Lord Summoner's Freedom Philosophy: Grimoire of Love-Chapter 15 First Day In Arkansas (3)

?(This is it! The place I've set my eyes on when I was on the way towards the mercenary guild!) (Lyan)

Before Lyan is a huge building that is crowded with people, especially men. Lyan's gaze got absorbed by the big sign of the building, stating the name of the building.

(The famous brothel, House of Roses!) (Lyan)

Lots of mercenaries and merchants gathered in this building. From a glance, Lyan could see how luxurious the building is, and he couldn't help but be curious about what he'll find inside.

(Here, not only pleasure, I could get fun, and get to test whether I would get a summonable monster for the summoning grimoire or not as well. This is definitely a wise choice to make. Who am I making these excuses for anyway) (Lyan)

"The money I have, they should be enough, aren't they...?" Lyan enters the building while acting as naturally as he could despite his doubts about whether the money he possesses is enough for him to use inside the brothel. 𝐟𝙧ee𝔀e𝐛𝓃𝐨𝚟𝑒𝗹.c𝗼𝚖

(Whoa... This place looks rather luxurious...) (Lyan)

The inside of the brothel is decorated with high-class decorations and uses colors that give off a luxurious vibe. Like usual brothels, there is a bar inside that is filled with merchants making business while getting accompanied by the brothel's girls, and mercenaries drinking themselves drunk before going to the deed. There is also a big stage where some of the brothel girls perform music and dance.

(Let's grab a small drink first, I guess) (Lyan)

"One drink from your recommendation please, master," Lyan said to the bartender as he sits on the bar stool. The bartender is quite aged as his hair is white as snow, but his eyes are still filled with strength and energy that makes Lyan admires them.

"Is this your first time here?" Asked the bartender.

"Yes, did I look awkward," (Lyan)

"Of course not. It's just that I happened to remember the faces of the people who I made drinks for. Here, it's a service from the house," The bartender puts a glass of wine on top of the table.

"This is a great wine. I guess this is the reason why there are lots of people drinking here," Praised Lyan after taking a sip of the wine.

"Heh, even if you praise me, I won't help you on getting the girls here, you know? They don't really hear my words, after all," (Bartender)

"Help me?" (Lyan)

"Ah. You're here, aren't you? In this brothel, the customer could only sleep with the girls only if they approve it. The customer still needs to pay, of course, but the deed may only proceed if the girls accept it," (Bartender)

"Hou... That's quite a peculiar system... But I guess that system hits well here, huh... It increases the value of the girls and interests the guests at the same time. What an interesting idea," Lyan takes another gulp of the wine.

"Yes. The madam has quite the interesting idea, I'm impressed myself. The system greatly interests the mercenaries, merchants, and nobles from various countries. I guess the challenge of making the girls accept you gave them bigger euphoria when they succeeded. The only problem is when there are fools like that person over there that doesn't have enough patience to please a woman," The bartender's eyes shifted in a certain direction.

"YOU FUCKING BITCH!! YOU'RE JUST A WHORE! DON'T YOU DARE REJECT ME!!" a burly man holds one of the brothel's girls as he swore on her.

"He must have gotten angry because the girl rejected him," (Bartender)

"I'm sorry, dear customer! But that's the rule in this place! If you don't understand that, then by all means, please leave!!" The girl attempted to get rid of the man's hands, but her strength isn't as big as the man's. Rather than getting rid of the man's hands, she just got him angrier instead.

"You bitch..." The man clenched his right hand and raise it, ready to punch her.

"*Sigh!* Please excuse me for a while- Hm?" (Bartender)

Suddenly, the man's outburst stopped, as if he's a puppet that got his strings cut.

"W-What happened?" The girl that had her hand held strongly by the man exclaimed in confusion as the man suddenly let her hand go with a blank expression on his face.

"Go outside," Lyan muttered under his breath.

"....." (Bartender)

Following Lyan's words, the man went outside of the brothel with a blank face, before falling straight on his face after several steps outside the brothel.

(Glad he's drunk. It makes me easier to make him to fall into a hypnotized state. I want to enjoy my moment so forgive me for doing that, Mr.

musclehead) (Lyan)

Lyan finished the wine before him and takes his money pouch.

"It's service from the house, young man. Next time, I'll give you another free drink as a sign of gratitude as well," The old bartender gives a meaningful smile as he takes Lyan's glass.

