Chapter 1 – Volume 1
Volume one’s translations are a bit rough and inaccurate, however, I will not be retranslating them at this time. Please take the translations with a grain of salt. Thank You.
Edited on 9/25/22 & 9/17/23. Some bits of the translation were revised.
1
The whole street was covered in red.
Red lanterns illuminated red-painted walls. As he walked along the narrow red shadows, he came across several red doors.
When the door was opened, a red pleasure spread out.
This is the abandoned city that sat on the western border of the Ibeden Empire.
When the city was hastily abandoned by the Lords it became a lawless zone, and the brothels were established even faster than that.
Knock knock-
“Sir, the goods have arrived”
“Oh, this way”
“Yes.”
Even in brothels, where all kinds of prostitution exist, there must always be special places.
That was the door that was now open.
The red lacquer was the same as the other doors except there were small marks under the handle.
It was three black stars.
One star meant male prostitutes were offered.
Two black stars I meant you could use tools.
Three black stars meant anything was possible. From the moment the guest entered this room, the prostitute belonged fully to the guest. All of it, mind, body, and life, everything.
Creeek-
“Go in.”
The pimp pushed the prostitute’s back.
The Prostitute was naked except for a red cloth over his head and chains on his wrist.
It was a device used both for the safety of the guests and the purpose of entertainment.
The three-star guest quickly glanced up and down at the prostitute whose face was covered with red cloth.
He looked young and had a skinny body with protruding bones. His skin was on the fair side, and he looked pale at first glance.
There were large and small scars all over him. Some were freshly made, and others looked much older. Most of the wounds looked as though they’d been made by leather whips.
The customer seemed to like this. His thick tongue came out and licked his lips.
“Wonderful. I like this one, he will do.”
The pimp nodded and stepped back.
Bang-
The opened door was shut tight.
There was only one small painted door, however, it totally disconnected this space from the rest of the world.
With that door closed, the room became a completely different world.
It was a world where screams, cries, and even prayers were useless.
“Come closer.”
The guest, who was sitting on a bed lined with red silk, waved his hand. The prostitute heard the sound and shuffled his feet, they were the footsteps of a blind person.
“Show me your face.”
The prostitute took off the red cloth covering that had been draped over his head.
The prostitute’s eyes were covered with a thick black cloth blindfold.
The customer brought a glass of wine to his mouth and grinned.
“You’re being very meticulous. What should still be covered up at such a price?”
The customer liked his smooth face. The small white face didn’t look like a boy’s, instead, it was strangely androgynous. He liked it even more when he realized that, and because of his small delicate features.
The customer drank a mouthful of wine and loosened his robe. He was already naked beneath it.
There was a leather strap wrapped around his ankle and a key was threaded through the strap.
It was the key that unlocked the manacles that were on the prostitute’s wrist. Of course, the customer had no intention of quietly giving the key out.
“Come here. Crawl.”
The Prostitute crawled on all fours. It was an obedient attitude with no signs of resistance. The customer’s eyes lit up with excitement.
The Prostitute came up to the customer’s feet and knelt down.
The customer put his feet on the prostitute’s thighs.
“Lick it. If I like it, I will give you the key.”
“………”
The Prostitute bowed his head, and his shackled hand lifted the guest’s foot uncomfortably.
His full lips approached and he put two toes in his small mouth.
“Hmmm”
What he did wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t anything special. The customer was angry.
“Work harder.”
Instead of answering, the wet sound grew louder. The lips that nibbled at the customer’s toes ran up his instep. The prostitute’s wet tongue procrastinated, then crawled over to his foot.
“Hmm……, okay, now I’m feeling it a bit…, yes, like that.”
His tongue tickled his ankle bone as the customer shrugged his shoulders and chuckled. And the next moment,
Clink clank-
The feeling of the prostitute’s wet tongue on his feet was gone.
The customer found that the prostitute had taken the key and opened his shackles. The customer was very displeased.
