Cless spent two days scouting the venue she was going to raid later. The brothel where Jason grew up and was expelled after the matron died. She used [Shrinking] at its maximum factor and got as tall as three apples. While that reduced her physical Stats by a factor of ten, it also reduced her weight by a factor of a thousand. That meant she could jump a lot. Like from the floor to the roof girder in a single bound! She was happy with that discovery.
She was not so happy with what she discovered at the brothel. The owner, the same man that kicked Jason out to die in the cold, explored the girls. He would charge an enormous amount of rent for the rooms, and also for other amenities like cleaning sheets or things that the customers broke. Even for washing themselves between clients. The girls also had no right to deny clients. Dirty men, rough men, diseased men. The children were locked in the basement during the night and if any cried, another deduction was inflicted on them. It caused most girls to fall into debt. And they could not leave unless they paid off the debt.
The cherry on the cake was the right he reserved to himself to have any girl he wanted. Cless almost murdered him right there but she needed to make the recruitment peacefully. If the pimp died, the girls would run away.
The next night, Cless finally got the courage to go and have "the talk" with Jason. She went and told the vampire boy what concerns her guild members had. They sat in the dark of the basement in the table and chair set Jason gained from the Steelhammer guildhall. Both were perfectly fine in the darkness.
Jason shrugged.
"I guess this is one of the situations where you say 'I can only trust him as far as I can toss him'. Fortunately for you, you are strong enough to toss me pretty far. Through the walls even, I bet."
His way of simultaneously flattering her and demeaning himself was annoying.
"Okay. It means I can't fully trust you because I can't throw you to the end of the world," Cless absentmindedly mused. "So I'll have to take some measures."
In fact, she wanted to avoid dealing with the issue and would be perfectly happy to let it fester and in the remote possibility, something went awry, be a good hypocrite and say she had no idea. And probably push the problem on someone, going on with her life afterward. That's what Queens do, right?
Silverfang's perpetually glaring eyes flashed in her mind along with Venaris's keen analytical and sharp tongue. Those were the two that voiced opinions against Jason, and both were quite similar in their exhortations. That was what prompted Cless to come and talk to Jason.
"And what are they?" Jason let a sliver of fear slide into his voice, making it crack a little. Cless did pick it up and smiled.
"I will keep you fed. I don't mind giving you a goblet of my own blood every week. Is once a week enough for you? Aren't you starving and craving the blood of others? Virgins?"
The last word made Jason raise an eyebrow and turn his natural frown into a scowl.
"Virgins? Really, Cless? Wait, aren't you...?" And the scowl became a surprised smirk.
Cless sighed. "No," She exhaled deeply as she noticed she demeaned herself by considering if the existence or absence of the sex life of a female mattered. "I was assaulted and my chastity was taken from me."
"I'm sorry." The smirk disappeared and he shrunk on his chair. "I didn't mean to..."
She shook her head. "Don't worry. I'm over it and the culprits paid dearly for their transgression."
"Just curious, what was the penalty for raping a Queen?"
"I didn't know my birthright back then and don't throw the Q word so easily around. You can never be sure who is eavesdropping. I would probably know since this is my domain but just don't."
"Okay. As you wish."
"I forced him to whore himself. He died a few days later because he tried to tattle on my secrets."
Jason tittered, probably thinking of what would happen to himself. "Ruthless."
"Don't worry. I am better now. I wouldn't just kill and that's why I phrase my contracts differently now. Speaking of which, would you accept a small amendment to our agreement to solve the dissent in the guild regarding your... undead condition?"
"I guess I have little choice. What does it entail?"
Cless focused and delivered the wording she was rehearsing for quite some time.
"I will add a restraining on attacking people. Only on self-defense and never unprovoked. If you started it, you better run. And as long as I am alive and able, no feeding off of other people."
He chuckled. "Is that the conditions to keep me in check? Cless, I want that. You can rein in my beast within with just words? That's amazing," He was unnaturally excited at the prospect of not being able to attack people and that brought Cless relief. She was right, Jason was a good person... even though he was dead.
"Are you satisfied with only my blood?"
Jason looked deep in her eyes. She felt vulnerable. What if he wanted more than her blood? She wasn't even wearing a nice set of underwear...
"Satisfied? Cless, you have no idea how delicious your blood is!" He said, breaking out of his gloomy character and giving her a hungry stare that made Cless afraid of what might happen. "One goblet a week is more than perfect. I'd die happy if I was sure I would have your blood to drink for the rest of my life."
The first thing that came to her mind was 'is that a proposal?'. Cless felt her cheeks burn and her heart race.
"Then it is settled. You agree to the extended terms, right?"
She used her Skill when he replied, "Of course."
With that out of the way, Cless could resume thinking of positive and naive things going forward.
"I want to visit the brothel you told me about. The one that was nice to you but ruled by the ruthless pimp."
