Prologue I

Part 1

MC's POV

Walking out of my property, I waited for some people to arrive.

It was time for breakfast so I wanted to have it at the perfect temperature for them. Thus I wanted to heat it when they arrived. I like to serve warm food instead of a cold one. Just like it was just cooked instead of stored food. While there is a magic spell that can help me with that, it is a matter of feelings or perhaps my stubbornness.

Since vowing to become stronger and change, four years have passed. Many things happened during that time, such as me, founding a massage parlor in the Underworld. However, it is an exclusive business that only high-class ladies of noble families go to. I mostly started the business to get money to fund my group, and Venelana-san supported my idea and suggested how I should go about it, and while there were some dangerous and absurd situations I had to face, I did manage to establish a well-known business. I had a busy schedule and to make it more exclusive (actually, the way those ladies sometimes look at me is becoming rather dangerous), I have appointments once a month or two that I take care of in the building I have and it is strictly controlled by Venelana-san so the ladies don't try to bargain their spots among themselves. I do also take devil jobs related to massages, although there is a limit to how many of those can someone take.

I was honestly surprised that not only humans requested my service but devils as well, and my jobs awarded me with merits in devil society. That said, I also take different kinds of requests, not only for massages but related to my job as a doctor as well. There are some other jobs I take upon, but it is a story for another time.

After getting my noble title, I worked extremely hard towards easing my rank. The test to become a high-class devil was still a necessity thanks to some bullsh*t the devil council pulled. No doubt, they did not want me to gain influence so easily since I am with Zekram, or at least that is how they see it. I am not sure why though, his word still weighs a great deal, even more than Sirzechs-san sometimes. However, I did not bother speculating. I left the tester speechless in my written and practical test despite how much they raised the difficulty for me. Nonetheless, there was a limit to how much they could mess up with me without being afraid of making Zekram angry so I guess they kept it to a reasonable level, although it could also be because I almost destroyed the building.

I already have something akin to a criminal record regarding the destruction of buildings. I mean, the situation was not my fault, but I somehow ended up causing a rather famous and old school for noble devils to crash. Normally it would be flying on one of those floating islands, but it is no longer there. It was an order from Zekram to attend a devil school so I could get acquainted with noble kids and make a circle of influence by making friends. However, I only attended a week before that event happened.

Recalling that, I sighed. My luck has been rather 'unique' since my dear Shishou made me a weapon. It is kind of cursed so I have troubles with it once in a while, but it has very high resilience and the quality guarantees the damage it can cause, although Shishou will give me an earful if I become used to relying on its powers before I am considered fully trained. That battle junkie always tries new teaching methods with me so I don't think I will graduate from her teachings soon, but I am not that troubled by that. I like spending my time with her, whether we train physically or I am taught Celtic runes. I would like to believe that I have made great progress in those areas, but I am just a cat so my learning abilities must be discouraging for Shishou. I also do not dare to ask her if I will ever graduate because after doing it one time, she briefly flashed a lonesome expression so I vowed to never ask about it. That said, Shishou began teaching me a lot of new things the next day.

There was no way I could compare it with my genius of a teacher, but I will continue my studies under her until I can make her proud. It is a long road ahead since she is so talented, but I do not want to disappoint her. That said, I love my Shishou, but sometimes she can be a bit scary. As the years passed, the way she looked at me had some subtle changes and she would sometimes lick her lips when looking at me while having a hard-to-describe expression. I want to think it is a mistake but... perhaps, Shishou plans to... eat me. I have grown so I have more meat, I can be considered something akin to a wild animal so Shishou must certainly be after my body so I make sure I prepare her a fest every time I cook for her and I always leave enough food for her to enjoy while I am not there.

Sighing, I wondered why they were taking so long.

My eyes wandered to an adjacent property I purchased a couple of years back. Along with many properties I acquired through the years, it worked as housing for a special group of people. They were the cat attack unit led by Kuroka-chan or so I would like to say to avoid facing reality. They were a group of cat girls that Kuroka-chan bonded with through battle and tears, or so she says. The truth is that they are nekomatas and they came from the other group of youkais, living in the east until not long ago. The cat lady, Magari, pushed them onto me after a certain incident where I was trapped on their turf while many of those girls were in mating season. I would like to believe I was smarter than that, to fall for her summons and be locked up in a pocket dimension with so many horny cats, Kuroka included.

At this point, I should be given a freaking medal for not giving into temptation. Why you ask? Well, that stupid cat used her strange techniques to send me into heat as well!!!

Recalling her crafty laugh after she locked me there was annoying, but I did my super ultra mega best and reached nirvana, leaving that place with my pants on... sort of. Alright, I was wearing rags thanks to the efforts of the cat girls, but I at least had my underwear on me. The face she had when she saw that I did not fall into temptation was almost worth the trouble. Although I had to do things I will not mention, the situation did not leave me with many choices. The girls kind of decided to stick with me after that. Thus, the number of nekomatas in Urakyoto went up exponentially. That said, Yasaka-san was not amused by it.

Magari did seem kind of heartbroken as well, but I can only call that ripping what you sow.

The cat did allow them to live here and become part of Urakyoto under one condition. It was a serious topic and I wanted to let Yasaka-san handle it, but the kitsune betrayed me and let me handle it. It was a simple request from my point of view so I easily accepted taking care of two very special cats. They appeared to be plagued by a curse since birth so I am not against lending my help. That said, I could not just bring so many young ladies to my house unless I wanted to be mocked to death by Artoria, or be glared at by Yasaka-san for the rest of my life. Thus, I employed the cat girls and provided them with housing. They became staff in the stores I had set up, and I also made sure to train them in different disciplines such a hand to hand combat, archery, shooting, sword fighting, etc. It was time to put to good use the experiences and disciplines that Shishou drilled in my head- ahem, kindly and compassionately taught me.

Not only the cat girls, but I had bolstered my workforce with orphans from the Underworld, the slave market, and other places. I made sure to provide the tools for them to grow into proper adults while occasionally interfering, but they were all hardworking so they quickly made great employees. However, they became rather attached to me to the point that whenever I proposed letting them take over the store for themselves, they would cry and ask me to not abandon them. Reluctantly, I would keep them under me.

It is not like I did not want talented people under my command, but it was rather troubling given how my idea of a group ended up evolving into so I wanted them to live a normal life.

What did I end up making you ask...? Heh, listen well, voices inside my head. I am-

"Ora Ora Ora! Make a way! Yes!"

"Passing through!"

"We should stop here and begin the collection."

"...Let's hurry, I want to nap."

A rather lively street full of youkais suddenly made a way after those voices were raised.

My attention was attracted to that place so I let my eyes observe from my position.

Five figures were riding tricycles, they were wearing black suits with ties and sunglasses. Their hair each different colors so they stood out a lot, even without their clothing or the tricycles. They all had serious-looking expressions, as they rode in an arrowhead formation until the middle figure raised a hand to signal the others to stop. Orderly and with practiced moves, they stopped and three of the figures behind the main one took out conspicuous bags with dollar signs on them as they moved to the closer bystander. The remaining figure pulled a notebook and a pencil as the figure began searching for a name among several ones written on a list inside the notebook.

"Yamasaki-san, he is the next on the list."

The figure with an orderly and proper air about her said, and the leading figure snapped her fingers. The other figures moved closer to a man who fearfully took out a bag and spilled the contents on theirs.

"This should cover the protection fee from this month, but please make sure to not delay your payment again. Our boss would rather not pay a visit while she has a bad mood."

Issuing a warning, the neat and tidy figure scribbled something in her notebook before nodding to the leading figure.

"Ora Ora! What are you looking at? There is nothing for you to see here Missy, keep going before you get yourself into some serious problems!"

A rather lively figure holding a conspicuous bag warned a passerby who hastily looked away.

"...It is a wise choice, yes."

Another of the bag-holding figures said as she helped the remaining figure that had fallen asleep. Helping her to not fall face-first to the ground, she tried to wake up the sleepy figure as she praised the woman who hastily escaped.

Sighing, I watched the spectacle as it repeated over and over until the group stopped in front of my home. They all got off their tricycles and line up in front of me.

"Aniki!" "...Aniki." "ANIKI."

They bowed in front of me in perfect harmony and then, for some reason I can't fathom, they did a military salute.

The leading figure took off her glasses, and with a face that asked for praise, she stared at me.

"Nora, once again, I have made sure that peace reigns in Urakyoto!"

Rolling my eyes at that, I exasperatedly stared back at Shirone-chan.

"Shirone Gang has once again protected the safety of the weak while punishing wrongdoers." Shirone-chan proudly said.

"...well done." I tiredly replied.

Nodding satisfied, Shirone gestured with one hand and three conspicuous bags were put in from of me.

