A Distant View of My Hometown (1)
About ten days after meeting Iskil, I took my first business trip.
The merchants’ union in the western district was hosting a party from early evening. They wanted me to go there and “liven up the atmosphere.”
The wealthy traders must have paid a handsome premium, because I was allowed to ride in a carriage with the other selected prostitutes.
Arto was an inscrutable man, but Alber—the bartender and bouncer who alternated shifts with him in the first-floor hall—liked me. The other burly guards with their intimidating faces, who watched over each floor, liked me too.
After I rushed out several times at the sound of shouting and helped subdue rowdy customers with spells like Melville’s Fireworks, Menelon’s Ice Sheet, and Decimona’s Binding, they couldn’t help but find me adorable.
In contrast to those strong men, the other women working in the same brothel seemed to dislike me quite a bit.
I rarely left the building during my free time, preferring to study magic instead, so I had barely spoken to them or even crossed paths.
They resented that a newcomer like me could command high prices by claiming to be a virgin, that I had received a good education unlike them who had started from the bottom, and…
…that thanks to rewinding time every day, I didn’t even menstruate and could earn money while they had to rest.
It was for the best. For me, and for them.
I would eventually have to flee the tightening net of pursuit. There was no need to form deep bonds with the other prostitutes.
“Hey. Witch.”
There was no need to wonder who that was meant for.
I looked at the woman who had called me in a sharp voice from inside the carriage. Elvira. She was something of an ace in this brothel. Her price was higher than mine.
The only advantages I could claim were my virginity, a somewhat pretty face, and the intoxicating thrill of watching a mage get crushed by a client. Her skill, figure, and even her looks surpassed mine enough to overwhelm those points.
I deliberately answered in a timid, shrinking voice.
“Y-yes…”
I knew she hated me, so I didn’t want to talk, but since she had called me, I had no choice but to reply.
“Do you even know what we’re going there to do?”
“Yes. They said I should liven up the atmosphere at the party…”
“Hmph.”
Her face, her hand, slowly approached through the evening darkness.
“And how exactly do you plan to liven things up?”
“Well…”
I turned my head slightly and acted shy.
“I suppose… it’ll involve using my body.”
“Right, right. But what are you going to do about it?”
What was there to do? I stared blankly at Elvira.
“I heard you developed all sorts of perverted spells—like one that makes your body smell like bread, or one that keeps repairing your hymen. Are you planning to put on a show of continuous virgin deflowering, bleeding all over the place like some bakery girl?”
Elvira’s words were mocking, but they struck close to the truth.
Compared to the other high-priced prostitutes on this trip, my body and technique were pathetic. The only thing I had to offer was my regenerating virginity.
…And that ridiculous bread-baking bonus from my previous life.
But if I performed magic shows like the mages did to liven up parties instead of selling my body, someone might suspect my identity.
Even on a business trip, earning tips was up to each prostitute’s ability. Elvira and the others were probably wary of customers flocking to me because of my virgin premium.
I smiled bitterly and answered quietly.
“If you want, I’ll just stay quiet.”
“As if.”
In the end, Elvira hadn’t needed to be so wary of me.
I had been a special commodity back at Arto’s brothel, where they could advertise my virginity with fanfare. At a group orgy on a business trip, I was just one of many prostitutes.
And not even an attractive one—my body was scrawny and underdeveloped.
Men who sought a girlish figure were a loyal customer base, but there weren’t many of them. Most guests wanted soft, womanly curves.
As I watched the other prostitutes being called away from the dark room behind the banquet hall, my body burned with the filthy desire of I want to do it too. It was only late at night that I couldn’t refuse the touch of the old man who finally took my hand.
I couldn’t very well reject a customer while on a business trip.
Judging by the time, it looked like this one man would be my only client today.
“Ehehe… Mister, mmm… How is it…? Does it feel good…?”
Since it was a merchants’ union banquet, the man who had taken me was one of the older, pot-bellied gentlemen. My accumulated age across lifetimes was probably enough to match his, but he was just an aging trader with unimpressive technique and no stamina.
“Ugh… Yeah, it’s pretty good. Karin, was it? I’m getting old, so I can’t go multiple rounds. Why don’t you stop using your mouth and spread your legs for me?”
“Yes…”
He was simply an old man with peculiar tastes who craved someone small and young-looking. Since he hadn’t asked for a virgin anyway, I didn’t need to rewind time or spend any entries in my diary.
“Mmm… Ah, ugh…”
I had to force the moans out.
Even though I sold my body, prostitutes were still people. If I had to do it, I preferred someone with good technique, a large cock, the strength to thrust vigorously, and…
A handsome man. Especially for someone like me, whose subconscious still carried the memories of an Earth man that rejected mating with males.
