"Heh, interesting..." Kars smirked slightly as some girl he spotted by chance in the crowd was making eye contact with him without any fear. He wondered what her deal was, since the girl looked like she wanted to fight him.
As he looked away from the strange belligerent girl to the match that was finally started with a clash of the two fighters in the middle of the sandpit, he was thinking about the next step of what he should do next.
The Kolosseum was now fulfilling its purpose in attracting the people and boosting his influence in Jinkai City. Kars also had a plan to take in the injured fighters who can't pay for their treatment and the people who had gone bankrupt because they had bet recklessly as his legal slave.
It's simply the manpower grab for his faction, and what Kars lacked the most was the people, so this was his way of recruiting people without alarming the factions of Jinkai City of his plan to overthrow them too early.
"I guess I should fan the flame to make some of them make their move first so I have the justification to crush them..." Kars mumbled as he mused on the balcony railing, watching the fight below without much interest.
It'll be great for his plan if some faction could just attack him first, as he can take over the city cleanly without the chaos that would erupt if all the factions went all out to resist him, but too bad that the other factions were just too complacent or intelligent enough not to do it.
Right now there are not many small flies left on the underworld side of the city, and they are also quickly being crushed and assimilated silently by his Dark Hands. Soon he would have to make his move against the council.
"Hmmm, maybe I could use some women to spark the conflict..." Kars made a thoughtful expression as he considered trying to collect more beautiful women so that some dumbasses from the other factions might actually try something stupid over a woman.
"It's actually not a bad plan..." He rubbed his chin like a wise man. The beautiful women would always be the downfall of men, so it's a legit strategy to utilize. He just had to be proactive in seeking a woman, and the rest will follow without him having to do much.
"It's decided then, I'll get more women." Kars smirked without any kind of "ulterior motive" whatsoever behind his plan as he shamelessly decided to expand his harem more actively.
"Disgusting..." Juri, who was perching on the railing beside him, heard what he said and looked at him with disgust before she made a wide distance between them. She could never know and doesn't even want to know how he said those things out loud with a straight face...
÷×÷×÷×÷×÷
"Congratulations, Mr. Kars. The Kolosseum was a resounding success as we expected..." The pleased Mei Mei smiled wide with her cherry-red lips as she walked up to Kars, who was about to leave the Kolosseum with the other after they had watched a couple more matches.
"Hey, Mei Mei." Kars nodded at the approaching young woman, with Sophia and Elsa standing beside him as the two women currently linked their arms with his.
"Mmh? If it isn't the Miser Miser," Kruri, who was holding hands with Elsa, chimed in as she nodded her head, seemingly pleased with herself about the honorary title she just gave to Mei Mei.
"Hahaha, that's quite fitting for her!" Kars laughed while Sophia and Elsa also giggled with their hands hiding their smiles.
"I'm technically a hoarder, not a miser..." Mei Mei frowned at the dupe girl, a little offended by such insolence. "And you, girl, seem to be in need of some overdue discipline."
"Mmh?! Mommy shield!" Kars' self-proclaimed daughter sensed the danger and cried out as she quickly hid behind Elsa and avoided Mei Mei, who was reaching for her and missed her by a hair's breadth.
"Come here, you little..." Mei Mei tried to chase after Kruri, but the girl was already circling around to the other side of Kars and utilized him as a shield against her as well.
"I feel like I am just an extra..." Meanwhile, Juri, who had already gotten in the carriage, mumbled quietly as she watched Kruri playing around with the other from the window while feeling a little jealous at how free and happy her counterpart seemed to be.
"Fool, power here, you do not have—ah!" Kruri taunted Mei Mei with a smug look but got a knuckle knocked on her forehead.
"Quiet down, brat. Go wait in the carriage." Kars huffed as he had enough of the girl circling around him with Mei Mei and delivered his fist of love to the little girl.
"Mommy, Daddy hit me!" Kruri held her forehead as she immediately clung to Elsa's hip with an aggrieved look.
"Hehe, what a naughty girl you are. Now let's go inside the carriage with Mommy, since Daddy was being such a meanie to you..." The assassin giggled as she unlinked her arm with Kars to comfort her daughter and led the girl to the carriage.