"Today's earnings are here, Aniki." Shirone-chan smugly spoke.

After taking off her sunglasses, I could see the sparkle in her eyes, and not only hers, but the other culprits were throwing at me some 'asking-for-praise' looks... one of them is actually falling asleep, but it is not important.

Wryly smiling, I patted the precious cat's head, and the girl happily rubbed her head in my hand.

For some reason I can't fathom, Shirone-chan's figure looked exactly like in the canon. I mean, my eyes are capable of seeing through illusions, and I am able to peek at her real figure, but rather than an illusion, she is shapeshifting her figure similar to our cat transformation.

The envious gazes of the other gang members seemed to be unable to affect the cat, but feeling like we would take the whole day if I didn't put a stop to it, I tapped gently her forehead and signaled her to go inside our home. The girl gave a military salute once more and went home.

The other three did not dare to move a step, probably awaiting my commands, something I got to learn through repeated situations such as this.

No, wait, there is one figure that is about to fall coming here, and... she fell clinging to me. Raising her by the nape of her neck, I helped her to stand up.

"Eat first before going to sleep." I said.

"...are you god?"

In a sleepy tone of voice, the petite girl with whitish hair and red eyes said. Her height was a head shorter than Shirone-chan, around 145cm, but this one had an additional 10 cm added through her bunny ears. She was what you would call a 'bunny girl' but her figure was not up to the regular folks' fantasy that desires a bomb-shell body.

Granting a karate chop on her head, I raised her until our eyes met.

"Please, don't raise any flags that would make people accuse me of heresy." I muttered.

Recalling my escapes with certain exorcists from the church I met back then, I shuddered thinking of being accused of that while in the midst of their ranks.

"...zzz."

The girl fell asleep.

"Nora, allow Ayanami to help you with that!"

One girl, two heads taller than the one I was holding offered to help me. She had silvery white hair and red eyes with a lean but tall figure. Her face looked somewhat taciturn but more emotions could be easily spotted. Different from how I first met her, she looked to be enjoying herself. Well, back then, she was trying to kill me, but that is a story for another time.

"Kanna, let Ayanami take you inside. Aniki is a busy man, yes." Ayanami said.

After hearing her name, Kanna, the bunny girl reacted by extending her hands in Ayanami's way. The taller girl grabbed her and Kanna hugged her like a koala. Awkwardly giving me a military salute, the girl was about to leave before I stopped her.

"Is there a problem Nora?" Ayanami tilted her head cutely.

The pair of mechanical ears that were made to resemble a cat's ears reacted as mine would. I worked hard to make those as proof of friendship between Ayanami, Shirone, and me, and you would normally mistake her for a nekomata or the like, but she was in fact a kishin, a type of Oni.

"You are forgetting something." I mumbled.

My hands went for each of their heads and Ayanami smiled slightly while even in her sleep, Kanna did the same.

"Thank you for playing with the cat." I spoke from the bottom of my heart.

"...no, Ayanami should be thanking Nora instead, I like my current life more than the last one and I am happy that Nora has decided to take me in. Ayanami enjoys spending time with Shirone and Nora." Ayanami smiled wider.

Sighing in relief, I watched as the girl left.

"Hehe, what do you think of me today? Don't I look dashing enough to fall for me? Hehehe~"

A cheery and lively voice was heard and the next gang member presented herself before me while giving me puppy eyes and shyly playing with the bangs of her hair. She had purple medium hair tied up in a wide ponytail, with a purple ribbon. Her green eyes would peek at me only to dart around nervously. She was a lively girl with a pretty wild imagination who did not hide the fact that had a crush on me. It was hard to not get that message when she was so open about it since our first interactions. I have turned her down, like several girls who have expressed their feelings to me, but like the others, she has no intention to give up.

"Yes, yes, Yume-chan is so cute I might attack her today..." I spoke in a monotonous tone.

"Hehe, is that so? Is that so~? How troubling~ But, Nora-san, you can't~ You can't~ There are so many people here~ Kya~"

Rolling my eyes, I flicked her forehead and that was enough to bring her back to reality.

"Urk."

Making a very unladylike sound, she stared at me with slight resentment. Before she could complain, I began patting her head and her mood brightened.

"The breakfast is ready to be served, wait inside." I said.

Almost skipping, the girl left in a happy mood.

"This is why there are so many rumors about you being a womanizer..."

A little exasperated, the last girl spoke while holding her forehead. She was called Charlotte, Charlotte Bael, and she was sent as a spy by the Lord of the Baels, or so was the plan, after some emotional development between the white cat, Charlotte-chan, and me, our friendship overcame the hurdle and she became honest with us.

At that time, I caused so much chaos while going after Lord Bael, so much that even Zekram had to intervene, but everything was solved in the end and now she is free from those tasks. Like with the other girls, circumstances made it so they had to live in my house so she was among the... never ending additions of tenants, in other words, girls, living here.

Not sure why, but I felt like I was looked at with judging eyes. I mean, I know that I look like a scumbag for housing so many girls close and in marriageable age, but it is not like I have many choices. It is for their sake, it really is. I am not a scum bag.

"Hahaha, I am used to them already so they do not affect me." I replied hollowly.

"Is that so? What about the rumor about calling this place the Ouku?" Charlotte-chan asked.

"It is not!!! There is nothing of that sort happening here!!!" I sobbed.

Looking at the youkais on the street, they seem to be snickering at me.

Damn you, I knew that you play the part of frightened citizens for Shirone-chan's sake, but I might have to terrorize the town because they do not respect me.

"I do not know what you are thinking, but it must be some nonsense. Please, stop that nonsensical idea before you cause Yasaka-sama another headache." Charlotte-chan gently chided me.

"...alright." I sulkily said.

The girl just sighed in response.

"You need to get your act together..." Charlotte-chan handed me a notebook.

Glancing lightly at some of the pages, I saw a detailed record of the 'payment' they received.

"You know that there is no need for you to bother writing this, that girl can change her mind tomorrow and start a band or something. That said, she has been only persistent on playing that she is Yakuza, perhaps it is her calling...?" I wondered aloud.

"...you go around distributing things to the people who give sweets to us, right? Even if they do it out of goodwill and do not want to be paid back, you think that..." Charlotte-chan mumbled.

"It is not right to abuse the kindness that others show you, yeah." I smiled. "You might be thinking that I am spoiling her too much for allowing her to do what she pleases, right?"

Shaking her head, the girl of a similar size to Shirone-chan stared at me deeply with her violet eyes, and her platinum blonde hair had a bang of wild hair that she used her fingers to gently put behind her ear.

"...I do not have the right to criticize the way you treat her. It is not my place to do so after arriving here with second intentions and deceiving you." Charlotte-chan weakly said.

"No, you were scolding me just now..." I retorted.

"...please forget about that, I overstepped my boundaries there." Charlotte-chan embarrassedly looked away.

Smiling wryly, I thought that this child still worried about this despite being years already since I dealt with the bastard. No, not only him. It seems that her parents were not precisely warm individuals so she is quick to go on the negative scale.

"You did nothing of that sort. It is ok to freely speak your mind, most people I have hired and usually meet in Urakyoto are usually my allies so they are very supportive of my actions even if they are nonsensical. That is not bad, and I am grateful for their repeated help but other than my enemies, I want people that can also contradict my words. I am not always in the right and I can also make mistakes." I spoke.

"That is not true, you are fair and gentle, you always help people..." Charlotte-chan interrupted me.

Shaking my head, I hesitated briefly but still chose to tell her.

"I might look that way to you, but you should be aware that among my devil jobs are included assassinations. Even without counting those, Zekram has been making use of my skills for some shady business. Outside the Underworld's range, I also do many shady things and you are not obvlious to it, are you?" I asked.

"Even so!!! Nora, you do it to-" Charlotte-chan raised her voice but I made her stop talking by putting a finger on her lips.

Even before she raised her voice, when I began talking about my special jobs, I set up a simple barrier. I am so used to it that waving my hand lightly can do the trick. It will just block sound and it is not protected against other spells that can eavesdrop inside of it in exchange for such a swift preparation.

"The ends do not justify the means." I said. "The moment you start thinking that, it is the moment you are trying to avoid the reality of your actions. Yeah, I know that I sound like a hypocrite for saying that since I still do evil. However, if I learned something after working with Zekram... other than the fact that he is a shitty old man, it is that it does not matter if you do well or not, it does not matter how others judge you. One must always take responsibility and never try to escape from it. Charlotte Bael, yes, I might look like some super-mega-dashingly-handsome hero to you, but if you judge my actions from another perspective, I am no different than a thug. A low-life who went to cause trouble in the peaceful life of the Baels."

