CH 79.2

The dancer narrowed her eyebrows and scoured her brain. She spoke again, with her brows stretched.

“I’m sorry, but there is no dancer going by the name of Katarina in the Coffin of Starlight.”

“Is there really not?”

I asked, placing a money bag containing five hundred thousand gold coins on the counter.

“I really want to meet a dancer named Katarina.”

“Uh… uh, wait a minute. I may have forgotten, I’ll take a look at the list. P, Please wait a moment!”

Looking at the purse with wide eyes, she hurriedly entered the room behind the counter. She came out only moments later, having taken way more than what was a minute.

“…sorry. There really is no one going by the name of Katarina.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I checked it three times, but she isn’t on the list, so I’m pretty sure.”

“Alright.”

I nodded.

As expected, her name was not registered here. That means the settings of the game I know of haven’t changed.

‘Gladly, I don’t have to revise my plans.’

I thought so and put the purse back between my arms. The dancer looking at the hefty purse, swallowed her saliva before slowly opening her mouth.

“Actually… there’s a new dance style I’m trying these days…”

“Oh~ Which handsome young man graced our doors?”

Her words were drowned out by an alluring voice from upstairs. Lifting my head, I saw a woman with pure white hair leaning against the railings, looking at me.

She sported skimpy attire, with only the front and back of her lower body covered with cloth, and the only thing on the sides being a string connecting the two pieces of clothing.

When she descended the stairs, her coppery thighs bounced off the lamp light.

“Miss C-Catherine.”

Seeing the lady come down, the dancer who was trying to encite me trembled.

Catherine?

‘That’s Gis’s mother’s name.’

I took a closer look at Catherine.

Her pure white hair came down at her waist, and her bangs turned sideways to reveal her forehead.

She had bewitching eyes, her body was ripe and bouncy in all right places.

She was practically a woman full of color.

She was one of the first-class dancers who was in the center of the wooden structure during the parade.

‘Is Gis’s mother a first-class dancer? Wasn’t she a prostitute..?’

It’s natural for Gis’s mother to appear as she had existed in the game, but not here because the genre of The Hero’s Party was NTR, not wholesome.

All the information I have about Gis’s mother stems from the fights and face-offs between Gis and Lorian in the late game.

—when an enraged Lorian mocks Gis’s lowly bloodline, calling his mother a wh*re. Looking at the atmosphere of the conversation and Gis’s reaction, I thought that the mockery was based on a true fact.

But what’s going on here…

I, believing Lorian, had been thinking she was the Kingdom’s No.1 Prostitute, while she actually turned out to be just a first-class dancer.

‘No. She can be just an ordinary person with the same name.’

But is it a coincidence that the same kingdom has two Catherines sitting atop the entertainment industry?

I decided to test it out.

“Catherine. That’s a beautiful name. Will you allow me to call you by your sweet name?”

“Oh, what a funny kid. Do whatever you want.”

Catherine laughed.

“Thank you. Catherine, how old are you?”

The alluring laughter was gone. Her smile hardened and her eyebrows twitched.

I had to know that to figure out if she was Gis’s mom.

“… don’t you consider it rude as a gentleman to ask a woman’s age?”

“Ah… I’m sorry. I remembered your dance back at the parade, losing my composure. But it did get me wondering.”

“Did you see my dance? So, how did you feel about my dance?”

“Attractive. Beautiful. It makes me want to see you again someday.”

“Really…?”

Catherine came up to me.

Closing the gap between us, she stroked my chest with her delicate hands.

She whispered in my ear with her sweet lips.

“Do you want to see me do it again? I’m available, and quite cheap right now.”

Her alluring voice sent a shiver down my ear.

“I’m sorry, but I have an appointment right now. Can we postpone it until later?”

“Oh my, you’re pretty cocky, aren’t ya? This is just but a favor, a whim. Do you think it will still be there the next time we meet, yes?”

Catherine frowned slightly, as if her self-esteem had been hurt.

I placed my hand around her waist, gently stroking her narrow waistline and whispered into her ear like she had done.

“So, won’t you?”

The hand that was stroking my chest stopped and quivered.

After a while she said:

“Cassia.”

“Hm?”

“It’s my real name. Next time you name me, use this name. Then I will dance for you.”

Just a bit more expensive.

Cassia motioned, licking her lips.

* * *

I stopped by the Coffin of Starlight and confirmed that the game settings were the same. Now all that’s left is to make contact with Katarina. It was for this reason that Shedia was stalking Katarina.

The problem was how to make contact with Katarina.

Here, I chose a slightly classic method.

“Coming?”

“Yes.”

“Notify me exactly three seconds before she takes the turn. I will run right away.”

Currently I’m waiting at the crossroads of an alley.

With Shedia giving the signal, I’ll run and bump into Katarina, who will pop out of another alley.

It’s a situation that looks like something out of a cartoon movie, but what else can I do? There is nothing better than this to make contact with people you don’t know.

“Run.”

At Shedia’s signal, I immediately kicked off the ground. I didn’t put a lot of force, just moderately enough that we would fall down after bumping into each other. After three seconds, a fork in the alley appeared and a figure suddenly popped out in front of me.

Katarina.

I closed my eyes and prepared to act.

Thud.

“Aiii?!”

Thuk. Cluck. Thuk.

…yes?

Isn’t the sound effect too heavy for a light impact?

I opened my closed eyes.

The opposite wooden wall was smashed, and in the middle of it was Katarina.

“…what?”

I adjusted the power under the assumption that Katarina would be at least of Shedia’s level.

But she directly flew off…

‘How weak are you?’

Scratching my head, I walked towards the fallen Katarina.

“Hey, are you okay? Oh, she fainted.”

I squatted next to her and checked her condition.

Fortunately, there were no serious injuries anywhere. There were only light cracks in her humerus.

About to whip out a potion for her treatment, I stopped.

A poor dancer girl is unable to work for a while because of a fractured arm—

—a rich man who hides his identity and helps the girl out of guilt and self-reproach.

After thinking for a while, I quickly made a decision.

‘Doable.’

I discarded the old script and wrote a new one.

The genre of the new script is drama.