Chapter 188 – To the Brothel

I informed Grace and the others of my destination as we sat around the low table in the Japanese-style room.

Somehow, I felt strangely nervous. It’s not like I had anything to feel guilty about, but given the nature of the place…

I was just going to gather information, and considering my age, it shouldn’t be a problem.

“If we walk through the Western District with this group, we’ll definitely get harassed. It would be better if everyone didn’t come along,” Sheila said.

Well… she had a point. Since I was going for negotiations, it was best to avoid any trouble.

“Understood. Since it’s the Western District, please be careful on your way,” Grace nodded quietly. When our eyes met, she smiled at me.

Here I am with four fiancées. I thought I’d get more comments about my relationships with women…

“It’s fine,” Claudia chuckled, perhaps reading something from my expression. I suppose it meant they trusted me… Yeah, this actually makes me more focused than if they were warning me.

Not just Claudia, but Ashley was also smiling at me. Somehow… I felt a bit embarrassed and scratched my cheek. Marlene seemed to not really understand what a brothel was.

“When are you going out?”

“Miriam-san is supposed to come to the house. Probably after we talk about Dexter then.”

“She’s opening a shop in the Eastern District, right?”

“That’s what she said. But… Dexter might have been investigating Miriam-san’s movements to some extent. I think the shop needs some security until the situation calms down.”

Even if he doesn’t openly interfere with business… he might do things like throwing stones or setting fires.

“Then Lavigne and I will handle security,” Ashley said.

“I’ll go too,” Irmhild added.

Ashley and Irmhild, huh. Both should be fine when it comes to defense and detection.

“Please have Caduceus accompany you two. I’ll stay in my released form and behave myself,” Grace said.

So that would leave the home group as Grace, Marlene, Claudia, Seraphina, plus Cecilia and Mihaela.

It’s unlikely that anyone from the Thieves Guild would directly storm my house… but we do have residents from the Labyrinth Village, so we shouldn’t neglect defense.

“Understood. If anything happens, contact me using the communication device.”

“Since we’ll be splitting up tomorrow… shall we spend today relaxing together?”

“Yes.”

Ah… aside from everyone trusting me…

Given the nature of where I’m going, I want to spend more time together with everyone. I think that would make them feel more at ease.

So after bathing, we moved to the bedroom early and spent time snuggling close. Grace and Claudia leaned their heads against my shoulders, while Ashley and Marlene lay down with their cheeks against my chest and lap.

As I combed their hair with my fingers, a soft fragrance tickled my nostrils. The flowing texture of their hair was wonderful.

I then performed circulating ki. When doing circulating ki with multiple people, there’s this feeling of being enveloped in something warm together that’s quite comfortable. I also feel like the effect might be slightly enhanced.

“…It’s warm,” Grace said with her eyes closed.

Marlene reached out her fingers and gently stroked the area around my bangs.

I closed my eyes too. The soft sensations and fragrance. Body warmth and heartbeats. The flow of everyone’s magical power. A floating sensation like dissolving and drifting in lukewarm water. In such a warm and comfortable time, we gradually fell asleep.

——The next day. The date when Miriam said she would come to discuss finding a shop.

“Master, Miriam-san has arrived,” Cecilia informed me of Miriam’s visit as I was leisurely drinking tea after breakfast.

I headed to the newly created reception room on the first floor of the Western-style mansion.

“Ambassador, hello.”

“Good morning, Miriam-san.”

As we sat at the table, Claire the Arachne, dressed in a maid uniform, brought a tea set and poured tea for us.

“Thank you.”

“Yes.”

Following proper etiquette, she smiled, bowed, and left the room.

There were some slightly awkward parts in her procedure, but it shouldn’t be a major problem. She’ll likely be handling guests like this in the future too, and Miriam was a very good first guest to practice with. She seemed pleased by the novelty of having an Arachne servant.

“Have you decided on a location for the shop?”

“Yes. This is the address.”

Miriam happily handed me a paper with the address written on it.

“Just across the street? That’s right under our nose.”

“That’s right. I think it’s quite a good location… By the way, I heard this mansion is also magic construction?”

“Yes. Does something seem strange about it?”

“No, not at all. The architectural style is unique, but it feels calm and dignified. I’ve seen another magic construction before, and you could tell it was one at a glance. The walls had seams showing and such…”

Miriam looked around the room and let out an admiring sigh.

“This mansion is wonderful. No, I’m impressed. I can’t see any of those seams or unnatural aspects.”

I see. If the control is poor or there’s insufficient magical power, you can’t form everything at once, so you need to proceed by creating parts and then extending them. Those would probably appear as seams. Miriam’s observational skills and experience seem quite substantial.

“Thank you.”

I smiled wryly at Miriam’s shining eyes. She really does love rare things.

“Once you successfully open your shop, why don’t we have a banquet? It would also serve as publicity.”

“That would be helpful.”

“Please stay over at that time.”

“Yes! Definitely!”