Biting her lips, the girl seemed to have more to say.

"Hey, don't be so tough on yourself. You were spying on me and telling him that info, so what? There was nothing that I wanted to hide. Even if you certainly did that, you can't forget how he forced you to do it. I am not telling you to escape your problems, but I personally do not blame you so you don't have to be so harsh on yourself." I muttered.

"...It's Char." Charlotte-chan mumbled.

"Huh?" I raised an eyebrow doubtfully.

"...back then, I told you to call me Char, that is what my friends call me. Nora, I want you to refer to me not as Charlotte but as Char." Charlotte-chan's eyes did not want me to refuse.

"However, if I start acting so close to you, the Baels might want to push the marriage, I already have my hands full with the other devils trying to serve me their daughters on a silver plate." I tried to change her mind.

Thanks to my successful and wonderful assistance in helping Rias-chan to train, and perhaps the help of a mysterious handsome, and masked green-eyed youth with his two side-kicks to fill in for Rias-chan's missing peerage, we managed to clear a path for victory against Raiser. The girl no longer needs to get married, but now the one with marriage issues is me since the old foggy is pressuring me to choose a partner. He has not thrown his jokes since Zeoticus-san passed away, but who knows how long he will respect the dead.

"Y-You can't?" Charlotte-chan's expression clouded.

Urgh!!!

"Alright, alright, you win." I sighed. "Charl, go inside before I get a headache. Geez, you do not look the part but you are kind of pushy."

Tucking out her tongue playfully, the girl went inside. It made me wonder if Alice-chan is being a bad influence given how familiar that felt.

"Alright, there is nothing to see here. Thank you guys for playing with Shirone-chan, I hope you can do it again." I waved at the people outside before going inside as well.

I complete ignored the grumpy small snake hiding around my neck, the small crystal spider smaller than my hand would make a move if she interrupted me earlier so there was no risk, but as the person who became responsible for Kiyohime and made her my familiar, I have to make sure she learns a bit of self-control. There is a story about how she came to be my familiar along with Rin, the small crystal spider, but it will be for another time since the kitchen calls me.

...

...

...

After I sent Shirone-chan and her gang to school, I was facing a precarious (?) situation.

"As a mother, I can't allow you to continue acting that way!!!" Raikou-san cried out.

One of the tenants of this house, Raikou-san, after learning about my status back then self-invited herself to my house under the pretext of taking care of me. The woman who insisted on viewing and treating me like a child was now throwing a tantrum inside my room.

"I have to do it. Yasaka-san has been too gentle and she desired to co-exist with humans by allowing do as they please in their place as long as they did not try anything on her people, but that has given them a leeway to build up their strength." I said. "Those Extra Clan members have been using that to their advantage and made many gangs that controlled shady businesses through Japan, and while I can't say I have a sense of duty to protect the whole country, I do not like their actions. There is something suspicious and along with Suzaku, we managed to catch them doing some absurd and bizarre experiments."

Biting her lips, Raikou-san did not say anything back. She must be well aware of what I was talking to since the organization that I joined and now belong to as well must've informed her.

"I have been steadily crushing their businesses since the local police have been unable to find physical evidence so they must surely be using supernatural means to act." I continued. "Since Sakamoto-san is not running his Yorozuya's office, the police are lacking their important backer. It is not like they lack talented people in their ranks, but Sakamoto-san is way too good at his job and the hole he left is way too big."

"However, mommy thinks that you do not have to do something that dangerous..." Raikou-san rebuked me.

Sitting in seiza in front of the entry and exit of my room, she did not seem to have the intention to move even one bit. It was a bit chilly inside my room since I kept the temperature like that to store some rather unique concoctions I have been working in. Thanks to that, Raikou-san had to wear a sweater, but it did nothing to hide her voluptuous figure.

"It is ok, I have mostly weakened their influence and I am not doing anything illegal either. The police are actually grateful for my actions so they will turn a blind eye to my methods. I have never harmed an innocent person after all." I smiled wryly.

"It is no good! They said you are a thug!!! Mommy can't accept it!!" Raikou-san emotionally jumped on me and buried my head in her demonic breasts.

My experience made me stand still instead of avoiding her since it would cause fewer issues later on. I did not want her to slip into my bed again using some nonsensical excuse about feeling lonely after rejecting her during the day. She is too erotic so it is hard for me... in different ways.

"I know, I know. However, you do not think I am one, don't you?" I gently patted her back to calm her down.

I will do my best to pretend that I did not notice her lack of undergarments again.

"Never! You are a good kid!!!" Raikou-san immediate answer made me feel guilty.

No matter what I do, or how much I dirty my hands, she always believed in me. This foolish woman truly believes I am good deep down, just like my kitties and Yasaka-san. That said, she would sometimes think I am going down the wrong path if an ecchi development occurs and I am involved in it. Even though she would intrude naked when I am in the bath for some 'mother-and-son' skinship, she only judges actions to be improper basically when she is not involved despite being the most dangerous one.

"As long as you believe that I am good, isn't it good? Outsiders are free to have their own ideas about me, but I care the most about people close to me." I gently said.

I am trying to coax her into letting me go, but I also believe firmly in that. While I can't say that being called a monster won't make me feel down... I can't let the belief of those I care about to be beaten just like that.

"OH! NORA-KUN!" Raikou-san's overjoyed voice was heard and-

"Argh! Please, don't! Your sex appeal is troubling!" I tried to push her away but she clung to me with her absurd strength.

"This is just another way to show my motherly love toward you!!!" Raikou-san began giving me small kisses all over my face.

"What 'motherly love', you pervert!? Where have you seen a mother with healthy motherly love to hug his child with no brag as she tries to kiss him on his lips!? Didn't we discuss about this before? You said you would always use them even if you were not working!!!" I desperately tried to stop her from crossing a door she might not be aware of how much chaos will cause since she was not there when it happened.

"B-But, the size has been bothering me for a bit... they are too small..." Raikou-san finally stopped and shyly said.

I was left speechless.

You are telling me that the sinful lumps on her chest are still growing!? How could this be?

"Hmm~" Raikou-san sweetly moaned through her bitten lips. "Nora-kun, a mother and a child can't do this~"

Huh?

Before I noticed, my honest (?) hands were already trying to prove if her words were true (they were).

I was not sure which of the incorrect reactions should I retort to first. My hands, that thanks to massaging women left and right as a job and practice at Sora-san's place, had become quick to 'massage' what is put close to them. Maybe it is how despite saying those words, Raikou-san seemed to be enjoying my actions, and the fact that we are not actually related causes my breaks to malfunction. However, in my opinion, the fact that none of us has been trying to put a stop to this is what should be tackled first.

Damn you hormones! The more I grow, the harder they are to control and this woman does not help.

Now then, what should I do?

...

...

...

Making sure that there was no kiss mark on my face and neck, I wondered what was going on in that woman's head. I had to avoid many kisses that almost end up on my lips, and sometimes I cannot tell if she was deliberately aiming at my lips or if it was just a consequence of the rain of kisses. Nonetheless, I was capable of pushing her after she put us in a compromising position just to express affection.

The woman has no defenses when she deals with me and over the years many crazy of her antics were a source of headaches for not only Yasaka-san but many of the girls living here. She is one of the reasons I now have a room where no other girl can come to sleep and a private bath that no girl can set a foot on. Well, such was the idea. Sometimes, the girls ignore that and invade my room at night. Even though I did everything to make them seek their way more comfier than my room instead of mine. Not only I have improved every aspect so they were more appealing than mine, but I even made mine more uncomfortable. Nevertheless, it proved to be useless.

It was hard to reproach the cat girls who seemed lonely so I can't deny I am partly to blame, however, Raikou-san and a certain group of people have no excuse yet they invade my room like it was theirs, to begin with. Thanks to being rather busy, I am not usually in my room every single day. My devil duties and taking care of the duties of the youkais that Yasaka-san put me in charge of is very time-consuming and requires quite a bit of planning so events do not overlap. That is without counting the business I started to sustain my money expenditure regarding the people I am secretly training. Not only I have been raising my gains by publishing more novels and anime about works from my past life, but I have also improved my writing skills and several of my books have become pretty popular. However, one thing I have been getting into is in bringing happiness to all humans with an incredible task of spreading 'good civilization' and that is... Gacha.

That aside, I am lucky that my immense pool of ki is there for me to pull all-nighters when needed which is one of the reasons why I hardly sleep nowadays.

...

...

...

"How is it? I modified the spells a little and added more defensive power while lowering the expenditure, although I feel like improving is possible, I am not sure what to do, Tama-sensei." I said.