"What do you want to do there? I don't think they are hiring," He joked.
Cless narrowed her eyes. "Becoming a comedian now, are we? No, I am not looking for employment in the red-light district, you asshole." She regretted venting the insult but it was too late.
"Good, good. I wouldn't have my qu... guild master working there anyway. Just an unfortunate joke, right?" Jason sighed. "Okay. What do you want, Cless?"
"Are the girls there happy with their job?"
Jason shrugged. "I don't know, you are in a better position to answer that than me. Do you think there's a girl that would be happy taking any man with the right amount of coin to her bed regardless of choice? The dirty ones, the rugged ones, the smelly ones, the wrinkled and hairy ones, not to mention the brutish?"
She looked away and winced. "Yes, that was a stupid rhetorical question, Cless," She berated herself. Turning back to face the vampire, she continued. "Let's rescue the girls. I have another job for them that doesn't involve having sex with strangers. Actually, it doesn't involve sex at all."
Jason smiled, "I think they will like that."
Cless clapped her hands. "Good. I have just the thing for you. Wear this armor." She gave him the oily black armor she got from Xander. The one that absorbs Holy energy and generates a pure darkness field. "After you are done, we can see how well you can function while its power is active."
After Jason donned the armor, Cless gladly fired a Holy Bolt at the vampire. He yelped and the dark bubble spread out. Cless could see perfectly even in that darkness as expected. Now about the wearer...
"Can you see anything, Jason?"
"No. I can't see a thing. But I can move around and I know where you are. Also the walls. A vampire's hearing and sense of smell are improved. I can also sense pumping blood near me, so I can tell exactly where you are."
To prove his point, he moved quickly to grab her by the waist. Cless was twice as fast as Jason but she let herself be caught. He bared his fangs at her and she pretended to be scared, screaming.
With uncanny grace, Cless slid out of his grasp and took some distance. She laughed.
"Was that supposed to be scary?" She asked.
"Yeah, I guess. I can feel your heartbeat soaring, Cless. You can't fool me. You got scared."
"Oh, you got me!" She lied. Because fear was not what she felt. "So, do you think you can walk around in that bubble without stumbling everywhere?"
Jason shrugged. "Why walk? I can fly. I doubt I'll have any problem in my bat form."
----------------------------------------
The next night they were out at sunset. Cless, Silverfang, and Venaris, the most human-like members of the guild, went to the slums. Inside a stone bell, Jason in his bat form was waiting for the last pesky rays of sunlight to disappear. The girls were with drab and dirty peasant clothes while Silverfang was dressed like a thug. Cless wondered how the heck did Jason kept his clothes when transforming. Would be useful for Silverfang's modesty and after what she felt a few nights ago she felt it would be a good addition.
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"Is that the place?" Venaris asked.
They were in front of a brothel, and if what Jason told them was accurate, that was the same brothel he grew up in after his mother died.
"Yes, that's the one. Stick to the plan," Cless rubbed her hands and ushered her guild members ahead. "We will go in and demand to talk to the pimp owner. Then I will get him to agree to release some of the girls that want to get out of that life to work for us."
"I don't think he will want to talk to you," Silverfang remarked. "This won't end well."
"Leave the fatalism for Vic," Cless snarled back. "And I know this won't end well. That's why we are bringing a strong, dependable man with us. You."
Venaris snickered and pointed at the paper-thin stone bell hanging from Cless' waist. "I thought for a moment you were talking about bat-boy in there."
The queen showed the tip of her tongue at the gnome and moved on. They reached the brothel's entrance and the bouncer blocked the way in with a hand ax.
"What do you kids want in here? We are not open yet."
That was a lie. During the time they were watching, at least four patrons entered.
"We are here for employment opportunities," Cless answered. "We want to talk to your boss."
The bouncer lifted Cless' hood with the butt of his ax. Startled, he almost dropped the weapon as he took a step back from Cless.
"One God's mercy," He shouted. "What kind of monster are you?"
"Oh, nobody here is a monster," Cless said jokingly, burying the outrage she was feeling toward the bouncer deep inside. "I was burned when I was a baby. Violet here is a gnome and this is our wolf-kin... debt collector."
The scenario would be that Silverfang was a debt collector here to sell the two girls to the whorehouse as a form of collecting the debt he was owed. The lycan cracked his knuckles.
The bouncer looked at him and at his lupine features. Lycans were the more feral "cousins" of wolf beastkin. The latter had no shapeshifting abilities, making the former the stronger version of the wolf-folk. Rarer too due to not being considered people but monsters. Silverfang just scowled and showed his elongated canines.
Cless used the moment to compare both types of fangs. The vampire ones were straighter, longer, thinner, and retractable while Silferfang's were broader and ended in a slightly curved tip designed to rip flesh. None of these musings on the natural properties of Lycans helped in getting them inside the brothel. And Venaris had to punch Cless' thigh to get her attention away from Silverfang's toothy grin.
