Host clubs are a unique and characteristic industry of Higashi.
The staff are exclusively male. Of course, they serve both male and female clients. After all, these days, it's not just women who like charming men; some men do too.
Host clubs are legal in Higashi, so you can openly see huge, luxuriously decorated host club storefronts on the main streets.
Night had fallen. It was already evening.
Droves of elite urban professional women or rich madams, finished with work, parked their luxury cars at the club's entrance.
Lucas had heard about them in his previous life, and had even seen such places appear frequently in various literary works and novels. He couldn't help but be curious. It's just, for a grown man like him to go to a host club felt a bit... a bit... too weird.
At first.
Lucas thought that host clubs would be exclusively filled with elderly rich madams. He didn't expect that when he got to the door, he'd find quite a few young, beautiful girls as well.
Moreover, host clubs strictly prohibit any "special services." They only offer conversation. This is the explicit rule of every establishment. Of course, many of the hosts who work there raise their hands in approval of this rule.
After all, as the saying goes, "There's no such thing as an over-plowed field, only an ox worked to death."
If they really did provide *that* kind of service.
Lucas believed.
They'd be in a coffin within ten days.
Precisely because it's only conversation, the difficulty of getting money from customers is much higher. They don't just have to learn various conversational tactics—sweet talk is the lowest, most amateurish tactic here—they also have to strictly follow all kinds of trained standards: how to smile, how to speak, how to light a cigarette, how to sit, how to pour a drink, how to fold a towel.
The strictness is comparable to the selection of novice eunuchs in some costume dramas.
After all, only by being perfect enough and making the customers happy can they find ways to get money.
"So... do you guys have any money?"
Lucas asked a sharp question.
Laurentina froze for a second.
"Of course... not. Don't you have money? Anyway, I'm just here to look around. After all, these kinds of places aren't allowed in Aegir, you know."
"Er..."
Lucas patted his body.
"This is my Shikigami's Spirit form... so I don't have any money at all."
For a moment.
Everyone fell silent.
Lisa was at the Jinja and didn't come out with them. Of course, if Lisa were here, Laurentina wouldn't have suggested coming to this kind of place.
The remaining seven people couldn't scrape together more than a few coins from their pockets.
At this moment.
Angelina weakly raised her hand.
"Um... I have some savings, but it might not be enough. I've heard people say it's very expensive in here."
Laurentina laughed.
"No worries. We'll just go in, look around, and come right out. It shouldn't cost much."
With that.
Laurentina walked happily at the front, stepping into the host club with the air of an artist and professional art critic. Angelina, hearing this, also grew curious. Nian shouldered her camera and started filming. Skadi had zero interest. As for Magallan... the little penguin's face was bright red. Surtr had a cold expression; if anyone dared to strike up a conversation with her inside, she would not show mercy.
In a place where almost exclusively women entered, it was inevitably a bit strange for Lucas to walk in mixed with a group of beautiful girls.
The attendant at the door was even more confused.
He kept looking at Lucas.
Coupled with the fact that Lucas was indeed handsome and charming—a classic clean-cut, refreshing type of pretty boy that rich madams adored—the attendant subconsciously assumed Lucas was one of the club's own hosts.
A new face?
The new guy?
They did hire a new guy last week. He didn't expect this kid to be such a beast, managing to pull six customers into the club right off the street.
The front desk attendant couldn't help but click his tongue, secretly admiring Lucas's prowess.
Pulling in so many customers at once.
And all of them are beauties.
Even though this attendant had worked the front desk at this top-tier host club for years, it was his first time seeing beauties of this caliber, let alone so many at once. After all, the usual clientele were either middle-aged rich madams lacking a man, or married women suffering emotional setbacks, hoping a host could comfort them. Generally, young women in their early twenties rarely came here.
Girls this young usually didn't lack men in their lives, so they were unlikely to come. And even if they did, it was usually just to look around or check it out. They rarely spent much money. The hosts' commissions relied almost entirely on expensive drink sales and direct tips.
