The greeting that Bell received when he came back home early in the morning was both, cold and warm. Nahza was the first to notice him, due to her ears and nose. Since they had much work to do, both were already awake when he quietly opened the door, it was a bit past four in the morning.
He didn´t saw it from the outside, but a small magic stone lamp was lit and gave off dim light.
"Bell, finally you are back home." Miach looked really relieved.
"..." Nahza said nothing but looked a bit...disgusted.
"Lord Miach, Ms. Nahza, good morning, I´m sorry for making you worry."
"Did you find shelter from the rain?"
Before he could answer, Nahza´s tail swished and her ears twitched strongly. "Obviously he did! With this smell on him!"
Bell blinked confused. "Smell?"
"You smell like the brothel that you brought the delivery to!"
"What did you expect? I had to go into thad building."
"Yeah, but not stay there over night and have your "fun". I didn´t expected you to be someone like that."
"I didn´t do that..."
Miach noticed that something was strange about Bell, he gently put a hand on Nahza´s shoulder.
"Nahza my dear, please let Bell explain first, okay?"
She wanted to say something, then Nahza noticed the expression on Bell´s face too.
"Bell, do you want to talk with us about something?"
"If possible."
Following Miach´s gentle gaze, Nahza went to get Bell´s tea cup and they all sat down at the table.
"So, first things first, I need Nahza to calm down. Bell, I´m sure you didn´t did anything unproper in that brothel, right?"
Bell looked into his god´s eyes, then into Nahza´s. "I didn´t, the only thing I did was to carry a girl to her bed."
Nahza´s eyes widened again, but Miach interfered, by putting a hand on her right one. "Please let him continue first, Bell isn´t like you think he is, have faith in him as his captain, okay?"
"Mmmmh..."
"I met a really friendly girl there, she led me inside and checked the delivery, confirmed that everything was there. But when I wanted to leave, the thunderstorm started directly above us. It was so strong that every woman on the streets ran to their shops."
"And you stayed there?"
"Yes, she brought me to her room so that I can wait there."
"Her room?"
"Yes, she said I should hide from the other women there, only in her room I was told that this was a brothel."
"Eh?"
"Eh?"
Both, Miach and Nahza looked perplexed.
Miach frowned lightly. "You didn´t know?"
"No."
Nahza did it too. "But I told you it is a shop in the City of the Night, what did you expect to find there?..."
"I didn´t knew that the City of the Night is the Pleasure Quarter."
"Eh? How can you not know that?"
"I only came to Orario eight days ago, remember? Also, my Mom told me about the Districts of Orario and even the Pleasure Quarter, but never where it was, she never wanted me to go there."
Miach nodded. "And I guess she didn´t told you where it is, so you wouldn´t get curious, since you are a growing, young man, hm?"
"I guess so, not that I would have gone there on my own just like that."
A mortal couldn´t lie in front of a god and Miach saw that Bell was completely honest with them.
"So you slept there? And I don´t mean with her."
"No, we talked with each other."
"Oh?"
He smiled slightly but looked really sad for some reason. "Yes, she was happy to have someone to talk with her, we both like fairy tale stories."
"Bell?"
"Yes?"
"Something's bothering you, isn't it?"
For a few moments, Bell looked down on the table, Nahza got curios, this wasn´t a behaviour that one would show if he had fun in a brothel before.
"Lord Miach, lady Nahza...I..."
Bell sometimes called Nahza "Lady" instead of "Miss", it was because he was brought up to be polite. Miach had joked three days ago, that Bell might be something called "The last Gentleman".
When Bell looked up, he looked disillusioned. "Is Orario actually a bad place or city?"
Nahza looked really worried now. "Bell, what did they do to you in that brothel? What tried they to do to you?..."
"Nothing, it´s just...it´s because of her."
""Her?""
"The woman I talked to, Ms. Haruhime."
"The Prost-"
"Please don´t say that word!"
"I´m sorry..."
Miach was also worried. "Bell, what happened with her?"
"She was so lonely, looked so sad, and yet so happy when we talked..."
Bell started to tell them about what exactly happened from the moment he went into the brothel to deliver the package, until he left and wished her goodbye.
"I can understand that working there isn´t that bad actually. She explained to me that adventurers had strong urges and need to vent stress, due to the constant danger of death in the dungeon. And since it is guarded by the Ishtar Familia, the women there don´t have to be afraid of getting hurt by the customers.
But...how can they force someone like her to that work? How can they buy her as a slave?!"
Bell always thought of Orario as a magical place with proud and brave adventurers. But now that he had seen this...slavery...forced prostitution.