"What?"
"As I was saying, you have a business proposition to the owner of this fine establishment," Venaris said oozing sarcasm. "So we can get rid of our debts."
"You better work right. I want my money," Silverfang snarled.
Right. They were doing that indebted-maiden-turned-whore skit.
"So, my dear brothel bouncer, I have an offer for you. You see, I am able to grant any man pleasure beyond belief due to my Skill. And I believe your master can find clients wishing for a more... exotic experience."
Cless thought the only reason the bouncer wasn't already trying to forcefully bounce them away and off the pavement was Silverfang's apparent prowess.
"Girl, you are so hideous that I feel my own dick trying to crawl up my butt just from looking at you."
Eh.
What to make of that? Cless froze to avoid just murdering the bouncer right there. Instead, she focused and fell in character. She approached the bouncer slowly and moved a hand to his nether regions, caressing him over his trousers. She used [Succubus' Kiss] and [Seductress' Charm] on him.
> Your Skill earned you 2,850 Experience points.
Using [Perfect Accounting] she reversed the formula and found the man's level. Twenty-nine. She withdrew her hand right away, feeling his unmentionables twitch and wanting to avoid what was coming out of it.
The bouncer braced himself against the door frame, his face red. He looked at Cless with other eyes. Since she learned that the effects of those reaction-altering Skills were based on the proportion of the attacker's Charisma against the target's Wisdom and their awareness of what was happening, she knew the bouncer was doomed. That single touch of her on the bouncer was as powerful as more than twenty of Marion the traitor nun on her.
"I am sure I could find the time to reward the guard staff for their hard work," Cless blew a kiss at the bouncer. It was a cheap shot and she felt like trash for doing that, but she'd done worse before.
Venaris made a disgusted face as she saw the condition of the man's trousers. The stain was growing.
"I'll show you to the boss. Please this way," The bouncer stowed his ax on his belt and pointed inside.
They went into the brothel and saw several girls already in their work clothes, chatting in the saloon. The conversations died as the women stopped to appraise the newcomers. Cless tugged her hood and hunched a bit. She didn't want the girls to judge her for her appearance first. After going through a set of curved stairs and a corridor, they arrived at the office. The guard knocked.
"Come in!" A man's deep voice came from inside.
The guard opened the door and they entered. A man with a full beard and a few scratch scars was sitting behind a desk, counting coins. Five gold, thirty-seven silver and ninety-two copper as Cless quickly assessed the value of the money.
"Boss, this wolfkin here wants to sell these two girls," The bouncer said and pointed at them. "This tall one here is very good."
"I'll be the judge of that," Said the boss, clearly annoyed by the interruption. "Leave us. Show yourselves, girls."
"I'll show myself entirely and you promise to listen and give an answer to my business proposition in full without making any loud noise, attacking us except in self-defense, going away from your chair, or kicking us out until we are done," Cless triggered her Skill to make a business offer. "Tell me if you want to see or not."
This version of her Skill was the most unjust one. She could set the terms anywhere she wanted and the "fair value" portion was fulfilled by the other party accepting the transaction. There was no negotiation, it wasn't a square deal but a deal nonetheless.
"Well, that's why you came here, right? Come on, show me the goods!"
Cless placed the stone bell on the ground before she dropped her cloak and the long tunic she was wearing, baring herself entirely if not for the shoes and underwear. As soon as the clothes hit the ground she knelt and pulled them back on and picked up the bell.
"Did you have a good look? Great. Now it is my turn to speak." The brothel boss tried to talk but no sound came out. "Please do not panic. I just want to talk and later make you an offer you cannot reject."
Cless approached the desk and the brothel boss drew a dagger. She didn't mind the weapon and stopped next to it. She showed him the bell and shaped the stone away, revealing the bat hanging upside down inside.
"Jason!" Cless called.
The bat opened his eyes and jumped out, shifting into the vampire boy moments later.
"Mr. Anderson. I can see you aged well," Jason gave his opening line with a fanged smirk.
The boss was now panicking. He couldn't go away though.
"Who are you?" The boss whispered, finally learning how to go around Cless' contract. He couldn't make loud noises, but soft ones were fine.
"I'm the young orphan you threw out when your kind mother died, scumbag," Jason glowered and slammed his hand on the table, making some coins skitter and drop.
"Jason, be nice," Cless chided him.
The boss looked from Cless to Jason and ground his chattering teeth for a while when realization dawned on him. "You can't be alive! You are too young."
"I was eleven when you threw me out to die in the winter. I survived four years out there until I died. How long ago was that?"
Pale, Anderson gasped, "Forty years ago. You are..."
