Well, whatever. It’s not like I hate cute animals or anything. Opinions would probably split on whether this guy is cute or not, but it was hard to think of him as some rando when he looked so familiar.
“My name is Endless Crimson Rain. Let’s keep this guy as a shared asset between us.”
“I’m Kizuha, a prostitute here. Nice to meet you.”
Her sales must be so low. She’s got a rotten personality, and she’s not ladylike at all. She’s nothing compared to Mama Lupe.
“And nice to meet you, Dick.”
“Hold up. You’ve been calling him that this whole time, but I haven’t named him yet, you know. And honestly, I don’t much care for girls talking that way.”
“But it’s a dick.”
“No, no, it just looks totally like one; it’s its own animal. That’s definitely not its identity. If we’re going to name him, it should be something cool like Rusty Crimson Nail.”
“Dick’s better.”
“‘Dick, Dick, Dick’—can you cut it out? I told you not to talk like that.”
Her silly, immodest attitude reminded me of Haru, and even though we were meeting for the first time, she chatted so casually.
But when I raised my voice and scolded her, she flinched and shut her eyes. Did she think I was going to hit her? There are definitely customers like that at the brothel.
“...I mean, Dick is fine, I guess.”
Mama Lupe tells me to be nice to girls. She also gives me homework, like to think about why Kiyori wanted to put some distance between us (I know she’s still into me, but anyhow).
Basically, the girls in this world are naive. They seem to think men are violence machines. But that’s just not true.
“Yeah. Dick is fine. No matter how you look at him, he’s a dick.”
“Yup!”
But hmm, maybe if I’m nice to this girl I can get an event flag to pop up. Not that I would be happy about that or anything.
I triggered an event. Along a pain-in-the-ass route. And going back was not an option.
“Did you do something to Dick? He’s all floppy and won’t perk up no matter how much I rub him.”
“Well, I thought he might get sick of boldgrass detergent all the time, so I sprinkled some tea leaves for him.”
“You randomly changed his food? You can’t give him something he hates! He knows what he likes, so just go with it! Poor Dick. Do you need some kisses?”
“Mm, isn’t the name Dick kind of insane? Your pampering of him is fantastically awkward...”
“Are you still going on about that? Dick is Dick. Don’t make weird complaints about my baby.”
“Excuse me, but Dick is my dick. Don’t put your mouth on other people’s belongings. You have to ask, like, ‘Please let me suck it.’”
“What the hell, you stupid virgin. Dick is mine! I’m not letting you touch my dick. I’ll be the one to service him.”
“Whoa, whoa, did you just say ‘service’? Did you just say you would service my dick? That’s not funny. I mean, if you actually would, well, no—that’s no joke! Gimme my dick back!”
“Nom!”
“Owwww!”
She bit me! My hand, I mean. When I reached to take Dick back she bit me so hard she left marks.
“I told you not to touch my Dick!”
This girl is crazy. Who knows what could make her snap? I’m officially turned off.
She was all agitated and breathing hard, so I moved away from her a bit and sat down. We wouldn’t get anywhere if I didn’t wait until she chilled out.
Some people are like that—can’t control their emotions. They go berserk the moment something doesn’t go their way. They only think about themselves and are incapable of considering anyone else’s feelings. I totally know someone like that. Who was it?
I really got involved with a weird lady this time. I triggered a pain-in-the-ass event. Well, my level-90 flesh would heal from a woman’s teeth marks in no time, but it still hurt. I’m pretty sure I’m allowed to be mad in this situation.
“Ahhh, phoo...” I had to take care not to get her agitated.
It was my fault for being nice to her when we first met. I shouldn’t have had anything to do with her. I never imagined she would be so violent. She’s an ogre. Like an ogre princess.
“...Do you want some, too?”
Maybe she had calmed down after being quiet for a little while? She came closer—with a look on her face like she hadn’t flown off the handle and bit me mere moments ago.
She took a drink from one of the flasks she had hidden in the back of the shed with Dick.
“If you drink this, your head’ll get all floaty. You’ll have more fun. I really can’t survive without it.”
There was a liquid like blood smeared at the corners of her mouth. She was always drinking this stuff like red wine.
Is she an alcoholic?! I didn’t have any interest in drinking that stuff. I’d seen my parents drunk.
“Hoo-hoo-hoo!” Kizuha got awfully cheerful and scooted over to me, still holding Dick. She smelled weird. “You’ve never heard of it? It’s poppybat blood. It makes everything just the best. Although it’s bad if you mess up.”
I’d never heard that name before. Bat blood? There’s no way it can be okay for people to drink that. Well, I’m sure it’s a brand name, anyhow...
“If you drink this and then do it, it feels so good. You have no idea.”
But the atmosphere was getting weird. Even a dense protagonist like me could tell something was up.
Is it...?
“If anybody finds it I’ll be arrested, so I hide it here.”
So drugs do exist here!
This other world is always coming to subtly crush my schemes. I feel like it’s always one step ahead of me. Or maybe my thought process is just that similar to God’s?
“How about it? Wanna try?”
“Uh, I mean, it seems a little scary...”
“You’ll be fine if you just do a little at a time. Everyone has an amount that’s right for them, so you just stick with that. Of course, it goes up the more you use it...”
“Mmm, nah. I’ll pass. I don’t think that kind of stuff is good for you. I once aspired to be a drug lord, so take it from me: There’s a line that shouldn’t be crossed. Why don’t you quit, too?”
Kizuha smiled at me with glazed over eyes, took a sip, and leaned in.
Just as I was thinking, Whoa, whoa, is she gonna kiss me?!, she locked her lips with mine and sprayed the blood down my throat.
It was my first time doing drugs, my first trip. It was definitely off the wall.
The smell of blood. The taste of iron.
I was pulled into a very specific flashback.