The hot and noisy banquet with seven wives(?), or rather family members, didn't end until dawn. It was an intense time that might have caused fainting long ago if not for my oni stamina.
Was it thanks to Tamamo's magecraft enhancement, or was it wrung out precisely because of such enhancement? With Tamamo's bedroom arts, Kiyo winding around like a snake, hot Nobbu and violent Ushiwaka, the clingy Shuten, delicate Okita, and Hokusai (Oei) whose hand movements were anything but ordinary. Enduring it was only possible because I'm an oni.
While everyone was sound asleep, I quietly got up and headed to the large bath prepared in one corner of the underground training hall. I needed time to wash off the sticky sweat and heat and sort through my complicated thoughts.
The bath was filled with hot water, heated from drawn groundwater. As I submerged my body in the steaming bath, I finally felt my tense muscles relax.
"Hoo... So we're really going to Tokyo now."
I looked at my face reflected on the water's surface. Though I had the appearance of a teenager, my eyes held the weight of sixty years of living including my past life and the oni's karma.
That's when it happened. The bath's sliding door rattled open, and someone boldly entered.
"Oh, you were here after all. Master."
It was Nobbu who entered, sweeping back her wet black hair tinged with red. She walked confidently toward me without a single towel covering her nudity.
She looked slender in her military uniform, but her exposed body was surprisingly voluptuous and firm. Well, her chest is about a D-cup. She looks like a young girl in stature, but her figure—perhaps because of her Demon King skill—has breasts and buttocks larger than the original.
Is Tamamo a G-cup now? Originally B86, but apparently she's about B90 lately. Is it because I touch them a lot?
"Nobbu? What are you doing not sleeping?"
"One who seeks to rule the world cannot sleep in. Besides, my body feels sticky. The others seem happy or annoyed to be snuggled by you and just sleep. Come here, I'll scrub your back for you."
She entered the bath without giving me a chance to refuse and sat down behind me.
Is the annoyed one Hokusai (Oei)? The others are all the same. Hokusai likes me too, but compared to the others, she doesn't have the same obsession, I feel. So it's good we can be like close friends.
Nobbu started scrubbing my back vigorously with a rough towel lathered with soap.
"Ugh, hey, that's too hard."
"Quiet. A man's skin should endure this much. You're not even human to begin with, so you're tough. By the way, your back seems a bit broader than before? I thought your growth plates were closed since you're an oni."
"Growth plates are closed because I'm an oni. Isn't it just that I've gotten stronger and more solid?"
Her touch was rough, yet strangely sincere. Once she finished scrubbing my back, as if her playful side activated, she started tickling my sides with her soapy hands.
"Wahaha! Stop, stop that!"
"An opening! Receive the Demon King's surprise attack!"
I reflexively turned my body to restrain her. Water splashed, and we ended up tangled together in the bath. My hand slipped and unintentionally grabbed her breast tightly.
Skin made even smoother by the water, and a heavy yet soft sensation filling my palm. I'd forgotten because of her usual boyish attitude, but she too possessed a splendid woman's body reaching D-cup.
"Eheh...!"
A strangely cute moan burst from Nobunaga's mouth at my touch. Her face instantly turned beet red. Her usual joviality vanished, and her wavering eyes were quite stimulating.
"Y-you...! How dare you touch this one's erogenous... no, my royal body!"
"Ah~ Sorry. I slipped~"
As I hurriedly tried to remove my hand, she pretended to be angry with a pouting expression and wildly messed up my hair with both hands.
"Eeek! Insolent brat! Punishment! Receive the Demon King's touch until this hair dries!"
"Ack! My hair, my hair's getting pulled out!"
"Quiet! I wouldn't mind if you touched a little more... no, it's nothing!"
After the commotion, when we finished bathing and came out to the changing room, Okita was there leaning against the wall with crossed arms. Her gaze was as cold as Arctic glaciers.
"Hoho... So 'scrubbing your back' turned into quite the water fight in the bath, did it? Nobbu?"
"Uh, huh? Okita? No, this was a strategic bath! Checking Master's hygiene conditions..."
"Liar. I heard you go 'Hya~n' when Master's hand touched you just now? Daring to make a sneak attack here?"
"I told you it's not! And that sound was just an unconscious defense mechanism!"
Leaving the two squabbling behind, I hurried toward the study.
Though the sun was high in the sky, my study located on the third floor of the main building was dark, covered by thick blackout curtains. I was deep in thought, having spread a map of Japan and a chronological chart on the desk.
Original story intervention... to what extent should I do it?
In my memory, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba only remained as a general flow; the exact years and dates had long grown faint. I only know the era when the protagonists are active, not the precise timeline.
It's now 1905. Tanjiro taking the Demon Slayer Corps exam is in the Taisho era, 1912, still several years away. So at this point, aren't there people I could save by intervening?
For example, Shinobu's older sister, Kanae. She's killed by Upper Rank Two, Doma. But when was that? A year later? Or is she already dead? Sabito, Gyomei's friend. When is the selection exam where he dies to the Hand Demon?
Makomo is also quite skilled, but I don't know exactly if she's Sabito and Gyomei's successor or predecessor.
I'd rather not get involved with the Demon Slayer Corps, but it would be good if talented people survived and fought the oni for us. Though unluckily they might come at us and be a nuisance.
