Chapter 98: It Wasn't a Scam (4)
Chapter 98: It Wasn't a Scam (4)
"To be honest, I still don't understand."
"Understand what?"
"This 'Virginity Theory' you keep talking about, Young Lord."
I didn't say it because I expected her to understand. It was merely nonsense and sophistry intended to get us alone.
"If no one else's body has touched the genitals, then she's a virgin. At least, that’s the extent of what’s been proven so far. That alone is enough."
One thing was clear.
"I couldn't show this data in front of the others, but I'm showing it to you now because we're alone."
"Wait a moment. So you were spouting all that nonsense outside just to get a private audience with me?"
"Exactly."
Everything was for the sake of meeting Charlotte one-on-one.
"Whether a vampire's virginity verification is effective or not, or what the specific boundaries of losing one's virginity are—none of that matters. I just needed to create a situation where we could talk privately. Spatially speaking."
"Then why didn't you just ask to speak with me privately from the beginning?"
"If I had, someone else would have tried to eavesdrop or watch."
If I had requested a private meeting from the start, there would have been a power struggle over it. But look at the result.
"Ruji Fermaton is a lunatic. You can't reason with him."
"......."
"That's how it looks on the surface, but I am a very rational and efficient man."
"What a load of rubbish."
"I'll prove it."
I pulled out a projection stone.
"That woman you sold, the one named Kuro—do you happen to know her name before she became a slave?"
"She was called Benia."
"I see. The last piece of the puzzle has been found."
I played the projection stone—not the cropped version from before, but the full image showing the top part.
"...Benia of the Virginity Scam?"
"Yes. The Infinite Labyrinth revealed her true nature to me. That is what the Labyrinth calls her. Look at the name floating above her head."
"This is impossible... How can such a phenomenon...?"
"That's why I'm telling you this."
I took a sip of the milk tea I had received earlier to moisten my throat.
"The Infinite Labyrinth told me. Virginity Scam. The slave you sold was not a virgin."
"But we don't even know what the scope of that 'Virginity Scam' entails, do we?"
"True. That's why I want to make a proposal."
"...A proposal?"
Charlotte watched me warily, her face tense with caution.
"What kind of proposal?"
"Research."
"Research...?"
"Yes. Research regarding virginity. To be precise, it's this."
I lightly spilled some milk tea onto the glass table and then wiped it away with a napkin.
"A rag is still a rag even if you wash it, but if you reform it into something entirely new, it's no longer a rag. At least, not on the surface."
"...But the fact that it was used as a rag remains a fact."
"Indeed. That's why I want to establish a hypothesis. A secret of the Infinite Labyrinth that no one has discovered yet."
Ba-dum.
And that is...
"...Virginity Regeneration."
"What did you say?"
"Those who are cursed by the Infinite Labyrinth and reborn as beasts have their hymens regenerated as well. What do you think of my hypothesis?"
"Well, that's..."
Charlotte's eyes began to waver.
"When you shoved your cock back into those beast slaves, did they bleed from the inside or anything like that?"
"No such investigation has been conducted."
"But surely you must have checked to some extent?"
"Young Lord. Let me be honest with you."
Charlotte looked at me with a somewhat pathetic expression.
"Who in the world would seriously investigate something like that?"
"If there's money to be made, it's worth investigating seriously."
Yes. This is where the real 'deal' begins.
"I was scammed. But until the Infinite Labyrinth told me otherwise, I simply thought she was a virgin."
The Schrödinger's Virgin theory.
"Benia was a rag anyway, so let's set her aside. I want you to conduct an investigation on women who have become demons or beasts due to the curse."
"You mean... if someone had sex before their body was transformed by the curse, would their virginity be regenerated once they are reborn as a different entity by the Infinite Labyrinth's power?"
"Yes. Reborn. That's the most important part."
The resurrection of the hymen.
"Think about it. Think about the female slaves who come in already having lost their virginity. Aside from the one or two 'special' ones where the slave hunters think, 'Oh, I can sell this one for a high price if I keep her a virgin,' think about the vast majority of women. What happens to them?"
"...They're all fucked before they even arrive."
That's how slave traders are. Whether they're bandits or professional hunters, they rape any woman who's even remotely decent-looking.
"What if those women are reborn as beasts? And what if they are resurrected as beauties? What if they also regain their virginity?"
"......If we sell them while hiding the truth, we could sell them for an incredibly high price."
"Exactly!"
Until a cock is shoved inside, no one knows if they're a virgin or not.
"In Kuro's case, there was a time gap, so I couldn't verify it. But if we conduct a proper investigation, the story changes. Think about it. What if a woman who was a rag in her past life undergoes Virginity Regeneration through the Labyrinth's curse?"
"We could sell them for a very, very high price...!"
Somehow, it felt like jewels were sparkling in Charlotte's eyes.
"It's a brilliant plan! We could erase their memories from before they became beasts, or place a restriction on them so they can't even speak of it. Ah, no. It would also be a great selling point for those whose preference is the act of breaking the hymen itself!"
"Right. And those people are..."
"The wealthy who aren't concerned about money!"
