kscans

Chapter 121 - The Sleepless City and a Night Out

We picked one of the many establishments at random and went inside. The interior was set up like a standing bar, bustling with numerous customers. Waitresses weaved through the crowd, looking busy. The waitresses were topless, carrying trays of ale and taking orders. In the central, open hall-like space, a multitude of topless women were dancing to the rhythm of live music. We claimed one of the standing tables, paid three silver coins for our ale, and watched the women in the hall.

"This is heaven!"

Just looking at boobs can fill a man with happiness.

"I don't know what heaven is, but I know this is the best,"

he said. The three of us toasted again.

"By the way, Mash, what kind of woman are you looking for?"

Beers asked me. I turned my gaze to the dancing women. There were women of various races, but none of them particularly caught my interest. Suddenly, the faces of Marmi and Patricia flashed through my mind.

"Let's see. An elf girl, or a Flower Folk girl would be nice."

"You idiot! If that's what you want, you should just ask them yourself!"

Beers burst out laughing. My imagination must have been so blatant that he caught on. But there was no way I could ask them, so I kept quiet.

"Elves and Flower Folk are hard to find here... Elves are especially rare, and the Flower Folk are a race that lives at the western edge of the world. You won't find them around here."

"What about you, Fang?"

Beers cut in, interrupting Fang who was about to continue his serious explanation.

"M-Me...? I like women like Mizuki..."

Whether it was from embarrassment or the ale, Fang looked down, his face flushing red. It seemed he was genuinely in love with Mizuki.

"N-No way. Mizuki's mine!"

"...I know."

"I-I'm telling you. You can't have Mizuki!"

Fang nodded painfully. Seeing him like that, I was struck by an inexplicable anxiety and became intensely agitated.

"There's no way a beautiful, unspoiled woman like that would be selling her body in a place like this."

"I-I'm not aiming for her specifically. Just someone with a similar vibe would be fine."

At Beers's final blow, Fang turned his face away.

"What about you, Beers?"

I didn't want to talk about Mizuki anymore, so I turned the tables on Beers.

"For me, it's Cecily and Aira."

"You guys are terrible! Why are you after my girlfriends?!"

"H-Hey, it's not like I'm actually aiming for them. It's just, I can't forgive their attitude when I was a slave. I want to pin them down and make them cry for mercy."

"..."

It confirmed my thought that treating people as less than human was wrong, whether they were slaves or of another race. But since I was about to buy a woman myself, I didn't have a leg to stand on, so I stayed silent.

"No, it's not like their attitudes are particularly bad. I feel like they've changed thanks to you. So it's not like I've been holding a grudge all this time. Besides, Mizuki was gone by the time I joined 'Wind Blade', so I don't hold anything against her."

Thinking I had taken his silence for anger, Beers started making excuses in a torrent of words.

We decided to check out another place, and just as we were leaving the first one, it happened.

"Let go of me!"

A dog-eared girl was surrounded by several men. One of them had grabbed her arm, and she was struggling desperately to get away. The people around them gave them a wide berth, passing by at a distance. This sort of thing must be a daily occurrence here.

"If you bumped into me, then apologize!"

a man yelled in a thick, slurred voice.

"I already did!"

"If you're sorry, then pay for the damages!"

The dog-eared woman was wearing normal clothes; she didn't seem to be a prostitute. The ones harassing her were probably adventurers. The woman was clearly older than Famu, and her features were completely different, but for some reason, she reminded me of her. I was about to unconsciously step between them when Fang grabbed my shoulder and stopped me.

"Don't get involved."

But by the time Fang shook his head, it was too late. The adventurer-like men had turned their gazes towards us. Fang clicked his tongue.

"What? You got a problem?"

"Let the woman go, will you?"

Fang said in my stead. It seemed he was willing to take the fight they were offering.

"What did you say?"

Just as the men were posturing, another dog-eared man appeared. Without a word, he knocked the men down. His movements were swift and brilliant. He looked to be in his early twenties. Unlike Famu, he had white, fluffy ears. The brass bracelet on his arm caught my eye; it was set with a light blue stone.

"Sorry to make you worry. But we'll handle dog-eared business ourselves."

He put an arm around the dog-eared woman's shoulder. She had calmed down and showed no signs of resistance. It seemed safe to leave her to him.

"I haven't seen you around. Are you adventurers?"

Fang nodded in my place. He had no intention of letting me stand in front. Among the three of us, he was the strongest. I decided to keep quiet and follow his lead.

"I'm an adventurer too. I explore the Longhorn Trail. I won't forget that you tried to help a fellow dog-ear. If you're ever in trouble, come find me."

"Yeah."