The self-proclaimed housewife was wandering around the house while enjoying the free time she has. After working hard to make unique magic, I am now capable of sustaining Tamamo's physical form and enabling her to wander far from the magatama in my neck. It was a bit against her wishes to part from me, but I have made it so she interacts with others over the years. Her trauma will most likely remain there for a very long time, but I want her to find more people she can put her trust and believe in other than me.

"...Hubby, it hurts my pride to be called that even though you have been making so much progress in your studies in barriers to the point that I feel like you might surpass me soon." Tama-sensei complained. "I am not familiar with your Shishou's runes, but I believe you should not add those runes together when you have that part covered with youjutsu. If you use them both as main and bases, they will cause trouble for each other when you are making this all a single spell."

The self-proclaimed housewife was sulking but she provided an answer, however-

"Do you need to cling to me just to explain that?" I asked.

"...I am not doing anything wrong since we are husband and wife so I would appreciate it if you would not stare at me like you plan to lunge at me and bite me, Kiyohime-san." Tamamo replied.

Tapping the snake peeking from my neck served as a reminder that she needed to be less aggressive so she hissed at Tamamo before hiding again.

"Tsk, sneaky snake, taking advantage of my hubby's kindness." Tamamo grumbled.

Helplessly sighing, I poked her side and she squirmed, giving me space and freeing my arm.

It was not like I was against skinship with her, but I don't want to be the cause of another great war of Snake Vs Fox.

"Hubby~ You can't touch me like that while the sun is up~" Tamamo spoke nonsense.

Ignoring that, I gave one last look at the barrier I worked on until a while ago before thinking of a proper idea to improve it.

"Are you ready to go?" I asked.

"Yes~ Hubby is such a worrywart, unless you check the defenses are going strong, you can't be at ease when we leave. Oh, but you seem ok when leaving on the occasions when that little girl comes here, I wonder why..." Tamamo asked.

"That cookie-eating girl is strong and she will protect this place if something happens." I said.

"Is that so? If my beloved Hubby says so, I have nothing to say." Tamamo did not seem entirely convinced. "Yosh! Let's destroy some gangs! Wuahaha, this is Tamamo no Mae's revenge against humanity!"

Smiling evilly, the kitsune rubbed her hands like some third-rate villain. I rolled my eyes and extended my hand toward her and she happily grabbed it.

This nonsensical lady can be said to hold no hate or grudge against the people who caused her to be sealed, but I believe she put everything behind her for my sake. The fact that she would sometimes stay staring with a complicated expression whenever we go to the human world and she is using a physical body... well, it makes it easy to read what is on her mind.

"My Tamamo is not that kind of fox so stop playing around." I karate-chopped her head with my free hand.

"Mukyu!" Tamamo rubbed her head tearfully.

"Let's go, partner." I said.

"Yes!" Tamamo nodded.

...

...

...

Several of my subordinates had surrounded a building, most of them were Kesaran Pasaran who took human form, kitsunes, slaves I had saved but still stayed with me and I trained, nekomatas who have certain expectations, tengus and others youkais that have been screened by me and Yasaka-san to serve as my people. I had other special units but they were not part of this operation right now.

"Aniki! The place is surrounded. They have no way to escape and from the information we gathered, there seem to be only eight people inside."

A rather familiar-looking young woman, who just made a Kesaran Pasaran trip so she could report to me instead of him, spoke.

I chose to ignore the vexed look that the other tengus, kitsunes, and nekomatas had when this one was the first to react. It means nothing. Yes, it does not mean anything. The same with the fact that the female-to-male ratio is higher for the ladies and they are mostly of marriageable age. There is no hidden intention anywhere.

"Reiko-san, you don't need to play the part, you are older than me so it is a bit strange to be called that by you." I sighed.

"Awww, too bad~ Onee-san thought she had found another of your 'likes'." Reiko-san spoke in disappointment despite not looking the part.

This young woman here along with her younger sister bowing apologetically behind her was in fact introduced to me by Kuroka-chan. I was confused at first since she called them 'cat girls at heart', but it was nothing strange for Kuroka-chan to speak nonsense. You might ask why thought it was nonsense? Well, the fluffy tails behind the two were not cat ones, but rather dog ones. That's right, they were dog girls.

The lady with Onee-san aura called Reiko had long black hair and light brown eyes, she had a pair of proudly standing... dog ears. Her black sailor uniform was paired with a mini skirt and some very seductive black thigh-highs, around her waist, a rather classy sheath of a katana kept her blade. Her height was rather tall or maybe she looked that way because of her unnecessarily attractive figure, she was around 172cm, a few centimeters smaller than me but despite looking slender, she had a curvy figure with some rather large breasts. Even when I met her, she was rather... eh, developed but now she had grown a lot more.

Now that I thought about it, I met many strange people (girls) under Kuroka-chan's classification of 'cat girls at heart'. There was this crazy strong lady that actually belonged to the organization I joined, but I came to learn of her affiliation much later. However, not only that lady was crazy strong, but she is a battle junkie with an alcohol addiction of some sort. I went through a lot after she learned that one of my abilities was capable of making alcoholic drinks. Despite Haagenti being a devil capable of making wine as his special ability... I seem to be a mutation that was capable of making other types of drinks after working out with my demonic powers tirelessly. The original Haagenti also had another special ability, but none of his descendants was capable of using it. The ability to transmute all metals into gold is way too dangerous in a way so there was no way I would get that as well, would I? Hahaha... Wait.

"Another one of my 'likes'? You mean tastes, don't you? I believe I was clear that maids are my one true love!" I uttered.

Giggling, she pulled closer to me and glued herself to me.

"Is that so? Onee-san thinks otherwise~" Reiko-san whispered in a sweet tone of voice and blew on my ear.

I shook slightly in surprise at her blatant attack.

"...Please focus on the task at hand." I pushed her away when I felt the burning jealousy silently conveyed from the magatama.

"(Hubby! You only need your cute Shrine Fox Maiden Tamamocchi!)" Tamamo's voice sounded sad.

Who the heck is Tamamocchi?

I admit I was caught off guard by her flirting aura and actions, but I was distracted since I used my ability to peek inside the room.

"(Hmph.)" Tamamo snorted.

Explaining will take me a while so I decided to prove myself through actions.

"Reiko-san. Playing around is not good. Make sure that not only the escape routes are blocked, but also have someone disable any vehicles they find to be certain." I spoke. "Also, tell everyone to no longer treat this as subjugating normal humans or exorcists, but rather supernatural beings."

When my words were said, Reiko-san took a serious attitude.

"Understood." Reiko-san nodded and left to relay my orders.

"(Hubby, you mean that...?)" Tamamo left the words unsaid.

Indeed, the number of people is not very high and their auras are no different from regular humans, however, I observed what they were doing. They were drinking sake with intoxicated expressions, and not your regular sake, but the label on the bottle was a familiar one.

"Now then, I wonder what this means?" I sighed.

I knew what this was about.

In fact, the reason why I was without my regular 'minions' was that everyone was busy, so much so that they barely went home to have breakfast and took their lunch. It was not like they all had been working on this issue, but I had a number of them on this in the past year.

Another reason why I was not with them was so I could train different combinations of people in different situations. I also test their limits and the like so I can assign them to their proper departments where they can do their best.

That said, I need many people to do grunt work so I can't expect them all to have extraordinary talents or above-average skills.

...

...

...

"Clear!"

"Clear!"

As I slowly advanced through the hallway, I listened to the Kesaran Pasaran in a human form visually confirming the lack of presence in the rooms we pass by. They work together with a shikigami to do the opening and they confirm personally the rooms after the shikigamis check in case there are traps.

After learning the art of shikigamis from the small book I stole- I mean, I seized, I trained like never before to make use of them effectively. Not only I got praised by Shishou when I showed her my advances after a couple of years, but I got a thumbs up from Forest Wraith, an actual Shikigami of a very high grade. Since I saw the countless possibilities in assistance and support, I made sure to drill- I mean, kindly teach how to use them to my people.

"Nee-sama, I feel uncomfortable."

The voice coming from my right belonged to a black-haired beauty. Her hair was long and was held in a ponytail, she had folded down or droopy dog ears with light brown eyes. She was wearing a black sailor uniform with a pleated mini skirt and black pantyhose. On her hip, the handle of a katana was fixed and she had one hand ready to draw her blade. Like her sister, this lady had large breasts and was in her late teens, she is called Kasumi and she is Reiko-san's little sister, with a similar height, she had a serious personality and would not usually engage in fooling around or cause chaos, but would rather try to fix the ruckus her sister caused.

"...remember to not let your guard down under any circumstance." Reiko-san advised.

Each girl standing beside me, they were both guarding me as we advanced toward the people's location.

