The Red-Light District's Bodyguard

We followed behind the prostitute, going deeper and deeper.

The lewdness only intensified.

On the second floor of one building, a woman in just her undergarments from the waist up was smoking a pipe while watching us.

If we hadn't had a guide, she surely would have tried to invite us.

… If I weren't here for work, I would have wanted to stop by.

Not letting any of that show, I maintained a serious expression.

Who knows what they'd think if I let my face go slack.

We arrived at a building that was a bit more worn than the others.

"The Madam is here. Are you sure you don't want to play, mister?"

"Another time."

Saying that as I handed over the silver coins, the prostitute took them and whispered that she'd be looking forward to it before heading back the way we'd come.

I rang the bell beside the building's door, and it opened.

A young girl had opened it.

Without a word, she beckoned us inside.

"A customer?"

Following the girl's guidance to the back, we reached a living room.

There sat an old woman in a rocking chair.

The girl bowed her head and went off somewhere.

I noticed a scar on her throat, so perhaps she couldn't speak.

The old woman savored her cigar before finally turning her gaze toward us.

"Did you come to sell me women?"

Her voice was raspy, but had power behind it.

She was clearly no ordinary old woman.

I could tell she was appraising us with her sharp eyes.

"They're fine women. I'll pay well."

"Sorry, but that's not why I'm here."

"Then did you bring them because you want to watch them do things with each other? Well, we do allow that sort of thing here. How depraved for someone so young."

"Oh my."

Elza's cheeks flushed as she looked at me shyly… Please stop, she takes it seriously.

"What, that's not it either? How innocent."

There was some teasing mixed in, apparently. She seemed to enjoy harassing young women.

She chuckled to herself.

But that didn't last long.

If we weren't here to buy or sell women, she naturally wondered why we had come.

The gaze she directed at us sharpened.

"Then tell me what business you have. I'll warn you, if you're here to waste my time, I'll throw you out."

She roughly jammed her cigar into the ashtray and leaned forward.

"… Same as always, I see. It's been a while."

"Hmm? Oh, you're the tool shop boy. It's been so long I'd forgotten your face."

I was relieved to find the Madam was still the same old woman.

Actually, our shop supplied goods to this area.

Specifically, ointments and antidote potions.

Plus lotion made from seaweed and contraceptives.

It was a pillar of our sales. The sex industry is eternal.

I'd made deliveries here a few times as a child.

Honestly, I remember it being quite stimulating.

Since getting more employees, I'd left the deliveries to them, so it had been quite a while since I'd seen her directly.

"So what brings you here, boy? If it's about a price increase, we just had one recently. We can't agree to any more."

"It's nothing like that. Now that our suppliers have stabilized, prices should be fine for a while… Actually, these women have gotten involved with some unsavory people."

"Hmm. Go ahead and tell me."

"It seems they lent them a small amount of money, refused to settle the debt, and tried to force them to work at a certain kind of establishment. Not a legitimate one, of course."

"I've heard rumors about people like that. More people coming to the city isn't all good news. Customers have increased, but so has trouble."

She offered me a new cigar, which I accepted and lit.

A sweet aroma passed through my nostrils. High quality.

The old woman picked up the cigar she'd left in the ashtray and continued enjoying it.

A moment of silence passed.

"But if that's the case, wouldn't it be better to rely on the guard? What do you hope to accomplish by coming here?"

"The small fry might get caught, but the guard won't pursue it further than that. Not without catching them in the act."

The only evidence we had was the contract, and that only showed the lending transaction.

We could get the underlings arrested for illegal moneylending, but they'd just cut off the tail like a lizard.

The higher-ups would have avoided dirtying their own hands to minimize risk.

"True enough. Hmph. 'Keep order in the shadows with the shadows,' huh. If we leave this alone, strange people will use it as a funding source, and eventually it'll blow back on us."

"Exactly. I'm certain that's what will happen. I don't expect the higher-ups to be able to tell the difference."

"You don't mince words."

I thought of the Second Princess.

That girl had a puritanical streak.

If she caught wind of something like this, she might just order everything cleaned up together.

I could probably talk things through calmly with the Duke's daughter, but could I really make someone so refined and kind listen to this sort of thing? More importantly, her maid might kill me.

Jacob would probably turn a blind eye if we handled it well. It would benefit the city, and most importantly, prevent tax evasion.

The red-light district was a legitimate taxpayer.

"Lili! Go fetch the Sensei."

The girl who had guided us earlier came over, nodded once, and dashed outside.

"So, you know who you're dealing with, right?"

"Not at all. But they'll come to us soon enough, so it'll be fine."

I glanced at the gypsy sisters.

I felt bad for them, but they'd have to serve as bait.

Even though Kazusa and Finn had driven them off, I doubted they'd give up on a cash cow so easily.

They'd definitely come back. Probably with more people.

Or they might shift their target to us.

… I'd have to teach them what happens when they mess with my employees.

But if our company went too far, bloody rumors would spread about us.

As they say, leave it to the experts.

I wanted to delegate the real punishment to someone else.

When the girl returned, she brought a woman with her.

I recognized this woman. She was the one who'd been watching us earlier in her undergarments from the waist up.

She wore a katana at her hip. Apparently she was the red-light district's bodyguard.