System vs Rebirth

"Aaahhh… too hard." Anna let out a moan as her body was twitching.

"How did this happen?" Noel muttered inwardly. No, they weren't doing anything they would regret. Noel was simply helping Anna to wear her dress. And he had to tighten her corset so that she could wear the dress.

…

A moment ago.

When they were going to prepare for their infiltration, Anna suddenly invited Noel. "Can you go to my room later?"

"Sure." Noel just agreed readily, thinking it wouldn't be that big of a deal. Anna would probably need him to bring some stuff.

But when he knocked on her door later on, Anna opened it slightly and took a peek instead of opening the door wide like she used to. Her face was slightly red as she said with a wry smile. "Come in. I need your help."

Noel nodded, not knowing anything about what she wanted him to do. But when he entered, he saw her wearing only a corset and the short to barely cover her skin.

Even Noel was stunned for a second, finding Anna like this for the first time. Even when Anna was bathing, he never took a look because of the hatred in his heart. But now that he had changed slightly, Noel had a different opinion of Anna.

"…" Noel gulped down before closing his eyes. "So, what are you planning to do? You're not trying to seduce me, right?"

"What? Seduce you?" Anna widened her eyes in shock before a sly smile appeared on her face. "What's wrong, Noel? This is the first time you are saying that. Maybe it's you who has the dirty mind? I simply want to ask you to help me tighten my corset. I have to wear a dress after all, so I need this corset."

"O-oh!" Noel felt ashamed that this kind of thought would even appear in his mind.

Anna turned around with a big smile on her face. She felt she had a victory against Noel for the first time. Of course, she couldn't show this expression to Noel or he would have a come back.

Instead, she gently held her hair to the side while showing her back. "Can you tighten it for me?"

"Alright." Noel nodded awkwardly as he never did this in his life. "Well, I apologize in advance if I use it the wrong way."

"Well, I'm sure that you know at least how to tighten something, right? You won't loosen it or I'll truly call you pervert at that time."

"I know that already." Noel sighed while pulling the thin rope attached to it. "Is it this way?"

"Mhm. Yes." Anna's body twitched as the rope was pulled.

Noel maintained his poker face as he endured this torture for another three minutes before he managed to do it perfectly.

Anna chuckled when she saw how hard Noel tried to maintain his expression. Though, she wasn't going to push him too hard, so she immediately put on the dress while showing her back again. "One more. You see the holes behind my dress? Just make a cross a few times and tie it neatly. It's going to be hidden with my hair anyway."

"Still, don't you think it's necessary to go like this? I don't think those women from the brothel is wearing this kind of dress that will make it hard for them to put it back on."

"Of course not. But this one is better for mobility and it looks quite sexy as well, which is perfect for the brothel."

"Huh? Mobility? Isn't a one-piece dress easy enough?"

"The corset. Do you think I'm the same as you?"

"Ah!" Noel nodded, realizing what she meant. "Alright. Is this tight enough?"

"Yes. It's good enough."

"But how are you going to fight like this? I mean, you can't hide your sword like this."

"I don't need a sword." Anna shrugged.

"If you say so." Noel nodded and took a step back. "It's pretty hard to wear a dress, huh."

"Haha, that's why we take more time to prepare." Anna chuckled. "I guess my pretty face comes in handy, since I don't need more cosmetic."

"Say, I have been thinking about it. You sure are narcissistic."

"I'm just stating the fact." Anna shrugged. "Anyway, we're ready now. Also, pick up those two gold coins on the table. It should be enough to hire a woman. Don't forget to open the window so I know where to sneak in. Don't choose the room that faces the street, will you?"

"I know." Noel sighed and grabbed the coins. "Surely being rich makes life easier."

Before she said anything, Noel immediately walked out of the room while saying, "I'll be going first."

"Sure. I'll follow in three… No, two minutes."

Noel nodded as he walked to the brothel with a calm expression. As he expected, the moment he walked in front of the brothel by himself, the girls instantly noticed him and one of them even came to him while smiling. Of course, Noel had given the gesture that he was planning to enter.

"Hello, Mister. Do you want to visit our brothels?"

Noel ignored her calmly as if he was too shy to say it out loud. When he entered the brothel, he could see the building itself wasn't that big since they were filled with rooms. There was only one big counter that handled the process and the floor was split into two, left and right, leading to the rooms they were going to use.

"Welcome." The receptionist smiled. "We have the list of girls here."

Noel nodded and randomly chose a girl and took out two silver coins, realizing that they were cheaper than he thought. Then again, he was just getting a service for a night, not buying the person. It seemed that both Noel and Anna had overestimated the price.

"Certainly. Please wait a moment and we'll call the girl for you."

"Also, can you get me a room that doesn't face the street… I'm…" Noel made a wry smile while scratching the back of his head.

"Certainly." The receptionist nodded. She even heard the girl that escorted him in whispering, 'He must not want his woman to find him playing here. I saw him yesterday with another woman.'

The receptionist acknowledged that information and immediately walked away to pass the message to the girl Noel chose.