The group walked in majestically. They pushed open the door, and a blast of cool air hit them.
The interior decoration was just like a bar, with various booths and private tables in the main hall. There were no "casual tables" like in a bar for walk-in guests. After all, everyone who came in was expected to request a host. You couldn't just have two people sitting at the bar top chatting, could you? That would be too shabby.
Just as they entered.
A young man with a "puppy-dog" look called out with an incredibly respectful posture.
"Welcome, Sisters....."
"Hsss...."
This type of young, pretty boy, wearing light makeup, his eyes suddenly lit up when he saw Laurentina approaching.
Beautiful...
So beautiful.
They had worked in the host club for so many years, but it was the first time they had seen such a beautiful female customer.
And...
Behind Laurentina, there were several other girls, each with a different style, but all equally beautiful.
"Sisters, you are all so beautiful! Your little brother here has been working for so long, and this is the first time I've met girls as beautiful as you! This way, please!"
Hsss...
Lucas couldn't help but suck in a cold breath.
It wasn't anything else.
It was just...
He was clearly a guy, but why... was he inexplicably lacking in any masculine energy?
Laurentina and Skadi also let out a small hiss.
After joining the Abyssal Hunters.
Laurentina and Skadi had a high pursuit of strength. Even their standards for a partner valued strength. And... this man... male... in front of them...
Laurentina felt that, forget arm-wrestling her, it was questionable if he could even win against little Lisa.
They arrived at a semi-open booth, and the group sat down.
Angelina was very unused to this.
As a formerly prim and proper high school girl, this was her first time in such a place. She was naturally nervous and couldn't help but lean a little closer to Lucas.
"Hello, we'll order ourselves."
Laurentina dismissed him. The pretty boy looked a little disappointed, handed them the tablet, and turned to leave.
Generally speaking.
In this kind of host club, the hosts needed to pull customers in from the door. If they guided the customer to the booth and weren't told to leave, it meant the customer was satisfied with him as their host. Then, anything they ordered would count toward his commission.
"The 'purity' is insufficient."
Laurentina couldn't help but complain.
"I feel like I could easily crush the spines of these little boys with one pinch."
"I still prefer strong men, like Mr. Deity here."
Laurentina shamelessly shot Lucas a flirtatious look.
"Hmph!"
Surtr glared at Laurentina, annoyed. Skadi cutely puffed out her cheeks and actively moved a little further away from her companion. Nian, however, wasn't interested; her camera was filming nonstop.
Although they said they weren't interested.
When it came time to pick a host on the tablet, the group crowded around with great interest to look, including Lucas.
These hosts weren't muscular brutes, but rather all sunny young boys or long-haired 'demon-style' types.
After all, the clientele was almost exclusively over thirty. The types they liked were either the "creamy younger brother" type or the "overbearing CEO" type.
"Hsss...."
"It's this expensive?"
Angelina's eyes went wide. The prices here were beyond her comprehension. The cheapest host cost 5,000 Lungmen Dollars an hour. The most expensive, the top host with the alias [Demon King of the East Night], actually cost 100,000 Lungmen Dollars an hour.
And that was just for their company. You had to order drinks, and the drink prices were even more outrageous. Setting aside all else, a bottle of cola that cost three dollars outside sold for thirty here...
Ahem...
Goodbye, sorry to have bothered you.
Suddenly.
A sound like a pig being slaughtered came from the most expensive private booth in the club.
"Ahhhh!! Lord Tsukimiyo!! Please don't leave me!!"
Nearly everyone in the main hall's attention was drawn to this pig-slaughtering shriek. They all turned their heads to see what was happening.
An androgynously handsome man was walking out of a booth. He wore a hot pink shirt, the top few buttons intentionally undone to reveal his strong chest muscles. He had long, dark hair like a woman's, with a few pink streaks mixed in.
