Chapter 68: Poison Mansion

April 8th, 2023

Beta Reader: My_Own_Worst_NPC

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I was taken aback by Madame Damas’s request, but after pondering about it for awhile, I finally understood what she meant.

“When you asked my help to guard them, you mean to use the golems to protect them?”

“That is correct.”

There’s no way to place someone as a guard inside the room when the prostitutes are taking in the clients, the most they can do is to place the guard in front of the room, but it won’t be effective to prevent the next incident. A golem, on the other hand, can be easily put inside the room, and if I order them to stay still, they can easily pass as a mere ornament.

“However, I have my own business to attend…”

“We will make up for any loss incurred during the absence from your business, so…”

Thinking back to how Lloyd, the barcode head, was trembling because of fear, made me inclined to help them. And I don’t think I’d feel comfortable with running my daily live, with the knowledge that a rampaging murderer who’s targeting men is still loose on the island.

So I agree to help until the killer is caught, or barring that, at least until things calmed down and the male prostitutes felt safe again.

Fortunately, there are no guests staying consecutive nights at the inn right now. I’m sure there will be other people who want to stay at the inn for tonight, but they will have to stay at the guild’s inn for awhile.

I’m also closing the dining service. I feel sorry for the gangly warrior ladies who come every night, but they’ll just have to put up with it. When the restaurant reopens, I’ll feed them their favourite liver paste canapés. 

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There were a total of six men who need to be guarded. I decided to assign one Wonder and one Harry to each of them, which unfortunately would leave fewer guards for myself. I was a little bit worried, but thankfully I had Sierra to protect me. Also, Cecily, Rouge, and even Miina agreed to help.

We settled in a corner of the waiting room where the male prostitutes were waiting for their clients. That way, it’ll be easier for me to give command to Harry and Wonder for protection details.

It had turned into evening, which was the time of day when the adventurers would return from the dungeon, and so the commercial district was beginning to be filled with the hustle and bustle of market activities. It’s also the time when I usually become busy with my own work, so this is the first time I’ve been in the commercial district after the sun has set.

It was surprising to see so many people on the island now.

The streets seen from the window were filled with people, and there were even stalls selling food and liquor. While gazing at the town with curiosity, I was approached by an adventurer whom I knew well.

“Eeehh!? Okami-san, don’t tell me, you’re taking customers here too, now?”

“I’m sorry, that’s not it. I just happen to be here because I have some other things to do.”

“What the heck. I thought I’d be able to embrace you. I’m even willing to borrow some money if I had to, you know…”

…yeah, let’s just move to the deeper part of the room to avoid further misunderstandings…

By the way, the service fee for a man in this brothel is very expensive. It varies from one man to another, but it’s usually between 30,000 and 40,000 Lehmens per night. It’s the normal fare on this island, but if you were in the Lulu Sanjion capital, such amount of money could get you a high-class prostitute instead. It could be considered a rip-off, but the women of this world have a strong libido, so the customers are always coming back day after day.

“Even so, the portion of the money we actually get is usually really small, you know.” Lloyd sighed. “We usually only get around 3,000 Lehmens per customer, the rest of it goes to the brothel and Madam Damas.”

But still, according to him, this situation is not entirely terrible since there are cases where people with debts are forced to work without receiving any pay.

Our conversation was then interrupted by a servant lady from the brothel.

 “Mister Clive, someone has requested you,” said the servant calling for Clive. He is the most popular male prostitute in the establishment, so it seemed that he was immediately wanted.

“Haaahh… I’m really not in the mood for it. Who’s the client?”

“It’s an adventurer called Porta.”

“Ah, it’s that gloomy woman. I really can’t stand that person.” Clive is puffing on his cigarette with a somber expression on his face.

“Mister, hurry up and greet the client.”

“At least let me finish this one, will you. Cigarettes are pretty expensive on this island after all.”

Clive blew out a puff of smoke, as if he was really reluctant to go. Or maybe he was actually just blowing a heavy sigh.

“That person is a weirdo, you know. When Ozzie was still alive, he told me how Porta tried to make him erect without using magic.”

“Why bother?”

“Why indeed, who knows. But there are a lot of women like that, so eager to showing off their ‘techniques in making man cry in pleasure’, or so they said. Most of them fall flat on their promise though. Just like in the case of Ozzie, she failed to make him hard until the time’s up, so they ended up not having intercourse.”

As Lloyd listened to Clive’s story, his face turned pale.

“Wait a minute… Didn’t Toby get requested by Porta also? Just like what happened to Ozzie, she also tried to do it with Toby without using magic… he said they didn’t manage to do it until the end…”

“Don’t tell me that Toby-san is…”

“Yes! Toby also got killed!”

