Chapter 119 The player arrives in the red-light district...
Vera flipped through the envelope in her hand [which smelled of cherry blossoms].
The prerequisite for triggering the "[Cherry Blossom Falling from a Branch]" event is to deliver this letter to the correct NPC.
The envelope had a date written on it: two days later, in the evening. However, the address was only vaguely described as "meet at the usual place."
After careful examination, Robin determined that the letter used the writing style of a geisha from the Flower Capital's entertainment district.
After instructing Robin and Chopper to be careful and to contact her immediately if any problems arise, Violet took advantage of the lull before the spies summoned them to begin their mission in the Flower Capital.
The Flower Capital is the most prosperous place in the entire Wano Country, backed by the towering Mount Fuji, with a tall and lush giant cherry blossom tree at its center. The nobles, centered around the Shogun's Mansion, reside in the Orochi Castle of the Flower Capital, while hot springs and pleasure quarters are distributed around the castle-like buildings.
Wearing the gorgeous kimono gifted by Tibet, with her black hair and fair skin, Vera walked down the beautiful street without flinching or being timid, attracting the attention of many people along the way.
Although Timo wasn't a good person, he was quite skilled at winning people over. After recruiting Violet and the others as his subordinates, he had already sent over a considerable amount of currency circulating in the country, even though he hadn't asked them to do any work yet.
Aside from a brief period of financial hardship at the very beginning of the game, Violet was never poor. With a backpack full of money, she wandered around the Flower Capital, buying whatever she liked without even bothering to haggle.
This immediately brought a bright smile to the shop owner's face, who had initially suspected that Vera was a carefully cultivated courtesan candidate who had escaped from some brothel, based on her appearance and aura.
Who cares about her identity? Anyone who pays so readily is a VIP.
As a ruler, Kurozumi Orochi could not be described as diligent and capable; rather, he was utterly wicked.
Behind the apparent prosperity of the Flower Capital lies extremely harsh punishments and exorbitant taxes. The nobles in the Great Serpent City do not engage in production but spend their days indulging in pleasure, relying solely on the high taxes collected from the shops and pleasure quarters of the Flower Capital.
If they fail to pay their dues in any given month, they will be expelled from the Flower Capital and forced to beg or steal in places like Kuri or Suzugo.
"How about trying this hairpin? Although the materials are different, the designer was someone who once designed headdresses for the most beautiful courtesan in the city."
Courtesan?
Seemingly sensing Vera's interest, the boss, who was keen to befriend such a wealthy patron, took the initiative to talk to her about the geishas in the capital.
"Not long ago, another impoverished man, who had been exploited to the point of having no money left, knelt in front of Dr. Chiyo's door, crying and professing that he was truly sincere towards her."
"I heard that the flamingo has caught the eye of a nobleman and will be welcomed to the Great Serpent City next month."
"That silly girl, Longye, actually believed the man's promise and eloped with him. After all these years, hasn't she seen through the true colors of men?"
...
According to the boss, Youguo seems to have become some kind of monster that enjoys playing with people's hearts. Here, all kinds of love, hate and grudges collide with each other in a more intense and frequent way than in the outside world.
When Violet asked him if she could go and take a look, the shopkeeper enthusiastically said no problem. After all, in the Flower Capital, besides the beautiful and elegant female geishas, there were also many brothels that took a different approach and trained male geishas.
"But be careful. Those people are like poison wrapped in honey. You can only taste the sweetness and enjoy it, but once you become addicted, you can only wait for the day when the poison takes effect and you die."
“Interesting.” Vera looked at the boss’s enthusiastic smile and asked with interest, “According to you, the customers who go to the geisha’s brothel are either a group of naive guys who are inexperienced and can’t see through the true nature of geisha, or unlucky people who have been poisoned by geisha.”
"So, in your opinion, who are those geisha?"
"Oh, sir, haven't I already told you?" the boss replied with a smile, "they are all a bunch of poison disguised as honey."
