"She's one of the halflings I happen to own, the redhead," the Madam explained.
That was the one with the gruesomely torn up vagina. "Oh yes, that one. The one with the… damage," I replied.
The Madam sighed, "On behalf of my girls, I'd like to personally thank you. You have no idea how much this means to some of them."
"You're welcome," I said, with a proud smile.
"I'd like to apologize for my… demeanour earlier tonight. I saw you with your slave, wearing sackcloth rags and no shoes, and I assumed the worst about her treatment. Since then, me and the other girls have noticed how she behaves around you, and that our fears were unwarranted. She's likely as well treated as my own girls, despite appearances," the Madam explained.
"Oh… yeah the lousy clothes are mostly just because we're broke," I said with a wry chuckle. "I'll be getting Chloe some proper shoes and clothes once I can afford it. My dress and her… potato sack, were just freebies that Father Jacob gave us when we got here."
"You're with the church?" she asked, with a hint of suspicion.
"Well we're staying there for now, but we're more of a charity case than actually devout. My friends and I are a little bit destitute, and Father Jacob was nice enough to give us a place to stay for a while to get on our feet. I'm actually getting paid a little to help out today, I'm not a volunteer like Adam."
The Madam cocked an eyebrow, "How much?" she asked.
"Seven and a half silver? Including Chloe's contribution," I said, not sure whether that was a lot or a little.
"That's criminal," the Madam grumbled. "The work you did today for all my girls would have cost me at least ten gold."
"Shit, really?" I gasped.
"The Church doesn't give charity to slaves, and actually hiring a skilled healer to fix your slaves is… rather expensive." The Madam said.
She stared at me blankly for a bit, then she sighed and walked away, "Be right back."
A couple minutes later, I'd finally finished my healing spell. The wolfgirl, who'd once had a vicious sword wound across her chest from when she was first captured, smiled and thanked me. The Madam returned to the room, and handed me a purple velvet bag, filled with jingling coins.
"Here, consider it a bonus," she said.
For a second, I almost decided to be modest and try to refuse the charity. Except… I kinda actually needed the money. I took the bag, "Thank you."
"That's fifty silver," she said quietly. "It's not what you're worth, but it's what I can afford to pay you."
"Oh wow, thanks!"
"Buy yourself and your slave some better clothes," she said. "I know a place, Tilly's Tailor. She makes the clothes for most of my girls. She'll give you a good deal if you tell her I sent you."
I chuckled, "Yeah, I'll do that."
"One more thing," she said, looking nervous. "I'm not the only brothel in town. We've got two more, but they don't exactly… treat their girls as well as I do. One of them isn't worth mentioning, but the other… They're not the types to pay to heal their girls, yet I still feel bad for them."
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"Want me to fix them up too?" I said. "I don't really mind all that much, I need to grind out my skill levels anyway."
"I'd appreciate it. The girls in that brothel could certainly use your help."
"So why not both brothels?" I asked.
"My Palace specializes in… higher class girls. Experts at the art of pleasure. Happy and willing." The Madam explained. "The Sword's Sheathe, is a rival of sorts. They specialize in… lower cost affection. Their girls there are basically just holes to use. Willing, but not enthusiastic or well paid. They tend to get roughed up by clients sometimes. These are the girls who could probably use your help."
"Okay," I said. "I'll see if I can coax Adam into bringing me there. What about the third brothel?"
The Madam frowned, "You… really don't want to go there."
"Well now you've just got me curious."
The Madam sighed. "The Scarlet Thorn, or sometimes just the Thorn. They don't hire free girls, slave only, and they specialize in… darker tastes. They target the same price point as me, but there are nearly no rules or limits. They have their own healers on staff to handle the aftermath."
"Darker tastes?" I asked. That sounded ominous as fuck.
"Basically, anything a free girl wouldn't agree to. Rape and torture, mostly. That, or just unpalatable fetishes, unconventional requests, smaller slave species whose bodies can't handle sex with a human without needing healing after, or just younger slaves with undeveloped bodies. The only rule is to keep things non-lethal, though a wealthy enough client could probably pay extra for the privilege of killing their victim. There are also weekly monster shows, which the girls rarely survive. Needless to say, none of the girls are there willingly."
Rape? Torture? Even death? Shit… if the girls were slaves, it was totally legal, wasn't it? Yep. I could do that to Chloe if I wanted, burn her nipples off or whatever, so of course there would be a business specializing in that sort of thing.
"Yikes… that sounds pretty fucked up." I replied.
"You have no idea," the Madam grumbled. "Plus, there have been… disappearances. Girls go missing from time to time, free girls. A missing slave I could request an investigation, for stolen property if nothing else, but a free human girl? Nobody cares about a missing prostitute. I've got a bit of a theory about where they end up, if you're catching my innuendo. You don't want to go anywhere near that place if you have a vagina."
"Fuck…" I grumbled.
"Right, so watch your butt," the Madam said.
"Yeah, will do."
I left the room, and followed the Madam down to the main floor, done with my healing for the day.
[Mana Manipulation] Skill has reached rank 10 (MAX)
[Holy Magic I] Skill has reached rank 8
[Holy Magic I] Skill has reached rank 9
I'd made some good Skill progress with all my delicate healing. I didn't do any meditating, since I was healing so slowly, but I'd finally completed my first skill, and was almost done my second. Before I forgot, I checked my Skill list for [Advanced Mana Manipulation], but I couldn't find it. I did find [Sense Mana] however. Acting on a hunch, I bought that first, and then, sure enough, [Advanced Mana Manipulation] appeared on the list for purchase.
You have unlocked the skill: [Sense Mana].
You have upgraded the skill: [Mana Manipulation] to [Advanced Mana Manipulation].
Interestingly enough, my upgrade to the [Mana Manipulation] Skill seemed to do way more than just make my mana use more efficient. I found I could tweak and fine tune my spells, adjusting them slightly in subtle ways. For example, I could Purify a person faster or slower, or clean only their clothes, but not their skin. It was a wonderfully flexible skill.
Adam was waiting for me downstairs, blushing a deep red and refusing to look me in the eye. Mitsy was standing proudly by his side, grinning deviously. She was holding onto his arm, pressing her chest against him, hugging his bicep between her boobs.
"Aww… Did somebody get their cherry popped?" I asked, with a smirk.
"What…? What do you mean by cherry?" he stammered.
"No cherry, just a blowjob, a little freebie to show my appreciation," Mitsy confirmed. She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, speaking seductively in his ear, "You can get the rest of me next time. Ten silver, a special price just for you."
Her voice was an adorably seductive singsong. She acted innocent, but she knew how to use her sexuality to her advantage. I felt a pang of jealousy, both for her seduction skills, and also the fact she'd make more money on her back with a single fuck than I'd been paid for my entire day's work. Not counting Madam Orchid's bonus, at least.
"Maybe I should take up whoring…" I muttered to myself.
"No stealing his cherry before I do, I wanna be his first pussy," Mitsy playfully chided, and grabbed his arm possessively.
I chucked, "Okay then, you can be his first."
"Um… right? Okay then. Let's umm… go home," Adam mumbled awkwardly, and led the way home, back to the church.