Chapter 146: Arriving At A Brothel
"Woah~" Swaying my body over the bow, I puckered my feet along the thin tip of The Canary like a tightrope. With both arms raised, I tiptoed ever so closer to the edge of the metal-plated tip of The Canary.
My mouth hung open with a thin smile as I stepped towards the small wave of Heathens coming directly at us.
No Book of Heresy, no Orders, no Tales, and no back-up.
"Just me and you!" Shouting at the stupid Heathens with an elated voice, I twirled backwards momentarily to face Nemora and Elden.
Winking at them, "I'll be off first." I began to step backwards towards the water.
But, before I could fall off with a cool exit and a flare to my hips, Elden clapped his hands together.
Pah!
The sound drowned beneath the shrieks of Heathens, but was audible nonetheless.
Then, smirking, he turned his eyes downwards at me.
He winked.
And-
"Amplify."
-Blessings and Curses burst out of his palms and towards the distance, towards...
The Cloak of Verdansk.
Specifically, the cloaks that covered Esme, Hilda, and Jill.
I had to tilt my head backwards at an unnatural angle to watch; I had swivelled to face the ship moments ago after all.
Elden, you damned bastard.
You just had to take my spotlight.
Hundreds of meters away, in my twisted, upside-down vision, I observed the cloaks covering the girls and the boy.
More specifically, I observed the Curses.
Wriggle.
They surged instantaneously from all three members of our cohort, and, with monumental volumes, they exploded outwardly. Like spikes, like shrapnel...? The Cloak of Verdansk, which once seemed like a mere protective form of Manifestation, turned into a living, breathing bomb cloak.
Explosions surged in all directions, splattering Heathens like a hot knife through butter; everything in the surroundings of Esme, Hilda, and Jill was turned into a gory mess reminiscent of a child being left alone in a kitchen full of ingredients.
Clicking my tongue, I pulled my eyes off the scene and towards Elden.
He's still smirking at me.
Sighing, I finally dropped downwards into the incoming horde.
Cracking my limbs, I twisted myself midair with a jolt of adrenaline accompanying the movement and reinforced my fist with a plethora of Curses.
Just die.
Dropping fist-first into a crab residing on an aquatic Heathen, an outburst of chitin, crab meat, and fetid blood sprayed all around me.
"He stole my spotlight."
I'm not mad about it.
Not in the slightest.
...I'm not.
[9 Minutes]
-----
Smack!
Ducking my head, I kept the man in my arms close to my chest as I slipped past a punch. Whipping my leg out before the rugged filth standing in front of me could notice, I cracked its shin and hurriedly took another step back.
"Ah! F, fuck!" Curling up into a ball on the paved street, the rugged filth clutched its shin with despair written all over its face.
The others walking past us ignored the scene, having been all too used to such violence in this desecrated corner of the citadel.
I didn't have an explicit sign that told me that I was in this shithole part of the citadel, but anyone with a functioning pair of eyes could catch the obvious; shadowed figures, cloaks, heads down, fast walking paces...
I'm not in a pleasant area.
"Oy. You sack of shit." Leaning towards the curled-up filth, "Do you know who 'Ghilenna' is and where I can find them?"
Alas, the filth could only shriek and cry from their broken bone.
The observing hyenas in nearby alleyways would likely tear apart their life.
Not that it's my problem.
This is just a dream after all.
"Fuck off-!" The filth's voice came out high-pitched with snot dribbling all over its lips; disgusting swine.
"Do you, or do you not know?" I raised my foot, hovering it over its other shin as it stared up at me with shocked, terrified eyes.
"I, I don't! I swear! Leave me alone, you bitch!"
Wow, even with my threat to break its other shin, this meddling pig still called me a bitch? Me? The twin of Esme? So is he calling Esme a bitch? He dares?
He dares?
He dares?
He-
CRACK!
Blood squiggled out from beneath my foot, marring it crimson while bits of mince-meat-esque matter splurged out like a splattered watermelon.
Oh.
I killed him.
Removing my foot from the swine's broken scalp, the brain matter stuck to my boots like glue. Rubbing the meat off using the pig's clothing, I cleaned myself off, shrugged and loosened my shoulders-
"Don't you dare call my sister a 'bitch'. You vile thing."
Oh.
And if you wonder why I'm holding such a big grudge in the first place...
He wanted my hand in marriage.
This thing jumped out of the alleyway and attempted to molest me. Perhaps it was drugged up, crazy, or had a screw-loose in its brain, but, either way, that mattered no longer.
The problem was dealt with.
Killing a pig is easier than killing a Human, I must say.
I've yet to kill one, a Human. But I'm glad that today it wasn't a Human that I killed but a thing that merely resembled one.
At least...
That'showIconvincedmyself.
-areyousureyourokay?-
-areyousure?
-areyou-
-are-
Zip it.
Licking my dried-out lips, I stepped past the corpse and marched onwards through the silent streets.
They weren't so silent before, but perhaps my actions were a tad bit too extreme for this place; how am I meant to know what's fine and what isn't? If this were the Domain of Light, I could kill as many as I want and get away with it for being the madness' daughter. Not that I ever killed anyone, but-
"Missy."
-hm?
A voice called out to me from an alleyway.
"You said 'Ghilenna', didn't you?"
Turning my eyes to the alleyway, I crossed eyes with a little boy hugging a piece of stale bread in his arms; his eyes are warm.
"I did."
Then, the boy nodded, "Follow me, I know where she is."
Wow. Doesn't he mind that I just killed a pig in front of him? I suppose a pig is a pig; it's not too outlandish to slay one, but still-
"Not bad." I mumbled and followed after his scurrying little back.
We twisted and turned across multiple lesser-populated sections of the citadel, mostly consisting of the poorer population and slums, until, eventually, we broke through the poverty and into a more modest neighbourhood.
Not lavish, but comfortable for a more working-class environment.
With red bricks and a more industrious tone to the architecture, it almost felt like...
19th century, or 18th century, Bri- Brit... tannia? Something like that?
So, after a couple more interesting minutes of walking through sunlight and with a couple of weary eyes honing in on my inappropriate attire, we arrived in front of a lavish building that seemed almost out of place.
Oh?
[Drowned Affairs]
The sign hung on a signpost, and the heads resting lackadaisically on the windowsills above me told me everything I needed to know about the building.
Few moans echoed from within, as expected due to it being the middle of the day, but it was a brothel.
A real brothel.
"Come." The boy looked back at me, gestured his head to the side alley hugging the brothel, and pulled me over to a more indescript side entrance to the facility.
"Is this 'Ghilenna' a prostitute?" My oh-so-curious brain had to ask that question to the boy right before we walked through the entrance.
But, to my surprise, he shook his head, "No, she's the protection. Come, quickly, stop wasting time." So the boy said, but the warmth in his eyes as he looked between me and the unconscious man in my arms was unchanging.
He's a kind kid.
Like Elden.
My mood dampened slightly as I stepped through the side entrance and into the warmth of the brothel. The pleasant perfume clung to my nose, but, as usual, the scent was dampened when it approached my tongue.
I wonder if kisses will taste any good these days.
I've had thought multiple times since I overdrafted my Book of Heresy those years ago, but seeing this brothel brought the thought right back to the forefront of my brain. Worst of all, I haven't had any tongue kisses since the carriage, so I can't even answer my own damn question.
Even though I have a lover, or two.