“The elven brothel is going to be open for the winter?” Kim asked. “I heard that the elf kingdom needs funds, but is it that serious?”
“It is. At this rate, I don’t need to tell you how bad winter will be for us.” Madam Tania replied
“With the elven brothel open at half price, the higher-ranked brothels will have no choice but lower their prices as well. We will experience the same thing we did doing the festival, if not worse.”
“What do you mean?” Angelia asked Kim
“One would assume that the other brothels will lower their prices by 50 percent as well, but to compete with the elves who are also bringing the seven deadly beauties, they may have to drop their prices even further than that.”
“That would be troubling. No… It will be a nightmare.” Rose committed
“That is why I called you here. We need to think of a plan to attract as many customers as possible. If we could get a patron, that would be even better.”
“What are you saying, Madam Tania. No one would be interested in being the patron of an H-rank brothel. You should know that.” Tracy pointed out.
“How about we lower our prices too,” Catherine suggested
“Oi... Oi… If we lower our prices any further then I will be working for free, or are you suggesting it be limited to the divas only.” I argued back
“No one is lowering anything. We can’t afford to do that kind of thing.” Madam Tania declared
“Is there any practical reason why we can’t?” Shirley asked. This was the first time I have heard her voice in a while.
“In a word, debt. I had to borrow some funds to keep the business running, thanks to the poor turnout we had, doing the festival. We are currently in the red. I was banking on the winter season to push us through but now... This bullshit gets pulled on me. I swear... someone, somewhere is just trying to screw me over.” She raged.
‘We are in debt huh?’
If this was back in my original world, it wouldn’t be out of place for an employee to think of jumping ship, but considering how hard it was for me to land this job I am thinking that might be impossible for me.
Kitty has already received an invitation from Lady Lexi but I doubt the promise she made with me will be useful, at the very least, I might end up working for less and there is no way I can accept that.
‘For better or worse, this brothel must not fail.’
“Hmm… There is something I don’t understand. Why are the seven deadly beauties coming here? Wouldn’t it be more worthwhile to send them to some rich kingdom to serve some rich nobles?” Sara asked.
“Hmm… Could it be?” Kim mumbled
“What is it, Kim? Is there something you have realized?” Madam Tania asked
“Have any you heard of what happened to Titans Grip?” she asked
Titans Grip was the name of the SS-ranked party. In the whole world, there are only five parties who hold that rank.
Titans Grip, Raven Craw, Hells Keepers, Night Slayers, and Dark Abyss.
Currently, Titans Grip is the most active and popular. I heard that they went to the city of Norman. It is a city that circles the dark labyrinth and is managed by the untied alliance.
The dark labyrinth is said to be the prison of the evil god, Vandal. Because of this, the monsters there are super strong and super scary. A goblin from that labyrinth is said to be ten times stronger than your normal goblin.
With such strong opponents, that place brings nothing but death to any party that tries to adventure there... that is why no one ever does... which is a problem.
Okay, labyrinth one on one quiz time. What happens when adventurers don’t enter a labyrinth? The answer? A stampede.
Large numbers of monsters burst out of the labyrinth. This usually happens as a result of a powerful monster from the lower floors making its way to the upper floors.
The last time this occurred at the dark labyrinth, the whole world was brought to the point of destruction. In an act that was never to be repeated, the whole world joined forces to stop the stampeding monsters and to ensure that the world is never threatened again. The city of Norman was created.
Unlike other cities around the world, it's giant walls made with elven magic and dwarf craftsmanship don't keep invading armies out, but surround the dark labyrinth, preventing any monster from reaching the outside world.
Of course, even elven magic and dwarf craftsmanship cannot stop a large volume of monsters... that is why occasionally, parties are sent into a mini-forest between the wall and the labyrinth to kill the monsters that have accumulated over time.
These parties are made up of slaves, who cannot go against any order they are given because of the slave crest on their chest. As for the wall itself, it is manned by knights, adventurers, and mercenaries from across the world.
They are the front line defense against any stampede. They are tasked with preventing the monsters from breaching the wall until backup arrives from across the world.
The last stampede was 200 years ago… Wait! Don’t tell me that…
“I heard that they were involved in a stampede and resolved it,” Kim uttered
There was confusion and shock amongst the girls.
“Are you sure, Kim?” Madam Tania asked
“Not really. The rumor has a lot of holes in it and the guild isn’t saying anything, but…” she said before taking a deep breath and looking Madam Tania in the eye. “The current guild master at Norman is an elf... assuming the story is true, then Titans Grip must have left the city...”
An SS-rank party is required to be present in the city at any given time. The five SS-parties rotate amongst themselves, with each party taking over when a new season arrives.
'Titans Grip must have ended their watch when winter was setting in’
“If that is the case, then the most likely place they will head to is…”
“Here…” Madam Tania said as she finished Kim’s thoughts
I can see where they are going with this discussion. If the rumor is true then the elven brothels' real objective would be to make a connection between the members of Titans Grip and the elven kingdom.
‘Pissing off the kingdom that had direct ties to a party that suppressed a stampede at the dark Labyrinth. Who would be stupid enough to do that?’
“Hmm… This might play out well for us.” Madam Tania uttered
“What do you mean?” Kitty asked
“If Titans Grip did make such an accomplishment, then other players will arrive to try and make contact with them. The city might become overrun with the representative of nobility, but more importantly... other adventuring parties.” She answered
A party usually consisted of 6 party members max, however, there was always the option of multiple parties joining forces to form a legion. As far as I know, Titans Grip has not have done that. Every party out there will probably come here to suck up to them during winter, with the hope of becoming part of any legion they make.
“Ah… I see. The more adventurers that arrive the less room there will be at the upper brothels.” Kim concluded
“Exactly... If this rumor is true then there is no need to worry.” She replied
Fast forward to the present and that train of thought was proving to be wrong.
Titans Grip did repeal the stampede and did come here for the winter, however…
“Those backstabbing whores… How dare they lower their prices as well?” Madam screamed and she drank alcohol.
There were indeed more adventurers, merchants, and nobility in the city but because some other G and H rank brothels slashed their prices, no customers have been coming our way.
I sighed as I looked at the empty room. The girls sat down and chatted amongst themselves. You would think that we were closed and the staff was taking a break but in reality, our business was just dead in the water at that point.
Just then, I heard the door open behind me. We were having the occasional visit, but those guys were drunkards with no money. One idiot even had the balls to ask Kitty to service him for free.
I still remember the glare she had as she stumped on his back with her shoes.
'Oh well... I am currently the one welcoming guest so I will give it my all.'
“Welcome…” I said with a smile.
“Thanks, Yoshi~ I mean Sofia. I am back…”
“Hex!?” I cried out.
The moment I uttered those words the atmosphere changed. Every girl in the brothel eyed the guy who had just come in. When Titans Grip entered the city, details of what happened were made public. Amongst the information of their achievement was the fact that their party was helped by a new adventurer named Hex.
