Your Highness really does have a thing for elves, doesn't he?
Hela touched her own ears, feeling unexpectedly displeased.
"Your Highness, are you thinking of going in to try it out?"
Rhine nodded.
"Emmmmm... Technically, I have no right to criticize you."
Hela reminded him, "But, Your Highness, if you do that sort of thing in Laita, and you happen to leave behind a bloodline, it'll be very, very troublesome."
That was true.
But that wasn't the key issue.
Rhine recalled the past. "The last time I came to a place like this, I was only ten... And that was where I found Constance."
Hela froze. "Don't tell me you've found something else good?"
Just as Hela had said,
Rhine had set out this time to hunt down an ancient dragon, but he also had a few other things to take care of along the way to prepare for the battles ahead.
Rhine smiled. "In remote backwaters like this, where the emperor's reach doesn't extend, there are often undiscovered treasures. Let's go."
With that, Rhine led Hela into the brothel.
Though Laita was an elven kingdom, it was also a border town, and its population was actually quite diverse.
Humans and elves made up most of the town's population.
There were also many other races.
Most were fugitives who had fled their homes, debtors, and the like. On top of that, law enforcement along Laita's northern border was weak, making the place a gathering spot for smugglers and undocumented migrants.
In this town, chaos was the norm.
But there were exceptions.
When Rhine entered the establishment, he found that the atmosphere at Miss Alice's was surprisingly peaceful and friendly.
The patrons spoke with refined courtesy, behaved with politeness and consideration, and treated the prostitutes with respect. Every face wore a friendly smile.
Then Rhine's gaze fell on the most conspicuous thing in the establishment. Ah, clearly, this peaceful, friendly atmosphere was all thanks to the war golem standing in the middle of the place.
He had no idea what kind of shady deal the owner had made with the local Laita garrison to get her hands on one of those.
In this border town, a war golem held the same status as the Imperial Guards in the Imperial Capital.
In the eyes of those refined and amiable patrons,
Rhine saw another emotion hidden beneath the surface.
The will to survive.
"Welcome~"
Just then, an elven girl in a maid outfit cheerfully came forward to greet them.
But after giving Rhine and Hela a couple of glances, the elf girl immediately understood.
The way these two were dressed was anything but ordinary.
The elf girl smiled. "It seems we have a pair of distinguished guests. Please wait a moment; I'll fetch Miss Alice to see to you."
The elf girl hurried away,
and soon another elven girl came to stand before Rhine.
She was the brothel's poster girl,
and the reason the establishment was named after her—Miss Alice.
She looked about the same age as Rhine. Her golden hair and purple eyes testified to the noble blood flowing through her veins.
With her arrival,
the whole place seemed to light up.
No wonder she could drive sales for the entire establishment.
Even among elves, a race renowned for its beauty, the girl's looks stood out from the crowd.
Her slender figure traced a relatively modest, smooth curve. She wasn't especially sexy, but she was as captivating as a work of art.
And that peerless face of hers would make certain devout elven nobles in the royal capital fall to their knees in tears.
Her face looked just like that of the elves' last deity.
Moon Silver—[Compassion].
At the sight of the girl, Hela's expression changed too.
It was incredible.
A Moon God bloodline of such purity hadn't been enshrined in a temple by Laita's nobles. Instead, she had ended up as a prostitute in a border town.
36. Moon God Bloodline
There was no need to test her bloodline or investigate her family tree.
Hela had identified Alice at first sight.
Without a doubt, noble divine blood flowed through her veins.
That was because her face bore a striking resemblance to "Compassion," the last deity of the elven race.
Of course,
the people of this town would never know that.
Just like the crystal statue of the Crystal God standing in Hain's Royal Sanctuary.
An idol that truly captured a god's appearance was an exceedingly rare treasure in this world.
If an elven noble from the Royal City saw Alice, they would be moved to tears by her very existence.
But if ordinary elven commoners or people of other races saw Alice,
then... well, something down below might start crying.
Regardless, Alice's exceptionally beautiful body was more than enough to utterly outshine the other girls in this remote town.
