Beyond that scuffle of bandits, nothing else happened throughout the journey, which was a relief since it would be a headache to constantly bluff and lie out of deadly situations.
If there were anyone who was a silver-toughened devil, it would have to be the healer association and everyone who worked under them.
Being a doctor and healer means you have to know how to talk your way out of any situation, whether that be an angry father who blames you for being unable to save his wife from a deadly disease to having to smooth talk your way out of having been accused of fucking the queen after healing her in front of a royal court.
Such situations have happened, and many precautions were taken to prevent healers from being caught in the crossfire or at least minimize the damage.
Drawing his attention to the road ahead, the doctor looks behind at the baby, sleeping soundly within its bundle, not caring about the travesties or problems of the world and so innocent.
It almost makes him want to have a kid one day.
No rules or laws within the association prevented him from getting married. He didn't feel he could be fully responsible for another life, as history has repeatedly shown that the doctor could not trust him with something so crucial for the long term.
He accepted the child to be in his care temporarily because he trusted himself to bring it to Irondale, where he would cut ties and be done with it.
As the sun began to dip into the horizon, a new light source became visible in the approaching darkness of the night that enveloped the planet.
"Alright now, little one, we finally made it," The doctor says as the city of Irondale comes into view.
Massive stone walls spanning meters high surrounded the city, with guards patrolling along the top and inside, where the various arrow holes acted as a shooting position for archers if need be.
Along the tops were the flags of the city lord illuminated by the glow of the torchlight of passing guards, a silver lion on a blue and red background that signified the ranking of the city's lord.
Gold was for Viscounts and high nobles, silver for lords, and copper for knights who earned a family name and some territory. There was one other color that a flag would fly for royalty, with theirs being a milky white.
The coloring of the flag's emblem was the only item that could not be changed when the king brought a new house into the ranks of nobles.
That was how they did it in this kingdom for years, which was nice but also stupid since it would just be announcing essential people who would paint a target on their backs.
Still, the doctor didn't care; he just had his own opinion about such a thing.
The light from the city was bright enough to illuminate the surrounding area outside the gates well enough; even though the walls prevented the buildings or houses from being viewed, it was still bright enough.
From what the doctor could see, two buildings were visible outside the city walls, the lord's manor, and the second was a newer-looking building, the arena.
The lord's manor was brightly lit with its impressive archways and colored glass, showing off the wealth and extravagance of the lord that was visible from outside the city. Then the arena next to it was the opposite as no light was seen coming out, but that was to be expected, as the lord did not open it yet.
Approaching the iron gates had four guards stationed in simple armor that were cheap to buy but still were enough to protect the wearer.
The sight of the approaching wagon causes the guards to raise their eyebrows since they had expected that all the travelers had entered the city as they would soon lower the gates for the rest of the night.
"By the gods..." One of the guards mutters under his breath as he walks forward to the carriage
"Good evening," The doctor says to the guard, who only looks at the carriage.
"What is your reason for coming to Irondale?"
"I am answering the post for a healer at your new arena."
"Hmm..." The guard responds while taking a look at a flyer at his desk about the arena and a notice to be on the lookout for potential fighters and healers entering the city
"Alright, then, the entrance fee is two silver pieces."
The doctor's mood sours upon hearing of the egregious price to enter the city.
The most common payment was made through either copper, silver, gold, or platinum currencies, with there being two kinds of each, coins and bits, 10 bits make a coin, and ten coins lead to the same value as a single bit above its weight.
Most city entrance fees were only five copper bits, and having the price be 200 times more than that was nothing short of robbery, especially since a farmer could only profit about 3 to 6 copper coins a season from selling their harvest.
"..."
The doctor reaches into his pouch, withdraws two silver coins, pays the fee, and is allowed into the city with devilish smirks plastered on the faces of the guards as he rides on in.
He would be sure to make a lot of money if he were to start working at the arena; since the price was set to be three silver pieces a week, he was sure that he would be able to make a lot of money quickly.
'Then I can hopefully buy one of those golems to act as my fists'
Riding through the city streets was indeed a sight to see as even at this late hour of the night, there was still the late-night life that took the route with brightly lit taverns with joyous laughter and drunken fools entering or exiting.
Seeing such life was something to smile about at the fools moving about, but the doctor did not, as he had someplace to go right now that would pit him against an even more fearsome foe than the bandits he had a run-in with.
*Slam!* *Slam!* *Slam!*
Three heavy knocks on a wooden door resound as the doctor steps back while shaking off a whore clinging to his back. She was a halfling who had no top on, and she decided to throw herself on him as if that would make him want to fuck her.
Currently, the doctor held in his grasp the baby, who was sleeping peacefully, while the doctor entered the redlight district where scantily dressed women and sugary words weaved their way through the streets.
Standing at a simple wooden door that gave no sign of being a brothel even though it was in the dead center of the redlight district added an air of mystery as no one paid attention to the plain-looking door.
However, the resounding knocks led all those within the vicinity to move away, afraid of what lay behind the door before the door began to creak open. Its black inky depths gave the doctor a chilling feeling, and air snaked out.
"..."
The doctor steps inside before the door shuts itself without saying anything with a resounding thud.
Contradictory to the image of what the place looked like, it was somewhat lit within the confines of an empty wooden room, with the black doorway acting as an illusion made by the person standing in the corner of the room with a crossbow aimed right at his precious jewels.
