The Renard's figure vanished in an instant.
"I think that's the first time I've ever seen a Renard..." Bell remarked.
"Well, they're a rare race," Akumo replied.
'And they possess equally unique sorcery...'
"Well, I suppose it doesn't matter."
For a moment, Akumo felt a strange sensation, as if her disappearance was an illusion brought on by the moonlight. However, having confirmed that she was indeed within the Pleasure Quarter, he tucked the information away for later.
"Oh? Bell and Akumo?"
"H-Hermes-sama!?" Bell stammered.
"What are you doing here, Hermes-sama? Is it a quest?"
As they spoke, the trickster God Hermes appeared before them.
"Come on, come on~ It's obviously that, isn't it?"
"Hermes-sama...!!"
"Ah, of course. It would be that," Akumo said flatly.
'Another one of his schemes and backroom deals, I see.'
Bell, assuming Hermes meant something scandalous, flushed bright red and reacted with distressed embarrassment. Akumo, however, instantly deduced that Hermes—who had been tasked with monitoring the Ishtar Familia since the incident in Melen—was here to gather intelligence.
"Exactly! So, keep it a secret, alright?"
Hermes nonchalantly reached out and pressed a bottle into Bell's hand.
"This is a gift!"
Inside the bottle was a pink liquid that looked suspicious even at a glance.
"What is this...?" Bell asked.
"A stamina booster."
"Pfft—hahaha!!"
"Well then, Bell, enjoy yourself tonight~~~~"
"Enjoy what!!??"
"Sigh... let's just dump him in a gutter later..." Akumo muttered.
'That damn God...!'
Akumo was slightly irritated that Hermes had recklessy handed Bell an aphrodisiac, but he chose to suppress his anger to avoid causing a scene.
"Wait! Hermes-sama!!!" Bell cried out, chasing after the retreating deity.
"I'm giving this back!!"
His face crimson with shame at holding such a notorious item, Bell sprinted into an alleyway after Hermes.
"Honestly, that kid..." Akumo sighed.
'Flushing like a beet over something like that...'
Step, step—
"....?"
'What? The footsteps stopped?'
When the sounds of Bell's pursuit went silent, Akumo tilted his head in confusion and entered the alley. There, he saw Bell being held tightly in the embrace of a certain Amazon.
"Eh?"
"H-Help me!!!"
"Oh? A new male?"
The woman holding Bell was an Amazon dressed in a striking dancer-like outfit. Her purple garb accentuated her bronze skin, and the bracelets and necklaces adorning her body jingled as she moved. Her long black hair draped down to her hips, further enhancing her sharp, predatory allure.
"The boy you're holding. He's with me. Mind letting him go?" Akumo asked coolly.
"I'm afraid I can't do that," the Amazon replied.
"...And why is that?"
'If Bell can't even budge, she's at least a high-tier Level 3...'
Akumo remained calm as he requested Bell's release. His unflinching composure caught the Amazon, Aisha Belka, off guard.
'He's strong... this man.'
"How about you take off that robe? I'd like to see the face underneath," she suggested.
"That would be a problem~" Akumo replied.
"Perhaps you lack confidence in your looks?"
"Ahaha...! Quite a joker, aren't you?"
'Should I just subdue her by force...?'
As Akumo weighed his options, the situation worsened. A group of prostitutes, likely Aisha's comrades, began to gather in the alley.
"Oh my, Aisha! Who are these men?"
"Are they today's customers?"
"I just found them here. This innocent one is the younger brother, and the one in the robe is the elder," Aisha explained.
"Hehe, how cute~"
"Are they young masters? Is this your first time in the Pleasure Quarter?"
Just as Akumo was about to resort to force to clear a path and escape...
A sharp, piercing gaze pinned him in place.
"!!"
'A-Alfia!?'
He whipped his head toward the source of the pressure. There, standing regally upon a roof, was Alfia.
'As expected, she's here...!!'
"Wait—!"
'This man... he's fast!' Aisha thought, startled by his sudden shift.
Just as Akumo prepared to grab Bell and vanish, Alfia shook her head slowly from side to side.
'Don't run...?'
Alfia gave a single, firm nod.
'I see. She wants us to infiltrate—'
The signal she sent was not one of anger or warning, but a calm command. She saw this as the perfect opportunity to naturally enter the heart of the Ishtar Familia. She was ordering him to proceed with the capture to conduct reconnaissance from the inside.
