Chapter 111

I sighed and looked over the waist-high wall on the roof of the brothel. Maybe half a bell after we got to the room, a few of the girls working here brought us a few bowls of thin and bland soup. I only had a few spoonfuls before letting the rest of the girls split the rest of it. I hope Silva didn't see it as me being too stuck up, I just didn't need to eat. At least not in that way. Considering everything was being rationed it was better for the others to share it rather than waste it on me. I also got that beer for Silva to share with the other girls, I just hope she doesn't get too trashed. I'm not entirely sure what the plan is tomorrow yet. As for Bella... well, maybe it was better for her to eat. Like me, she didn't get as much out of the food but maybe it could help her regenerate her mana better. I wasn't too sure, I pulled up the trait again.

[Sexual Appetite - Racial Trait]Succubi appetites are different from that of most other creatures. Rather than feasting on flesh and plants they instead gain sustenance from lust aspect magic siphoned from pleasure during sexual encounters. Feeding on this source doesn’t harm the sexual partner. Starving succubi will find it harder to process information, make rational decisions, and think about anything other than sex and masturbation. Level of Sexual Appetite is increased by taking new partners and higher levels of Sexual Appetite increases the time before faculties are impaired due to hunger. Succubi are unable to starve to death but will eventually be forced to masturbate constantly until they can find a sexual partner to sate their hunger. Regular food can be eaten but will not affect sustenance unless high in magic content. Collecting sustenance through sexual actions removes the potency from sexual fluids unless intentionally trying to become pregnant. The amount of lust aspect mana generated by sexual encounters is increased by an additional 50% per person involved.

All it says is that it won't affect sustenance so maybe even the food Bella ate was wasted. I sighed and just let it go for now. After eating, Bella laid down and passed out almost immediately. Torien and Silva went into the adjoining room to rest as well. I've been up for a bit over 40 hours now and despite the encounter with the bandits, the busy night guarding the wagons, the incident with the priest, and helping out Raya, I still didn't feel particularly sleepy. Tired sure but not sleepy. It was odd being like this. I wonder if I was burning up my lust mana reserves as I stood here thinking. Still, there was something that drew me to the rooftop to look over the balcony. A moment of quiet peace where not even Mimi's thoughts and feelings were filtering into me through our bond. For the first time in a while, I was all alone.

I looked over the city in front of me. The four-story building I was standing on was one of the taller buildings in the city, none of them reached as high as the skyscrapers of my old world. I wonder if I had lived in a large city like New York or Los Angeles? I could remember the buildings but not if I had been in them or not. I'm pretty sure I was from the United States based on the measurements the system translated everything to, they felt familiar. Eventually, when we made it to the capital, I would probably have to learn this world's measurements to avoid the sloppy automatic conversion I was already noticing here and there. It was something I first noticed when getting Bella's dress made, not all of the measurements translated cleanly.

A lot of the city was lit by torches but there were some parts of town lit with some kind of magic lantern. There were also parts of the city that were completely pitch black. Even from all the way over here, there were obvious remnants of the destruction in some of those areas. There was some sign of it in the lit areas too, spots cordoned off with wooden barriers. Past the interior of the city, large braziers lit the edges of the massive wall that sprawled out around the perimeter of the city, they were so big that I could see them clearly from over here. They were like large glowing dots on the horizon.

The access door opened on my left and the person that stepped through took a surprised breath when she saw me standing there. It was Raya, the pretty fox girl that Bella saved only a few hours ago. I waved her over with a smile before looking back down over the city.

She walked over and leaned on the wall next to me. "I didn't expect to see you up here, a lot of people are afraid of the height."

"Heights aren't something that bothers me. The view up here is beautiful."

Raya smiled and leaned forward, her paw-like hands gripped the edges of the stone wall. "I come up here often at night... when I can. I don't always have the time to spend up here alone when I should be working but I can usually make time for the sunrise, it's a great sight." Her tail swished back and forth, giving her an air of contentment.

"Do you like it here?" I realized how insensitive the question might have been after I said it. "Oh sorry, maybe I shouldn't have asked that..."

She just laughed and turned to me while resting her cheek on one of her large paws. "It's okay, it's not something that bothers me. To answer your question, yes actually." She looked back over the city with a big smile on her face. "The other girls here are like family to me. Madame Oceane is like a mother to me. And unlike some of the other girls I do enjoy the work."

Her tail flicked in agitation for a moment before it returned to its gentle swaying as she continued, "I'll be honest though. I've grown to enjoy my life here but this wasn't what I would have chosen for myself... If I did have a choice." She held her large paw out in front of her, its shadow was silhouetted in the light of the city. "These big dumb hands of mine make me completely useless for anything but talking to people and spreading my legs. I can't properly hold a pen, a sword, or even a serving tray. Basically any other options were closed off to me. Since I have to dull my claws for the customers, they weren't even useful when that guy was choking me today." She flexed her claws to demonstrate the blunted tips. She sighed and crossed her big paws in front of her.

