Chapter 4: Chapter 03: Decision

I climbed up the stairway and entered my office; from the room below where I had slept last night. I had already rented a house in the city, but I was too tired to go back there.

I had showered and eaten the breakfast Carla had brought earlier, and now, I am ready for work.

Today will be even busier than yesterday, but I am excited and a little nervous, as for the first time since coming into this world, I have complete independence to do what I want.

I just hope it will work as I had intended it to.         

"The head architect Davidson from the nielson guild will meet you at ten," Carla informed. I nodded and looked through the window at the gate of the establishment, where two guards were standing alertly.

It is seven forty; the girls will come at eight to give me their answer; I just wish not too many would leave. It will make things difficult for me.

If my father had been here, he would have called me a complete idiot and cursed me with his harshest words, but I had to do it.

It is for my conscience and values, which had been etched into me from the earth; even after coming to this world, some of those values remain itched in my heart; if I forgo them, I will not be able to do this business with a complete piece of mind.

 

I opened a big file that had answers from Carla; they will help me a lot.

She is not the first person I asked these questions; I have asked them to the madam and a few other prostitutes from the brothel we own in Redfawn city; I had done that a year ago when my father informed me that he was planning a brothel in fourth prince's new city.

Time passed as I read, and soon, it was eight.

"I will bring the girls," said Carla and walked out of the office while I placed the contract and coin purse back to my left and right.

Click!

A few minutes later, the door opened, and Carla walked in; behind her were girls that soon filled the office.

 

"I assume all of you girls have made your decisions?" I asked the girls, and some of them nodded. "Then, please tell me your decision," I said as I looked at each of them in the eyes.

For a second, nobody spoke, and I thought nobody would leave when a voice came. "I want to leave," said Lola, which instantly made my heart pain, as she is one of the best-earning girls in her former brothel and the one who is very close to Level 20.

"Me too," "Me also," "I also want to leave too,"

Said four other people, one after another; of the four, two were sixteen-year-old girls, one was twenty-one years old, and the last one was forty.

"Miss Lola, miss Sapphire, miss Jordana, miss Menar, and miss Rupa, is your decision final? Once you leave, the door of the establishment will be forever close to you," I asked them one last time.

"I am sure, Master Silver," said Lola, and others also affirmed their choice; they seemed to have thought their decision through.

I nodded and removed their contracts from the stack, showing them, so they would not see them as fake, before taking out the burning stone.

Dhub Dhub Dhub Dhub

Without saying a word, I touched their contract to burning stone, and the paper burned, turning to ashes within seconds.

Soon, all five contracts were burned to ashes by me, and I turned to my purse and took out fifty shining violet coins from it.

The imperials, each one equal to about a hundred crowns; I placed the stack of ten in five small leather pouches.

"This is your severance pay; I hope you will use it wisely towards the new chapter of your lives," I said and pushed the pouches forward.

"Thank you, Master Silver," said sapphire with tears streaming down the teen girl's face. "You don't have to thank me, it is what you deserve," I said with a smile.

"I hope you all use the money wisely," I advised; they nodded and bowed before leaving the office, and now, there were only thirty-nine women who had remained.

"Does anyone want to leave?" I asked again, "Well, it seems like the rest of you will make a choice after seeing your new contracts," I added, bringing some laughter to the faces of the girls.

"This is the new contract; I hope you like the terms," I said, forwarding several copies of the three-page contract to them, which they quickly picked up.

The contract is crafted by yours truly; I am a full-fledged lawyer. In these three years, I have gotten well acquainted with the empire's law, and crafting a contract is no big deal for me.

Gasp Gasp Gasp

In less than a minute, their eyes went wide and audible gasps of shocks began to come out of their mouths.

"The contract is only for five years," said Ina in shock, "We will get 10% of everything we make and will get to keep the gifts we received," said Margaux in astonishment, "One day leav….."

Voices filled with different emotions rang out across the room as documents passed around; it took a while for them to calm down and look at me with a question about whether the papers they were holding were true because they had a hard time believing in them.

"Everything written in the contract is true; yes, the contract is five years from the date of signing instead of the previous ten, and yes, you will have a 10% share of everything you will make and the gifts given to the patron will be yours, you will also get a one day off every week, have…."

I said important parts of the contract one by one, and with each point, their eyes widened further; a few in the back had even fainted as I noted the points.

"It all seemed like a dream; the conditions are too good to be true," whispered Margaux and even tried to pinch herself.

"It is not a dream, miss Margaux and what I am offering is not too good; it is just fair," I lied; they are not fair, and to be honest, I wanted to give them a bigger share, but I could not.

I am already walking on a thin line here, bent the rules as much as I could, but if I offer more, the owners of other brothels will be angry, especially the high-class brothels of an entertainment district like mine. The conventions need to be followed, or there are consequences; my father taught me that.

The conventions could be changed or simply broken, but for that, one needs to be powerful enough to bear the consequences, and I am not, but there will be a time when I will be.

My brothel will not be standard but something more; I made a detailed plan for my father a year ago when he planned to open the brothel here.

I had shown the old bastard my plan, but instead of taking my plans rationally, he had hit me, calling me an utter idiot. I hope he is watching from hell because I want him to see how this bastard of him created an empire from this brothel that his real spawns had bestowed on me.

"So, does anyone wants to leave?" I asked, and the look I got from them said it everything was on their mind, that even I couldn't help but feel embarrassed by it.

"Master silver, where do we need to sign?" asked Ina as she placed the contract on the table. "On all three pages, with your signature and thumbprint," I said and forwarded the quill and thumbprint along with a double copy of the contract.

One will be for her, while the other will be for me.

