The young blonde lady runs up to me, grasping my hands. “Thank you! You have no idea how much this means to me! My friends are- my friends are finally okay.” Tears stream down past her lips, to the ground, as she keeps shaking my hands up and down. Her eyes have never left mine, since grabbing my hands.

I can feel my face turn to fire, as her face is extremely close to mine now. Ohh, oh.

After a moment or two of being like this, with me freezing up, she seems to realize how close she’s gotten. With this, she then shyly backs off a little. I can see many of the women with sly smirks on their faces. One woman in the back has her hand on her cheek, with an excited look. Over the growing hum of sound I can hear an “Oh my, oh my.”

oh no.

Honestly, I’m still not used to having this much attention on me. Especially, by a troop of beautiful women. That’s not even including the attractive woman that was holding my hands and was like two inches from my faces.

Gulp.

Prostitutes are dangerous for me.

…

Actually, scratch that. Women are dangerous.

 

Behind her, the boss lady has reassumed her collected and thoughtful presence. Moving a few steps forward, she bows toward me. Almost immediately after, all the other women follow. It looks like a pulse, as their heads dip down in near unison.

Her voice huskily shakes a little, with what sounds like emotion, but is also loud and clear.

“Thank you Senior, for your work in healing these three women. We are eternally grateful of what you have done here today. We have been desperately searching for a method to heal or even treat this illness for a while now.”

She stays silent for a period of time. I use this time of silence, to state my action.

“Well. I’m glad that I was able to be of some help to you all. However, I do have some things to attend to, so I must be going.” At my words, there are a bit of muttering and shuffling about, seemingly in panic.

Even the boss lady, appears a bit uncomfortable with this news. While still leaning forward, she looks up at me with a strangely enticing, yet concerned face.

“Surely, we couldn’t let our benefactor go without treating them with the greatest honors? Are you sure you’d like to leave? We could definitely make your stay with us much more… comfortable.”

At these words, she presses her arms together. Her clothes seemingly open up revealing a valley of great proportions. My eyes then drift to her soft, thick lips. The others, who are also bowed, seemingly shift into slightly provocative bows, as well.

I can feel myself unconsciously gulp and shiver go down my back.

Okay. Prostitutes are especially dangerous for me.

If I remember, declining hospitality is a major no-no in this culture, but I can’t let myself get taken away. I’m not sure I’d ever be able come back, otherwise. Regardless, if they’d let me.

Desperately averting my eyes, I focus on the sky. “No, I am greatly appreciative of the offer and a-a-apologize for not being able to stay. I really have some urgent things to complete.”

The area is so silent, that I could hear a pin drop.

I quickly bow to them and begin heading toward an alleyway in the direction of Gong’s place. All the while, I keep my eyes on the ground and away from any of the women. The women begin reluctantly opening a pathway for me, as I move forward slowly. I can see in the corner of my eye, them still trying to get me to catch a glance.

The little that I can see, shows some of them biting their lips. Whether it’s from seduction or frustration, I can’t tell.

Just as I get through the middle of the group of women, a small voice rings out, near the center of the circled area.

“S-should we stop him? We can’t let him go, right?”

There is a gasp of disbelief at these words and a tense moment pierces the silence.

At these words, I can feel my back muscles tense up. Ready for a fight.

Contrary to my expectations, the boss lady immediately grabs a pale, black haired young lady from the crowd, in what appears to be a flash of sound and light, bringing her before me. The boss’s hand is forcefully pushing the young lady’s face to the ground.

“How dare you insinuate that we forcefully keep our benefactor here! The one who we owe much to!” Her teeth gritted; she pulls out a sword… from somewhere. I feel my eyes sharpening, as in what feels like slow motion, her sword drops towards the young woman’s neck. I yell out.

“NO!”

Her sword stops inches away from the young girls’ neck. “You wish to spare this young lady?”

My blood pressure and adrenaline are rushing, as I try to interpret what is going on and how to handle it. I remain silent as I think this through.

Okay… okay… that woman almost died in front of me. What do I do? Seriously, what do I do?

Alright. I’m going just request that they forget that this incident ever happened… and get out of here.

“Okay. Yes. Please spare this young woman.” Her lips tighten, as she looks deeply into mine with a sternness.

“As you wish. Once again, I apologize for keeping you.” Keeping her hand on the neck the woman. It is definitely loosened now.

I slightly bow my head to her and move back along the path. I get back to the halfway point, before I stop again.

Something still doesn’t feel right about this.

Fuck.

I need to know.

Turning back around, pinching the bridge of my nose, I head back to the pair. They’ve not moved from that spot, since I had walked away.

“I apologize for getting into your group’s business… but what exactly will happen to this young lady, after I leave?”

The boss lady’s eyes squint at me. “Since she is being spared, according to the severity of her actions, she will have her tongue cut out and will be exiled from the group. With her and all that she owns being stripped from her. Shunned by all in our group.”

Ah.

Right.

This is a gang. It’s a different culture. It’s easy to forget that, but at the end of the day, they treat these things much more severely than at home. She’s also a pretty girl… it scares me to think what would happen to her without any support, as a previous prostitute.

The mere fact that they ‘needed’ a prostitute protection gang, gives me an idea about what happens to those who don’t have one.

I take a deep shuddering breath at her words and my thoughts.

“Okay… Do you mind if I ask a favor?” Her head tilts at my words.

“Perhaps. What do you wish for?”

“Forgive me if I overstep my position, but would you mind completely sparing her of any punishment? Both physical, social, and other aspects?”

 

Once again, the entire group goes silent.

At this, I can see her glance behind me. Staring at someone.

Before I can look to see who she was looking at, she nods in affirmation. Releasing her hand from the girl’s neck, she whispers in the girls’ ear. The girl freezes up, but then runs over to the front of one of the lines. A closer look reveals her to be somewhat young, maybe 19 or 20.

The boss lady looks at me, appearing to have a puzzled, but somewhat grateful face on.

“Forgive me for saying this, but you are quite… different than others.”

I give a sigh at this situation.

I really have to remember that this is another world. One that doesn’t value individual’s lives as much.

This makes me fear for if I make a mistake in the sect…

 

“No offense taken. I believe occasionally, mistakes are made and that someone’s life shouldn’t be destroyed due to a slip of a tongue, is all.”

I go quiet at that, with no one else responding.

I stand up silently and begin heading back toward Gong’s area. The boss lady suddenly bows and everyone bows as well, seeing me out.

This time I head out completely and get some distance away. The scan reveals that they haven’t moved.

So… what happens now? It sounds like that illness wasn’t just a one-time thing. It seemed serious enough that they treated me like some sort of senior because of it.

…

I have to go, back don’t I? I can’t just leave them with this.

 

I can feel a headache coming on.

 

Turning back around, I begin heading back to the group.