"She looks as pure and innocent as freshly fallen snow! She misses her homeland even when she dreamed to come to Orario one day! She wants her freedom, how can they be so cruel!"
He was breathing way too fast and was clearly agitated. Nahza noticed the small tears in the corners of his eyes.
"Bell, please calm down a bit."
"Lord Miach, I c-"
"Please Bell. Talks never end good if you are so agitated. Take deep breaths, then I can explain a few things to you."
Bell did as Miach told him, his breathing got a bit slower.
"Bell, I´m sorry that you had to learn it that way, but Orario isn´t all shine and glory. As the center of the world and one of the biggest cities of the continent, all kinds of people gather here. The good, the brave and the bad. While the biggest part of the people here are nice or at least only care for their Familias, there are others as well.
Crime will also be a thing in such a big city."
"Can´t we free her?"
Now it was Nahza that answered him. "Since she is in that place, she belongs to the Ishtar Familia. This Familia rules all of the Pleasure Quarter, you don´t want to get on their bad side, trust me."
"Irkh..So there is no way?"
"Bell, not that I say it is completely wrong, but why do you want to help this girl?"
"Because she is suffering there."
"Did she said this?"
"No, but she.."
Nahza frowned again. "Bell, you are aware that going against the Ishtar Familia could get us destroyed, right?"
"Really?"
"Yes, Familias defend their territory and the Ishtar Familia especially has a grim past."
Miach nodded with a grim expression. "There were rumors for a while and the guild was asked to intervene. Some of the members of the Ishtar familia seemed to be much stronger than reported to the guild."
"Reported to the guild?"
"Oh right, I didn´t told you this. Every Familia is supposed to report the level of their members to the guild. Judged by the strength the Familias are supposed to pay taxes and dungeon familias get quests by the guild that they have to do. The guild asked for further informations but it turned out to be false accusation.
Ishtar was really mad because of this, she demanded recompensation, because personal informations about her followers got leaked to the public. This is strictly forbidden, for the security of the familias. Some of the smaller familias got destroyed because of this and had to leave Orario forever."
"What?!"
Miach nodded again. "I didn´t wanted to tell you this so early after arriving here, but you just stumbled inside it. Even when she is suffering, it would mean hard work and probably a high risk to help this poor girl. Also, see it from their perspective. The girl was sold as a slave and Ishtar acquired her. If she hadn't, who knows where she would have ended up or if she would still be alive now. I've been involved with the Pleasure Quarter in the past, most of the women there are happy with their lives."
"But...she is so lonely there..."
"Bell, after all you heard, do you still want to help her?"
"Yes, I want her to be free."
The god smiled. "That´s what I wanted to hear."
Nahza sighed. "There you go again, Lord Miach, you can´t stop yourself from helping other people."
"And why would I? This is my nature."
Bell looked a bit more filled with hope. "But how do we help her?"
"Kidnapping her or sneaking her out of there is out of question. One option would be to buy her."
"Buy her!?"
Nahza frowned. "Bell, I would appreciate it if you could stop yelling so much, I have sensitive ears, you know?"
"I´m sorry, lady Nahza."
His usual behaviour came back again. "But, buying her...I don´t want to own her."
"This isn´t what I meant. Sometimes it happens that an adventurer falls in love with a woman from the pleasure quarter. When that happens and the woman wants to go, Ishtar demands a compensation for letting her go. Since many girls or young women end up there with no value at first, the familia takes care of them, gives them shelter and such. This help has to be repaid, it´s only fair.
And please don´t think all the women there are "that"..."
Out of consideration for Bell, Miach didn´t used the word prostitute. It was too much at the moment for Bell that this young woman was forced to that work.
"So if you would talk to Ishtar and tell her that you intend to buy the young woman, so that you can grant her freedom afterwards, she would tell you how much you have to pay. But it will probably be more than a few million Vals."
"M-Millions of Vals?"
"I guess at least twenty million."
Bell´s jaw dropped.
"But, it would take forever to gather this much money. And there is our familia´s debt too."
Miach smiled wryly. "Do you happen to know anyone who has a lot of money and could help you?"
"I don´-...Oh dear gods..."
He knew someone, that someone would do nearly everything for Bell, but...that?
"I think it would be good to get your mother´s opinion on that, maybe she has an idea. But first, I think you should sleep a bit after taking a shower."
"You are right, excuse me..."
After Bell left to shower, Nahza looked a bit unhappy at her god.
"Lord Miach, I don´t say I´m against helping this woman, but it will maybe put our familia in danger."
"Nahza, my dear, lovely Nahza, I really love about you that you are always concerned about us."
"Mmmh!" Her tail wagged by his words.