The old man had shot down many of my suggestions, but he was not dumb; he had accepted some of my suggestions, like literacy for all the employees, no matter the work they do.

He accepted, and within a year, he saw changes it brought that he had to praise me grudgingly.

Buzz!

Ina took the quill and moved to sign it, and just as her quill touched the paper, I felt a buzz that I had felt only once before a month ago.

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[Class Obtained: Lawyer]

[Skill: Contract]

 

I obtained a class, and it couldn't help but shock me; while I know one could obtain multiple classes, I did not think I would receive my second class this early and easily, but when I think about it, it is not surprising.

I am a lawyer and have studied and practiced for years; while I may not have done it in this world, I still have experience, and when I used that, I instantly got the class.

I have not got the class and also a very good skill; the contract is an extremely valuable skill, more valuable than the two skills I have received with my base class.

The skill is great, but it is a double-edged sword; once I apply it to the contract, I will also have to follow it. It will not be a piece of paper that I could simply tear apart.

Still, its benefits are much bigger than its drawbacks and instantly applied to the contract that Ina was signing.

When I applied the skill, Ina stopped as she sensed it and looked at me with surprise before a genuine smile bloomed across her face, with a hint of respect appearing on her face because now she knew everything I said was true.

Now, breaking the contract will make one suffer the backlash, and it will be more intense on me since I have a lower level than them.

Soon, Ina finished signing the contract; I took one copy and gave another to her.

After Ina, it was Margaux's turn, and the moment she touched the contract, she also sensed the skill's presence, and shock appeared on her face. It took a few seconds to calm her emotions and sign with shaking hands, but when she did, there was a soft genuine smile on her face.

One by one, the women signed the contract till everyone, except for four teenage girls and Carla, had remained.

"M..Master Silver, what about our contracts?" asked Ruby; she is one of five girls who are below eighteen, the unclassed.

"Miss Ruby, you and others have a different contract," I said and forwarded contract papers to her. There is no way in hell I will make sixteen year old a whore; there is a different contract for them.

They took the contract and began to read, Carla and others also read with them, and a surprise couldn't help but appear on their face.

"You will not work till you turn eighteen, and if you do not want to work in the trade after you turn eighteen, you will be given a choice to serve your contract term in other capacities," I said.

"You all also have a choice to leave; I will release you from your contract as I did with others," I added, and if they decided to leave, I would release them from the contract and even give them severance.

"W..we will sign; the contract is more than fair," said Ruby, and just like others, there is a clear surprise appeared on the teen's face; unlike others, it took her a while to get control over her emotions and finish signing the contract.

After her, the other three teens have also quickly sighed the contract.

"Now you have officially become employees of the establishment,"

"I hope you all will help me take the establishment to the heights it deserves to be," I said to them. "We will do our best, Master Silver," they said in unison.

"Thank you all," I said before my expression turned serious, "and don't forget to write all answers to the question I sent with Carla; I will need them by tomorrow morning," I said strictly. "You will have them by tomorrow, Master Silver," said Margaux and left with the girls.

Soon there was only Carla and me in the office.

"You know, Master Silver, if you had offered even 1% of what they make, without all the other benefits, they would have still signed it with beaming smiles on their faces," said Carla as she sat across me, "I know," I replied somberly.

They generally get pennies while their employers make tons, even in the high-class brothels

"So, why did you offer so much?" she asked; I could tell she was genuinely curious about it. "They deserve it that much and more," I replied, but it was clear she did not believe me.

"It is an exploitative business, miss Carla; it exploits them physically, mentally, and financially. It turns them nothing more than dispensers of men's lust," I said and could see raw emotions appearing in her eyes for a moment before she controlled herself.

Carla is different from other girls; they have been sold or forced into the trade, but she is born into it and has experienced every part of it.

"I will not say the establishment will not have that, but it will be much more, and sex will be an aspect of it, but not the whole part, and for it, I want them to be happy, satisfied."

"You might not believe me, but happier employees generally work better and bring more profits," I said, and that brought a small genuine smile to her face.

"So, where is my contract?" she asked after she got control over her emotions, "Here, it is; I hope you will like it," I said and slid over a contract that I had just taken out of the drawer.

"It is a little bigger than what you have offered to the girls," She said, with her voice becoming mellowed like honey, filled with sensuousness.

"Your responsibilities are greater, so bigger contract," I replied with a straight face without falling into her trap.

It took her a while, but she finished reading and put down the contract. "I am only getting a 1% commission which is much less than what you are offering to the girls?” she asked while seductively arching her brow.

“It is 1% of all that girls will make,” I replied with a smile.

"Which is kind of low compared to my previous salary, Master silver,” she stated; while my father was planning on giving pennies to girls, he had given a very good salary to Carla, which, as she said, would be higher than 1% of what girls will make, but that is before I took over.

"No, it is not low. I think you will at least make three to four times more than your current salary," I said, and surprise couldn’t help but appear on her face, which took her a little longer to get in control.

"You are planning on earning four hundred thousand to five hundred thousand crowns a month, Master Silver, and I will say it is a gross overestimation for this small city.”

“The establishment will not earn you that much, even if all the girls worked to death," she said seriously.

"No, it will earn more," I replied simply, with confidence brimming in my every word.

She looked up from the contract and stared into my eyes directly for several seconds before turning back at the contract.

"Since you are so confident, I will believe you and sign this contract," she said, and I once again activated my contract skill. She sensed it but was not surprised; she had likely already guessed by the reaction of the girls earlier.

Buzz!

The moment she signed on to the last page, my mind buzzed, and surprise couldn't help but appear on my face; my base skill had finally leveled up after a month.

 

[Souteneur Merchant (Lv. 2)]

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