Chapter 83: As God Leads (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 83: As God Leads (2)
The profession of a priestess was surprisingly convenient in many ways.
In a world where demons had once run rampant, people—no matter how ill-tempered—tended to treat members of the clergy with kindness, fearing the bad luck that might come from mistreating them.
Even in the Duchy, where the night air was notoriously dangerous, the carriage driver who picked up Krima just before sunset considered it an auspicious sign to have a priestess on board.
At least, that sentiment lasted only until the first night of their four-day journey.
“Wait, what? You’re saying you have… nothing to eat?”
“Yes…”
“Good grief.”
The amount the priest in Aztera had given her was exactly enough for a one-way trip to Hus Dakuren. Not a single coin more.
As a result, far from being able to pay for the driver’s meals, she was in the position of having to beg for food herself.
The driver let out a long, heavy sigh as he looked at Krima, who kept her head bowed, nervously gauging his reaction. Still, he couldn’t bring himself to mistreat a priestess.
“Here, eat this.”
He pulled out a loaf of hard bread, snapped it in half, and handed it to her.
Krima soaked the bread in thin soup to soften it before eating. She offered her thanks in a voice barely above a whisper.
“May the Lord grant you great grace.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Back when she was part of Mirei’s party with Alto, she never would have had to worry about the whims of a mere carriage driver. On the contrary, she would have been treated with the utmost respect while sharing rich beef stew.
Regardless, the driver was diligent. He didn’t dump Krima on the side of the road and delivered her safely to Hus Dakuren.
“Safe travels.”
“Yes, thank you…”
As soon as they arrived at the carriage station, the driver dropped her off and disappeared to park his vehicle.
He likely felt he’d earned some divine merit for the day, but Krima was left feeling bitter about her fallen state. Not knowing where to go, she instinctively headed toward the fountain square of Dakuren City.
It wasn’t hard to find; she simply followed the crowds.
“Oh?”
In the center of the vast square, construction was in full swing.
A massive marble statue, so tall she had to crane her neck to see it, was being carved. It depicted a man bravely lunging forward, a dagger extended in one hand.
For some reason, Krima felt the facial structure of the statue resembled Alto.
However, she pushed that unsettling thought aside. She had a destination in mind.
“Ex-excuse me…”
“What is it?”
“Could I ask for directions? Do you know where a place called the ‘Salon’ is?”
The Salon.
Why did her face flush so hotly just saying the word? Was it because it was known as a refuge for women abandoned by men?
Yet, for Krima, it was her only choice.
The Church was conservative and rigid. Aztera had only taken her in because she was a fellow member of the faith, but if she showed up at a local church and confessed everything, she would be severely punished.
Furthermore, Yarismal Bichante was an auditor dispatched from the Adventurer Guild headquarters, but she was also affiliated with the Church. The Church elders were undoubtedly aware of the situation.
“Go past that alleyway and turn right. You’ll see a flashy building,” a passerby answered.
“Thank you.”
Unable to even meet the person’s eyes, Krima bowed and hurried into the alley. Just as the passerby had said, a large, glittering, and magnificent building stood there, radiating an intimidating aura.
“E-excuse me.”
She summoned her courage. Perhaps it was the desperation of a final struggle.
Slipping through a door left open for food deliveries, Krima grabbed a woman dressed in a maid uniform. The woman looked at her warily.
“Can I help you?”
“Um… I… is this… the…”
Her voice trailed off, and a sudden wave of regret washed over her. Why had she come here instead of going straight to find Alto? She felt pathetic for thinking this was “God’s will” back in Aztera.
But that worry vanished like melting snow at the maid’s warm welcome.
“Welcome. You’ve had a hard time, haven’t you?”
“Pardon…?”
“Madame! We have a newcomer!”
The eyes of the women carrying crates of food all turned toward Krima.
Just as she was beginning to panic, a Madame holding a long smoking pipe appeared with a weary expression.
“A newcomer? Ah.”
There was no need to look around; the disheveled Krima was standing right in front of her. Realizing she was being scrutinized, Krima began to blurt out excuses like rapid-fire.
“I’ll do any work you give me! I-I used to be an adventurer, so I’m good at all sorts of chores. I’m not great at cooking, but… I’ll learn fast…!”
“Stop.”
The Madame was quite beautiful, even to another woman. Of course, she too had been abandoned by a man, which was why she had taken an investment from Narupa to establish this Salon.
“We don’t ask about your circumstances from the start. That’s how this place works. But there is one thing you must keep in mind.”
As the Madame put the pipe to her lips, a burly woman standing nearby lit it for her. Exhaling a thin stream of smoke, the Madame fixed her sharp eyes on Krima.