 Now it’s Clive’s face who turned pale. “N-no, I don’t wanna go!”

Certainly, this woman Porta has connection with the victims. Originally, Clive never offered sex as his main service, maybe that’s the reason why he wasn’t killed.

“Alright, let me take a quick look myself.” Sierra silently stood up.

“I’ll go with you.” I whispered near her ear. “If something happens, I might be able to help you by using [Repair].”

“I don’t need you to do that. I’m fine by myself.”

“If things get out of control here, it might bring harm the others, right?”

“Hmm… I understand. But still, Shirou, please stay a bit further away.”

“Yeah.”

The system in this brothel is that visitors need go to the lobby first to register and then wait in the waiting room beside it, until the male prostitutes arrived and escort them to the designated place. While waiting, the guest is served alcohol, and there are also cigarettes available.

The store had just opened so there were no other customers, and in the waiting room, a woman was leaning forward and sitting on the sofa.

I guess that woman is Porta.

She was a woman with white skin that looked like it was made of wax. Her eyes were vacant, staring at a point in the air, and she did not move.  There was no glass of wine in front of Porta and no cigarette smoke hanging in the air, suggesting that she had refused alcohol and cigarettes and was only quietly waiting for the male prostitute to appear.

Sierra told me to wait by the doorway, and then she casually walks up until she was near her. I searched for anything that might be used as a weapon by Porta, preparing to make it disappear by [Repair], but it doesn’t seem like she brings any weapon with her. Which is actually not surprising, since it’s a basic rule in brothels to leave your weapons at the reception desk.

But since the women in this world can use magic, it doesn’t seem to be a very useful rule…

Porta looked up at Sierra who was briskly approaching.  And Sierra, looking back at Porta, wrinkled her nose.

“You, you reek of blood…”

After Sierra said those words, there was a moment of silence… and Porta suddenly did a somersault while sending a kick upward towards Sierra, who turned her body to avoid the attack. Porta then jumped behind the sofa.

“Finally showing your true colors, huh? §ΔΓΓ§¶Γ…”

Sierra began chanting to catch Porta, but Porta was moving unexpectedly fast. A green powder was thrown at Sierra from a leather bag she retrieved from somewhere.

It was probably poison.

Sierra had no choice but to stop breathing, and so her chanting was interrupted. Porta thrust a concealed knife at Sierra, who was still covering her mouth and nose with her sleeve because of the green powder.

But Sierra was able to avoid it, and Porta’s face was hit by her counterpunch. Seeing Porta’s in a daze because of a possible concussion made me convinced that it was Sierra’s victory.

However…

“Oeeeeghhhh…!! Cough cough.”

“Sierra!!”

She got done in by the poison?

“Ugh. Disgusting… The feeling of raw flesh being crushed…”

Ah. That’s right. Sierra is mentally uncomfortable with the feeling of flesh and skin being destroyed. That’s why although Sierra is strong, but she can only attack by using magic.

Porta, probably sensing a gap in Sierra’s defense, renewed her effort and start to mercilessly attack the still wobbling Sierra.

*Clang*

The knife that was aimed at Sierra was deflected by Cecily’s sword. However, Porta immediately turned herself toward Cecily and kicked her, knocking her backward.

Hey, hey, don’t tell me this woman is able to fight evenly against Cecily and Sierra working together? This is bad, she’s really dangerous…

I felt fear rising up from under my feet and I couldn’t take a step back.

“Okami-san, get back!”

I thought I felt someone tugging at my collar, which turned out to be Miina. Rouge then jumped in front on me and deployed her barrier spell. In the lobby of the brothel Porta, Sierra, and Cecily were engaged in a fierce battle.

Eventually, Porta, perhaps realizing her disadvantage, once again scattered a large amount of powder. Sierra and Cecily jumped back to maintain a distance from the powder, but Porta then took advantage of the opportunity and ran out the entrance.

“Shirou, tell Poppo to follow her!”

Sierra shouted, and so I deployed Poppo, who was perched on my shoulder. From above, it might be able to track her without being noticed. The lobby might be filled with poisonous powder, but it didn’t matter to Poppo, who was a golem.

“Cough! Cough!” Cecily was coughing badly.

“Cecily, are you alright?”

“No problem, I only inhaled a little of it.”

The place that we are now doesn’t seem to have poison, thanks to Rouge’s barrier.

“Shirou, stay inside the barrier. Miina, go out the window and call for the healers and Master Erza.”

“Roger that!”

“And also…” Cecily tried to say something else while painfully clutching to her chest.

“If you see Master Erza, be sure to tell her. The culprit is probably… the White Maggot.”