfits.
Cursed armor and the like are way more extreme… That stuff is so bad even the people looking get embarrassed… I, uh… might be a little jealous…?
Her point of comparison was slightly off, but since she fully intended to end up there eventually, it wasn't entirely wrong either. For now she decided to be satisfied with this shabby, half-hearted exposure. After checking her body over several times, she finally stepped out of the house. Because it sat right against the street where the prostitutes lived, the stone-paved road was neatly kept, and every bounce of her worn boots produced a cheerful little sound.
"Mmmngh~! Mmm~! What lovely weather~!"
Sunlight poured down as if cheering on Reina's new life. Walking the streets beneath it left her feeling so refreshed that her heated body almost seemed ready to cool—though of course it didn't actually cool at all; that was just a figure of speech. She stretched happily, debating which route to take, when something interesting caught her eye. Turning her feet toward the pleasure district, she found people lounging at ease or else hard at work beautifying the street.
A prostitute tidying the lanterns used at night. A prostitute seeing off a man who'd stayed late and was heading home in the morning. A prostitute with an exhausted face begging a church cleric for treatment. A prostitute already drinking at this hour, swapping stories about last night's bedroom. Merchants who'd come to sell flowers and fruit to those same women—and others so captivated by their charms that they sold everything at a loss. It was a place of every possible atmosphere.
So even in a pleasure quarter, nobody's spreading their legs first thing in the morning.
Prostitutes had lives too; they needed time to spend the money they earned. The ones in their prime—the best sellers—were decked out in especially lavish ornaments, and that stood out most of all. It was almost ironic that they seemed greedier for precious metals than a dragon like herself.
The decorations are almost excessive. Because the mine workers flock here, and the metalworkers with them? When I have time, maybe I'll buy a few pieces myself…
Looking closer, she spotted a man selling jewelry in a corner. Short stature and a heavy beard—he didn't look human, the way she currently did. Instead he belonged to a race whose craftsmanship was guaranteed, and he seemed popular for it. With mines nearby, metalworkers, and plenty of laborers whose daily wages the prostitutes were happy to comfort out of them—plus nothing but weak magical beasts and monsters in the area—it was a strange city that somehow drew bottom-tier adventurers who didn't belong on these streets.
Exquisite, really.
It looked like a cesspit at a glance, and yet somehow wasn't. An ambiguous place.
A pleasure district… There's more light here than I expected…
Even a red-light district wasn't exactly a pretty sight, which made her wonder if the place with the guild was even worse than this street. If so, that would be hilarious. Darker than a pleasure quarter that was supposed to be filthy—she'd only visited once, and she still couldn't picture it. Narrowing her eyes, half-suspecting she was only seeing the good side of the district, she pressed on—when the deliberately thickened artificial ears on her head twitched and registered danger.
…Hnh?!
In that instant her body was already launching forward.
Even though the danger wasn't aimed at her at all.
"Waaaaaaah~!!"
While she was sightseeing, a woman managing the night lanterns had her ladder collapse beneath her and was falling. The woman's scream alerted the other prostitutes, but they were far too late to catch her. So Reina moved her legs. In a private world where everything seemed to slow, explosive acceleration carried her from far down the street to a spot directly beneath the falling woman, arms spread wide.
Whump!
"Eh?! Wh-what? Whaaat…?"
Thank goodness. If I hadn't caught her, she'd be dead.
Traveling with the Hero's party had left her sensitive to this sort of thing. The woman, looking somewhat dazed, glanced around, realized who had saved her, and smiled loosely. Even after a genuine crisis, her vacant face suggested a total lack of danger sense—enough to make even sharp-tempered Reina feel sleepy.
"Ah, so you were the one who caught me… Thank you so much… I never imagined the ladder legs would snap like that…"
"Any injuries?"
"No… The cushion was so nice I survived… Haa…"
Well, of course—it was Reina's pride-and-joy 120-centimeter soft-breast cushion. Not a single bruise. From that height an ordinary person would have been badly hurt or killed, yet the woman rose with almost excessive leisure, as if she'd been enjoying Reina's cleavage, burying her face in it, taking one deep breath, then finally standing.
…Did I just get a chill?
She tilted her head, chalking it up to imagination, then looked the woman over properly. She clearly worked at a nearby brothel—black negligee first thing in the morning. Messy black hair and hollow, exhausted eyes that looked almost sickly. Still unmistakably beautiful, though. Between the styling and the overall vibe, Reina's first impression was of a black-clad woman with a lot of attachments.
She's packing quite a bit herself.
After praising Reina's chest, the woman turned out to have a considerable bust of her own. Not overflowing like Reina's, but still a pair of rocket-curved heavy breasts that swayed as she finally got to her feet. Black-painted nails and toenails, a clear preference for dark colors—she dipped her head slightly and spoke again in that same sleep-inducing tone.
"Pardon me… I am the madam of the Black Brothel… They call me the Black Witch…"
Naturally not her real name—more a working title. Just as hosts never used their true names, brothels were the same. Reina hadn't expected to receive a brothel-style greeting from another woman and blanked for a second, but when the madam who called herself the Black Witch gave her chest a light press, her mind snapped back.
"You're an adventurer~?"
"Ah, yeah. Reina… Ah, call me Reinare."