Jewels? No. Her lively appearance just made it seem like she was shining like a gem. To be precise, she was swelling with dreams of sitting on a pile of money thanks to the power of regenerated virgins.
"For now, it's nothing more than a theory. But if it's true, Ninetail can use Virginity Regeneration to sell off women who were previously difficult to sell at a high price."
"You're amazing. Your business acumen is quite something."
"If I weren't at least this capable, I'd have to leave the management of the Fermaton estate to someone else."
Turning a rag into a regenerated virgin. To use a metaphor, it's 'reboxing' the goods.
"You are a very, very interesting person, Young Lord."
"In what way?"
"Usually, no one thinks like this. Even as a slave trader, I never imagined such a thing. How did you come up with this?"
"Are you saying I'm that crazy about money?"
"No. I'm saying you are incredibly creative."
Charlotte clearly began to feel a sense of tension toward me. Until now, her wariness was directed at a madman—wondering what kind of nonsense this lunatic was spouting.
"Young Lord. Since it's just the two of us, let me ask: why are you making this proposal to me? That data in the video seems like something you shouldn't just show to anyone."
Charlotte seemed to be contemplating how she should treat me now.
"There are two reasons. One, as I said last time, is to make you my lifeline for when I eventually move to the Empire."
"Are you speaking of a time when the Curse of Fermaton is lifted?"
"Yes. No one knows what the future holds."
"You do know what happens to a Fermaton who leaves Fermaton, don't you?"
"I know."
No Fermaton can ever leave Fermaton. There are magical restraints, but the moment a Fermaton begins to leave, the Infinite Labyrinth goes berserk. Furthermore, the escaping Fermaton suffers the agony of their blood boiling every single moment.
The Blood Curse—where the intestines twist and the blood vessels throughout the body warp. Every Fermaton for generations has tested this, and not one has ever successfully left.
"And yet, you are planning for a time when you leave the Fermaton territory. Are you prepared for that?"
"Of course. More than anything else, what's most precious to me is my—"
In that moment, a scene flashed through my mind.
Laura. My knight order. And the people around me.
"...My people and my life."
"That's unexpected. It makes you even more interesting."
"What does?"
"Seeing that the man who came up with the idea to sell slaves as regenerated virgins by exploiting the Labyrinth's curse cherishes his own people so terribly much."
"Isn't that only natural? I'm a selfish bastard."
There was no need to reveal everything to Charlotte just yet. But if there was a reason I revealed this much of my inner thoughts...
"It's not a bad deal for you or the Empire either."
"I am a woman of thorough profit and loss calculations. At the very least, if I deal with you, Young Lord, I won't be on the losing side of the trade."
Though Charlotte wasn't an ally yet, I could certainly share my vision with a business partner who would help me exploit slaves. Yes. This woman wasn't just an ordinary person; she was my business partner. A partner in the Empire who would be a great help in my grand plan to escape to the Empire.
"From what I hear, the Kingdom might ban the slave trade in the future. A time might come when you have to close up shop in Fermaton. I will be your shield."
"Are you saying you'll turn against the Kingdom? Just for the sake of slave trading?"
"No. For you."
I reached out toward Charlotte.
"We talk to beautiful women, make deals, and later, we have sex and help each other out. That's how life goes."
"You're still talking about sex. Are you serious?"
"I am always serious when it comes to sex with a beautiful woman."
"What if..."
Charlotte toyed with her lips and gave me a provocative look.
"What if I'm not a virgin?"
"There's no way you're not a virgin."
Because she's a pickup character.
"Who knows? According to Young Lord Ruji Fermaton's Virginity Theory, I might already not be a virgin."
"You've misunderstood. That was the vampire's view on virginity, not mine."
"Oh, really? Then what is a virgin in your eyes?"
What I consider a virgin, huh?
"That's not important."
"Now you say that?"
"What's truly important to me is this."
I pointed downward.
"Fidelity."
"...That's a cock."
"The fidelity to have sex with my cock, not cheat, and keep looking only at me."
"That's..."
"You might have had sex with some other guy before meeting me. I can accept that. But once you're with me, you have to look only at me."
"......."
"Or so I say."
I moistened my throat with the milk tea.
"But the world is full of virgins. Why should I bother embracing a woman who holds another man in her heart?"
"Pardon?"
"A capable man wins the beauty. If I'm going to have sex anyway, how much better is it to have sex with a virgin? Hmm?"
There are plenty of virgins. And I have the ability and power to have sex with them.
"And I have a knack for recognizing a virgin."
"......."
"I didn't know because you told me. I didn't know because you staked your virginity on it. It's my intuition."
"And so?"
"Let's maintain a good relationship from now on. As for the matter of selling a fake virgin..."
I gave Charlotte a light wink.
"If you ever want to have virgin sex later, call me. I'll give you a first experience that's hotter and gentler than any princess of the Kingdom—no, even a goddess—could ever have."
The penalty for a virginity scam is death or payment in virginity.
Ruji Law Article 74.
"If you sold a fake virgin, you have to provide a real one. Isn't that right?"