To make full use of Alice's body,
the owner had not only named the establishment after her, but had also come up with a wildly original, revolutionary marketing strategy.
"May I ask your name, sir?"
"Rhine? Hmm, that's a familiar name. I might have heard it somewhere."
"What would you like, sir... Oh my, why do you keep staring at me?"
Alice smiled. "Do you want to book me? Sorry, I'm not for sale."
As she spoke, the girl pointed to the promotional poster in the establishment.
The services at Miss Alice's started at the lowest rate of three hundred. The most expensive option was the full package with the establishment's top girl, which cost nine thousand.
In the Imperial Capital, that was a bargain.
But in a border town like this, it was unquestionably a high-end establishment.
However, Miss Alice herself wasn't included in those prices.
Just as she'd said,
she wasn't for sale.
The owner of this establishment had come up with a truly bizarre system.
A lottery.
Any customer who spent a thousand at the establishment got one chance to enter the draw, and the grand prize was Alice's first night.
Alice was so stunning, and the prospect of winning the first night of a down-on-her-luck noble elf girl—one the establishment advertised as having noble blood—was so tempting
that
the lottery drew countless people in, eager to spend their money like mad.
But it only took a little thought to see how rotten the deal was.
The prize was
her first night, after all.
In other words, in the years since Miss Alice's had become popular thanks to Alice, countless people had spent money on the lottery, but not one had ever actually won the chance to bed the noble girl!
Even if the prize pool really did have a chance of paying out, the odds had to be ridiculously low.
So,
was there really no way to win Alice's first night?
Not exactly.
To make the lottery seem fair, the owner had also added a guaranteed prize system.
After spending three million at the establishment over the course of a month, a customer could trigger the guarantee and take Alice to bed.
But that requirement was simply too harsh.
"Spend three million in a month! The most expensive girl here costs less than ten thousand a night!"
Just then, a new customer at the bar had taken a liking to Alice. After asking a staff member how much she cost,
he completely lost it.
He smashed a cup and demanded furiously,
"I'd have to spend thirty days straight sleeping in the same bed with ten whores! Are you people insane? Do you think I care about the money? You think it's the money!!!!"
The customer's anguished roar echoed throughout the brothel and reached both Rhine and Alice.
Alice said, "Ahahaha..."
She gave an awkward laugh and said to Rhine, "That customer's absolutely right, Mr. Rhine. You don't need to take that lottery seriously. It's just a marketing gimmick dreamed up by our idiot of an owner. She'll never let anyone win my first night. Well, at least not before I turn twenty."
"Or maybe some rich idiot will pay three million to buy my first night outright before then. But seriously, what idiot would spend three million on a prostitute's first night? Even Dreamland, that place in the human empire, doesn't charge that much!"
As Alice spoke, she couldn't help laughing. She seemed to have a very clear understanding of her situation.
She cheerfully explained her price and how someone could claim her first night, as though she were an uninvolved bystander making idle conversation.
After enthusiastically explaining the rules and pitfalls of Miss Alice's to Rhine, she began introducing the services available:
"So, that's more or less how this place works. What would you like, sir? If you're here to watch a strip show, you only need to pay the cover charge. The food's all-you-can-eat, and drinks cost extra. If you want a service... well..."
Alice looked at Hela beside Rhine.
Hela smiled back.
Alice froze, because Hela was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen!
In the mortal world, the concept of "beauty" often had a threshold that no amount of naturally good looks could cross.
For ordinary mortals, no matter how attractive they were, their features could only be said to suit the standards of beauty of the day.
But those noble mixed-bloods with divine ancestry seemed to have a permanent charm spell cast on them, giving them a peerless beauty capable of twisting people's minds.
Clearly,
Hela and Rhine belonged to the latter category.
And they were among the most exceptional of those mixed-bloods, with charm that came naturally.
This might sound a little embarrassing.
But from the very first moment she saw Hela and Rhine...
she had already been completely captivated...
Alice shyly reminded him, "Sir... We don't have any beauties on the same level as this lady here."
Rhine smiled and asked, "Aren't you one?"
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