"Well, hello there, you two. Long time no see!"
"Whoa...!"
Their host was one of the courtesans Ren had met during her first visit. They were shown into a private room, not a reception room, and immediately, Ren was hugged tightly. Her face was pressed into a generous bosom, momentarily taking her breath away. Perhaps due to their line of work, which involved physical intimacy, the courtesans had a narrow sense of personal space. This was even more so with a younger person of the same sex—wait, was it similar even when Ren was a man?
"You startled me!"
"Sorry, sorry. But it's fine, right? It's not like anything is going to disappear."
If anything was going to "disappear," it would be something on her side.
"Ren-chan, you've gotten even cuter! What's that lovely scent? It's not perfume, is it? And what cup size are you now?"
"Um... can we sit down somewhere to talk? I actually have a question related to that."
"What is it, a question?"
"Oh, Ren-chan and the others are here! We want to talk too."
Just as Ren managed to pull away from the woman, another voice called out. Two more courtesans came to the front of the room. Since they were all courtesans, they were beautiful, and since it was their private time, they were dressed casually. Well, they were scantily clad even during work, but now they wore minimal makeup and their underwear wasn't the flashy kind meant to be shown to men. This was their defenseless appearance, possible because there were only women present. Incidentally, Takuma, or rather Rian, was not counted as a man, and he had left for another job immediately after guiding Ren and Furi.
"Haha. Is it always this lively here?"
"Well, not always. But since it's just women, we don't have to worry about formalities. Did you want to join us too, Furi-chan?"
"No, I don't think so."
They all eventually went inside and sat down on the carpeted floor. While the brothel's reception area was used with shoes on, the courtesans' private rooms required taking off shoes at the entrance. Since they were all Japanese, it seemed like they still felt uneasy wearing shoes indoors.
"This is just a small gift, or a souvenir, perhaps?"
"Thank you. Oh, is this jerky?"
"Yes. It's pork jerky."
When they defeated Orcs, meat occasionally dropped. It was probably Orc meat, but it tasted almost exactly like pork. Meat was expensive to buy, so it was treasured at their dinner table, but this time, Ren had decided to smoke it. They got the wood chips for smoking from Iris's parents' home. Although Ren was the one who brought it, she thought it turned out quite well.
"It keeps for a while, so please enjoy it as a snack."
"Thanks! ...Alright, let's open a bottle of alcohol!"
"Okay! I'll grab enough glasses for everyone."
"I'll bring some good liquor from my room!"
"You're going to eat and—wait, you're going to drink now?! Don't you start work this evening?"
"It's fine, it's fine. Work alcohol and private alcohol are separate."
There shouldn't be such a convenient excuse like "there's always room for dessert," but it was also true that one couldn't be a courtesan if one had a low tolerance for alcohol. A courtesan's job was to charmingly manipulate the customer; if they were the ones getting drunk and manipulated, they would lose face entirely.
"Well, even if you have a low tolerance for alcohol, there are ways to cover it up."
"There are tricks for that?"
"Of course. Like hiding a small bag in your sleeve and pouring it in, or holding it in your mouth and giving it to the customer via a kiss."
"The customers must love that..."
Customers who were in a good mood tended to drink more, and they paid less attention to small details, making it easier to deceive them. Of course, the service fee included the cost of the alcohol.
"Are Ren-chan and the others heavy drinkers?"
"Ren is quite the guzzler."
"You are too."
In Furi's case, since she was mischievous even normally, she might not change much even when drunk. Since they were mindful of the time and place and their pocket money was limited, neither Ren nor Furi drank without limits, but neither had ever been genuinely drunk. They poured drinks for each other and sipped the strong distilled liquor. Ren liked the taste.
"...This is delicious."
"Right? It's my favorite."
"Seriously, you two seem completely fine. Are you sure you shouldn't be courtesans?"
"No, we have adventuring to do, and I'm not really interested in men."
The three women all chimed in, "What a waste," but Ren had no intention of changing her mind.
"Um, about that question I had."
"Yes, yes."
The women didn't seem intent on forcing her, so they went along with the change of topic. Ren felt relieved, and as she looked at everyone's chests, she began.
"My chest keeps getting bigger every time I level up... As you can see, it's gotten quite large."
"It has. Furi-chan, what size is that?"
"A barely-D cup C, I'd say."
"Ooh," a cheer went up. While a C-cup was common in fiction, in reality, it was quite large. That fact hadn't changed even here, in this town of Japanese transmigrants. On that note, many of the courtesans had large chests.
"I was wondering how you all procure your underwear. Could you recommend a good, affordable shop?"
"---"
Strangely, no one answered her. The Orc pork jerky had a different, but still delicious, flavor compared to beef jerky and certainly paired well with alcohol, but no one was so engrossed in drinking that they couldn't speak. The three women stared intently at Ren, as if they had just witnessed something sacred.
"Ren-chan, can I hug you?"
"Oh my, how cute she is."
"I wish Rian could be this honest."
They seemed to have been moved somehow. Ren looked at Furi in confusion, only to see Furi nodding firmly.
"No, I didn't say anything weird, did I?"
"No, it's because you didn't say anything weird. To think Ren, who hated the idea so much, is now asking people other than us for underwear advice..."
"Hey, it's embarrassing for me too, you know?"
"Now, now. Don't worry, we'll definitely tell you."
They smiled and offered her more alcohol, which Ren gladly accepted.
"Underwear, well. There aren't many large sizes. Especially cute ones."