"..." Sophia pursed her lips as she watched their antics with jealousy bubbling inside her chest. She felt like she was being taunted by Elsa, who was now acting like she was actually Kars' wife.
The concubine wouldn't take this lying down any longer as she glanced at Juri, who perched on the carriage window with her head and looking quite bored by herself. An idea started to form as Sophia now knows what she must do to remedy this situation.
"I'll visit you tomorrow, and then we could start talking about the expansion around the Kolosseum together." While Sophia was distracted, Mei Mei had already replaced Elsa as she linked her arm with Kars and pushed her soft breasts against him.
"Uhh... yeah, you can come by in the afternoon." Kars said as he felt Mei Mei was being strangely touchy, but he didn't mind, though.
"Fufu, I'll be looking forward to tomorrow." Mei Mei smiled before she kissed him on his cheek, which was pretty close to his lips, as she separated from him under a glare of her half-sister, who just noticed what she did.
"Good night, Mr. Kars... and Sister." With a mischievous expression on her face, Mei Mei smiled like a fox as she left the two of them.
"Hmph!" Sophia huffed and puffed as she pulled Kars, who was pretending nothing just happened inside the carriage. She was always surrounded by enemies and couldn't let down her guard even for a moment.
The carriage ride back to the mansion was filled with giggles and Sophia's righteous jealousy as Kars sat in the center, flanked by Sophia and Elsa, who seemed to be engaged in a silent competition to see who could lean more heavily against him.
The two girls, Juri and Kruri, on the other hand, were engaging in gossip as they ignored the grown-up.
"Enough!" After a while, Kars finally got annoyed by the two women trying to squeeze him as he suddenly grabbed both of their large breasts and dug his fingers in their nipples through their clothes.
"Ahh—!" A synchronized gasp echoed through the carriage, followed by the sudden muffled moan of the two women as Sophia and Elsa both jolted by Kars' surprise attack, their bodies arching instinctively against him while Kars maintained his grip on their heavy breasts.
For just a heartbeat, the air in the carriage turned lewd as the adults were now playing with something they shouldn't be doing in front of children.
"Wha..." The two little girls were first surprised by a lewd noise as they stared at them with wide eyes, but then they reacted completely opposite to each other next.
"They're going to fuck!" Kruri cheered, clapping her hands with genuine delight in her purple eyes.
"Wha-Wha-What are you doing...?! Don't do shameless things in front of me...!" Juri closed her eyes with her hands, her face turning a shade of tomato while she protested their immoral conduct.
"K-Kars...! Not here—ahh!" Sophia's protest was weak, her voice trailing off into a soft, breathy sigh as she instinctively leaned further into his grip. The stern mistress of the household had vanished, replaced by a woman whose composure had been overwritten by lust.
"Fufufu... I suppose we could teach our daughter about sexual things early..." Elsa kissed Kars' neck while she leaned into his chest, her other hand sliding down to play with the buttons of his pants. She didn't seem to care that the girls were currently inside the carriage with them.
"Ahh... so shameless...!" Despite her word, Juri ended up peeking through the gap of her fingers, as she couldn't help but watch them kissing because of her curiosity.
"Please teach us your way!" Kruri, on the other hand, was so eager that she boldly stared at them without blinking.
Now the ride back was filled with a pink atmosphere as the man and two women were doing foreplay in front of the girls. Kars didn't let it go all the way, of course, as he simply enjoyed playing with the two women's bodies, overwhelming them with his skillful hands and tongue.
"Hmph, now be good girls and don't bother me..." With an arrogant face, Kars leaned back against the seat, a triumphant smirk playing on his lips after he reduced the two women beside him into obedient kittens.
"Tsk, they're not going to fuck..." Kruri clicked her tongue with disappointment...
÷×÷×÷×÷×÷
At the Kolosseum after the last match of the day.
"Haaa, it's finally over..." Kobeni sighed tiredly as she slumped down with her back leaning against the wall on the bench. Right now she was back inside the staff room of the Kolosseum, which was quite full with the other indentured workers and hired civilians resting together just like her.
