Chapter 32

“It was this one, wasn’t it?” Beatrice asked Tabitha and Rafaelia looking at the first inn they came across in the direction in which Ember and Olivia left the alley.

“Unfortunately,” Rafaelia and Tabitha said in unison and both let out a sigh.

The trio stood in front of a wide three-story building. Wide, by comparison to the narrow, poorly constructed buildings leaned that pressed against it on both sides, leaning against it. The inn’s first-floor walls were stone, while the second and third-floor façade was wood and plaster. It had five narrow windows on the second and third floors and four windows on the first floor. Elevated by two steps, the inn’s main entrance was through a large arched heavy wooden door, big enough for even the cowkin that Beatrice saw at the alley to pass through.

Over the door, hanging from a metal pole was a wooden sign that swayed a little in the wind that started to pick up. From both sides, the sign had a carved eggplant, painted purple that was crossed out with a fat red line and a circle around it. Under the crossed-out eggplant, the name of the inn was carved and painted in bright red letters. ‘The Wholesome Inn’.

Beatrice walked up to the door and saw a large parchment pinned right in the middle of it.

“No fucking, sucking, or inappropriate touching,” Beatrice read the warning on the note, written in bold red letters.

“Yeah, a really uptight place,” Rafaelia said with a sour expression. “Of all the places in this city ... Why would any of you pick this one?”

“To take a break from all the screwing that’s going on all around us?” Beatrice asked. It made perfect sense for the succubus that at least some people would want a break once in a while if even non-Sex District or whatever streets were overwhelmed with debauchery.

“I’m pretty sure I’m banned here,” Tabitha said quietly.

“What?” Beatrice turned around and looked at Tabitha. The succubus was about to open her mouth to ask for a reason but instantly realized that there was no mystery in what possible reason could her cock-worshipping, sex-addicted, masochistic companion her banned from an inn like this.

“We’ll see what we can do,” Beatrice said and wondered whether Ember predicted that someone like Tabitha would be banned from this place. And if so, would she do something about it before Tabitha’s arrival or whether she picked this place for exactly that reason to screw with what Ember viewed as ‘useless’ companions.

The giant door swung open, nearly hitting Beatrice right in the face. The succubus just barely managed to get out of the way and jump off the stone steps without falling over. And just as Beatrice got out of the way, she saw a man fly out of the inn right past her and land face-first in the middle of the street, sliding further across it, sanding his face against the dirty, cum-stained pavement.

“And don’t let me see your face here ever again!” a tanned woman shouted with a throaty voice at the man she just effortlessly hurled out of the inn as she took a step outside the door.

It was no surprise to Beatrice that this woman could send men flying. The woman had an impressive muscular build. She wore baggy brown pants that had about twenty pockets and a white tank top that showed off her muscular arms and shoulders. The woman also had three golden rings pierced through her left ear. And she had pink, spikey hair that went in all directions, nearly hiding her cat ears despite not even being long enough to reach her nape. And if the cat ears were not enough of a giveaway, the staple tail behind her confirmed that Beatrice was dealing with a cat girl.

The crowd that the man slid through laughed and pointed fingers at him.

“Looks like another one couldn’t keep it in his pants in Y’Shtara’s inn!” one man laughed his ass off while copping a feel from a buxom woman next to him that he had his arm around.

“It’s as if certain people view it as a challenge,” another man laughed.

“To see who manages to sex the innkeeper?”

“More like who sets a new record in the innkeeper’s regular ‘Fool Hurling’ contest!”

“How about you grab her butt and go for a record?”

“Try that and I’ll break every bone in your arm!” the muscular cat girl shouted, warning the smartass idiots.

“I wish she’d step on me!” one of the shorter men in the crowd confessed with dreamy eyes.

“Ugh,” Y’Shtara grimaced with disgust and was about to go back into the inn when she finally saw Beatrice staring at her.

“What are you looking at?” Y’Shtara asked and crossed her arms.

“Intense!” was what Beatrice first thought of the buff cat girl’s dominant personality. Now that Beatrice looked back on it, she could not recall the last time people did not readily submit themselves to the succubus’s whims and wishes. Apart from those that actively sought to harm her or those that she deemed as allies, obviously. And most of those people were now dead.

“W-we’re looking for our friends that came here earlier,” Beatrice answered the cat girl, Y’Shtara. “You’re the owner of this inn, right? Have you seen a young woman in blue robes, with shoulder-length hair and cute freckles on her face?”

“The cutthroat mercenary that would laugh at the pain and misfortune of even her own allies?” Y’Shtara asked.

“T-that’s the one,” Beatrice confirmed the rather spot-on description of her bodyguard.

“Never heard of her,” Y’Shtara said flatly as she shook her head.

“A...” Beatrice was speechless for a second, before realizing that the cat girl was obviously pulling her leg. And Y’Shtara’s laughter confirmed this.

“Yeah, the bitch told me that a big-titted exhibitionist would be arriving soon, escorted by a barely legal fox girl and a skimpily-dressed, green-haired nympho,” Y’shtara said. “I’ve had enough of smelling stale cum. Follow me inside, but the green-haired cock-slut stays out.”

So not only was the ban thing real, but she remembers it? Beatrice thought as she wondered how many people did this innkeeper have to ban over the years of running an inn in a city as degenerate as this one.

Beatrice judged Y’Shtara not to be a person that would budge on her decision easily, so she decided to skip the pointless, time-wasting arguing or demeaning pleading. Instead, the succubus walked over to Tabitha and quietly said, “Stay right here and do not move from this spot until one of us comes to get you. Got it?”

