CH 18

“What’s going on, brother?”

“Get your hands off her.”

Kanata, accompanied by Maria, intervened between the two.

The woman widened her eyes in surprise, but the man turned his sharp gaze at the two who had intervened.

“What the f**k are you guys? Get out of my way!”

Aside from Kanata, it is extremely disrespectful to say such a thing to Maria, the Kingdom’s princess, but well. You wouldn’t expect the princess to be there in the first place, right?

Nevertheless, the women, including those around her, seem to be aware of Maria.

Maria didn’t want it to be too noisy, but still, it was inevitable now that the princess had intervened.

“She doesn’t seem to like it. Aren’t you ashamed to be a man?”

“Ohh? … What’s this? Aren’t you a cutie yourself?”

The man reached for Maria, but she clapped his hands with a snap.

Then, as a matter of course, the man recoiled, but Kanata put his hand on his shoulder.

“Calm your head down for a moment.”

“You!?”

The very next moment, the man instantly fell to his knees.

What Kanata did was simple. He put the magic power in his palm and released it the moment he touched the man as it was.

It was as if he got pressured with magic, and Kanata’s unlimited magic power alone could pin an adult male to the ground.

“… Filth! Do you have any idea who you’re doing this to!?”

“No idea. I don’t know anything about the nobility of the Empire. In this case, it doesn’t matter if I knew or not.”

“What did you just say?”

Kanata heard him as he yelled, but he had no reason to be afraid.

Sure. It might be risky to pick a fight with a noble from the Empire, but this is the Kingdom, not the Empire.

And many witnessed that the guy was clearly worse this time.

“That’s true. I don’t know how it is in the Empire, but here, there is no rule that says you can’t go against an aristocrat from the Empire. Well, it depends on the occasion, but… in this case, we’re dealing with a man of poor quality, so there’s no need to be shy.”

“Nonsense, you f*****g b***h!”

“Didn’t you hear me telling you to calm down?”

“Guh… damn it!”

Once again, the man tried to face Maria, but Kanata tapped on his shoulder. He fell to the ground in an even more unceremonious manner than before.

He stared at Kanata in desperation as he fell, but he didn’t care at all.

“Kanata-kun, you have quite a bit of magic power, after all.”

“… Yeah.”

“Fufu, sounds like you’ve got a secret, huh?”

“…”

He found Maria happily smiling as she said so.

But Kanata couldn’t tell that it wasn’t a pure smile, but a smile that even could give him some chills.

“You people are…”

Then, finally, the woman spoke up.

Kanata turned his attention and gazed at her as if he thought his heart might get stolen, even if it were only for a moment.

Her beautiful crimson hair and uneven body, as well as her appearance and even the aura she exudes, were so complete as a woman that they created a bewitching atmosphere.

(… Is it possible for such beauty to exist? As expected of another world.)

Maria and Alphana are no slouches in looks, but… the atmosphere she bought was just too erotic.

She was wearing a pitch-black dress, but the cleavage of her ample bosom was visible, and it was certainly not surprising that she would be approached persistently by people from other countries.

“That man was. He was trying to buy me.”

“Buying… Ah. Maybe you’re the one called a courtesan?”

“Yeah. But in this case, he was trying to be undertaking.”

He wanted to pay a woman with money and keep her with him.

If this woman is a prostitute, she would have wished to be taken in by a nobleman… Well, it seems she refused him because he was such a waste of a nobleman.

Being a prostitute is an accepted profession these days. It is heavily supported by the state.

(Courtesan… Well, I’ve talked about them before.)

Kanata remembered what he had said about prostitutes earlier in his podcast.

He was irritated at the time by the mindless mail, but he had received many appreciations from women he thought were prostitutes in the mail that he had failed to introduce ever since.

It was a really nice experience to hear that his words gave them the courage and will to survive.

“… This!”

“An?”

As he was thinking back, the man started shouting.

“I told her I’d like to keep her because I liked her! And she had the nerve to turn me down! I gave my attention to a piece of trash, a w***e, and she made fun of me!!!”