"Sorry, I didn't mean-"

"Oh save it!" She looked mad but after a moment she sighed again and shook her head. "Sorry, but it feels even worse when people take pity on me..."

The quiet between us lingered for a bit before I couldn't help but ask her something else, "Would you change them? ...If you could?"

She shrugged before turning her right paw over to look at the pad. "In a heartbeat. Maybe someday some bizarre flesh mage will come and sleep with me before offering me some free service. Not that it's something I'm counting on." She flexed her claws a few more times. "Some of the other girls have told me to embrace who I am, be proud of myself despite, or even because of my crippled paws... but they don't have to live with it like I do. I have trouble opening doors, I have to ask for help getting a key from the cabinet, I can't even be the one to bring food to the one who saved my life. It's not even that I feel ashamed for asking for help, I just wish I didn't have to do it so often."

Raya sighed heavily and looked back over the city. "...I probably wouldn't leave this brothel even if some crazy flesh mage did change my paws though. I've grown to love this place, the people living here with me," she chuckled before continuing, "even the sex. Some people look down on whores but I get to meet super interesting people from all over. I get to share some of their most intimate moments every single day. Sure, not all of them are winners... but I love getting to meet lots of new people and make both our lives more enjoyable in the short amount of time we get to spend together. Sometimes I even get to meet amazing people like you and your friends. Imagine, a talented healer willing to heal a brothel full of prostitutes for free. Sure we often see the worst in people but we also sometimes get to see the best in people too."

Raya had a smile that made her look even more beautiful in that moment. A genuine happy smile at a life many would find beneath them. I don't know what emotion that brought out in me. Pride? Respect?

I smiled. "That's a beautiful outlook on life."

She giggled. "Thanks. I don't know what people have against whores anyway. All we're doing is making people happy."

I looked up at the dark sky. What if I turned Raya into a Succubus? Morrigan had been encouraging me to spread my race, I like Raya's outlook on life and being a succubus would likely improve it. Her form could change with the transformation, likely giving her regular hands if she wanted them, as well as [Succubus Shifting] which would let her alter things further if she needed... But I'm still hesitating. Receiving these oaths and transforming others into a literal different species scares me a little... But what if it's in the recipient's best interest? I'll think about it, talk to Bella and the others about it. Maybe extend the offer to the whole brothel... or maybe just the ones Raya and the Madame trust.

Raya laughed and looked at me. "You have something heavy on your mind? You look like you ate a bug or something. You don't know me all that well but I can keep a secret! If you need to get something off your chest it's the least I could do to help. I listen to my clients vent all the time, it can be pretty nice to let it all out. You look like someone who thinks a bit too much."

"I've certainly heard that before," I said with a chuckle. "But no thanks. Unfortunately, it's not something I can talk about openly. ...I'm planning on talking about it with my other friends though."

"Well that's good! ...wait you just said other friends? Does that mean you consider me a friend?!" Raya looked overly excited for something as simple as this but her enthusiasm was infectious.

"Why not? You're great! Despite everything you're always smiling, always cheerful. Quick to help us out too, even if we did help you with that thug. If we hadn't run into you today we'd probably still be bumbling around in the dark part of the city right now." I pointed at the nearby area of the city that was dark, only a few torches patrolled through the area here and there.

At first she smiled but her tail slowed and her ears pulled back, making her look rather guilty. "I have to admit something to you... Hopefully you're not mad." She paused but I waited for her to continue. "After Bella healed me it gave me an idea. I kinda... led you here on purpose. I knew a bunch of the girls were hurt and I thought maybe we could work something out to get some healing. I didn't expect for Bella to offer to do it for free but I was really happy when offered ...sorry."

"Hmm." I looked back out over the dark city, leaving the girl in suspense for a moment. She looked a bit nervous but eventually I couldn't hold back my smile. "Don't worry about it. When we saw the condition Tisha was in I thought that might have been what happened. Jade may as well have told us directly when she said 'Raya found a healer for Tisha.' But don't worry, none of us would be mad about that. Besides, you never lied to us, you said you knew a safe place and you brought us here. Even if you did trick us into coming here to help your family, I find that kind of noble too. You saw an opportunity to save your friend's life and you took it. If anything that just makes me respect you more."

The fox girl looked embarrassed. "You really think so?"

"Of course," I said with a smile.

Her tail swayed back and forth as we watched over the city lights. A subtle grin crept up the sides of her mouth. "No wonder you have so many girlfriends, it's like you have a gift for wiggling into people's hearts."

"Wiggling?"

She snickered. "Yeah! Wiggling!"

We shared a laugh, two newly formed friends on the rooftop of a brothel.