"Gratitude? For what?" Lyan pretends ignorance.

(As expected. This old fellow has high skills. If I hypnotized that musclebrain even a second late, he'll definitely get killed) (Lyan)

"For a certain thing that I didn't know whether you realize or not. The name is Abraham, by the way," (Bartender)

"Mine called Lyan. A pleasure to meet you," Lyan stands from the seat. But as he was about to went to the place where the brother girls are serving and getting passes from the guests, another commotion appeared inside the brothel.

"Lady Lily! Today is lady Lily's schedule for showing herself on the stage!"

"I've been waiting for you, Lady Lily!"

"Lady Lily!!"

"What is happening...?" Lyan muttered in confusion.

"Ah. In this brothel, there are three stars of the brothel that occasionally perform on the stage every week. They have lots of fans not only from this city, you know. They're famous because of their beauty and their persona, why don't you see her yourself. The one that would be performing tonight is Lady Malevolum Lily," (Abraham)

"Malevolum Lily? That's a rather peculiar name," (Lyan)

"That's her alias. It means the grumpy princess. Ah! There she comes," (Abraham)

As if a high noble or a royalty from a certain country just entered the building, the people gave way for the lady to walk towards the stage. But because of the crowd, Lyan could not see the appearance of Lady Malevolum Lily, but from the reaction coming from the crown, Lyan could see that she must be beautiful enough to steal the attention of all of the people inside the building.

Since his sight got blocked by the crowd, Lyan shifted his focus and saw that even the other girls from the brothel are looking at the so-called Lady Malevolum Lily with a warm gaze.

(I guess not only her looks, but her personality must be beautiful as well despite getting called the grumpy princess) (Lyan)

Not long after, the lady arrived on the stage and took a harp. Lyan could only see her silhouette since it seems that they deliberately didn't put enough lighting on top of the stage to make the face of the lady dark.

(It will make the audience get even more interested in her because of the mysterious element, huh... The marketing technique is rather splendid as well) (Lyan)

Lyan noticed that there are several sofas in front of the stage ready by the staff of the brothel.

"Those sofas are for VIP guests that paid a big sum to watch the performance from a near distance. There is even an average merchant that deliberately saves up his money to buy that privilege, you know?" (Abraham)

"Hou... She's that famous, huh..." Lyan holds some suspicions about whether there is illusion magic or any other kinds of magic being played in the place to make the girl got that famous, but when the song started, Lyan couldn't help but get absorbed by the performance as well.

The intro of the song is just the sound of the harp. Because of the lack of light on the stage, the audience's focus got drawn by both the sound of the music and the whole body language of the lady. She has great skills that could be called professional in playing the harp, but what captivated Lyan more is how elegant her body moves in the play.

Her fingers plucked the strings gently like she was caressing a baby's head at the intro, and as the song goes on, she started to sing as she strikes the harp, making a beautiful and lively melody.

At the end of the song, the pace starts to get slower before it got finished with a perfect outro.

"That was quite the spectacle..." Lyan praised as he clapped his hands together with the other audience.

"Looks like I got too absorbed by the performance," (Lyan)

Without him noticing, Lyan had gotten nearer the stage to get a clearer view of the stage.

"Give way! The lady is returning to her room!" The brothel's guards greet the lady and protect her from both sides.

Without making a commotion, the audience makes way for her to walk. Elegantly, the lady slowly walks towards the stairs to went upstairs, but on the way-

"E-Eh!?" She slipped because of a puddle from a spilled drink. But since the brothel's guards that escort her are too busy preventing the audience from suddenly assaulting her, they are not ready to catch her fall.

"Oops," (Lyan)

Like a morning breeze, Lyan appeared from an unknown direction and caught her before she fell.

""You're...""

The both of them widen their eyes as they stare at each other.

"The swordswoman," (Lyan)

"The hooded guy!" (Alina)

____________________________________________________________________________

Name: Lyan ƒ𝑟𝙚e𝔀𝗲𝒃n𝒐𝘷𝗲Ɩ.c𝗼𝚖

Occupation: Mercenary

Money: 23,100 Elnes

Weapon: Hobgoblin's Sword

Equipment: Black leather cloak

Grimoire's Companions: 8 High Spirits, Shadow Hobgoblin