"And while I understand your wish for safety, I can also understand Bell. His wish to save this woman is genuine, and I just can´t help it, I want to help people too."
"You are way too soft and nice...no wonder I have so much trouble bonking away all the women..."
She mumbled more and more, making it hard for him to understand her.
.
.
While Bell was in the shower, he thought about his conversation with Haruhime.
One sentence that she had said with a wishful look in her eyes had nearly broken his heart.
"I want to be taken by the hand and lead by a hero to the world I´ve always longed for. Even when I know it´s just a dream though..."
She had looked so sad while she said this.
He had replied that a hero wouldn´t abandon someone like her. Haruhime said he was very kind, but...
"I´m not a princess in danger, nor a saint offered as a sacrifice. I´m a prositute."
Bell gritted his teeth and hammered his fist against the wall of the shower.
This is wrong, the heroes that we loved reading about wouldn´t abandon her!
But yet he rememberred a story about the "Whore of Babylon".
But this and that are different things!
Even when he had not much personal experience himself, Bell Cranel had learned one important thing from his mother.
A killer doesn´t have to be a murderer.
It was probably splitting hairs, but she had explained in detail what she meant. If someone murdered someone out of greed or another reason, that was wrong and a crime. But if someone fought in self defence while he or she got attacked and ended up killing the opponent to defend themself or their loved ones, that wouldn´t make it murder. Yet both people would have killed someone.
And like that he thought about Haruhime, there were good people and bad people in the world. A prostitute wasn´t someone bad to begin with, he understood that. But there were those that seduced and lured people into traps and then those innocent unhappy ones like Haruhime.
She thought of herself as the symbol of doom for heroes, that she didn´t had the right to get saved, that her body was sullied.
I will talk to her again, if no one will come to save her, I will do it!
His dream to become a hero wasn´t a shallow one, it was what drove him forward.
.
.
When Bell went to Alfia´s house, she went stiff as she hugged him.
"Bell, what is that smell around you? It smells like...musk..."
But I even showered and changed my clothes!
A dangerous glow was in Alfia´s eyes.
"Where were you, young man?"
Gulp...
She only called him young man when he was in trouble.
.
.
"Please repeat again, where exactly were you last night?"
"The City of the Night."
Alfia blinked a few times.
"You were in the Pleasure Quarter?"
"Yes, Mom."
Alfia´s face showed disbelief and anger.
Before Bell could stop her, Alfia opened her door and went outside. He followed her hastily as she turned into the direction of the Pleasure Quarter.
.
"Blessing of the root of evil, curse of birth. My original sin that devoured half of my body. Not hard. There is no purification...
.
While her chant sounded very beautiful, he got scared to death. Bell had never seen this magic spell in action, but he knew what Genos Angelus could do.
"Eeeek! Mom, stop! You can´t obliterate the Pleasure Quarter!"
"And why shouldn´t I?! Orario tries to corrupt my son!"
"It wasn´t like that! I made a delivery for my familia, lord Miach and Ms. Nahza had too much to do. I didn´t knew that the City of the Night was the Pleasure Quarter."
I guess that was my mistake for not telling him.
"But why were you there the whole night?"
"The thunderstorm."
"And you thought it would be better to stay in a brothel than to run home and get wet?"
"Ahm...yes?"
Alfia nearly glared at him, then she took a long breath and sighed. If Alfia were another kind of woman, she would have probably yelled at him without wanting to hear his explanation. But like Zeus once said, Alfia´s existence was like a cheat to the world, she tended to do the one thing that could prevent many problems in the world or end them.
She listened and talked to Bell, wanting to hear his explanation before she judged him.
"Please explain everything to me, I guess there is a reason why you wanted to talk to me."
"Yes, so it was like this..."
A long explanation followed, why he went there, why he stayed there and who he talked to.
He couldn´t name the expression on Alfia´s face, she sighed in her mind.
One week...it took Orario one week to rob my baby of his illusions of heroism, bravery and the good in people. Why did he had to encounter something like this so soon? Why couldn´t he remain innocent for a while longer?
"So you want to free this girl?"
"Yes."
"And then what?"
"Huh?"
"What do you want to do after freeing her? Let her go and say goodbye?"
"No, I want to help her to fulfill her wish, to see the world and grant her what she thinks she isn´t worthy about."
"And why?"
Please don´t tell me he fell for a prostitute...
"Because that´s what heroes do."
"Hah..."
"Mom?"
"I´m glad you remained yourself."
"Huh?"
"Nothing. But that sure sounds like you."
"And now?"
Alfia was in thoughts for a moment. "First things first, we need informations."
"So you will help me?"
"Why do you even ask? I´m your Mom, of course I will help you."
