episode_0051

I asked the man who had been kicked out of the lodging with me.

“Do you know of any well-paying jobs?”

He answered immediately, without much thought.

“Then, naturally, it’s the port. There’s so much cargo coming in that they’re always short-handed. You can earn a lot there if you work hard, but the problem is it’s so difficult and dangerous that even men try to avoid it. It’s probably not a place for a young lady like you.”

“Thank you.”

“What? I was just kidding. Are you really going to the port?”

“I need money.”

“Hmph. What a strange young lady. Well, do as you please.”

I headed to the port early in the morning.

People waiting for work were lined up.

Naturally, I joined them and listened to their conversations.

There were various types of work at the port.

They said I could choose the work I wanted.

Without hesitation, I chose to participate in the ‘unloading work’, which paid the most.

Despite being the highest-paying, it had the fewest applicants.

In the end, about five people, including myself, joined.

The supervisor stared at me with an incredulous expression.

“What’s that young lady doing here?”

“I came to work too.”

“What? Don’t be funny, just leave.”

“Why? Can’t I work?”

“Do you know where you’re crawling into? What kind of dock work can a woman do? Don’t you know the unwritten rules?”

“I’m not getting on a ship. It’s unloading work.”

“…Ahem. That’s true, but do you know how hard and dangerous this work is?”

All the people working with me had broad shoulders and large builds.

Their bodies were covered in small scars.

It meant they used a lot of strength and it was dangerous.

“I don’t care.”

“Ha. So be it. Just don’t come crying and running away later.”

The people chuckled.

The unloading work began.

As I had heard, it was quite difficult and arduous work.

I had to carry the goods from the ship to the warehouse. The boxes were too heavy to lift alone, and there was a large quantity of them.

Later, my mind went blank, and my back ached as if it would break.

I gritted my teeth and carried the boxes until the very end.

The supervisor mumbled beside me.

“That’s one tough woman…”

Not only that, but all the men at the port were busy staring at me.

It seemed that a woman doing dock work was a very unusual sight.

I ate the apple and a piece of bread given for lunch, then resumed working.

When I came to my senses, it was already sunset.

“Pant- pant-.”

I didn’t even have the strength to stand up.

The supervisor praised us for finishing the logistics splendidly today and handed out our daily wages.

Five gold coins. It was 5 gold.

The people I worked with beamed, saying they had hit the jackpot after a long time.

Apparently, they usually received about 3 gold a day.

The older men all said it was thanks to me and told me to follow them to the pub for a treat.

I refused.

Because I wanted to rest even for a moment longer.

I was so hungry that I binged at a restaurant.

I ate whatever I wanted and spent 80 silver.

And instead of a noisy communal lodging, I used 50 silver for a quiet private room.

Even though the private room wasn’t particularly better, I just closed my eyes.

I was sleeping as if I had fainted when I was woken by a loud knocking on the door.

*Thump thump thump!*

“Come out quickly!”

“……”

By now, I had grown accustomed to the caretaker’s persistent demands.

Without a word, I left the lodging and touched my waist.

My whole body ached.

Just like when I fled from the bandits.

There wasn’t a single place on my arms, legs, or even my back that didn’t hurt.

As I tried to walk to the port for work again.

Suddenly, the pain became so intense that I collapsed onto the roadside.

“This… isn’t right.”

I opened my purse.

10 gold and 20 silver.

No. I can never earn 1,000 gold this way.

My body will break down before that.

More money… I need money.

The rare goods merchant said he bought Dienbus for 3,000 gold.

How did that person have 3,000 gold?

Perhaps he knows a good way to earn money?

That day, instead of working at the port, I went to find the rare goods merchant first.

“A way to earn a lot of money?”

“Yes.”

The merchant let out a chuckle and silently gestured with his hand.

It was exasperating.

I threw him 1 gold.

“Hey. Are you kidding? Is this enough?”

“How much do you want?”

“You need to give me 10 gold so I can at least buy a bottle of liquor.”

10 gold was all I had…

If the secret the merchant told me was reliable, then it wouldn’t matter.

I emptied my pockets and handed it over.

“You, you have quite a clever mind, don’t you? Since you came to me and asked for the ‘secret to making good money in Deseo.’ Hahahaha! Actually, I do have quite a bit of money. But I don’t want to play the noble, and fishing is so much fun, that’s why I live in this shabby warehouse.”

“I’m not interested in your story, so get to the point.”

“My, my, how impatient. Let’s see. Are you a ‘virgin’?”

“……Excuse me?”

He folded his arms and meticulously scrutinized my body.

“Are you a virgin? It’s important, so just answer.”

“Why… would that matter?”

“Tsk. Quickly.”

“I… am a virgin.”

“Good, good. That makes things much easier.”

The merchant said in an excited voice.

“A young, fresh lady who’s a ‘virgin’… And even from my perspective, as someone who was once a top customer in the red-light district, your beauty would make you a top-tier product among prostitutes.”

“……What are you talking about right now!”

“What, what? Why are you getting angry?”

“Are you crazy? Are you telling me to sell my body?”

“Then what?”

He rather widened his eyes and asked back, as if unable to understand me.

