Chapter 88: Chapter 80 – To Treasure the Future

"Children are our future, and need to be cherished wholeheartedly. Foolish bastards who had children but refused to take care of them are nothing but trash, and trash only deserved to be cleaned up." - Azar'ēl Cèbrúnæ, lifelong Mayor of Sev-Galas.

 

A young servant of the brothel knocked on their door politely, and brought a modest but welcome breakfast for Cal, Giselle, and Leila the next morning. They chowed down on the simple but well-executed dish of white rice, fresh roasted fish, meat soup, and vegetables, chased by a dessert of fresh fruit slices.

 

As the same servant cleaned up the cutlery, another servant came by and asked if they would like to be brought to the rest of their group, to which Cal nodded her assent. They made their way to the fifth floor of the brothel, past scandalous yet tasteful decoration that elicited a blush from Giselle and a giggle from Leila, and were led to an ornately decorated double door.

 

When Cal knocked on the door, Ognar was the one that opened the door. The young half-orc had bags under his eyes, and somehow he gave the impression of gauntness despite his overall chubbiness, but the grin on his face was that of a man who regretted nothing. Aideen came up behind him and opened the door wider, which let Cal see that the rest of the group had already dressed themselves and were ready to go. The mayor was not present in the room, however.

 

"Oh hey, Cal. Was just about to go down ourselves," Aideen said as she walked out the door. She turned back on the doorway and waved fondly at the Hetaera from last night, a smile on her pretty face as she lounged on the oversized bed that dominated the room. "Be seeing you again, Micah! We'll come to play from time to time!"

 

"Your business is always welcome here, o Maiden of Silver," replied Micah from her bed with her sing-song voice.

 

"Where's the mayor?" Cal asked out of curiosity. She noticed how Ognar blushed as Grünhild ruffled his hair when she walked past him, and how Willa slapped his back while she guffawed loudly. They definitely looked like they had a wild ride last night.

 

"He's right next door, with the madam," Aideen said with a conspiratorial wink.

 

"Huh, odd. Would've thought he'd be the type to join in your kind of fun," commented Cal dryly.

 

"Because, miss Ambervale," said Azar'ēl as he walked out of the next door, apparently having heard Cal's last sentence. That was no real surprise, since elvish hearing was notorious for their sharpness, and he was a full blooded elf. He gave Cal an exaggerated mock expression of affront and horror as he said his next words. "While I might be a lord of criminals, there are lines I would never cross. Participating in a wild orgy that included my daughter would be one such line."

 

Cal looked back and forth between the Hetaera and the Mayor. Now that she was informed she could indeed see some family resemblance between the two, and when the brother madam came out from the same room the mayor had, she also noticed resemblances to her if she were younger.

 

"Pardon. Didn't know you two were related," she said in apology, which the mayor accepted in good grace with a nod. He checked his suit jacket to ensure it was neat, before he walked to the doorway of Micah's room and poked his head in.

 

"Girl, we're going to the orphanage, you coming with us?" He asked calmly.

 

"Sure! Give me a minute to prepare, pops!" Answered Micah, her tone much more relaxed and playful as she speaks with her father instead of a customer.

 

Micah quickly got up from her bed and shoved the blanket away, which revealed that she had laid naked underneath it. She then walked openly towards her wardrobe by the side of the room. Cal had to give an appreciative nod at how the elf's body had embodied what was close to their ideal of beauty, tall and slim, yet with notably more curves, courtesy of the human blood she inherited from her half elven mother.

 

"If I may be so bold to ask…" Giselle said from the side. "Why would a daughter of the mayor be working as a courtesan?"

 

"She's an adult and wanted to try it out, so why not?" Azar'ēl replied bluntly, which visibly stumped Giselle somewhat. "Remember that us folks with long lives see things differently than your people do, girl. We'd often embark and try new things just to experience it."

 

"Micah is mostly elvish in heritage. She would live eight, maybe nine centuries long." Azar'ēl added while his daughter dressed herself in some finespun dress that remained easy to move in. "Could you imagine the boredom of such a long life when you have nothing new to look forward to? Those that has found their passion like me are fortunate ones, since our passions helped keep our spirits up."

 

Cal nodded and let Giselle stew a bit on what Azar'el had said. The views on life between longer lived races - especially elves - had always differed from those who lived much shorter lives. The group made their way down with Micah in tow, although her mother, the brothel madam, had not joined them and bid her farewell when they left.