Rather than being necessary, it was more of a widely acknowledged rule for them to try to guard me. Not only them, but after what happened to me, most people I employed became rather protective of me. It was mostly because I spent some time without being able to bring out my full strength.

"This is the room, be careful." I warned.

It was easy to spot the room since boisterous voices were coming from inside. There was a ruckus and the people inside seemed to be completely obvlious to what will happen next.

Nodding, Kasumi-san prepared to head there first.

Once the door was opened, not only did the smell of sake hit us, but tabaco as well. Some strange aromas belonged to some type of recreative drugs, but judging by the smell, the quality couldn't be poorer. While it is not something I like to do, I learned how to make even those kinds of 'medicines'.

"Hahaha! I won again!"

"Damn you! Are you actually cheating, you little punk!?"

"Huh? Don't blame me for your lousy skills, I have good luck while yours suck."

Their voices were loud and certain aggressiveness could be felt in the air. The visibility was poor due to the smoke and Kasumi-san had to back away to let the smoke leave the room.

"*Cough* This..." Kasumi-san frowned as she tried to stop coughing.

Stepping forward, a lightly rubbed her back and helped her to get her breathing under control.

"My apologies..." Kasumi-san guiltily said.

I could not blame her, even if I taught them and had them study how to act, they needed field experience to actually make the right choices. Other than the Kesaran Pasaran, most of the people I brought are newbies to this kind of operation. I technically did not consider this occasion that important and did not expect a very difficult resolution so I tried to train more staff who wanted to do 'this' kind of work.

"<Breeze>" Reiko-san's voice was heard.

Along with the symbol written in the air, she used a simple Youjutsu spell to clear the air inside the room.

It went without saying, we got noticed right away.

"Hahaha! Look at those! They are huge, I bet they must be the size of my hand."

"I don't care if they are your hands or mine but they would feel amazing."

"Must be nice being rich, they even sent us these kind chicks to enjoy ourselves."

Mentally taking notes on their words, I observed them once more.

An intoxicated look and a complete lack of fear in the face of a sudden situation such as this. There were quite a few of these guys drinking happily even as they sent lustful looks toward Reiko-san and Kasumi-san.

The usual kindness on Reiko-san's face was gone as she glared frostily at them and Kasumi-san probably desired to head there and let her blade do the talking. However, they did not make a move, they both stood close to me as I entered the rather wide room. No, to call it a 'room' would be incorrect I believe. Someone had renovation plans since they had destroyed many walls, considerably enlarging the already wide room. However, the tools for such a thing could not be seen lying around, although I had a good idea how some 'normal' humans like them did such a thing.

"I want the chick with the ponytail, I bet that her serious face is just for show and she would make a slutty face when I bang her!"

"I would prefer the other one, she looks plump in all the right places, even more than the other one."

"Idiot, that is called being thicc! Don't you know that nowadays it is called such!?"

"I don't care about that sh*t, I just want to grope those melons!"

Disgusting laughter could be heard along with their trash talk, but the two beside me did not move and they waited for my command.

I was rather curious about something so I limited myself to observing them. All of them were reacting fairly similarly, so it was hard to discern it. However, there was one of the guys who kept his eyes on me more than a couple of times. I could tag it as a coincidence since he would glare at Reiko-san and Kasumi-san as well, but I did not feel as much intoxication as the rest. However, rather than not being drunk, it was more like used to the sake he was drinking.

"Do not allow them to land a hit on you, however, do not kill anyone. It is not obligatory to follow my words to the letter, but I need some of them alive." I spoke.

Like I had released their leashes, the dog girls went on a rampage.

Kasumi-san seemed to be ready to follow my command faithfully so choose not to draw her blade and instead pulled her blade, sheath, and all, striking the nearest guy on the head with a blunt and ruthless attack.

Since she did not aim to kill, Kasumi-san was holding back considerably given their human nature.

On the other hand, Reiko-san was faithful to my orders in another way. Symbol after symbol were written on the air by her, and Youjutsu spells were finished continuously. Wind Blades flew straight to the hands of the guys who joked about her chest and soon their hands fell to the ground, leaving their bleeding arms all alone.

They both choose their own methods but they proved fairly effective in subjugating our foes this time. At least, it initially seemed as such.

"Gyaaaa!!!"

"This b*tch!!"

Their eyes became bloodshot and the unharmed ones stood up at once to attack us. However, they did not simply rush in, many of them choose to throw the chairs and tables they were using to play just now. It did not matter if their drinks were on it.

The force and speed of the thrown objects surprised my party members, but they still reacted.

A certain girl sliced a table cleanly in two while another one blew it back with Youjutsu.

There were some thrown at me, but I simply let the girls take care of it.

Reiko-san was the one to do it, although Kasumi-san hesitated briefly to actually come back. Nonetheless, she got surprised when the people she had hit with enough strength to make them faint for a while stood up. They angrily glared at her and tried to surround her but she nimbly used them as footholds to reach us again.

"...Is this what those files referred to?" Kasumi-san wondered aloud. "There was no sign of magic or even a tiny bit of ki involved but they are standing once again."

Assessing the situation was important, but the younger sister took too long and our enemies began pulling knives and knuckles before trying to attack us again.

This time, Kasumi-san used far greater strength, enough to send flying a couple of those people. With a wide swipe of her katana in her sheath, she sent them straight to the ground.

The older one seemed to notice something odd, and that was the lack of movements from the guy from before so she tried attacking him from distance to prove him. A wind blade was sent his way but he twisted his body to evade it. Compared to the rest of thugs whose bodies were damaged from the continuous use of drugs, alcohol and tobacco, the guy looked healthier. However, it was only when you campared him to the rest. In my opinion he was way too skinny, like someone... yes, like someone who just began recovering after a very draining desease. That, along with some rumors I heard before made me have a very grim idea.

The attack seemed to make the guy nervous or maybe he thought that his hidden agenda was found out.

"Now!!!"

Suddenly, it seemed like all the guys in the room felt like that was an order they could not fail to fullfil. Their eyes lost their shine for a moment and they worked in unison to do one simple action. Striking the floor with all their strength, cracks easily ran down all over it before it gave in.

Judging by the strip of paper the guy held in his hands, I considered it to be some sort of mind control spell, but given how there was hardly any magical reaction... he must eaither have an adept magical control and concealing skills, or perhaps it was an item made so that even someone with no magic power can use.

Either way, we all fell.

As we did, I thought of adding s bit to our cards so with a wave of my hand, several seed were shot. Their sizes were minimal so I doubt anyone noticed my actions during the fall.

Kasumi-san was caught off guard, but even as she fell, she had to fend off her attackers who switched targets as soon as the effects of the spell worn off. The radius of the broken floor even reached me and Reiko-san so we also went down.

I can only acknowledge the guts Reiko-san had to take advantage of me while we fell, but punishment will come later.

Landing nimbly, I separated Reiko-san who acted like a scared maiden. Hard to buy given how mercilessly she cut off people's hand a moment ago.

Despite my other subordinates trying to run here to aid me, I signaled them to stop. Reiko-san and Kasumi-san had to be given a chance and I planned to see how far both side could go.

There was one of the guys who fell close to us and he tried to act me immediately but-

"Die!!!"

A simple wave of my hand and he fainted with bubbles coming out of his mouth.

It was one of the types of drugs I had smeared in hidden weapons inside my sleeves. From needles to knives, I used them sometimes I wanted to test how effective I was doing poisons or the like.

The habit of throwing scapels from back them persisted but given that those were precious medical instruments, I would not waste them unless I ran out of knives and needles.

"BITCH!!!"

"ARGH!!"

The sound of the fight could still be hear and Kasumi-san was doing her best to hold back in drawing her sword. It was a troublesome fight, and while her opponents were rather lacking in skills, you would normally believe her to be able to dispatch them easily. However, she was having a tough fight given her limitations and the fact that while they can feel pain, it is inciting them more than causing them to be cautious. They are getting more aggressive but their strength is growing proportionally to their aggressivenes.

Reiko-san looked confident in her sister strength in the begining, but now she was looking worried given how much she is taking and how I did not allow anyone else but her sister to fight. She was keeping her position beside me in order to guard me, or so was the idea but she is so worried about her sister that she missed the guy who was getting closer before.

I can relate to her feelings, but I am not going to do anything just yet. Not until-

"Die! Monster!"

"Gyahahah!"

One of the opponent's began a subtle transformation. A small horn on his head grew along with his strength and his blow had been granted a sudden acceleration and power different from before.

Combining his movements with an ally, the guy with the horn managed to corner Kasumi-san. She could only raise her sword in front of her to block the attack but that caused her to be blown this way.

"URK!" Kasumi-san groaned as she flew.

"KASUMI!" Reiko-san worriedly called out.

