Chapter 387 Part 1
This is one of the restaurants in the red-light district and the time is currently nighttime. There I was having dinner with four old men.
We were having a conversation about the play that we had just been doing, 『assaulted by a group of women in the end-of-century brothel』.
「It was so much fun and I liked it very much. I hope you will add it to your regular menu.」
A fried white fish with tartar sauce. The man who talks with a snort as he inserts a knife into it is the fallen warrior with long, silky hair down to his shoulders and a bald spot on the top of his head.
But honestly, I don’t think it was that impressive.
「It reminded me of the time when I used to play tag when I was a kid. I’m not sure if I like it, but it does feel new and fresh.」
The one who stated his opinion was the gentleman with chest hair, and I more or less thought the same. Meanwhile, the other two pondered and after a few moments, they nodded and said 『Well that’s more or less how we felt too』.
Since the ratio was one to four, this was probably close to the market response.
「So what does the store-side think about it?」
While the fallen warrior slumped his shoulders feeling he wasn’t getting a new comrade, the chest-haired gentleman shifted his gaze at me and continued.
As their attention was directed at me now, I put down the spoon I was using to sip the seafood soup and replied.
「”I wish this kind of event would be held again even if it’s just once in a while”, or so the women demanded, especially those who haven’t been able to perform well.」
The people in front of me lightly tilted their heads in confusion wondering what that meant, which I had expected. I was as clueless as them until earlier because it’s difficult to understand with just that.
So I continued and told them what the concierge had explained to me just a few minutes ago.
「Apparently, through this event, the girls can appeal how great their performances are.」
Normally, the play in the end-of-the-century brothel is simply the male customers attacking the women of their choice. In other words, if the girls fails the appearance assessment, that’s the end for her.
However, if the male customers are impressed by their performance when the role is reversed, they may become regulars who will target them on their next visit. By the way, the customers are also welcome to attack the girls as some sort of 『revenge』.
「I see. Then, I’m sure there will be more stores incorporating this play in their menu!」
The fallen warrior revived and stared straight at me with a burning passion in his eyes. But even though I am the originator of this play, I don’t have the same passion to the extent that I would say 『This play must also flourish elsewhere!』.
So without affirming his expectation, I continued with the explanation.
「They said they would organize it once a month for now and see how it goes.」
The meaning I slipped behind those words is 『You can leave me out on this one. If you really like it and want it to be on the regular menu, invite your friends and work together in order to make it a reality』.
The fallen warrior, who seemed to catch on right away, declared strongly, 『I will definitely make it popular!』.
***
A few days after that, I spent the same time as usual, drinking tea while chatting in the lobby of a high-class brothel.
And it just so happened that the other party was the fallen warrior and the chest-haired gentleman, and the topic of our conversation was the same as last time, a consultation. However, the one who needed the consultation this time wasn’t the fallen warrior, but the chest-haired gentleman.
「I feel like the customers of middle-class brothels are slowly decreasing as of late.」
Low-class brothels appear and disappear at all times, just like ramen shops in my previous life because of the fierce competition, but that’s what makes them so vibrant. On the other hand, there are high-class brothels like the three families that have an unshakable position due to their established brand value.
In between these two are middle-class brothels who are said to be losing customers to lower-class brothels due to a lack of novelty.
「It can’t be helped because that’s just how business works. If no customers are coming, the middle-class brothels should do something to get them to come.」
The fallen warrior hit him with the truth. The chest-haired gentleman scratches the back of his head with one hand while saying 『That’s true but…』, then continues with a difficult expression on his face.
「The truth is, one of my relatives is a landlord who owns several middle-class brothels, you see. And he came to me to ask for advice.」
Judging from the air around him, it must’ve been a difficult person to refuse. The fallen warrior seemed to sense this too, and softened his attitude then said, 『Well, if we don’t have to bear the responsibility for the end result then, sure』.
Since I had originally intended to help anyway, the three of us decided to think about it together.
