Before Vincent left the inn, he asked the waiter about the local pleasure house and how it operates, but the waiter didn't know about the second, only its location.
Currently, Vincent was heading straight towards with a hood on his head.
'There's a decent chance that Alisia was sent there. If she's not, then it'll be not easy to find her.'
As he walked through a busy street, he suddenly stopped, looking to the other side of the road.
There were two men ruthlessly kicking someone on the ground. Behind the two men was a young woman with luxury clothes.
Some passerbyes briefly glanced at the scene before continuing on their way as if they saw nothing.
There were even two law enforcers who arrived at the scene, but the young woman calmly passed several coins to them and they casually left.
Meanwhile, the person with a tattoo mark that covers half a face, groaned from pain on the ground, but no one came to help.
Vincent's eyes then landed on the man on the ground.
What got his attention was that this was the first time he was seeing in person someone from a non-human race.
By the strange features of this man, Vincent assumed it was half-human and half-pig.
'So it's true that here people with money can openly ignore local laws to some degree without facing consequences. Moreover, it looks like slaves and non-human races are treated almost like a livestock,'
Soon, the two men stopped kicking the non-human person as it stopped moving.
Vincent activated his soul force and sensed that there were no life signatures coming from him.
Dead.
Vincent felt nothing about the death of this half-human slave.
He doesn't know how exactly this race came into existence, but he can roughly make a guess.
It was most likely a gruesome process that either involves an intercourse between a female human and a male animal or it was a result of some sick forbidden experimentation.
Vincent felt slightly pity for this race, but their fate was none of his concern.
The dead body was dragged off the street before the young woman in luxury clothes tossed a few coins to a certain fat man who was hastily apologising for something.
Vincent lost interest and moved to his destination.
Though wasn't involved in the scene, he confirmed something that can be useful to him in the future.
In this city, money is above law.
On his way, Vincent entered a few shops to ask a few questions about the pleasure house.
But all the shops he entered didn't reply to his questions since he wasn't buying anything and politely asked him to leave.
Vincent wasn't bothered.
Though Vincent could use money to buy information, the amount of money in his possession wasn't endless. He already had spent a significant amount and can't afford to waste them carelessly.
Vincent put a hood back on and continued.
The pleasure house was not far away.
…
Vincent stood in front of the 4th stored building with the words Fragrant Summer above the entrance.
'This is it.'
He inwardly nodded, but didn't enter right away and calmly observed it for some time as men of various ages entered and left.
After brief contemplation, he finally moved towards the entrance.
After he removed the hood and entered, he stopped and a middle-aged woman with lots of makeup arrived and welcomed him.
"Welcome, young sir. How can we help you?"
Vincent didn't look at her as he observed the insides of the first floor.
"I wish to order the services of a certain woman."
"Of course, young sir. Please follow me to the desk and I'll introduce you to our girls. All of them are very beautiful and skillful. You'll definitely not be disappointed."
Vincent casually followed behind her.
"Please, have a seat," the woman with make-up spoke with a smile before briefly departing.
As he sat alone and observed the people on the first floor, the young girl in a blue dress arrived at his table and poured a fragrant tea.
When the girl saw Vincent's handsome face, she couldn't help but blush a bit before silently departing.
Because Vincent was born with blood of elves flowing within his veins, even though it was highly diluted, it was still enough for him to develop a more refined facial feature compared to average men.
If Vincent could choose, he would rather have an average appearance to avoid unnecessary attention, but sadly, it was something outside of his control, unless in the future he'll learn how to alter his facial features.
As those thoughts appeared in his head, the woman with make-up came back with a book.
"Sorry for keeping you waiting. Please, state your preferences and the level of service so that we can suggest you the most suitable girl."
Vincent calmly spoke without looking at the woman, "Alisia, around 17 years old, intimate service."
The woman was slightly bewildered by the calm and direct demeanor of this young man. Usually, almost everyone who comes here carries quite lustful and arrogant behaviour when talking to her, but this young man was different in comparison.
Still, the surprise was brief as she nodded to his words and started checking the register book to find suitable matches.
Vincent didn't rush her and casually sipped the hot tea. He highly doubts that they'll poison their customers, and even if they try, he's someone who entered the 1st phase in Body Tempering and Essence Cultivation paths.
Common poisons have no longer effect on him.
