"What's wrong?"
Luke stepped backward toward me. He was looking in a different direction from where I was facing, but he looked terrified.
He moved very slowly, carefully keeping his gaze from drifting elsewhere.
I was a bit surprised to see him suddenly act like that, as if he had just seen something frightening or dangerous.
But… even though I tried to look in the same direction, I genuinely felt like there was nothing there.
There was only darkness, maybe because the lighting in this room was very minimal, making my vision blur along with it.
Luke called my name and asked me to step back a few steps, but I was already standing near the wall.
No matter how he asked, neither of us could move anywhere.
He pointed several times toward the door we had just passed and said there was something there.
A moment later, the figure Luke saw finally approached us. Its form became visible to me as it was illuminated by the lantern's light.
I swallowed hard, hoping it wasn't something strange or dangerous for the two of us.
"Excuse me... Is something wrong? You both look frightened, could it be... the wrong place?"
That voice immediately startled me, as well as Luke, who stopped trembling and opened his eyes wide to look at the figure.
A girl wearing a sleeveless white outfit, with a long black skirt. Her eyes were glowing red, with a bright smile on her face.
This impression… It was the same as the girl we met earlier. No wonder the voice sounded so gentle—it came from a girl?
I grabbed Luke by both shoulders and pushed him away from me. I just found out that he didn't really like scary things.
I thought he liked dark places like this, but to the point of mistaking this girl for something terrifying…
"Ahem, are you the one in charge here?" I asked.
She immediately grinned even wider, then made a respectful posture toward me, of course with her hand bent and her fingertips near her temple.
"Exactly, you're right! If you're asking like that, then you two aren't in the wrong place, right~?"
"From the beginning, we intended to go down... Are we allowed to enter now—"
My sentence was immediately cut off by her, as she brought her index finger close to my lips, asking me to be quiet and let her continue instead.
"Before that, there are a few conditions that the two of you must fulfill before going down there. If you can't meet them, the restaurant will gladly prepare a special seat for you~"
…This girl, even though she looked very cheerful, her words just now carried a threat within them.
In a subtle way, she was saying that if we weren't worthy, then our place would simply be in the restaurant, ordering food there.
"What do we have to do?" Luke asked after calming down once he realized what he saw wasn't what he thought.
The girl used her arm to touch something on the wall, then a sound like something shifting could be heard—
Clang!
The room suddenly became very bright. I couldn't explain it, as the light appeared out of nowhere.
There were no other lanterns besides the one behind me. Could this light be using magic?
When I turned toward the wall beside me, earlier there was only an empty wall, but it had suddenly changed into a shelf that reached all the way up to the ceiling.
I wasn't surprised by this rather astonishing change, but rather by the items displayed there that made my face turn flat.
Unlike Luke, he looked very enthusiastic, as if he had long been interested in wearing those items.
The girl stood in front of the shelf and immediately welcomed it by spreading both her arms, as if this was a masterpiece we had to see.
"Here it is! One of the featured items that can only be obtained in this place, don't be shy!"
"All of these are purely my creations, you can buy as many as you want~"
…All of these masks are her creations? All of them?... I didn't expect her to be guarding this place while also overseeing the items she sold…
——
On that shelf, there were so many masks displayed. Not ordinary masks, but ones that only covered the area around the eyes.
There were no straps on the back, which meant that when worn, the mask would attach directly without needing to be pressed too firmly.
The decorations also varied. Although most of the designs were similar, these masks truly served as disguises for people participating in adult entertainment.
Especially in slave trading places, they also used these masks to hide identities.
Aside from that, the masks themselves clearly conveyed feelings of desire and worldly pleasure just from their shapes.
Luke immediately approached the shelf and picked up several to examine them more closely.
I could only sigh before joining in to take a look. There was no way I would just stand still and let Luke go ahead of me.
The girl said the condition was these masks. That meant she wanted us to buy them and wear them immediately if we wanted to go down, right?
"The price depends on the quality of the mask. None of them share the same price, so please choose carefully, okay?"
Hmm… I wasn't interested in items like these at all. I was also confused about which one to buy…
On the other hand, Luke was really trying on many masks, putting them back, and trying others.
Meanwhile, I… Maybe I would just choose based on color… But… Oh, I think that one—
I picked up the mask that had caught my attention, then showed it to the girl who had been watching us from behind.
"This one?" I asked.
She took it very carefully from my hand, then turned it around several times to check its price.
After confirming, she didn't return the mask to me. Instead, she simply extended her palm toward me.
She muttered a few times as a signal to me, ah… we've reached this point.
"Five silver."
"Huh?"
Her words surprised me. I really didn't expect it to be that cheap.
I took a pouch from my pocket, then dropped five silver coins into my hand before handing the pouch to Luke.
He accepted it immediately, even though his gaze was still fixed on the masks in front of him.
Maybe this would become a new note for me—that he likes things like this.
Clink.
The girl smiled again after clenching her palm, now filled with the money I had given.
"Give me the mask. That item already belongs to me, right?" I asked.
"Please close your eyes for a moment. I don't accept refusal."
Huh…? What is this girl doing? For some reason, I felt uneasy. Could she be trying to trick us?
If she did it in a place like this, I suppose it would be normal for her to dare to do it. Maybe she just needed money, then would run away after getting it—
Pluk.
Something touched the surface of the skin around my eyes. There was a small strap that also seemed to tighten around my head.
I slowly opened my eyes to confirm it, and when I did, my vision felt slightly narrower than before.
Confused, I immediately looked at my hands, then touched the object that made my vision feel thinner—
This surface… A mask? I turned back to the girl. She was no longer holding any mask in her hands.
She simply placed both her hands behind her back, smiling with her eyes closed, waiting for the reaction I would give.
Could it be… This girl just put the mask on me?
…Should I pretend to feel shy or happy because she put it on for me? If I hadn't met Hime and Yuu-chan…
Maybe I would have been interested in this girl… But sorry, Hime would punish me if I were caught having any kind of relationship with the girl in front of me.
Sigh… At least her intention was good, I appreciated that. The mask also felt comfortable, not hot or tight when worn.
"Thank you... I didn't expect you to help me—"
"Excuse me! How much is this one?"
Luke quickly stood beside me and took over the girl's attention from me, directing it to himself.
She immediately approached Luke and told him the price he had to pay. Then, after receiving the money from him—
She did the same thing she had just done to me. She put the mask Luke chose onto his face.
"Hehe, does this look good on me?" Luke asked cheerfully.
The girl let out a small laugh while covering her mouth with her hand, then answered Luke's question.
"Hehe~ You look very fitting with that mask, as if it was made just for you~"
See? I don't know whether Luke was pretending or if he really acted like that, I just hope he didn't do it unintentionally.
—
"Once again, thank you for buying masks from me. You can go down now, please, don't hesitate~"
"You said there were several conditions—"
This time, it was Luke who cut me off. He pushed my body to go down the stairs first.
The girl waved her hand as the two of us went down, before we could no longer see her as the stairs turned.
"Hey Luke, how much money do we have now?" I asked.
"I'm not sure… If I remember correctly, maybe less than ten silver, but there are dozens of copper left," he replied in a rather heavy tone like usual.
After going down the stairs, we had to pass through a corridor with walls shaped like steps. Of course, the lighting used the same kind of lanterns as above.
It felt… like entering a large corridor in Iris's place, but this was a smaller version and more common in many places.
"I hope we have enough to buy a few slave collars..."