SMASH or PASS

Chapter 12: Chapter Twelve: Luna

I knocked twice.

There were footsteps and the sound of a key.

Then the door opened.

The woman was a catkin in her mid thirties. Pink ears peeked through her pink hair which was tied up carelessly.

But her face wasn’t what held my attention. Her breasts were enormous, straining against the thin fabric of her top with every breath, while her hips flared out into an ass that looked heavy enough to break something. She looked me over top to bottom with appraisal eyes, letting her gaze linger on exactly what she knew I was already staring at.

"Nya~ You like what you see kiddo?"

"I do."

She giggled then her throat moved as she swallowed.

"It seems I got quite the catch Nya~"

She peeled me apart as her eyes lingered on every inch of my frame, her gaze dropping pointedly to my crotch before dragging slowly back up as she bit her lip.

"Today is a good day Nya~"

The thin silk of her robe hung open just wide enough to reveal the pale swell of her breasts and the dark shadow between them, swaying with every deliberate step she took toward me.

"You’re the breeder? Younger than I expected."

"Nice to meet you."

"It’s a good thing. Young means more energy~ Come in. I’m in heat right now~ But I’ll make you some tea."

Whether I’d like to have tea was not a question I was asked.

◇◇◇

The living room was small but tidy, with half-finished lace on the table and what looked like a child’s drawings pinned to the shelf. She planted herself across from me, pushed a steaming cup into my hands.

"I’m Luna~ What’s your name kiddo?"

"Noel."

Then she began talking. One-directionally.

"I live on the second floor of this building Nya~. There are six families living in this building, and the breeding assignments are done in order."

"That’s rough?"

"Yeah but this round’s mine Nya~. I waited for three months. Three months!"

"That’s long."

"Long? It’s more than just long. You wouldn’t understand nya~ You’re a man. When you walk into the guild, you’re greeted with a red carpet. When I went to apply, they told me, ’Please take a number and wait.’ My number is 847. ...Isn’t that funny?"

She laughed.

I couldn’t, because I didn’t know what was funny.

"The processing fee was 30 silver." She held up three fingers.

"The fee is 30 silver coins." She held up three fingers. "The ’right’ to have a man come to my house and fuck me costs 30 silver coins. That’s my salary, three weeks’ worth at the textile factory... Well, it’s worth it, I guess." She looked at me as she licked her lips with hunger.

I felt a chill rising within me.

"From the way you say it, it sounds like it’s been a long time."

"Eight months," she answered immediately. "It’s been eight months since this block got an assignment. The girls on the third floor are past their limit. There are three young ones on the third floor."

Right then, from the direction of the third floor, came a thump. Then two more. Thump, thump.

She looked up at the ceiling, pretending she hadn’t heard anything.

I pretended I hadn’t heard anything either.

"Have you heard anything about the Purity Wardens?" she continued, pouring me another cup of tea.

"Just the name."

"They come every month. The first Monday. As precise as a clock. Two women with leather notebooks, they check the registration documents, peek into the rooms to see if anyone is harboring unregistered species, count the people, and leave. It takes twenty minutes in total."

"Twenty minutes?"

"For those twenty minutes, we put on our best smiles." She demonstrated. It was a perfect, insincere, sales smile. "Then, as soon as they turn the corner, the whole building exhales at once. ’Haaah,’ you know. It’s our monthly deep-breathing competition."

It looks like it’s a pain in the ass.

In this world, the racism against monster girls and anything that isn’t human is at its maximum really.

While the weaker and more timid races like Catkin and Cowkin are allowed inside the cities, they still get treated like shit.

However, they were forced to put up with it since all monster girls species were unable to produce their own males, forcing them to mate with human males to survive.

But...

"But if you follow the rules, there’s mostly no problem, right?"

"’Mostly,’" she said, looking at me through the cup. "Rules are designed so that you can’t live if you follow them all. It’s like that everywhere, isn’t it?"

...I couldn’t argue with that logic.

From there her talk moved to her grandkids, then the mill, then the noise dispute with the next building over, and finally to her grandmother.

"My gran, see, she was born outside the wall nya~"

"Outside?"

"Before the last expansion. Before the current outer walls were built, that area was also ’outside.’ Grandma often said that the nearby wilderness was beautiful."

Her voice softened slightly.

"There were trees taller than the outer walls Nya~ Flowers that bloomed at night. And if you knew how to listen, there were talking animals."

"...Do you believe that?"

"I don’t know," she shrugged, setting down her cup. "Grandma always tells lies about the past. Beautiful lies."

The tea pot was empty.

She stood up, and opened the bedroom door.

"Okay, let’s talk about work. I’ll tell you upfront, I have my preferences."

"So I’ve heard."

"The last one they sent was a seventy-year-old geezer. Didn’t listen to a word I said. Started at his own pace, finished at his own pace. The worst. You’re going to listen. Clear?"

"...I’ll do my best."

"Not your best. You’ll do it."

Yenna, you were right. They have many opinions.

Just before entering the bedroom, the system activated.

[SMASH / PASS]

[Target: Unknown (Catkin, communal housing resident)]

[Tier: Common]

[SP Cost: 6]

6 SP. Cheap enough that my current balance covers it easily.

PASS.

The reason is simple. She’s a resident of this apartment building, one of six families rotating, a neighbor of the kids on the third floor, and part of this district. If one person disappears from here, the numbers won’t match. If the numbers don’t match, the 20 minutes on the first Monday won’t be 20 minutes. An investigation will be launched. Attention will be drawn.

The last thing I need in my life? Attention.

It’s not a morals question. I don’t give a shit about that. It’s... rather arithmetic.

[Target: Unknown]

[STATUS: PASSED]

[System path permanently closed.]

The door closed.

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