"But...aren´t you against at since she is a...you know."
"I can´t say I´m happy about it, but at the same time I am."
"Huh?"
"As a Mom, I´m not happy that my young son has contact with a brothel and a prostitute. But at the same time, I´m happy that you are willing to help someone in need, that others would down on. That you don´t care what she is and just offer your help."
"Oh, ehe, thank you, Mom."
"Not for that. So as I said we need more informations. You said they ordered more and you will have to make a delivery nearly every day, yes?"
"Yes, lord Miach and Ms. Nahza were really happy about these orders, it helps us to make good money."
Alfia nodded. "Then make those deliveries and talk to her once more, find out if she really wants to go."
"I´m sure she wants to!"
"Bell, don´t understand wrong what I´m saying now. A pig whose sty is it´s world, will not leave it even if you open the gate. Which means, all she knows is this life there, even if she dreams of something else, she might be too afraid to go, or there are other reasons. But we can´t say that for sure, so we need informations first.
You do your part and I will gather informations in another way."
"What do you mean?"
"I heard some "rumors" that something strange happens in the Pleasure Quarter, as if the Ishtar Familia was up to something."
"Where do you heard that."
"Sweety, that is something I will never tell you. My old life is behind me, but there are things you never forget, for example who or where to ask."
"Should I be worried?"
"About me or the rumors?"
"Both."
"Hehe, you are worried about your Mom?"
"Of course, you are the most important thing in the world for me."
"That makes me glad, but you don´t need to worry. Anyway, about those rumors, for now don´t be worried, I will gather more informations first. You focus on your dungeon crawling and the deliveries later, okay?"
"Yes."
"And Bell, I trust you that you don´t do something inappropriate with that girl."
His face darkened a bit. "I won´t."
"Don´t be mad, these are just my worries as a Mom speaking out of me. That reminds me, you said she was a Renard?"
"Yes, the purest of the purest animal person I have ever seen! Not that I want to badmouth Ms. Nahza... But why do you ask?"
"Which race comes to your mind first when you think about magic?"
"Elves?"
"Correct, Elves and Renarts."
"Really?"
"Yes, for animal people it is easier to use certain kinds of magic, beastification is an example but not all of them can do that. Since she is a fox person with golden fur, she belongs to a really rare kind of animal people. As far as I know from the past, they only appear in the far east and are capable of a magic form that they call "Youjutsu". For animal people from there it is quite common, but the fox people are stronger than the others. You remember your story, right?"
"The daughter of the sun?"
"Yes, she was also a golden furred fox woman, so she probably had strong magic."
"What does this have to do with Ms. Haruhime?"
"It could make things complicated, maybe raise the price you have to pay."
.
.
To focus on the dungeon was easier said than done, Bell´s mind was filled with the face of Haruhime. He saw her begging to him to free her from her imprisonment, not that she actually had done this, but Bell was who he was.
Still, he forced himself to focus on the dungeon, having his mind somewhere else could mean death, now he had to kill time until it was time for the delivery.
.
.
Unknown by Bell, his familia and Alfia, other people had an eye on the Pleasure Quarter as well...and the Pleasure Quarter had it´s eyes on various things too.
.
.
"Haruhime?"
"Ms. Aisha?"
"Did you have fun last night?"
"Fun?"
The amazon grinned. "The delivery guy that left in the morning, didn´t know you had it in you to go all night."
Haruhime showed her the slight smile that she always seemed to have on her lips, as usual it didn´t reached her eyes.
"It was quite the entertaining night."
"Oho? Did your urges finally awaken?"
Haruhime just smiled...as usual.
"I heard from Lena that he was quite handsome, that you pinned him down in your room when the others were looking for him."
"It seems to be that way."
It was the same as usual with Haruhime, Aisha was sure that she had already lost all hope.
"Do you think he will come back?"
"I don´t know, there are still deliveries to be made for this place."
"It will soon be time, you know?"
"I am aware."
"Don´t you want to run away?"
"For what reason?"
Haruhime touched the black collar around her neck. "They will know where I am, always."
This girl...
Aisha really wanted to bring Haruhime out of here, but ever since Ishtar punished her personally after breaking the first Kill Stone, she couldn´t disobey orders from the goddess, no matter how much she wished for it.
But thankfully this charm had it´s flaws, Ishtar only ordered her to not even try to bring Haruhime out of the District, the only place that Haruhime was allowed to go was the dungeon to support the others with her magic.
"Was it fun to spend time with him?"
"Yes."
"Hmm."
Maybe I should look a bit more into him, whoever he might be.
This was the first time that Haruhime had shown interest on her own. Aisha and Lena were the pushy ones before.
.
.