“Impudence… who said it was okay to open the shackles?”
The guest picked up the leather whip on the table, next to the bed.
The cheeky prostitute had to be punished. He would drain some of his blood, and get rid of his cocky attitude.
“Take the lash!”
There was a wet smacking sound as the customer swung the whip.
The leather whip, which was already wet with wine, wrapped around the prostitute’s naked body.
“………”
The prostitute’s lips twisted slightly.
However, he swallowed a moan as he raised his hands, and fumbled them over his face.
“What are you doing!? Lower them down and beg!”
There was another smacking sound and a small thud.
The moment the whip hit his body, The prostitute lost his balance and fell.
But instead of standing up or trying to avoid the whip as it flew through the air, the prostitute untied his blindfold.
“Come on, beg!”
Smack-
It was another sound as the whip flew through the air and slapped the prostitute on the side of his head. The helix of his ear was torn and blood was gushing out.
The prostitute raised his hand and grabbed the tip of the whip.
“What are you doing? How dare……! Let go now!”
The customer pulled back on the handle of the whip in a burst of anger.
The Prostitute held onto the whip tightly and walked toward the customer.
“What……what are you doing!?”
The customer let go of the immobilized whip.
Instead, he grabbed a blade that was lying next to him. It was a wide thick single-edged blade, that was more like a club or an axe than a sword.
“Damn it!”
The blade was a battlefield weapon.
The continent was in the midst of war and this area had been a battlefield for several years.
Count Custer was a general in the Ibeden Empire. He had stopped off at a nearby brothel to have some fun before joining Prince Leshek’s Army, which was camped on the Western border.
The sword, honed on the battlefield, was fierce.
The weapon created a threatening air that would have cut the prostitute’s neck at any moment.
Except that at that moment,
“… …!”
The prostitute opened his eyes.
His eyes were as blue as ice crystals. They were so cold and clear that they were nearly transparent.
Count Custer looked at the eyes, enraptured. His focus was bound. He couldn’t take his eyes off them.
The next moment,
“……Ahhh“
……Thud-
Count Custer fell dead to the floor.
Count Custer’s eyes, which had just met the prostitute’s eyes, turned into hideous pits, as though someone had dug them out.
“…. …”
The Prostitute quietly spat in front of the body.
He didn’t mean to insult the body. It was only to clear away the taste the other person still remaining in his mouth.
The emotions hidden under his blank expression were mixed into his saliva and bile.
The Prostitute, who spit so much that his lips were sore, and groaned in vain.
“Uhh, ughhh…….!
But time was short. The prostitutes scrubbed his lips and removed the cloak from Count Custer’s body.
It was an absurdly large garment for the prostitutes skinny body, but there was nothing else to cover his nakedness. The prostitutes untied the string of the cloak and tied the black cloth over his eyes again.
He fumbled against the wall and walked toward the door.
Squeak-
The door marked with three black stars opened with a creaking groan. The prostitute headed out into the darkness and disappeared onto the red street.
The red door concealed the corpse of Count Custer.
It happened on the western border of the Ibeden Empire, already at war with five neighboring countries for the past seven years,
In the brothels called Merv, also known as The Drifting City.
If you’re reading this anywhere other than Foolishtranslationss.wordpress.com, it was stolen from the translator’s website. Reading this anywhere other than the translator’s website ensures that the translator may never translate any other works. Thank you.
2
“Look it’s empty. You would think I was looking for a tiny ant!”
These were the words of Crown Prince Leshak.
“Yes, My Lord.”
Half of the twelve Guardian Knights, who were said to be like ‘one body‘ with the Crown Prince, disappeared through the maze of alleys with the soldiers.
The expression on the face of the Crown Prince as he watched them from behind was ferocious. Cool anger was shown in his stern, perfect facial features. Looking too stern was often a criticism made of the Crown Prince.
They were spending an evening searching for the delinquent Count Custer, who was trespassing in the red-light district in direct violation of the Crown Prince’s orders.