On his lower half, he wore tight black leather pants.
He walked through the club like a walking pile of hormones. Many of the women who recognized him cried out in surprise.
"It's!! The Demon King of the East Night!!"
"Wow....."
"Lord Tsukimiyo!! I'll give you 500,000 an hour, please just stay with me one more hour, just one!! How can I live without you?!"
A groveling, middle-aged rich madam was wailing behind him.
However, Tsukimiyo showed no intention of stopping.
"Sorry, I only work five hours a day. My five hours are up. This is my personal time now."
The corners of his mouth turned up in a roguish smile as he strode forward to find his next prey.
For this number one Host in the city, this legendary Host who had set absurd sales records for several years straight, he had long since achieved financial freedom. He didn't need to work hard to please customers like the low-level Hosts. For him, as long as he wanted, legions of rich madams were willing to throw money at him and fight over him. But this was boring to him. Money had become the easiest thing for Tsukimiyo to obtain. When you have too much of something, you lose interest.
So, he now only works five hours a day. Accompanying rich madams is work; hunting his own prey is life.
Suddenly.
Tsukimiyo saw Lucas's table, and his eyes lit up.
Such beautiful women~
Tsukimiyo had been a Host for so many years, God knows how many "flowers" he'd flown amongst, but he had never seen two women like this. Long silver hair, scarlet eyes. As for Magallan and Angelina next to them, they were automatically ignored.
A guy?
Tsukimiyo looked at Lucas in the center of the sofa, a little confused.
This guy...
He didn't recognize him.
He didn't seem to be on their staff?
A customer who came with them?
But, without a second thought, Tsukimiyo walked over. For him, if he missed an opportunity with such beautiful women, he would probably regret it for the rest of his life.
"Hello, beautiful customers. I am Tsukimiyo. Your beauty is something I have only seen this once in my life. It would be my honor if I could invite you for a drink."
Tsukimiyo's voice was very pleasant, perhaps even a bit frivolous, but it was precisely this tone that was a "killing blow" for rich madams.
For a Host, looking passable is enough, but conversation and charisma are crucial.
It's like...
An unparalleled handsome man who looks as ethereal as a god descended from heaven, but the moment he opens his mouth, he says, "Ah'm XXX, welcome to..."
No matter how handsome he is, that accent would instantly cost him ten thousand points.
Tsukimiyo was very confident in his own charisma.
He felt that no woman could resist his charm. In all his years, he had nearly every rich madam wrapped around his finger. Not just them, but even young high school girls were completely captivated by his charisma. This was confidence.
However.
When he looked up full of confidence, he froze on the spot.
The stunningly beautiful, silver-haired woman was indeed looking at him, and even smiling, but the disinterest and coldness in her eyes were unmistakable. It was like... she was looking at a clown?
*He* was the clown?
As for the slightly dazed silver-haired woman and the cold red-haired beauty, they didn't even look at him.
The cute girl with the Bob cut seemed to be thinking about something.
The chestnut-haired high school girl was looking back and forth between him and the guy next to her. When she looked at him, her expression was... strange. Only when she looked at the other guy did her expression relax.
As for the last girl, the very unique one holding a camera.
Although she was looking at him, she couldn't hide the contempt deep in her eyes. It felt like... she was looking at a lower life form. Like a human watching an ant on the ground posturing ridiculously. It was just laughable.
The only one looking at him with a calm gaze was this man.
Hsss...
Tsukimiyo couldn't help but suck in a breath.
This guy... he doesn't have some weird preferences, does he?
He had dominated the scene for so many years, what rich madam wasn't obsessed with him? This was the first time he'd ever received this kind of treatment.
In an instant....
It was a bit awkward.
He had played too many "stomp" matches where he had the advantage. Just as his ego was infinitely inflated, he suddenly ran into a headwind—a *major* headwind. For a moment, he didn't quite know how to play.