"There are only a limited number of people who need that size here."
"C-cups might still be available, but... Ren-chan, you'll probably keep growing."
"That's the problem."
She had already had to replace her underwear several times because her chest was getting too tight.
"At this point, whether it's cute or not is secondary."
"No, that's not allowed."
She was firmly rejected.
"How about switching to camisole styles? A Succubus probably doesn't have to worry about losing shape even without a bra, right?"
"Oh, is that true, Ren-chan?"
"Even if you ask me that, I've only been a woman for about half a year."
"Ah. And you're still young."
Incidentally, Ren had considered camisoles. However, Ren ideally wanted a bra.
"...Once you experience that hold, you can't go back, I guess."
"Ren, you've really matured."
"Don't pat my head. Are you actually drunk?"
"Sorry, you're wrong! This is just my personality even when I'm sober."
"I see. Hmm, in that case, it will still be expensive."
Naturally, larger bras require more material. They tended to be more expensive, and replacing them every time she grew would compound the cost.
"I even thought about making one myself, but I don't have the skill to finish it to my satisfaction."
"Oh, Ren-chan, you can sew?"
"Right now, it's just to fix frayed parts."
Bras have a unique and difficult structure. Ren wanted a comfortable fit, so she didn't want to compromise with a poorly made one.
"The only place I can compromise is on how cute it is."
"You must not compromise on that."
"Yes."
Compromising on cuteness was absolutely forbidden, apparently. The courtesans pondered for a moment, then smiled brightly.
"You can't avoid spending money on underwear."
"So there's no solution..."
"There's just no way around that. And we can't give you our hand-me-downs."
"That's true."
Normally, people didn't share underwear unless there were extreme circumstances. Even if they ignored that, since they were being thrown away, they were essentially items whose functionality had reached its limit. Honestly, receiving them wouldn't help.
Then,
"Wait? If Ren-chan doesn't mind hand-me-downs, maybe there's a possibility?"
"Huh?"
"We can't give you the ones we wear in private, but maybe the ones we wear for work."
According to them, the courtesans purchased their work underwear with a budget provided by the brothel.
"We have to wear clean underwear in front of customers, right? So they subsidize it, and that also means we can 'replace them as soon as they show any damage.'"
"Ah, I see. You replace them sooner than your everyday wear?"
"Exactly."
They might not be suitable for entertaining customers, but they were perfectly fine for everyday use. Of course, some courtesans repurposed their work wear for private use, but others preferred bras for work and camisoles for private wear.
"How about we ask everyone, 'Give them to Ren instead of throwing them away'?"
"That would be a great help!"
As a result of this, Ren was able to receive the courtesans' hand-me-downs at her next replacement time. Some designs were unsuitable for strenuous activity, but they were more than sufficient for casual wear. Thanks to this, she saved a considerable amount of money.
"By the way, Ren-chan. What do you do with the underwear you can't wear anymore? Do you throw them away?"
"No. Furi and Iris usually took the ones I couldn't wear anymore. They weren't very damaged because my size kept going up."
This was a form of saving in itself. Her current bra size likely wouldn't fit Furi and the others, but the next one might fit Mariabelle's size. The courtesan nodded at this, saying, "I see."
"I thought selling them for money might be an option, but if they're being put to good use, that's fine."
"Wait, you can sell used underwear? ...You don't mean selling them as vintage clothes, do you?"
The answer she received was a knowing smile.
"As a former boy, Ren-chan, you should know that better than anyone, shouldn't you?"
"...Ah. Yes, there are men who would buy a cute girl's underwear."
"There are!?"
"There really are."
It was no wonder Furi was surprised, but to a guy, a girl's underwear was an erotic item. Of course, some were only interested in what was inside, and few got excited about brand-new items. However, there was a demand for items worn by a cute girl, even if they had been washed. Ren had heard that a long time ago, when there weren't many high-rise apartments and many homes had balconies close to the street, there were many cases of underwear theft.
"So Ren's can be sold too."
"Sold, sold. I think Furi-chan's could be sold too."
"No, I'm not interested in that."
Ren, who was recently certified as "cute" by her male friends, would certainly be in demand.
"But, I have no idea where or how to take them to be sold."
"If you give them to Sis, the brothel can take care of it."
It seemed the devil found a way.
"I see. I guess no one would want the ones I'm wearing now..."
"If the premise is that Ren-chan asked Sis to dispose of them, and Sis brought them to an auction, no one will probably be hurt."
"An auction, seriously?"
Ren felt it was safer not to ask for details. It would be unbearably awkward if any acquaintances were participating in that. Furi tugged on Ren's sleeve.
"You don't have to sell them if you don't want to."
"Yeah, that's true."
They weren't that desperate for money. Furi's "No" was mostly due to visceral disgust. She could imagine what the buyer would "use" them for. Ren thought for a while.
"I'll think about it."
Perhaps because she was formerly a man, Ren wasn't too resistant to the idea of underwear she was planning to dispose of being used secretly. Of course, having her current pair stolen or having something done in front of her was another matter. So, the decision was put on hold for now. The courtesans didn't insist, so Ren spent the rest of the time chatting casually and drinking before heading home.
The pork jerky was popular enough that they said they "wanted to eat it again," so Ren decided to send them more via Mariabelle whenever she acquired more (alleged) Orc meat.
It was that very night that Ren's race level increased again, and her cup size went from C to D.
After much deliberation, Ren chose a unique new skill: "Mana Overload Storage (Mana Storage)."
============
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