The enraged Crown Prince personally led the Guardian Knights and set out to find the Count.
That was the reason he was now standing in these red streets. It is prohibited for the entire Army, including himself, to visit the brothels.
“Hmmm, I’m sure you’re not going to cut off Count Custer’s head right here are you?”
Asked Head Knight, Abadd. The Prince’s answer came with a slight delay.
“…..Of course not. I’ll punish him according to Military Law.”
“Ah, yes. Well…That’s fortunate, at least you’re not that stern.”
‘Stern’ was a reference to the appearance of the Crown Prince.
His well-known perfect facial features, which looked as though the Architect of Creation had been calculating the golden ratio with a divine measuring instrument, demonstrated exactly why a God should be stern.
Even the rather unusual combination of his silvery hair which resembled starlight and his black onyx eyes were a perfect match on Leshek’s face.
From the size of his head, the width of his shoulders, even the degree of roundness of his nails, and the length of his leg muscles, there was no place that the modifier of ‘Ideal‘ was not suitable in relation to the Crown Prince.
But unfortunately, his personality was far more stringent than his appearance was ideal.
Abadd laughed softly.
It was a terrible concern for him. It has never been and never could be said, that Crown Prince Leshak put his Envoy above his code of fairness.
That was the main reason that this massive Empire could continue to function without any problems even though it had been at war for seven years.
“Anyway, Custer is probably somewhere in the midst of this ally having fun. Even if we don’t find him here right now, we will have had to come back after finishing our duties anyway.”
It had only been a few days since Colonel Custer had joined up with the rest of the army.
Abadd thought that Count probably didn’t consider this excursion as anything more than a light night out. If the Crown Prince hadn’t personally appeared leading the Guardian Knights, the Count’s excursion probably wouldn’t even have caused too much excitement.
That is to say, it wouldn’t have been a good thing, but also, nothing much would have come of it either.
Putting aside the military’s moral reputation, having the Count join would have been a benefit to the military might.
However, the wrath of the Crown Prince was a little different from what Abadd would have estimated.
“So I want to find him before then.”
“… …”
“Because I feel sorry for the prostitute who has to deal with that bloated body”
“Do you mean that?”
Abadd smiled mischievously and drew his arm to his chest. Because he had a roguish heart, the way he drew his arm appeared playful.
“Oh my god! What will happen if we have such a harsh human being as a superior? Please have mercy on Count Custer.”
“Enough mercy has been shown.”
Prince Leshak twisted his lips.
“Sex isn’t the issue, I gave him permission to bring his lover to live in the barracks.”
“Wait, you mean a mistress, not a wife? It’s definitely an unconventional treatment for Prince Leshak. So then, why is he trespassing?!”
“That’s the problem! But the thing that bothers me the most is his coming to a place like this.”
Leshak pointed to the red street that stretched out like a maze in the harsh red light.
“Seven years ago, it was a commercial district that traded wheat and textiles. But now it’s like this.”
It was another face of war.
Those who had lost their families and been plundered were dragged into this cesspool, doing what was needed to survive. The men who made this place into a cesspool turned the Prince’s stomach as his eyes fell upon the despair they created.
Leshak was angry at the street itself!
After reading the Prince’s displeasure, Abadd changed his expression and made a serious inquiry.
“If you will allow me, I will come back later alone, and I will clear this entire street so that it will no longer be seen by Your Majesty.”
“Even if you do, it will just move to another place.”
In order to get rid of the trash, the war had to end.
“I have no more tolerance for Count Custer. I will enforce military discipline as soon as I find him.”
“As you wish.”
Abadd lowered his head with a restrained motion.
It may seem like he was too strict with the incompetence and intemperance of others. But in fact, Leshak was stricter on himself than anyone.
So Abadd thought he was the luckiest Knight on the continent. Prince Leshak was a Lord who was both righteous and fair.