What are you shitty amazons up to?
Looking out of a window high up in a house, a black haired cat man watched the movements in the District. He wasn´t happy with this job, but his Mistress had asked him to do it, so he did. Freya got informations from someone that things were odd in the Pleasure Quarter.
It wasn´t easy to spot, but Allen was no beginner. The Ishtar Familia gathered materials, potions and other stuff. Much more than needed for an Expedition, and the familia wasn´t known for deep expeditions anyway. For his trained eyes it looked like they were prepairing for a fight.
Last night he had seen a delivery guy bringing a large package to one of the brothels and staying there over night. Allen got curious to which familia he belonged, since he had never seen him before. In the morning when he came out, he followed him through the streets. Strangely, while he had the smell of the brothel on him, he didn´t had the faint smell of sex.
Allen had heard of adventurers that went to a brothel and spent time with a prostitute, without sleeping with them, that they just wanted someone to talk and for comfort.
In the far west of Orario he had found the home of this guy.
Miach Familia, hm.
It was a small, irrelevant name, but he got a guess what was inside this package. Probably potions and contraceptives. Losing interest he went back to his post, in case the Miach Familia was on Ishtar´s side, one lower member of the Freya Familia would be enough to wipe them out. Yet Allen doubted that this god would go against his Lady.
Still, he would report everything he had seen to his lady. And while he was there, Allen would receive informations from Freya as well, that her informant had new informations for her. He had a guess who it was, Freya called the informant just "Syr´s friend".
.
.
Only two people in Orario knew that this city was a powder keg at the moment...and the fuse was already burning. One goddess planned to take out another goddess and her whole Familia, while the second goddess thought about teach her a lesson and crush her.
But it would be more fun to do it right before the other goddess was ready, so she could rub it in her face that she knew everything all along.
.
.
"Master Cranel, welcome back."
"Lady Haruhime, I hope you had a nice day."
"L-Lady?"
"Ehe, I´m sorry, my grandfather told me to be polite to women."
"There is nothing bad about this. But master Cranel?"
"Yes?"
"Why do you look so...tattered?"
"Ahm, about this..."
It was the second day after he brought the first delivery, Nahza and Miach had needed a bit of time to make all the potions. They told Bell that the Ishtar Familia only ordered strong potions. At first he was a bit surprised why they didn´t ordered them from the Dian Cecht Familia,
but Miach told him with immense pride that Nahza was one of the best potion makers in all of Orario. Nahza got deep red when Miach said this and looked very happy.
Now that Bell knew what the City of the Night was, his behaviour had changed completely when he came again. The two guards at the entrance to the district whistled when he went by with a deep red face, saying something about a package again. Ignorance could be a real blessing.
He saw all those beautiful women again, now he noticed how light and alluring their clothes were. And their smiles seemed to be very different now. All of them were older than Bell, some just two or three years, other at least ten years.
"Hey Mr. delivery boy, want to have some fun?"
"N-No thanks!"
"Ehehe, so cute."
Bell didn´t knew it, but due to the misunderstanding with the two guards two days ago, a rumor had spread in the Pleasure Quarter. Since the two guards thought it was just dirty talk from Bell, they really believed what he said about the "package".
And that was what brought him into a bit of trouble now...
"Oooooh, found hiiim!"
"Huh?!"
While he was on his way to the Crimson Lotus, an even bigger package in his hands this time, a happy voice rang out behind him. Just as he wanted to turn his head around, the person that had spoken jogged into his field of view. When Bell was red before, now he got crimson, the young woman in front of him was nearly naked. She had wheat colored skin and long, black hair, usual for an amazon.
There were no shoes on her feet and she didnt even wore pants or a long skirt. Instead what covored her bottom were basically white panties and a slit skirt, revealing more than it hid. It had an orange color with golden borders. Her not so small breasts were also covered by something that Bell would call a white brassiere, in addition she had an open, orange west with golden borders, a golden collar around her neck and a black one around one of her thighs.
She was really gorgeous and her smile was captivating.
But Bell Cranel immediatelly tried to look away, the body in front of him was dangerous territory for his eyes.
"Oh my, why are you blushing Mr. delivery guy?"
"P-Please put on some more clothes!"
"Eeeh? But it is really warm today, also they are cute!"
"D-Do you need something?"
"Hehe, I heard about your package?"
"My package?"
"Yes, that you bragged about it, the size."
"It wasn´t that big."
"Aaaww, now you are being too modest, I mean you made Haru Haru do that."
"Haru Haru?"
"Our little fox."
"I didn´t made her do anything!"
"Mhm, of cooourse. She never pinned someone down before. Didn´t knew she was into delivery guy play."