Jason smiled and showed his fangs. "A vampire. Undead. Your doom. But I am not here to kill you. I am here to make justice. Listen to what she has to say and be nice. You might survive this night."
All gazes fell on Cless. She grinned and put the full weight of her [Intimidating Autority] on him.
"Here's what is going to happen. I am going to offer the girls that work here a job and they will be free to either accept or stay. We are going to them and tell them everything, you'll act as polite as if you were in the presence of a queen you don't want to anger. All debts any of them have with you will be cleared, and any debts with loan sharks elsewhere will be shouldered by you. If any of them want to stay, you are gifting this property and any others you have in this town to me so I can use it in their benefit. You can take whatever money you have left in the bank after paying all the loans and fees owed by these properties. The brothel will remain closed tonight and you will pay for these girls' lost tonight earnings, without any deductions.
"After all that is done, you will go away from Glauchester and forget everything that happened here, especially about us in this room now, never to return. If you do, you'll die and I will earn no Experience from your death. You will also never exploit a girl ever again. If you do, you die. If you try to betray or hurt either us or the girls, you'll die.
"And if you don't agree with these terms, I'll let Jason feed on you. You have to the count of ten to either say yes or die."
She took a step back and pulled Jason with her. The brothel boss tried to raise the weapon in his hand but couldn't. He was bound by the previous agreement until he gave an answer. Cless started to count softly, keeping [Intimidating Authority] on him with each count. When she reached eight, he gave in.
"I yield. Yes. I agree to your terms."
Cless clapped, mostly to commend him on his willpower. She was sure he saw his fair share of girls with seduction Skills in his lifetime and wouldn't be surprised if he had a Class or Profession to deal with that.
"Excellent. You'll have an awesome life, I'm sure of it. Come, let's give the girls the good news."
They went downstairs and after instructing the bouncer that the brothel was not going to open tonight, talked to the gathered female staff.
"Greetings, girls. I called you here so you can listen to some changes in management that are going to happen," Cless took the floor and started her speech. "We came to an agreement with Mr. Anderson here, regarding your employment going forward. But first the good news.
"Mr. Anderson here will pay for your lost earnings tonight, without any deductions, like rent of rooms or other taxes he charges. He is also releasing you of any debts and footing the bill to pay off any loans you have with a third party. My gnome friend here will make a list of such debts you might have, please go to her after I'm done so she can record them.
"Next, I will open a business of my own that won't involve sexual services. I need a staff that can work with the public and I can trust. If you want to quit being a prostitute and working for me, you will be most welcome. I won't say the nature of the job beyond what was already said before you join though. I can promise you this: you will have free lodging with a bath, work uniforms, three meals a day, decent work hours, one paid rest day a week, and a decent salary. Living quarters, meals, training, and education for your children until they reach the age of fifteen and get their Skills.
Casual clothing, personal items will be on you. You'll also be forbidden from gambling too much and contracting debts. You will be allowed to quit the job at any moment for any reason if you warn me one month before so I can find a replacement. And finally, you will receive training and guidance regarding your classes, professions to strengthen yourselves."
She would continue but one woman stopped her, "That is too much. Are we doing something illegal?"
"Absolutely not!" Cless replied right away. "The work is perfectly legal. The secrecy is for protection. Now, who wants to stay working at the brothel and who wants to come work with me under these conditions. I have a few contracts here with detailed information regarding your employment, please sign them if you want."
Cless intentionally withdrew the information regarding what was going to happen to the brothel. She really wanted all the girls to work for her and quit the sex business. She was afraid some unscrupulous whore would become the new pimp and perpetuate the bad practice of exploring the bodies of younger girls.
"Hell, yeah! I'm in. Who wants to sell their bodies anyway? We are here just because we are desperate!" One older prostitute became the first one in the line to get a copy of the work contract from Cless. The terms Cless explained verbally were exactly the same, including a pay scale depending on performance. The additional clauses she didn't say out loud was the secrecy part. The wording forbade them from identifying themselves as employees of Cless' business, talking about the business and the usual amnesia-upon-mental-probe terms she liked so much. Cless knew how many girls worked at the brothel and had five spare contracts in case any of them messed up.
She ended up having to use three spares but all the girls agreed to join her. And without any remaining, Anderson's properties would become hers.
After doing all the paperwork, Cless and her guild returned home. The next day, they went to the real estate office to transfer the properties and to the bank so Anderson could withdraw money to pay the loan sharks. She took Anderson to a tour of the slums' loan sharks to repay all debts and make sure all of them agreed to let the girls off the hook. She ended up using [Fear Aura] once but her exercises in restraining paid off. She was able to affect only the loan shark and his goons. She even hired that one to reinforce security at the brothel. Anderson's business was very popular and some patrons resented him closing off.
His problem now, Cless thought as she watched Anderson ride a horse into the sunset and exile.