Pleasure Palace

Seeing a dead end in front of him, Ahli contemplated in either going back or finding another way. He looked at the board sign that showed the name "Pleasure Palace" in red color. He also saw the many windows on its wall, with some were decorated with colorful curtains.

[Why a brothel in an alley like this?]

He looked around the front door of the establishment and tried to peek at what was inside, to check if there are any other doors that became its entrance on the other side.

[There must be another exit right?]

As he tried harder to get a better view, he inadvertently stepped into the establishment. A skinny middle age man quickly came to him, which surely had mistaken him for a customer.

"Ah, welcome sir, welcome. How are you today?"

Before Ahli was able to answer anything, the man had grabbed his left wrist and pulled him deeper inside. Ahli tried to break free of his grip, but he was holding them tightly, making Ahli unable to escape it. For a skinny man, he was surely super strong.

"I can see that you are a first-time customer, right sir? I'll explain first about our rate, then. One-hour service is between 3 to 5 gold, depending on the girl that you want. Any extension after would cost you one to three gold, also depending on the girl that you want. This is of course not included with your tip, which you have to do. Understand?"

"Well…"

"Okay, good. If you would like only to be accompanied for drinks, it would cost you three silvers for a 15 minutes service. Of course, it does not include any opening drink."

"I don't want to drink."

"Ah, you want straight to business. Good, good. Well then, sir, here is our line-up. You may choose whoever you like."

The man finally let go of his grip on Ahli's wrist. However, at that point, Ahli was already deep enough inside the brothel and he saw how the distance toward the entrance felt so far. As he turned to face another direction, a line-up of girls was standing in front of him.

Through a quick count, Ahli found there were 14 or them, each with different age if judged from their appearances. Some looked as if they were in their teens, some even looked as if they were in their 30s. All of them were wearing clothes that people in our world could consider as quite sexy, but, seeing how the people dressed in that world, this might fall under the category of what they consider as super sexy.

"So, sir, what kind of girl do you like?"

"Umm…Actually…"

"Oh, maybe you prefer specific breast? Big or small?"

"Huh, what?"

"Oh, you are an ass man, I guess? Girls turn around and show this nice young man your butt."

The moment the manager of Pleasure Palace gave his command, all of the 14 girls quickly turned so their backs were facing Ahli. All of them then started to bend, showing the shape of their behind to Ahli.

"So, sir, which one do you prefer?"

Ahli knew that by that point, he was finally given the opportunity to talk by the manager of the establishment, and so he took that chance to ask him a question.

"One question, is there any back door or another entrance in the back?"

"No sir, there are not. We only have one entrance there."

With the manager pointed in the direction of the entrance, Ahli knew that he had to go back to the intersection and decide to either turn or go back to the path he came from. The guy who pursued him might have gone toward the other path, but there is always a chance for him to be back and ambush Ahli there at the intersection.

"So, sir, which one do you want?"

When the manager asked him again, Ahli snapped from his thought and realized he had to apologize to him.

"Oh, sorry about that. I don't want any of them."

"What? WHY?!"

"Yeah, sorry for that. I need to be somewhere else."

"HUH? THEN WHY ARE YOU ENTERING OUR ESTABLISHMENT, HUH?!"

The manager was surely upset, and Ahli knew that he have to pick his words correctly after this, yet, he did not know how.

"I just want to know if you have any back door or other entrance."

"HAAH!! YOU THINK WE'RE SOME SORT OF PASSAGE, HUH?! LIKE PEOPLE PASSED THROUGH HERE AS IF THIS IS A BRIDGE, HUH?!"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm sorry. I'll be taking my leave."

"YEAH, YOU GO! DON'T BE BACK HERE! YOU ARE BANNED! YOU HEAR ME? BANNED!"

After that Ahli knew more words were shouted by the manager at him, with some curse words mixed in it. But Ahli was not paying attention to him anymore by then, so he strolled toward the entrance and walked out of Pleasure Palace.

As he stepped outside, he saw some people looking at him. At first, Ahli was questioning of why those people were staring at him, but he quickly reached to a conclusion as he started to fully hear the manager's anger again. They were staring at him because they knew Ahli was the reason the manager got so upset.

Trying not to lock eyes with any of them, Ahli awkwardly left the premises. As he passed them, the stares of the people loitering outside were following them, with the sound of the manager rambling in the background. It was then when he was quite far enough, the sound was unheard anymore.

Ahli walked carefully toward the intersection as he checked once in a while for the sign of any incoming enemy. There was no sign of them at all until he almost approach the intersection when a familiar face showed up from the other path that he should have gone to.

The man who was pursuing him till that alley came out suddenly from that direction, even though luckily, he went toward the path where Ahli and he had passed before. Seeing him, made Ahli reacted immediately, which was pressing himself to the wall. Like when he hid between the stall, this time as well, he tried to blend himself with the surrounding there, hoping no one was not paying attention to him.

Ahli's hope and prayers were answered however as the man did not pay any attention to him. But, as he observed his movement, Ahli found that the guy who pursued him had been joined with his friend, the one who was in an argument with the fat lady at the first alley he escaped to.

Seeing them talking, Ahli tried to avoid being in their proximity and was trying to approach the other path quietly and unnoticed. Unfortunately, he had to change his plan immediately as he saw those two suddenly start walking toward the path where it leads to Pleasure Palace. Ahli quickly turned and walked again toward Pleasure Palace. He hasten his steps to make sure those two do not realize he was walking in front of them.

With the front leading to a dead end, and danger approaching from the back, Ahli started to rack his brain again. He had to come up with an idea of how to escape his pursuer again, and his time limit was approaching quickly as he saw from afar, the red sign of Pleasure Palace again.