Nonetheless, I did not let the fluffy one hit a wall or anything. I gently received her and briefly check for any injuries.

"My apologies... I have been careless..." Kasumi-san could not look me in the eyes.

Reiko-san looked relieved but dangerously stared at the culprits with enough bloodlust that caused them to stiffen in place, slightly sobering up.

Scary.

"No, I am to blame here. I made you try to follow a reckless order. It is not your fault but mine so don't be depressed." I sighed.

I used her for a bit so it was entirely on me.

"(Hmph, hubby says he is sorry but you have not let go of her yet. Aren't you enjoying yourself a little too much?)" Tamamo's voice was unually harsh.

It was honestly scary how I easily caught her and now I have one arm embracing her in my chest. The fact that she easily accepts it makes it worse.

"*Cough* I am sorry, I had no second thoughts just now." I released her.

"Ah, no, hmmm, it was my fault to begin with, to have your esteemed self to catch me when I unsilightly failed to fullfil your orders, I, Kasumi, can't apologise enough." Kasumi-san uttered.

No, the scummy one was me.

"(No, the scummy one was you.)" Tamamo said.

How odd, I can easily accept it when I say it but Tamamo's words hurt.

Where is the love?

"How unsilightly."

The cold and disgusted voice of someone cut through the pink aura that had appeared and woke me up from my bitter mood. It belonged to the man who ordered the floor renovation just now. He looked openly disgusted with our friendly display just know.

"Look, my hands just moved on their own. I swear!" I said.

"...uh." Kasumi-san looked away.

"...so one must wait for him to approach you, I see." Reiko-san scribbled down something in a small notepad.

"You creatures disgust me."

His words full of hostility seemed to be his honest feelings. He kept it to himself until now, but my actions seemed to trigger something.

"...so it was all to make the enemy react, as expected of Shiki-dono, your actions are just..." Kasumi-san looked at me with eyes full of respect.

Yes, all according to the plan. Yes, my hands foresaw that.

"Why do you act like you were humans? You are just monsters."

His words lacked no filter.

"My my, those are some harsh words." I replied. "I know that we all just wish to kill each other, but you can't be so mean, I am a weak-hearted guy. You will hurt my feelings."

Carrying a harmless smile, I let the words flow out of my mouth. The objective clearly accomplished when he began gritting his teeth hatefully.

Yikes, if Nightingale-san saw you doing that, she would scold you for hours. That friend of Kaa-san is very much crazy, but she taught me a few things a few years back after I met her in my occacional travels to find clues about Kaa-san. Her desire to save others is beyond what someone sane would feel and her determination is as crazy as Raikou-san sometimes. In fact, when the two met... my house was half-destroyed. I honestly cried back then.

"Shut up, you disgusting creature. You shouldn't exist."

"How dare to speak like that!" Kasumi-san almost drew her sword but one look at me and she just stood there.

"...we can accept to be talked like that, but you can't call him like that." Reiko-san said.

"(Even if he has evil hands, my hubby, who should totally be on team Tamamo, is not a disgusting creature.)" Tamamo's words made no sense like always.

"All of you are aberrations, you only bring harm to us, humans."

I see, so it was like that.

"So?" I asked.

My words must've caught the guy off guard since he was probably expecting me to rebuke him.

"Of course I came to cause harm to you, humans." I shrugged my shoulders. "I have no intention of letting any of you survive. However, I need to collect some information from all of you so I did not want needless deads until then."

My words caused him to fly into rage.

"It is because of you! My wife and kids died! You caused the accident, because you exist, they-"

"Shut up." I coldly said. "I don't really care about your circumstances."

I had a rough idea about what happened to him.

Either a stray youkai or one of that annoying group trying to recruit me was responsible from his misfortune.

"I told you, I will kill you all after I get what I want." I stated slowly. "You think you are trying to a hero? To get rid of the monsters that threaten people's life?"

"I am getting rid of dangerous creatures, harmful ones that will cause many more humans to die!"

Rubbing my chin, I stared at the man before smirking.

"I see, well, too bad." I grinned. "I am a cat before I am a monster and cats have more lives than you could ever claim."

My words made him angrier and angrier, to the point that a small horn grew on his forehead.

"You call us monsters and the like, but who does really look like a monster?" I pulled Kasumi-san closer.

One hand on each of her dog ears, I raise them gently.

"Look at these soft and cute ears." I said. "If you combine that with this fluffy tail, she looks cuter. Not to mention, she is already beautiful, to begin with."

"Shiki-dono..." Kasumi-san's shy voice was dangerous in another meaning so I stopped my actions.

It was certainly not because I felt jealousy directed at me from my allies.

"Now, tell me. Who really looks like a monster? This pretty girl here or..." I thew something to the man. "...you."

After mastering storage magic and practicing pulling things from it until I did it with ease, pulling a hand mirror became easy. I made sure to keep a little of everything in there, from a hand mirror to a car.

I did not use much force, only enough for it to fall in front of the man.

"Take a look." I muttered.

The man did that despite being antagonistic so far and his face distorted real quickly.

"How does it feel? Abandoning your humanity for power despite becoming what you hate." I asked.

I would normally not be this cruel, but they were from the Extra Clans. I had a grudge against these people and I would not rest until I had erased the responsible for that incident. No matter how I am called or if I am cursed for it, I am ready to bear that stigma.

"Ahhh, AAHHHH!!!"

The man instantly lost his mind.

"It is not like there are no rotten apples among youkais. In every society, it is the same, and that obviously includes humans." I spoke. "You say you want to protect humans from us? What a joke. It was the people that gave you that sake that is actually evil. They pretend to be just and fair under the watchful eyes of society but they are just another radical group who hates youkais, but you know what is funny? They are turning you guys into the very same thing you hate to obtain power."

"Shut up, Shut up... SHUT UP!!!"

"Face reality." I said. "You were used as a guinea pig."

"No, no, no. They... they are my saviors. After being be bidden, I could not move my body again... they gave me that miraculous medicine..."

"Is that so? Then why did you turn into an Oni?" I asked.

"I... I..."

Clicking my tongue, I saw how this was going south so I prepared to take care of this alone.

"Shiki-dono, it is a shameless request, but you please allow me to put an end to this?" Kasumi-san asked.

I had seen her feeling uncomfortable and that is why I thought of acting alone. It was not strange for me to look evil and this girl here was the righteous type, different from her slightly crazed sister, she looked like the type who would choose justice all the time.

"...I, I understand that you wish to carry the weight of being the bad one, however, all who are following you understand why you do things. Otherwise, we would not be here. Letting only the leader dirty his hands would be shameful for a warrior. I have observed you since the first time we met and I honestly thought you were simply a pervert and womanizer bastard whom my sister got interested in. The fact that many women surrounded you always made me question their sanity, and their talks of being supporters of a harem would always leave me in deep thought. Why? I mean, for me, I always believed that a woman and a man could only have each other, at least, that is how I saw it. The idea of sharing your beloved always seemed strange. The fact that all the people associated with you were so crazy about yourself was also mystifying."

"(Ptfff, hubby! Don't falter! You are supposed to be the boss and you must look composed all the time, so do not... Pffffft.)" Tamamo's laugh annoyed me a little.

No petting for you today.

"(Nooooo!!!)" Tamamo sounded sad, but I made up my mind.

"Nonetheless, I could not help but notice something. Despite countless opportunities for you to take advantage of girls, you were only bound to sudden accidents that make wonder if a mysterious power was at work. No, seriously, it was a closed room, how could a sudden breeze appear to raise everyone's skirts...?" Kasumi-san looked openly confused. "Regardless of that, you have not craved for anyone. The moment I let down my guard, you began hiring almost all the nekomatas so my trust in you lowered, but you once again proved yourself. You kept those girls not because they were pretty or simple because you wanted to use them. You took them under you to protect them. You taught them how to sharpen their skills. You taught them about Arts, Maths, and several things that they had openly refused to learn by changing your methods several times until they were willing and openly enthusiastic about learning. You began preparing them so they could not be abused or used by others even if they wanted. However, that backfired since they became crazy about you."

"(Hubby! You were not actually raising them to suit your tastes!?)" Tamamo's exaggerated surprise irritated me.

This fox will be punished.

"You hide your intentions even to this day. Rather than founding this group to gain more power, you only sought to make those close to you stronger and more capable. That incident must've been hard for that girl, but you must be the person who felt the worst. You might say you are evil, and you can perhaps be called as such. Your actions are something that can make people lose sight of their goal and indulge themselves in evil ways using it as an excuse. However, you are not that type of person. You are kind and just, caring and gentle. That said, you are very awkward at something." Kasumi-san smiled faintly. "You have never asked anyone to help you carry the weight of your actions with you."

