After practicing his sword, Char sat aside to rest.
It was a late autumn evening, and the wind was blowing, and the Shire was cold. He saw the bronze brazier outside the tent. The flames in it had almost been blown out, but as soon as the wind passed away, the flames flared up again and the heat rose.
The soldiers were entertaining themselves with dice, glasses, and decks of cards, and there was a lot of noise, and from time to time they quarreled about some trifling matter, and their faces were red, but no one dared to do anything. Rocher's elite captain is leading the patrol everywhere, in the Shire view, they are like Rocher's body, no matter where they go, where they instantly quiet down, the soldiers silently bow their heads, dare not look at these people. Their coats were also embroidered with Rocher's Lion Cross insignia, rather than the green hyacinth insignia of the Grey Tree Hall Domain, supposedly the elite soldiers brought out by Rocher himself, unlike the ordinary soldiers in these territories.
But what good can they do in the fight against demons? Shire was confused. Demons Pierce the heart, testing the human soul directly through all the strong armor and immortal shields. When they face the devil, all of a sudden the terrible image of the devil will be buried deep in their minds, where it repeatedly screams, until it drives people crazy, their minds collapse, and they are even willing to give up themselves and become the servants of the devil.
Humans can't fight demons. Only I can. Char thought. But I can't convince them.
"Hey, Char." Proulx greeted him.
"Huh?"
"Do you like women? A young man your age must think about women all the time, because when I was your age I thought about nothing but women's breasts and butts." Proulx was caught off guard by the rapidness with which the subject changed.
"A woman? No..." Shire quickly responded.
'Nonsense! Graddius cried out in Charles's heart, furious, "You lie! Your subconscious is full of some lowly desire to reproduce."
Oh, really? Am I ostensibly a loyal demon hunter, but really a womanizer? Char felt that his mind was confused. But there is no conflict between the two.
"We organized the camp prostitutes to have a good time, but it turned out that Lord Rocher was in charge and the Count had left everything to her. Of course, when Lord Roche was in charge, there was no work for camp prostitutes, for Lord Roche did not allow us to waste our energy on it, and encouraged us to inform on each other..."
"Well... It was good."
"What, no good at all, no work, no income. That's why they told me last time, if there's a young guy from outside with a lot of energy, to introduce him to them, and I think you're pretty good. Shall we go and see it?"
What? It's just prostitutes. Etienne took me to a bunch of whorehouses, and I used to wait outside, never knowing what the women looked like. Shire thought again. It wouldn't hurt to check it out. I wouldn't be sleeping with them anyway.
Charles nodded dully, and he followed Proulx, and the old soldier led him expertly left and right, to the edge of the camp, where there stood four colored tents, decorated with flowers of various colors on the tarpaulin, which reminded one of all kinds of beautiful things.
There were several women in front of him, boldly dressed, making the Shire nervous, his heart beating fast, and he made up his mind to turn away and never come to such a place again. When the women saw Shire, their eyes lit up, and they greeted with indulgence:
"Come here, boy."
'Are you blushing?
"Hey, don't be shy, come closer." They kept waving their silk at the shire.
Char smelled a very ripe fragrance, so strong that it could not be opened, so close to the point of decay. Etienne often talked about them with Charles, and the prostitutes all had the same thing in common, an unscrupulous, open disposition, and would do their best to satisfy all the demands of the guests, whether reasonable or not, provided they were offered enough money.
"Do well." Proulx patted Shire on the shoulder and departed, leaving him alone to deal with these mature whores. They looked playfully at Char, standing or sitting, and pulling back a corner of their clothes, revealing their white flesh to tempt him.
He saw the unnaturally heavy makeup on their faces, the makeup they made out of colored pollen or ore, and the powder they put on their faces to keep their skin white, and he heard that there were women who would use witch's potions to make themselves more beautiful, which Shire was not quite used to.
"I must go now." Shire felt that he had miscalculated, how such a shy child could come to such a place.
"Not so fast." A mature, busty woman stood up and shouted deep into the tent, "Alicia!"
Shire saw a girl come out, she was washing her hair, her red hair was all wet, wet, dripping water, as she came slowly along, the patter of water along the way.
She caught the wet hairs in her hand, snatched them from her eyes, and looked around in confusion: "What's wrong?"
"Someone wants you." 'said the other women.
She turned to see Shire, pushing back her sodden hair and throwing her head back, letting it stick in random clumps behind her.
Char's breathing was stagnant. The moment he saw her, his heart beat very fast, he became more nervous, his brain was confused, and all thinking became a little stiff. She was a very pretty girl, very young, perhaps younger than Charles, with large, brown-green eyes, red lips, a small nose, and a frown that showed stubbornness and antipathy. She was wearing an ill-fitting silk waistcoat and a flower-colored skirt that fell to her knees. The contrast between her mature dress and her young face was stark.
"You want me?" She turned her head sideways, caught her long red hair in her hands, twisted them like clothes, and the water sputtered to the ground.
"I..."
"Yes! Think! Very much!" "You want her to be unable to get out of bed tonight, and unable to walk tomorrow morning."
