Seeing how Simon wasn't in a state to teach, I finally went to visit that cute bunny girl that from before.
It looked like she'd woken up.
"Yo~ You ready to leave?" My words sounded like we were going to a picnic. She stared at me confusedly.
"Erm… Thank you for the clothes." The bunny girl bowed and showed off those black energy creations.
They looked less like animal ears and more like magical appendages growing out of her head.
Something that should've been intentional.
But from the ways her ears subconsciously moved to show her inner emotions, I understood it a little.
That they were cute bunny girl ears nevertheless.
Since it looked like Talia was gonna take a while to get me my Succubus partner, I decided to use the money she gave for more entertaining purposes. A man needed some time to unwind now and again.
"No worries. That white dress might look tacky, but the ground grown wool you're wearing should be sellable. You get what I mean?" I made some hand gestures, and she got where I'm going with this.
"…You want me to?" Even in a white once piece that wasn't revealing, she turned on the charm easily.
But only to the extent of looking nice.
"Shouldn't a person look around first?" I pulled out my wallet and shook for her to hear the change.
Not all cash was in coins, but the fact I was showing her my wallet meant that I'd be paying a good sum.
A smile appeared on her face at that moment.
"For my respected saviour, I'll show you the best." It looked like killing someone had worked wonders.
She did well in making me not regret it.
We walked out of the church, and I had changed into a cheap casual outfit that wouldn't really stand out.
Following her to a place that seemed like a legitimate bar street. A place with restaurants and stores lined.
The street was lively. People going here and there.
A scene I'd written but never got to see with my own eyes. We waited until night to go into these streets.
The lamps illuminating the place, but also made those things hidden in the dark harder to see.
I felt like I was walking into a new world.
The ears of the bunny girl were harder to see in the dark, and she managed to get by because of it.
Some looked at my glossy hair and were surprised for a moment, then simply went on with their lives.
Not caring about the insignificant little me.
As someone who had traversed beyond the boundaries of reality and fiction, it felt a bit hollow.
For all my skills, no one truly cared. Not in my past life as the one who took bold actions, and not in this.
As I was nothing here.
Just a passive person that waited for others to fill me with aspiration. To give me a real purpose to live for.
I was like the ears of a Beastkin. My existence tied to reality but not manifested into a perfect creation.
I was, in reality, incomplete.
And so were those ears.
No, it was more like the ears were ephemeral.
They existed like a shadow. Blending into the dark.
It was only after she walked in front of a particular business did she stop. It made me look confused.
"This place…?" It wasn't a bar or restaurant we were about to walk into, but recruitment agency of sorts.
When I looked at her expression, it looked like her mood had turned into a shade darker than before.
"Welcome to the 'Zoo'." The bunny girl introduced this 'Zoo Recruitment' agency she was a part of.
Making me look at her in wonder.
We went in without knocking on the door. Even if the sign said that they closed outside work hours.
Was there little security?
Just when I thought that, she brought me to the reception where the 'pimp' was likely working.
"You got back late. What happened to you?" A man with a shiny bald head called out to the bunny girl.
He tried to hug her, but her speed was naturally beyond a normal human. Dodging out of the way.
The ordinary Pimp didn't seem to mind though.
He instead switched gears: "Looks like the job I got you was a dud. Don't worry, I'll get you off soon."
The girl nodded at him, then me. She left after having repaid me by introducing me to this place.
"I heard over the phone that you took care of her when she got sick. Thank you." He bowed to me.
"What should I call you?" I moved on from there.
Even if what she told him wasn't exactly the entire truth, I had no reason to correct what benefited me.
"No need to learn it. I'm not allowed to have the same customer twice. It's a policy here." The bald man seemed to find this unfortunate himself, but didn't show any intention of bending those rules.
"This is a strange place." Even for some brothel.
"Do you know what this place is?" The baldie seemed to instantly understand that I was out of the loop.
"Not really." As I spoke that, we walked into the large basement that seemed to hold a few people.
There weren't any men here. Only Kin women who were waiting in cages with their doors unlocked.
I saw a cat girl resting on a bed while trying to make herself comfortable. She stabbed with the claws.
Making the cushion softer.
That woman then laid her head in the bed of that cage like she was happy. Content with her life.
"We make marriage documents here. On the surface is a legitimate business, but I also help immigrants become part of Faustus City again in the dark. You could say good deeds are my hobby." He laughed.
Likely knowing how hypocritical his words were. A pimp that made money off of them coming to him.
"…So this is basically a slave house." Even though slavery was abolished in this City, he broke the law.
Was he trying to get killed by 'that man'?
Nothing escapes the eyes of the one who tried to carry the weight of the world. Not even an ant.
"Sshh!" The man stopped me. He held my shirt while speaking to me: "I'm not forcing them to sell themselves, and it's not like those who infiltrated Old Faustus Border City could live so easily."
"What do you mean…?" I didn't quite catch that.
He stopped to look and me. Likely remembering that I only came her after being recommended to a Kin.
"…Maybe you're the treasure here." I ignored his sloppy compliments and reorganised my thoughts.
"Who can I pick?" Even though it was marriage, I had no hesitation in throwing away my pride.
Who cared about 'Marraige' anyway?
I'd never gotten married in my past life.
I looked around to see what I could here. Watching as they were relaxing without a care in the world.
Uncaring of my presence.
I looked past the cat girl and realised why this place was called a zoo. There were a variety of people here.
Their attitudes somehow complimenting the animal features added to them. Like the sloth girl being lazy.
Or the tiger girl looking like a ferocious body builder.
Of course, her body showing only an appealing musculature rather than bulging biceps of a man.
It looked like they took care of their appearance well.
Some of them seemed different from normal. There were girls part dragon, mermaid, harpy, elf, etc.