“Do you know the only advantage a woman who can’t do hard labor has over a man? It’s the ability to sell her pathetic body! Men work hard to earn money, only to spend it all just to sleep with a woman. How ignorant is that behavior? You, just by being born a woman, have the right to exploit those foolish men.”

His words were appalling, insulting, and utterly vulgar.

He chuckled, rubbing his groin.

“I don’t know if it’s misfortune or fortune, but while fishing for sharks, one of them bit off my… thing. But after I became impotent, I became rich. Because I no longer squandered money on girls like you. Heheheh…”

I didn’t pay 10 gold to listen to such disgusting nonsense.

“…Hey. If you don’t want to be kicked harder than a shark bite, you’d better earn your tip.”

“Ah, good. That calculating gaze. You’re slowly becoming like a person from Deseo.”

The merchant, laughing vulgarly, spun his body around.

“In Deseo, the City of Desire, there are many perverts befitting its name. Especially among those perverts, there are freaks who are particularly obsessed with ‘virgins.’ That’s why a virgin’s market value is very high. Of course, the woman must be beautiful and young, too. Heheh…”

His stubby finger pointed at my body.

“But you meet all the conditions. Young, a virgin, and even top-tier beauty… You’d get at least 300 gold.”

“Th-three hundred…”

300 gold…

A quarter of 1,000 gold.

Money that would require 100 grueling unloading jobs to earn.

I could get that in just one go?

If I said it wasn’t tempting… that would be a lie.

But I didn’t want to.

I didn’t even want to think about selling my virginity.

This body I had preserved my entire life for Ritsu.

Unless… unless there was absolutely no other option left.

I wanted to find another possible way.

“No. Not that.”

“Why?”

“I… have a fiancé.”

“What does that matter? Will that man not marry you if you’re not a virgin? You’re not a noble, nor are you from an ancient era. Do people like that still exist these days?”

“My body would be defiled!”

“Ha! This young lady… still has a long way to go, indeed.”

He put his hand to his chin and sighed.

“What ancient culture is that from? Your body gets defiled? Here, nobody cares about such things even an iota. What determines dirty or clean is only ‘money.’ No matter how virgin and beautiful a young lady is, if she has no money, she’s a dirty hussy. And even if she’s been working in a brothel for over 10 years, if she has a lot of money, she’s called a beautiful and clean madam in this city. What on earth is the problem?”

“…Are you serious about that?”

“Then would I, having taken your money, speak nonsense? If you don’t believe me, go find someone else.”

I would rather die than do such a thing.

I proudly raised my chin and placed a hand on my chest.

“I came from a place called Breezedon. Yes, that’s right. I’m a person with old-fashioned ideas, just as you said. So, for the sake of the one I love, I absolutely do not want to use this body carelessly.”

“Saving your virginity for love! What a tear-jerking tradition, indeed. Good grief—if I were you, I’d rush to the brothel right now and realize a 1,000 gold profit in just a week.”

“Let’s talk about something else.”

“Tsk. Fine. Then I’ll tell you about general high-paying daily jobs.”

I finally had a feeling I would hear some good information.

The merchant licked his hand and rustled through an old notebook.

“Hmm—this should be good. You, try working at a bar at night.”

“A bar?”

“There’s a place called ‘De Classio Bar.’ It’s an establishment that sells alcoholic beverages from all over the world. Many of the most prominent rich people in Deseo frequent it. All you have to do is join the rich customers at their tables, dance with them, converse, and serve them drinks. I hear some girls even get 30 gold in tips a day if they’re good.”

“30 gold?!”

“How about it? It’s a ‘relatively’ wholesome establishment, so they won’t demand you sleep with them or make you do anything strange. You just have to flatter the customers and keep them in a good mood.”

“…Then there’s no reason to refuse.”

If I worked hard for a month, it would be 900 gold.

It would take some time, but for now, it was the most realistic way to get 1,000 gold.

If I wanted to speed things up, I could take on a part-time job during the day to supplement it.

There were many options.

“What do I need to work at that bar?”

“Is there anything else you need? Just a pretty face. You’d pass in one go.”

“Thank you for telling me.”

“Heheheh…”

Suddenly, the merchant laughed unpleasantly.

“But you… from what I see, you won’t be able to leave Deseo and will die within a week.”

It was a chilling voice.

Like the creepy prophecy of a fortune-teller who sees death.

I’ll die in 7 days?

I couldn’t understand why he would suddenly make such an ominous prediction after telling me all about earning money.

However, it didn’t seem like he was joking.

The merchant was looking at me with serious eyes.

“Me?”

“Heheh… Shall we make a bet? Oh, but if you die, you won’t be able to collect the stakes anyway.”

“Go ahead and try. I’m going to die? That’s ‘absolutely’ not going to happen!”

I defeated a bear.

I survived a bandit ambush.

And I crossed the great Tcharalak Mountains to reach Deseo.

So, is it even plausible that I would die not outside Deseo, but within this very city?

From the start, I had no intention of dying.

No matter what crisis comes, I will survive.

Just as I always have.

“Heheheh…”

Leaving the unpleasant laughter behind, I exited the warehouse.