Madam Helma (3)
To confirm a few things, I took Shin Yu-hee with me to Shemiri's restaurant.
"Huh? What's up, at this hour?"
"Got some questions before I stir shit up."
"Stir shit up?"
"Wanna confirm something about nominations."
Nomination. When it comes to calling out opponents to fight in the arena, there's one thing we need to nail down for sure.
"Can anyone nominate anyone?"
How far does the range extend?
"Staff can't, right? Like that Grimgwald guy you know—he wasn't recruited as a fighter."
Just like Shemiri said, arena staff are off-limits. If the restaurant folks could nominate someone just for bad food, that'd be bullshit, wouldn't it?
"Of course, we can choose to accept. I've been nominated a few times myself. Naturally, I killed them so they'd never try it again."
"So management can step in if they want?"
"Officially no, but if the nominee's cool with it, they can go up. But from what I know, it's just full of downsides. No win multipliers, and you piss off the bosses by killing staff."
No benefits. Hell, if management steps into the arena themselves, it's just them making an example out of someone showing hostility toward operations.
"Then lemme ask: is Madam Helma management?"
"You already know the answer."
"That's why I want confirmation. Madam Helma—she's one of the humans who entered the arena, right? Like us."
"Spot on."
If she's not management but just another human, that changes things.
"Even if she's got her own operation running a brothel with some structure, she's still just another arena human. Yeah, I'll give her props for the scale. The higher-ups are keeping an eye on her crew."
"Because they maintain some order?"
"That, and hygiene issues."
"Hygiene?"
"At least Madam Helma keeps her girls clean. She turns away guys with STDs or who show up filthy."
"Huh."
Makes sense. Running a brothel long-term? Hygiene's non-negotiable. In a place where even washing costs money, guys buying pussy would gladly spend exchange vouchers to clean up first. And if that system breaks down...
Not my problem.
Shemiri shot me a slightly worried look, but the tutorial stage ends when it's done. No epilogues after that—just server shutdown, no more no less.
"Got it. Mind watching Shin Yu-hee for a bit?"
"Huh?"
"Senior?"
"No idea how it'll go down, but dragging her along might make that bitch pick on her."
Brothel madams snatch up any halfway cute girl as a whore. Not just Helma—every brothel owner eyeing Shin Yu-hee would be drooling. No intention of letting that happen, so better cut it off at the pass.
"Please. You're the only one I trust with her."
"Senior. I can—"
"While you're at it, learn some combat from Shemiri. She'll teach better than me, a guy."
Bonus training too.
"From Shemiri?"
"Yeah. Where else you gonna learn dark elf fighting style?"
"What? Teach her for free?"
"I'll throw in my dick."
Can't ask for private lessons for free. Usually you'd pay with exchange vouchers, but the smart play is offering something more valuable to them.
"Deal."
"My dick..."
"Oh? What's this, missy? Jealous 'cause I'm gonna suck your man's cock?"
"It's not that—"
"Or wanna spar me? Land one hit, and I'll teach her free instead of eating dick."
"......."
Shemiri picked up a clean metal skewer. Looked like something for grilling meat over a fire, but the moment she took stance, it became a rapier.
"But if I win, I eat that dick right in front of you, no complaints?"
"...Fuck."
A flicker of dismay crossed Shin Yu-hee's face. She glanced between me and Shemiri, sensing the outcome already, but still raised her sword like she might try.
She'd realized it. She could never land a clean hit on Shemiri.
"Senior, just tell me one thing?"
"What?"
"Who wins between you and Shemiri?"
"Hell if I know?"
Trouble splashed my way. Shemiri eyed me with sparkling interest, and I flicked the hand axe at my belt.
"Mana, she wins. Pure skill, I do."
"Mana...?"
"Yep."
Mana overcomes raw physique or skill gaps. To beat a mana edge, you need superior technique or some trick up your sleeve.
"...So that's the confidence behind nominating Helma."
Shemiri scanned me up and down. She'd done it since we met, but now it was even more blatant, sizing me up. Could she win against me directly? Hard to gauge pure vibe—too many variables—but we'd tangled bodies, so she had some read. Not from fighting, from fucking, but you can still tell how someone moves in those moments.
"How much combat you got under your belt, really?"
"Fought till I dropped."
She sensed I had as much—or more—battle experience than a dark elf like her.
"Take good care of Shin Yu-hee. Be back soon."
"Got it. If you're off to fuck, save some for me and her~"
"Senior, is the real reason you're ditching me...!"
"Nah."
Probably.
After leaving Shin Yu-hee with Shemiri.
I asked Grimgwald for one favor, and even taking exchange vouchers, he looked reluctant. He was factoring in blowback reaching the top—Chekhov's ears.
But he took the job in the end, and I headed to Madam Helma's with light steps.
Crunch crunch.
Bats flitting across the cave-like corridor ceiling. Things you rarely saw were starting to swarm.
Already watching?
Bats are vampire familiars, obviously. With all the noise I'd made, word had reached Chekhov long ago.
All my plans.
If you're watching, I'll put on a good show.
Process doesn't matter—results do.
"Hoo."
With that resolve, I took a deep breath, gripped my hand axe in one hand, and approached the main gate of Helma's brothel.
End of the corridor: a wide open space. A flashy building loomed large there. Tent-like, but the entrance and exterior screamed red-light district—pure den of vice.
"H-heek...!?"
A woman at the main gate recoiled in terror. Partly the axe, but she'd clearly recognized my face and armor.
"Y-you're...?"
"Choi Yu-jin's here, right?"
"Ch-Choi Yu-jin...?"
"Yeah. What, no word? Or—"
"Here."
The gate opened, and the guys who'd summoned me before came out to greet me.
"Earlier than expected. Where's that girl you drag around?"
"Not your business."
"Pity. Doesn't matter. Madam's waiting inside. With the other girls."
Following the guy's lead inward. Maze-like tunnels branching left and right from the long corridor. Barging in blind would've been a nightmare to navigate—and the thick musk wafting from the maze's end was dizzying.
Sex village, sex village.
Not a separate brothel space carved out—just fucking right in the girls' living quarters.
Swish.
Just past in the corridor, a woman by a bedding area stared this way. Ankle chained, long iron leash letting her move a bit but not escape the hall. To flee: snap the chain or hack off the foot.
"Heh heh. Interested? 20 exchange vouchers, I'll unchain one leg."
As I eyed the chained girl, Helma's underling rubbed his fingers slyly.
"Sales pitch even now?"
"She's one of mine."
"What's your cut?"
"Huh?"
"How much if I fuck her."
"30%."
"Figures."
Yeah. Skimming commissions like that lets her run a massive operation—hundreds, maybe thousands. But that's ending now.
"I've been waiting, warrior Yoo Si-woo."
End of the long corridor. In the center of a throne-room space, a woman lounged sideways on a vast red throne like a bed, clad in just a dress.
"Before we talk..."
Madam Helma hiked her dress slightly, exposing her pussy.
"Kneel and lick quietly now, and I'll forgive everything. Deal?"
"Never imagined that's how you'd greet me... Thanks for the lesson."
"What?"
"Gonna use it myself later."
Provocation for a visiting enemy woman.
"Wanna live? Suck my cock."
"......."
Pre-regression me couldn't dream it up, and even now I wondered if it was too much.
"Something like that."
That's how it's done. Lesson learned.
"No plans to let you suck my dick, of course. But as payment for the wisdom, I'll grant you a clean death."
"Death—"
"Follow me to the arena. I'll nominate you."
I gripped the hand axe's end short, aiming under her dress.
"Thanks accepted."