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One after another, girls were allowed into the soup kitchen. The old, ugly, and haggard were given a single burlap sack. That was all I could afford and made sure I had enough for everyone. Lieutenant Dire, seemed to realize what I was looking for, and soon came with countless female clothing which had been left in a warehouse and abandoned. We were able to give them something better than a burlap sack. They received actual dresses and even underwear, which was far more than most of them walked in with.
Every woman was allowed one bowl of soup. If they caused trouble, they were immediately kicked out. I had no spells protecting my girls in this place, but with the demons outside, none of the girls dared cause too much trouble.
“Only one bowl?” A woman growled. “We’ll starve!”
Daphne snorted. “You’d starve anyway. Get lost, or you won’t get a bowl tomorrow.”
I had already warned her they’d be trouble. One knock was to send them through, two knew was to pull them aside, and three knocks were a warning they might be trouble. Elizabeth had seen this woman was up to no good, so we were already prepared to move. Her courage was lacking though, and with that warning, she scampered off to her table. The dining room was filling up quickly, even with one girl at a time. I would have preferred a larger dining space, but the processing center was too important to me.
I watched naked woman after naked woman, many of whom I’d have rather not seen naked. However, I was looking for the gems. When I found a girl who might cut it, I called in Elizabeth and she made sure they were safe to proposition. Unfortunately, two of the most beautiful women I saw were plants by the Sal. He had truly thought of everything, but he couldn’t predict I had a woman who could read minds.
The girls who were taken aside were brought to the back of the brothel. They were given a full bath and then provided much nicer clothing. They were then fed a full meal, essentially what my minions were getting. Their meal contained some knockout drugs, so once the girls passed out, they were placed in beds. I wasn’t kidnapping them. I just needed to wait for a proper time to give them my sales pitch.
“Master, we’re running low on food,” Elizabeth complained.
“Did you thin the soup?”
“As far as I could take it,” Elizabeth admitted.
“I looked outside. By my best guess, only a third of them had been processed. The day was mostly over though, and the energy from the crowd had died considerably.
“Don’t forget to pick out girls to replace your duties. I can’t have you girls doing this all week,” I told Elizabeth.
“Don’t worry, I’ve scouted out several women who might be able to do the job.”
I nodded and then headed outside just as a woman was heading in. I blocked her path. “I’m sorry, we’re closed.”
“Excuse me?” The girl cried out. “N-no… I’ve been waiting all day!”
“That doesn’t change the fact we’re closed.” I shrugged. “I have no more food.”
“No… food?” She asked like the words were unfamiliar.
“Perhaps… if I was allowed to continue my business uninterrupted, I would have had the money to buy more food.” I sighed. “Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to conduct business today, and my dragons ran out.”
I was exaggerating. I probably had enough dragons left after everything to buy food to run the kitchen for a week. I’d need to buy it from cheap sources in town though. Food through the system was far too expensive. However, if I couldn’t make more dragons soon, the soup kitchen idea would be a failure.
The girls all looked at each other. Some were angry at me, while others were glaring at each other. This was just one more wrench to throw in their little riot. They could have eaten if they weren’t so busy causing a fuss. That’s what I essentially said.
The door opened and Diana stepped out. “Master, Mom says our guests will be awakening soon.”
I nodded. “Now, I’m busy. Come tomorrow… let’s say noon if you want to eat. The kitchen will be open until I run out of food. Of course, that’s dependent on if I can buy any.”
I turned and reentered the store, but a hand grabbed my sleeve. It was the girl I had blocked earlier.
“Please… I’m so hungry. I’ll do anything,” she said quietly enough that none of the women outside could hear her. “Anything.”
I frowned for a moment. “Do I know you from somewhere?”
She had a hood hiding most of her face, but her voice seemed vaguely familiar.
Her face turned red and she looked away. “How could that be?”
“Wait, you’re the leader of the spinsters that knocked me unconscious!” I snapped my finger in realization.
“A spinster?” She cried out, touching her hood to make sure she was hidden before leaning closer and whispering. “Look, I’m part of the women’s council. If they knew I was here, they’d kick me out! Please, just do what you want with me… and then feed me.”
She looked up at me, her eyes holding quite a bit of charm. My frown deepened, but I gave a slight nod.
“We’ll figure something out. Come, and be quiet.”
She let out a sigh of relief. I turned and finally entered with the two girls. The crowd was silent as they let me leave, all except Dire, who quickly followed me in.
“Is that it?” he asked at the doorway.
“That’s enough,” I responded. “Oh, encourage your men tomorrow to come use the brothel with their new twenty-percent discount. We’ll be open as normal. Could you spare a few guards to keep the line for the soup kitchen in order? It can be a volunteer. They’ll be given a free service if they participate.”
He nodded. “That can be arranged.”
I noticed he was still standing there awkwardly. “Is there anything else?”
“I used to think you were a capable man,” Lieutenant Dire said uncertainly. “A useful underling in my political struggles.”
“Has that changed?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Now, I’m starting to think I’m the underling, and you were running things from the very beginning.”
“Nonsense, I have no desire to control anything. I just want to be left alone and make money in peace.”
His typical beautiful smile returned. “Right, as you say.”
He seemed to be misunderstanding things, but I had better use of my time than correcting him. He turned and left. By that point, the crowds were starting to depart. The last few customers in the shop were finishing up their soup and Daphne was rudely forcing them to leave.
I pinched Diana and the new girl, who had both become stunned by Dire’s looks.
“Come on, there is still work to do.”
“Ow…”
“Ouch! Y-yes, Master!”
Diana ran off to do some chores, and I took the other woman to the back of the building. Diana was desperately cleaning bowls, a ragged look on her face. Elizabeth was cleaning up the kitchen, but even she had bags under her eyes. The only one who looked fine and idle was Alleya.
“Get to work,” I ordered her.
“Master… I just carried all those…” My look darkened. “Tch… fine… if this is what real work is like, I’d rather be a prostitute!”
She stormed away, but at least she was listening. It was a testament to how hard they all worked today that even her Improved Morals didn’t keep her from complaining. I would have to make it up to all of the girls.
I took the girl through the back door into the back of the brothel. One of the former bedrooms had the door removed and was outfitted as a dining room. There was a large table in the center surrounded by chairs that could seat at least ten people. It would be our dining room, so we didn’t have to eat out where the riffraff did. Eight women were sitting at the table. The women’s council girl became the ninth. She stared at all the unconscious women, an uncertain look on her face. However, the women started moving drowsily as they began to wake up.
Elizabeth, her hair messy, her fingers pruney and her apron filthy, left the kitchen and appeared in the doorway. She gave me a nod. It was time to begin the hard sell, in more ways than one.