"I thought I told you never to enter this place again!" A woman's voice shouts as she approaches the doctor
"When have I been one to listen to threats and directions, Cassandra?" The doctor replies while stepping forward to meet the woman in the middle with the metal of the crossbow bolt head resting on his crotch
No fear was visible on his face, though, as they stared into each other's eyes.
*Snicker*
"PA! AHAHAHA!" The woman breaks into a fit of laughter as she backs off and throws the crossbow to the side
"Ah, it is good to see that you never change, my friend," Samantha says as she twirls her wrist, and the room suddenly changes.
Instead of the bare and empty room around them, now it was a grand bed-chamber made of granite with no defined ceiling as looking up, led only to darkness while the rest of the chambers held actual furniture this time.
An absurdly large bed was against the wall in its center, which looked like it could easily hold at least six people on it for apparent activities.
Besides the almost comically large bed, there was a nightstand, a dresser, a long table with a hole in it with a pillow on top, giving away what kind of table it was, and some chairs, some looking more 'restrictive' than others.
To call this place a sex dungeon would not be a stretch at the very least since the doctor knew what this room was capable of, and it was not just adding in extra furniture to allow one's kinks to flourish or gain new ones.
Samantha was a 5'7 brunette human woman with a body type that looked almost too good to be true. She wore skimpy clothes that practically hid nothing that accented her supple breasts and wide hips that looked wide enough to satisfy anyone who wanted to grab and fuck them.
However, like most things in this place, it was all just an illusion, including her.
"I see you just met with a customer?" The doctor asks while taking a seat in a normal-looking chair
"Oh, you know me so well, dear~," She says while walking over to the doctor a sway her hips in a mesmerizing dance.
"Yeah, how can I not know you so well?"
"Mhmm, well, what do I owe the pleasure of having the famous Killer Soldier here?" Cassandra says as she stands behind the doctor while placing a hand on his thigh near his crouch.
"I brought you something that you might want to handle."
Unwrapping the baby draws Samantha's attention as she was not previously interested in whatever the doctor was carrying; however, now that she got a look, she understood the situation.
"Well... I see why you decided to come to me rather than the orphanage."
"Yeah, now then, would you be willing to take in this little one, please?"
"I am sure that the other will be quite pleased to have a new sister, especially considering everything you saved her from," Samantha says while taking the baby into her arms and moving to the nearest wall.
Suddenly, a fleshy tendril extends out from the wall, reaching out to Samantha and the baby with its slimy and revolting stench reaching them.
The tendril takes hold of the baby and retreats into the walls again, and the wall returns to typical granite.
However, the doctor is not disturbed or frightened by what he just witnessed since he knows what this 'building' was and what its master was.
The entirety of the building was a mimic, a creature that changes its appearance into other objects to catch prey and devour them. However, they were only about 4'0 in height, so they usually took the forms of tables, chairs, doors, and such to lure prey.
However, this one was the biggest mimic ever to be found in the world, as the mimic had an outward appearance of a two-story building and could even change its insides due to its sheer size.
The doctor and Samantha were not currently being devoured inside the mimic's digestive system because Samantha since she had agreed with the mimic, would benefit both of them.
Samantha would bring in people for it to eat while she would have a place to stay and run the redlight district safely.
Samantha ran the city's nightlife, and since there was nothing better for whores than antipregnancy medication, the doctor's services became popular as they were used to help prevent accidental pregnancy.
As a result, the doctor met Samantha when he first came to this city, and the two acted as acquaintances of sorts, with one or the other gaining something from the other.
*Knock* *knock* *knock*
Before discussing anything else between them, another guest decided to show up at this dangerous place.
Before the doctor knew it, more fleshy tendrils held to him with inhuman speed and dragged him into the wardrobe where various clothes hung that covered him.
Samantha only chuckles as she opens the door herself, meaning she had been expecting someone else to show up since she rarely opened the door.
'Okay, what in the nine hells is this mimic doing...'
Bound together by his wrists and legs, the mimic had placed a tendril over his mouth to prevent him from speaking while he could breathe just fine. The only disturbing thing was that one of those tendrils was moving around his crotch, trying to get a reaction for some reason.
'Add a single leaf of the Demenia plant while stirring the pot to increase the drink's medicinal properties.'
Nothing stood in the way of pure will and thinking hard about something other than not getting a hard-on, especially from a fucking mimic.
"OH! Damn, you are beautiful," Another male's voice resounds, drawing the doctor's attention from formulas to what was going on outside.
It seemed a halfling had entered the 'building,' He looked pretty green when it came to women as he was ogling over Samantha's figure.
"Hello, handsome~ So why don't you open up to me?" Samantha says while placing her hand on the guy's forehead for a moment before retracting it
She steps back a bit before her figure changes, and she transforms into a tall half Orc with large tusks jutting out of her lower jaw, green skin, muscled abs, and triceps that explode out of the clothes that she was wearing before.
Samantha was not casting a sort of illusion on herself as there was no need to do so as she was a Doppelganger. This creature can change its outward appearance into any humanoid creature of similar or smaller size.
That was how this place gained its name, the House of Sinful Illusion, earning the fear and respect of the redlight district, which allowed Samantha to become the ruler of this part of the city.