It is my responsibility.

"Certainly, you can use the excuse of it being your responsibility, but you are forgetting that you are not alone." Kasumi-san kneeled in front of me. "Shiki-dono, my skills are sub-par at the moment, however, I offer you my sword. I am afraid that I am not very good at many things, but I can be confident that I will diligently train so one day my sword can be of use to you."

Raising her head, she stared straight into my eyes.

"I think you are someone to whom I can dedicate my loyalty, and it might be pretensions of me, but I wish to serve you not in the light, but the dark." Kasumi-san said.

"Wait, Kasumi!?" Reiko-san was alarmed.

"Nee-sama, please, I am trying to offer my loyalty here. It is an important process for a warrior to find someone to serve." Kasumi-san muttered.

"No, but... serve... dark..." Reiko-san was at loss.

I had an idea where the misunderstanding is but I did not stop it, why? Because it will be more interesting later.

"(That child is being deceived, you are rotten to the core.)" Tamamo retorted.

I know, right? But you don't dislike that, do you?

"(Never <3)" Tamamo was way too honest.

"Nee-sama, what are you mumbling there all alone? Of course, I will serve him faithfully when he needs me, but I don't want to do it in the light. I am confident that in the dark he will need many people to attend to him." Kasumi-san seriously said.

"(Hubby, why did you start recording what she is saying?)" Tamamo innocently asked.

To tease her later.

"W-Wait, Kasumi, Onee-san is almost certain that what you are saying is not wrong, but perhaps you are not aware of what you are saying." Reiko-san tried to interrupt her sister.

"Nee-sama, I am well aware that I will serve him in the dark with all my heart, as a warrior, there is a no bigger honor than to serve his lord like that." Kasumi-san said. "Besides, we were both going to ask him this, weren't we?"

"Y-You are not wrong, but not right either..." Reiko-san looked troubled. "I mean, serving him in the dark is my goal."

Too ashamed to look at me, Reiko-san looked away.

I maintained a cool expression outwardly but I was inwardly waiting for the precise moment.

"Enough, if you do not plan to join in the vow, I will do it alone, please do not interrupt me." Kasumi-san sighed. "My apologies."

Coughing slightly, the girl once again stared at me.

"I, Kasumi, wish to offer you my loyalty." Kasumi-san said. "You might use it as you please."

"You said you will also help me at night, right?" I asked.

"Yes! It matters not what kind of order you give, it would be my honor to use this body of mine for your sake!" Kasumi-san uttered.

Resisting the urge to laugh, I made sure she did not notice me recording her.

"No matter what?" I inquired.

"Yes, Shiki-dono. I might be lacking compared to other girls in that area, but you can be certain that I will do my best to catch up to them. I will show you my determination by putting more effort than anyone into whatever you ask!" Kasumi-san patted her not-so-subtle chest.

And, saved. Oh man, this will be so funny once she realizes what she just said. However, there should be something to do first.

"It is time for you to take down our foes." I muttered.

It was at this point that Kasumi-san realized what she had forgotten until now. Hastily standing and taking a stance to fight, she soon tilted her head quizzically.

"...Shiki-dono, am I even needed here?" Kasumi-san asked a little sad.

The movements of our enemies had been completely sealed since a while ago. The seeds I had thrown before had grown and the roots became the bindings of our enemies.

Normally, they would be able to break those if they were your regular plants, but I got a helper pretty knowledgeable with plants so we managed to modify them constantly until they became far more resistant. That said, there was a limit to something we started working a month ago so they would've been torn apart if I had not been using my ki to strengthen them. They were all so wrapped that you could only see their eyes filled with fear or hate.

Since this girl says she wants to work at night, I guess she must be aware of my activities that happen during those hours, although they do extend to daytime and can even last days. If she is aware, some of the other girls must have an idea about it too.

"Of course you are, I just thought that having those guys interrupt my cute and precious subordinate's vow was rude. Besides, no one is born the strongest. You can always improve, and I can help you with that. For now, we should wrap this up." I muttered. "This is a highly experimental method to increase your strength, but it is only temporary. I am still trying to improve and control the effects it has, but as my sword, are you willing to test it?"

"(I get the chills whenever you act evil hubby since she just made a vow, the serious Kasumi-san will not turn you down. You are basically cornering her.)" Tamamo's voice did not sound scared at all.

It is all for the sake of improving my unique magic. I can still go further, but a lot of training is necessary. You should also be aware that it is something I cannot practice alone either. The nature of it is a technique meant for others after all.

"(Hubby only needs Tamamocchi!)" Tamamo expressed her dissatisfaction. "(A fox and a cat, the supreme combination, no, the ultimate combination!)"

Oh, so you acknowledge that Yasaka-san would make a good pair with me.

"(Noooo!)" Tamamo's sulky reply was amusing.

"N-Nee-sama, I think a bad guy is tricking me..." Kasumi-san shook fearfully. "No, whether he is a bad guy or not, I already made up my mind!"

Standing up, the girl began unbuttoning the upper part of her uniform with shaky hands.

"Wait, what are you doing?" I asked a little bewildered.

"...I heard the rumors that you have some strange technique that requires girls to get naked." Kasumi-san blushed. "It has to be something lewd! However, I, Kasumi, will not go back on her word."

Facepalming myself, I decided to apply punishment to the person who began spreading those rumors.

"...those are massage techniques, and I don't ask them to be naked." I said.

They get naked on their own for some reason... wait, was it because of the rumor!?

"I provide lighter clothing so I can massage them properly." I muttered.

Red as an apple, Kasumi-san slowly put the buttons like they were before.

"Just get this over with." I sighed. "<Link>"

Extending my hand towards her, a magic circle appeared in front of my hand and below her. I felt a small connection being made between her and me. It was a magical spell using my demonic energy, using the unique advantages it has, I tried hard to form a particular spell following my wishes and desires. In the cannot, Issei was capable of forming his custom spell Dress Break, and while I was almost pressured to dead by Azazel-san to give it a shot and make it, I had other plans. I not only asked knowledgeable people about magic in general such as Azazel-san who had a very interesting library but devils with a talent for controlling demonic energy such as Grayfia-san. They all gave me pieces of advice that little by little helped me to perfect my idea and leave with plenty of space to grow in the future. Link, it was nothing overly complicated judging from the name as it did exactly that, to link something to another. In this case, I liked my Ki reserves to Kasumi-san's.

Instantly, Kasumi-san began overflowing with energy and her expression was filled with surprise.

"A-Amazing..." Kasumi-san could barely mutter that.

Releasing the bindings from our enemies, I called out.

"Go." I mumbled.

It was enough to wake up Kasumi-san and took a stance once again.

"Damn you, damn you! How much do you think you can toy with people's feelings!?"

The guy from before was incredibly angry, but I couldn't care less.

"That is rich coming from someone belonging to that group." I said. "They are heartless and greedy individuals who did not hesitate to kill my kin just to get their hand on their belongings. Not to mention, attacking the defenseless and putting them on the brink of death. Innocent? You gotta be kidding, those guys are even more of a monster than me. You, who blindly follow them, are of course my enemy and someone I should not show any mercy to. Besides, respect is something I will never show to those guys."

"Ahhh! I will kill you!!! You-ARRRGH."

His speech was halted when Kasumi-san sent him flying with the sheath of her sword. She had vanished from her earlier position and had reappeared in front of the guy.

"O-oh, I am sorry... I kind of wanted to hit another guy closer to me, I certainly did not aim to cut short your speech." Kasumi-san explained.

Looking in detail, she had certainly been trying to attack someone as she said, but she could not control her power very well and ended up quite a few steps ahead, leaving a trail of destruction where she passed.

Rather than holding back before, it was the result of my magic. Her strength grew exponentially, but it is a power that could become poison if used recklessly. To begin with, if she gets used to recklessly spending her ki when her normal Ki pool is much smaller, once the spell is no longer active, she could get in a pinch. At this moment, the spell was an active one, but I plan to make it into a passive one to maximize its utility.

"Be careful not to trip." I warned.

She would leave her pretty face on the floor.

Seriously considering my words, Kasumi-san only stood her ground but no enemy tried to get closer. My earlier actions and her attack left the other guys sweating coldly.

"This will not do..." I sighed.

Pondering slightly, I thought of a plausible way to promote fighting.

"Listen up, you punks." I raised my arm and using a hidden knife I pulled, and cut.

Blood spilled and I prevent my self-healing abilities from kicking in. They looked at me like I was a madman, but I ignored it. I was used to it.

Kasumi-san and Reiko-san looked at me in worry but it was nothing to worry about.

"I can heal wounds like this or even worse easily." I immediately healed myself.

