Deluna (4) - Do We Really Need to Go to the Pleasure District?
Deluna (4) - Do we really need to go to the pleasure district?
"One Sola for one night, how about it? This is more than ten times what even a high-class prostitute gets. Don't misunderstand, I don't have any perverted tastes. Just a very hot and normal service is enough."
A gaze explicitly licking her lips and cleavage.
Vulgar words pouring out from a youthful-looking face.
Finally, Rose, reaching the limit of her patience, slammed the counter.
[CRASH—!]
"I've been patient with you, but what do you take me for...? You little brat, I've even let your informal speech slide, so what's your problem? You want me to offer my body instead of money??"
A fierce momentum as if she would draw her sword at any moment.
... But.
"Hahahaha! 'Little brat,' she says. Miss, it's problematic to judge a Dwarf's appearance by human standards. Even if I look like this, I'm a respectable middle-aged man over fifty this year. Well, this body of mine is exceptionally youthful even among my own kind, though."
"Whether you're fifty or a hundred, it's none of my business...sir."
Rose crossed her arms and shot back, not backing down.
In polite speech.
With a slightly deflated expression.
"It's already unpleasant for you to openly ogle someone's body, and asking me to offer my body instead of money is a serious insult, you know?"
How dare you, to me, a Guardian—
She barely swallowed the words she was about to say.
"Yes, that's the face of someone thinking, 'How dare you, to me, a Guardian—'"
"..."
"A warrior with great power. An existence everyone looks up to. But why isn't this small Dwarf afraid of me—is that what you're thinking? That's truly the typical appearance of a rookie Guardian."
"No, I didn't go that far..."
Honestly, she was a little curious, though.
She hadn't intended to be that arrogant.
As Rose, hit in her weak spot, couldn't speak, the Dwarf leaned his upper body over the counter and whispered.
"Curious? Then... if you let me touch your luscious breasts just once, I'll kindly tell you."
"...Should I really just cut this off?"
As Rose fiddled with the Shortsword at her waist, the Dwarf hastily raised both hands and backed away.
"Whoa, whoa! It's a joke, a joke! You've got quite a temper, unlike your appearance."
The Dwarf glanced at Rose's chest with lingering regret, then cleared his throat and adjusted his posture.
"The reason I'm not afraid of you? It's simple. I'm a Guardian just like you."
"......???"
Rose's eyes widened significantly.
This small Dwarf in front of her was a Guardian?
Of course, there was no law stating that a Guardian had to be human.
The reason she was surprised now wasn't because he was a Dwarf, but...
"Guardians are warriors who inherit the Lord's will and fight against Magical Beasts... aren't they?"
"Ha, you have a very narrow-minded and rigid way of thinking. Guardians are, literally, beings who protect the world. You don't necessarily have to fight tooth and nail to protect the world, do you?"
The Dwarf tapped the Expansion Pouch and Transformation Cloak placed on the table.
"I'm contributing enough to this world by utilizing my aptitude and talent. Do you think ordinary Dwarves, who can't even handle mana, can create such high-level magical tools?"
In truth, she didn't know the principles by which such items were made.
In novels, everyone naturally carried Artifacts around.
"But... even if you have talent in that area, you can't say you're helping people, can you? You're not giving them away for free, and you're calling out ridiculously expensive prices like this."
"This young lady truly doesn't know how the world works. Do I make money out of thin air? Do wyvern hides or rare minerals fall from the sky? Moreover, squeezing mana and injecting it into items is dozens of times more painful and exhausting labor than you swinging a sword a few times. What's wrong with receiving fair compensation for the work done?"
"That's... true, but..."
"And, you seem to think that asking for your body instead of money was quite insulting."
The Dwarf once again scanned Rose's entire body with a sticky gaze.
"I don't make such offers to powerless, ordinary women. I just take the money fairly. But you're a Guardian, aren't you? As a strong individual to another strong individual, I merely proposed exchanging your attractive resources for my goods. If you don't like it, you can just refuse."
