Ero Saint: I Created An Ero Massage Parlor In Another World
Chapter 14: Rumor

Chapter 14: Rumor

Esther Serena turned her head in my direction. For a moment, I was pretty sure she was looking right at me. But when I looked up, I saw her attention had already shifted back to the vagrant.

’Was I imagining things?’

Then I saw her begin addressing the people nearby, calmly instructing them to help the injured store owner and guiding the crowd to settle down.

With just a few words, she took control of the situation.

I couldn’t help but be impressed. The way she handled everything so naturally, with such authority... If it were me in her place, I’d have frozen on the spot.

But then I was reminded of her identity.

If she really was the daughter of Victor Serena, her ability to handle a crowd made perfect sense.

Her father was the head of a gang. As his daughter, she’d naturally have some experience giving orders and taking control.

Though, calling it a gang might be a bit of a stretch.

From what I could tell, the Workers operated more like a labor union than a typical criminal group. They didn’t extort protection fees from random people or businesses like most gangs did. Instead, they only collected dues from their members, and those members actually received real benefits in return.

Based on what I could piece together from my memories, membership in the Workers came with certain protections. Employers were less likely to abuse or exploit Workers-affiliated laborers.

There were probably a lot more benefits to being part of the Workers, especially considering nearly every laborer in the West Borough had joined. But the original Aiden hadn’t paid much attention to the details.

’If I really wanted to know more, I could just ask Richie. I remember he’s a member too. Huh... maybe not all of the Five Rings are bad after all,’ I muttered under my breath.

My eyes drifted to Esther, now surrounded by a group of Radhanians demanding to take the vagrant with them.

The other, nearby vagrants had stirred up from their slumber and now trembled with fear, unsure of what would happen next.

I watched them for a few more seconds before turning away and continuing on my way.

What I didn’t realize at the time was that, the moment I walked off, Esther’s eyes followed me intently. Her hand, which had been resting tensely on her hip, immediately relaxed.

"Phew... that guy feels dangerous..."

"What did you say?"

"Nothing."

...

After the stabbing incident, I didn’t run into any hidden quests or unexpected events.

In fact, things were so quiet, I started to wonder if I had somehow wandered into the wrong district... because this didn’t feel like the West Borough at all!

According to my memories, the West Borough was crawling with criminals. You had to constantly watch your back, pickpockets, random thugs demanding protection fees, and if you refused, they wouldn’t hesitate to rough you up or even stab you. On top of that, there was always the risk of being swarmed by desperate, hungry vagrants.

But strangely enough, I encountered none of that.

’What’s with the sudden peace and quiet?’ I thought to myself, scanning my surroundings.

Soon, I spotted a man leaning against the wooden railing of his house, puffing on a tobacco roll.

I walked over and cleared my throat.

It had become a habit of mine to clear my throat to get someone’s attention instead of waving or saying hello. Saved me the trouble of speaking too much. And clearly, it worked.

The man instantly took notice of my presence, glanced over, and eyed me with suspicion. "Who are you?"

"Kekeke, I’m just a nobody," I blurted out, following my intrusive thought.

I initially wanted to try to lighten the mood by starting off a friendly laugh, but what I didn’t expect was that what came out of my mouth sounded more like a creepy giggle than anything else.

’Fuck, what did I just say?’

I froze. And so did the other guy before he took a few steps back. I could feel his suspicion spike almost instantly.

"Wait, wait! I’m just kidding! I’m harmless, really. Can’t you tell?" I hurriedly raised both hands, palms open, trying to show I meant no harm and came in peace as I noticed him edging toward his door.

Upon hearing my words, he stopped retreating but still kept a safe distance between us.

"What do you want? Why did you come up to me?"

I got straight to the point.

"Do you know what’s going on around here? This area used to be crawling with thugs and vagrants, but now it’s like they’ve all vanished."

The man relaxed his shoulders, took a drag from his tobacco, then said, "You don’t know? There’s been a plague going around. I’m not sure when it started, but a lot of people started getting sick. There’s a saying—’only idiots catch illness’—and I guess there’s some truth to it. So far, it’s mostly the vagrants and thugs who’ve come down with it."