"This world has long been poisoning them day after day. No matter how beautiful the clothes or how expensive the jewelry, they are nothing more than sugar coating wrapped around poison."
"Or perhaps they will die from the poison themselves before they can poison others."
——
The air inside the city was filled with a warm, drowsy scent of perfume. After just a few minutes of wandering around outside, Violet felt a dizzy, slightly tipsy feeling, as if she were drunk.
The people walking on the street were either dressed as nobles or pirates; young and beautiful girls like Violet, dressed in kimonos, were a rare sight.
Therefore, after turning less than half a street, Vera felt someone secretly following her from behind.
Upon realizing this, Vera turned and headed towards a sparsely populated area. Her actions seemed to please the people behind her, who became even more blatant in their prying eyes and closed the distance between themselves and Vera.
After confirming that no one was around, Violet turned around and met the gazes of several people dressed as pirates and carrying weapons.
"I'm not very good at torture, but a while ago a kind 'teacher' taught me a few tricks."
"If they don't speak, just beat them. If they still don't speak, keep beating them until they're willing to talk. Just be careful not to kill them."
Vera smiled at them: "I'm in a bit of a hurry, you can all come at me together."
Five minutes later, feeling refreshed and without even breaking a sweat, Violet slowly returned to the main street.
Just as she thought, those guys were indeed pirates, and not only pirates, but also members of the Beasts Pirates, making them Violet's colleagues.
They were subordinates of Who's Foz, one of the Flying Sons, and had just finished a campaign, capturing a considerable amount of spoils. Even low-ranking pirates like them received a substantial share of the treasure.
Clearly, unlike Violet, the group didn't have many friends. Thanks to the shop owner's prior warning, the geishas emptied their wallets in just half a day at the geisha's place.
The group wanted to reveal their Beasts Pirates identities to intimidate the geisha, but they never expected that everyone who could run a geisha house here had a much stronger background than them.
Having failed to intimidate her and instead been mocked, the group was slunk out of the brothel. Looking up, they saw Vera, who was curiously looking around. Seeing that Vera was clearly a beauty despite her young age, the group immediately hatched a plan to kidnap her and sell her to a brothel for money.
After hearing their answers, Vera could almost imagine the reaction of Locke when he learned everything during their training in his dream that night.
"Those guys who lack strength, brains, and eyesight—the pirates these days are getting worse with each generation."
Violet, who had initially thought these guys might lead to clues about the invitation, was extremely disappointed. They were a bunch of useless people who had wasted several minutes of her time.
The only good news was that Violet found out where the geisha house where they had caused trouble was located, and that it was the territory of Kyoshiro, a trusted subordinate of Kurozumi Orochi, the current leader of Wano Country.
Vera went straight to the brothel. With money paving the way, the brothel warmly welcomed her and soon ushered her into a room facing a bamboo forest. Two young and handsome male entertainers followed her in with their heads bowed.
Clearly, someone had tipped them off beforehand. The two men were not surprised at all when they saw Vera's unusually young face as soon as they pulled back the screen. One of them obediently poured tea for Vera, while the other sat down next to her with great enthusiasm, asking Vera, who smelled strongly of cedar, if this was her first time in this place.
Violet: "..."
Vera raised her hand and pushed up her glasses: "Yes."
“I see. My name is Yukinojo, and that’s Kazechita.” Yukinojo said as he approached Violet, placing one arm behind her.
The already excessively low neckline slipped off his shoulder with his movements, revealing his fair and delicate skin and well-toned muscles.
Violet gasped, instinctively leaning back to distance herself from Yukinojo.
"grown ups……"
A gentle, deep voice sounded from behind. Feng Qiantai raised his hand to support Wei'er's shoulder, gently lowered his head, and his icy blue hair fell in front of Wei'er.
Kazechi placed the steaming hot tea on the table: "Be careful not to drop it."