"Ahh, I want to take a bath and go to bed..." Kobeni bemoaned, having just experienced the most stressful moment of her life under the gaze of thousands of people. This job was not really for her, but now she was stuck with it because of her damnable bad luck.
"You sure did well for your first day. Keep it up, girl!" Kobeni looked up and saw the manager of the Kolosseum, a blonde-haired and blue-eyed middle-aged man with a strong jawline and square chin, talking to her briefly before he moved around the room, praising and scolding the other staff.
"At least the manager seems not to be a bad person..." She muttered quietly and straightened her back.
"Guess I can go back now..." Kobeni groaned before she got up from the bench and walked out of the room to change her clothes in the changing room next door.
Then ten minutes later she came back out of the changing room dressed in a white kimono with a blue slash that actually fit her body and holding a basket with her used bunny girl costume in it. She had to send it to the laundry department later.
"Let's eat some ramen tonight..." Kobeni re-adjusted her hair a second time while she mumbled to herself before she walked along the busy corridor to the entrance/exit for the staff as she stayed out of the other people's way.
When she arrived at the exit, she saw a long curtain of chains hanging from the ceiling being used as a blinding screen and intruder detection on the doorway while four homunculi stood guard from both inside and outside of the building.
"Thank you..." Kobeni nodded at one of the homunculi who opened a gap in the chain curtain for her as she slipped out of the Kolosseum to the well-lit evening street filled with people.
The massive crowd from this morning was beginning to thin as people were either going back to their home or their inn while they were talking animatedly with each other.
Kobeni walked quietly amongst them as she kept her presence small like always. It was a habit hardwired to her ever since she was a child.
"Eh?" But as she entered the city's gate, she suddenly felt someone approach her from behind, and when she turned to look, she saw a smiling girl with long blue hair and blue eyes jogging toward her.
"Hello, do you have a moment?" Esdeath called out to Kobeni as she quickly caught up to the older woman. The tribal girl was waiting for Kobeni near the city gate in advance, as she wanted to get a feel of Kobeni's oddity up close while also asking her to be a guide.
"Ah, yes, what is it?" Kobeni tilted her head slightly as she looked at the unknown girl with curiosity, but this seemingly innocent gesture didn't fool Esdeath even a little as she noticed the subtle positioning of Kobeni's feet that was ready to flee at any moment.
"Are you one of those indentured workers of Kars Aloha, right?" Esdeath inquired while feeling impressed that the woman seemed to be noticing her strength instantly... or maybe the older woman was just that jumpy...
"Y-Yes..." Kobeni answered, as she was not really sure what the girl needed from her.
"You also must be living inside his domain too, then?" Esdeath continued as she tried not to project any threatening aura toward Kobeni.
"Uhh, that's right..." Kobeni nodded with an awkward smile as she observed the tribal girl. She got the feeling that she was not going to like what she would hear next.
"Then you must know the way to his mansion!" Esdeath said, her smile widening. She didn't wait for a confirmation, instead stepping closer into Kobeni's personal space and grabbing the older woman's arm.
When the girl got close, Kobeni felt the air around the girl seemed to drop a few degrees as a sudden chill made the hairs on her arm stand up despite the warm evening breeze.
"Could you guide me there? I'm new to the city, and I've heard that Kars was very strong, so I really want to meet him..." Esdeath said as she was tucking Kobeni's arm like a spoiled brat.
"E-Eh...? You want to meet the boss?" Kobeni was baffled. She couldn't imagine such a young girl wanting to meet Kars for whatever reason. She looked at the blue-haired girl, who looked barely old enough to be out on her own, and felt a familiar sense of trouble in her tummy.
"B-But I am just a nobody...! They are never going to let me walk to where the boss lives just because..." She tried to gently pull her arm back, but the girl's grip was like a bear trap refusing to let go.
"It's fine! You can just guide me near enough to the place, and then you can just point where it is to me. Now come on!" Esdeath ignored Kobeni's reluctance, her voice carrying a cheerful tone that didn't quite match the predatory glint in her blue eyes as she pulled Kobeni along.
"Eh...? You can't just... ahhh... why are you so strong...?! This... this is not good...!" Kobeni protested weakly as she stumbled behind Esdeath, who dragged her inside the city while Kobeni released a distressed noise...