“It looks like it will take more time than I thought.”
Said the Crown Prince, who he was chasing after his subordinate.
“Yes. It seems to be a more complex terrain than it looks to the naked eye. Shall we move?”
“That’s what I was about to say.”
“Then I will take the lead. Come this way.”
Leshak and Abadd began to move.
It was easier than on a battlefield. The sound of footsteps disappeared as he held the weapon on his waist.
The two knights of the Ibeden Empire seeped into the red shadow of the brothels.
It was when they turned the corner of a few steps,
Bump-
That he suddenly nearly bumped into someone who had been in a blind spot of the stonewall in which he was patrolling.
“Oh!”
“Are you alright?”
“Ah…….”
The person who almost bumped into Leshak was a man with a small build.
Leshak, who thought at first it was a woman because the wrist he held in one hand was so thin, frowned after checking the person.
He had a black cloth wrapped around his eyes.
It meant he was blind.
“Th,The sound……… I couldn’t hear your feet……… Sir……”
His voice was small and his pronunciation was slurred.
“I,I thought ….there was……no one…..here………..”
His shoulders trembled as if he were bewildered. Leshak gazed at the blind man, who was barely wearing a loose cloak, and his gaze gradually sunk to the ground.
Blood was seeping down from under the robe.
The long, thin, strangely curved lacerations evoked unpleasant images. Surprisingly, there was only one thing that could create such a wound.
It was a whip.
Leshak spoke to him.
“Why is a blind man walking alone without a cane? Can no one guide you?”
“It’s okay, I’m used to it……”
Blind, in the red district, perhaps naked underneath the robe, probably whipped but ‘used to it’.
The identity of the young man was obvious.
He a prostitute.
He’s also male.
It meant that he was at the bottom of the filthy and terrible cesspool.
Leshak, who was looking at the blind man with a rapidly changing expression, suddenly lowered himself and rolled up the man’s cloak.
“Stay still. I don’t mean to do anything bad.”
“N,no……..!”
The blind man struggled. Leshak held the blind man with one hand and examined the wound with the other.
The roughly torn skin was painful to look at.
“Do you have medicine?”
Abadd shook his head.
“No, My Lord, sorry.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
Leshak ripped off the sleeve of his shirt. While Abadd flinched as though his own clothes had been torn, Leshak rolled the sleeve up and covered the blind man’s wound with it.
“The more blood you shed, the more dangerous it is. You have to apply medicine to it. Is there a doctor nearby?”
“I,I don’t know. Th,this is enough……”
Abadd intervened, thinking this was too out of the ordinary.
“Your Majesty, a prostitute’s time is precious. If you keep him too long, his pimp will come looking for him.”
“Well, if you say so……”
The blind man raised his head, surprised at the words he heard. He looked like a bird that had heard the sound of a bow.
His shoulders were small and his skin was too pale. His parched lips were pitiful like unripe fruit. The continuous stream of blood drew his attention.
It would be far more difficult not to feel sympathy for the poor man.
Leshak got up. He touched the blind man on his shoulder. The blind man could not see the serious expression he had on his face.
“Do you want to leave here?”
“………What?”
“I’ll give you another life if you want. Don’t worry about your pimp. You will live as a citizen of the Ibeden Empire.”
“Ah……!”
The blind man uttered an incomprehensible sound.
Leshak watched as he clenched his hands.
Even asking him if he wanted to leave was a futile question. It was a question that did not need to be asked in the first place. Having reached the conclusion, Leshak grabbed the blind man by the arm.
“Guide me to your pimp.”
“Pardon………? …….Pardon?
The blind man opened his mouth with a surprised expression.
Abadd clicked his tongue silently behind Leshek’s back.
Picking up a prostitute who got lost due to the war was like Leshak, but he was worried about whether he should stop him.
There were plenty of poor people, and it was impossible to help them individually.
However, the blind man shook off Leshek’s hand first.
