A profitable day

Scrolling backwards from the end through his log, the first thing Jay read was the obligatory two status points he got last from Payton.

Then it went on with [Gossip LVL 2] and [Haggling LVL 2] that both didn't get Jay a level up with his own versions.

That was true for [Night Skills LVL 3] as well, though Jay couldn't wonder about this. But it at least granted him a level up in (Horny) how he found out by clicking on it and getting a notification in a different screen.

For [Alcohol tolerance LVL 2] and [Sailing LVL 2] it was similar as those skills again brought no level up for Jay.

But like always he was sure the skill points got integrated successfully, so he went on with checking his log without regret.

The next line in his log again informed Jay of another two status points, what remembered Jay of Amber who he was by then sure had been the last one on the other side of the wall. That suspicion got proven right as Jay looked at the lines above in his log.

While he had integrated [Persuasion LVL2] from her that didn't rise his own skill, it was [Alcohol tolerance LVL3] that finally helped his own version to reach level five. Though this explained why he had felt so sober after his visit to the restrooms, that wasn't what had told Jay it really had been Amber last.

Payton calling her name was one indicator, but [Tailoring LVL2] that he had gotten next in line was the real proof. No one else in the pub has had it, at least in combination with the last skill he got from her.

That one was once again [Night Skills LVL3]. To his surprise it brought him a new ability instead of a rise in level, but Jay didn't mind.

It was called (Flirt) and worked similar to (Persuasion) but while it had no level, depended on the CHA Stat and only worked on the opposite sex, it sounded to him like it could be extremely effective.

Jay was sure he could use it some time, though until then he hadn't been short on women, even if some of them got a little bit forced…

Then Jay went on with reading through the log and found another two status points added to his count. Thinking back at the pretty harsh end of that round, Jay was hoping to find out who that one might have been as well. He was pretty sure it had not been the one he had integrated the skills from next in his log.

To his surprise, Jay knew exactly who the tight one had been and who granted him the next skills. It should have been the eye patched beauty from the skill setup.

From last to first it was [Trap LVL1] that didn't change Jay's level in the skill, followed by [Stalking LVL2]. Latter brought his own skill to level three and boosted the skills ability for quite a bit.

That [Dagger LVL2] didn't change his own skills level was no surprise for Jay, but his hopes lay on the last skill he got from her anyways.

That one was [Trickery LVL4] that had told Jay who it had been and moreover boosted his own skill. Not only that it rose his own to level five upon getting integrated, it even rose both of his Abilities to level 3 and 4 respectively.

Like his intuition already had told him who the other woman had been, the skills Jay read next proved him right once again. The pipe smoking woman with the Job of Captain had granted Jay her skills previous to the eye patched beauty, the one she had sat together with previously.

Starting with [Shooting LVL 1] that obviously brought Jay not much, followed by [Haggling LVL2] that at least boosted Jay's (Overcharge) to level three, Jay got some average skills from her. But the woman with life experience had two other skills that really had some use for Jay.

Her [Commanding LVL 2] came with and Ability called (Formations LVL2), boosting the tactical placing of units not only for battle but travel and trade as well.

And last but not least he got [Sailing LVL 5] from her, rising his own not only to the same level but even to level six.

Thanking the duo in his mind, Jay went on with looking through his log.

For the next combination of skills he had to think more about who probably had been the source. His best chance was to go by the number of skills he got and their composition: As skills always got integrated after skill level - the highest first - Jay knew it had been four, what reduced the options at least to the slightly better looking ones.

After sighing in relief as he thought back at the soft sensation he had gotten from her, Jay got a picture of a face in his head that had just the fitting skills if he remembered correctly.

The first one was [Persuasion LVL 1] that was neither common nor special. It brought Jay no change, just like [Alcohol tolerance LVL 1], though he knew it had later gotten a boost so this one hadn't been for naught.

Even [Gossip LVL 2] didn't give Jay any rise in his skills so he checked the last skill he got from her with very low hopes.

