Chapter 49

Chapter 49: Don’t fall for your slave, please! part

“So, what brings you here mister Luke?”

Madame Bianca said after exchanging pleasantries with him.

“I need to buy some slaves to work at the outpost”

“My my! you would be taking away half of our revenue with you”

She joked, making Luke laugh awkwardly.

“I’m not looking for someone just for myself, I need at least ten people”

“Are you, perhaps, thinking on expanding your business?”

.....

She inquired with suspicion on her tone.

“Something of the sorts, we do have something in mind. If it is about funds we have plenty”

“It’s not about the money Luke dear, ten girls would be enough to start your own brothel and I don’t feel like having a business rival”

“That’s not our trade, we only need people to manage the store, haul cargo and tasks like that”

Luke replied

“Anyhow I don’t lack the money, but... there is something else I’m interested on”

Madame Bianca squinted her eyes

“Just say the word and if it’s within my reach I’ll do my best”

“You see, I have a friend who’s interested on buying a property. But sadly it’s not on the market. I would be happy to help you, as long as you help me. They say one hand washes the other”

“I think I know where this is headed”

“I knew you were a capable young man Luke, and you’ve earned my trust. Every single girl in here speak only wonders about you and I knew they weren’t exaggerating”

Madame Bianca lied through her teeth, the only comments she received from the girls were how much he despised Ryu.

“I heard that your trading group is going on hunting expeditions right after the freeze, and you’ll probably get your hands on a lot of meat.

Now, I wouldn’t ask you to do something illegal, the only thing I ask of you is that none of that reaches Rina’s place. Thomas is madly in love with her, yet that cook intervened and even went as far as enslaving her. But, if you have any other means, I wouldn’t mind as long as you remember I didn’t have anything to do with it.

If you don’t do it to help me, do it to save that innocent young girl. And as long as you keep your deal I’ll lend you my full support. Slaves, equipment, funds, help me destroy the tavern and you’ll be properly compensated”

Madame Bianca was so convincing that if Luke didn’t know the truth, he would’ve been compelled to save the poor enslaved girl from the clutches of the evil cook.

“I’m not sure If I can make that decision. I may need to ask our boss before agreeing”

“Why of course. In the meantime, why don’t you pick the slaves you want and I’ll give you a good deal”

Madam Bianca ordered her assistant to line up the prostitutes that weren’t busy at the time and Luke followed suit. Bob was waiting for him at the hall. One by one prostitutes started to come in an orderly fashion. Despite being accustomed to seeing them, Luke couldn’t hide his excitement and his face showed an unsightly grin.

Bob, instead, was distracted and barely paid any mind to the girls that were entering the hall and greeting them.

Once everyone was in there Luke inspected them, he leaned close to some of them and grabbed their chins, other times he put his hands in improper places while nodding with a serious expression on his face.

If the first time he came into the brothel he behaved like a kid in a candy store, now he was acting like a fox in a hen house.

Once he finished his meticulous exam Luke stood next to Bob and started calling the prostitutes by name. He did know all of them after all, even the ones he had yet to try.

He skipped the ones that looked too skinny, the ones that didn’t catch his eye and those that he knew were problematic.

Most of them were happy to be picked by Luke and took a step forward.

Bob called for Veronika, of course. Madame Bianca was surprised to see that he was interested in the oldest one, but didn’t care at all, she took Veronika in when she was barely sixteen but she didn’t care for any of the girls and she saw them as if they were just cattle.

After the ones that weren’t chosen left the room, madame Bianca asked who among them would be willing to use their savings to give their buyer a discount, if they, she would keep the money in case they were bought back by the brothel. She didn’t do this out of the kindness of her heart of course, it was only a way she devised to make them work even harder to earn their freedom, but they didn’t know that as long as they were in Ironwoods their fate would always be on her hands.

Again, almost every single girl took a step forward, there were two exceptions. Bob already knew Veronika was hesitant and couldn’t help it, but the other one left Luke dumbfounded. His favorite girl, a hot brunette little older than him, the one he would constantly pick for his night activities didn’t take a step forward.

In the end, only Bob, Luke, madame Bianca, Veronika and Taffy, Luke’s favorite.

“Don’t you girls want these fine gentlemen to buy you?”

Madame Bianca scoffed, she just wanted to get it over with. The first one to answer was Veronika.

“It’s not that, but I would be grateful if mister Luke found it in his heart to give me a couple days to think”

Luke looked at Bob who nodded at him.

“It’s ok miss Veronika, we can wait for you to decide”

“And you darling?”

Madame Bianca asked Taffy, who had been smiling the whole time.

“I’m sorry mister Luke, but thanks to your patronage I’m pretty close to buying myself”

“But Taffy, that’s not for sure, and even if you did, how will you be able to support yourself?”

“That may be so, but my decision is final. I can’t oppose if you bought me paying the full price anyways, though I would prefer if you didn’t”

“It’s not my desire to go against your wishes, I really thought we had something special, but I completely understand”

Luke said with a poker face, but inside he was destroyed. He had been playing with many girls since the day he set foot on the brothel, but Taffy was her favorite of them all. [Most girls flattered his ego, but Taffy created the illusion that she was in love with him making Luke longing to fulfill his fantasy of being the hero he believed himself to be, saving a woman that fell into a horrible situation.

They went to madame Bianca’s office again and signed the paperwork, she kept her word and offered them a good deal, which amounted to whatever savings the girls had led to them spending only a fraction of what they thought initially.

By the time they finished it was late already so they grabbed something to eat and headed to the mayor’s house, they needed him to act as a minister of faith proving that their contracts were valid. Then, they went back to the brothel to pick up the girls they just bought.

They were walking slowly, none of them showed the slightest signs of excitement. But when they arrived at the brothel they saw something that managed to shift their mood completely.

They saw a girl with a short red mane and a scrawny guy walking next to her, just about to enter the brothel.

Both Luke and Bob were happy to see that Ryu was back on good health again. Luke wouldn’t admit it, but he did grow fond of Ryu, especially after spending some time away from him. All the bad memories turned into good ones, as if it were the good ol times.

He had long forgotten about the resentment he held against Anne for rejecting him over and over, thanks to the quality time he had been spending at the brothel.

For a second Bob thought on saying hi to his friend, then he reminded he still hadn’t apologized for what happened, making him feel awkward. Luke too wanted to go, but he had a keen eye on reading people and he noticed he was involved in something romantic with Rina so he just let go of the idea.

They got inside the brothel after them, but Ryu failed to notice them because he was too focused on the hostess who wanted to deny providing any service to them.

When Luke noticed this he quickly went to madame Bianca’s and convinced her to intervene and agree to serve them at the restaurant. Not only that, he convinced her that it was in her best interest to provide the best service available, so people wouldn’t suspect of their confabulation.

“Miss Bianca, if you don’t let them in and people find about this, they may suspect you’re involved into whatever happens to them. Or at least they will know you consider them as rivals and will suspect about something”

She hated Rina’s guts from the very core of her heart. She felt that she owned every beautiful girl in town, and failing to acquire her was like a thorn in her heel. She had nothing against the cook, except that he didn’t work for her, because he was indeed talented. Thinking about this made her realize that by mistreating him, the only thing she would accomplish would be scaring him away. Who knows, maybe if she does treat him well enough he might consider moving in to the city to work for her once she marries with the baron’s eldest son.