While I was thinking about that, the next customer appeared in front of the middle-aged shopkeeper.
This time it was a female customer with animal ears and a tail. They started chatting lightly about everyday things, and the conversation between the old man and the beastwoman flowed naturally.
Gradually, the distance between them closed. The shopkeeper's right hand sneaked behind the beastwoman.
Then, that hand grabbed her swaying tail.
I had heard that tails played a big role for animals. In cats especially, they helped with balance, and their movement changed depending on their mood. I had also heard that tails had many nerves and were quite sensitive.
Because of that, in the doujinshi and adult content I was familiar with, beastmen's tails were often portrayed as erogenous zones.
I didn't know if that knowledge applied to the beastwoman in front of me, but there was no doubt that her tail was an important part of her body.
It was something that, just like a human's ears, other people shouldn't casually touch.
After the shopkeeper had been holding her tail for a while, the woman finally brushed his hand away and freed her tail from his grasp.
I thought divine punishment was finally about to come down on him, but the old man just kept smiling.
And the beastwoman didn't look particularly angry either. She simply bought some goods from the stall and left.
"See? That's normal here."
Right in front of me, two different women had been sexually harassed, yet they brushed it off as if it were the most natural thing in the world and continued shopping normally.
In the world I came from, that kind of behavior was only tolerated between people who were into that sort of thing or with certain older women. Normally, it would be something you'd report to the police.
"H-hey. Is that old man going to be okay doing stuff like that?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, won't he get reported to the police… I mean, the military police or whatever? That's a clear crime, right?"
Another female customer approached the old man's stall, and I was watching them when I realized Lisa hadn't answered. When I turned to look at her, she had her head tilted in confusion.
It was as if she genuinely couldn't understand what I was saying.
"There's no crime in that."
"…Huh?"
My brain felt like it had shut down.
After several seconds of complete incomprehension, I slowly became aware of sweat dripping down my forehead.
"Wait… does this world not have any laws regarding crimes…?"
"Of course we do."
"Then why isn't that old man getting arrested? That was a straight-up crime! It should be sexual assault, or in some cases even rape!"
I mentioned legal terms that Lisa obviously wouldn't know, and as expected, she looked even more confused.
But I wasn't the only one confused. I was just as lost as she was.
Because something that would be completely impossible in the world I knew was happening right in front of me.
"I don't know what those 'crimes' you mentioned are, but there's no law that makes it a crime just to touch someone else's body…"
"Someone else? That old man was touching a woman—a member of the opposite sex! And that still doesn't count?"
"Whether it's the opposite sex or not, there's no crime just for touching someone's body."
"Just… for touching?"
In the world I knew, that alone was enough to get you in serious trouble. Without clear consent or agreement, it was already a crime.
Right now I was carrying a woman on my back. If she refused, in my original world this would already be a very bad situation.
Of course, there was the justification that I was helping her. But even that didn't always solve things easily in the world I came from.
I knew of cases where a woman claimed she had been touched even when the person hadn't actually done it, and the man standing right behind her was accused simply because he was there.
But Lisa brushed off all those concerns as if they were complete nonsense.