Chapter 197: Red Light

New chapter, hope everyone enjoys it. I do read all comments, but often don't comment as I'm on my mobile or tablet. But I do read every one of them, they come up as red notifications for me ~

During dinner, Nisha felt a strange glare on her person several times.

The source, Galan, had always spent attention to her manners, education and etiquette in the past, but now the nature of the observation changed.

Since the dragon did not remember doing anything wrong or playing any pranks, she wondered whether the old servant harbored any doubts regarding her sudden growth.

Henry had helped her explain the issue earlier and supplemented his own experience of the progress in his Knighthood training.

Luthais did not ask many questions and ordered the maids to buy more clothing to suit her taller figure and development.

The family took their meal rather early, soon after Henry and Nisha returned to the house to chat, as the head of the household had to go out for a meeting later and they were all available currently.

While the dragon enjoyed the masterfully cooked dishes and shrugged off the glares directed at her, a servant entered the room and bowed to the figures seated at the table.

“Excuse me for disturbing the meal, a messenger delivered a message for the young mistress.

The purchase you made is nearing completion and need some input from you for the final details.

The shop owner hopes the young mistress can make some time to come in person and discuss them.”

With these words, the servant handed Nisha a small card, a collection of several boots, dance shoes and similar footwear in a multitude of colours printed on them.

Instead of a name or address on the backside, the golden heel of a stiletto convinced the elf that a certain acquaintance of hers sent her a secret message.

“I see, thank you for accepting the notice on my behalf.

Ser Luthais, may I excuse myself from dinner early? I think it’s best that I go and see what exactly needs my personal input, especially since I might have to change some of the details for the size of the shoes I ordered.”

In presence of a servant, Nisha bowed her head and displayed the appropriate politeness expected from the descendant of a duke house.

The master of the house raised an eyebrow at the request, since this was the first time he heard about a custom order, but he allowed her to leave nonetheless.

Just as Nisha left the room, Galan signaled the servant to come closer, whispered in his ear for a second and then resumed his meal.

Not long after, one of the guards trailed behind an elf as they left the estate.

Situated between the commoner district and at the fringe towards the slums, the red light district managed to make the rise towards a well maintained area instead of a crime riddled and run down wasteland.

Seeing many bars, shady shops and pleasure houses for the first time, the elf marveled at the new and unknown structures.

As the sun almost set completely, shadows crept up between the buildings and compared to regular residential streets, commercial clusters and production focused neighbourhoods, trickles of men began pouring into the red light district.

Sparsely clothed young women lured these early birds towards their shops, laughing along with light chatter and playfully hitting their shoulders or accidently touching their bodies.

Nisha only had a card as a hint to find Carmen, who held the seat of Golden Heel in the [Thieves Guild].

At several points of time, she considered speaking to a passerby and asking for directions, but their leering smiles and invasive gazes kept her far away from the males.

At the most prominent location in the entire district, a great building dominated over the other establishments.

Three stories high, colourful window screens, red lanterns and opulent decorations made it a majestic monument dedicated to opulence and decadence, not that the dragon knew what those meant yet.

She admired how pretty it was and went to one of the entrances, where a sultry hostess lounged on a wooden chair, nearly dozing off and writhing like a seductive demon every time she yawned.

Her dress had little fabric and made the entire thing opaque and see through, hinting at a hidden sight just a little out of reach and emphasizing her curves at the same time.

Even the dragon, who had yet to learn about the acts between man and woman found her line of sight captivated by the temptress, swallowing a mouthful of saliva for unknown reason.

A particular thing to note, though, was that none of the men present dared to go up to her and start a conversation, in fact the entire building did not have the lanterns lit yet or customers going in and out like other establishments.

Mustering her courage and ignoring an unspoken rule, Nisha approached the woman and presented the card she received to her.

“Excuse me, I’m looking for a woman named Carmen. Do you know where I can find her?”

Now that she decided to take action, Nisha directly stated her purpose and eagerly awaited an answer.

It did not hurt that her conversation partner gave her a tingling feeling inside and used some strange magic to attract her gaze.

The lovely creature in front of her frowned first and prepared to give a harsh response, before her drowsiness reduced and she properly assessed the elf before her.

Curious about her presence in the redlight district, she accepted the card and properly looked at it.

Rubbing one of her eyes with a small fist, the hostess yelped in surprise when she recognised the print and then studied the youth before her.

By all means, it was not a place for such a delicate flower, and the card in her hands belonged to one of the cover businesses owned by her boss.

Compared to the common rabble that streamed into their main shop every day, the card holders had the privilege to directly meet the Golden Heel.

“Oh my, such a young VIP.

You’re at the right place, welcome to the [Red Night Palace]. Come in, we can talk inside.”

Tugging at the young elf’s hand, the hostess pulled her inside the building.

While she walked, the fascinating gait of her rolling hips left Nisha stunned and silent, easily allowing the woman to pull her along.