 

"Another question if I may, mayor Cèbrúnæ?" Giselle queried as they walked down the streets. The citizens of the town greeted their mayor respectfully as they passed, and many also greeted Micah as their "eldest mistress". "Why allow the crimes to run when you hold so much power that even the hardened criminals dared not break the rules here? Why not just… forbid it in the first place?"

 

"You hail from Levain, correct girl? Where they banned most activities we allowed openly here?" The mayor asked Giselle in return, to which the girl nodded. "Tell me then? Does Levain's bans and crackdowns mean your city is free of crime? That no black markets exist where they sell smuggled drugs and slaves? No underground where thugs ruled the streets?"

 

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The bitter expression on Giselle's face was answer enough to Azar'ēl.

 

"People will always seek after things barred from them, and forbidden fruits are all the more sweeter because they were forbidden," he elaborated while he politely waved to an old lady who greeted him as he passed. "It is far more beneficial to legalize them all instead, so we could regulate and tax them, and at the same time make them lose their allure as a forbidden fruit. Mayhaps you disagree with this, but I challenge you to find a city with less actual illegal crime than mine in this world."

 

That shut Giselle up as she pondered the implications for the rest of their trip. They reached the city's orphanage not twenty minutes later, and as one, the students' jaws slacked in surprise awe.

 

"Orphanage" was definitely not the first thing that came to mind when they saw the massive building - easily a match in size for smaller forts and castles - that occupied the entire block it was located at. The building itself was a four-story hollow rectangle, with the center area devoted to a park where the children they nurture were allowed to play.

 

A couple thuggish guards saluted and opened the doors wide when they saw the mayor, and they made their way straight to the park. Along the way Cal saw some of the older children at work as they whistled while they cleaned the halls merrily. Azar'ēl said it was because the orphanage staff were mostly guards and administrators, so the older children were taught to help maintain and clean the building, at the same time as work training for when they would strike out on their own.

 

In the park they saw the slave couple from the auction yesterday evening, accompanied by their obese employer, and a small child probably no more than three years of age who clung to them. The couple profusely thanked a young half-therian woman who resembled a kitten in features for having taken care of their child.

 

"Hubert! Nice seeing you, old fart!" Azar'ēl said as he greeted the obese old man. Now that she got a closer look Cal was surprised to see that the old man was an elf. An obese elf was beyond rare, much less one that had let themselves go to that extent, as the old elf resembled a meatball.

 

"Az my buddy. Fancy seeing you here!" Replied the obese elf as he waved at the former slave couple to bring their child home ahead of him. "I see ladies DeVreys, Adenauer, and Sigvaldi too, what pleasure brings your honored presences here?"

 

Aideen, Salicia, and Grùnhildr waved politely at the old obese elf, who somehow performed a courtly bow in return despite his rotund body.

 

"They're bringing students over for a tour," the mayor said simply. "I also came today to check on the rest of the children that bastard brought. Miranda, dear? Where would the poor children be?"

 

"This way, dad," answered the half-therian woman as she led the group to where the children frolicked and played. Three children in particular looked on as the rest played, trepidation and worry still clearly etched on their faces. Cal estimated the oldest girl at maybe twelve years old, while the boy and the younger girl around eight and five, respectively. They were siblings, and their parents were not among the auctioned slaves yesterday.

 

Azar'ēl and his two daughters walked towards the kids as Cal and the rest watched. The mayor calmly sat on the ground as he played with the smallest girl, while his daughters coaxed the elder and more wary kids. They eventually won the kids over after a good while and the kids had smiled and waved back when Azar'ēl stood up and waved them goodbye.

 

His featured scrounged up into an enraged frown when he returned to the group.

 

"Hubert, find a peasant couple, former residence near Sankt-Estas though they likely moved by now, use those kids as reference for their faces. Clean them up."

 

The obese elf nodded as if it was the most normal thing and made his way out to enact Azar'ēl's bidding. From the way he said it, even the relatively naive students knew that when he said to "clean" them up, he meant to have them killed.

 

"Is that… necessary?" Leila asked with some trepidation. Azar'ēl looked like he was about to scold her for a moment, but he mastered his temper and calmed down, his frown gradually relaxed.

 

"Those filthy excuses for parents sold their children as pleasure slaves for money." He said in a frigid, furious tone. "The only reason the younger kids were still unharmed was because their elder sister had taken the abuse in their stead so far. You still think that filth like that deserves to live?"

 

Leila shook her head with some trepidation, while Aideen and Salicia just nodded, as they were quite familiar with their old friend's temperament. Grünhildr was away as she played with the children in the park, their innocent laughter juxtaposed with the serious argument just now.

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