The one time I had lost my virginity for three silver coins at the brothel, I had felt slightly freer. The masochistic pleasure of having my purity trampled lowered the bar set by the partner’s looks or skill.
But this old man… how should I put it? He doesn’t excite me as a person…
“Hah, hah… Karin, sorry, but… can I… finish now…?”
A pathetically quick climax, a soft cock. I couldn’t feel satisfied, but I still did my best to respond coquettishly. All for the customer.
“Ahh… Yes, ehet, come… inside Karin… Shoot it in Karin’s pussy… Ahhn♡”
A few seconds later, I felt a small amount of semen trickle out inside me. Or rather, I barely registered the sensation that he had ejaculated at all.
Old men really are… pitiful creatures.
The customer squeezed out every last drop with all his might, then collapsed and fell asleep. Thanks to that, I got the chance to step outside for a while in my camisole and wander around the nearby area.
I hadn’t needed to go out, but I did anyway. I had noticed something when we first got off the carriage.
The evening breeze, still carrying a trace of sunlight, tickled my skin beneath the camisole and shawl. The cheap sandals, made with no regard for comfort or durability, let me feel every bump of the paved stones through their thin soles.
I crossed a single bridge.
Once I crossed that bridge and passed the low wall that divided the city districts… I would be in the hometown neighborhood with the university and marketplace.
It was a dangerous place for me. The most people who knew my face lived there. Yet I still felt like a fool, drawn back like a salmon swimming upstream despite the risk.
The shoddy, cheap sandals—whose straps had been made without any thought for practicality or strength—finally snapped as I crossed the bridge.
I frowned, took them off, and continued barefoot across the hard, cold stones toward the path between the great walls, but…
“Halt!”
Someone standing in the dark shadow of the wall stopped me.
Two guards holding long halberds blocked the path leading to the marketplace. Their spearheads were pointed at me. It was strange. This wasn’t a place that required such heavy security.
A chill ran down my spine. Had I been caught? I hadn’t brought my spellbook. I was wondering whether I should use even the most basic mind-confusing spell imperfectly when a question with slightly less hostility flew at me.
“Wait. Aren’t you one of the girls from under the eastern wall?”
He meant a prostitute. One of the soldiers must have recognized my shawl.
“What’s a flower-selling girl doing all the way out here? Sorry, but you can’t come through right now.”
It really was strange. This wasn’t a military district. It used to be patrolled by vigilantes for public safety. I had never seen security strict enough to block citizens from passing. I suddenly thought of Arun’s leather workshop and lifted the broken pair of sandals in my hand.
“I came on a ‘business trip’ to a banquet nearby. But my shoes broke like this. I asked the guests, and they said the marketplace was this way and that there would be a leather workshop here. I wanted to get the straps fixed or buy a new pair…”
I wasn’t actually planning to visit the workshop. I could just rewind the sandals’ time to repair them before coming back out. But the guard answered with a troubled look.
“Miss, no matter how much time you spend inside the red-light district, haven’t you heard any news from the outside at all?”
“Pardon?”
“This commercial district in front of the university was wiped out by some kind of pneumonia. They say there’s a dead person in every other house. Some claim it’s revenge from the Demon King’s army targeting the magic university that produced the hero… er, the witch. Others say the witch herself did it to erase her own territory…”
They were talking about me. While I was gone, it seemed I had gained yet another strange false accusation.
One side of my chest ached, yet I hated myself for the pathetic thought that at least they hadn’t recognized me.
“It seems to have calmed down a bit now, but if just anyone wanders in and out, the disease might spread to the outer districts. That’s why outsiders are restricted for the time being. And we can’t have… something like a witch coming to spread the sickness.”
Haah. That witch is standing right in front of you.
“I… see…”
“Even if I let you in, it’d be pointless. There used to be a small leather workshop there, but after the epidemic, they haven’t opened the doors at all. The owner was a young man. When we passed by earlier, the shop was still closed. I wonder if he died back then. It’s a shame…”
“……”
I remembered that the last time I saw him, Arun had been coughing. …I had been coughing too. I also recalled hesitating for a long time over whether to rewind his time. I turned my head slightly so the two soldiers wouldn’t see and bit my lip. Was Arun dead? So futilely, from a plague. If I had turned back time, could I have saved him?
“Oh, right. Miss.”
One of the soldiers called out to me as I stood there frozen. I jumped, shoulders trembling. I searched their faces, afraid I had been discovered, but there was no such sign.
“I’m not forcing you or anything, but if you’re not busy, how about it before you head back? I’ll give you enough for a few pairs of shoes. If I like it, I might even let you through.”
I smiled sweetly and answered weakly.
“I understand. Please take care of me…”