The King's Gold

Yashima Will Be Freed

Kenji quickly readjusted the hood on his disguise then with a deep breath he walked out onto the streets of Shina with the drawing he had stolen from the king in his sleep folded neatly in his hand.

He and his men asked around for both the artist and the one in the drawing with no like that is until they went to one of the old trading provinces where everyone seemed to recognize the figure in the drawing as a mysterious prostitute called 'Yashima'.

Kenji and his men not perturbed at all by the news of their king's beloved's profession since in Kīppon sex work was not at all seen as shameful however they all had to admit that it was puzzling why somebody would choose such a low paying profession over being royalty.

But as Kenji went to the red light district and saw the lower prostitutes with sad faces sold to greedy drunk men or advertised by being locked in cages by the sides of the street he couldn't help but get the idea that maybe this wasn't entirely a free choice.

It made all of them sick especially when the King's secretary a female Alpha by the name of Lia was approached by a mother begging her to buy her children as slaves because the only other choice was to sell them into prostitution.

They were all appalled.

The higher paying prostitutes got to walk around freely but they were still not free and apparently the lower-paying prostitutes were treated like dirt which made Kenji make up his mind that even though he had gone here initially to confront his friends mate now might be the time to write a letter back to the king telling him what he had done and that a rescue mission might actually be needed.

He wrote a very detailed letter explaining everything that happened and all that he had seen and sent it to the king knowing that would probably take a considerably long time for it to reach him but in the meantime, he decided to use that spare time to locate the person he had come here for.

 Lia came up with a brilliant plan to instead pretend to be a client and go directly up to the brothel staff and ask which he did.

After a few brothels admitting they didn't have the prostitute he wanted and trying to advertise him other ones he eventually found the brothel, he was looking for only to be told by the staff that while they did have that prostitute he would not be able to serve him for at least a few months.

"Unfortunately good master in his condition he will not be able to service you yet! But you can buy a reservation!"

He smiled and pushed back the urge to vomit then agreed.

However, Lia who was standing behind him whispered in his ear to try and persuade the staff to let him visit the prostitute for under-the-table money.

"... another question Miss?"

"Oh yes?"

"...umm… would it be possible for a small extra some to Ummm… have a small meeting with Yashima?"

The younger staff woman looked both ways but the older fat woman covered in gold and jewels smoking on a tobacco pipe beside her walked up to her and with an enthusiastic voice and a wave of the hand begin to speak in her place.

"Well well! You see my fine gentleman we don't really allow that sort of thing even for a very large sum of money!"  

She said but the tone of her voice did not match her words instead she knew that she couldn't exactly ask to be seen how much money he was willing to pay but that's exactly what she was asking.

He played along.

"Well, it's quite a shame I already brought all this money with me!"

He said as he opened his money bag and both of the women's jaws dropped and the older fat woman dropped her tobacco pipe on the floor.

"Well, I'm sure with your generosity something can be arranged!"

She smiled wickedly and lead him to a room to wait while his comrades waited outside the brothel.