Children of God (2)
The brothel Tears of the Moonlight, run by Nox—the man known as the King of the Night—was enjoying a golden age unlike anything it had seen before. In the past, heroes at least clung to the excuse of “reputation” and avoided openly frequenting such places. But after the Hades Guild seized control of Gideon, the atmosphere shifted completely. Fewer and fewer people cared about keeping up appearances, and those who openly unleashed their desires without shame only grew in number. With the Hades Guild watching his back, Nox no longer had any reason to hold back. Perhaps that was why Tears of the Moonlight became the first to cross every line.
Naturally, many looked upon the establishment with open disgust. Yet no one could stop them. After all, both the Hades Guild and Nox stood firmly behind it.
“Welcome, sir.”
“……”
“If I may ask, which guild are you from?”
Under the banner of “premium service,” they had begun openly discriminating against customers. Guests from prestigious or major guilds received the finest treatment. Anyone else was given the cold shoulder. Of course, they weren’t stupid enough to show it outright. Instead they resorted to subtler tricks—serving cheap liquor disguised as top-shelf spirits, or putting out worn-out prostitutes in poor condition. It let them protect their image while still squeezing out every last coin. A perfect two-birds-one-stone scheme.
Earlier, a low-ranking guild member had noticed the scam and looked visibly uncomfortable. Fortunately, they managed to brush it off as a drunk customer causing a scene.
“Iron Shield.”
Iron Shield… the one that ended up on the blacklist…?
“I’m terribly sorry, sir, but we’re fully booked at the moment.”
Roden, the man in charge of greeting guests at Tears of the Moonlight, hid his contempt behind a polite smile. It was a pathetic little guild that would never have crossed his radar if not for the blacklist. He had no idea how someone from a backwater guild that had probably never tasted real luxury liquor had seen through their trick, but it didn’t matter. Thanks to that incident, Iron Shield had earned a permanent spot on their blacklist.
He moved to send the guest away, but the man didn’t budge. He simply stood there, staring at Roden, and that alone was enough to make Roden feel an overwhelming pressure.
“Is there a problem, sir?”
“Liquor.”
“Pardon?”
“Bring me the most expensive bottle you have.”
“…Will that be all?”
The man gave a single nod. Roden hesitated for a moment. Should he actually serve the real expensive stuff and get rid of him? Or follow the manual? The dilemma didn’t last long.
Follow the manual. When they say jump, I jump.
Roden was nothing more than a greeter. Making independent decisions could get him dragged off and scolded later. Besides, the other party was from a third-rate guild. Even if things went wrong, it would be easy to smooth over.
At his signal, another attendant waiting in the back quickly brought out a single bottle. The container was a luxurious golden vessel, but what it held was cheap booze heavily diluted with water. Roden carefully poured the liquor into a glass and offered it to the man with practiced grace.
The man drank it in one gulp. A brief silence fell.
“Um, sir? If you’ve finished, perhaps it would be best if—”
“That guy was right.”
“Excuse me?”
“Serving cheap liquor watered down like this.”
Crack.
The glass in the man’s hand shattered under impossible pressure, reduced to glittering fragments. But that was no longer the issue. An overwhelming, monstrous aura filled the room, so heavy it felt like no one could even breathe.
The man—Isaac—radiated such fury that even the heroes enjoying themselves elsewhere in Tears of the Moonlight felt it. Heroes who burst outside thinking they were under attack found themselves frozen in place, unable to do a thing. It was an unstoppable force, like a bamboo shoot splitting the sky itself.
Ordinary people like Roden and the other attendants had no hope of withstanding it. Finally, Isaac spoke.
“Bring me whoever’s in charge here.”
“Guh…!!”
“There’s no need for that, sir.”
The one who saved Roden from suffocating under the pressure was the woman who managed Tears of the Moonlight. She had long golden hair that fell to her waist and wore a pure white dress.
“What is the meaning of this rudeness, barging in without warning?”
“Your people tried to scam one of my guild members.”
“Scam, you say…?”
“This bottle right here.”
At some point Isaac had taken the very bottle Roden had ordered brought out. He had secured the evidence before they could react. The logo on it made any denial impossible.