I lingered around the elf section, but since Elfkin had no relation with ACTUAL elves… I just left it.
Deciding to go about my own business.
Cow girl, Lamia girl, fox girl, slime girl…
There were a variety of people with features that were out of this world, but none of them moved me.
That was… until I finally saw 'her'.
When we got to her room, I saw a woman with unnaturally pale skin that looked like snowflakes.
She didn't sit in any fancy prison cell, but she gave off a type of elegance of a cold princess of royalty.
But it wasn't the arrogant type of feeling.
This wasn't some hierarchal elegance, but the type of seamless feminine dignity belonging to a certain type. And those types of people weren't the kind who would be seen in a place like this. They were…
Well, my own assumptions aside, it was true that she wasn't acting as comfortable as the rest of them.
It made me curious…
"Her." I pointed, and it didn't look like my voice from outside the comfy cell was enough alert her.
She was deep in thought.
"That's…" The pimp didn't seem to act as happy as he should be when someone was taking their merch,
"What's wrong?" Was she violent or something.
"It's not that she's bad. We can say that she's the most obedient out of all those who found their way into this city, and me. It's just… she doesn't have any other benefit." He essentially asked to reconsider.
There seemed to be a rule that I couldn't come back after taking someone in order to protect this place.
So if I bought someone I didn't like, there was no way to divorce them legally. Death the only escape.
But I didn't mind it.
"I'll talk with her." When I said that, he no longer said anything to stop me. It went just as I'd expected.
The pimp knocked on the bars to get her attention.
"Shia, there's someone for you to settle down with. I hope you follow the rules here." It didn't seem like he coerced her, but that didn't make this slave ring anymore legal or righteous. It was simply formal.
And formality meant nothing.
Neither righteous or unjust.
When he opened the door, I walked in without saying a word and sat in front of her silently.
Until now, she was thinking listlessly while sipping a cup of water on a white foldable chair and table.
My eyes sometimes had the illusion that these were high quality items from the way she handled them.
"Are you a Kin?" She didn't answer me.
I could tell from her eyes that she wasn't trying to be rude. It was just so surprising that I came here.
There likely weren't many customers.
After all, marrying a Kin to make them legitimate members of Faustus City was quite the raw fetish.
"…I'm not sure myself." She finally spoke to me.
Her voice sounded so soft and gentle that it was hard to believe it belonged to a human. Nice to listen to.
So nice to listen to, that I wanted her more.
"You seem a little distressed." My words prompted her to act genuinely surprised at my observation.
"Did I?" She touched her face as if it was a first.
"Sharing it might make you feel better." I didn't have much of a reason not to listen, so I kept patient.
Wanting to hear more of that charming voice.
She hesitated, then slowly looked down shyly.
"Err…" It looked like her immunity to guys wasn't that high. To think, a few words got her reeling…
"You don't have to say if you don't want to." Rather than rushing this, I took my time opening her up.
Reaching my hand to shake her own.
She understood what I was trying to do, but didn't reject me. Instead of pushing me away, she held.
The palm in her hand was covered in her 'warmth'.
No, wrong. Her body didn't even have a semblance human warmth. Holding her felt like touching ice.
It was no wonder the pimp didn't recommend her.
"Do you want to come with me?" I politely invited the girl over to my place. Quite the scary offer.
She had no idea who I was or what I was planning to do with her. However, my touch didn't disgust her.
…It was to the point it felt like we were playing.
Who's gonna be the chicken?
My hand was freezing, but she didn't seem to think it mattered at all. In fact, she held me all the more tightly. Acting like I'd leave her alone if she had let go of my hand. This girl, Shia, was a real weird one.
She'll fit in with the rest of us just fine.
'Core Polish!' I roared in my heart and heated my body using the method I'd recklessly used before.
That sticky energy in my body felt like hot tar.
However, the balance between her body temperature and my own made a combination that worked out.
It cooled me down to a more comfortable level.
I gradually sent the heat only to my hand.
Filling out the paperwork with my free one and finding out that they didn't know her Kin type.
After all, it was the first to see an ice-related Kin.
So much like one of those Yuki Onna in films.
Her cool beauty and beautiful features weren't enough to move me, but each action she took was alluring to a man like me. Moreover, she had a bountiful chest that made me stare at it for a while.
The way she bit her lip in anxiety at times. The way she giggled. Smiled. Made me feel more human.
I wanted to push her down myself.
The only thing stopping me was that I wanted to be seen the same way as now. With that same gaze.
An impartial look neither blaming or praising me.
We finally made it out of the zoo and into reality.
"Can I hold you?" I couldn't hold it anymore.
She blushed, but submissively opened her arms while looking like she was sweating uncontrollably.
It made me surprised.
"Was it the heat?" I let go of her hand and asked, but she held it again and made a look of attraction to me.
Seemingly captivated.
"Can you touch me more?" Rather than doing it in front of the zoo, I took her to a nearby alleyway.
It was so dark we could barely see each other.
I planted her body onto my chest and gave her an embrace. Everything about her made me feel nice.
Making me lose control.
…..
….
…
..
.
It was the first time I held onto a man. At least, my memory wasn't long enough to remember another.
All I could remember was getting to this city.
I wanted something here, but couldn't remember it.
All I could do was sit alone in that place and wait for a man to make me his woman. To give me stability.
Was that what I wanted?
Everyone there seemed to want that safety, but all I could desire was for something unstable to happen.
For an earthquake to hit.
Maybe then I could experience a thrill. Make my cold heart feel something other than this dreadful chill.
And I found it in a man like no other.
His hair. His looks… Everything about him looked attractive for some reason. He looked so wild.
Like he was free from the world's restrictions.
The moment his cold hand turned warm, I knew this was the man I'd spend the rest of my life with.
I was fine with this.