Chapter 93: Secret Desire

[mission received]

[mission received]

[mission received]

..

.

"Huh? A new client?"

I was waiting for Azalea, so that first message caught me off guard.

I took a quick look to see who had come into the place, hoping to see a new face. But when I looked, it was indeed Azalea, and that confused me even more.

For a moment, I didn’t understand what was going on. It was strange, but it was also the first time a client had come back a second time.

Countless thoughts raced through my mind, and just as I was about to read the missions and figure out why, I first noticed that Azalea hadn’t come all the way in.

She’d stopped at the door and seemed to be talking to someone else, and that someone finally came in.

It was a girl with short green hair wearing a maid’s dress. I thought she was human, but I noticed her pointed ears, though they weren’t as long as Iris’s. She could be a half-elf, but there was also the possibility that she was another race I wasn’t yet familiar with.

"Oh! Honey, we’re on a roll. We got a double prize. She’s a maid, a maid! I’ve always wanted one like that. Hehe, the author heard me."

"눈_눈. I told you to drop that ’author’ stuff."

"That’s not what’s important right now, honey. What’s important is that Azalea came in with her, and she’s a cute girl... Ah! Wait, what if she’s her daughter? Hmm, but they don’t look alike. Besides, since they’re both here, even if she were, if we ask—"

"Stop it. Haaah~. Azalea’s expression is a little strange. Since there are two of them, your help might actually be needed, but let me handle it first. Just come when I call you."

"Okay, honey. I know you’re especially fond of Azalea, so you can talk to her first."

"Don’t talk nonsense. I don’t—Haaah~. Whatever. I can’t waste any more time."

Yeah, there’s no need to argue about nonsense. The important thing is that it looks like there’s a situation here.

I can tell by the way the girl accompanying Azalea had a scrutinizing, distrustful expression and was looking at everything suspiciously.

Plus, Azalea seemed a little nervous and very aware of that girl’s gaze.

Considering what I know about Azalea, that was strange, and just in case, I checked a few things as I walked downstairs.

___________________________

Emotional: 59%

Carnal: 66%

Rational: 55%

___________________________

Luckily, over the last few days, her stats had gone up instead of down, which meant nothing had gone wrong regarding that matter.

Now... I really couldn’t keep ignoring the fact that the new mission notification hadn’t just gone off once or twice...

___________________________

Missions:

---

Temptation Resistance

Objective:

Until the end of this session, prevent Silvia Rowan from confirming her suspicions of infidelity between Azalea Blackthorn and the user.

Rewards:

+5 free stat points

Conversion Card

2,000 Myrr

Penalty for failure:

-2 Perception

+3 Corruption

---

Forbidden Fruit

Objective:

Ensure that Azalea completes the session fully satisfied.

Rewards:

+5 free stat points

Skill Card

2,000 Myrr

Penalty for failure:

-2 Charisma

+1 Corruption

---

Personal Matters

Objective:

Get Silvia Rowan to form a positive opinion of you and schedule a future appointment.

Rewards:

+2 free stat points

Revelation Card.

1,000 Myrr

Penalty for failure:

-5 random stats

+2 Corruption

---

Two Sides of Desire

Objective:

Discover and awaken Azalea Blackthorn’s fetish.

Rewards:

+2 free stat points

Luck Upgrade Card.

+3,000 Myrr

Penalty for failure:

-5,000 Myrr

+1 Corruption

---

Guilty Pleasure

Objective:

Help Azalea discover her own fetish and come to accept it.

Rewards:

10,000 Myrr

Penalty for failure:

10,000 Myrr

---

Secret Desire

Objective:

Fulfill Azalea’s deepest, darkest desire.

Rewards:

+25 free stat points

+1 Perception

Skill Card V2

5,000 Myrr

Penalty for failure:

-2 Charisma

+4 Corruption

---

Rekindle the Flame

Objective:

Get Azalea Blackthorne to ?????? and awaken ?????? in less than a year

Rewards:

+3???? free stat points

????????

[???????? Card]

50,000 Myrr

Failure ?Penalty:

-?? random stat

+?? Corruption

_____________________

"Oh! I guess this is a good thing in its own way."

From the letter, I already knew that the missions wouldn’t end with just the ones from the first visits. When clients returned, there was a good chance there would be more follow-up missions.

That’s why I had to make sure that even if there wasn’t a corresponding mission, I’d always try to get them to come back.

So I wasn’t surprised by their appreciation. What did surprise me was the amount.

But, setting aside the penalties for failing—which I obviously won’t allow—you could say the situation is mostly good.

One of the things I discovered thanks to the letter is that, over time, missions and things like that would become less generous and less frequent; you could say that right now is a particularly good time to get a lot of things that would be hard to get later on.

