Flat stepped towards the counter and gave the old lady a curt nod. She was already making her way towards them.
"Madam-"
"Move it!"
She croaked cutting him off and shoving him out of the way. She roughly grabbed the lady tied up face turning it as if she was inspecting a fruit at the market.
"Average" She frowned before shoving her gnarly fingers inside the lady's mouth. "-urgh!"
"No teeth missing,good. No mouth sores..,good." She retracted her fingers and the lady coughed from the discomfort. Jikad took a small step backwards incase it was his turn next.
The lady took a puff from her pipe again sizing the girl up and down.
"You!" She snapped making the lady flinch.
"Y-yes?"
"Do you have children?"
"n-no"
"hmm" The old lizard lady assessed her once more crossing her arms over her thin chest.
"Fifty" She finally uttered.
"A hundred" Flat responded his tone indicating no room for discussion.
"tsk!" The old lady spat dissatisfied. "Seventy" She relented.
"A hundred." Flat repeated.
She was not pleased with his response as her face contorted into an even uglier scowl.
"Candice!" She hollered not breaking eye contact with flat. A moment later a girl hurriedly appeared.
"Take her to the dorm." The lizard woman pointed at the tied up lady with her pipe. As the two girls left the lady returned to the counter where she rummaged for a minute.
A jingling bag of coins was thrown towards Flat who caught it with ease. After inspecting the contents,Flat nodded back at the lady and was about to open his mouth. She waved her hand dismissingly turning her head away.
"Tsk! Crooks!" She spat before resuming to smoke on her pipe.
With that, they left the 'booby trap' and headed down the street. Jikad felt anxious that he would get separated from Garam and he instinctively inched closer towards him.
Just when he felt like his legs were about to give out from all the walking they approached a huge gate.Unlike the other brothels,there were no catcalling prostitutes nor balconies.
Four buildings were enclosed in a wall-fence that connected to one entrance. It was the largest placed Jikad had seen so far. Since most of the other brothels comprised of one building or two maximum.
LOTUS CAVE
The huge sign at the entrance read. It's name seemed to be the most normal one in this place.Jikad recalled the attendant had mentioned this place saying how he would drop by soon. There was a line of people at the entrance. Two bulky men blocking the way seemed somewhat familiar. Jikad realized that the bodyguards resembled the bandits that had apprehended them.
Jikad noticed the daggers sheathed to their sides confirming that they were infact like the bandits they had met before. Jikad was greatfull that they didn't have to line up since his legs felt as if they would fall off at any moment.
Walking to the front of the line the bandits exchanged curt nods before letting them through. Jikad entered a beautiful compound that had a lotus pond at the center connecting the buildings with a bridge. As they approached the first building Jikad saw a beautiful gazebo behind the second building sorrounded by the pond.
By far it was the most beautiful place Jikad had seen ever since he got in that strange place. All the other brothels paled in comparison. The first building had beautiful pink curtains flowing gently from the third floor to the ground. A short flight of flowery decorated stairs lead them into the first building.
The inside was even prettier. A large candle chandelier hung from the ceiling illuminating the place. There were also other small alegant candle holders along the walls that added to the brightness. The floors were marble and looked clean and well kempt.
Jikad could tell that this was no ordinary brothel from the crowd of people in the reception table. They were not like the commoners Jikad had seen on the first three floors of the 'Trading Center '. Nor were they like the peasants Jikad had lined up with in purgatory to be inspected.
They were wearing decent and clean clothes that seemed as of they belonged to an upper middle class at least. Jikad also didn't fail to spot a few people wearing a familiar uniform.
'Templar knights are here too?what the hell is this place?'
He wondered as they approached the receptionist. The crowd seemed to be in heated debates with the already exhausted looking receptionist. There were two bandits standing behind the receptionist as security. That was perhaps the only reason as to why the enraged crowd had not already jumped the tired receptionist.
"That is just unacceptable!" A tall templar knight banged his hand on the table angrily. He earned a vicious glare from one of the bandits but he seemed to heated to notice.
He placed his hand on his chest declaring loudly,
"I demand to speak with the patron this instance!"
His outburst seemed to earn the support of the rest of the crowd.
"Yeah bring the patron right here!"
"We demand an audience with the patron!"
"Yeah! Where is he?"
"We deserve answers!!"
"We are not leaving until the patron himself comes out!!"
The angry chants continued and the receptionist seemed as if he was reconsidering his life choices. He massaged his temple as if he was easing an oncoming headache.
He raised his hands urging them to calm down be fore speaking.
"As I said before, the patron is out today and if he were here he would repeat what I just told you." He sighed looking at the discontented looks on their faces.With a haggard look on his face he continued,
"The golden bloom of the lotus cave will no longer be attending to customers and that is a final order from the patron of the Lotus cave."
"That's outrageous!!"
"Utterly ridiculous!!"
"Why can't the golden bloom attend us? We demand answers!"
"We came here specifically for the golden bloom and you pull this nonsense?!"
" I have been coming to the lotus cave from the very moment it was built! Is this how you treat your most loyal customers?!"