As I said this, Miriam’s expression became even happier. I’d like to show her around today, but we still have unresolved issues.

“I would have liked to show you around the house now, but unfortunately I have business to attend to afterward.”

When I changed my expression and tone, Miriam seemed to notice. She adopted a serious expression and straightened her posture.

“Something concerning about Dexter has come up. To be direct, I suspect that Dexter is a Thieves Guild member and that rather than being a trade merchant, he’s actually a slave trader.”

“That… isn’t an impossible story,” Miriam said, her expression darkening. She might have recalled Dexter’s titles and such.

“The Thieves Guild seems to be having internal conflicts… To put it simply, they appear to be divided between the traditional faction that tries to follow reason and a faction that disregards such things.”

“If Dexter is like that… he would probably consider reason to be a nuisance.”

We seem to share similar views on that point.

“I see it the same way. The work of the Otherworld Ambassador isn’t widely known, but it includes serving as a bridge with friendly monsters. When I hear that a Thieves Guild member posing as a trade merchant is doing well, I feel the need to investigate to some extent.”

“I see… By telling me this, are you saying——you want to hear about Dexter?”

“That’s right. I’m planning to go to the Western District to hear detailed information about the Thieves Guild’s internal conflict, and I was hoping you could also tell me about him.”

At my words, Miriam nodded.

“Though I should say, I don’t know much about that man. I didn’t want to get involved with him.”

“I understand.”

We both smiled wryly at each other with that exchange.

“But about him suddenly doing well… let me see. I remember when he returned from his trading trip, he showed me some plant seedlings, saying he would make a fortune with these… talking big.”

“Plant seedlings… of what?”

“They were seedlings I’d never seen before. And then after that, we had a bit of a… argument, so I didn’t get to hear the details.”

Miriam’s wording was quite euphemistic. Anyway, it probably connects to the sequence of events where Dexter, having gotten hold of what seemed like a profitable lead, became full of himself and made advances toward Miriam, only to get thrown out.

“But I remember the color, shape, and other characteristics quite well. If I had paper, I think I could draw it.”

“That would be helpful.”

Plant seedlings, huh. If Miriam doesn’t know them, they must be quite rare. Ah… that’s a case of leaving it to the experts. I have someone in mind who I should ask about this. I’ll go to the Royal Castle later.

I gave Miriam paper and a pen to draw the seedlings. When she showed me the finished drawing, it was quite well done. The characteristics were also listed in bullet points, making it very easy to understand. With this level of quality… maybe we can trace it.

“…Um, if you’re going to the Western District, may I accompany you? Of course, I’ll make sure not to interfere with your work.”

“What do you mean?”

“I believe the Ambassador is a magician and has considerable martial arts training, but the Western District has many troublesome types who don’t understand such things. Having someone like me along might help avoid trouble.”

“That… would be fine.”

In other words, she’d serve as an escort. Certainly… Regardless of Miriam’s personality, her appearance gives the impression of being quite battle-hardened.

It would also be problematic if she were attacked when she’s alone after we separate, so we might as well go together this time.

So, to avoid standing out, I changed into clothes that weren’t noble-style, and we set out. Accompanying me were Sheila and Miriam. We went on foot without using a carriage.

Our destination was the street lined with brothels in the Western District. The sight of prostitutes leaning their cheeks against the railings of second-floor windows, looking languid, was probably a scene you could only see in this area.

That said, since the sun was still high, there weren’t any major problems.

Sheila had her face hidden by a hood and gave off the atmosphere of being quite familiar with the Western District, while Miriam had the appearance of a mercenary rather than a merchant.

There were some drunks who whistled at us, but when Miriam reached for the whip at her waist and gave them a sharp glare, they shrank back and retreated.

…Clear demonstrations like this are necessary in such situations. Nobody carries a weapon like a whip just for show or on a whim. They could tell at a glance that she was probably skilled and that getting hit would be terrible.

“That brothel,” Sheila indicated.

It was a particularly impressive building among the brothels. Rather than one of the cheap inns around, it had the air of a high-class brothel.

We passed through the brothel’s door and stepped inside.

The curious gazes of dressed-up women lounging on luxurious sofas pierced through us. Certainly… we weren’t ordinary customers.

As expected, the interior was also splendid. Ornate yet decadent. That was the impression.

“What business do you have with our establishment?” asked what appeared to be a receptionist girl in a dress, probably unable to determine if we were customers given our group composition of women and what appeared to be a child.

“I want to speak with Isabella. Please tell her Sheila is here,” Sheila answered, removing her hood.

“With Isabella-sama…?”

“An acquaintance.”

“…Understood. Please wait a moment.”

The receptionist girl went up the stairs toward the back of the second floor. Even when hurrying, she maintained her elegance—that seemed to be thoroughly ingrained.

After a short while, a slender woman in a wine-red dress came down from the second floor.

She blended in with the brothel but… was different in character from the others.

“My, my. Long time no see, Sheila,” the woman said, holding a pipe in one hand, and laughed happily.