“We are abandoned women. Therefore, do not fall in love with men. Do not harbor lingering attachments. This place is merely a final sanctuary.”
The color drained from Krima’s face.
Her plan was to be forgiven by Alto and given one more chance. Otherwise, she could never handle the 40-million-Dalk debt and its interest.
Moreover, while fleeing Lukart, she had heard that the bank manager had been sentenced to flogging because of Mirei’s party. It was easy to deduce that the Lukart Bank would not leave Krima or her account alone.
“Why? Can’t you do it?”
“No! No! I can do it!”
She wasn’t in a position to be picky. Krima accepted the condition immediately.
Though her true feelings were written all over her face, the other senior staff had gone through the same initiation. They exchanged glances and let it slide.
“You said you’re good at chores?”
“Yes, I can do everything from cleaning to looking after children from my time doing church service.”
“Can you sing?”
“If it’s hymns, I can do chorus…”
“Dance?”
“I-I’ve been in a few children’s plays…”
“Right. So you really are only good at chores.”
Krima’s self-esteem hit rock bottom again.
The Madame clapped her hands, and a woman waiting nearby handed Krima a modest maid uniform.
“We sell smiles and time, accompanied by food and alcohol.”
After a moment’s hesitation, Krima took the uniform.
“However, we do not sell our bodies or our hearts.”
The Madame took a deep drag of her pipe.
“Being abandoned once is enough.”
From that day on, Krima’s life at the Salon began.
* * *
“Newbie! Food to table six!”
“Where… where is table six?”
“Newbie! The dishes are piling up! Hurry up!”
“Yes!”
“Peel the potatoes and mash them! What, you can’t cook? Fine… just go carry the potato sacks then!”
The days were a blur of frantic activity.
Still, she was fed, and she was provided with a dormitory, even if it was shared. Grateful for those facts, Krima spent three full days just trying to adjust to the crushing workload.
“Hey, look at this one. She’s pretty cute, isn’t she? How about it? Want to try serving our ‘Four Handsome Heavenly Kings’?”
While serving, men would occasionally try to hit on her. Whenever that happened, the Madame or a senior maid would step in.
“Sir, you know our Salon isn’t that kind of place anymore.”
“Who said it was? I just meant pouring some drinks…”
“This business is funded by Lady Narupa. For the sake of her reputation, we cannot allow it.”
“…Tch, fine. I get it.”
Krima learned that this place was funded by a giant in the magitech industry named Narupa. It was a more stable workplace than she had expected.
The nagging from her seniors and the advances from men continued, but she could endure it all. The contemptuous glares she’d received in Lukart and the borderlands, combined with the experience of being abandoned by Gerend, had hardened her.
“Phew.”
When work ended, she was always too exhausted to do anything but wash up and collapse into bed. Her bones felt like they were melting. Her joints throbbed with heat, and her muscles ached from the relentless labor.
Usually, everyone fell asleep instantly, but tonight was different.
“Newbie! Newbie!”
“Yes…?”
Krima, who desperately wanted to sleep, forced her eyes open at the sound of her name. The senior maids had lit a small lamp and were calling her over.
“Did you call for me?”
“Newbie, it’s been three days since you got here, right?”
“You’re holding up pretty well.”
The women, sitting around with their tops off and no bras on, beckoned her.
“Tell us how you ended up here.”
“M-me?”
“Don’t give us that cliché reaction. Hurry up. Should I go first?”
One senior maid with large, sagging breasts cleared her throat.
“My story is nothing special. He told me I was his primary wife, but then he only hung around some other foxy bitch and stopped visiting me. When I complained, he told me to get lost.”
“Hey, aren’t you skipping too much? Didn’t you cry and beg in front of everyone until you got beaten so hard your eyes were bruised, and then you drifted to Dakuren?”
“Hey! That’s a minor detail!”
“Getting beaten is a minor detail? Your guts are as big as your milk jugs. Not that you’ll ever use them.”
“You crazy bitch!”
Leaving the bickering seniors behind, each woman began to share her story. One was abandoned for being too jealous; another was dumped because her partner got bored of her constant devotion.
After everyone had finished, it was finally Krima’s turn.
Krima, who wasn’t good at lying, decided to tell her story as gently as possible.
“I… I…”
Suddenly, tears began to stream down her face.
“Oh my, look at her cry.”
“It’s always like that at first.”
“It’s because I was so wrong…”
“That’s the same too. Everyone says it was their fault at first.”
“It’s because we’re women. It’s a world where you have to cater to those bastards to survive.”
The stage was set. But these weren’t crocodile tears.
“Actually… there were two men… One was very ugly, but he was so kind to me that I slowly grew fond of him… But then, a truly handsome, beast-like man said he liked me… So I went to him, gave him my money and my body… and then, overnight, he just…”
When she couldn’t continue, one of the seniors hugged her and patted her back.