"Heh, Miss Reinare… A face I haven't seen before~? Was there a beauty like you around here~?"
"I just moved to Orbie, so I was sightseeing the streets and happened to save you. Hey—stop poking my chest while we're talking?! Even between women, that's rude!"
"I'm so sorry… But you have such a wonderful figure, I just couldn't help myself…"
"You call grabbing someone else's breasts 'couldn't help yourself'?"
"I'm a madam, you see… I have a habit of touching the new girls' bodies to check them… Ehehe…"
"That's a lie, isn't it?"
"It's true… It's not a bad habit at all~? Ehe…"
The Black Witch tilted her head loosely and grinned. With her exhausted looks and drawn-out speech, just a short conversation was already making Reina sleepy—and the woman was completely self-absorbed. She'd nearly been seriously hurt, yet instead of fear she was focused on gratitude and breasts, smiling vacantly. Even among the people Reina had met, this woman stood out as especially strange.
"But calling you an adventurer feels like such a waste of that figure… Those breasts especially… I know it's an odd thing to say to my savior, but if you became a prostitute, I suspect you'd be an ace right away…"
"You just like breasts, don't you?!"
"Well… a little, yes, but I'm not lying… Adventurers who come here are famous for having no talent… So rather than clinging to a job with no future, some of them quit adventuring and take work at a brothel… Ah… I was recruiting without thinking again~? This bad habit… such a bad habit… I got scolded for it last time and I still can't fix it…"
She tapped her forehead twice and changed the subject. Her gaze still bounced between Reina's chest and face, her hobby on full display. The casual recruitment pitch, too—judging by the wry smiles on every prostitute who walked past them, this was far from the first time.
"I appreciate the compliments on my looks, but I have my own reasons for doing this. I'm not interested in that just yet."
"Is that so… What a shame… But since you saved me, and if your mouth gets bored, please stop by sometime~? As thanks for the rescue, I'll treat you to the sweets our brothel is so proud of~!"
Sweets a brothel is proud of… what?
It was a power word that made no sense. Still, a place packed with women would certainly have plenty of sweets, so it wasn't completely incomprehensible. Reina promised she'd visit when she had time. The Black Witch pointed out her brothel's location with one black-nailed finger, then asked again.
"Well then, kind adventurer… You said you just moved here…?"
"Yeah. Why, something you want to say?"
"The opposite, actually… Walking through the pleasure district at this hour—sightseeing, or heading to the guild? I got a little curious…"
"Both. I was sightseeing the red-light district, then I planned to go into the guild and take my first quest."
"If I may… your rank is…?"
"Iron Ore."
"…………………"
"You can stare all you want. I'm still not becoming a prostitute."
After Reina refused a second time, the Black Witch scratched beside her hair with a black-painted nail and turned her tired eyes aside. She clearly had plenty she wanted to say, but because this was her savior, she kept her words short so as not to offend. Reina, for her part, felt once again how Iron Ore rank was regarded in this city.
"Is there a problem?"
"No… If you've steeled yourself, that's fine… Then you don't know anyone in this city, and you haven't heard the rumors either~?"
Reina nodded.
"Then as thanks for saving me, I'll tell you one thing… Miss Reinare seems to have a rather fierce temperament, so I thought I should mention it before you run into trouble…"
"What is it?"
"Well, lately a rather dangerous-looking bandit group has appeared near Orbie… Not enough to disrupt the city's operations, but they've caused so many incidents that leaving them alone isn't an option… I heard a subjugation order has gone up on the adventurer guild's request board…"
Bandits… The Hero's party only just brought peace to this country. And those kinds of people are still wandering around?
She felt unsettled inside, but the Black Witch kept delivering her one-sided warning.
"And?"
"The thing is, there are rumors these bandits have ties to the guild… And they're far too strong to be showing up around here… Most of the people who went out on adventures never came back, and the ones who did keep their mouths shut tight… So please be careful not to fall victim yourself, Miss Reinare… Especially female adventurers—there's talk that they all end up in terrible shape, or before long join some dangerous place…"
"You're saying that because I'm Iron Ore?"
"Please don't take it the wrong way… If the savior who rescued me today got caught by some bandit gang, it would ruin my sleep…"
When the Black Witch puffed out her cheeks, Reina let the tension drain from her shoulders.
"Right… Sorry for being rude. You weren't looking down on me—you were just worried. I'll take that advice gladly."
"Ehehe… Is that so… That's a relief… Hehe…"
This was the first connection she'd made in the city, and the woman didn't seem like a bad person, so Reina offered a small word of thanks in return. She still hadn't finished touring the streets and couldn't talk forever, and the Black Witch apparently still had work—she brought out a replacement for the broken ladder, climbed up, and waved.
"If you ever have questions about the streets, or the rumors, or anything at all, please come ask~?"
"Sure~! And you be careful not to fall again~!"
"Ehe… No matter how unlucky I am, there's no way I'd fall twi— …Ah."
"……Ah."
There was a small mishap before they parted ways…
But favors, after all, only grow more valuable the more you sell them.
Having formed a bond with the Black Witch, madam of the Black Brothel, Reina took the ominous rumors she'd heard as fuel for her imagination, raised her expectations sky-high, and set her feet toward the guild.