And although it was implied, another thing I understood is that the system clearly wants us to discover the "Dweller" skills and will do everything in its power to guide us toward that goal.

So, logically, if there are so many follow-up missions, it’s more likely that the ability—and the way to obtain it—lies there.

In this case, deepening my relationship and other aspects with Azalea seemed to be the way to go.

But there was one more thing I couldn’t overlook.

’Ey, System, what’s that in the last mission? Why are there so many question marks?’

[Responding: The user’s current knowledge is insufficient. Reevaluating... Withdrawing mission.]

’tsk I asked you to explain, not to... Haaah~. Whatever.’

Yeah, it wasn’t worth arguing with the system right now; it would probably just end in a barrage of ’[I cannot answer that question].’

Anyway, I’ve already confirmed what the current situation is—about that girl and Azalea—but it really is a shame that, even though there are so many missions, none of them offer reducing corruption as a reward.

Those three corruption points are still bothering me.

And with so many missions, both current and upcoming, I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to complete them all, just like before, so I’ll have to take the risk.

I got myself in the right mindset, just as the letter said, and thought...

’Well, there’s nothing asking me to place lethargy marks anyway, so it’s not really necessary. So I’ll just complete the missions and...’

[New mission received]["Chains of Lethargy Ⅱ"]

"Haaah~."

I looked at the mission, and sure enough, it seemed to be an updated version of the previous one—which, much like the one involving the Dweller, is a mission that, once completed, leads directly into the next one.

As I expected, this one again offered a reward of reducing corruption, along with other things I haven’t seen in any other mission and that will be indispensable for our survival in the future.

It seems the letter wasn’t lying.

Still, it’s really not pleasant to have a guillotine hanging over my head, but just doing this helped me confirm a lot of things, and I’m seeing more and more clearly what this system entails.

Anyway, I finally started heading down the stairs and prepared to act appropriately.

Most of Azalea’s missions didn’t have an immediate deadline, and, come to think of it, they’re hard to fail unless my relationship with Azalea breaks down.

But the two from that girl, Silvia, and one from Azalea herself did have a deadline I had to meet before they left.

And, in fact, they seemed like missions designed to conflict with one another, but failing any of them wasn’t an option, so I prepared myself to handle this with the utmost care.

*****

POV: Third Person

*****

"..."

"Just remember not to say anything inappropriate." (Azalea)

How many times had this been now? Silvia didn’t know, but Azalea, during the trip there, hadn’t stopped repeating things like that to her.

But to Silvia, that only confirmed just how nervous Azalea was.

Silvia knew that if the situation were just as she had described it to her earlier, Azalea wouldn’t be so nervous.

It would just be a visit to a recreational spot, like the bakeries or clothing stores they sometimes went to.

Silvia also knew that Azalea was good at keeping up appearances. After all, she’d seen her smile politely at nobles whom, in private, she cursed without restraint.

And for that very reason, the fact that she couldn’t do it now made many things clear.

At this point, for Silvia, the affair was no longer mere conjecture.

It was almost a certainty.

All that remained was to see the other person involved. She would make him confess everything.

After all, he was likely just a commoner without the etiquette training that nobles usually have.

It would be even easier than with Azalea, who had basically already confessed everything.

Silvia was determined to put an end to all this and get Azalea to turn away from that path of immorality.

In any case, even without Silvia’s response, Azalea opened the door and entered the massage parlor.

Silvia—who hadn’t even taken off her maid’s uniform, for fear that Azalea would take advantage of the moment to escape—was about to follow her, but just then something caught her attention.

{Sanctuary of Serenity}

{We offer all kinds of massages, as well as a variety of services ranging from relationship counseling to rental boyfriends.}

"ಠิ_ಠ" (Silvia)

When Silvia saw it, she was completely taken aback for a moment. Setting aside the first part of the text, it was the first time she’d heard of something like a "rental boyfriend," and if it was what she thought it was, it might come in handy.

After all, Azalea wasn’t the only one bringing up the topic of finding a partner and getting married.

Her parents were doing it too, and not only that—a big family reunion was coming up that she was basically obligated to attend, and whenever that happened, that annoying topic her relatives always brought up came up as well, which she was already sick and tired of.

If what she’d read there was true, it would be the solution to...

"Silvia? Why don’t you go in there? Is something wrong?"(Azalea)

"Oh, no, it’s nothing."(Silvia)

Right! That’s not what’s important right now. The fact that this place offers that kind of service makes it even more suspicious.

Silvia remembered that what mattered now was Azalea and her immoral situation.

This kind of service made her doubt this whole place—and whoever ran it—even more.

Something definitely didn’t smell right here.

Determined to uncover the whole truth, Silvia finally followed Azalea inside.