Their faces full of wonder and shock were not exactly a pretty sight, but one can't hope to have a room full of cute maids amazed by you every day.

"If you do not get your asses there and fight her with everything you got, I will..." I picked a random piece of debris. "I will use this to destroy your nuts, heal them back, then destroy them. Worry not, I am pretty familiar with this type of exercise. Before coming to this place, some of the buildings I raided had some stubborn guys so..."

My words sent a chill down their spines and they immediately began their fierce attack.

"Wait, Shiki-dono!? Whose side are you on!?" Kasumi-san hastily blocked a hit.

Despite these men being more into it than before, they could not make her even budge from her position.

"I will always be your ally..." I smiled.

This made her turn red, perhaps out of rage because I am speaking nonsense.

"(Hubby, allow me to karate-chop you once, just once.)" The kitsune spoke nonsense as well.

"I just have to do this, right!?" Kasumi-san sounded oddly hyped.

As expected, anger makes them more motivated.

Nothing makes someone angrier than a stranger trying to flirt with them. This smile was cultivated and taught by Sora-san who wanted me to try it on her, and later, Venelana-san thought it was a good idea to use it on my massage customers.

"Ara ara, Onee-san is a little jealous now." Reiko-san giggled.

Rolling my eyes, I stopped Kiyohime from jumping on Reiko-san after she snuggled close to me.

"You are supposed to behave. I am sorry that your punishment is like this, but I made concessions to carry you with me so you need to be a good girl." I scolded the cute snake in my hands.

*Hisss*

Briefly complaining, she lowered her head guiltily.

Tapping the head of the small spider that was peeking from my clothes, I meant to scold Rin who was mocking (?) Kiyohime. I wonder why they do not get along.

"What a cute little thing, I don't think I have ever seen a snake like this before..." Reiko-san tried to pet Kiyohime, but-

The rebellious snake almost bites her but I pulled her back before she did so.

"Careful there, she is not in a good mood today." I put the little one inside my clothing again.

Looking at how things were going, Kasumi-san certainly had quite the higher ground despite my motivational talk to the other side.

"Ahhhhh, haaaaah, ahhhh." Kasumi-san caught her breath slowly.

Without me noticing, the spell was broken.

I knew it, there is too much to nitpick about it.

"(No, no, no. Hubby, I think that anyone other than Yasaka-san would get drained of their strength in a second if they supplied someone else with the amount of ki you just gave away. The spell stills cause too much ki to be wasted and the proper amount Kasumi-san received was less than what you wanted to lend her.)" Tamamo-sensei began lecturing me. "(That said, I think the biggest issue was that.)"

As expected of Tamamocchi, you figured out the issue.

"(...it is more embarrassing than I thought, to be called as such.)" Tamamocchi got shy. "(Ahem, yes. Usually, devil's magic spells work on their sheer desire, but in this case, or rather, in the original case you desperately wanted to share your ki in a non-restrained manner and without limits. That incident was your first successful casting and your desire was what drove you back them for the most part.)"

Groaning slightly, I could not deny that.

"(It is why you have a better chance of making the spell last longer and be more effective when you use it on the girls or me.)" Tamamo-sensei concluded.

"Well done, Kasumi-san." I praised.

"Yes!" Kasumi-san spoke energetically despite her sweaty look.

Her body moved quite a bit and exceeded her limits more than once, but she looks like she can still go on.

As a reward, I should obviously.

"I just sent a certain audio to your phone, check it out later." I ignored her confused look. "You guys, get down here, pick up everyone and restrain their movements. There must be a truck parked nearby, put these guys there and consider this job about 90% done. Trash the place, feel free to mess up the place, and make sure everyone knows that we did it."

Finished giving my instructions, I walked forward, and past Kasumi-san. Patting her slightly on the head, I left her putting her hand on her head, touching the place I patted with a curious expression. Reiko-san must've felt the thing I did and followed me closely, too closely perhaps, and I will leave it at that.

"Damn it..."

The groaning tone of a familiar guy was heard as he tried to drag his body away slowly. Kasumi-san's blow was pretty ruthless, he could barely move despite his improved physique. That said, she probably held back when dealing with the other ones since they were not one-punched.

"Allow me..." Reiko-san began preparing a spell but I stopped her.

"Stop." I shook my head.

Given how much they 'invested' in him, they must've valued him at some point. I wonder if-

Walking up to him did not cause him to react, perhaps he was still disoriented and could not tell I was getting closer. Either way, I easily planted his head on the ground, putting him to sleep.

Now in no condition to resist, I let both of my hands rest on his head. I began applying first aid with my right hand while using Drain with my left hand. I focused and made sure to take away not his life but rather the thing they feed him with to turn him into this human-oni hybrid. Unlike half-bloods, his transformation was caused by a special type of sake. However, no human should be capable of obtaining it since most Onis capable of making it is banned from leaving Onigashima. However, there is a pink-haired one I know living in Urakyoto. I don't think she would do something like that though.

It made me sweat considerably since this ability was not really selective, if used wrongly, I could end up taking his life easily. I need him alive.

Timely assistance came from Reiko-san who wiped my sweat, it distracted me from the location where she pulled the handkerchief, but she can store whatever she pleases in her valley.

A minute went by and I had to stop.

"...this should be enough." I sighed.

Any more than this and his physical strength will deteriorate too much.

"We leave now." I said. "Take the other guys but leave him all alone here."

I called the guys on this way to pick him up as well.

"The rest of the plan will be like I told you, but this guy, act like you never saw him." I ordered.

Receiving a nod as a reply, I let my other subordinates do their job as I began to leave. Reiko-san obediently followed me, but Kasumi-san who tagged along looked confused.

"Shiki-dono, why is that man...?" Kasumi-san inquired.

"Kasumi, we must not question our master in the open like this. There are other methods to voice out your questions." Reiko-san scolded.

Her tail expressed her slight depression and Kasumi-san hung her head low.

"It is ok, it is not a bad idea to question me since I lack a screw." I jested. "You guys can consider an underhanded way of collecting more information."

Before asking me, Kasumi looked at her sister first for permission to talk, and since I was open about the topic, Reiko-san gestures to her sister to talk.

"Shouldn't it be better to get him to our HQ to question him?" Kasumi-san asked.

It is not a bad idea. I have made sure to learn different techniques that while questionable, can get people to be more talkable. Some are just plain torture, but sometimes one has to go all out.

"Let me ask you a question. How do you think he will be more valuable to me?" I asked back.

Furrowing her eyebrows, Kasumi-san thought hard about it. I let her think as we moved around the building and it was only after we left the place that Kasumi-san replied.

"Isn't it Shiki-dono's goal to gather information about how he got like that?" Kasumi-san asked.

"Is it?" I stopped and asked.

She looked slightly upset over my lack of an actual answer.

"Is it not?" Kasumi-san asked.

Our discussion made Reiko-san giggle and that made Kasumi-san snap.

"Nee-sama..." Kasumi grumbled.

"Fufu, sorry. I just thought that you get along rather well." Reiko-san said.

"Nee-sama..." Kasumi-san sighed.

Slightly directing my eyes in one direction, I stopped my mouth from smirking. There were eyes on us, and I should not alert anyone.

"Kasumi-san. I can indeed do that, but you have to look at it from a broader perspective. What other uses does he have? What will happen if I let him go now? If you question that, you will easily arrive at the right answer." I said. "Reiko-san, I leave explaining to your cute little sister about her slip of the tongue when she made a vow."

Smirking inwardly, I felt saddened that I would not be able to witness that moment.

"This was the last gang related to the Extra Clans, but there is one last group in Kyoto that is not affiliated with anyone. What shall we do about it?" Reiko-san asked.

Ah, that ladies-only gang huh.

"(Hoho, is this the moment where my hubby awakens his inner beast and says he will take them all as his women!?)" Tamamo sounded hyped.

You were reading those adult doujinshis again, weren't you?

"(Just a tiny bit...)" Tamamo confessed (?).

The browser history.

"(I am very sorry, it is a hobby of mine that takes at least 5 hours a day. I need to catch up with today's trends!)" Tamamo confessed.

What kind of trends are those?

"(Of course, hubby's possible fetishes!!!)" Tamaño said.

"There is no need to stop, we shall storm their place if they do not come under us. There will be no other group like those in Kyoto after this week ends." I replied.

"Understood." Reiko-san nodded.

With that said, I parted ways with the sister. I had other businesses to take care of. That said, I learned that Kasumi-san's embarrassed screams shook the HQ when Reiko-san explained to her in detail what she had offered to do and it was heard again after Kasumi-san heard herself again in the file I sent her.

There are cameras in the HQ so I am sure as heck going to have a copy of that.