He wasn't wrong.
He hadn't used violence, nor had he threatened her using his power. In the first place, even if he were to forcibly attack, that small Dwarf wouldn't be able to subdue Rose.
'But... why is he so brazen?'
Even so, to say he'd give her an item if she spread her legs and offered her body.
In broad daylight, to her face, with such a beaming smile?
'I don't like it.'
Rose herself couldn't explain the exact reason for this unpleasantness.
But even though her body was sensitive to Lust, she felt not the slightest desire to comply with that sly Dwarf's suggestion.
Was it because of his insignificant appearance?
No way. Her body had even been taken by a monstrous Black Goblin.
Was it because of the lingering sensation from rolling around almost all night the day before?
That wasn't it either. If that attendant were in front of her right now, she felt like she could spread her legs immediately.
What was chilling her heart right now was the situation itself.
The arrogance of "I need something, so lie beneath me."
That attitude, implying she had no money and was in a desperate position, so she had to serve him, brought back terrible memories.
No matter how much Lust clouded her eyes.
Never, to anyone, anymore.
She didn't want to spread her legs like that.
Rose was no longer a prostitute.
"Here are 3 Sola. I'll just take the Expansion Pouch."
"Huh... well, well. So you want to play hard to get, eh?"
Interpreting Rose's firmly set expression in some way, the Dwarf grinned, shaking the hem of the cloak placed on the table.
"Alright. One night per Gold Coin was a bit much, I admit. Then I'll hand over this ten Gold Coin cloak for exactly two nights. How about it? Though you'd have to completely forget about sleeping for those two days. Hehehe."
"I'll come back when I have money. Goodbye then."
"Uh... huh? Two... two nights is too much, you mean? Alright, fine. I'll concede to just one night. How about it? You don't seem like a demure young lady either, so let's both have a good time..."
[CRASH—!]
The rest wasn't even worth listening to—.
Rose kicked open the door and left the shop without hesitation.
***
As she resolutely left the general store and walked down the street.
The thought, 'Should I have just closed my eyes for one night and gotten the cloak?' briefly crossed her mind, but.
Rose shook her head vigorously and composed herself.
'I'll only do it when I want to, and only with the person I want.'
Because she was short on money, because she was powerless, because she was scared.
She would absolutely refuse such things now.
As she realized she had made her own choice, a corner of her chest felt wide open and refreshed.
She felt like screaming in front of the passersby.
But that refreshing feeling was short-lived.
"How... how do I get money?"
She had wandered around for half a day, and her only gain was one Expansion Pouch.
Even if she continued to use Lucian's Shortsword as her immediate weapon, and somehow acquired the small items needed for her journey with the remaining money.
She really wanted that Transformation Cloak, which could change its form with mana and had various functions.
The fastest and surest way to earn money was, of course, monster subjugation.
Like when she raided a Goblin den or caught a Troll, taking the Magical Beasts' byproducts or the spoils accumulated in their nests.
But blindly rushing out of the city without knowing the geography or having any information was impossible.
'It would be better to take a request. And while I'm at it, I can meet Carlton and learn swordsmanship.'
Get spoils, receive quest fees,
learn swordsmanship, and absorb mana.
A four-birds-with-one-stone plan that required no deliberation.
Rose's expression, now determined, brightened again.
A place overflowing with various requests, information, and rough men in a fantasy world.
She asked a passing guard for directions and headed towards Deluna's Mercenary Guild.
***
A stone building located on the border between the commercial district and the slums.
A rough atmosphere, unlike the flashy shops nearby.
There were large and small knife marks and bloodstains on the outer wall, and men with fierce expressions loitered at the entrance, carrying weapons.
[CLUNK—]
As she opened the guild's massive oak door and stepped inside,
the strong smell of sweat that wafted in, the sour scent of cheap ale, and the rough shouts of men hitting her eardrums greeted Rose.