As Vincent sipped the tea, the woman suddenly narrowed her eyes before speaking, "Young sir, I'm sorry, but we'll have to disappoint you."
When Vincent heard it, he turned to look at her. He calmly asked, "You don't have a girl named Alisia who's 17 years old?"
The woman shook her head, "That's not the case. We actually have one such girl, but the issue is that she does not provide such a high level of service. If you don't mind, we can suggest a good replacement. Don't worry, you'll not be disappointed."
Vincent became silent upon her words and the woman didn't rush him.
After a brief pause, he spoke, "In that case, what service does this girl provide?"
The woman with make-up once again checked the register book, "Young sir, this girl provides only a beginner level of service."
"Why only a beginner? Is there something wrong with her?" he casually asked.
"Oh, no, no. Don't worry, young sir. All of our girls are healthy and well trained to give our customers best service. It's just that this one girl has specific circumstances that do not allow her to provide such a service."
Vincent casually nodded, "In that case, the beginner service will also suffice. But I wish for a separate room for her service. The 1st floor is not to my liking."
The woman nodded and replied, "I understood," and then added, "The separate room and the beginner level of service will cost 1 silver per hour."
Vincent nodded and picked 1 silver coin before passing her to the women.
After taking the payment, she said "Please, wait a moment," and left.
Shortly after, she came back and passed the key, "2nd floor, room number 13."
Vincent stood up and left towards the stairs after picking the key.
…
Sitting beside the window, Vincent looked at the buzzy street outside of the pleasure house, thinking of something.
*Knock-Knock*
At this moment, someone knocked the door before a pleasant voice rang out behind the door.
"I'm entering."
Vincent turned towards the door and even though he was well versed in suppressing his emotions, his heart can't help but become tense though his expression didn't change.
After the girl entered, she closed the door behind her before looking at the client while holding a plate with hot tea.
It was a beautiful girl with a blue dress with long blond hair tied in a single braid. Though she was still young, her body proportions were already well developed, especially her big chest.
Vincent immediately recalled the image from years ago about this girl and a slight warm smile appeared on his face as he could barely recognise her.
'7 years had passed… It's unlikely she'll recognise me.'
The girl looked at the tall young man with long black hair beside the window with indifferent expression before coming towards the table and placing the tea beside the young man.
Vincent calmly looked at her as she was pouring the tea and didn't say anything.
After the tea was served, she moved to the side while waiting for orders.
"..." Vincent didn't speak right away. Only after some time had passed, he said casually, "Sit."
The girl indifferently nodded and took a seat.
"..." silence filled the room as only brief sounds from the street outside were heard.
Vincent looked into her eyes while slowly sipping the tea.
The girl also looked at him, but soon after she averted her gaze.
Inwardly she was a bit bewildered.
'Another weird client.'
She was told by the madam that someone had ordered her service for 1 hour so she came. She can't refuse or the consequences might be grim.
Though she knew that her level of service gave her a certain worry-free workplace, she still was concerned before arriving.
Who knows what a man in a rush of lust might do to her with no one around?
But seeing this young man's behaviour, she was somewhat relieved. Looking like this hour will be an easy one if nothing changes.
Vincent kept calmly looking at her before slowly pushing to her an empty cup.
The girl understood the intent and filled it with warm tea.
Taking it, Vincent continued looking at her without averting his eyes from her before taking a slow sip.
Meanwhile, the girl was becoming quite uncomfortable from his gaze.
'What is wrong with him? Does he truly simply want me to just sit here and serve him tea for an hour?'
…
Half an hour later.
The both of them still sat on their spots, yet Vincent was no longer sipping tea and instead was calmly supporting his head with a palm that was covered by his long black hair from above while his eyes didn't left her face, slowly blinking from time to time, not uttering a sound this entire time.
Though the girl still carried an indifferent expression, inwardly she began shivering and an uneasiness started to creep into her heart upon this odd situation.
"You've changed..."
The girl's heart jumped in fright upon this sudden change before abruptly turning to look at him with wide eyes.
But before she could say anything, the young man suddenly stood up and went towards the door before leaving the room.
"..." The girl looked at the closed door with a stunned expression before her eyes narrowed.
'Does… we know each other?'
The girl started wondering upon recalling the young man's appearance.
But she doesn't remember ever seeing him before.