"What about the residents here?" I asked.

"They’re fine. Look at me, do I look sick?" he said confidently, then coughed severely right after, while pointing to himself.

I gave him a slow scan from head to toe. Then I averted my gaze.

He caught that immediately. "Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?" he asked, suddenly looking concerned.

"You might not look sick," I said, "but who knows what’s going on inside. You should stop smoking that tobacco. Otherwise, your lungs might give out."

He squinted at me like I had just told him the sky was green. "What do you know about tobacco? Lungs, huh? Kid, that nonsense might work on someone else, but not me. You just had to say it to me of all people."

He held up the half-burned roll with a kind of reverence, almost like worshipping it.

"If it weren’t for this little thing, I would’ve thrown myself off that bridge years ago. It’s because of tobacco that I found the will to keep going. To me, it’s not just a commodity I bought to fulfill my craving, but it’s also a reminder that it once saved me. This is my savior!"

I was speechless. More importantly, I realized there was no point arguing with a smoker, especially a heavy one like him.

It’s not like anyone in this world knew about the health risks associated with tobacco anyway. Talking about lung damage would just make me sound like a lunatic. And really, even back on modern Earth, people kept smoking despite warning labels printed right on the packaging. If that didn’t stop them, why would my warning work here?

"By the way, do you know anything going on over Nolan Street?" I asked, changing the subject.

Nolan Street was the street that housed my home.

"Nolan Street?" He scratched his head. "Can’t say I’ve heard anything from there..."

I was just about to feel disappointed when he suddenly snapped his fingers.

"Wait! Actually, I think I know something."

"Yeah?"

"There’s a strange Radhanian guy who recently moved in and opened... what was it again...?"

"Massage parlor?" I said unsurely.

"Ah, that’s right! Massage parlor! You know it too?"

"Yeah," Not only do I know it, I even own the place!

And what do you mean by strange Radhanian?! I didn’t recall doing anything weird... then again, maybe starting a massage parlor here was enough to make people consider him to be strange. After all, massage was a practice unique to the Radhan Empire and never existed outside of it.

Not every Radhanian could master the technique, and even fewer had the means or motivation to teach it elsewhere.

In fact, there were plenty of horror stories about inexperienced Radhanians practicing their massage techniques on unsuspecting clients, often leading to disastrous results.

Some victims suffered nerve damage that left them with partial loss of limbs. Others ended up with severe internal injuries. There were even cases where clients vomited blood for a week straight before eventually dying from blood loss.

That’s why there were so few certified masseurs in the empire. And that’s why Aiden’s family had been relatively well-off despite just coming from low-class citizens.

It wasn’t just that the technique was extremely difficult to learn; the real problem was controlling the strength behind it.

Radhanians were naturally born with immense raw power. When properly controlled, that strength could produce miraculous massage results, capable of easing deep fatigue from long days of fighting or labor.

But if misused or applied without proper restraint, the same technique could become deadly.

"It’s easy to talk when you’re familiar with the place. Apparently, there’s a juicy rumor going around about it."

I snapped out of my wandering thoughts, fully intrigued by the rumour about myself. "Oh? What’s the rumor?"

"Word is, the owner got caught by a priest for allegedly suspicious activities. Something about adultery."

I nodded, thinking to myself, ’News sure spreads like wildfire, huh? I was only captured yesterday noon, but someone dozens of blocks away had already heard about it today.’

"It was said he was totally taking advantage of his clients." He looked both angry and strangely envious

"While giving back massages, he’d slowly inch his hands lower until he was groping their asses. And during front massages, he’d ’accidentally’ brush against their chests and their private parts!"

"But here’s the craziest part! They say he did this to both men and women! What an absolute creep!"

My jaw practically hit the ground.

The man continued his fuming while throwing his hands up.

"I wouldn’t care if he did it to men, but to lay his hands on innocent women? That’s disgusting! What a sleazebag! What a pervert!"

Then, after a brief pause, he muttered under his breath,

"Gods, I envy him so much..."