A Woman with a Story (3)
A Woman with a Story (3)
Game logic concessions sometimes had an enormous impact on the story.
For example:
During a cutscene, a character was clearly empty-handed, but the moment battle started, they would inexplicably produce a weapon from thin air.
The problem was that there was no established lore for it. If they at least wore a scabbard at their waist, you could assume they had drawn it from there, but without any such detail, they simply pulled a sword out of their hip.
There was no dimensional pocket or similar setting either. For the characters in that game, carrying a weapon was always a given, unrestricted by their attire—regardless of location, whether they wore a school uniform, a dress, or a swimsuit.
... Even in a bunny-girl costume.
That was right. Even Alice had produced her weapon without the slightest concern once a fight began.
But after meticulous observation over the ten years I had lived in this world, I had concluded that this was not actually possible in reality.
To produce a weapon, one obviously had to be carrying it. And a large weapon could not simply be concealed. A greatsword like Alice's, in particular, absolutely could not be hidden inside one's clothing.
The same went for my revolver.
I had considered acquiring a smaller gun, for instance, the Derringer I knew was hidden under Mia Crowfield's bed, but even so, a bunny-girl costume had nowhere to conceal it.
I had not obtained the bunny-girl costume yet, but just in case, I had worn only my undergarments, crafted a paper replica of roughly the same size, and tried tucking it between my breasts. Leaving aside the fact that it was profoundly uncomfortable, it was simply plainly visible.
It was awkward to put it this way, but my chest was not something that could be called small even as an empty compliment, and it was still impossible. Alice looked roughly similar in size, so hiding any sort of weapon there was problematic in multiple respects.
I had also wondered whether something could be hidden inside the tail of a bunny-girl costume, but if something concealed there were to discharge by mistake, my pelvis probably would not survive the experience, so I shelved the idea for now. Even if I could rewind time, I preferred not to undergo horrific experiences.
... Besides, if I was in a bunny-girl costume, somebody would definitely grope me, and there was a high chance that whatever was hidden in the tail would be discovered. Even just standing still, the weight would cause it to sag downward.
After all this deliberation, I reached a single conclusion.
Resolve the situation before the bunny-girl costume became necessary.
In the first place, if I could reliably extract the information about the infiltrated Cathedral Knight, would that not count as a successful mission?
Besides, I had already identified where the Cathedral Knight was.
That green-haired woman who had clearly been sitting in the restaurant after finishing her work and dealing with customers.
That woman was the Cathedral Knight.
*
Bella probably knew too.
The Holy State was never depicted as a pushover in the game, but the Emperor was portrayed as a figure who aimed even higher.
He was the sort of person who, despite possessing the Book of Prophecy, did not rely solely on its contents but personally gathered and cross-referenced information, and because of that the Holy State had even been caught completely off guard. Then again, the Holy State as it appeared in the game was hardly an endearing faction, so I had not felt much either way.
The Emperor had probably not only known that a Cathedral Knight was infiltrated here but had also identified exactly who had infiltrated before dispatching Bella. That was how it had gone in the original.
Saying that a lone woman was wandering around the casino district late at night might sound a little dangerous if you only heard those words, but in practice that was not the case. Perhaps because the area had been modeled on Las Vegas when it was built, the public safety around here was actually superior to other regions.
The surroundings were brightly lit even in the middle of the night, and knights were visible patrolling here and there. Not only that, but among the people in plain clothes, some were almost certainly soldiers from this domain.
From a tourist destination's perspective, few things were worse than a tourist having their luggage stolen: the money went to criminals, the tourists could no longer spend it, and unpleasant rumors spread.
The waitstaff working here did not receive special protection, but by the standard of being 'tourists', one could expect extremely thorough protection at the domain level. That was how you ensured people would come back next time.
So there was no reason for me, dressed lightly like an ordinary tourist, to come to harm.
From the moment I emerged from the brightly lit hotel, passed along the boulevard where the lights never went out, and walked to the casino entrance, tourists teemed in the streets. Lovers and intoxicated people laughed and chattered noisily, enjoying the city that never slept.
Some had a bunny girl or waitress on their arm, and a few middle-aged women had handsome, tall young men escorting them.
Sodom and Gomorrah... Well, the atmosphere did not feel quite that far over the line, but by the standards of a world modeled on the very early 20th century, it was certainly sexually licentious and decadent.
I passed through streets where I faintly caught the smell of alcohol and arrived in front of the casino.
The men in black suits and bowler hats standing on either side of the entrance gave me a brief glance but did not block my way. They probably saw me as a woman and a customer. A place that drew all sorts of wealthy individuals would naturally see many young women walking alone.
Also, I had not brought a gun. Even by the standards of truly dangerous people, I likely did not appear much of a threat.
I walked into the casino without hesitation.
A dazzling blaze of gold filled my vision.
... It was extravagant.
Far more extravagant than I had seen in the game. Well, that was inevitable. The game's graphics had been limited by developmental constraints and were never that impressive.
Still, the casino layout I could glimpse did not seem markedly different from what I had seen in the game.
In that case, the place where the Cathedral Knight was located was probably similar as well.
I immediately found a staircase and went up. Inside the lavish building, which had neither windows nor clocks, people bustled about. Were there truly this many rich people in the world? Then again, the establishment's fame was not confined to the Empire, so it was no surprise if wealthy individuals from all over the world gathered here.
There was not much to what a bunny girl did in a place like this. She circulated among the guests, distributed alcohol and drinks, and collected tips.
The tips primarily went between her breasts.
"......."
Now that I thought about it again, it made me dizzy.
I quickened my pace a little and ascended to the second floor.
And I was able to spot the conspicuous green hair immediately.
Her expression was entirely different from what I had seen that morning. She had put on a bright smile, and as if she had dusted glittering powder across her chest, her genuinely sparkling skin was displayed for the customers as if she were showing it off. Her bobbed hair swayed lightly, giving her a healthy look.
"Oh my, thank you!"
Seeing that woman thrusting her hips back, pushing her chest slightly forward, and fawning flirtatiously, I nearly felt my head go blank again.
In other words, I had come close to walking around this place in that sort of outfit?
... Let me just extract the information quickly and end this.
I walked straight over to where that woman was.
Her eyes met mine just as she straightened up after receiving a tip that a dopey, drunken man had tucked between her breasts.
For the briefest moment, a look of surprise spread across the woman's face. Then, soon after, she flashed a mischievous grin.
I did not like that smile one bit.
But I could not simply turn around and leave without exchanging a single word. Why else had I come all the way here?
"Customer, I'm sorry, but I'm a devout follower of the Church of the Goddess. I won't condemn same-sex affection, but I don't accept female patrons."
When I approached without avoiding her gaze, the woman spoke in a bouncy tone.
She probably already knew who I was. After all, I had treated the person who came as the papal emissary from Belbur with such disrespect. I had also wrecked the plan they had in place.
An alert about me would have gone out long ago.
"......."
Without a word, I pulled a single check from a trouser pocket at random. Then I inserted that folded check, which read 30 pounds, straight between the woman's breasts.
I took care, of course, to ensure my fingers did not actually touch her chest.
... It probably would not have mattered even if they had, but, how should I put it—it was just a little weird.
"......."
Staring at the check that had abruptly been thrust between her own breasts, the green-haired woman blinked a few times, then looked back at me and smiled broadly. But her eyes, beneath the mask that covered their corners, were not smiling at all.
"Hmm, but since you've given me this much, I can hardly let you pass without exchanging a word! Shall we go somewhere quiet?"
Seeing me nod silently, the woman turned around with a look of pleasure and began to walk.
I followed after her without a word.