"Got you!"
Lena, not missing the moment Akumo froze while looking up, grabbed his robe and yanked him off balance.
"..."
"...Catch him at all costs."
"Ah, dammit...."
Ultimately, Bell and Akumo were hauled away to the Ishtar Familia's headquarters.
Fortunately, Akumo had already used a minor trick to alter his appearance. His white hair, identical to Bell's, had been turned pitch black, and his bright green eyes now appeared as dark, abyssal ebony.
"Wait a minute...!! I didn't come here for that purpose..!!" Bell protested as they were shoved inside.
"Haaa.... Dammit."
'I have to stay captured until Alfia sends the signal...'
Akumo sighed internally. Rather than being charmed by the women's beauty, he was merely troubled by the primal, hungry glint in their eyes. Bell was visibly terrified, trying desperately to squirm away, but Aisha's arm held him like an iron shackle.
"Today is a jackpot!"
"We have [Little Rookie] on one side and a strikingly handsome warrior on the other!"
"I've already marked them both, so don't get any ideas!" Aisha barked at her subordinates.
"Eh!? Aisha, you're too greedy! You're taking both of them?"
"Then I get them after Aisha!"
"What are you talking about? I'm next!"
As the women argued over the order while dragging them along, a sultry, authoritative voice drifted through the hall.
"Is tonight's prey these Humans? Aisha."
"Ishtar-sama!"
Ishtar, one of the Goddesses of Beauty, made her entrance. She looked over Akumo and Bell with predatory interest.
"You can't look at Ishtar-sama!!!!" Lena shouted, suddenly lunging at Bell and covering his eyes.
"Gugh!?"
"We won't stand for it if you get Charmed and steal our prey again!?"
Bell, blinded and pinned to the ground by Lena, was stunned. The Goddess's presence here confirmed they were at the very heart of the Pleasure Quarter.
"Brother...?" Bell whispered.
"We've been brought to the home of the Ishtar Familia," Akumo replied flatly.
"EEEEEEH!!?"
'An important guest for Ishtar, hm...'
Even in this situation, Akumo remained clinical, sifting through the dialogue for intelligence.
"...!"
Ishtar blinked in surprise. 'This child... he looks at me and feels nothing?'
Akumo's pitch-black gaze was locked tight, seemingly immune to her divine allure. He didn't just resist her; he looked through her.
'She's beautiful, but... there's something missing,' Akumo thought. Compared to the goddesses he had known over eons, this was nothing.
"Wait! Are you really unfazed after seeing Ishtar-sama!?" Aisha demanded.
"She's alright, I suppose," Akumo shrugged.
".....!!"
Aisha grinned savagely.
His indifference only fueled her hunger. She dragged them further into the interior with a lighter step. While a fierce smile played on her lips, there was a different emotion flickering in her eyes, one that Akumo hadn't quite noticed yet.
"Unfortunately, all the rooms are full. You'll have to wait here until one opens up."
"..."
"Well, I don't mind doing it right here."
'No rooms...? If they're that busy, why go out and kidnap more men...' Akumo pondered the logistics while mentally mapping the building for any suspicious locations they had passed.
In contrast, Bell was losing his mind, stammering incoherently.
"I-I'm part of another Familia... bringing adventurers into your home without permission is—!"
"That's an every-night occurrence here," Lena whispered, leaning close to him.
"Don't you know the nature of Amazons?" Aisha added, pressing against Akumo. "Why don't you tell him, handsome?"
".....A combat race that kidnaps men to satiate their lusts...." Akumo stated dryly.
"Oh~ you know us so well! Big brother~♡"
"Sigh..."
Akumo recalled the events in Melen. Being chased by over a hundred Amazons, with Level 6 warriors like Argana and Bache lunging at him with predatory madness... it had been a harrowing experience.
Rumble—!
"!!"
'The signal...!'
"I'm sorry, but I think it's time for us to—"
"This vibration...!!" Aisha cut him off.
"Is it Phryne...!?"
'Who is that...?' Akumo wondered. He had assumed the vibration was Alfia's signal to move, but Aisha's group immediately went into a defensive posture at the mention of the name 'Phryne.'
"I smell the scent of young men~" a gravelly, grating voice boomed from the hallway.
CRASH—!!!
"Gek-gek-gek-gek!"
THUD! THUD! THUD!
"What are you doing here, Phryne!" Aisha snarled.
