Sliding past the bouncer with a nod, Tessa headed further inside the brothel. It was a moderately busy night, and she was forced to squeeze past sweaty gyrating bodies in order to make it to the back. Stopping in front of the stairs, Tessa leaned closer to the female guard on watch before whispering in her ear. “I’m here for Madam Suzumi.” As she was given a wave to go on through, the werewolf made her way up the stairs and towards the room all the way in the back. That was where her client would be.

Madam Suzumi was a wealthy and strict woman. She was also the owner of one of the most successful brothels in Hosenka City. Ruthless and always striving to improve. A woman after her own heart. Tessa’s job for the day was to give someone a shakedown. Although from what she was hearing, it was less of a shakedown and more of a warning. One of Madam Suzumi’s customers was using fake money to pay her workers. And he was doing it quite frequently. This needed to stop.

Grimacing in disgust, Tessa felt a small hint of anger towards the man. The brothel workers were doing their best to satisfy their customer’s needs, and he couldn’t even have the decency to pay them for their time? Pathetic. She’d be sure to give him a few extra hits just for the workers.

Memorizing the name and face of the culprit, Tessa set out to find this scumbag. She herself was fine with cheating people out of their money, but they also needed to deserve it. You didn’t just steal from those poorer than you. Thieves had to have at least a little decency. Once she was through with him, she was sure he’d had that little lesson stuck in his head.

It took her an hour, but after asking around and narrowing down where the customer would be at this time, she was able to find the man she was looking for. Currently he was sitting at a bar, doing his best to forget the past week. For a moment Tessa wondered if he was using fake money to pay for his drinks here too. Either way, she had a lesson to provide.

With a sultry smile and a few honeyed words, Tessa was able to get the man out of the bar and into a nearby alley. While she didn’t mind handling him inside the bar, doing such a thing was just asking for needless trouble. Too many witnesses and the odds of someone intervening would be quite high. Not something she wanted to deal with.

As the man staggered in front of her, Tessa kicked the back of his legs, forcing him to fall down. Stretching slightly, she proceeded to beat the man within an inch of his life. Perhaps with two black eyes he would learn that his actions did indeed have consequences.

Once the deed was finished, she left the crumpled man bleeding in the alley. He’d survive. Barely. It’d just be a painful next few weeks for him. Returning back to the brothel and telling Madam Suzumi the news, she was given her reward before she was sent on her way.

[541]