"A-Anyway, I need to go!"
He had startled when she suddenly grabbed his left arm and pressed her bosom against it. Bell Cranel had squeaked, experiencing for the first time how it felt to have his arm sandwiched by two lady pillows.
"Eeeep!"
"Oh my, why are you reacting like that? Didn´t you had your fill with Haru Haru´s already? And they are bigger than mine."
"Please don´t tell me that!"
Her eyes widened in disbelief. "Don´t tell me...you didn´t snacked on Haru Haru?"
"Why are you talking so vulgar? Also what does snack even mean?!"
Now a happy smile bloomed on her lips. "Are you perhaps a virgin?!"
"T-This none of your business! Please leave me alone!"
"Nope! I claim you for myself! Pure virgins and dangerous ruffians are my types!"
There was a happy sparkle in her eyes, a happy, dangerous sparkle.
"Eeh!"
"Hehe, come come, I will give you a wonderful first time. *Slrp*"
She licked her lips...she really had licked her lips while looking at Bell with hungry eyes. No matter how Bell Cranel´s fate changed, one thing about him would always stay the same, his spirit animal was a rabbit.
"You have a dangerous feeling around you, I like that."
What had scared the guards away, made Bell only more alluring for Lena Tally. And when she dealt the final blow and whispered into Bell´s ear what she intended to do for and with him, his body reacted on it´s own.
"Daaaaaaaah!"
"Heeey! Don´t run away!"
It wasn´t the first time that an amazon chased a man through the Pleasure Quarter, but it was always a fascinating sight.
He didn´t knew how he managed to do that, his memory got a bit blurry. But Bell Cranel managed to outrun a level two amazon with a big package in his hands, without breaking any of the potions.
.
.
"You outran Ms. Lena?!"
"Is that her name? Yeah, somehow... She...she said she wanted to "eat" me."
He looked a bit scared, facing the libido of an amazon for the first time. She felt the strong urge to spend him comfort and spoil him a bit.
Bell looked to the door.
"Is it...safe here?"
"Yes, don´t worry, we have an ironclad rule, when you are in my room, the others won´t touch you."
"Okay..."
"Ahm, master Bell?"
He really couldn´t get used to her calling him master.
"Y-Yes?"
"Do you want me to help you calm down a bit?"
"Huh?"
Even when Bell was raised that way and was basically the perfect gentleman, she had noticed that his eyes often wandered to a certain body part of her.
Her tail.
He looked fascinated as she moved her tail forward and placed it next to him.
"Feel free to touch it, but please be gentle."
"I-I-Is that okay?"
She smiled slightly. "Yes."
"Really? Ms. Nahza told me the tail and ears are a very important part for an animal person."
"Yes, they are, but I trust you, master Cranel. You are a very kind man."
He moved his hands very slowly and carefully, the tail was even more fluffy than he had imagined it to be.
"Wow. So soft...so fluffy."
"Ehe, I´m glad you like it."
It was a good thing that both were very innocent, or maybe the mood would have turned around. Haruhime never before experienced a man to touch her tail, only Lena and Aisha had done that before. Maybe it was because it was Bell, but it felt very nice. And Bell Cranel discovered a new world for him, he was still a bit ashamed that he noticed how good Haruhime smelled, especially her tail.
She wanted to do something for him, since he helped her to forget a bit about her situation for a while.
Haruhime managed to heal Bell´s scared heart in a very gentle way. But when he stopped after five minutes, both were really embarrassed and went quiet for a while.
"Master Cranel?"
"Can´t you just say Mr.? The whole "Master" thing makes me a bit uncomfortable."
She smiled slightly. "If you want to. But I have a question...why did you come back?"
"I had another delivery to make."
An uneasy look was on her face. "That´s not what I meant, while I enjoy spending time with you, with did you come back to me after you delivered the package?"
"I want to free you, Ms. Haruhime."
"Mr. Cranel, I told you...I don´t deserve this. I am tainted, filthy, shared my bed with many men that I don´t love for money."
In his eyes, Haruhime looked like she wanted to cry, even when she smiled slightly, her eyes looked so infinitely sad. But she didn´t cried, Haruhime never cried. Because why do it? It wouldn´t help her. She had accepted her fate for a long time now.
"I´m just a prostitute."
"Then I can ask lady Ishtar to let you go if I pay her enough money, right?"
He had expected her to look surprised or shocked, but her friendly, yet shallow smile remained.
"She won´t let me go."
"But why?!"
"Lady Ishtar is very fond of me. Also, they have done much for me, cared for me, gave me a room, food and other things. I have to repay her kindness."
