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Mira adjusted the outfit’s length to keep the balance of what she judged her perfect cuteness. Once she was done, she finally advanced along the red carpeted corridor.

First she reached a lobby of sorts, large enough to host a ball, and adorned for it too. As she walked through it, she felt as if the air around her turned gelid.

There were a dozen or so escorts already there, all of them jaw-droppingly beautiful. Those were the King’s favorites, and Mira started feeling envy of the King, who could not just gather so many beauties at once, but keep them waiting at his every whim.

But Mira felt like they were not just standing there idly. All of them had turned to look at her, with what seemed like a tinge of anger.

(Wh-what happened this time? I swear I didn’t do anything…)

She began to fear that she had to give some sort of unique greeting when entering the lobby, or that she had stepped somewhere she should not, or that she had broken some other sort of local custom.

Or even worse, maybe they had realized she was a fake. Countless possibilities blazed through her mind as she tried to figure out what to do. In the worst case, she had gotten far enough to just break in through the front door.

She still had no proof that the King was August, but that mattered little. Either way she would be able to give a deviant pervert his comeuppance, so there was value in breaking in.

“Hey, are you Miracle Heaven’s newbie?” All of her plans were quickly interrupted. The woman who was frowning the most approached her with that question.

“Mhm… Ah, yes, that’s me! I came from Miracle Heaven!”

Mira had not said a single word, or shown the dispatch card, but they already knew who she was.

Maybe they had been told to expect her, or they knew each other enough to realize Mira was new, but as long as the reason for their anger remained unknown, Mira decided to play along as a clueless newbie.

“Ughh, again..!”

Mira’s response had somehow made things worse. The woman appeared to be fuming, to the point that her earlier frown felt gentle by comparison. And it was clear that Mira had caused that by responding affirmatively.

The woman had also clearly said “again”.

Mira kept silent trying to understand what that referred to. At least their anger seemed to be directed at whoever had done something previously.

The other escorts also responded in a similar way, their mood worsening rapidly. It was something they had all experienced before, exactly what remained to be seen.

In either case, things were looking even more ominous, making Mira take a step back afraid. And then…

“Ah, I’m really sorry for scaring you. Don’t worry, we’re not mad at you, but at Botts for sending you here.”

Things took another turn. All of the fury vanished from the woman’s face, becoming far gentler, almost like that nice lady that lived in Mira’s neighborhood as a child.

(Botts? The one who sent me here..? Who’s that?)

All Mira could do was tilt her head in confusion, wondering who Botts, the target of all their anger, was supposed to be. Meanwhile the other escorts there began getting heated as well.

“Why! I hate him so much! I already told him that he should be protecting his precious new hires! Why did he let one come again!”
“He’s the worst, he doesn’t think of anything other than his establishment.”
“He always goes, ‘Oh, but it’s the King’s request,’ and so on. That just means he should be even more careful.”
“I’ll never work for Miracle Heaven, no matter what.”

Judging by their words, no one had a good impression of Miracle Heaven. Their comments also helped Mira piece together what they were referring to.

(I get it… So this Botts person is like Miracle Heaven’s dispatcher or something like that.)

Their anger stemmed from the fact that Botts had sent another new hire to the King, despite knowing how badly the last one had been treated. Mira had also heard the previous day’s incident from Sally, and all the gruesome details.

Many of the escorts in the room with her now had also gone to Botts, telling him to take better care of the new hires. But since Botts feared the King’s influence too much, he kept sending new hires, believing that would lead to his establishment to succeed.

The way he put his workers below his establishment had really rubbed the escorts the wrong way.

As important as the business side of things could be, the escorts’ anger was also justified. In a way they were rivals, working for another establishment, but a strong camaraderie united all the escorts.

Overall, Mira found that the red-light district was even stranger than she had initially thought.

“It’s quite lively here today, did anything happen?”

As they all shared in their dislike of Miracle Heaven, the elevator opened to let someone new through, who wondered why everyone was talking.

“Ah, Lanoa, look at this girl here! Botts has sent a newbie again…”
“He’s so awful, even after everything you told him…”

It was a black haired woman. The others referred to her as Lanoa, showing they were all familiar with her. And soon enough, they were all complaining about Botts to her too.

(Hm…is she..?!)

Mira turned around and quickly recognized her. She was the same escort she had seen in the restaurant for lunch, just a few hours prior. She was also the person who mentioned the King, spurring Mira into reaching this place.

Lanoa, the King’s favorite, had also mentioned being booked for the King, so it was no surprise that she was there now.

All of those events flashed in Mira’s mind.

“Lanoa, maybe we should just get her away somehow and claim that the newbie never arrived?”
“Yeah, let’s just say that Botts refused this request, or that there weren’t any new hires available.”

The other escorts began saying that.

In their eyes, Mira was like a complete beginner suddenly thrown to face end-game content. They could not help but worry about her.

Meanwhile Mira was one step away from her goal, and dreaded to think about starting all over again if she was not let through here.

(…Is this…is this the moment where I have to pretend to be a masochistic newbie..?)

Her mind kicked into overgear thinking of a way to avoid being sent away. The first option that came to mind was to act like a m̲a̲s̲o̲c̲h̲i̲s̲t̲.

She could say she enjoyed being treated roughly, which was exactly why she chose to see the King. That would surely convince the others to let her through. On the other hand, that would leave severe wounds in Mira’s psyche.

Still, it was better than being sent away.

There was still time to search for alternatives, and as Mira was deep in thought, her eyes happened to meet Lanoa’s.

Mira froze, did Lanoa remember seeing her during lunch? At the time, Wooftson had alerted Mira that Lanoa had looked in Mira’s direction with interest.

Hopefully she had just seen Mira as a potential rival in her industry, but there was no way of knowing for sure. Maybe she would find it suspicious that they were meeting again.

Mira braced in case Lanoa began questioning her, hoping nothing would blow her cover. Sally had told her a good amount, but it would be hard for Mira to undergo a rigorous questioning.

The worst outcomes were already playing out in Mira’s mind as Lanoa broke into a gentle smile and addressed the other women again. It was the reaction of someone seeing a person for the first time, maybe she did not remember seeing her during lunch after all.

“I would be down for that, but she had to go through the reception to get here, so her name is already written down. If she leaves now, all responsibility for running away will fall squarely on her.”

That was Lanoa’s assessment of the suggestion to get Mira to leave and go back.

“Ah…”
“I forgot about that…”

All the escorts who were trying to avoid a repeat of the previous day looked sullen. If Mira never entered the building, then they could shift blame to the establishment for skipping on the agreement.

But Mira had gotten through, showing the dispatch card at the reception. Showing up for an appointment, and then ditching it, would place all the blame on the escort for not completing her duties.

Those were the local rules, and they could not get Mira to just leave.

(I got really worried for a moment there, but I guess it’s confirmed that I’ll see the King then.)

There was still a chance that Mira would get through, and punch the King’s face with all her might, the prospect of which brought a smile to Mira’s face.