Akira awoke to the sounds of Kanna exercising, within the cramped confines of the ranted hotel room. Still blurry-eyed and half-asleep, she asked if there was even a need to exercise in this world. She didn't receive an answer.
"My head hurts." Kanna complained, steadfastly enduring it to continue with her stretches. "That was some hard ass stuff thosemilk machines gave me!"
As Akira glanced toward her, she was met with a truly wondrous sight: Of Kanna, dressed in only her underwear and unzipped [Track Jacket], her perfectly sculpted body gleaming with accumulated sweat as she repeatedly bent, contorted and twisted her limber body into all different shapes, her hair that was tied into a messy tail swaying with her movements.
While she was bent over, Akira came up behind her and grabbed her by the waist, prompting her to rise up slowly, her breathing slow and intense as she was becoming enthralled by the CEO's touch, and short romantic kisses along her moist neck.
Of course, Akira was tempted to stay and "fool around" a bit, if only she hadn't already set aside plans for the day.
The couple was roughing it in downtown Mithil, to put it mildly: between four walls that were yellowed and grimy, peeling in places. Sleeping on a a pile of stinky, fur blankets piled on the floor, with overstuffed pillows. Always, there was an impenetrable, musky odor lingering in the still air. [Level 1] [Crumb-Seeking Cockroaches] prowled the chipped tile floor. The place lacked a bathroom, so a quick rinse-off would require a long walk to the communal baths, which assuredly wouldn't nearly be as lavish as the Pools of Dionysus in Acquama, since everything in Mithil was crappy and rundown.
Akira sighed. "If Acquama is like Osaka, then Mithil is like...the NEW YORK of this world."
Both thinking that their girlfriend wasn't feeling all too well, Ai hugged Akira from behind as Kanna stopped midway through a lunge and rolled across the floor, halting right beside her.
"What's up?" She asked, hanging her mouth wide open.
Akira, despite herself, couldn't help but to snort at such a weird expression.
"It's...performance anxiety, I think it's called?" She joked. "First day on the job, and all..."
"Says the big shot CEO!" Ai said, pinching her on the cheek—making it a two-for-two on the girls' combined record of forcing her to smile.
"We're gonna find her, and we're gonna BEAT HER UP!" She said. "Right, Big Sis?"
Ai's infectious cheer seemed to spread to the other two, as they quickly jumped to getting ready for their first day on the hunt.
First things first, Akira needed to get dressed; preferably, in something other than a leotard.
Fortunately, one of the Milk Maidens at the Amrita had been so kind as to lend her new boss something a bit less...'gaudy,' than Ai's hand-me-downs.
The [Scarlet Sands Saree] was a more than sufficient replacement: a scarce, low, low-cut, v-shaped scarlet-colored crop top with half-sleeves, and a thin, loose-hanging orange veil draped across her back. The bottom was a short, sub-knee length ruffled dress with an embroidered waistline. All of this topped by jewelry: a golden, gem-encrusted tiara; dangling earrings; sparkly necklaces, that flirtatiously dangled into the crest of her luscious, soft bosoms.
As for footwear, the outfit came with a pair of fancy, white 2-inch heels; however, Akira preferred to stick with the far more comfortable pair of boots she'd grown used to.
Taking one last look at herself, in a cracked mirror on the cracked wall, Akira felt pumped.
Ai was dressed in a [Scarlet Sands Saree] of her own, clinging to her legs.
"Looking good for your first day, Big Sis!" She cheered.
Kanna then surprised her with an embrace from behind—in an outfit that was identical to Akira's and Ai's; only it was purple, and the Human version featured a longer, ankle-length dress.
She helped adjust Akira's Big Business Tie, kissing her on the cheek.
Akira WAS looking good, and ready, for her first day.
Her first day as manager of the Amrita.
...
The Amrita was primarily a night club, but at all hours it experienced a ceaseless influx of customers. Perhaps it was due to the constant dense, blanketing fog—making it impossible to tell between night or day���but it seemed like the city, and its cow-people, were constantly aroused and never truly slept.
