I Picked Up a Witch from a Novel

Episode 2-a. The City Where Night Does Not Come, Tevriss.

The fact that night does not come.

Although from a distance, it may look more splendid and radiant than anywhere else.

When you get closer and look, it only reveals the gloomy faces of the residents overshadowed by such lights.

In a city that is always bright, the residents bustle around, earning money from the tourists, but.

There is not much laughter on their faces.

Their clothes are quite luxurious, adorned with various jewels, making them appear elegant, but.

They do not wear happy faces at all.

Though night does not arrive and the day does not end, time continues to flow without waiting for night.

As they grow older and draw closer to death, the expressions of the residents harden.

The children still smile and bounce around, but the boys and girls approaching adolescence show smiles that are somewhat awkward.

The adults in their twenties greet us with slightly sad expressions, their smiles absent, and those nearing middle age carry the fear of not knowing when they might die in their eyes.

And there are no elderly residents.

In this city, it is impossible for residents to survive into old age; only those who have reached middle age feel the fear of dying at any moment.

In other words, there is almost no hope left within the residents.

After a century of such scenery, they have become unable to hope, even if they wish for it.

Without night to come, they cannot sleep, and they cannot dream.

Having never truly slept, there is nothing that could be called a dream for them.

The dreams of this city.

Have long been postponed for a century, and none have bloomed.

It has entered the sixth day.

In fact, to some extent, I had been calculating the days out of obligation.

In a city that does not darken and does not invite drowsiness, if we accidentally missed a day or two, we feared that we too might become specters of this city.

So far, we had explored places like crowded gambling houses, entertainment districts, and abandoned-looking houses beyond shadowy alleys.

Moreover, this only covered less than half of the city, so it would be impossible to scour the entire area within the remaining time.

Therefore, it was necessary to choose a possible direction and push through.

“Today….”

So before we left the lodging, I spoke to my companions.

“Hmm, today the twins will stay and rest at the lodging.”

““Eeh~””

First, the children will wait at the lodging.

“Just have some snacks and play board games. It’s a bit of a gloomy place to take you along, and I think we’ll need to move around busily.”

“Then can we eat the snacks that you’ve hidden away, big brother?”

“Can I dip it in the sauce that you’ve saved, big brother?”

The children asked playfully, as if feeling a bit disappointed.

“Sure. Enjoy and rest, and I’ll be back in time.”

“Wow~ then I’ll eat chocolate! Tori, what about you?”

“I’ll have cookies! We’ll eat everything so big brother can’t!”

I chuckled as I watched the children rush toward the snacks.

Then I turned my head and spoke to the remaining two.

“Today, the three of us will be going together. Since it seems incorrect to try to cover the entire city, I’ve selected mainly places that seem promising.”

“Hm, where do you plan to go that you’re leaving the children behind?”

“I’m thinking of going to the red-light district.”

Today, I intend to venture into the gloomy street of red lanterns, a place we hadn’t necessarily stepped into until now.

“The red-light district is a bit… scary, you know…”

“I won’t ask you to sacrifice your virginity, so just bring some useful potions. Also, make sure to grab both the axe and shield, old man.”

“Right. Let’s set off quickly. The longer we wait, the less time we’ll have for exploration.”

The old man nodded at my words while he gathered his axe and shield, and Avery, unlike himself, muttered as he collected the potions from the desk one by one.

In the red-light district of the city where night does not come.

Even with the sky bright and the light pouring down, there was no need to wonder how the red lights created such a gloomy scene.

“Hm, it’s impressive how they blocked the sky with a dome to keep it dark.”

“Indeed.”

Tevriss’s red-light district was covered with a massive, rounded dome, creating an artificial darkness beneath which the red lanterns hung.

In reality, the fact that night does not come does not mean that light disappears everywhere, so by blocking everything like this, shadows are created.

Of course, even if it darkened, fatigue and drowsiness would not come, so unless used for this purpose, it wasn’t particularly necessary.

And we strolled through that space.

From both sides of the street, sounds of moaning could be heard from the brothels, perhaps intentionally not soundproofed, and those more naked than the women enticing on the bright street beckoned.

Men wandering the street approached subtly, taking the hands of women who smiled shyly and leading them into establishments.

After a while, they too would become the protagonists of the gloomy sounds that filled the streets.

As we walked through such streets, Horn the elder looked around with droopy eyes and asked me.

“Ain, are those women also residents of this city?”

“Uh, um. Don’t you know?”

“Why would I care about such things? I have no interest in human culture.”

That may be true.

“Most of them are women brought in from outside. Of course, there are some who came of their own accord, but generally, they are women sold after incurring debts or kidnapped by robbers or bandits into slavery.”

In fact, slavery is not entirely illegal in this world.

While the process of creating slaves might be illegal, as long as that process is well laundered, those in power tend to turn a blind eye.

“Shouldn’t such issues be resolved on a national level?”

“How much do you think those in high places do for those below?”

After all, a mere woman who only spreads her legs for men is not worth much.

At least, that’s how those in power view it.

“…, that’s true.”

“Especially for women who will turn into prostitutes in just ten days, unable to leave the city even more.”

They are merely a few pretty slaves, the women of the red-light district.

Having been brought to this city and after ten days, they give up on escape, forced to entice men with expressions that seem drugged and dazed.

And yet, they do not dispatch busy and noble archmages for the mere resolution of a single city’s issues.

They are certainly not the kind of people who would come to places where the resolution might not even be assured.