And just like he had guessed, [Trickery LVL 2] naturally gave him no new level to his own skill. But to Jay's surprise it had granted him another Ability called (Sleight of hand LVL 2) that foremost enabled him to see through tricks and cheat in games and gambling. With this, he finally was sure it had been the older and well endowed redhead that had been playing cards.

Back to reading through his log, Jay found the next skill he got being [Sailing LVL 1] and didn't even click on the notification. The [One handed Axe LVL3] he read next was something different through, as it brought a level up to another skill. With this, Jay had reached level three in [Axe mastery] and at the same time it rose all corresponding abilities to the same stage.

With the highest skill he integrated from that woman, Jay was sure who the first two that he had encountered behind the wall had been. [Mapping LVL3] was a skill he hadn't seen on any other women in the pub but the one called Jada, and even the few men that had it, only got it to level one.

Pretty sure the sure the first one had been the dwarf that was together with the female Mapper, Jay continued to check the rest of his gains.

As the [Haggling LVL2] he got from her first had once again brought no change for him, Jay went on to [Shooting LVL2] he had gotten. To his surprise it had been enough to bring his own from level 4 to 5 and even came with an Ability named (Shoot Out LVL1). It shortened the time to draw or reload the weapon by 25%.

The other skills he had integrated from her first had been crafting and production related ones. [Mining LVL2] enabled Jay not only to more efficiently collect ores, he even could sense them if the concentration was high enough.

The last one was [Engineering LVL2] that he had seen on her before. This first skill Jay had gotten rose his own to level three and so he closed the log with a happy smile on his face that this wasted thought evening had been so productive.

As he had eaten up his breakfast while checking the skills, Jay rose from the table at the stalls and left the Harbor behind. Since a short while ago he had noticed all surrounding shops got opened. Thanks to this he had high hopes to finally get those lingeries he had wanted to buy the evening before.

To not waste any more time, Jay summoned his horse and rode towards the 'Hidden Gem' as the alleys were mostly deserted contrary to the piers. Once he reached the Gnome's shop, Jay was glad to read the open sign and directly entered.

The short couple stood behind the counter and both of them welcomed him friendly.

While Jay had feared they could have taken offense in him silently leaving, they directly told him that they really needed a good rest after their little menage.

Like this, Jay learned that the day before had been a day of rest once a week. Remembering back at his own worlds Sundays, Jay suddenly thought it was natural.

But Walton saw his pondering and continued to explain that in more remote places there was no such day.

Even the trade district had the right to open then, but not all of the shops there did.

Suddenly Collie talked in between that thanks to a certain customer, she wouldn't have been able to open even if they had been allowed to.

It seemed walking had been quite hard for her the whole day, but sitting even worse.

During their conversation she had accompanied Jay to the lace lingerie and once he had picked two, carried them to the counter. While Walton cashed in, she asked Jay if they maybe could repeat their private session sometime soon.

Not sure what to say, Jay answered with a maybe that got both of the gnomes eyes to sparkle. It even went so far that they started to think about loud which positions they wanted to try and see, getting more heated up by the second.

Jay used the moment when this lovey dovey couple was in their heated discussion to silently take a step back and leave their shop.

Outside the shop, Jay directly summoned his horse again and swiftly rode through the small alleys towards the red light district. Not sure if it really was a good idea after the last night as Kayla had demanded him to finally make it up to her, he still decided to pay her a visit and ask if she already got some information.

As it was once again daytime just then and the Courtesan had already asked him to come by at nighttime to not blow her cover, Jay dismounted once he got into the vicinity and activated (Hide). Like this he closed in on the back entrance of the brothel and after double checking, he slipped in.

Some seconds later he entered the wide hall with the curved stairs and directly got spotted by some of the younger women there.

Like last time, Jay got send upstairs without wait and followed the woman's request after he thanked her. A single knock on Kayla's door was enough for her to have reached and abruptly open it, nearly toppling Jay over so he would have fallen onto her.

Surprised and a bit embarrassed, he grinned and greeted her.

"Again in daylight?" K.

"Sorry for that, but I had been careful and even used skills to not get seen this time…" J.

