"Yoko, don't you think we spend a little too much money on procuring those slaves? We should be careful with our expenses for the next few months."
Sakura looked worried at the amount of money Amane spend in a single go. The younger was right to be worried as well since Amane had paid a huge amount of sum to the slave house.
But what was necessary had to be done.
'Money can be made again once the stronghold is built. But I want to replace my current staff with capable people.'
People might look down on slaves for being dumb but that was far from the truth. Salves, especially the adult ones, were one of the smartest people you could come across.
They knew when to keep their head down and whom to favor. Dumb people generally didn't live long in such unfavorable environments.
"Sakura, you should not worry unnecessarily. I have a plan and I don't take losing gambles. All you need to do is not get in my way and you will be alright."
Amane did not ask Sakura to trust her. Nor did she ask Sakura not to try betraying her. Both were not Amane's concerns right now.
What she needed to do was gradually begin replacing her workers with the slaves she had purchased. Those she had brought under her protection would be thankful and loyal to her.
Furthermore, the slaves' loyalty spell would keep them from betraying Amane in any way.
'But I guess cultivating real feelings of loyalty might not be that bad. As long as those fools can use their mind, I won't mind them being loyal to me.'
As Amane had said before, blind loyalty was foolish and irritating. But it was not always a downside.
"Anyway, we are done with this nonsense, and Joseph assured us that he will take care of the task we gave him. So, what is next on our to-do list?"
If possible, Amane wanted nothing more than to go home and spend some time with her beasts. Amane also needed to track down and tame rare beasts which would help her out in the future.
Most of the commonly found beasts in the past had become extremely rare nowadays. And the change in environmental conditions had made it difficult for Amane to track them down.
It would take a lot of effort and luck on Amane's part to track even a fraction of her wanted beasts down.
"First, we should deal with your dress appointment. Then we can have a look at the jewelry section and then the parlor. We will see how much time we can save for other things after we are done with these things."
Sakura had the planner in her hand when she recited Amane's schedule to her. The younger girl had an irritated look on her face but Amane could tell that she was not angry.
"Awww, what would I do without you Sakura? You are my only saving grace."
The younger girl went red as soon as Amane hugged her. Sakura seemed not used to these random displays of affections Sakura was subjecting her to.
'Or, she's embarrassed to feel my breasts rubbing against her arm. Poor Sakura, not used to such bold sexual advances.'
Amane could guess what kind of thoughts were going inside Sakura's mind as she rubbed her breasts against her arms.
"Awww, you went red. Do you want me to train this embarrassment out of you? How about you visit my room tonight and we have some fun."
Sakura was uncomfortable and turned on without any doubt. The younger was rubbing her legs together quite obviously.
"Yoko, enough. We do not have much time. Can your teasing wait until we get home?"
Sakura finally broke down. It was fun to see her begging as soon as Amane started teasing her. The younger would have a hard time surviving any real sexual advances in the future.
'Oh well, I guess Sakura will be trained by me before things come to that. She's already doing better than I expected.'
Amane was amused to see the younger's face going through a series of emotions. She was finding riling Sakura to be super entertaining.
'Ahhh, this is so fun. I want to drag more emotions out of Sakura and-' *Chrip*
Amane's thoughts came to a halt at the sound of that low chirp. It sounded vaguely familiar and Amane quickly left the main road to head toward the alley.
"Yoko? Yoko! Where are you going? You cannot head toward the alley without protecting and-! Hey, are you even hearing what I am telling you? Oh, why do I even bother?"
Sakura's voice was an afterthought in Amane's head. She was entirely focused on tracking down the source of that chirp.
As far as Amane recalled, that frequency of sound and that urgency in the voice meant that a beast child was in danger. But the voice Amane heard was not entirely inhuman as well.
'A half-ling? But one that is about to turn into a beast. An abnormality?'
Amane picked up the box and instantly found the source of that chirping sound. It was a small child, barely three years old.
But as she had expected, it was not entirely human. The fox earns on his head made him out to be a half-breed between a demon and a human.
The kit gave out a growl, his eyes shining with hostility.
"Yoko, what is wrong here-"
"Sakura, stay back. You'll agitate the kit."
The dead body that lay behind the kit belonged to a beast. The door demon had not been able to hold on to the human form.
'The body did not transform because they willingly lost control of their power. The beast did not have enough power to transcend the barrier of humanity. Someone forced the person to transform into a beast but the body was not able to take the burden.'
Amane had heard of cursed cases in the old times. Of people transforming into ancient beasts without the aid of their core. Such people usually did not survive for long.