The Hero and the Holy Girl are also moving along the path that the story dictates, so perhaps the problems of a city that are disconnected from that are defined as a rather trivial matter in the settings.

Such a scene ultimately falls into the shadows, obscured by the light of great ideals.

I thought that way as I headed toward the nearby brothel.

“Why are you going there?”

“I need to check the interior of the building. They probably won’t refuse if we just say we want to have a look. If they do refuse, we can investigate it in exchange for Avery’s virginity.”

“…Huh?”

“Just kidding, you idiot.”

Thus, the old man and I dragged a reluctant Avery into the brothel.

When we showed our axe and sword to the approaching naked women, they quietly retreated.

After all, these women also lacked the courage to face death, living as they did.

Time passed.

After a few hours of looking at the red lanterns, I felt a bit dizzy, but we diligently checked each brothel, looking for anything suspicious.

In other words, there weren’t any establishments that specifically refused to let us look around inside.

The owners of the brothels were usually residents of this city, while the sex workers were those brought in and unable to escape.

Even if they had abandoned hope.

Perhaps they might have welcomed adventurers coming to solve the city’s problems.

Therefore, there were certainly no establishments that would prevent adventurers from coming to investigate.

And.

After a while of rummaging through the brothels.

“If you’re not utilizing the services, it is prohibited. Please select a woman and pay the fee to enter.”

“So, can’t I just pay a little extra to take a quick look inside?”

We were first refused when trying to enter a relatively large brothel.

“You may only choose one woman at a time to enter the designated room. This was decided for the safety of our staff after some rude adventurers caused incidents.”

“Um, well, there’s nothing we can do then.”

There were guards shaking their heads at my offer of extra money just to take a look, and women looking at me with expressions that seemed afraid while glancing at the guards.

Thus, I nodded and retreated.

After giving a meaningful glance to Horn the elder and Avery who stood behind me, I left the spot without causing trouble.

After stepping out of the guard’s sight and entering a relatively quiet alley, I turned around and spoke to the two.

“This is suspicious.”

“It is suspicious.”

“It’s definitely s-suspicious…”

It was a brothel that created a rather suspicious impression on all three of us.

“But doesn’t it seem that other adventurers might find it strange as well since it’s this suspicious?”

There might not be many who go around investigating all the brothels like us, but at least a few would have done so.

“Well, even if they think it’s strange, what can a mere adventurer do? Are you going to disturb their business or just storm in?”

“W-well, even if we have justification, it’s suspicious and the issue isn’t externally evident, s-so…?”

“That’s true.”

However, as the two said, an ordinary adventurer without the formality of an official investigation could do little when they stormed in.

Thus.

After a considerable amount of deliberation, the conclusion we reached was one.

“Looks like the only way is to pay and enter with a woman.”

If we barged in and found out it was indeed a suspicious place, we would only become criminals, unable to escape within the timeframe of ten days.

It seemed that the only reasonable option was to pay to enter and confirm what was inside.

“That seems to be the only option. After thinking about it, that’s really the only thing we can try.”

“But, I… I don’t have any means of force or anything… If I go in and it really is a suspicious place, I’ll just die…”

Horn the elder nodded at my words, and Avery hesitantly shook his head.

And what came to mind was the principle we established last night.

Do not engage in life-threatening challenges.

Then, would entering that place be a life-threatening challenge, or not?

“The guards didn’t seem that skilled.”

“If the guards are at that level, we could break through and escape if anything happens. Just in case, I also brought three magic resistance cloaks.”

Whether this is a challenge we should take on or not.

Horn the elder and I continued to waver in the middle of that principle.

Time flowed a little more, and our worries soon settled in one direction.

“Avery, you’ll stay here and wait. Only the elder and I will go in there. Avery, hand over all the useful potions.”

Without means of force, Avery would not join us inside.

Only those of us who could somewhat protect our lives, Horn the elder and I, would enter.

We would see what was going on with just the two of us, and if any suspicious circumstances were found, we would investigate or quickly escape.

“Right now, it’s 1:30 PM, so we’ll be back out by 3:30 PM. The time limit for embracing a woman is two hours, and that’s our limit.”

“Got it.”

“Yes, yes.”

Both the elder and Avery nodded.

“Avery, it’ll be inconvenient, but check the time with the clock tower in the plaza, and the elder and I will bring personal watches and keep checking inside.”

Horn and I judged that this level of risk wasn’t life-threatening.

Since the level of the guard blocking the entrance wasn’t high, it was unlikely that the internal guards would suddenly be vastly more skilled.

And if by any chance.

“If we’re not back after two hours, Avery will inform the mayor of the city and will leave with the children first.”

In the unlikely event that there is an issue, Avery would signal that it’s suspicious.

If a raid team is then formed, that would be good, and if that doesn’t happen, it would just be a chaotic disaster.

“Then let’s go, Horn.”

“Right. You be good and hide, you fool.”

“G-give it your all…!”

At least, if we try this much, we could say that we tried to follow the traces of Nasart as foretold.

At least it could be said that we were continuing our journey for the ash-gray.

I thought that way as I once again stepped toward the enormous brothel.

“Hm, you’re back again?”

“Yes, I’d like that woman over there, please.”

“That woman costs 3,000 deras.”

“…”

Ah.

“Don’t tell me you don’t have that much money?”

“…Here.”

“Yes, I will assist you. Please follow me.”

Damn, that’s expensive.

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