"But I-"
Before he could finished his sentence, the door got pushed open. What came inside was an adult amazon, she was taller than the one that had chased Bell before, wore very revealing, purple clothes.
Haruhime got startled. "Ms. Aisha?"
"You there, time to go."
"Eh?"
"Ms. Aisha, you are breaking the rule."
"The rule only applies to customers."
"Wh-What I do with the customer is up to his desires."
"But customers pay, and he didn´t pay anything at all."
"But-"
"No buts! Out!"
The woman called Aisha didn´t waited for an answer, she grabbed Bell by the collar and dragged him backwards out of the room.
"Mr. Cranel!"
"Ms. Haruhime!"
Aisha shut the door, pulled Bell up to his feet and pushed him towards the entrance of the building.
"You have some nerve, boy. Coming to our district, bragging about how big your junk is, bringing Haruhime to push you down and come back to spend time with her again after delivering another package. What is your game, huh?"
"I just wanted to talk to her!"
"And why, hm? She has a job to do, even when she is lousy at it!"
"Lousy?"
"Like puking on a customer or fainting when they take their shirt off, she really is a useless fox."
"Pl-Please wait, are you t-"
"Quiet! Who do you think you are? What is your game with Haruhime, hm?!"
"I want to save her!"
"Save her from what?"
"Her life here, she doesn´t want to be here! How can you do this to her?!"
"Are you looking down on prostitutes too? She is the one that doesn´t want to make friends here and enjoy the life that is given to her.
She is the one that only sits around and don´t want to learn about the world around her."
"But-"
"No buts! Do you just want to save her because you feel pitty for her?"
"No I-"
Despite how it looked, Aisha didn´t enjoyed what she said to him, but it had to be done, to see if he was honest.
"Then look at her, she gloomy in her room all day, doesn´t do anything to change her situation on her own, she has given up."
She didn´t just pushed him out of the entrance of the Crimson Lotus, Aisha shoved him all the way to the entrance of the Pleasure Quarter. No other woman tried to put her hands on Bell while the angry Aisha shoved him out, he had noticed that a now unhappy looking Lena had waited at the entrance of the Crimson Lotus.
"I still want to get her outside! So that she can smile for real!"
"You know what that means since lady Isthar won´t sell her?"
"Huh?"
"War."
"If you try to take what is ours, you will fight a war against us. Are you willing to do that?"
"I..."
Maybe he was still too young an unexperienced, but this wasn´t how he had pictured Orario, how he had pictured his life here. He had found a nice, small familia, had started to go into the dungeon, had fallen for a beautiful elf at first sight. And now he was threatened for war with one of the strongest familias in Orario, his familia was in danger. And also, his Mom.
"I..."
"That´s what I thought, you are just like any other man in the city, you have no guts. This girl is waiting for her hero, he will never come."
"!" These words hit something in Bell.
Ever since he was a young boy, he had dreamed to be a hero like in his stories and rescue a damsel in distress. He even had rescued Alfia dozens of times while his grandfather was disguised as a monster.
This strong feeling in his heart couldn´t be pitty for Haruhime, he wanted to free her and help her.
"Then let me tell you what you are up against. There was a certain, dumb prostitute in our Familia. She too took pitty on another prostitue, some far eastern girl that didn´t wanted to make friends. That girl always smiled an empty smile, got never mad nor cried. Said prostitute wanted to help that poor girl and destroyed a very valuable magical stone that her familia had. After getting beaten nearly to death, she got dragged to her goddess, said goddess had her way with the prostitute all night and charmed her, so that she would never be able to go against her wishes again. That´s the familia that you have your eyes on, boy."
"Dear gods..."
"Now get out of my sight and don´t come back until you have your job to do!"
"But I just wa-"
She leaned closer and had a dangerous expression on her face.
"If you dare to make her fals hopes, I will pin you down and ride you until you beg me to stop and you are wrung dry."
His eyes widened in horror.
.
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Bell Cranel didn´t noticed a shadow that followed him to his home, a shadow that was wearing glasses and had blue hair. The young man didn´t knew that he drew the attention of more than one faction towards him. But the faction that this shadow belonged to, had it´s eyes on him ever since he came to Orario, following another someone´s request.
.
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On the next day, Bell returned with a new package. This time he didn´t got bothered by Lena and Aisha was nowhere to be seen. Haruhime smiled a bit more when he came to talk to her again.
She was worried at first about what Aisha had done to him, but he said it was very strange, yet she didn´t harmed him.
.
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Two shadows cowered hidden in the darkness on top of one of the rooftops, watching what happened in the Pleasure Quarter. Most of it was just the usual stuff, but for experienced eyes...things happened.
"Hey Leon."
"Mh?"