"Yeah, I noticed that. Even I didn't notice until you were in the lobby. So, did you come here to finally repay your debts?" K.

"Uhm, yeah… why not? I might be still a bit spent but for you I'm ready anytime!" J.

"Spare me your flattery. And what do you mean with you are spent? It's still morning, so what could have happened?" K.

"Oh, I went to a certain pub last night to get some information, but it turned out they had some special customer service and I got kind of forcefully invited… for the whole night…" J.

"Forcefully...you? I have a feeling I know which pub it had been." K.

A small wrinkle between her brows appeared as Kayla was somewhat between being totally pissed and astonished by how Jay told her about his excursion. As she knew herself about his proficiency and how Jay appeared to others, most importantly women, the latter feeling somehow got the upper hand and she let out a long sigh.

"Simply be glad Elishka isn't here today as I'm pretty sure she wont let you off as easy as me! Better prepare something nice for us and be ready to make it up for all those days being left waiting…" K.

"Then how is she faring? I really hadn't seen her for a while." J.

"She only works with her regular customers that can afford her and somehow seems eager to boost her skills since she met you. So, the real reason you came here was for information I take it?" K.

"Do you already have some?" J.

"Thought so… even though I told you it'll take some time…" K.

"For you, I thought five minutes is enough to find out anything about a person. So I though a few hours already would yield some results if it was you…" J.

"Again going with flattery? But you are right, I already got something for you, though it's nothing definite:

There is a rumor spreading about that company that they have investors in high ranks, what gives them a certain protection to their business. Though it appears their basic way of operation with the distribution of those pictures is not really against any laws, it surely is unethical…" K.

"Then what is it that's illegal? I bet you found some catch, right?" J.

"Well, I heard about certain part that is illegal, yeah. But we have no proof. I seems the male actors there are slaves what would be totally okay.

But if those slaves are lent to a third party they have the right to be asked and refuse their work." K.

"So if I get one of those men to talk or find some documents, we have them busted if we can directly connect it to those investors." J.

"Latter is the problem. But there is one more way as the second thing I learned is that there are said to be customers who pay them to lend one of those brutes to have a go with them.

And if a fourth party is involved it is counted as unapproved prostitution, what would make them not only breaking the law but getting on the red light districts bad side..." K.

"So the most important thing is to learn the investors names and get our hands on any document proving it…" J.

"Well, they know your face already… maybe you can get in as a guest actor?" K.

Though her face told him she had mean it as a joke, Jay thought she had no idea how close she got to the truth. Thanking her and promising the redhead beauty to take them out once he was back and had time, Jay left the brothel the same way he had entered and snuck out of the district.

Once he got some distance, he summoned his mount and rode towards the warehouses where the company called Orced was to be found. To him knocking on the door, Jay was greeted by the same big and burly man like last time. Makko welcomed him back and led him to his boss' office.

This time the studio was still dark as they passed through it, but considering it was still a bit early and they probably wouldn't be making scenes every day, Jay decided not to ask. Makko opened him the door and on entering her office, Jay got greeted by a slightly surprised Ms. Dime.

She directly gave a signal to her guard to leave them alone and Jay got to the point without wait.

"I don't know if you heard about it, but Lady Kendra's shop got not only found by officials but raided in the last days…" J.

"What?" Ms.D.

Jay rose his hands in a defensive motion to signal he had meant no offense after his very direct initiation to this conversation. Once Dime sat back from her rose up position where she gave Jay a nice peek through her cleavage down to her navel.

He then went on and eased her worries as he explained that he had made the papers connecting them vanish.

To her first surprised and then understanding face, Jay told Dime about his connection to Kendra and his position. Going on, he stated that this wouldn't mean they couldn't work together, but that he needed information about the companies owners.

What he learned surprised Jay a bit as he had thought this wouldn't be true for this world, but apparently there were multiple investors.

Dime cursed at the men that they took most of the profit and she, even though the business was initially her idea, got only paid a small share. But that was all she could tell as they'd kill her if she told more.

Not going by the method he'd normally use and ask what she thought he would do, Jay this time had another idea…