As she contemplated, she spotted this young man on the street in front of the pleasure house who was calmly heading into the distance.
Looking at his departing back, she suddenly felt a familiar feeling creeping into her heart before she saw him stopping and turning around his head towards her direction.
The girl's brows narrowed as she saw him giving her a gentle smile before finally disappearing into a corner.
When she saw this smile, her heart for some reason skipped a beat and her breathing slightly sped up.
The girl was utterly confused by her strange emotional reaction.
She had definitely never seen him before, why does she feel this way?
After all, in her entire life, only one person was invoking such emotion within her, but he disappeared long ago.
When she suddenly recalled her childhood sweetheart, she couldn't help but start to compare their appearance.
After she did several brief comparisons in her head, her face didn't change, but when she recalled that previous smile of his with that familiar voice… she suddenly froze.
Her face paled, her eyes widened and her chest started to rapidly expand.
She immediately stood up and rushed outside the room towards the staircase and then outside the building towards the direction the young man had left.
'He sat right in front of me all this time… but I didn't manage to recognise him…'
'Why…why didn't you reveal yourself!?'
The girl rushed through the street as her thoughts were in disarray.
She strongly felt that if she doesn't talk to him right now, she'll regret it for the rest of her life.
'After you suddenly disappeared, did you even know how much pain and sleepless nights you caused me!?'
She passed street after street as her teary eyes were rapidly searching for someone, ignoring the strange gazes of passerbyes.
'How can you leave like this!?'
"Hey! What the fuck are you doing!?" suddenly raged a man as he was abruptly knocked down by this random girl.
But the girl didn't even notice him nor heard his curses as she kept desperately searching for someone before her teary eyes finally spotted a familiar hooded figure in the distance.
Her eyes widened.
"VINCENT!!"
…
When Vincent left the building, he decided to go straight towards the inn to deliver Patricia the good news that he had found her daughter.
As Vincent walked through the street, he started contemplating his next actions, when suddenly he heard his name being shouted from behind, he stopped.
But before he could turn around, something soft hit his back before two slender hands hugged him from behind.
Vincent was briefly surprised. He didn't expect Alisia to recognise him after he gave her an entire hour to do it.
If she had recognised him in that room, he would have acted differently, but since she didn't, he assumed that she had truly forgotten about him and feelings she once had for him in the past were no longer there, especially after 7 years had passed after they last saw each other.
After leaving the building, though he still planned to bring her back even if he'll need to use force, but afterwards, he would break all ties with her and reallocate to a different inn with his mother.
After he finishes his matters in the city, he will leave it and probably never come back again.
He still carried deep feelings towards her after all these years, but since she no longer remembers him, there was no need for them to exist.
But now, as he looked down at those pair of slender hands tightly holding him on the spot, he was slightly at a loss of what to do.
"..." His emotions were in chaos as he silently stood on the spot.
"I knew you weren't dead… *sob* I knew it…"
Alisia tightly gripped his robes as her face was burying in his back, staining it with her tears that just cannot stop flowing.
The bystanders were quite surprised to see such a scene, but they didn't linger for long before continuing on their way as the two stood on the spot.
Suddenly, an angry voice rang out behind them, "Hey, bitch, you can't just leave after knocking someone! Did your parents forget to teach you manners!?"
His clean clothes that he had paid for quite a bit were suddenly destroyed by this random bitch out of nowhere. And her ignoring him only fuelled the rage within.
After he raged at her, he grabbed her shoulder without holding his strength.
"Aaa!" Alisia suddenly screamed from sudden pain. She didn't pay attention to anything that was happening around her.
When Vincent heard her scream, the hesitation in his heart finally vanished and he turned around to face the man while calmly moving Alisia behind him.
"Bastard. Who are you to meddle in my business!?"
Vincent didn't reply and casually grabbed the man's hand before starting squeezing without hesitation.
The feeling of the man's bones breaking in his grip didn't stop Vincent, instead he used even more force towards the hand that just touched Alisia.
Before the man managed to scream, his eyes turned red and then rolled back as a horrific pain from broken bones made him faint on the spot and fall down.
Vincent casually let go of the man's mutilated hand and gently grabbed Alisia's hand instead before forcing her to follow him.
Alisia wasn't resisting. She looked at handsome mature face with bewildered eyes as the two of them walked in silence and gradually departed from the street before the enforcement arrived for questioning.