“There, there. You did well. Don’t pick a man based on his face, you dummy. A man’s face doesn’t matter. A man is only a man if he treats you well and acts like one.”
“Ugh… hic…”
“Stop crying. If you’re going to meet a man, you should at least meet someone like Lord Alto.”
“Hic… pardon?”
At the mention of the familiar name, Krima jerked her head up so fast she nearly hit the senior’s chin.
“You don’t know Lord Alto? He’s the best groom in Dakuren—no, in all of Hus!”
“A-Alto?”
“Yeah! I guess you haven’t been here long enough to know.”
As soon as Alto’s name came up, the women became excited, each chiming in with something to say.
“It hasn’t been that long, but our Salon used to sell bodies too.”
“It wasn’t just selling bodies; we had to do every perverted position imaginable.”
“But one day, this plain-looking guy showed up with the Four Handsome Heavenly Kings. He looked like he had no idea what kind of place this was.”
“The four of us were serving them, and those ‘Handsome Kings’ are total perverts. They brought their own women and were talking about passing them around.”
“As soon as he heard that, the plain guy’s face completely changed. He said, ‘I don’t associate with bastards who treat their women like that!’ Just like that!”
As she listened, Krima’s face grew increasingly pale.
“That’s not all! There’s an adventurer named Rene, a bit prettier than me. She was his lover.”
“She heard some rumor and came bursting through the Salon doors, demanding to know what he was doing there without her!”
“A woman? To a man?!”
Krima asked, unable to imagine such a thing. The seniors all nodded in unison.
“She was crying out of frustration, and then…!”
“That plain guy pulled Rene into his arms to comfort her!”
“He held her tight and said, ‘Don’t cry. I’m sorry.’ Oh, my heart!”
“That plain guy was Lord Alto himself.”
“Faces don’t matter. As long as he’s not a monster, it’s fine. He just needs to take care of me and love me.”
“And you think that’s all? Lord Alto is even incredibly strong!”
Strong, too? The pieces were starting to fit together perfectly.
“A while back, in some remote fishing village, didn’t he slice up a Serpent all by himself and bring it back to Dakuren?”
“The girl he saved couldn’t forget him and got a job here as a receptionist at the Adventurer Guild.”
“I heard Lady Narupa followed him around and fell for him, and now she’s his lover.”
“It makes sense. Just look at what he achieved this time.”
“Achieved…?”
The words were coming so fast Krima could barely keep up. When she latched onto that one word, the seniors giggled.
“Look at her. She was crying about being dumped a second ago, and now she’s all ears because we’re talking about a man.”
“I-I’m just curious about his achievement…”
“Prepare to be shocked.”
The large-breasted woman from before crossed her arms and boasted as if she had done it herself.
“Lord Alto cleared the Dakuren Dungeon. He finished it off completely.”
“What?! C-cleared it?”
Was that even possible? No, if it was Alto Bertrand, it was entirely possible. Krima’s legs trembled at the sheer scale of the news.
“You know that giant statue they’re building in the square? That’s for Lord Alto. Because of him, you won’t find a single demon in the Hus region anymore! They say some small-fry monsters are still popping up from the lingering demonic energy, but they’re not a threat.”
Krima didn’t know whether to take this as good news or bad. The shock and the influx of information were too much for her to process. So, she simply stopped thinking.
“Haa~ I wish Lord Alto would look at me just once.”
“Dream on, you crazy bitch. Why would he look at someone like you?”
“But still! Lord Alto is so kind! And overwhelmingly strong on top of that.”
“That’s a real man! Compared to those losers who just take our tributes and act high and mighty, I wouldn’t mind being Lord Alto’s personal sex slave.”
“You’re seriously insane!”
Amidst the cackling seniors, Krima let out a little giggle herself. Once she stopped thinking, she could accept everything positively.
Kind Alto. Yes, Alto was kind.
So, if she sincerely begged for forgiveness and promised to do better, he might take her back.
She would do so well this time. She had to.
Because he was Alto Bertrand.
“Actually, Lord Alto made a dinner reservation at the Salon for next week with his party members. Lady Narupa is coming too!”
“Really? I’m going on a diet starting today.”
“Everything I eat goes straight to my tits, so I’m fine~.”
“Bullshit. Just eat and go take a crap.”
“Hey! That’s gross!”
A dinner reservation next week. And she was in charge of serving.
Krima finally understood God’s will. She realized why the path had been laid out for her to come to Hus Dakuren, to this Salon.
It was all for a reason.
“Thank you, thank you…!”
Filled with hope, Krima bowed repeatedly in prayer to God.
She did so without knowing that on that very day, a major event that would go down in world history was about to unfold.