Chapter 87: Chapter 79 – The Seedy Underbelly of a City

Warning: this chapter contains depictions of drug use, slavery, gambling, and prostitution. Please turn away should you be diametrically opposed to such.

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"No city is truly clean, even those that pretend otherwise, beneath their pristine facade likely lies a seedy underbelly where malcontents and undesirables roamed. The only place I know of that avoided this was Paradise, which had an unfair advantage since it was founded by a bunch of immortal freaks." - Azar'ēl Cèbrúnæ, lifelong Mayor of Sev-Galas.

 

The evening was still young even after they had a quick meal in the arena - simple but lavish dishes of spiced roasted meat with wine -, and a quick admonition from Azar'ēl left the champion quite chastened. Together the group headed out towards the seedier parts of the city.

 

If it could be called that. To Cal's viewpoint, most parts of Sev-Galas seemed just as seedy as any other part. Whereas most cities tend to group their less savory businesses like brothels and gambling joints in a single district, in Sev-Galas all those were out in the open, and freely available in every part of the city.

 

Places that catered to enjoyers of recreational drugs were also commonplace, as the group had just walked by a storefront which sold exactly that. By the sidewalk in front of the shop was a section where some middle aged gentlemen - well off ones from the way they dressed - inhaled herbal steam from a long hose attached to a container where water and psychotropical herbs were heated together.

 

Slave markets were common as they noted earlier, and Azar'ēl led them towards the largest one, which included an auction hall. Over there they sat in a private booth as slaves that belonged to the merchant executed earlier were auctioned to the public. Unlike most depictions of slave auctions they knew of, which tended to be utterly demeaning to the slaves, the one in Sev-Galas was different.

 

For one, the slaves had clearly been given a bath very recently, and were dressed in simple, but clean and undamaged tunics. As they were led to the stage the announcer would read out their names, age, amount of debt they had, and specialties. After which the people bid for the slaves.

 

Azar'ēl had explained beforehand that while slavery is legal in Sev-Galas, he had also made it temporary. Slave owners were obligated to pay salaries to their slaves - notably less than they would have paid a free laborer, but still a decent sum - with which the slaves could buy their freedom when they accumulated enough money. The auction for these slaves had not involved actual money, and it was more a search for employers who wished to employ them, with their bids just cutting into the time the slaves remained as slaves.

 

Since the "proceeds" of this auction went to the slaves themselves, most of them walked out with half their debt already covered, which for many meant only five to ten years before they could afford their freedom. Cal even saw an obese old man who dressed luxuriously purchase a couple for the entirity of their debts, which made them free citizens on the spot, and still offered them jobs as servants at his house, including a place for their child.

 

The Mayor explained that in such cases all the couple had to do was to show up at the orphanage to claim their child back, with a letter from their employer as a guarantor.

 

After the slave auction, Azar'ēl brought them to one of the largest gambling joints in the city instead, where a weasel-like middle aged goblin welcomed them warmly. He was introduced as the owner of the joint, and bid them entry while he rubbed his hands together.

 

Cal exchanged five gold pieces for each of the students into tokens and let them roam the gambling joint to experience it themselves, while she and the three unliving women chatted with the owner and Azar'ēl. That they also demolished a good chunk of the ever present buffet offered to the joint's customers was incidental.

 

To her surprise, both the owner and Azar'ēl assured her that the gambling joint would not have stooped so low as to cheat. They never needed to, it turned out, as the owner outlined the various ways the stakes and the games themselves were set so that in the long run, while some people might win, the overall winner always remained the house. He further mentioned how most of the customers likely realized that fact since they had never hidden it, but of course, people often delude themselves and thought of themselves as the lucky ones.

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After a pleasant couple of hours that saw much talked about and gave some pressure to the joint's kitchen crew, Cal called her students back, and had them retell their experience so far. Ognar had little to say, as he went nearly broke early on with some too heated bets and barely had a few silvers worth of tokens left on him. Willa apparently had good instincts and decent luck, as she broke even with very slight winnings, while Leila and Giselle both had won around a couple gold each over the past couple hours.

 

From the gambling joint, their next destination was close by, right across the street in fact. It was a large, lasciviously decorated building that was the largest and most popular brothel in Sev-Galas. Again, as the mayor himself led them into the building the proprietor came to welcome them, in this case it was an older half-elf lady, who must have been quite the beauty when she was younger.

 

The madam of the brothel exchanged some teasing banter with the mayor, before she beckoned the group over to a large hall, where many well-dressed patrons of the establishment already seated themselves. Light snacks and alcoholic cocktails were served, as there was still another ten minutes before the "show" started.

 

As they snacked and waited, Cal was somewhat surprised when she observed the eyes of the scantily dressed waiters and waitresses. Normally, prostitutes would have donned a fake smile, with eyes that were often dead inside. These ones were lively, and looked like they enjoyed their work.

 

When she asked about it Aideen nonchalantly mentioned that with the regulations the city has, and the amount the brothel actually paid them, quite a few people were more than happy to get paid while they had fun. Unlike brothels in other cities, prostitutes in Sev-Galas almost always joined the line of work voluntarily. They even enshrined the most popular ones in a manner similar to an idol, and people bid fortunes to spend a night with them.

 

As a favor to the mayor, the madam actually invited the current most popular Hetaera in her brothel to their table. It turned out to be an elven woman - quite a young one overall, probably still in her third century - with a dazzlingly pretty face, who quickly charmed the table as she proved to be a very adept conversationalist.

 

They had just reached a pause in their conversation as the show started and their attention was drawn there. What they witnessed was an extravagant show, held on the richly decorated stage and performed by shapely men and women. Half the performers were clad in attires so scant it leaves little to the imagination, whereas others were completely covered except the parts that were normally covered, which created an effect more vulgar than if they were simply naked.

 

The show itself was a Burlesque one, a caricature and parody that relied on scandalous humor and raw sexuality in its delivery, to the extent that it would have made more conservative types faint in anger. Cal chuckled quietly as she imagined old Halmout's scandalized face if he were to witness such a travesty, and quickly thought she should invite him over one day just to witness that.

 

After the show was over half an hour later - Cal had to admit it was entertaining, if in an unusual way - the proprietor asked if the group would like to make use of their services further that night. Cal naturally declined politely, and so did Giselle and Leila, though Ognar shyly said yes to the offer, which just made the girls tease him endlessly. Willa had nonchalantly accepted the offer without any deliberation, and so had all three unliving women and the mayor, who it turned out were old acquaintances with the Hetaera herself.

 

A normal bedroom was arranged for Cal and the two girls that night. Despite it being located within a brothel, the room was positively luxurious, with a downy mattress that quickly lured them to sleep. The brothel must have invested quite a bit on soundproofing since they heard not a squeak over the night.

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