"What a cute cat!"

The prostitute exclaimed as she looked at me, much to my surprise.

"Hah? Well, this is unexpected. Slum folk rarely interact with street cats, usually shooing them away. But this tired and downtrodden prostitute even called me out and called me cute?"

As I was bewildered, the dirty woman shakily walked in my direction and then made a gesture.

"Here, kitty kitty kitty! Pss Pss Pss Pss. Come to mama!"¹LOL

"Er... How should I handle this situation? Run away? Stay still? Or should I play along like a cute housecat?"

However, the choice was made for me as I stared at the poor woman's fawning and hopeful expression, like an injured animal seeking solace. It somehow ignited a flame of compassion in my heart.

"Hah... I can't believe I am about to do this..."

I quickly recalled how Ebony acted when with Jacque and tried copying it.

"Meow..."

A cute and short high-pitched meowl escaped my mouth as I actively raised my tail and approached the dirty woman.

"Oh! So cute!"

The woman cheerfully exclaimed as she reached out to pet my head, which I allowed.

"Wow! Such a soft fur! And you are so well-behaved for a male cat."

Purr* Purr*

The woman said as she happily petted me while I sat down and received it obediently, not forgetting to let out fake purrs. To be honest, being petted felt kind of nice, so I allowed it.

"You must belong to someone, but I haven't seen you before. Did you wander off here?"

"Meow." "You can say that."

"Oh! You answered! So cute!"

The woman exclaimed in delight as she started scratching my chin with her dirty hands.

"So nice... I could get used to it."

I said to myself as I continued to let out fake purrs while enjoying the petting.

"My, now that I look at you more closely, you have such beautiful light-purple eyes. I never saw a color like that before."

The prostitute exclaimed as she knelt and examined my eyes.

"My eyes are light-purple?! Really?! Will this give me trouble?"

As I was worrying about it, the prostitute started talking to me, as if I could understand her.

"Little fellow, do you have a name?"

"Meow..." "Now that I think about it, I don't have a name, do I? I am not Jacque."

"Hm... If you don't have a name, how about I call you Barney? You bring me so much comfort, after all."²Barney means comfort and is associated with the color purple. Does a certain purple dinosaur ring a bell?

The prostitute asked with a smile.

"Meow?!" "Barney? BARNEY?! Well, fuck you too, lady!" ³Barney is also an insult among surfers, meaning lame poser.

I thought, aggrieved, but looking at the woman's happy eyes, I couldn't bring myself to scratch her for it.

"Sigh... Forget it. Barney it is, then. For now."

"Meow. Purr*"

I cuddled against her hand as if expressing my happiness.

"Aww! It's decided then, your Barney from now on."

"I am already starting to regret this..."

As I was wallowing in regret, the prostitute began to pour her heart out.

"You know, Barney, being a prostitute is demeaning and hard. I need to put up with the shit of those cheap assholes every day just to survive, and I even contracted sexual diseases that make me uncomfortable every day. I wish I could work in manual labor, but I am too weak for that. I sometimes wish I didn't escape from my abusive husband. Sure, he beat me up, but at least I was safer from the harshness of society..."

She then continued to rant about her life, and it turned out to be rather interesting, if somewhat saddening.

Her name is Joneta, a 19-year-old peasant. A year ago, she was a pretty newlywed housewife in an arranged marriage between two villages. However, her new husband turned out to be a violent drunkard and abusive spouse, always beating her up and berating her for absolutely no reason. After half a year of this kind of abuse, she couldn't take it anymore and run to her parents, but they refused to take her back, stating that she was exaggerating, and brought her back to her abusive husband, much to her reluctance.

After she returned, the abuse only got worse, and she got many bruises on her body. Two months later, unable to take it anymore, and afraid that her parents will send her back again, she took what little savings she had and ran to the city. On the way, however, she was robbed and raped by bandits, who then left her to rot and die near the highway. Luckily, a passing merchant was kind enough to take her to the city.

From there, she tried working in manual labor but realized that the months of being beaten up and deprived of the right to work left her too weak to work for extended periods. It didn't help that she didn't have any practical skills that didn't relate to manual labor, so she couldn't find a job.

Desperate and starving, she could only go to the slums and try to join a local brothel to feed herself. Since she was average-looking and still young, a local madame let her enter her brothel as one of her girls.

And now, four months later, she is a bottom-tier prostitute in a disreputable brothel. Sure, she has a roof over her head and food to eat, but it is not much better than slavery, as she is unable to escape this grim fate.

"Hah... Sometimes, I wish this would all end, Barney. I am so, so tired."

