Chapter 175: The Symbol of Dictatorship (4)
Chapter 175: The Symbol of Dictatorship (4)
Information on the underworld gathered by the Thieves' Guild.
Personnel deployment utilizing every resource at my disposal.
And my inherent authority as the Young Lord.
"Young Lord. It is finished. We have secured everyone—the pimps, the prostitutes, and even the men who came to buy them."
Utilizing all of that, we subjugated the red-light district in a single stroke.
"Fuck! What do you think you're doing?! Treating us like criminals—what's the big idea?!"
"Is it a crime to sell your body because it's hard to make a living?! Huh?!"
"You spend every damn day having sex yourself, so why the hell are you stopping us from making a living off it?!"
I wasn't just putting on a show of enforcement; I was conducting a crackdown so massive that I was standing right there, taking the vitriol of the brothel workers head-on.
"Sir Lambert. Throw the pimps into the dungeons beneath the barracks. You will be in charge of managing them."
"Understood, Young Lord."
"Hiiiieek!"
There was no particular information to be gained from them, so I left the pimps to Lambert without a second thought.
He was a capable man.
Aside from his... specific sexual preferences, he was someone I could rely on to handle tasks with ease.
A shame.
If Lambert had been closely connected to the scum of the red-light district and leaked information, I could have purged him along with them.
Unfortunately, Lambert moved with extreme efficiency as a knight of Fermaton.
He mobilized the knights and soldiers before any word could leak, sealing the area so tightly not even an ant could escape.
He had even captured the men who were still buried deep inside the prostitutes, so it wasn't an exaggeration to say he had seized every single soul in the district.
"Young Lord. We have secured a large amount of gold from inside."
Laura brought over a chest.
The chest was filled to the brim with grimy gold coins, reeking of alcohol, tobacco, and the heavy scent of semen.
"Put that filthy thing down."
"But it's money."
"I don't use money like that. Astarotte. Fire."
With Astarotte's help, I summoned a flame to my fingertip and flicked a spark into the chest of gold.
"Money reeking of dick-stink is better off burned."
Since it was gold and not paper bills, it wouldn't actually be destroyed, but I had already made a habit of performing by burning magic stones.
"Burning money... You crazy bastard!"
"He's mad... He's out of his mind...!"
"Why the hell are you doing this?! Wasn't money the goal?!"
What I was doing now was "fake madness."
And yet, they couldn't even begin to fathom the reason behind my actions.
"Money? I can just earn more of that."
I continued to set fire to the chests of gold coins the soldiers brought out.
"Promissory notes, too. Heh, they were busy writing their own checks and making a mess."
Whoosh. Whoosh.
The flames continued to spread.
The fire went beyond just burning the chests; it began to lick at the buildings of the red-light district.
"Kyaaaa!!"
A woman, presumably a madam, shrieked.
"You madman! Why are you doing this?! What do you possibly stand to gain from this?!"
"I do it because I gain something. Hmm, haaa."
I spread my arms wide and took a deep breath.
"Just watching the foundations of those who dared to defy me burn to the ground is pleasure enough."
"Wha-what...?"
"If you want someone to blame, blame the pimps who dared to stand up to me."
If I was going to do this, I might as well do it right.
"Because those lowly pimps interfered with my sex life."
I made sure the message was clear.
* * *
"Did I look like a madman? What do you think?"
"I'd say you looked exactly like 'Ruji Fermaton.'"
After returning to the office in the Lord's Castle, Zenith merely sipped her tea calmly in response to my question.
"Isn't that a bit of a lackluster impression?"
"What would you have me say? Those who know you will think you set the fire to swallow the red-light district whole, while those who don't will think Ruji Fermaton committed a madness because his sex was interrupted."
"Hmph."
Maybe I've let her get to know me too well.
It felt like Zenith wouldn't be fazed no matter what I did now.
"Mother. If I were to rape you right now, would you just think, 'Well, that's just like him'?"
"It's not as if it would be the first or second time."
"I suppose I should start changing my patterns soon."
Zenith's reaction was so composed it took the fun out of it.
Perhaps it was because the first time I took her was so high-impact.
Now, even if I snuck in to rape her, she would just lie there and let me take her quietly.
Not that I'm bored of her, though.
Sex with Zenith was always satisfying.
Then again, when was sex ever not satisfying? But sex with Gacha characters was on another level entirely.
Sex with those who weren't Gacha characters—like Shiro, for instance—felt... a bit lacking in flavor, so to speak.
The physical sensation was good, but there was a subtle sense of disappointment.
"You burned down the red-light district, and you scorched the hearts of the men who were saving up to plow those prostitutes. ...What do you plan to do now?"
I hadn't yet told Zenith the specifics of my plan.