Kaguya noticed how stiff Ryu was, the pure elf was disgusted by the sight of the Pleasure Quarter. Whenever they returned home, Ryu stood under the shower for a long time, scrubbed her body and washed her hair multiple times to get rid of the smell from the district.
"Say, the boy that you saved."
"Yes?"
"White hair, red eyes, human, correct?"
"...Yes."
Ryu followed Kaguya´s finger and looked down onto the street, a young man with an enormous package in his hands walked down the street. The elf´s expression darkened at first.
"I wonder what he has in there, I heard that some shops here order a large amount of things recently. Some from the Dian Cecht Familia, and the sign on his package is from the Miach Familia."
"He doesn´t look like a visitor."
"I agree, just look how he tries to avoid looking at the women here. Even that elf over there can´t get his attention."
Now Ryu´s darkened expression softened a bit. She didn´t knew the female elf that worked there, but Ryu wouldn´t judge her. From the looks of it, the female elf had hit rock bottom and since she didn´t knew how she ended up here, Ryu only felt sorry for her fellow elf.
To think an elf would end up as a prostitute...
"Kaguya, let us follow him, maybe we find out what is in the package."
"Agreed."
Only one person in the whole Pleasure Quarter noticed the two shadows moving along the rooftops, but this person was a master when it came to spying. Also his cat ears allowed him to easily locate these two.
Both moved easily and avoided to be spotted, not that most people would look up to the sky, they were focussed on something else. Both followed Bell until he arrived at the Crimson Lotus. Only briefly did Kaguya catch a glimpse of the woman that led him inside.
They waited for a while but he didn´t came out.
"How long can it take to deliver a package?"
"Do you think they..."
"Let us move over there, I want to get a closer look."
"K-Kaguya?"
"Oh geez, stop being like that, as if I want to spy on them doing "that"."
"Sorry..."
"Hah, the Pleasure Quarter really is no place for you."
Both moved carefully around the building, there was only one room with an open window, and that window was very large on top of that. The whole building was built in the far eastern style, so Kaguya knew where she had to crouch to look inside.
Ryu followed her and looked inside too.
They saw them, both sitting on the tatami floor and just talked to each other, while they had an open book between them. It looked like they were having a bit fun, but were also carefull to not be too loud.
"That doesn´t look like a suspicious book."
When Ryu got no answer, she looked at Kaguya.
"Kaguya, what´s wrong?"
"A Sanjouno..."
"What?"
"That girl...she is a Sanjouno..."
"What is a Sanjouno?"
"I told you once about my family, my clan, right?"
"Yes."
"One of the great families in the far east that serve the imperial court is the Sanjouno clan."
"Then what is she doing here? Also how can you be sure that she is a Sanjouno?"
"I have seen them once during a clan meeting, put up by the imperial court. Fox people are rare in general when it comes to animal people. But there is a kind rare among the fox people, those with golden fur. Also, she is the very image of a woman I saw there, the wife of the clan leader.
That woman couldn´t be anyone else but her mother, they look just too similar. Also the woman was pregnant during that time, it would fit."
"The question remains why she is here now."
Kaguya nodded. "Something must have happened, but the Ishtar familia really caught a big fish with her."
"Why that? Because she is nobility?"
"No, the golden furred fox people are very strong among the natural magic user. They are for the animal people there what the high elves are for you."
"I have never heard of such a member of the Ishtar familia before. Maybe she is a non combatant member?"
"Or they kept her identity hidden."
Both kept looking for a few minutes before they moved to somewhere else.
.
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When Bell Cranel returned to his home with mixed feelings, he found a strange message in front of the door.
It just said. Ishtar Familia. Fox Girl. Killing Stone.
When he showed this message to Miach and Nahza, they didn´t understood it. But when he showed it to Alfia, to ask her for advice, her face went dark.
She knew for what this stone was used.
Two days before the full moon...Haruhime's time was up.
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Author´s Note: Don´t worry, this won´t be a copy of Haruhime´s arc even when it is similar, it will go different from here on onwards. Next chapter is for Spirit Child, then Blood of Zeus (Ero) a two parted chapter, one part for Lily, one for Mikoto.
To answer questions, as usual I can´t answer all of them or I would spoil the story.
Kratos1991: Bell knew what a brothel was, he just didn´t knew that this was a brothel, since he came early afternoon with bad weather, there were no customers there. Now he knows it. About Lena, I have plans for her, but I can´t say what or it would spoil the story. About Aisha, not Hermes Familia, I have another for her.
Temsen: Bell just didn´t thought about avoiding monsters and destroying the stones, he is still an unexperienced adventurer.
tdouble: About the length, this here shall become my longest story.