Leshak frowned as he looked at his empty hand.
“Why?”
A strange tension arose between Leshak and the blind man. The blind man spoke only after he took a deep breath.
“It,it’s…….. alright…. My Lord.”
“What do you mean by alright?”
“I………..h,have a family……..I,I can’t………. leave my f,family”.
The blind man bent over abruptly and groveled on the ground as he kowtowed.
Unfortunately, his face pointed in the wrong direction, and instead of Leshak, he was pointed it at Abadd.
So it made the situation even more pitiful, he felt like he wouldn’t be able to tolerate himself if he left the man like this.
“B,But thank you for the words……I will… never forget this”.
The blind man leaned back. Leshak exhaled sharply.
“Don’t go. I don’t understand.”
“Y,You don’t need to concern yourself…… anymore.”
“It’s already too late. I’ve seen you now.”
“Oh, no……i,it’s not possible.”
Mea culpa.
The blind man raised up fully and disappeared behind the corner where he first appeared.
“What?”
Abadd opened his eyes wide.
“What is that? He’s so fast.”
“Damn it!”
Leshak turned the corner as he swore. But in the time in between, the blind man had disappeared.
There were only a handful of red shadows, and then…nothing, just an empty street and him calling out futility.
“I think he might just have just been a bad dream, Your Majesty. What kind of person………”
Abadd muttered in a tone of disbelief.
Leshak ground his teeth slightly. Abadd, who quickly noticed his master’s feelings, spoke to him in a consoling tone.
“While we’re looking for Count Custer, shall we also look for the blind man? But if he’s like that, it doesn’t seem like there’s any use looking for him.”
“…..Yes!”
Bam-
Leshak punched the stonewall.
Abadd could see that his hand was hurt. However, Leshak did not consider his hand as painful as his incompetence or this incomprehensible situation.
“Let’s go. We need to find Count Custer before he harasses him.”
“You’re right.”
Their pace, which had been delayed for a few moments, continued quickly.
It was exactly three hours later that Prince Leshak and his party found Count Custer.
Unfortunately, the count was already a stiff corpse.
The strange corpse had no signs left on his body except for the two eyes that had been turned into dark red pits.
If you’re reading this anywhere other than Foolishtranslationss.wordpress.com, it was stolen from the translator’s website. Reading this anywhere other than the translator’s website ensures that the translator may never translate any other works. Thank you.
3
“Hah, hah……”
Radan pressed on his heart that was about to beat out of his chest.
He stopped running and held his breath for a while, and then his breathing gradually improved.
“Hoo……”
Radan crouched under the red wall.
The skin that was torn by the whip just a little while ago was now sore.
“You have to……run away.”
Radan curled up under the red wall.
His skin which was torn by the whip was still painful.
His legs, which had slumped down, refused to listen anymore.
“Now, when……the body……is found……….”
Radan raised his trembling hand and forced it to touch the ground.
His body was trembling.
Then, he remembered the big, warm hand that held his body when he stumbled.
“Leshak…… he is the First Prince.
As far as he knew there was only one person in the Empire who was called His Majesty.
The body heat that lingered on Radan’s skin tied his feet as though they were in chains.
“Oh n,no.”
Radan clasped his head and cradled himself like a child.
The voice of the person who sent Radan to that place lingered in his head.
-It seemed to speak to him…”It’s Prince Leshak! No matter how many others you kill, the war will not be over. You must kill Leshak! If you get an opportunity, do it!“
Radan’s face was distorted.
He wanted to throw everything that happened today away cleanly beyond oblivion.
In his mind the candy-like words of Prince Leshak lingered, saying that he would give him another life if he wanted it.
But it was an impossible wish!
The next meeting between Radan and Prince Leshak had already been scheduled.
If you’re reading this anywhere other than Foolishtranslationss.wordpress.com, it was stolen from the translator’s website. Reading this anywhere other than the translator’s website ensures that the translator may never translate any other works. Thank you.
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