"Hahaha! So I just split that orc bastard's head right open with an axe!"
"Bullshit! I saw you pissing yourself in the back, you bastard!"
Those who were drinking heavily from midday,
those cleaning their weapons in corners,
and even those setting up gambling tables and fighting with bulging veins.
Rough Mercenaries, easily over twenty at a glance, filled the spacious hall.
She quickly scanned the hall, but familiar faces like Carlton or Luke were nowhere to be seen.
'It seems everyone is out on a mission.'
Leaving her disappointment behind, Rose moved towards the counter where requests were accepted.
As she crossed the hall, the noisy atmosphere around her strangely quieted down for a moment.
A silk tunic of high-quality material and tight-fitting leather pants.
The breathtaking curves and dazzling beauty explicitly revealed beneath them, were an alien presence that didn't suit the sweat-soaked Mercenary Guild at all.
"Excuse me. I'd like to check on a request."
The guild staff member, who had been sitting at the counter with a bored expression, watching other Mercenaries fight, raised his head.
The staff member, startled by the unexpectedly soft and clear voice, soon scanned Rose's beautiful face, neat attire, and the ample cleavage peeking out from beneath, up and down.
"A request? You, miss?"
He wore a lewd sneer on his lips.
"Miss. This isn't a place for playing house. Can you even properly cut off a Goblin's dick with that toy sword at your slender waist?"
The Mercenaries who had been glancing over burst into snickering laughter at the staff member's vulgar joke.
Why was everyone she met today like this—
Rose felt a surge of anger, but she deliberately maintained an indifferent expression.
"Even if I look like this, my skills are certainly reliable, you know. If you don't believe me, ask Captain Carlton of the Black Wolf Mercenary Band. He knows my abilities."
"Carlton?"
An explicit sneer spread across the staff member's face.
"Aha, so that stiff and narrow-minded Carlton vouches for your skills? It's obvious. That guy bows and scrapes like some fairy tale knight whenever he sees a pretty woman. It looks like you spread your legs somewhere and got a recommendation, but you'd better not pay too much attention to what Carlton says."
"......"
Rose's red eyes grew cold.
She generally didn't want to cause a commotion, but.
From the time he didn't know Rose was a Guardian, to mock Carlton, who had been polite and even sincerely taught her swordsmanship, her patience was slowly running out.
But the staff member mistook Rose's chilling expression for fear, and.
He leaned his upper body over the counter, and explicitly licked her cleavage with a sticky gaze.
"Miss. If you came here because you need money, you've got the wrong address. Instead of chasing Magical Beasts' asses around here for pocket change, go to the Entertainment District in the back alley over there. With a body like that, you could easily earn a Gold Coin in one night, you know. If you go there, I might even be your first customer tonight. How about it?"
"Hahahaha, Balmon! You'll make the lady cry!"
"Miss! If you debut at the brothel, I'll go too! My thing is as big as an orc's club!"
The Mercenaries in the hall whistled and gave vulgar cheers.
Explicit lust and mockery freely spewing forth.
If she were an ordinary woman, she would have fled in tears of shame, but Rose's mind, on the contrary, calmly settled.
'They say the Guardian Mercenary Guild Master extremely dislikes raping women, but it seems he doesn't even care about this level of harassment?'
'I need to teach this arrogant bastard a lesson.'
'Perhaps, I might be able to earn money easily...?'
Soon, a seductive smile appeared on Rose's lips.
"Do we really need to go all the way to the Entertainment District?"
As she leaned closer to the staff member's face and placed her arm on the counter,
[SQUISH—]
Her heavy, ample breasts pressed against the counter, creating a dizzying valley.
"Everyone seems desperate to spend money, alright.
No need to bother going all the way to the Entertainment District... I'll let you have it right here, right now."
"...What......?"
Inside the noisy guild building, a silence as if cold water had been poured over them instantly fell.
< Illustration - Mercenaries' Imagination: Here?? >
