Demon World’s Brothel - Demon World's Brothel – Chapter 79
“I thought your kind were extinct.” Alleya yawned.
It was early in the morning the next day. After leaving a sobbing Marina in a free guest room, I decided we all needed a chance to cool down and get some sleep. I also needed some time to process things myself. I never would have guessed that mermaids existed in this world, or that I would run into one this far inland.
Thus, before we opened the soup kitchen and the brothel, I had called an emergency meeting and got all of the girls up. I only cared about Alleya and Elizabeth’s opinions, but Diana woke with her mom and for some reason, Daphne and Luna were already up. The other new hires were still asleep, and I was fine with that. After dragging a reluctant Marina out. She had already regained her human appearance and the group was dubious to my claims until I dumped a glass of water over her head. After that, her legs and ears became mermaid once again. I wondered what would happen if she was wearing underwear under that skirt.
“Most of my race is wiped out.” She responded, a downcast expression on her face. “My parents had paid a powerful magician to put a spell on me so that as long as I didn’t feel the water, I’d have a human appearance. After that, I abandoned the sea and headed inland until I reached this city.”
“I’m surprised you’d want to abandon the sea. You’d think it’d be safer there.”
“Master,” Alleya shook her head. “You don’t understand the scope of the demon war. Demons went to war with all the races. This included the sea races. There is an entire subset of demons called sea demons. They waged war on the oceans the same as terrestrial demons waged war on us. Among the ocean races, most women and men were of equal fighting ability, so it was more common for their entire race to be eliminated.”
“Oh, so that’s why I haven’t heard of them.”
If all of the ocean races were made extinct ten-plus years ago, then it made sense that they wouldn’t be discussed openly, especially since this city was so far inland. It was probably also why the god never bothered to mention them.
“Mm…” Alleya shook her head unhappily. “That’s the thing, the merfolk were all pacifists. Of any sea species, they should have been left alone the most. Even humans banned the hunting of mermaids in the Treaty of Nations.”
“Why would someone want to hunt mermaids?” I frowned.
“Oh, come on, Master, I know you like the taste of fish…” Daphne tried to touch her tail, but then Elizabeth casually struck the back of her hand with telepathy.
Marina pulled her tail away squeamishly, but she still answered, with an unhappy expression on her face. “The ban in your treaty was just a scheme you nobles used to have us all to themselves. The nobles still allowed themselves to capture mermaids. They even gave themselves a yearly allotment in the name of magical research.”
“Oh, I didn’t know that.” Alleya looked down, a bit embarrassed.
“That still doesn’t answer my question…”
“Illusion.” Daphne declared. “Mermaids can appear as a species, not just humans. The magician didn’t do anything for her that she couldn’t naturally do herself.”
I glanced over at Marina, who lowered her head, a look of shame on it.
“I said merfolk earlier,” Alleya spoke up. “This is a bit of a misnomer. Merfolk don’t have a male of their species. Mermaids are all female.”
“Really?” I perked up, although now that she said it, it did make sense that all mermaids were female.
“They have a slightly unusual breeding habit.” Alleya continued. “Every few years, when a mermaid encounters a suitable male, she follows them to the surface and then takes the form of their species. She seduces them into sex, and then when they acquire his seed, they return to the ocean to have their brood. Countless men fantasized about culling the favor of a mermaid, and countless wives despised them for tricking their husbands into infidelity.”
“Tcht, such human depictions treat us like homewreckers.” Marina made an unhappy expression. “It’s not like we pursue any man who doesn’t first show signs he is willing. It is the man’s pheromones that ultimately cause my species to initiate mating.”
“The point is… they became a bit of a sex symbol.” Alleya sighed. “Every noble wanted to own and sleep with a mermaid.”
“The demons are no better…” Marina made a face. “They saw humans collecting mermaids, so they did the same.”
My eyes flashed with realization. “Except, without having a strong understanding of sex, they didn’t know what to do with the mermaid once they captured her, so they were more like trophies. They also didn’t understand moderation, and ended up wiping out your race.”
She nodded sadly. “There are only a handful of mermaids left… and they are all owned by one man.”
“Sal.” My eyes flashed in realization, and then I looked at Marina hard. “You didn’t come to this city by accident, did you?”
She looked away, her face turning slightly red. Sal must have captured the last of the mermaids. If anyone understood the sexual ramifications of a mermaid, it would be a demon like him. Marina had come up north hoping to save them. She had done so by trying to get the spinsters upset over the idea of prostitution in hopes of getting her mermaid sisters freed. Naturally, her attempts were juvenile and mostly ignored by the demon populace.
“What are you going to do with me now that you know?” She demanded, her eyes flashing with anger.
“Do?” I raised an eyebrow. “I’d offer you a job, but you already work here. Perhaps, I’d give you a raise, but first, you’d need to prove that your identity can bring me money.”
She blinked. “You aren’t going to enslave me?”
I cocked my head. “I haven’t enslaved anyone yet. You must be thinking of some other demon or devil.”
She looked over at the other girls, her eyes shocked. “He doesn’t force you into prostitution?”
“Of course, he forces us- Ugh!” Daphne began before Alleya stomped her foot.
“What she means is that if we’re here, we’re expected to work. If we were to leave, we could just walk out the door.” Alleya explained. “But then… we’d be back out on the streets where no one even cares if we die. Here, we’re treated with respect. He buys us clothing and food and treats us like we matter. That’s why, I don’t plan to leave!”
Luna nodded excitedly her ears flapping. “Master… nice.”
“Before I came here, I was sick and dying. I was about to leave my daughter to fend for herself on the streets. You know as much as I do how bad those streets can be.” Elizabeth spoke. “Master gave me a new chance a life, and for that, I owe him everything. His ways might be unorthodox, but if you’re willing to put away your pride, your life can become better.”
“Hmph, I wasn’t allowed to leave.” Daphne glared.
“That’s because your alternative was prison or death.” Alleya rolled her eyes before looking at Marina with some unexpected kindness in her eyes. “So, what will you do?”
Marina looked down. “You don’t understand. It’s not the same for me. I already don’t have a choice. Even if I wanted to leave, I couldn’t. He’s already ruined me.”
When she said that last part, she looked up and threw an accusatory finger my way.
“Huh? What did I do?” I blinked.
“You came on me!” She declared, causing all the other girls to give her blank looks. “I already explained that a mermaid’s mating cycle is initiated by male pheromones. When you came on me, you caused me to go into heat. If you don’t make me pregnant within a month, I could die!”