Again, Fang nodded in my place.

"I'm with a party called 'Lightning Flash'. You should be able to get in touch with me through the guild."

The dog-eared man left. The fallen men were left where they lay. As if nothing had happened, the people who had been keeping their distance started to pass by close again, and the flow of people returned to normal. Fang shrugged. We hadn't done anything. If anyone was going to get in trouble, it would be the dog-eared man who had punched them. He had blindsided them and beaten them up one-sidedly, but I decided to consider it an act of self-defense. We regrouped and left them there, heading to the next establishment. The next place also had topless waitresses, but it was set up with booth seats. A woman showed us to our seats. We handed over three silver coins, and three glasses of ale were placed on the table.

"What's your order?"

She was probably asking what kind of woman we wanted. When she asked, I just randomly answered, "Rabbit-ears."

"Got it. I'll go get one."

I had seen a woman with long ears on the beach earlier, so I just said it, but it seemed I was correct with `Rabbit-eared race`. I didn't quite understand the system of this place. Looking around, I saw that each man had a woman with him. Topless, of course. The men were drinking while fondling or sucking on the women's breasts. I'm not a strong drinker. Thinking about what was to come, I decided to just have one sip of ale.

"You're into different races, huh?"

Beers asked. I thought that since I'm in another world, it's a natural impulse to want to do lewd things with many different races, but then again, I had no experience with women before coming to this world. When I thought about it, I came to the conclusion that I was fine with anyone, as long as they let me do lewd things. But for now, I'd keep quiet. I was in the mood to touch a rabbit-eared girl's butt and fondle her breasts. If she had a tail, I'd want to touch that too. I thought I had made a good choice, for my own part. Just then, a woman peeked into our booth.

"Ta-da! How about a high school girl?"

A topless woman wearing a black, pleated, above-the-knee skirt suddenly entered our booth. She looked older than Mizuki, maybe not quite twenty. She had black, shoulder-length hair, red lipstick, and makeup that made her eyes look big and round. She seemed to have something on her skin as well, probably to hide blemishes. Seeing the woman, Fang wrinkled his nose.

"Get lost! We're waiting for a rabbit-eared girl."

Fang said in a voice laced with anger. Was he actually a passionate rabbit-eared enthusiast?

"Aww, what's wrong with me! Just let me talk for a bit!"

The woman forcefully sat down next to me.

"Hey you, you reacted to the words 'high school girl,' didn't you!"

She touched my chin with her index finger, then slowly traced it down to my crotch. Then, she caressed my crotch with her palm, over my clothes.

"Woman, don't touch him! Mash, you don't touch her either!"

Fang got behind the woman, grabbed the arm that was caressing my crotch, and twisted it.

"Ow, ow! I get it, so stop!"

The woman grimaced, but Fang tightened his grip and didn't let go. Beers and I exchanged glances at his sudden change in behavior.

"Fang, stop. I'm also deeply disappointed that the rabbit-eared girl didn't come. But there's no need to get that angry, right?"

I thought as I replied. Would Fang suddenly get angry at a woman he just met? He could be taciturn, but he wasn't the type to resort to violence out of the blue. He was a calm and trustworthy type. Looking back, he had challenged us to a fight when we first met. But the situation then and now was completely different. Was he angry because she touched my crotch before touching his? Just then, an idea flashed through my mind. Could it be that the play had already begun? Was this Fang's way of doing things? Was I wrong to try and calm him down? Perhaps the correct answer here was to ride the big wave he had created and abuse the woman. The woman was thrusting her chest out to escape the pain. Her breasts weren't as big as Mizuki's, but they had a nice shape that looked pleasant to fondle. This was a golden opportunity provided by Fang. To ease her pain, I pinched her slightly large, cherry-like nipple and rolled it between my fingers.

"Mash, you're not playing fair!"

Beers, who seemed to have noticed my kind-hearted gesture, pinched the other nipple.

"Ooh, my arm hurts, but I can feel it..."

The woman let out a cry of pleasure. This choice was a huge success. Beers was happily playing with the nipple next to me. As expected, Fang was an expert. It was a situation that made everyone smile.

"Hey, what are you doing? Stop it. And I'm not angry about something so stupid!"

Fang shouted at us.

"Hey, you call it stupid? Both me and Mash were looking forward to the rabbit-eared girl. Weren't you, too? And you call that stupid?"

The focus of Beers's angry retort seemed a bit off. However, the content of his statement wasn't wrong, and I wasn't sure what to point out, so I just nodded sagely at his words.

"That's not it. I can tell by the smell. This woman has a venereal disease. You wanna get infected?"

"..."

Beers and I hastily let go of her nipples.