"Go up, Alicia, quickly." The mature woman urged.
The girl stepped forward and took Char by the arm, her hands stained with water and her hair scented with perfume.
"Come here." There was a note of reproach in Alicia's tone.
This makes Char feel that it is a very stupid act to stand in place, so he goes along with the trend, and is pulled by the girl into one of the tents. As he passed the women, he heard the other prostitutes whispering to each other and occasionally laughing. Are you laughing at me? Char is a little lost, but it's hard for him to think now.
There was a large warm blanket in the tent, with sachets hanging around it, and candles burning here and there, making it bright and warm, and Charles sat on the blanket and looked up at Alicia's figure with some wonder. He never thought he would one day use such an immoral service.
"' Immoral '. Look, I think that's the worst word in your world. You pay, they provide a service, there's nothing more ethical in the world." "Shouted Graddiu.
Alicia went to a shelf with a copper basin full of water on it, picked up a large towel, rubbed it vigorously against her head, and then turned to Char and undressed herself.
"Did you like it?" 'she asked.
Shire saw Alicia's body, this is really some blank consciousness, so young, white, delicate. He had just left the dangerous twilight forest not long ago, and it was difficult to forget those horrible and bloody scenes, and then to see such a rare beauty in the world, the huge sense of difference made the Shire difficult to adapt.
"Yes." He could not speak, but the words instinctively came out of his throat, "very much."
"I knew it. They told me I was a lucky guy who wouldn't lose money." Alicia turned around in front of Char. "Do you like it? Do you like it?" She asked several times.
Shire see dry mouth, heart burning hot, once it is difficult to extinguish.
"Oh oh, but not now." She waved her hand as if deliberately teasing Char. "Not today, not tomorrow, not the next day."
'Why? Shire was a little anxious.
"Because I have a month." She touched her stomach.
"The moon? Is she pregnant?"
"I'm still a virgin. How can I get pregnant?" "She laughed.
"You're a virgin?" Shire was a little shocked.
"So many people want to book my virginity." "A few people saw me and started bidding," she said.
"So what?" As soon as the Shire words came out, I felt regret.
"What do you do? What do you care?" Alicia laughed.
"If... if I want..." Shire stuttered.
"Well, that's it. You're the demon." Graddiu admired in the Shire, "Fight for the lower body!" Don't think about anything but young women. Go hunting demons and all that. Those are secondary missions."
The blade demon's taunts made Shire feel ashamed.
"You want this?" Alicia rubbed the root of her thigh and held out her bloody finger to show Shire, "You can't have it when it's bleeding."
"Are you hurt?" Shire is a little confused.
"Yes, my stomach hurts and my body feels sour." She sat down on the blanket, lay down casually, looked sideways at Char, put one foot on his knee and pushed against his stomach. "This is the place. It's uncomfortable."
"Then you need to see a doctor."
"You need money to see a doctor, and I have no money, not a penny. I want money..." Alicia rolled on the blanket, and Char saw her skin.
"Do you do this for money?"
"Of course, my family told me to bring the money as soon as possible."
A shadow passed over Char's face.
"Your family made you do this."
"Yes, they raised me for so many years, I should repay them, and brother and brother have a lot of money, if I keep eating at home, I will not be able to get away with it." Alicia turned her back to Shire.
"My parents sold me to traffickers." Shire recalls that day with fear, the most familiar people suddenly become very strange, "for ten gold coins."
"Then at least you're worth a bag of gold. I'm nothing." "I'm in the moon and I can't even entertain you. I'm so stupid. I'm so incompetent."
"No, no --" stammered Shire, hating himself for not being able to say anything more beautiful, "I think you're the best."
"Stupid, we just met." Alicia did not look back, has been back to Shire, "you don't know many girls... I can't serve you. Go find another sister."
"I want you. I just want you." 'said Shire firmly.' I'll come to you when you're healed. '
"Leave me alone." Alicia turned around, her face tired. "Okay? Not unless you give me money."
Char counted out a few gold coins from her purse, and her eyes widened.
"Are you stupid? I haven't done anything yet, you pay."
"If you don't get paid, it will be very embarrassing... The people who booked your virginity, how much? I can outbid them."
"Ah, what's your name?"
"Shire."
"The Shire... I'll leave my virginity to you. Come and get it when you're free." She accepted the three gold coins, tilted her head and smiled, and then suddenly hugged Shire tightly and kissed his face.
"Oh, that's disgusting." Gladius shivered. "No demon ever does that in hell. We cut each other's heads off to show affection."
Later in the day, Char came out of the tent.
'How was it? A tall, thin woman asked with a piteous look, "Are you satisfied?"
"I want to take her with me. How much is it?" 'said Shire.
"We can't decide. You have to go to our boss in the Grey Tree Hall." She replied, then frowned. "She's worth a lot of money, child. She's our future cash cow. You'd have to take a golden shovel to rip her out."
"I know how to get money." Char bowed his head and walked away.
He returned to his tent, and Proulx looked up and saw the Shire.
"My God, are you in love?"