On the evening street of Kars' domain, the enthusiastic Esdeath was dragging the troubled-faced Kobeni by her wrist through the crowd of indentured workers who were currently either going back home or those who were going to work.
The district seemed to never ever sleep with the six-hour-shift system that was implemented not long ago, and now people could be seen walking everywhere day and night throughout Kars' domain, creating a new economic zone in Jinkai.
"Hm? What are those guys doing?" Suddenly Esdeath slowed down her pace and pointed at a group of men in black cloaks, who were digging through trash bins like a bunch of raccoons in the dark alley between one of the workers' apartment buildings and a public bathhouse.
The sight of a group of Dark Hands acting like a bunch of homeless beggars was so bizarre that the girl couldn't help but stop and stare.
The Dark Hands also noticed Esdeath was staring at them and paused for a brief moment before they turned to look at her in unison with their creepy glowing green eyes.
"Eh... please don't mind them... just pretend you don't see them, and they would just go away after they're bored or something..." Kobeni sighed in relief as Esdeath finally slowed down before she replied to the girl's question dismissively and tried to lead her away from the alley without even looking at the homunculi.
To be honest, no one really knew what those homunculi were doing snooping around all over the strange places, not only in Kars' domain but also throughout the entire city either.
They were so creepy that no one really wanted to get close or bother them, while if someone was trying to pick a fight with them, the homunculus would just run away, but if someone chased after them, they would get beaten up later by the other homunculi that would show up.
It took only a week before the city folks just treated the Dark Hands as a minor nuisance that they just ignored like stray animals.
Well, what could they do? No one was brave enough to go complain about it to the homunculi master, who also happened to be the infamous uncrowned underworld boss of Jinkai.
"..." Esdeath ignored Kobeni's attempt to guide her away and instead stood in her place, narrowing her blue eyes as she immediately sensed that those homunculi were stronger than average warriors, like a group of elite-class warriors... if you ignore what they were doing.
The tribal girl and the Dark Hands were now having a strange standoff as they sized each other up until Kobeni interrupted them again, even more insistent this time.
"Ah, don't make eye contact with them...! They'll follow you around if you do that too long...!" Kobeni quickly used her body to block Esdeath's line of sight as she saw the tribal girl suddenly start a staring contest with the Dark Hands for some reason.
Sometime ago Kobeni had experienced it firsthand, and she still remembered ending up having one of them hanging outside of her bedroom's window all night after she stared at them digging through trash bins of the canteen she previously worked in.
"C-Come on, let's go..." The young woman said as she forcefully dragged the reluctant Esdeath away by her hand from the alley, where the Dark Hands were poking their heads out from inside and staring at their retreating backs with their unblinking green eyes.
"Hmmm... and what's that?" When they moved far away from the alley, something else caught Esdeath's attention again as she turned to look at the newly built building on the corner of the street.
That place she looked at was filled with Kars-themed merchandise, his half-nude paintings, his marble statues in various poses and sizes, and a row of bookshelves inside where a couple of suspicious-looking women in obvious disguises were browsing the items they were interested in.
"That... uh... it-it's a... a... a culture store of Mistress Sophia's young sister, Miss Louise, yes, that's right..." Kobeni felt awkward as she looked at the store where Esdeath pointed out while trying to find the right word for that badly disguised fetish store.
"Hey, it's the author!" While Esdeath was about to ask what a culture store was even about, there was a commotion suddenly happening inside the store as the customers ran up to a young woman with a blanket covering her body like a cloak, trying to sneak out of the store.
"Crap...!" The young woman cried out as she unveiled herself and quickly threw the blanket at the group of women that were zooming in on her like sharks smelling blood before she made a run for it with her hand holding her top hat on her head.
"Aughk...?! She's running away! Get her!" One of the customers who got tangled up by the blanket cried out while the other jumped over or circled around her to continue chasing.
"Stop! It has been a week already! Where is your promised book?!" One of the customers shouted while trying to tackle the escaping young woman.
"Ahh?! Wait, wait! Please give me more time, everyone!" The young woman narrowly dodged the tackle and ran past Kobeni and Esdeath on the road with a flustered expression while pleading with them. "I promise I'll get it done next week, for real!"
"Liar! You said the same thing last week! You definitely didn't even start writing yet, I bet! This time I'll make you sure you sit and write the damn book until you finish it, if I have to!" The group of women chasing after her yelled out as they tried to catch her with everything they had while ignoring her pleas.
"You bitches are all too horny for your own good! I am not going to be your material production slave!" Louise looked back and cried out as she sprinted like an athlete until she turned and slipped inside the alley while her fans chased after her out of the public sight.
No one on the street seemed to pay them much attention, as the people only spared them a brief glance like it was a common occurrence.
"..." Kobeni also watched their antics with familiarity before she turned to look at Esdeath, but the girl was already disappearing from her side, and currently she was looking through the statues and the paintings of Kars in the store with curiosity.
"Ahhh! You can't look at those yet! You are still too young!" Kobeni cried out in panic as she ran up to drag the blue-haired, blue-eyed girl out of the 18+ store.
Then the two of them would continue on their impromptu tour around the domain until late in the night, forgetting about their main objective, as Esdeath would be distracted by something she saw along the way until Kobeni eventually found herself back in her apartment room with a guest who was sleeping on her bed like she owned the place.