“Yukinojo is too lively and not suitable for a young guest like you who is visiting here for the first time. If you feel uncomfortable, you can ask him to leave and go rest. If you don’t say anything and I don’t say anything, Lord Kyoshiro won’t care about such a small matter.”
"Tch." Yukinojo chuckled, his beautiful cat-like eyes sweeping defiantly over Fuuchikata. "Don't pretend to be a good guy here. Isn't it just that you want to be alone with such a beautiful adult?"
Violet: "Huh? Wait, don't argue because of me."
Poor Violet had no idea that even this so-called drama of jealousy and rivalry was nothing more than a performance by these male entertainers.
"Actually, I came here to find... to ask you if you know which art gallery this letter is from?"
As she spoke, Violet took the invitation letter out of her backpack and showed it to the two male prostitutes.
The two male entertainers exchanged a glance, then looked at Vera with shy and embarrassed expressions.
Violet: ? ? ?
Vera looked at the two, whose ears were turning red, completely bewildered.
"Just say what you have to say, okay?"
The two looked at each other, urging each other with their eyes, but in the end, it was the more lively and outgoing Yukinojo who spoke up to answer Violet's question.
In the geisha's quarters, things like letters or return gifts were quite private, usually only known to the geisha herself, the shaman who served her, and the person who received the gift.
Vera's actions were like someone carrying around a familiar male prostitute's undergarment, asking around in broad daylight to see whose size it was.
Upon hearing Yukinojo's analogy, Violet's hand trembled, and she almost threw the letter away.
Splash—
Just as Violet was awkwardly looking around for a crack in the ground to crawl into, the paper door in front of her was suddenly pulled open, and a tall man named Dimu stood by the door, his gaze falling directly onto Violet, who was surrounded by two handsome young men.
Originally intending to have a drink with Madman, Timber was surprised to overhear that his newly recruited subordinate, Wilson, happened to be there and was planning to greet her.
Given Vera's age and the calm and rational aura that came with her [librarian] role, Taki genuinely thought that she had just come to have tea and snacks—Kyoushiro's shop was famous for its excellent drinks and snacks in the geisha house—but he didn't expect to disturb her good time.
Timo's gaze swept over Yukinojo's half-exposed shoulder, revealing an eyesore and an awkward expression.
Timber took a half step back, preparing to leave, but he quickly realized he couldn't do that.
Wilson was a subordinate he had high hopes for, a capable and promising individual whom he intended to groom for future success. How could he allow her to become obsessed with men?!
Timo took a deep breath and, with the determination to pull his subordinate, who was about to go astray due to his infatuation with novelty, back onto the right track, entered the room and pulled Vera out of her "gentle embrace".
Vera, pulled up like a radish: "..."
"It's perfect that you're here, Wilson. I was just about to go drink with Boss Madman. Come on, let's go together. Last time you used taking medicine for a cold as an excuse, let's see how you avoid drinking this time."
This is just like having a pillow when you're sleepy!
Vera, who had long wanted to run away, obediently followed behind Timo, appearing utterly loyal. This greatly pleased Timo, who believed in double standards and allowed himself to challenge the big boss but not his subordinates.
"Boss Crazy Death, I've come to find you!"
The man with the exaggerated hairstyle and upturned eyes looked up as he casually opened the paper door and sat down in the room to drink alone.
Oh my god!
Vera stared at the other person's face, her eyes widening slightly.
Isn't this Ugly Third Boy? Oh no, what if he recognizes me as the person from last night? Wouldn't that make Timi suspicious?
"this……"
Kyoshiro looked at Violet's dark hair, her age and figure not commonly seen in Wano Country, and narrowed his eyes slightly.
"...Who is this person, that you've managed to keep by your side?"
Vera's shoulders relaxed.
Sure enough, she said so.
The NPCs in this game all have terrible eyesight.
-----------------------
Author's note: Normally, there shouldn't be a term like "male geisha." [Rabbit head with upright ears]
However, this is Wano Country in the game, so feel free to appreciate male beauty [upright-eared rabbit head]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com