(Even so, I can’t think of an idea that would make us go “That’s it!”.)
Discounts, raffles, advertising. We continued our meetings, coming up with several ideas while refilling our drinks, but none of them resonated with anyone.
(I have no idea what the humanities elites are supposed to be doing, but I guess it’s similar to what we’re doing right now.)
I was an engineering construction worker in my previous life. That’s why, when I think about 『humanities』 works, the only things that come to my mind are accounting and labor.
Incidentally, as for accounting, I always thought, 『That’s a job for science majors right?』.
「Should we just organize a festival or something?」
Our table was dominated with silence as we came to a dead end and no one had any more ideas. Then after an audible sigh, I said that.
I’m taking a reference from my previous life for this idea.
『Village revitalization or Town revitalization』
It’s because 『Festivals』 were the staple events to attract visitors in unpopular places.
However, only a handful of them were successful. Ninety-nine out of a hundred were either duds or unsuccessful.
「And what will this festival be like?」
The chest-haired gentleman urged me to continue, and I thought of something that would be the centerpiece of the festival and that could be done in a middle-class brothel.
(Speaking of festivals, it’s got to be Dashi*.)
*TL Note: “山車” or Matsuri Float or Portable Shrine, is a type of float that is either pulled or carried during a festival in Japan.
A mobile shrine and temple on wheels pulled around the city, with gorgeously dressed-up children and women standing on them, or men sitting on the roofs.
This is the star and centerpiece of festivals in my opinion.
「I see. So you’re saying we’re going to show off the women around on a mobile platform?」
The chest-haired gentleman nodded his head and put his hand on his chin, and the fallen warrior old man mumbled, “I see”.
『A large cart full of the brothel’s workers paraded around the red-light district to advertise.』
I explained to them in a simple manner, so the two of them who didn’t know about Dashi could picture what it’s like.
They both said, 『that’s a good idea』 but they wanted something more. I had expected that this wouldn’t be enough to satisfy them, too.
(What we lack is something to compete with the other stores.)
Just showing the dressed-up workers will only get us 『 Wow, that’s beautiful』, and that’s the end of it. So in order to make it even more interesting, as expected, we need a battle as well.
『Let’s reach the finish line together so all of us will get first place.』
The sports festival of my boss’ child. The memory of being asked to take pictures from that time comes to my mind and I shook my head to shake it off.
(Honestly, I hate that sort of thinking.)
If you ask me, I would say all of them lost because they matched their pace to the slowest kid. And I don’t enjoy that kind of entertainment at all.
(How about a cavalry battle?)
I dug up my memories from my own sports festival and proposed my idea with the mobile platform.
「Each middle-class brothel would set up their own mobile platform, and if they came across another store’s mobile platform they put the platform side by side and fight.」
One person holds the flag with the store’s name on it and loses the battle if it’s taken away from them. And let’s make the store that gets the most flags by the end of the city parade the winner.
「So they board the opponent’s mobile platform and fight, huh? Then, are we also going to use the same rule as Flower Arrangement?」
“Yes”, I answered the chest-haired gentleman’s question. The truth is, I hadn’t thought that far ahead, so I decided to agree with him.
『Only rubbing, squeezing, and licking are allowed.』
A competition between women who sit on the platform of the stores. I just realized this as he told me, it does suit the theme of Flower Arrangement.
「It wouldn’t take that much time and effort to put the tiered platform on a large cart and decorate it accordingly.」
The fallen warrior makes an estimate, and the chest-haired gentleman agrees.
(That’s true now that he mentioned it.)
If it’s the Dashi from my previous life, it’s the 『Dashi』 itself that became the object to be seen, but since this one is used as a mobile stage to promote brothels, it’s the 『people』 on top of it that should be the main attraction. Therefore, we can make the mobile stage simpler.
If it’s a brothel that has a lot of beautiful women, it would easily give the mobile stage a shape.
『Capture the flag competition between stores using a mobile stage.』
Thus, the project aimed to revive middle-class brothels implemented in this way.
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