Chapter 147: Within A Brothel
Slinging his flail, Jill sighed through the mayhem.
'Stuffy. Annoying.'
The weight pressing down all over his body all day long, the same weight that dragged him endlessly with zero relent, was pushed into the Manifestation gripped between his palms.
The spiked ball crushed a legion of crab-esque Heathen into smithereens; a bellowing shockwave followed through, mixed with a wave of fetid blood. It ruffled his emerald hair, tossing it into the wind.
Taking deep breaths with each swing of his weapon, Jill stamped an aquatic Heathen, exploded it with a thorough step, and thrust himself further into the mayhem.
Lethargy had followed him for as long as he could remember.
But now, this lethargy, this exhaustion, this unwillingness to even lift his feet-
"Fucks. Die."
-it burrowed into his weapon, strengthening him terrifyingly.
Multiplied with Alora's Order-
CRACK!
-he turned into a monster amid the chaos.
A behemoth whose each step was followed by flattened monsters.
Not cut.
Not Sliced.
Not diced.
Not burnt.
Flattened.
[11 Minutes]
-----
Walking up a set of stairs, I arrived at a more indescript corridor. But, just like the others, it too was coloured in pink and red, a fitting tone for the atmosphere.
Passing by a few of the shut doors, the vague moans of men and women fluttered through.
Not loud enough for the average person to hear, but to my monstrously enhanced ears-
Tch, I feel bad for you. Improve your skills next time, buddy.
-it was loud enough to tell apart the real moans from the fake ones.
But, is it just me, or do both moans coming from that specific door sound strangely masculine...? Surely not, right?
Homosexuality is practically non-existent in this world. Moulding Hilda into my perfect little cutey patooty maid was hard enough already, but for two men in a brothel-
Ah.
Makes sense.
It's a brothel.
I had almost forgotten what type of establishment I was in.
"Here." The boy I had been following pointed at a more traditional door that wasn't decorated with fluttery curtains and pink colours, then turned around and left me all by my lonesome; I didn't even get his name.
Anyways, awkwardly moving the man in my arms aside a little, I knocked at the door a couple of times and waited.
...is there no one home?
Almost a minute later, and still, no response.
This time, I decided to tap the door with my foot using a bit of force.
Thud! Thud!
That should rouse whoever is napping away in there.
Or so I thought, but nothing came about from the other end.
"Hm."
I glanced between the man still cradled in my arms, taking up Esme's and Hilda's spot, and at the door before me, "Forget it." Placing my finger on the door lock, a flicker of Cursed Flames rapidly melted it with controlled force.
The door wasn't damaged, but the lock would have to be replaced.
Tapping the door with my foot, it finally swung open, allowing me entry into the room.
The inside was a mixture of a living room and a bedroom; a bed sat in the corner, surrounded by a fluttery curtain, with a bedside table beside it. And close to the centre of the room was a sofa, a table, and a collection of shelves and wardrobes.
It was cosy.
There you are.
The person I was searching for was lying dead asleep on the sofa, snoring softly through the peals of black hair covering her face.
Moving closer to the lady, I tapped the door shut behind me with my heel and eventually hovered over her, "Ahem. Hello?" Clearing my throat, I leaned towards her and spoke with a clear voice.
"Hello~"
"Wake up~"
"Miss~"
...Nothing?
How dead asleep is she?
Slithering refined tendrils of Cursed Flames over her face, I moved her hair aside without burning it to get a good look at her face-
"Uh?"
-but what?
She's not just dead asleep.
Gazing at her face, at the irregular snorting thrumming from her nose...
"She's dead."
...I could say that with certainty.
This lady was dead.
-----
"Woohoo! Come at me! Let me show off!" Hilda pranced through the swarms like a fleeting ghost, her figure darting and slipping by as she carved and diced the Heathens apart like vegetables on a cutting board.
With a one, two, three, her sword puckered holes in them one after the other.
It was a toying, disdainful manner of combat, one entirely unbefitting that of the Commander of the Sanctified Knights' daughter.
Squelch! Squelch! Squelch!
