Their eyes met briefly, but Kaguya Hiyori quickly looked away.
Eric observed her from afar. This exiled princess of the Kaguya clan had quite good balance.
She was wearing wooden clogs at least half a meter high. With every step, she would pause for a moment before taking another. Her pace was slow, almost a performance.
A dozen or so people followed her, scattering cherry blossoms as they walked.
The people on the street lined up to welcome her, their cheers echoing.
"The Flower Courtesan's Procession... is she going to entertain clients?" Eric asked casually to someone nearby. "Is she going to see the Black Charcoal Serpent?"
“Shh!”
The man was startled and quickly covered Eric’s mouth, whispering, “Are you crazy? You should call him Black Charcoal General! If you address the General by his name and the Imperial Guard hears you, you’ll be killed!”
Eric: "..."
"You must not be from Flower Capital! You're from the countryside, aren't you?" the man said again. "This is a celebration of Little Purple's promotion to Flower Courtesan, arranged by the Green House! Look, the Green House is just down this street."
It’s like a big-time celebrity. Isn’t she just a prostitute?
Eric couldn't quite understand the mentality of these people. It felt like chasing after stars.
From one end of the street to the other, Eric watched Kaguya Hiyori return to the Green House brothel. A distance of a little over two hundred meters, it took her over ten minutes to walk.
"符合妻子的要求……不过，光月家啊。”
Eric hesitated. The Kaguya bloodline had its flaws.
The daughter of that fool, Kaguya Oden, although pretty, wasn't very smart. Could she bear healthy children?
Then he thought again. It wasn't easy to find a suitable woman.
So he asked the man beside him:
"How much does it cost to buy a Flower Courtesan?"
"Huh?"
The man's eyes widened immediately. He looked Eric up and down. "You’re rich?"
"I have a small fortune." Eric said modestly. Not much, just ten tons of gold.
"Just having money isn't enough. Do you think the Green House arranges a Flower Courtesan's Procession just for the fun of it?" the man sneered. "It’s to raise her value, to attract the dignitaries of Flower Capital."
Unlike ordinary prostitutes... in Wano Country they're called female entertainers.
It’s a little different from ordinary female entertainers. This Flower Courtesan procession is a way to attract customers.
Ordinary customers can’t see the Flower Courtesan, let alone be entertained by her.
"If you want to spend a night with the Flower Courtesan, you have to be liked by Little Purple herself."
Eric was speechless. Does he have to fall in love with the prostitute?
However, the man misunderstood him. He said "buy" as in "redeem".
The man seemed to be a chatterbox. He continued to talk about the rules of brothels, obviously an old hand at this.
"And once you're with the Flower Courtesan, you can't go to other female entertainers' rooms."
"Is there such a thing?" Eric was surprised. "Do customers have to follow the rules?"
"That's the rule. If you want to break up with the Flower Courtesan, you have to pay a breakup fee!”
Eric was speechless again.
Little Hiyori… she’s living the good life, huh? Just a brothel in Flower Capital, yet it has so many rules.
…
…
Green House.
Kaguya Hiyori returned to her private room after the Flower Courtesan's Procession, and immediately took off her expensive jewelry.
Just her headpiece alone weighed ten pounds. After walking around the main street of Flower Capital, it almost killed her.
"Ugh... so tiring. I'm so thirsty!"
Outside she was the dazzling, Flower Capital-famous Flower Courtesan. When alone, Kaguya Hiyori didn’t pay much attention to her image.
She knelt before the vanity and started to remove her makeup.
Suddenly.
There was a knock on the door.
"It's me."
"Come in, Kyoshiro-san."
A samurai with a sword at his waist entered the room, but only stood at the doorway.
The samurai, whose alias was "Kyoshiro," was once a retainer of the Kaguya family. He was now the owner of the largest brothel in Flower Capital, the Green House.
It was under his protection that Kaguya Hiyori could live safely.
"Hiyori-sama!"
"Kyoshiro, will this plan work?" Kaguya Hiyori's voice was melancholy as she spoke, her back to Kyoshiro. "Will it really attract the attention of Black Charcoal Serpent?"
"Rest assured, Hiyori-sama, Black Charcoal Serpent will be captivated by your beauty!"
Kyoshiro answered with certainty, but his tone was somewhat worried. "But Hiyori-sama, are you sure you want to do this?"
Using her identity as a Flower Courtesan to approach the General, Black Charcoal Serpent, in order to obtain intelligence.
There were risks involved. If her identity were to be exposed, the consequences would be unimaginable.
"I've made up my mind! The enemy who killed my father and mother, we can never share the same sky!"
Kaguya Hiyori instinctively reached for the dagger hidden in her bosom.
"I understand. I will act as soon as possible. This is your dinner, please eat while it's hot."
Kyoshiro placed the food he was carrying on the table and then turned to leave.
Once he left, the woman’s room fell silent again.
Suddenly, a man's voice broke the quiet.
"How much will it cost to redeem you?"
"!?"
Kaguya Hiyori, sitting at her vanity, jumped in surprise, almost screaming.
She turned to see a man sitting cross-legged at the low table, eating her dinner.
"You… are you the man from the street?"
Kaguya Hiyori's beautiful eyes widened. Even though it was just a fleeting glance, she remembered the man's face. His gaze was different from how others looked at the Flower Courtesan.
Eric had been hungry all day and was eating the Flower Courtesan's dinner without hesitation. It seemed even the food was subject to strict regulations. There wasn’t much meat in the dishes.
"How did you get in here?" Kaguya Hiyori was nervous, ready to call for Kyoshiro at any moment.
"If I want to go somewhere, no one can stop me. If I don't want to be seen, even your retainer won't notice me."
Eric sat casually, smiling. "Back to the question, how much will it cost to redeem you?"
Redeeming a brothel woman was essentially the same as marrying her.
If it were an ordinary brothel girl, she would probably be overjoyed at this point.
"You heard everything…"
Kaguya Hiyori's eyes darkened, her delicate face filled with anxiety.
Without the heavy Flower Courtesan makeup, her natural face was even more beautiful.
Eric thought to himself and snapped his fingers.
The next moment, the shadow beneath him expanded, dozens of gold bars emerging from it.
"This is the redemption money."
Seeing the man's strange abilities and the large amount of gold he pulled out, Kaguya Hiyori immediately understood.
She shouted, "There's a thorn... AAAAAAAA!!!”
Her shout turned into a scream.
The shadow expanded beneath her, like a bottomless abyss, slowly swallowing her up.
It was like a mud swamp, impossible to escape.
Kyoshiro, who had finished delivering the food, returned to the first floor. He suddenly heard Hiyori-sama's scream and his face changed.
Bang!
When he pushed open the door violently, the room was empty, except for a pile of gold bars lying quietly on the floor.
"Damn it!"
"Hiyori-sama was kidnapped?"
"Who did it?!"