"Damn, I can't remember..."
As I held my head groaning, a fishy ink smell wafted from behind me.
"What's a man groaning about like that? You'll get wrinkles, Master."
Turning my head, Hokusai was sitting on the desk with a brush tucked behind her ear. Well, to be precise, the small octopus attached to her head—the real Hokusai—was speaking to me through Oei's body.
"Hokusai? Where's Oei?"
"Oei's passed out from last night's aftermath. Young but weak stamina, you see. By the way, our Master, you seem troubled. Is it because of that 'original story' fate?"
Hokusai poured me red blood with a tentacle holding a teacup.
"Yeah. I didn't want to get involved with the Demon Slayer Corps, but if I can save them, wouldn't that be better? If the human side gets stronger, hunting oni will become easier. But the information on when and where is too uncertain. I'm also afraid that if I intervene wrong, the future might turn for the worse."
At my confession, Hokusai chuckled. It was a hearty laugh carrying the experience of an old man who'd lived nearly ninety years.
"Hey, Master. When painting, you know, if you only calculate with your head and don't follow where the brush goes, the ink hardens and ruins the brush. Life is like shunga. If you follow what arouses you, go with the flow, that itself becomes a masterpiece."
"'What arouses you'... that's quite a metaphor."
"Isn't it true? If you want to save, save; if you want to kill, kill. What if you fail? You have seven splendid brushes like us by your side. If history gets twisted, just redraw it."
His rough advice made my blocked chest feel slightly cleared. Right, I don't need to try to be too perfect. I'm not a god, but an oni struggling to survive.
"Thanks, Hokusai. I feel a bit better."
"Kukuku, if you're thankful, don't just pay with words, how about paying with your body?"
"Huh?"
She (he) wriggled her tentacles suggestively.
"I know how to use a woman's body much better than my daughter. I can make our lord feel really good, want to try? Sex in a possessed state is quite a delicacy──"
"You damned father!!!"
Suddenly Oei's eyes flew open, and she violently ripped the octopus attached to her head.
[Guek?!]
"What nonsense before Master! Don't even dream of doing weird things with my body!"
Oei threw the octopus against the wall and bowed to me with a red face.
"M-Master! Forget it! That old man must be senile! Even if it's my body, a man with a man! Well, watching isn't bad, but I don't want Master doing that. And gay stuff with my body!"
"That's why I haven't even tried for years."
Well, as long as we don't have sex, there's no discomfort. That Hokusai guy is sly, so he often says that, right?
Three days later. Pitch-black darkness covered Kyoto Station. Avoiding the eyes of ordinary passengers, we boarded a special train car chartered for a huge sum, doubling as a freight car.
The steam locomotive began running on the rails, exhaling rough breath. Leaving the receding lights of Kyoto behind, a strategy meeting opened inside the moving train.
"Reporting, Master."
Kiyohime unfolded a map.
"According to the report, the new headquarters building located in Tokyo's Ginza has been perfectly completed down to the interior. We can immediately hang the Akatsuki Trading Company Tokyo main store sign and begin operations upon arrival."
"Good work. What about the main store and branches in Kyoto?"
"Full authority has been delegated to the managers. Tamamo's magecraft has imprinted loyalty, so there's no worry of betrayal. We just need to periodically collect the profits."
As expected of flawless work. She pointed to two other locations on the map with her finger.
"And as per Master's instructions, we've secured candidate sites for branches within Tokyo. Tokyo Prefecture Store 1 is in Shinjuku with the highest foot traffic. And Store 2 is..."
Her finger stopped at a point in northern Tokyo.
"Kitashitama District, Taki-no-Gawa Village. We've prepared land near the Taki-no-Gawa castle ruins. The foot traffic isn't enormous, but there are tourists due to the castle ruins and park, and quite a few local residents, so we selected it as an operating location. Both locations will be ready to open in one month."
Kitashitama District, Taki-no-Gawa Village? A place name I've never heard of. Originally, the only Tokyo place names I know are Akihabara or Shinjuku. I lived in a rural part of Tokyo, but it was also a remote village. I was illiterate back then, so how would I know Tokyo place names?
"Well, it doesn't seem famous, but we need to increase branches one by one in places like this to boost recognition and profits. To make ourselves irreplaceable. Instant ramen will soon enter commercialization too."
Instant ramen was originally created after Japan's defeat. Around the 50s, 60s? That's when it's made. I'll make ramen decades earlier to maximize profitability. Just making ramen will make us sit on a goldmine.
I turned my gaze outside the window. A train running through pitch-black darkness. At the end of these rails lies Tokyo, the starting point and end of all evil ties.
"Upon arrival, let's focus on headquarters operations and solidify our foundation for a while. And when Stores 1 and 2 are ready to open, I'll personally go to the sites."
"Understood. Ah, and Master."
Kiyohime smiled mysteriously and took out a small box from her bosom.
"This is something I specially ordered before leaving Kyoto."
Inside the box was a pocket watch with silver craftsmanship in the shape of a coiled snake.
"It's a gift to commemorate the new beginning. Tokyo's time... is now Master's, after all."
I took the watch. A heavy feel. The ticking second hand sounded like my own heartbeat.
1905 Tokyo. We go to that demon capital where the oni king, Kibutsuji Muzan, breathes.