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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Teottry
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Jin was a beauty with ebony hair, shimmering ash-grey skin, and dark eyes with a hint of blue.
Lucy was also a beauty, out of place in this small town, but she couldn’t hold a candle to this Eastern woman. However, that wasn’t the reason for my surprise.
“Your name is Jin?”
“Yes.”
I scanned Jin from head to toe once more. Though her demeanor was different, her appearance was identical to the Jin I remembered.
The Great Mother Jin of the underworld.
A powerful figure who controlled Quaran’s underworld. The one who would become the vanguard of the witches and drown the continent in blood.
What was strange was that she seemed embarrassed by my gaze, fidgeting and trying to cover her ash-grey skin with the scraps of fabric that barely constituted her clothing.
It wasn’t like the seasoned Great Mother of the underworld I knew. Was it an act? Or was this the difference between the game and reality? Perhaps this was her true self.
“I’m Allen. You said I’m your first customer?”
“Yes.”
With a satisfied smile, I headed to a private room. Jin silently followed.
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The private room had a bath large enough for three people. The water, freshly drawn, was clean, and rose petals scattered on the surface filled the room with a subtle fragrance.
I removed the cloth covering my lower body and stepped into the bath. The comfortably hot water soothed my tense muscles.
“Are you going to stand there all day?”
Jin stood frozen at the entrance, her eyes trembling like she was experiencing an earthquake. She seemed unable to move, her feet glued to the floor.
She genuinely seemed like a first-timer. However, it could all be an act.
In the game, the Great Mother Jin was a cunning and ruthless character who had taken control of Quaran’s underworld at a young age.
I couldn’t let my guard down.
“Excuse me.”
Jin approached me from behind and began to massage my shoulders. Her touch was incredibly awkward. However, I couldn’t complain because of the calluses on certain parts of her palms.
Having been with many women, I could tell the difference between calluses formed from hard labor and those formed from sword training.
Jin’s calluses were clearly from the latter.
One more thing. The fact that Jin wasn’t a virtuous character in the game made me even more wary.
Perhaps I was placing my life in the hands of Death itself.
“You’re quite silent. Conversation is also part of the service.”
“I apologize. I’m not used to it…”
“Not used to it? Or you don’t want to be? You should know that this world isn’t so easy that you can solve all your problems with just your looks.”
I casually moved from her hands to the massage table. I gestured towards Jin, who was biting her lip. There was only one reason for a naked man to call a whore to his bed.
Jin’s long eyelashes fluttered, and her throat bobbed. She slowly approached and reached for the scraps of fabric that barely covered her.
That’s when I realized that Jin couldn’t give up her role as a whore. Without watching any further, I lay down on my stomach.
“Ah…?”
Jin, her hand still on her clothing, let out a soft moan. I turned my head and smirked at her.
“What a sly girl. I wasn’t even thinking about it, but you’re already a step ahead.”
“You’re teasing me.”
As if realizing that she had been played, Jin pouted slightly. The hint of emotion on her otherwise stoic face made her even more beautiful.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Continue with the massage.”
I buried my face in the table again. Jin carefully climbed onto the bed and resumed the massage. Her hands, now coated in fragrant oil, no longer felt rough.
If she had used the oil from the beginning, she could have hidden the fact that she trained with a sword. It seemed she hadn’t thought that far.
She seemed clumsy in many ways.
The silence that fell between us was another example. If it were Lucy, she would have been chattering non-stop. For her, sex was just a small part of the service.
True service was about easing a client’s troubled mind, and conversation was essential for that.
“If you have nothing to say, tell me about yourself.”
“…I’m afraid I might bore you, Master Allen.”
“Don’t bother hiding it. There are only two kinds of Easterners who cross the ocean: merchants and fugitives. You’re not a merchant, so you must be a fugitive.”
Jin hesitated for a moment, then her hands moved from my back to my shoulders, then to my neck. I could feel her hips, positioned near my waist, rise slightly.
She had shifted her weight so she could put more force into her hands. In this position, if she decided to strangle me, I would be defenseless. My heart beat a little faster.
“There’s nothing more suspicious than hiding something everyone already knows. I would reveal the obvious truth and hide the secrets within it. Lies are most effective when concealed within the truth.”
Jin’s hands wrapped around my neck. They were gently massaging me now, but with a little force, they could easily choke me.
“Thank you for the advice. However, are you alright, Master Allen? You’re completely vulnerable in my hands. What if I had ill intentions?”
Her voice was icy. Her hands tightened around my neck. Even without applying much pressure, I felt my breath catch in my throat. The hairs on my arms stood on end as Jin shed her clumsy facade.
I smiled. The Jin of before was a stranger, but the Jin of now was someone I knew well.
“And where would you go if you became a fugitive in the Western Continent as well?”
Silence fell again. Her hands moved from my neck back down to my back, gently massaging the muscles. It was a long time before Jin spoke again.
“Why would you say such a thing? Are you trying to find my weakness and use me?”
Her tone was still cold.