“Yes! Absolutely!” Tabitha exclaimed with the determination of a brainwashed cultist. “I will not move from this spot for as long as it takes! Even if I starve and have to beg for random passersby’s cum for sustenance!”

“ ... That’s the spirit!” Beatrice said with a smile, feeling confident that she would find Tabitha at the entrance to the inn even if a week had passed. Not that Beatrice intended to leave the nympho alone for a whole week in the middle of a street full of degenerates. Thinking that, Beatrice also added, “You’re forbidden from engaging in any lewd activities while you’re waiting here! Not even so much as touching yourself is allowed!”

“Aaah!?” Tabitha sighed, visibly distraught. “B-but, but—”

“No ‘buts’!” Beatrice said. “Can’t you see that the innkeeper that so kindly welcomed us inside is running a wholesome establishment?”

“I ... Understand,” Tabitha answered in a sunken tone.

“Good,” Beatrice said and followed Y’Shtara into the Wholesome Inn.

The inside of the inn was bright and lively. The light coming from the windows helped a great deal while it was still bright outside, but deeper into the common room the lighting was complimented by many candle lights and rushlights on the tables of the guests as well at the long desk of the innkeeper. Currently, the desk was serviced by another, smaller cat girl who, like Y’Shara, had pink hair, but much longer and done in a luscious thick braid.

Compared to the big and muscular Y’Shtara, the cat girl that currently handed out drinks had a tiny frame, though her barmaid’s low-cut white shirt complimented her big chest. The shirt kept the cat girl’s shoulders exposed, had flared sleeves and two straps that ran from just outside the upper cleavage area and around the back of the girl’s neck, performing the necessary duty of containing the cat girl’s breasts and preventing sudden wardrobe malfunctions.

The lower part of the cat girl’s wardrobe consisted of sexy low-waist shorts and contoured her round behind, showing off barely just an inch of skin where the girl’s thighs curved into her perky behind.

“My younger sister, Y’Shlata,” Y’Shtara said to Beatrice. Clearly, it was nothing new that Y’Shlata’s radiating positivity drew the attention of all who came to the Wholesome Inn for the first time.

If Beatrice had to describe Y’Shlata in one short phrase, it would be “tits on a stick”, though not in a way that looked weird or improbably unnatural. And there was more to the girl that attracted her to the patrons. She had an unwavering, cheerful smile and was kind to everyone that spoke to her, no matter whether they were tall or short, pretty or ugly. Even as the men stared at her cleavage, thighs or behind, Y’Shlata laughed and paid it no mind, which earned her generous tips.

Beatrice took notice that even while some men salivated while looking at the cheerful cat girl, not a single one dared to so much as accidentally touch her, let alone grab her behind. It did not take much deductive reasoning to realize that such monumental restraint coming from the perverted residents of this depraved city was due to the menacing aura that radiated from Y’Shtara. One look from the buff cat girl at a patron that let his gaze linger on her younger sister for longer than was deemed tolerable made that patron shrivel in stature while he found a sudden and deep interest in the inn’s ceiling’s massive wooden support beams.

Beatrice came to the conclusion that men’s stature was not the only thing that Y’Shtara effortlessly made shrivel if she chose to. Then again, judging by the dreamy eyes with which some drunken men and beastkin followed Y’Shtara’s every step, it looked like both cat girls had a substantial fanbase here.

Beatrice looked around the relatively bright and highly lively common room of the Wholesome Inn. The succubus saw many men, women, beastmen, and beastwomen sitting around the tables, chatting at the innkeeper’s desk, playing card games, cracking jokes. There wasn’t a single man or woman that didn’t have a large wooden mug at less than a foot’s distance from their hand, and a good portion of the patrons here were already red-faced drunk.

Surprisingly, and without a doubt the credit belonged to Y’Shtara, there indeed was no inappropriate behavior going on in sight. At least no more than in any regular bar filled with drunks that Beatrice ever was to. And considering that just on the other side of the wall there were hot couples fucking in the streets, this was an impressive achievement.

However, despite the abundance of alcohol, Beatrice hardly saw any food on the tables. She saw some dried-up stuff that a few men were biting chunks out of and chewing between emptying their mugs. And as much as Beatrice would have liked to imagine that it was indeed beef jerky that they were chewing or, perhaps, some dried fruit, she knew better than to try and find out what exactly was offered here for dinner. In the best-case scenario, it would be something long past its expiry date.

“Wait, what are they all drinking?” Beatrice asked Y’Shtara, realizing something.

“Beer, obviously, like everywhere else,” Y’Shtara answered as if it was a stupid thing to ask. “Don’t even bother asking for the stronger stuff. I’m not risking getting my hand chopped off for some drunkard’s momentary satisfaction.”

“‘Stronger stuff’? No, I don’t want any stronger stuff, but that’s beside the point,” Beatrice said, trying to get to the main issue. “Beer is made using grains as one of the main ingredients, like most alcohol. So, how are there any problems with food when you can afford to drown your city in beer?”

“She’s not from around here,” Rafaelia added, seeing Y’Shtara’s questioning look.

“Another refugee?” Y’Shtara sighed. “But don’t ask me. Take it up with the S.E.C.R.E.T Guild or the Purple Capes. They’re the ones that are somehow able to provide us daily with countless wagons with barrels full of the stuff.”