It seemed like the person in front of Amane had suffered a similar fate.
"Sakura, call the police and tell them that we found a dead body in this alley. Tell them it's a code yellow."
Cold yellow referred to the non-hostile beast-related cases. They were rare but were dealt with swiftly by the police. Amane had come across them when she had been researching a way to take over the family business peacefully.
How knew that this information would come into use so soon?
"A code yellow? Yoko, what the hell did you find? Holy hell, Yoko, get back. That kid is an abnormality."
Amane sounded disappointed in Sakura's extreme reaction. But she also knew that it was not Sakura's fault this time.
Despite there being a more open society and more social acceptance between people, the fear of abnormalities had not disappeared completely.
People still feared what they could not understand and in this case, it referred to a feral child.
"Don't call him an abnormality. Think of him as a younger brother you never had. Sakura, we will be taking this child in our family."
"What? We cannot! Only the family head could decide to take in children who are not born into the family and the father would–" Sakura trailed off once she finished.
"Not have a choice in this matter. I will be the family head soon enough so you don't need to worry about your 'father's decision. This child is special and I want him in the family."
Amane was not leaving this up for debate. The child had a strong core that could be felt even in his child form. He was going to grow up to become a really strong person in the future.
Besides, demon children grew up fast until they hit their teen years. And then they slowed down aging.
The kid would be out of his childish years before the year was up anyway.
"Fine. Do what you want to do. It's not like I can change your mind once you made it up. I will go and lead the police toward this alley in the meantime."
"Go. I need some time alone with this kid so that I can gain his trust."
The kid was still growling toward Amane. His eyes shined with distrust but also curiosity toward her.
It was likely that the similar aura Amane had was making the kid curious.
"I am not a danger to you or your mother. I can take care of you if you allow me to. You know that your mother is dead so it is time to let go."
The kid looked big enough to understand Amane's words. Demon brains were much more advanced than human ones at this age.
Amane raised her hand toward the kid to let him sniff it but the kid maintained his distance. Amane kept her hand raised and the kid finally took the bait.
But instead of sniffing Amane's hand, the kid decided that biting was safer. Sharp canines sank into Amane's hand and instantly drew blood.
'First I get pecked by a stupid bird and now bit by a stupid kid. This era is troublesome.'
"Kid, let go before you make me angry." Amane cupped the half-demon kid behind to make him let go.
As soon as Amane cupped the kid by the neck, he instinctively let go of Amane's hands. The body in Amane's hands went limp and the kid was unable to move.
'I knew it. Half-demons of this specie are also weak to these pressure points. I am glad I had experience with Charlie regarding this case.'
The kid was glaring at Amane with scared eyes. He was likely debating on what to do next.
The kid was small but had really good instincts. He instinctively understood that he needed to bow to the stronger person to survive.
"You are a mess and I will only give you one last chance to surrender. If you want to fight me then you will likely die. So kid, what do you want to do?"
The kid looked like he would cry at any second but it did not melt Amane's heart.
This was the point most people would have broken down in front of the kid's teary eyes and scared look.
But not Amane. She had too long of a history with half-ling kids to make such a novice mistake.
The kid realized that his teary looks were not going to work in his favor and his scared expression instantly melted toward an annoyed one.
The kid tried to bite Amane's hand but she did not lighten her hold on his back.
Finally, the kid gave up and lay limp in Amane's arms. It had lost the gamble and had no other choice but to submit to the stronger person.
"Good choice. I have a feeling you and I will get along just fine. You have a talent for beast-taming as well and I will make sure I cultivate it just right."
The kid's body shook at Amane's words but he did not protest.
"Yoko, the police are here. What about the kid? Did you get him out of there? and -Oh god! Your hand! It's bleeding again? How did you get hurt?"
"Don't worry, the bleeding has stopped already and I will heal in a matter of hours. I was carrying the medicine on me so this is no trouble. More importantly, here. You carry the kid for the time being. We should get him cleaned up and dressed before our next appointment."
Sakura had the most disgusting-looking face when she was offered the kid.
But one look at Yoko and she could that the elder was not playing around with her. Sakura had no choice but to take the half-demon kid in her arms.
"Kid, you don't cause me trouble and I won't cause you any trouble. Let's aim for peace and keep Yoko satisfied. I don't want a tough life with her around."
Amane heard all that and she also heard the agreeing chirp the kid gave Sakura.
'How amusing. I have a feeling I would no longer need to work so hard in the future with these two around.'