I imagined having Jin under my control. She would undoubtedly be a valuable asset. The problem was that she was a named character who played a significant role in the story. Interfering with her might alter the future I knew, rendering my greatest weapon useless.
Was Jin worth that risk? I was skeptical. If I were to use her, I would have to do so minimally, without affecting the storyline.
I organized my thoughts and spoke.
“Sir Roland is in the next room. He’s a pawn of my stepmother, who’s trying to usurp my territory. He invited me to the brothel today to test me. I guarantee that if he realizes I know their plan, he’ll try to kill me.”
“What are you talking about?”
Jin’s hands stopped moving.
“There’s no way for strangers to build trust. There are only ways to prevent betrayal. By exchanging weaknesses. Fatal weaknesses.”
As I spoke, I turned over to face the ceiling.
“W-Wait…!”
I was naked, and Jin was practically naked as well. As she hurriedly tried to cover herself and get off the massage table, she slipped. Because of the oil.
In the blink of an eye, our skin touched. Our faces were so close that we could feel each other’s breath.
I involuntarily reached out and touched Jin’s face. The beauty that had only existed in my memories was right in front of me. It felt surreal, like meeting a fairy in a dream. Perhaps it was because she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.
Her ash-grey skin was as smooth as I had imagined, and I could feel her swallow through our point of contact. The faint blush on her ashen skin was strangely alluring.
I broke the silence that seemed to stretch on forever.
“I have a proposition. Help me avoid Sir Roland for a week. I’ll pay you handsomely. Or I can spread the word that you’re my favorite.”
I had accepted Roland’s invitation to the brothel because I had something to do in this city, now that my father’s death, the turning point in the story, was imminent.
The problem was that Sophia couldn’t find out about it. Therefore, I had to avoid Roland’s watchful eye.
Initially, I had planned to use Lucy. Since outsiders weren’t allowed in the private rooms, I could deceive Roland if I could bring in a different whore.
However, Lucy was in love with Roland. Using her would be like asking a fox to guard the henhouse.
I needed another whore. A trustworthy whore.
In that sense, Jin was the perfect accomplice. Though not a virtuous character, she wouldn’t have been able to become the Great Mother of the underworld, a place rife with schemes and betrayals, without a sense of loyalty.
“Your favorite? What does that mean?”
Jin, snapping out of her daze, quickly got off the bed. As if that wasn’t enough, she retreated to the opposite wall.
“I may only rule a small territory, but I’m the heir to a knight’s family. And I’m known as a scoundrel. If word gets out that you’re my favorite, you won’t have to entertain unwanted customers.”
This was only possible because Quaran was a small city located right next to the Tolbatz territory.
It wasn’t a bad proposition for Jin, who had clearly shown that she wasn’t ready for this line of work.
“A scoundrel…?”
Jin looked disbelieving.
“You’ll need time to confirm whether I’m telling the truth. I’ll hear your answer tomorrow.”
I casually got up and dressed. Leaving Jin, who was clearly wary of me, behind, I left the private room. As I stood outside, enjoying the cool breeze and organizing my thoughts, Roland emerged a short while later, pulling up his trousers.
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“Master Allen? You’re out early.”
“It seemed like you enjoyed yourself. I could hear everything.”
Roland and Lucy had been in the next room. Whether intentional or not, Lucy’s moans were loud enough to be heard through the walls.
It had conveniently masked my conversation with Jin, but the fact that Lucy hadn’t shown such enthusiasm with me left a bitter taste in my mouth.
Though, considering how I had been focused solely on my own pleasure in the past, it wasn’t entirely surprising. Was her unrestrained moaning a testament to Roland’s skill? Or was it a deliberate attempt to insult me?
Perhaps it was both. In any case, she was a fool.
“Ahem, how was the new girl from the East? Is her skin really as dark as ink? I heard that her skin is as supple as an animal’s, and that she’s tighter than women from the continent.”
Roland’s eyes gleamed. I also enjoyed women, but Roland was on another level. He had just been with Lucy, the brothel’s ace, and yet he was already craving another woman.
Did Lucy know what kind of man Roland was? Of course she did. Even I, who was oblivious to most things, knew about Roland’s womanizing ways.
Yet, she had chosen Roland over me. I couldn’t understand a woman’s heart.
“Hehe. I guarantee you’ve only seen a glimpse of what she has to offer. I’ve already paid for a week and reserved her.”
“Oh, is that so?”
Roland looked clearly disappointed. He glanced at me with an expectant look.
Was he hoping I would offer Jin to him, just like I had offered Lucy? How much of a fool did he take me for? I was the fool for thinking of such a scoundrel as a close friend.
I smiled, hiding my true feelings.
“Since you gave me the pleasure of experiencing that wonderful woman, I’ll yield her to you in a week.”
I planned to get rid of Roland in a week. Oblivious to my intentions, Roland’s face brightened. I mounted my horse and left him behind. Dusk was settling over Quaran.
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Roland gotta be prepared tho LMAO 😂
No illustrations yet?