The [Red Night Palace] lived up to his name, golden accents dominated the first floor.

Seating arrangements around small and large table groups allowed a large number of patrons to frequent the establishment, with cleverly arranged silver drapes guaranteeing the privacy of each group at the same time.

Both side walls had a long wooden counter commonly seen in bars running along their entire length, stocked to the ceiling with colourful bottles of all kinds.

A grand and ornate staircase led to the upper floors, promising untold delights through the veiled fabrics that shielded the pathway from viewers at the ground level.

Scattered throughout the seating arrangements, a few similarly enticing young women shared the tables and chattered noisily, pleasant laughter livening up the place.

Few of them noticed the odd pair coming through the entrance, but none of them really cared enough to come over and talk to them.

Albeit, Nisha noticed some odd looks of pity when she managed to peel away her gaze away from her guide long enough to look around.

They crossed the room together and ascended to the second floor, where lavish rooms branched off from a multitude of broad passages.

Nisha spied some beds that rivaled her own back at home from the open doors, although the numerous items lying around were completely foreign to the dragon.

Some tools should have been used to train tamed monsters or restrain them in case they went berserk, but as for others, she had no idea what they could be used for.

After they navigated through the maze of rooms, the last staircase had the grandest appearance yet, the entire railing was made out of crystals and the wood for the stairs had veins of gold in the material.

At the top, two female warriors in shiny suits of metal that covered hardly any skin sat on each side of the stairs.

They greeted her guide with practiced familiarity and only eyed the elf trailing behind her for a second before going back to resting against the wall and closed their eyes.

So far, all of the humans inside the building were female, pretty and quite tired looking, not that it detracted from their beauty in any way.

Nisha was somewhat torn between finding out how the likely ornamental and tiny pieces of armor protected the vitals of the guards and figuring out the magic her guide used to captivate her attention, but the thoughts faded soon as the female warriors went out of sight, and out of her mind.

Freed from the distraction, the dragon now noticed the layout of the third floor.

Opulent pools of water, golden tables laden with rare delicacies, silvery poles running from the ground to the top, piles of pillows and strange contraptions with leather straps, every place on this floor had different attractions to offer.

A weird urge to explore the uses of each item popped up in the dragon’s head and she had half a mind to ask the woman she was following her to show her, but they arrived at their destination before she had the chance.

Hidden behind a fake wall, a large office occupied a prominent spot on the top floor, giving the occupants a good view on every little corner through cleverly arranged openings and illusionary walls.

A golden throne made from stylized metallic vines and leaves, which retained an elegant look instead of a chunk of metal, stood behind a grand mahogany desk, with more couches situated throughout the room.

Nisha’s guide asked her to sit down at one of the smaller ones and prepared a glass with fancy sparkling water for her and helped herself to another bottle while chuckling and muttering about the benefits of being the gatekeeper.

Draining half of the glass in one shot, the hostess licked her lips with delight and refilled it right away, taking advantage of the current situation to fulfill her own desires.

The dragon also tasted the beverage in front of her, and had to admit that the sparkly sensation suited her taste and enhanced the overall flavor to another level.

Rather than draining the cup in one go like the other woman, Nisha nipped on the drink from time to time and kept her eyes trained on the other party, waiting for an introduction.

“That really hit the spot. The boss only takes out the good stuff when she entertains guests, so it’s okay if I drink some.

You’re a guest, after all.

Right?”

From full confidence to a puzzled and hesitant tone, the woman studied the elf opposite of her and tried to make sense of her presence at the [Red Night Palace].

The card gave some hints, as different kinds of fronts existed for different aspects of the business.

Nobles and their followers hardly cared so little about their face that they would openly admit to visiting a shop dedicated to carnal pleasures, hence they received invitations printed with the logo of a shop dealing with luxury goods or high end materials.

Crafters, tailors and other suppliers generally had the same kind of card as Nisha handed to them, a business focused on footwork certainly used up fabrics, leather, and other ingredients required to maintain the luxurious atmosphere inside the building.

For foodstuff, the card generally displayed a trading company specialized in several rare dishes, which were served on the upper floors.

Even though the carriages eventually unloaded their cargo straight into a warehouse connected to a kitchen, no one bothered enough to investigate a merchant with a low trade volume, hence some drivers had no idea where their transports actually delivered their cargo.

To avoid falling into patterns and divulging their secret invitations to the officials or others investigating the [Red Night Palace], the fronts used to deceive the true purpose changed names and the logo on the cards every so often.

The trouble with organizing the alterations and making new cards paid itself off whenever an individual sought to gain entrance with an outdated card, they usually had nefarious motives, ranging from assasination of those attending a party or obtaining material for blackmail and similar considerations.

Furthermore, the replacement for the logos happened just the day before and the hostess did not know for what purpose the elf came to this place yet.

Without any cargo, delivery or message, there were few options left. And since the guest happened to be a pretty young elf, she wondered whether the product this time was a person rather than an item.