"The parton oversees all the blooms in our establishment.Hence this direct order from him is final." The receptionist ran a hand through his hair in frustration.
"Nonsense! You expect us to just up and leave after coming all the way here?!"
" I waited a whole month just to have a chance with the golden bloom! I'm not leaving until I am attended!"
"The are other blooms available for service if needed. Just head over to the lotus hall have your pick-"
"No! We want the golden bloom!!" The crowd chanted in unison.
"I'm afraid that's no longer possible." The receptionist bowed politely.
Jikad had no idea who this 'golden bloom' was but he was sure they were the cause of this whole rucus. They had to be one hell of a person too to have all these people demanding to be attended by them. The ongoing debate didn't show any sign of ending so Flat and Junior just forced their way to the front of the reception desk.
The receptionist looked visibly relived to see the two bandits.
"Haa, thank goodness you two are here" He sighed quickly explained the current situation. He was about to continue but he noticed the two dirty boys tied up behind them. His eyes widened in surprise glancing at Jikad and Garam.
"oh? I didn't know we were receiving new blooms today." He quickly assessed them up and down as if appraising their worth.
"Yeah, Boss's orders." Flat said. The receptionist reached for a dangling rope next to the wall which upon pulling rang like a bell.
A moment later, a boy about the same height as Jikad appeared through the door hurriedly. He was a ginger dressed in a pink buttoned dress shirt and a neat pair of white trousers . His shoulder length hair bounced gracefully as he walked towards them.
"Glory,show these boys to the dorms." The receptionist told the red head. Glory who had just noticed Jikad and Garam widened his eyes in surprise. His cheeks flushed in excitement before he quickly composed himself.
"Yes sir. " He bowed curtly to the receptionist before urging Jikad and Garam to follow him. Without further ado, they followed behind him out of the first building. As they left they could hear the argument resuming behind them.
The red haired boy walked with a spring in his steps. He glanced back at Jikad and Garam with curious and bright hazel eyes.
"Wow!" He charmed," I can't believe we have new comers." Jikad and Garam just blinked at him.
*Gasp !" Oh! I didn't even introduce myself silly me." He giggled.
"My name is Glory and I am a first level bloom at the Lotus Cave." He flashed them a wide smile politely nodding at them.
"Since I'm a low level bloom, I am in charge of familiarizing new comers with the magnificent and amazing lotus cave." He rambled on as they continued to walk.
"We haven't had any new comers for at least two years so I'm very excited!" He waved his hands excitedly.
"I can't wait to show you around the Lotus cave- oh look! This is the lotus pond. Isn't it beautiful?" Glory's eyes shimmered as he pointed at the pond they were approaching.
Jikad would have wanted to respond to this bubbly boy Infront of them but his mind was blank. So he glanced at Garam who also blankly glanced back at him before they both turned to stare at Glory.
Glory didn't seem to notice the lack of response from the two as he continued to ramble on.
"The buildings we came from is the lotus bar. Second level blooms usually serve customers drinks there." He turned and pointed at the first building.
They got on the bridge and Glory pointed to the second building.
"That's the lotus suites. Customers can spend the night in the rooms and if they have paid enough, they can even be served breakfast or dinner."
Jikad glanced at the second building which had four floors and connected to the first building through another bridge.
Glory abruptly stopped and Jikad almost ran into his back if he had not stopped himself on time.Glory turned towards them with a stern expression on his face.
"Always remember that you must never approach the first or second buildings unless you have been instructed to." Jikad was taken aback at the sudden serious tone Glory used.
"That's the lotus gazebo isn't it pretty!" Glory was back to his cherry self. Jikad and Garam exchanged a glance one more. 'what was that ' Jikad wondered to himself.
"This is the lotus hall." Glory pointed to the third building. "It is only accessible to our VIP customers. Only third level blooms are allowed to attend these customers.It is also where the Patron's office is located. It is out of bounds for all other level blooms unless summoned there by the patron."
Jikad assumed that blooms refered to the prostitutes in the lotus cave. He had heard of the patron before too. He assumed that it was the equivalent of a manger in this place.And probably the highest authority here as well.
Crossing the bridge they walked towards the fourth building. "These are the dorms for blooms. It's where you will be sleeping and having your meals." Glory added as he led them around the fourth building.
A bungalow that Jikad had not spotted before appeared.
"And finally, the bath house." It seemed that this would be their first destination. Jikad was relived. He could use a long bath like now. He felt as if he had been rolling around in dirt and grime. The thought of a warmth soak in a bathtub nearly made him forget about the exhaustion that gnawed at his limbs.
Glory pushed the huge wooden doors and steam poured out from inside like a cloud. There were two huge pools at the centre about halfway filled with warm water. Jikad and Garam stood at the entrance as Glory dashed inside and appeared a few moments later with a pair of scissors.
"We need to get these bounds off you first." He started cutting the ropes of Garam then Jikad. Jikad flexed his wrists feeling more relieved once he was freed. There were red marks on them from where they were scathed by the ropes.
"Go on and undress. " Glory handed Jikad a bar of soap.He didn't need to say
that twice. Jikad peeled off the dirty clothes of his body and approached the small stairs descending into the pool.