Wano Country, Flower Capital, Chizuru Corridor.
Led by Kumagoro and Unta, Sephiroth arrived at the door of a luxuriously decorated three-story house. On the railings on the second and third floors, stood women with heavy makeup and kimonos. They would from time to time wink at the passersby below, hoping to get a guest. Their voices kept reaching Sephiroth's ears.
A beranda is the name for a brothel in Wano Country. The women who worked in them were divided into traveling girls, geishas, and the highest name in the beranda, Oiran! Generally, traveling girls could do anything as long as there was money, no matter who the guest was or how many people there were. Compared to them, geishas were relatively more classy and had to have solid talents and skills. Some of them would perform without getting their bodies involved. Between the traveling girls and the geishas, the most famous and highest status was the Oiran.
To become an Oiran was not an easy thing. They needed long training to stand out from many competitors. First, appearance was a very high threshold, which could eliminate most women. Second, they had to have talents and literacy, such as literature, calligraphy, tea ceremony, chess, dance, shamisen, and so on, all of which had to be mastered, in order to be able to interact with high officials. If you could win the hearts of high officials, they would be willing to spend a lot of money.
After a woman became an Oiran, her wealth would skyrocket. Compared with traveling girls and geishas, she had a larger room for choice, and could refuse guests she did not like. Even if she met a guest, whether she would spend the night with them depended on the Oiran's own mood. If a Big Lord wanted to force her, he would be directly beaten away by the Oiran's bodyguard.
Sephiroth looked at the flirtatious women on the upper floors and just shook his head. Compared to the women in the red-light districts in other cities, these Wano Country women were really far behind. Sephiroth was a little uninterested!
"The quality is not good! Is there anything better?" Sephiroth said, a little dissatisfied.
"Heh, heh! Boss... such ordinary women certainly can't catch your eye. Ah, although!, the Oiran in the Chizuru Corridor, is very beautiful! Boss, you will definitely be interested!"
"Oh!?... Is that so?"
Sephiroth raised his eyebrows, and there was a hint of interest on his face. He had no other intentions, he just wanted to learn about the culture of the Oiran in Wano Country...
Bang!
As soon as the three of them entered the Chizuru Corridor, they saw that in the spacious hall, beside a toppled table, two groups of people were stuck in a confrontation.
On one side was a middle-aged woman wearing a black kimono and a white chrysanthemum on her head, named Chizuru, the owner of this beranda. Four bodyguards stood behind her. On the other side, there were six fierce-looking big men in kimonos, led by a man named Shinbei, a gray-haired and burly middle-aged man.
Driven by curiosity, Sephiroth walked closer, ready to watch.
"Shinbei! Don't go too far!"
"Hahaha! Boss Chizuru, our boss, Kurokoma, has taken a fancy to your corridor and will spend three thousand gold to buy it. Is that too much? You all agree, right? Brothers?"
"Yes! Yes!"
"Our boss Kurokoma is so generous!"
Hearing that, the five men behind Shinbei immediately laughed and said yes.
"You all..." Chizuru stared at the six men in front of her, and she could only grit her teeth in anger.
Shinbei sneered and shook his head. "Three thousand gold is really a reasonable price! Your Oiran, eloped with someone else, and your husband, Ezaburo, died. Do you think you, who are powerless, can continue to open this beranda? Or do you want to offend our boss, Kurokoma?"
Threat! It was an open threat!
Chizuru's eyes dimmed, and a sense of sadness arose in her heart.
Two days ago, her Oiran in her beranda, eloped with a desperate ronin samurai. Her husband, Ezaburo, was a fairly famous gangster, otherwise he would not have been able to keep this beranda. When this happened, Ezaburo could not possibly let the ronin samurai get away, both for his own interest and for his pride in the underworld. So, Ezaburo, with more than a dozen of his younger brothers, chased after Chizuru's sister and the ronin samurai.
However, oddly, during the pursuit, Ezaburo's men accidentally hacked her Oiran to death, and the ronin samurai went crazy, fighting to the death with Ezaburo and the others. In the end, the ronin samurai turned around and killed Ezaburo directly.
Now that her husband, Ezaburo, was dead, this beranda had lost the protection of the underworld, and sooner or later it would be targeted by other yakuza. Therefore, Chizuru had to face two choices: find a yakuza force to protect her, by paying a protection fee every month, or sell the beranda.
She never expected to have to face a choice so soon!
Looking at the six gangsters in front of her, Chizuru's face changed for a while before she lowered her voice. "Three thousand gold is too low! It's not even half of the total value of this beranda! If boss Kurokoma really wants to buy this place, the price is at least 6,000 gold!"
"Hahaha? Six thousand gold. You're kidding, right? I suggest you think about it again!"
"Six thousand gold, the price remains the same! Otherwise, I will sell it to someone else." Chizuru said.
In fact, six thousand gold was still a little less than the total value. After all, this price, in addition to buying the entire beranda building, also included the yakuza and geishas who were under it. If the Oiran trained by Chizuru was still there, this price would have to add at least one or two thousand gold!
"Hahaha! I think you really can't see the reality! We are boss Kurokoma, one of the best underworld figures in the Flower Capital. You think others would take the risk of offending our boss and come buy this beranda? Humph! Give you a day to think about it. If tomorrow you don't agree, this beranda will no longer exist in the future!"
After saying that, Shinbei took the other five gangsters, turned, and left the corridor. They only left Chizuru and her four bodyguards with grim expressions.
Swish!
A young man's voice interrupted the middle-aged woman's thoughts.
"Landlady, how about we talk business?"
Chizuru looked up and saw a handsome young man with a blue kimono. She frowned slightly and said in a confused tone, "What business do you want to talk about?"
"I am willing to pay six thousand gold to buy this corridor, do you agree?" Sephiroth smiled.
Looking at this strange black-haired youth, Chizuru was a little suspicious. Could this person be cooperating with Shinbei to deceive her? But the price of six thousand gold was relatively reasonable compared to three thousand gold.
Shinbei had made a lot of excuses before, that Kurokoma Chika was one of the best yakuza figures in the Flower Capital, and few people on the street would be willing to offend him. Therefore, it was reasonable for Shinbei to propose the unreasonable price of three thousand gold. He was clearly determined to take advantage of Chizuru.
"Sir, you are buying this corridor... Could it be. Are you not afraid of offending Kurokoma?"
I was still thinking about how I could make a name for myself in the underworld, so that I could easily gain followers in the future. Now that an opportunity has come to the door, I'm going to be afraid?
With a bright smile on his face, Sephiroth answered without hesitation, "Not afraid!"
Chizuru looked up and down at the black-haired youth, and she continued, "OK! Don't regret it then."
Immediately, the two quickly completed the administrative contract, finalizing the deal.
Sephiroth spent 6,000 gold, and from Chizuru, he bought the Chizuru Corridor, and the deeds of sale of the traveling girls and geishas.
In a single day, he built from scratch and became the owner of a beranda.