Akira Maximilian was the world's world's richest, youngest, cutthroat playboy billionaire CEO...
However, she'd never had any experience managing a club of any sort.
Her new employees—the Milk Maidens—greeted her as she walked in through the front entrance, stopping whatever they were doing, even if it was with a Nandi latched unto their tit, to wave and give cute smiles.
"Good morning, Maximilian-buchou!" They were saying. "We hope you'll treat us well!"
Akira nodded back to them, but currently not even a throbbing set of breasts on full display could cheer her up.
Unlike the others, however, the Barkeep was perceptive—as many in her line of work are.
She gestured for Akira to come, and like a quack-less duckling that had just lost its mother, the new milk bar manager dragged her feet to the counter and grabbed a stool.
The Barkeep assailed him, planting her arms on the table.
"Think you can just barge in, and take over!?"
Akira looked at her, mystified, despite her having abstained from a single drink of the sweet nectar served at the Amrita.
"Yes." She replied back, with an unwavering glare. "I think I just did, as a matter of fact."
The Barkeep leaned back, off the counter, with a meaningful smile.
"Madame Lakshmi will be back." She said, crossing her arms. "You'll be sorry."
Akira wasn't concerned. Moreover, he was COUNTING on Madame Lakshmi to eventually return, to reclaim her business.
Executives...were like sharks. They'd travel for miles to chase the scent of even the tiniest drop of blood in the water, and were highly territorial besides that. Of course, that's assuming the mysterious Madame Lakshmi even cared about the financial benefits of running a bar, but it's not like Akira had many other leads to go by. She had no choice but to give it a try.
That was until Ai tapped her on the shoulder, as she was sitting at the bar pondering all of this, to put forward an idea of her own:
"Speaking of reasons for that Madame to return..." Ai said.
"Didn't she leave a pair of glasses behind, back at the office? Because I remember I knocked them off, during our fight."
Akira's eyes widened. 'That's right! I'd completely forgot.'
She'd forgotten the pair of [Fine Reading Glasses], recovered at the crime scene!
Thus while the Barkeep went to flirt with a rabble of customers off to the side, Akira took the glasses out of her inventory to inspect them again.
'So, just based on these, I know that this person has...poor eyesight.'
It still didn't seem like much, but with her mind now clearer than it had been last night...
That's when an idea hit hit her—based on something that was standing out so plain as a non-Mithil day in front of her.
"Reading...glasses." Akira mused aloud. "Perhaps...we can assume this person likes to read."
Ai gave a surprised look. "Oh! Wasn't there a bunch of books in her office?"
Her mind racing, Akira took the long "elevator" ride on the pillar, up to her new executive office.
A Nandi was seated at the desk, with his legs kicked up, when she arrived: someone she'd hired to keep a watch over the room, in her absence. He was chuckling at something on the front page of the morning newspaper, but straightened as soon as Akira appeared on the risen platform—looking to be in a hurry.
"Nothing to report, I take it?" Asked the CEO, as her eyes darted across the brightly lit up room, unlike previously—granting her vision of details she might have missed before.
"N-n-no, ma'am!" The security bull hastily replied. "Is there...something you've come looking for?"
Akira didn't answer, as she'd already focused her attentions on something.
It was an otherwise nondescript bookshelf, situated in a far corner of the room—a minor detail, that one could easily MISS, if they weren't going out of their way in search of it.
"Bingo." Akira said under her breath, as she combed the parchment-bound book spines.
The titles, she found on display, showcased an eclectic variety of interests and tastes ranging from Management 101, to fantasy epics, to Taoist meditations, and a plethora of cheesy romance novels.
While taking the time to inspect a few, Akira noticed something.
A fair number of the books notably bore a stamp, set on the inside of the front cover, all depicting an owl's face encircled by the words "Athenaeum of Mithil."
Pleased by this discovery, Akira snapped her fingers to garner the security bull's attention.
Racistly, she called to him: "Hey, COWFACE!" And he turned to her in surprise.
"I'm new around here, so I could use some directions..." She said, bearing a triumphant grin.
"I was wondering if there's a library in town."