"Ahhh, how did it come to this..." Kobeni groaned and was too exhausted to care anymore, so she just slept next to the girl who barged inside her home as she left this mess for the future Kobeni to deal with...
÷×÷×÷×÷×÷
In the early morning inside Kars' mansion, where most residents were still sleeping, the naked Ghislaine with her long gray hair tied up in a messy bun was taking a bath as she dipped her curvy and muscular body in the bathtub while the humid air caressed her dark skin that was marred with scars.
She hummed softly as she submerged in hot water with her cat ears flopped and her tail swayed in a relaxed manner. She leaned her back against the edge of the tub as her large breasts were half submerged, and then she rubbed her skin and washed her face with the water.
While she was relaxing in the tub for a while, the silence of the bath was finally interrupted by the door of the bathroom that was opening up without a knock. Ghislaine didn't even open her eyes as she simply flicked her ear, catching the familiar bold stride of the man who owned this house.
"..." She immediately became tense as she could imagine what was about to happen next when he saw her here.
"Huh? What a coincidence..." The naked Kars, who just walked inside the bathroom, saw the feline woman in the tub and acted surprised, though his expression said otherwise.
"I guess I came in at the perfect time..." He didn't bother to look away or offer a modicum of privacy to her, as he smirked and shamelessly took in her naked body in the water. "We could finally have some nice bath bonding time today, huh, Cat?"
Ghislaine opened her eyes, glancing at Kars with a mixture of exasperation and annoyance on her impassive face somehow. She didn't make any move to cover herself, as a beastkin was rarely ashamed of their nakedness.
"Haa... bonding time?" She exhaled a long, steamy sigh as she adjusted her posture to be more defensive subconsciously. What he did to her was still fresh in her mind, so she had no naive idea of getting out of here unscathed.
"Bonding while having your way with me, you mean...?" Ghislaine accused with a glare. To anyone else, Kars was a terror, but to her, who had been dealing with his shameless advances, he was a headache that she couldn't get away from.
"Hahaha, we might be able to do something more than usual, Cat." Kars chuckled as he poured water on his body with a bucket thoroughly under the gaze of the feline woman before he got in the bathtub and leaned back on the edge of the tub.
"The other girls were still tired and sleeping right now... just so you know..." He turned to her and informed Ghislaine with a suggestive smirk, as the feline woman could also see the traces of his night activities with his women.
"..." Ghislaine's ears twitched as she bit her lower lip because she became certain that she was not going to get out of here unmolested or get out of here at all with what Kars just said. She wondered if this is it for her purity.
"Hmmm, it's about time I teach you some manners after you avoided me like a plague all this time, wouldn't you agree?" Kars stared at the feline woman with his predatory eyes narrowed like he was about to pounce on her at any moment. His intention was clear enough for even a blind person to see.
"..." The lust was almost physical with how much Ghislaine smelled from his raw pheromones that were oozing out of him as she tried hard not to flinch when Kars suddenly shifted closer, making the water churn around them. Ghislaine cursed inside her mind as she felt her own temperature rise along with the warm feeling in her tummy in anticipation.
"The last time you left quite in a hurry after our little sparing..." Kars came even closer, his shoulder nearly brushing against hers as he looked at her floating breasts with a hunger before he raised his arm over her shoulders and forcefully pulled her close to his chest. "I still remembered how wet you was..."
"Hmph..." Ghislaine let out an annoyed huff, her body tensing instinctively as Kars's arm locked around her body, preventing her from resisting with how far their strength difference was. And much to her exasperation, her body didn't fight against him, as it even leaned into his body. Her feminine muscular frame was now pressed against his big, hard physique.
"..." She felt the strong thrum of his heartbeat against her own as Kars's hands were caressing her back while she felt his muscles and how hot his body temperature was.
"If you want to do it, then just do it..." Ghislaine murmured with resignation as she didn't use her arms to push him away but sniffed him before she let out a slow, shivering breath. His strong male musk made her wild instinct stir violently as her feline tail swayed agitatedly.
Ghislaine was sure that the "talk" with Sophia was going to be annoying when that woman knew about it as the steam seemed to thicken around them, clinging to their wet skin as the two embraced in the bathtub.
Kars smirked at the feline woman who got in heat and finally resigned herself to her fate before he lifted her chin up and kissed her soft lips in a slow, demanding way.
"Mmmaahh..." Ghislaine's eyes were shut close, her tail whipping the water as she wrapped her strong arms around his neck, pulling him in with a strength that would have crushed a lesser man.
As time passed, their kiss was progressing more passionately and wildly, with the only sound in the bathroom being the lewd wet noises of two naked bodies entangled in the water and primal sloppy kisses.
"I'll take that as an invitation then..." Kars murmured with a deep breath against Ghislaine's kissing lips and licking tongue, as the feline woman now looked intoxicated after such a lewd kiss. He didn't give her time to respond, his hand sliding beneath the surface of the water to grip the firm curve of her strong thigh and pull her on top of his lap with her breasts pressing against him.
"Mmmmhhhhh..." The friction of their wet skin made Ghislaine let out a low, rumbling purr that vibrated through her chest and into his, a sound that was more pleasant to hear than any word she had spoken since she started living in his mansion.
"Let's see what we're dealing with down here..." Kars said before he sucked on her tongue and lowered his hands to her big, perky ass while his fingers dug into her warm, delicate slit and tight hole...