Chapter 80: An out-of-town posting, part 2
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Translator: Denryuu; Editor: Ryunakama
「You free tonight, Argan-kun?」, asked one of my new colleagues as we were closing. 「We thought we’d throw a little welcoming party for you.」
「I appreciate the thought, but I probably won’t be here for long. Only for about a week, from what I’ve –」
「Hey, don’t be so rigid!」
A loudly-dressed colleague wrapped his arms around my shoulders.
「C’mon, man. We’ll go to a bar with pretty girls and get hammered.」
The other employees clustered around to back them up. Fine, I thought, I do have to get along with them for a week, so a little socialising wouldn’t hurt.
「Fine, but let’s not overdo it.」
After knocking off, I followed three other employees and walked around the city, observing the nightlife. They brought me to the red-light district, and I knew that they didn’t just want to drink. Known as the rubbish dump of Ferland, this red-light district was infamous for its stupid (in a good way) and immoral girls that contributed to its sleazy but fun atmosphere.
The flashily-dressed employee approached a cabaret club and looked back at me as he spoke:
「I have one or two favourite girls and they always do a good job.」
「I see…」
The other two were also rather cheerful. I don’t understand why anyone would pay money just to drink with some girls, but having never been to a cabaret club, I decided to treat it as a learning experience. Not to mention that as the guest, they’re paying for me.
The staff brought us inside, where six gaudily-dressed women got off the sofa and greeted us. Having little experience in striking a conversation with complete strangers, I drank quietly while the others engaged in meaningless small talk. They puffed up their nostrils while talking, and their words were a mixture of fact and fiction.
「You’re good with alcohol, aren’t you, Sir? You’ve done nothing but drink. Do you like it?」, asked the girl beside me, Philly, as she refilled my empty glass.
She added water as a mixer and stirred it with a muddler briefly. This makes it much harder to get drunk, I thought to myself.
「Not particularly.」
「A taciturn one, eh? You can talk about anything here — even stuff you can’t discuss normally!」
Coming closer, she put one hand on my thigh and glanced upwards at me.
「…」
「Fufu. Are you on guard? Or perhaps… nervous?」
From the snippets of conversation I caught, my colleagues had called girls they were familiar with and were having a great time. I see… guys not used to dealing with women come here too.
One of the staff called for Philly, and she got up to leave.
「I have to attend to another customer. Have fun!」
With a seductive wink, another girl came to take her place. When I went to the toilet, I could just make out the silhouettes of Philly and that man who had called her.
「Philly-chan…」
「Come on, boss, not here!」
Beside her on the sofa was none other than the branch chief Stan Jacker. I wondered if all the employees came here. Just like everyone else, Stan was full of confidence, puffing up his nostrils as he spoke to Philly. When he stuck his lips out, however, she dodged the move.
He looked like an idiot from the side.
Making a smooth, coaxing voice, the branch chief wrapped an arm around Philly’s shoulder and began groping her thighs. He looked like he was having fun, seeing as he could release his pent-up frustration from the day’s work here. After he had enough, he began touching even more inappropriate places.
「Seriously… boss, you can’t…」
「No, I can, can’t I? You know how much money I spend on you? If I don’t call for you, you won’t be earning this much now, will you? C’mon, Philly-chan… do it with me, for me…」
He’s not wrong, I guess.
Philly had no choice but to swallow her words, while Stan curved one hand upwards to grope her chest and stroked her inner thigh with the other. Trying to tolerate it, she frowned and bit her lip.
Business as usual or not, I had witnessed it, and I had no choice but to take action.
「This shop doesn’t offer such services, Sir」, I said in a threatening tone, to which Stan jumped and distanced himself from the girl immediately.
「Waaaaaa!? I’m s-sorry!」
Perhaps he couldn’t see me in the dimly-lit room, or he simply wasn’t brave enough to look me in the eye, but he shrunk back without noticing who I was. He smiled sheepishly when his eyes met Philly’s.
「You’ll invite scary people by going too far, right, boss?」
「Y-Yeah…」
As I returned to my seat, Philly grabbed my hand from behind.
「Thank you!」
「Don’t mention it. I’m sorry if I made you lose a customer.」
「No, not at all!」, she said hurriedly, shaking her head.
Looking left and right, she found a pen and a scrap of paper.
「I don’t usually do this, but…」
Writing something down, she pressed it into my open palm and went back to work.
「…」
Opening it, she had written that work was about to end for her and had included a private meeting place. She wanted to thank me properly, I figured.
When I finally returned to my seat, my colleagues were almost blackout drunk. Deciding that they were too plastered to talk to anyway, I made my way out and left them with the bill. Following Philly’s instructions, I found the aforementioned corner of an alley behind the club where she was already waiting.
「I didn’t expect you to actually come.」
「I didn’t say anything」, I replied, to which she agreed.
「You’re Roland-san, right? You seem popular.」
「Not in the least.」
「That’s a lie! I just know it!」, she exclaimed, squinting at me suspiciously before bursting into laughter.
She had looked completely different back at the club. Looking at her now, however, I realised that she was barely twenty, or just over.
「Shall we go to a quiet place, for… for a drink…?」
She clearly wasn’t used to asking others out — I could sense the nervousness in her voice. I didn’t have the heart to reject her after seeing her work up so much courage.
「Just a drink?」
「You know exactly what I mean…!」
Pouting, she hugged my arm.
「I don’t know why, but when Roland-san entered our shop, I felt like an electric current was running through me…」
If she just wanted money, it would have been much easier to stick with Stan the bling-bling man rather than try to drink me under the table. Realising this, I was assured of her sincerity and followed her to a cheap apartment (her lodging, apparently) that looked like it could collapse any minute.
The moment the door closed behind us, she embraced me tightly.
「I’m really not used to this, okay…? If it feels wrong, or you’re not enjoying it, then just say it. I-I’m trying my best…」
Lifting her like a princess, I carried her further inside, where we gently climbed into her bed and took off our clothes.
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