Joneta let out a weary and tired smile as she petted me, seeking as much comfort as she could from our interaction. I could only sigh in my heart at her heart-rending situation.

"This is sad. Now I'm sad."

I didn't have an emotional connection with the woman, but listening to her painful story made me sad. The worse part is that I am now disguised as a cat, so the woman has no reason to lie to me. It was an authentic story.

"Sigh* Thanks for listening, Barney, I needed it."

Joneta smiled a little more cheerfully.

"Meow." "It's fine. I have nothing but time."

"Hm... Now that I think about it, we have a mice infestation in our establishment. And seeing that you are so cute and well-behaved, how about you come with me? I am sure the girls and madam will be thrilled to have you with us."

"She wants to take me to the brothel she works in?"

I started to seriously contemplate her suggestion.

"Although it is a bit humiliating to be treated like a housecat, I will get a safe shelter in return. More importantly, I will get access to tons of 'Food.'."

Thinking about all the mice and lust energy I could get there, my mouth almost started drooling.

"Meow! Meow!"

I meowled eagerly and shamelessly snuggled to the woman's leg, much to her delight.

"Aww! So adorable! Alright, it's decided! You are coming with me! Let's go, Barney!"

Joneta said happily and motioned me to follow her, which I obediently did. She occasionally looked behind her to see if I am still following her, but she relaxed when she saw I continued to follow right beside her.

After walking for two minutes, we arrived at a four-story standalone worn building with a red lantern outside and a shabby sign above the sturdy oaken door that read:

The Naughty Mare

 

Just standing outside the building, I could also smell the scent of cheap booze, cooked vegetables and meat, vomit, rancid body odors, cheap perfumes, and tobacco. However, unlike Jacque, I strangely didn't mind these stenches. What my mind focused on was that same nice smell like the one that wafted from that seedy guy earlier, as here, it was many times more abundant and had more depth and variety. It was almost intoxicating.

From outside, I could hear the voices of the laughter of merry and drunk patrons and the fake moans of prostitutes, wanting to coerce their partners to finish as fast as possible so that they attend the next one.

From the veiled windows, I could see the silhouettes of drunk men toasting one another, and the silhouettes of women clinging to them, coaxing the men to spend more on drinks.

"Yep, this is a brothel, alright, and from the sound of it, it doubles as a tavern of sorts. Smells divine, though."

I concluded with drool almost dripping from the edges of my feline lips.

"Well, Barney, this is it, your new home."

Joneta turned to me with raised cheeks.

"Meow!" "Sweet!"

"Aw, aren't you excited, little fellow? Come, staff entrance is from the back."

She started walking around the building through a narrow alleyway to the back of the building. Luckily, we didn't encounter a pair "consummating their Love" on the way.

We soon reached the back of the building, right between two rows of buildings. There was some garbage dumped there and skittering rats and mice.

"It seems like I wouldn't go hungry any time soon."

I thought as we reached another oaken door. This time, it seemed to be even more heavily reinforced than the front entrance, likely a deterrence against would-be thieves or burglars, a good measure for a building full of defenseless and disease-ridden women.

Joneta turned to me and said.

"Okay, this is it, Barney. Wait here for a moment, I will be right back!"

In response, I silently sat down and waited patiently as Joneta approached and knocked on the door.

Knock* Knock* Knock*

A few moments later, a deep male voice sounded from behind the door.

"Who is it?"

"It's me! Joneta! I just finished with a client."

The male voice didn't reply and I instead heard the sound of a lock being opened behind the door.

Soon, the door was opened, and a tall and bulky man that was almost the size of the door he opened came out. That man was bald, standing two heads taller than Joneta, had various nasty scars decorating his greyish and rough skin, and had a face so scary that my fur stood on end.

"What a scary man! Is he even a Human?! Ah, no, he is a Half-Ganean, isn't he? How rare."

Ganeans are a race of a large and bulky sentient race of humanoids, usually found in cold and mountainous regions. They are cruel people who favor the strong and shun the weak. They worship strength over intelligence. They prefer the wilderness over civilization.

Due to these traits, they are usually misconceived as barbaric and brutish, but are, in fact, cunning and wise warriors who don't hesitate using this stereotype to their advantage.

That said, there is no lack of stupid individuals in their society, especially since many of them become Barbarians, a special class of warriors that become more attuned to bestial behavior, making them permanently stronger at the expense of becoming more aggressive and stupid.

Because of their xenophobic and tribal tendencies, interbreeding with "weaker" races is frowned upon, even through rape, so seeing a half-Ganean is a rarity even in a large city. Even rarer than a half-elf. So I was surprised to see one here.