Damn it. Where did this psycho come from?
Did he not know who stood behind Tears of the Moonlight? Or was this simply the hot blood of a young hero? Either way, the situation was clearly turning against them. The woman’s mind raced.
She couldn’t admit the truth outright. If she did, the reputation of Tears of the Moonlight would plummet. But denying it while that bottle sat there like a smoking gun was equally impossible.
“It appears there was some kind of mistake in the process.”
“A mistake?”
“Yes, exactly. We at Tears of the Moonlight always promise the very best service.”
In that brief moment, Madam’s snake-like eyes found a way out. A natural smile returned to her lips as she turned toward Roden.
“However, there are occasionally a few attendants who let greed get the better of them and cross the line.”
Wait… no, she can’t be—
“Isn’t that right, Roden?”
The moment their eyes met, Roden felt as if a snake were crawling across his skin. He understood instantly. With the tail already cut off, he had no choice left.
“Y-yes, that’s correct. It was all my own reckless decision.”
Unable to withstand the pressure, Roden confessed that the wrongdoing had been his alone. Only then did Madam nod with a satisfied smile.
Isaac frowned. “What I want is a sincere apology and a promise that it won’t happen again.”
“What are you doing, Roden? Apologize to our guest.”
“I-I’m so sorry…”
“Not you. You apologize. Personally.”
But Isaac wasn’t finished. He pointed straight at Madam. Cold sweat ran down her back. Had he seen through everything? No, that was impossible. She had left no openings that would allow him to notice the scapegoating.
Yet Isaac’s gaze remained locked on her.
“I-I’m sorry. On behalf of everyone here, I apologize.”
In the end, Madam was forced to bow her head and apologize directly to Dig, the guild member Isaac had brought with him. She had no choice; it felt as though something terrible would happen if she refused. She even returned every coin.
Only after receiving his money back did Dig break into a wide, cheerful grin.
Zeek watched him with open pity before turning away. Then, as if the disdain had never existed, her eyes sparkled.
“As expected of you, Master! Noticing the scam like that—you’re truly amazing!”
“It wasn’t anything special.”
Isaac shook his head. Just as he said, he hadn’t actually seen through the deception himself. They weren’t fools; diluting strong liquor with water made it nearly impossible for ordinary people to tell the difference. Isaac was no exception. But the scene had matched the description from the original story so perfectly that he’d simply thought, These bastards are running a scam, and it turned out to be exactly right.
“Thank you, Master! Thanks to you, I got my money back!” Dig exclaimed.
“More importantly, how did you notice it was a scam?” Isaac asked Zeek.
“The taste was completely different from the one I had before.”
“…Is that so.”
Isaac tilted his head. The liquor was absurdly expensive—most people would never even get the chance to taste it. How had this guy noticed the difference? He let out a small sigh. He didn’t know, and right now he was too tired to care. The only thing he wanted was sleep. With that single thought, Isaac headed back to the guild.
Whether because of his exhaustion or for some other reason, he remained completely unaware that someone was following them—right up until they arrived.
“Huh? What the— Who are you?”
Zeek was the first to notice. She spun around at the child trailing behind them and let out a startled shout. Only then did Isaac and Dig finally spot the girl.
She looked about thirteen years old. A small girl with bright pink hair, wearing clothes far too revealing for her age. Dig recognized the outfit immediately.
“Hey, that’s what the prostitutes at Tears of the Moonlight wear, isn’t it?”
“And how exactly would you know that?” Zeek snapped.
“Why are you looking at me like that? What’s wrong with a man knowing about women?!”
“Ugh, how pathetic.”
“…She looks like she has quite the story.”
Leaving Dig and Zeek to their usual bickering, Isaac slowly examined the child. Her body was covered in scars and bruises. She wasn’t even wearing shoes—her bare feet were cut and bleeding from stepping on stones. A thirteen-year-old girl with pink hair forced to work as a prostitute at Tears of the Moonlight. No matter how he looked at her, she could only be the child who appeared in the flashback from volume three of the original story.
Isaac spoke gently.
“Would you like to rest here with us for a while?”
At his question, the girl nodded so vigorously it seemed her head might fall off.