Chapter 73
Chapter 73
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 73
Chapter Title: The Illegal Gambling Den of the Pleasure District and the Demon Race (3)
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The troublemaker who took a straight punch to the face from her passed out on the spot.
"Rosie! What the hell are you doing?!"
The other guards from the gambling den shouted in surprise. It seemed Lucia was using the alias Rosie here.
Fortunately, the troublemaker hadn't died.
"This troublemaker. Lucky he just passed out. Still, Rosie! You can't use violence inside the gambling den! That's the rule for guards!"
Even if Lucia was at the bottom of the Combat Division at Pantheon, she far surpassed these mere gambling den guards in skill.
She must have adjusted her strength with ordinary people in mind. Well, if it had been a bad personality draw for Lucia, a sword might have come out instead of a fist.
I glanced at Lucia. She wore an impressively confident expression. The fact that she'd properly controlled her power meant she was definitely in her right mind.
'Thinking about it, that's even more surprising.'
Nothing is scarier than someone calmly angry. Lucia had fully consciously sent flying the guy who'd messed with me.
She said,
"I just taught a lesson to that bullshit-spewing retard."
With that, Lucia glanced at me. She slightly bowed her head, her cheeks flushing pink. Her reaction confirmed it. Lucia had dealt with that guy for my sake.
Flustered by Lucia's response, the guards first dragged the passed-out troublemaker outside. Lucia bowed to me and followed after them.
For a moment, my mind raced.
'I thought I'd drawn a good personality gacha. But Lucia is still Lucia after all.'
Natural self-destructive trait. Having grown up in the slums and back alleys since childhood, Lucia's personality was far harder to pin down than that of ordinary noble ladies.
'In that case, I need to think even more rationally.'
As the commotion died down, the dealer at my table resumed baccarat. I calmly took the cards in hand and activated a trait.
This trait was a big help in cooling my head.
There are all sorts of high nobles, but the system must have baked in the mindset of a northern lord wielding both ice and fire for this trait.
'I'm the heir to the Border Count, after all.'
With my mind thus cleared, I turned my thoughts to Lucia.
Her action just now. Immediately punishing the guy who'd messed with me right there was clear goodwill toward me.
And to throw a punch while ignoring the gambling den guard rules to boot...
'If it's the Lucia I know, she might already be head over heels for me.'
But that point puzzled me. This was only the third time our paths had crossed.
The first was during the Combat Division sparring. The second was in the theory lecture. And the eye contact from moments ago made three encounters total.
'Still, Lucia has such a unique personality. It's not that strange.'
In the spar, I'd taken her seriously without looking down on her as the Combat Division's lowest rank. And in the lecture, we'd shared the same thoughts about the demon race she harbored goodwill toward.
It was just that much, but for Lucia, that alone could make her fall for me. Especially since I was nothing like the southern men she utterly despised.
'Like Fabian, for example.'
In other words, the endlessly frivolous southern Golden Sun, that Fabian type. I'd shown the polar opposite: earnest seriousness in front of Lucia. The northern sweet young master. That seemed to be the appeal point.
'Then, for the time being, I should play the serious northern man in front of Lucia.'
Perfect. It was actually a great opportunity.
The current Lucia looked far better off than the self-destructive Lucia from the game.
For starters, the game version had scary eyes even in the illustrations. Sometimes she'd fall hard for trashy southern men she hated so much that she'd lose her mind.
She was the epitome of a self-destructive girl who turned more yandere the more the man she liked deviated from her appeal points.
'So, acting like Fabian in front of her would spell disaster.'
On the flip side, if the real Lucia had fallen for my positive traits, it meant I could perfectly control her with my actions.
To learn her personality and tastes in men this quickly. What luck.
That random guy's provocation had turned into fortune for me. I was finishing up the baccarat hand and organizing my thoughts when it finally happened. A commotion erupted outside the gambling den's massive entrance.
"What is it? Another troublemaker? What's wrong with this VIP den lately?"
"Tell me about it. Even so-called VIP spots are going downhill. Time to switch dens..."
The people at my table grumbled irritably. But I knew the reason for the uproar.
I checked Lucia's position. She'd returned to the den but wasn't far from me. It was about to start.
Crack-
Sure enough, the sound of the gambling den's door being smashed rang out.
"Everyone freeze! How dare you run an illegal gambling den in the holy capital. You're all under arrest!"
The door burst open, and uniformed capital military police poured in. At the same time, an alert window activated.
「Resident of the Capital Teria's Underworld」
📍 Danger and pleasure rise and fall together.
⏰ : Your ally is in danger. Escape together.
It was an emergency quest alert. Just as I'd known, the crackdown by the Imperial Guard's military police had hit.
The reason Lucia's fate rank was D. This was it.
I kicked away from the table and dashed to Lucia. I grabbed her wrist and said,
"Lucia. Follow me now. Stay here and you'll be arrested!"
Her eyes widened under the mask.
The gambling den turned into pandemonium. Everyone here was caught red-handed. No excuses—they were being rounded up by the military police.
Lucia's face paled as she grasped the situation. The light in her eyes died for a moment.
"How did the military police...? They said this illegal den was greased with the Imperial Guard and it was safe. We got played. Damn it!"