"Assuming you kill or imprison all the pimps, the prostitutes remain. What will you do with those women?"
"I'm going to let them be reborn."
That was the reason I burned the district down in the first place.
"The prostitutes will be reborn in a new form."
"Are you saying you're going to rehabilitate them?"
"No. It seems you're still a person of common sense, Mother."
"......?"
Zenith tilted her head in confusion.
"Then what are you going to do?"
"Exactly what I said. I will make them be reborn as new beings."
However.
"As prostitutes who have no choice but to submit to the blood of Fermaton, who have no choice but to follow Fermaton."
When they are reborn, they will no longer be human.
* * *
Clink, clink.
"Ugh...!"
The women, with Bitch Collars fastened around their necks, were led with heavy steps into the dungeons of the Lord's Castle.
It looked like an ordinary prison, but with those collars on, they were utterly helpless.
"Ah, aah...!"
One woman collapsed to the floor.
Her legs gave out, and she desperately tugged at the collar, sobbing as her entire body flushed red.
"This is insane..."
The moment they tried to force the collar off, their sexual arousal would explode uncontrollably.
When that happened, they all turned into nothing more than panting bitches.
To be soaking themselves in a dungeon?
To think that after all those times they just faked it for customers, they would end up truly climaxing like this.
"Dammit..."
All they could do was curse.
While it was a relief that the pimps were dead or locked up, in the end, a new pimp had simply taken their place.
Their master had just changed from a back-alley thug to the Young Lord.
"Damn it. What's going to happen to us now?"
"What do you think? You either die, or you're reborn as new beings loyal to Fermaton."
Creeeeak.
The cell door opened.
"Who are you...?"
"People call me the 'Dream-Eater.' Hehe."
The Succubus who appeared as the door opened had a white bandage wrapped around her left arm.
"Is she crazy? A Succubus cosplay... wait, what?"
"Do I look human to you?"
"A-A real Succubus!"
Swish, swish.
The tail moving behind the Succubus was far too dynamic; it was a movement that no mage could replicate artificially.
"T-This is insane! Letting a Succubus roam around like this!"
"You're going to become a Succubus too."
"What...?"
"If you receive the blessing of the Black Flame, you can be reborn as a Succubus."
The Succubus pulled out two pills.
One was a plain white candy, and the other was a candy engraved with a black flame pattern.
"If you eat the white candy, you die here. You'll die of pure pleasure. The Young Lord has no reason to keep you locked up and fed for nothing."
"Wha-what...!"
"But he wanted to give you a chance."
The Succubus shook the Black Flame Candy.
"If you eat this, you'll be reborn as a Succubus. To use the words of the adventurers, it's a candy that inflicts the Succubus Transformation Curse."
"Is... is that even possible...?"
"Would I be doing this if it wasn't? What will it be? Will you be reborn as a Succubus and live a new life, or will you die as a prostitute?"
"......."
She couldn't answer easily.
To die nobly as a human.
Or to continue living, even if it meant becoming a lowly Succubus.
"There is no middle ground, and no hesitation. If you don't choose right here, this chance is gone forever."
"......."
"There's no time to choose. I'll give you ten seconds."
"If... if I choose this... what happens to me?"
"Your current life continues. You'll be a Succubus prostitute taking male customers. However..."
The Succubus stroked her lower abdomen with her tail and smiled suggestively.
"The Young Lord has promised. If you work as a Succubus prostitute, you only have to pay a 3.3% commission on your earnings and keep the rest for yourself."
"...What?"
A chill ran down the woman's spine.
"3.3... how much?"
"If you sleep with a man for one night and earn 1,000 gold, you only have to pay 33 gold as a fee to Fermaton."
"No, I mean, that's..."
"You don't like it? Your ten seconds are almost up."
"W-Wait!!"
The woman hurriedly reached for the Black Flame Candy.
"W-What are the side effects of eating this...?"
"Side effects? Nothing else. You obey Ruji Fermaton. And you sell your body to men. That's it."
"......."
"If you don't want to die, you'd better eat it."
"...I don't exactly have a choice."
Gulp.
"Ah, aah, aaaaaah...!!"
The woman, and the other women captured with her, all began to be stained by a dark shadow.
* * *
"I'm turning human prostitutes into Succubus prostitutes."
I had wondered if I'd have to capture non-virgin Succubi to staff the public brothels, but fortunately, there was no need for that.
Prostitution is best handled by those with experience.
A public brothel that wouldn't betray Fermaton and would live for Fermaton.
Well, whether I give them their freedom later based on their performance is a matter for another time.
'Pro-sexers.'
"If I make them Succubi, there are no STDs and no pregnancies. How much cleaner can a public brothel get?"