Chapter 206: This Shop is Suspicious
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The old man gave it some thought upon hearing so and said, "Do you want me to help you find your missing friend?"
Benjamin nodded.
As though he had some other thoughts; he thought about the matter and slowly spoke, "It’s not that I don’t want to help you. It’s just that the recent situation in Regina has been unusual and the day of celebration is around the corner. If he is well-hidden, I’m not sure if I can find him."
"Never mind," Benjamin did not mind, "Just try, if you can find our friend, then two hundred gold pieces is yours."
Of course, he would understand the unpredictable situation in Regina but he believed in Chief Silverfox’s capability. If he could get the old man to help, then it would definitely be easier to find his friend.
Benjamin’s offer made it difficult for the old man to decline Benjamin’s request. In the end, the old man had to agree to assist Benjamin.
And so, Benjamin described to the old man the persons he wanted to find. To ensure that the persons would be found, he described every single one of them, Augustine, "The Dame" and the mysterious teenager in detail. The old man appeared very professional. He pulled out a little notebook and took down every word that Benjamin uttered.
After taking down some notes, the old man lifted his head and said, "That’s all? Are there any other leads?"
Benjamin thought about it before nodding and said, "There is one more."
As he spoke, he pulled out from his pocket, the draft like letter – the letter that the Dame threw away. He uncrumpled it and handed it over to the old man.
"This is the letter that the lady boss of the bandits wrote. If it is possible you should look for this Sidney person, that is definitely an important lead as well." He explained.
"Sidney?" However, as he held the letter, the old man had a brooding expression.
... Oh?
Benjamin became very excited at the old man’s reaction.
"Do you know this person?"
The old man scratched his chin, and spoke in a weird tone, "I know a person named Sidney, but...I’m not too sure, if the person that I know, and the person you are looking for is the same person."
Even though he did not know why the old man’s sudden change in attitude, Benjamin was still very happy.
"Where is she? I want to meet her."
The old man hesitated and said, "She... she started a business in the east of Regina, and it is quite famous in its area. I can give you her address, but don’t get your hopes up, she may not be the same person."
As we were speaking, the old man tore a paper from his own book and wrote down the address in detail, then passed it to Benjamin.
Benjamin took it, had a glance at it and kept it safely.
"Don’t you worry, I will help you find those three people. This address can be easily attained by asking anyone on the streets. I’ll give you that for free." The old man continued on.
Benjamin smiled gratefully to hear this and said, "Thank you."
The old man merely nodded.
And so, even though he used mercenary services to set the trap that went to futile, Benjamin was not too disappointed – he met an old friend by accident, and with his help, he got a lead.
This made him more confident that they would find Augustine.
It was almost twelve o’ clock, even though Benjamin really wanted to go to Sidney’s shop to have a look, but, it was too late and the shop would most likely be closed. So, after seeing the old man off, he explained to the others about the situation tonight, and then returned to his own room and prepared for the visit at Sidney’s shop tomorrow.
After his routine meditation, he covered himself with a blanket and fell asleep.
A night of not talking.
The next morning, after everyone woke up they left their respective hotels according to their plan, and split themselves up to search for information in Regina. And Benjamin, his job was to handle magic potions to prepare for any battle, and head out to the address the old man gave him.
Needless to say, there were definitely more people on the road today compared to yesterday. Benjamin was not used to the city’s layout, and he had to squeeze between the crowds. In the end, after spending about an hour, he finally reached the shop entrance.
Sidney’s shop was on the east side of Regina and it was away from the main road, and looked like it was in the dark corner of the city. The shop was not too big, and it did not look like much; there wasn’t even a signage; only a small advertisement board; if one did not look carefully, it would be easy to miss it.
Then, he stood at the corner of the road, gazing at the sign on the shop, Benjamin was shocked.
There was a line of text in the sign:
Legal Clubhouse, Sisters’ Massage, Welcome.
"..."
What the hell?
Benjamin was dumbfounded.
He did not want to have any stereotypical thought about the place. What could "massage" mean in this country, he was not very sure. Moreover, he was even more surprised at the fact that ‘massage’ would exist in this world and that this culture could actually develop in this country as well.
And as an upstanding citizen, it was hard not to prejudge such a place.
Massage clubhouse...
Was it really the kind of "massage clubhouse" that he was thinking about?
At first, he was planning on charging in even if the place was really dangerous and life-threatening, filled with people waiting to ambush him. But now...
"What do I do now? I’m a little scared now." Benjamin took a deep breath as he said so in his mind.
"What are you scared of?" There was a strange excitement in the System’s voice, "Was Zhu Bajie afraid when he broke through the cave? You must remember that all of this is to save someone’s life, not for an illegitimate reason. You go in there, you’re noble, you’re great, you are self-sacrificing, no one will blame you."
"..."
Even though he was not satisfied at being compared to Zhu Bajie, but, it cleared his head. The System was right. They did not know if Augustine was alive or dead and was waiting to be saved! He already promised that nobody would be left behind; how could he pull back just because of a massage parlor?
But... Benjamin did not know why he felt nervous.
He swallowed subtly before walking forward and pushed open the half covered door. After passing through the dark, damp and narrow pathway, very quickly, he came to a place that looked like a hotel lobby.
He looked around curiously, only to see, a bored looking woman sitting at the counter, facing a tiny mirror, and was fixing her makeup.
"Hey...Hello, I’m looking for someone?" The woman did not even look up at him as Benjamin stepped forward and said.
The woman wearily swept Benjamin with a gaze and then immediately looked back at her mirror and continued to apply her blush.
"Little boy, this is a big day, you should be going to the celebration. Do your parents know you came here?" Her voice sounded lazy, as though she was indifferent to everything, "If you’re looking for someone, then I’m sorry. The girls are all at the celebration, there is no one here to attend to you."
Benjamin only looked her and wore a somewhat quizzical air as he heard this.
From the way the woman described the massage parlor he realized, as though...that the meaning of the word "massage" in this world, was the same as his world of origin.
This massage parlor was actually that kind of a shop.
Incredible...
Wait a minute!
What was he thinking?
He shook his head, trying to get rid of the weird thoughts in his head. Benjamin recovered his stern expression and said, "Even if there is no one here it doesn’t matter. I’m here to look for Sidney. Can you tell me where she went?"
As the woman heard this, she finally put down the mirror. She tilted her head to the side and narrowed her eyes, and gazed at Benjamin from top to bottom. She was deep in thought for a while before slowly speaking, "I’m Sidney. So talk. Why are you looking for me?"