Holding a half-fish's face with her spare hand, Hilda thrust three consecutive holes into its face.
'As Papa said, if one isn't enough, throw another!'
"Tehe!"
Listening to the mad Sword Maid's laughter echoing from afar, Esme sighed, her fingertips crackling with lightning. "You raised a wild one, dear sister." Pushing her fingertips into each other, she imbued a spark of flames, then flicked her fingers forward.
Shing-
It was momentarily silent.
CRACK!
Then an ear-rupturing explosion rang out like a tearing siren as the tiny ball of compressed explosives burst through countless Heathens in a row.
A hole formed through the Heathen's, leaving some with only half their body's remaining as their legs slumped to the floor, and, from above, heads and torsos crashed down.
As for those in the centre of the impact, nothing remained of them.
"Not bad, huh, dear sister?" Esme mumbled under her breath as she glanced backwards at her sister, at the one currently acting as the last line of defence for their ship.
Esme may or may not have been influenced by Hilda's antics.
'No comment.'
Meanwhile:
They sure like showing off.
Exhaling, I pushed myself into a spin using the chitin of the crabs as a placeholder and whipped my arm; I planted my fists into the chitinous heads of the two crabs I used as an aid, ending their pathetic lives.
Wailing with a final agonised breath, the Heathens slumped like the rest of them and sank into the waters beneath us after the aquatic Heathens that had been carrying them tossed them off.
This fight is too easy, just annoying.
Burning the grime on my fists off, I cracked my neck and threw myself into the mess.
Come on, you big dummy, and you adorable sister, and you too, dumbass Jill... Kill them and let us move through already.
[13 Minutes]
-----
Hm.
What do I do now?
Still standing there, but now without the strange man in my arms as I put him down on the floor moments ago, I contemplated what to do.
The person this man wanted me to take him to is dead.
That's the first point.
The second point is that the person is dead, and I, a stranger to this establishment, just so happened to be the one to find the corpse.
That won't sound good to even the kindest of saints.
"Hnng~ Hey... You there... Glass of water..."
Hmm...
"Sure."
Responding, I walked over to where I saw a glass container of water, picked up a nearby cup, poured the water into it, and then made my way back to the person who had asked me the question. "Here you go."
Passing her the glass, I stood back, and, again, I contemplated my conundrum, "What to do..."
Gulp.
"I wonder..."
Gulp.
"..."
Gulp.
Creaking my neck, I absentmindedly glanced over at the source of the drinking, "Hey..."
The lady in question tilted her head while chugging down the water, her innocuous eyes stared me down.
"Weren't you dead?"
Gulp!
Peeling the glass of water off her lips, "Fuu! That tasted good." Nonchalantly planting the empty cup on the table in front of her, the lady nodded with an understanding gaze.
"It's my Curse. Death Sleep."
Oh.
That's unique.
Yawning, this lady, presumably Ghilenna, stretched her arms over her head, then looked down at the man lying on the floor, "Alex? Huh. Did he pass out from hunger again-"
Grumble...
Both of us stared down at him for a moment.
Are you telling me that he was just hungry?
Rubbing my furrowed brows, I ignored the whispers hissing in my ears, my own whispers, then glared at the lady who oh-so-casually told me about her dangerous-sounding Curse, "Why did you tell me about your Curse? It's not safe, is it?"
In response, Ghilenna shrugged, yawned again and tapped her mouth, distorting the sound of her words, "Everyone knows, what does it matter if I tell you?"
Clearing a spot on the table in front of Ghilenna, I hopped onto it and faced her at eye-level. Being short has its advantages at times. "Why does everyone know?"
"Little girl, you do understand that it's inappropriate to ask invasive questions when meeting someone for the first time?"
"Oh. I see, you're ri-"
"Anyway, it's because people kept on trying to bury me. It happened so often that eventually everyone realised that I randomly enter death sleeps. I seem dead, but I'm still alive. Hence, everyone knows. Awkward, I know right?"
"..."
She up and told me either way.
What was the point in her reprimanding me, then?
Does she enjoy telling off children?