The giant of a man glanced at Joneta and uttered in a deep and scary voice.

"Joneta, get inside. And wash yourself up. You're dirty. Bad for health."

Surprisingly, the words he said were rather kind and caring, contrasting with his scary visage.

"Yes, thank you, Borso."⁴Yep, good ol' Borso is back.

Joneta didn't enter immediately, however, and pointed at me.

"Borso, I brought us a new cat for our mice infestation. Can you watch over him while I inform the madame?"

"Hm? New kitty?"

The giant man, Borso, turned his scary face at me. What followed was the most disturbing scene ever, as his scary and stoic face turned into an even scarier fawning one.

"Aw! Cute! Come here, little kitty."

Borso gestured with his large and menacing hand that was strong enough to crush a child's skull.

"Meow?" "Joneta, please help?"

I could only helplessly look at Joneta for help.

She squatted next to me and pet my head reassuringly.

"Oh, don't worry, Barney. Borso might look like this, but he is a big softie on the inside. He wouldn't hurt a fly! Isn't that right, Borso?"

Borso hurriedly nodded.

"Me no hurt. Me gentle!"

I felt slightly betrayed, but I guess that this is part of my rent, so I resigned myself and hesitantly approached the brute.

"M-Meow?" "Please, be gentle?"

"So cute!"

Borso almost squealed like a girl and started petting my head with his large and rough hand. Surprisingly, my head wasn't instantly crushed, but he instead gently and skillfully petted it with great finesse.

Purr* Purr*

"Who is a good boy? You are, you are!"

"I hate to admit it, but he pets better than Joneta. Although it's still demeaning."

I sighed as I continued to let the big man pet me while Joneta entered the house of ill repute. After around one and a half minutes, Joneta came back with a seductive mature woman.

The woman looked around 30-35 and about half a head taller than Joneta. She had a head full of green and luscious hair, gathered in a high bun with a few loose strands here and there, revealing a mature and alluring face that, although wasn't the most beautiful out there, was a great boon in her line of work. Her body was average-sized but had long legs, although a bit chubby. She had a large rack the size of a small melon each, and a big butt that can tempt many men to have a feel.

Draped over her body were white and green tavern wench clothes and high leather boots, seductively emphasizing her bountiful assets and long legs. In her left hand, she held a long tobacco pipe with smoke gently wafting out.

However, the most important part was that her ears were a bit long and pointed, indicating her elvish heritage.

"She is likely a half-elf in her mid-fifties or early sixties." - I figured.

Half-elves had double the lifespan of the average humans and aged slowly after reaching the age of 20. A sixty-year-old half-elf looking around 30 was commonplace. Some of the more powerful ones could even retain their youth well into their 100s.

As she came out, her emerald eyes first landed on Borso and then landed on me.

"Ssss* Puff* Is this the cat?"

She impatiently asked while taking a long puff out of her pipe, forming a circle in the air. Her voice sounded sensuous, albeit slightly croaky, likely from excessive tobacco smoking.

"Yes, Madam Herora. I found him after I finished serving one of the customers." - Joneta said submissively.

"Hm... I see." - Herora replied with an indifferent look as she squatted next to me.

"Borso, deary, would you be kind enough to stop petting it for a moment?"

"Er... Yes, mother-in-law..." - Borso sadly stopped petting me and backed off.

"She is his mother-in-law?!"

The revelation shocked me. However, my shock was cut short when Herora's smooth hand petted my head and then grabbed me by the scruff of my neck, slightly tilting my head in her direction, making my eyes wander to her face. However, that made me nervous, so my eyes started to dart all over her body, including her large breasts and exposed thighs, and underwear.

"White fur and purple eyes. I don't see that every day. And this breed, hm..." - Herora ignored my anxiousness and seriously observed me with squinted eyes for around five seconds before letting me go.

She then took another puff from her pipe and asked Joneta, "It didn't have a collar, right?"

Joneta quickly shook her head, "No, madam. it had no collar on it."

"... I see. What is it called, again?" - Herora asked while she kept her eyes on me.

"Barney, madam. I named it myself" - Joneta said happily.

"Eh... right..." - Herora cringed ever so slightly, but it went unnoticed by Joneta, who didn't see her face. But I sure did notice it.

"Meow. Meow." "Thank the gods someone also agrees this name is horrible." - I thought to myself, almost shedding an invisible tear of gladness.

While I was happy at finding a kindred spirit, Herora stood up and ordered Joneta.

"Pick it up and follow me to my office."