Everyone was appalled at who in the world was the real trash there.

However, at the word “trash,” Maria and the woman frowned, and Kanata crouched down and looked into the man’s face.

“Prostitutes are trash? … How dare you say that?”

“You got a problem with that?”

“Of course I have.”

Kanata spoke up.

He made eye contact with the man and didn’t turn away.

“Prostitutes aren’t trash. They are admirable people who give men dreams.”

“!?”

“… That’s…”

The woman gasped, and Maria kept staring at Kanata in admiration.

Kanata continued speaking without noticing the two of them.

“I ain’t that familiar with them… but I know one thing. I’m sure they take pride in their work. It’s a great job to provide healing and warmth to any person you meet with sincerity. I’m a man, but I respect them from the bottom of my heart.”

Because he is a man, he can never truly understand what it’s like to be a woman.

Even so, Kanata knew that the brothel in the royal capital was quite famous and that the service was excellent.

Once considered the lowest of the low, these prostitutes are recognized by their country now.

“I don’t even know your name, Nobleman of the Empire. I don’t think my words will impact you, but let me tell you this— Don’t talk about these ladies like that.”

Kanata said this firmly because what he once commented about prostitutes made a big change for good.

Soon after, the guards came and took the man away.

Well, it looked like he would be released soon since he didn’t commit a crime, but he still had to leave the royal capital soon.

“…? What’s up?”

After the man got taken away, Kanata was confused by Maria and the courtesan staring at him.

“… I knew it. That’s why Alphana.”

“Maria?”

“Nah, it’s nothing… fufu… pffffft ♪.”

“Huh?”

Maria suddenly burst out laughing, which was weird, to say the least.

He almost took a little distance from Maria, but the woman approached him before he could.

“Thank you. It was nice to hear you say it like that.”

“No, I just said what was on my mind.”

Kanata was not trying to show the woman a good point but was really just saying what he was thinking about prostitutes.

Then the woman asked to see his hand.

“?”

“…”

Kanata held out his hand, and she gently wrapped it in both of hers, looking at the back and front of her hand and shaking her body as if she had noticed something.

“It’s Kanna.”

“Eh?”

“My name, please, is what I want you to call me from now on.”

“… Erm.”

Kanata was thinking about how, for some reason, the woman, Kanna, was too kind to look at him.

“What’s your name?”

“… Kanata.”

“Kanata-kun… fufu. You see, I’ve been with many men, so I’m confident in my ability to recognize them.”

“Huh…”

Kanata tilted his head, wondering what on earth she was talking about.

Kanna was about to leave, saying she had work to do now, but she took a piece of paper from her chest and handed it to Kanata.

“With it, you can visit me at any time. Just show it to the receptionist at the brothel where I work, and he’ll get you in immediately. In case you ever want me to heal you, you won’t need to pay me.”

“!?”

Kanna walked away with a giggle.

When she whispered in his ear, he felt as if she had grabbed his heart, but… Kanata decided not to think about it anymore.

“… She’s so cunning, that girl.”

“Maria?”

“It’s nothing. I have to talk to Alphana about some things.”

“And what is it about…”

Kanata let out a sigh, feeling accomplished but strangely tired.

~~~~~~~~

The man who was courting Kanna got extradited to the Empire.

However, he didn’t like the fact that Kanata got the better of him because he was a proud nobleman.

He managed to learn some things while he got held down and when he was being taken away by the guards.

(I didn’t expect a princess… but not that commoner. He mocked me!)

All the anger he harboured got directed at Kanata.

He couldn’t stop being angry at him for interfering with him and making him look disgraceful despite being a commoner.

“Kanata, a commoner living in the Royal Capital… Kuku, that’s all you need to know.”

The man muttered triumphantly and stepped into despair himself.

“Are you the client?”

“Raven, I have a request for you.”

Aa~ah, you’ve done it, you idiot.

He could hear it coming from somewhere.