Of course, in the underworld, today's friend is tomorrow's enemy. This tip-off came from the salon owner, whose partnership with the den owner had soured.
They'd been collaborators, but some incident had suddenly driven a wedge between them. No need to dwell on the details right now.
What mattered was that if Lucia got arrested like this, she'd be expelled from Pantheon. Working at an illegal gambling den made it even worse.
Having sized up the situation, she responded to me.
"Where to, Count Julian! The exits are blocked—no way out!"
Lucia's expression hardened further. The illegal den was two levels underground. All exits were already secured by the military police.
A sure arrest. But I'd prepared countermeasures.
"Stay calm, Lucia. There's a way out."
"Count Julian? But... how did you know it was me?"
She said it belatedly. We were still masked. But we'd long known each other's identities.
"You knew it was me too. Enough chat—follow me."
I led her to another door in the den. Not to the surface, but deeper down. Knowing what lay beyond, Lucia cried out,
"Count! Below is the salon!"
"I know. We'll hide there."
"But the salon has a different owner. They used to be partners on good terms, but now they're at odds. No way a mere den employee like me gets sheltered... And anyway, you can't even enter without access!"
"I already have access, Lucia. Details later."
We hurried down the wide stairs. Marble steps like those leading to a luxury hotel's basement sauna stretched ahead.
At the bottom was the entrance to the high-class salon.
"Hold it. Stop right there."
As expected, a salon guard stood there. He looked stronger than the den guards. Lucia tensed up instantly.
After eyeing us for a moment, the guard said,
"Looks like you're from the gambling den. That's got nothing to do with us now. Boss's orders: no letting in anyone from there, no matter the reason."
He'd clocked Lucia's guard uniform and pieced together the situation. The salon had already heard about the raid.
I told the guard,
"I have access here. Let us in."
He checked it. He eyed Lucia suspiciously but nodded since I had valid access.
"Very well. But if you're just dodging the crackdown... Never mind. Go in."
The salon guard seemed to have more to say but hesitated and let us through. Even after the entrance, a long corridor stretched on.
Lucia and I finally arrived inside the salon. Debauchery unfolded before us.
Moans echoed from all directions.
"Haang... Aang... Ang... Ang...♡ I'm dying...!! Cumming!!"
"Huk... Huk... Yeah, just like that... I'll pound you from behind..."
"Then where do I go?"
"Aang... Mouth pussy's still free... Hurry up and whip out your dick... Sluurp... Slurp... Cumming..."
A vast space lit by dim orange lighting—like an indoor gym—spread out before me.
And there, countless men and women were deep in the throes of passion.
'High-class salon... More shocking than I imagined.'
I'd seen this place in Demon King's Son Surviving in the Holy Empire too. But being a trash game, it glossed over the crucial 19+ content with a few mosaic-heavy illustrations.
So this was mostly imagination until now...
Lucia's expression told me everything. An unbelievably lewd and depraved scene lay before us.
The shocked Lucia immediately covered her eyes.
'Lucia grew up rough, so other people's sex shouldn't faze her. But yeah, this is shocking.'
Beds and sofas dotted the area. The space was divided into semi-private sections like small rooms, with curtains that could be drawn or left open.
But most had the curtains open, lost in sex with their partners. And not just pairs—crowds of men and women. A full-blown orgy.
Nearby, a naked woman played with two men.
"Aang...♡ Not your dick... Getting pounded by another feels so much better...♡ So good... Too good...♡ Cumming...♡ Cumming so hard...!! Came from a stranger's dick today...!!"
Others moved around, enjoying new partners.
Or, without joining in, lounged on nearby sofas watching others' sex leisurely.
A voyeur's paradise. Deeply shocked, Lucia whispered,
"How... can they do such shameful, lewd things... More demonic than actual demons..."
The professor had said it in class a few days ago: lewd demons indulged in orgies whenever. But as Lucia said, humans fit that description better.
'Golden Sun Fabian. No ordinary guy. Enjoyed VIP status here.'
As we hesitated from the vivid culture shock,
a woman in a red slip that was practically underwear approached us.
"Oh my. You two a couple? Sometimes playing in a place like this deepens a lovers' bond. Hehe. Welcome to our salon. I'm the manager, Carmen."
Her voice dripped with sultry nasal tones. A voluptuous milf-type staffer in her thirties. The manager the guard had mentioned.
I already knew who she was. A famous figure in the pleasure trade who personally selected women for Cardinal Grius's harem.
Her influence stretched not just to the underworld but the capital's social circles too.
'Poor illegal den. Getting on the bad side of a scary woman like this.'
Spotting Lucia's guard uniform, the manager said to us,
"Oh my. That young lady's outfit looks familiar. And both of you in masks... From the gambling den upstairs?"
She'd already caught on but phrased it lightly.
"Well, the guard let you in without issue, so you must have VIP access. And one companion per pass is allowed. However, no masks is our salon rule. Mind removing them?"
Lucia panicked. I whispered in her ear,
"We have to stay here until the raid ends. Do as the manager says."
We removed our masks. Lucia's face was flushed red like pink slime. Looking at my bare face, the manager gave an intrigued expression.
"Then let me show you to a seat. Follow me?"
Manager Carmen guided us to a spot in the salon.