Chapter 10: Naked Control
Katrina decided to not waste any time upon coming back from the slums, and headed towards the position of the next archmage right away, bringing Sophia with her. The redhead concluded that it was important to capture the closest ones first, as they were most likely to wreak havoc among the citizens. This road led the two naked heroines to the city brothel in a dark alley neighboring the trade district. It was a rather large building that also included a "dance club", in which girls could do striptease, alluring the guests and urging them to spend the night here. Very convenient. As the nudies dismounted Katrina's loyal black horse and headed towards the place, they saw several guards near the entrance.
"The dance club is closed, and the brothel is closed as well. I'm sorry if you came here to work, but..." One of them started, glancing at the girls' naked bodies.
"Stop that!" A woman hit him with her elbow, "it's Katrina and her priest partner, haven't you heard of them?"
"Oh! I'm sorry, ladies, I didn't recognize you!" The guard began apologizing, clearly worried.
"It's fine, happens," Katrina smirked, "so, what's the situation?"
"Quite tense, ma'am. The archmage inside this building is named Hilinos, he's well-versed in mind magic, allowing him to insert thoughts into his enemies' heads and even control them directly. When the craze started, we sent four swordsmen to seize him... They simply murdered each other."
"Tough luck," Katrina scratched her chin in thought, "why did he choose this establishment?"
"I don't know, ma'am. Honestly. We cannot go talk to him, either, since he threatened that everyone wearing Zardiw-issued armor will be murdered upon entering."
"Well, that's a nice day for not wearing any armor!" Katrina said and touched a small scar that she got yesterday and which fit so neatly into her image.
Sophia simply nodded and walked beside the redhead, despite her fear raising with each second.
"PUT YOUR SWORD DOWN, WOMAN," a voice echoed through Katrina's head, causing her to flinch.
"DID YOU NOT HEAR ME? PUT THE SWORD DOWN. NO WEAPONS ARE ALLOWED," the scary voice repeated.
Katrina realized that it was Hilinos talking within her head. It seemed like he wasn't against her entering, just not with her sword. The redhead nodded and dropped the weapon, giving it to one of the guards.
"Let's go," she said to the blonde and the two went inside.
The club was quite pretty, dim lightning from chandeliers illuminated about two dozen neatly prepared tables surrounding a round wooden stage with a pole in its center. There was a girl dancing there, a pretty and athletic brunette wearing only brightly-red panties. Everything seemed like it should be. But only at the first glance.
The atmosphere was very grim. The dancer was barely moving, all pale and tired with giant bags under her eyes. Several more girls in skimpy outfits were waiting beside the stage, also visibly exhausted. Eyes of some were wet from tears, others just slept on the floor like dogs. Out of all tables, only one was occupied. A man sitting there was a scary sight: he was all hunched over, his skin was of sickly gray color, his eyes were milky and his hair was all dirty and unkempt. His wrinkled robe barely looked like the cloth of an archwizard anymore, but he didn't seem to care and just sat there, hunched over, looking at the brunette's uninspired striptease.
"Enough!" Hilinos finally said, forcing the girl to leave the stage and join her tired comrades, "I felt absolutely nothing. A very dull performance. Now... Who's next? Hanessa and Satella, come on stage and try to impress me this time!"
Katrina decided not to waste time and boldly sat beside the mindmage, noticing how his gaze instantly shifted to her bouncing breasts. The knight had his attention, along with Sophia, who quietly landed her butt on the nearby seat.
"You asked us to come without any weapons. We complied," Katrina started with a calm smile, "now, could you please tell us what's going on here?"
"Easily," the archmage replied in a raspy voice, "I am trying to get a good experience, but none of these worthless sluts can do anything right!"
He pointed at the two girls who just came on stage and started dancing, frequently bumping into each other or falling down because of sleepiness.
"H-how can they dance for you if they're so tired?" Sophia looked at the strippers with concern, "They should get some rest... How long have they even been here?"
"Several days at least... Maybe more than a week. It is easy to lose track of time in a place like this," Hilinos grunted.
"But why?" Sophia asked with pleading eyes, "why would you keep them here?"