"Is that any way to speak to the Captain of the Familia? Aisha."
The entity that stomped into the room was a massive presence. However, her proportions were grotesque; her face was flat and wide, her mouth and eyes resembled those of a toad, and she lacked even a shred of aesthetic grace. She was a nightmare in the flesh.
Bell and Akumo instinctively leaned into each other, a shared thought echoing in their minds.
'I would rather kill her and die fighting than be caught by that thing...!'
'Please, just destroy everything... Father...!'
Unaware that both Akumo and Bell had shifted into a lethal combat stance ready for a desperate strike, the mountain of a woman named Phryne slowly approached them.
"I saw it, I saw it! The War Game~"
THUD!
"To think I'd get to eat that [Little Rookie] and his brother~!"
THUD!
"Besides, you two are exactly my type!"
Phryne loomed over them, ready to snatch them up.
"Don't give me that! These two are our prey!" Aisha stepped in front of her.
"I was getting bored since the number of men who can handle me is dwindling~ Surely a little taste won't hurt?"
"Do you have any idea how many men have been rendered beyond repair because of your 'tasting'!?" Aisha shouted.
"They just can't be satisfied by anyone else but me now~"
The woman spoke without a hint of guilt, fueled by a delusional sense of arrogance and narcissism.
"Being this beautiful is a sin, isn't it~?"
"Ishtar-sama might be popular, but she can't hold a candle to me~!"
'This bitch...' 'This person...'
'She actually believes it!!'
Akumo and Bell almost threw a punch purely out of reflex.
'Beautiful? Are you shitting me...!' Akumo thought, his ancient soul recoiling in horror.
'You can see it in the eyes of the women around her... she's intoxicated by herself, destroying lives without a second thought...!'
'I have never missed the women in my life more than I do right now....!'
To Akumo, who had spent lifetimes with truly noble and beautiful women like Alfia and Riveria, and had been surrounded by the likes of Ryu, Alise, Ardee, and Amid, Phryne was an abomination. It wasn't just her physical appearance; it was the unfiltered filth of her character—the way she thrust her sordid desires forward without a shred of reflection. She was the polar opposite of the Telskyura Amazons, who at least possessed a noble, albeit violent, pursuit of strength.
'I know it's wrong to say this, but... my instincts are screaming...!'
'This person is horrifying!!'
Bell felt the same. Having been raised by Alfia and Hestia's motherly love, and holding Ais, Eina, and Tiona in high regard, the sight of Phryne made him vow that he would choose death before being caught by her.
"Because of you, men don't even want to come near our home! Kidnapping them is becoming a chore!"
"Stop barking, you hags who can't beat me in beauty or strength."
"Cut the crap and look in a mirror, you toad."
"Hmph! Then let's settle this the Amazon way!"
"That's fine by me, you monster!!"
The argument between Aisha's group and Phryne escalated into violence.
Slink, slink—
"..."
Akumo and Bell began to edge toward the exit.
"Oh, shi—"
""""GET THEM!!!!!!!!""""
Even in their brawl, the Amazons' eyes never truly left their prizes. Akumo cursed, scooped up Bell, and bolted. The chase was on.
SWIIISH—!!!!!!!!!!
"Hold on tight, Bell!!!!!"
"They're over there!! Little Rook—"
VROOOOM—!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"What!? How are they that fast!!??"
Forgetting to hide his strength, Akumo moved at a velocity the prostitutes couldn't hope to match. However, seeing his power only excited them further. They began a coordinated pursuit, using their knowledge of the district to corner him.
"Over here!"
"Over there!"
"God damn it! The whole district is in on it!!!"
Everywhere they turned, they were met by pursuing Amazons. Realizing the entire Pleasure Quarter was their enemy's territory, Akumo darted into a familiar-looking back alley.
"Brother, there!!" Bell pointed to a building.
"!!"
Finding a door, Akumo didn't hesitate. He pulled Bell inside and slammed it shut.
"Nice find, Bell!"
"Yes!"
—They went in here!
"!!"
"Deeper into the building, now...!!"
The chase continued up the stairs. Desperately searching for an escape route on the second floor, they saw an open door at the end of the hall. With the Amazons closing in, they had no choice but to dive inside.
Inside the room, a quiet, gentle voice greeted them.
"I have been waiting for you, My Lord."
"Tonight, I am the one who shall serve and accompany you..."
"My name is Haruhime."
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