"No more... there's nothing left... Let go of my tail!"
The cow lady's voice quivered slightly, her frustration boiling over. She desperately wanted to turn around and bite the head off the man behind her, but she couldn't.
In complete submission, her body now belonged to Amamiya, the man standing behind her.
Not only was he free to play with her tail, but even if he traced letters on her skin, her body wouldn't resist.
"Eh? You've run dry already?"
Chika wiped a drop from the corner of her mouth, her tone tinged with disappointment. "So weak."
"I haven't eaten in ages! How can I have anything left to give?" The cow lady growled, her eyes glowing with a dangerous red. She turned her gaze toward Rikka, glaring with an almost predatory hunger. "Give me the girl with the eyepatch—let me eat her!"
"If you want food, meet my demands!"
She fumed. It was unforgivable. Betrayed by Rikka, she had even dared to bring humans to assault her. Her hatred towards Rikka ranks second, only behind Amamiya.
Rikka, startled, quickly ducked behind Chika, nervously peeking toward Kaguya. Her instincts screamed that the stunning black-haired girl was dangerous, perhaps even willing to sacrifice her to the vengeful spirit.
But Kaguya remained composed, ignoring Rikka's frightened glance. She crossed her arms and rested her chin on her hand, her gaze steady on the enraged spirit.
"You can conjure food as long as there's something to eat right?"
"That's right." The cow lady flashed a cruel grin. "So, hurry up and offer that girl."
"Impossible," Kaguya replied calmly. "But we can offer you something else."
"Don't lie to a ghost. You don't have food."
Kaguya's gaze shifted toward Amemiya, her lips curling into a slight smile. "Natsuki-san, please present the 'food.'"
"Wait, Amamiya-kun has food?" Chika's eyes widened in surprise, curiosity etched across her face. "Kaguya-chan, are you sure about this?"
"Shinomiya-san is correct," Amemiya replied. He had already caught on to what Kaguya was planning. Reaching into the game's inventory system, he pulled out the item.
A vivid emerald green glow filled the dim room.
"Leeks?" several girls exclaimed in unison.
"That's right!" Chika exclaimed, slapping her forehead in realization. "We can feed leeks to the cow! The leeks will help her produce milk—a perfect cycle!"
Asuya Kujo, the previous owner of the leeks, was stunned. Could this really work?
It made sense, after all. People might not eat leeks raw, but cows certainly could. They were herbivores, and leeks were, technically, just another plant. The plan seemed unexpectedly reasonable.
"Here."
Amemiya handed the leeks to Kaguya. While he planned to continue capturing the cow lady, feeding her was a task best left to someone else.
Kaguya, with her usual composure, took a knife from somewhere, sliced the leeks, and handed the freshly cut greens to the cow lady. "Enjoy."
"I refuse!" The cow lady bared her jagged teeth in fury. "Look at my teeth! I'm a carnivore now. I want meat!"
"Carnivores can eat plants too," Chika chimed in. "Cats sometimes nibble on grass. And you, well... you 'are' a cow."
"I'm not a cow—I'm a ghost!" she retorted, humiliated at the comparison.
"Ms. Ghost," Kaguya said softly, her voice carrying a haunting calm. "Do you know how French foie gras is made?"
The cow lady blinked, confused.
"I do!" Chika raised her hand eagerly. "I read about it on XxX. They keep the goose in a small cage so it can't move, and force-feed it to make it plumper. I stopped eating it after I learned that."
Kaguya continued without missing a beat. "Now, Ms. Ghost, would you like to eat by yourself? Or would you prefer we feed you?"
The cow lady's anger faltered. Tears welled in her eyes. With a trembling hand, she took the leek and began to chew.
"I'll remember this," she muttered between bites, vowing revenge through her tears.
Kaguya remained unfazed. The angry words of a prisoner only revealed their weakness.
"Natsuki-san, proceed," she instructed.
Amemiya, complying, reached for the cow lady's tail again. He couldn't help but note how soft it felt.
"Wait! That small handful of leeks won't be enough," the cow lady cried out in desperation. "You can't just feed me a little and expect me to produce anything!"
"It's fine," Chika replied brightly, pointing to the table. "The leeks are regrowing."
The cow lady's eyes widened in disbelief as she saw the leeks sprouting again, growing rapidly before her very eyes. It was as if she had seen a ghost.
"Time to harvest!" Chika cheerfully began slicing the leeks again and handed them to Kaguya.
"Ms. Ghost," Kaguya offered the leeks once more, "please continue."
"This is too much!" the cow lady wailed, breaking down entirely. "How can you treat even a vengeful spirit like this?!"
Resistance was futile.
The cow lady resigned herself to a miserable cycle of eating leeks and producing food.
"Tastes good," one girl commented.
"It's like an expensive milk!" another added.
"Wait..." one of the girls peered closer at the spirit. "She has 'Meiji' written on her neck... Could she have been from Meiji Dairy?"
[A-Note: Meiji Brand is a Japanese milk brank that's Hella expensive.]
The group laughed and continued to drink the milk, satisfying their hunger.
As the humans finished their drinks, the cow lady let out a weary sigh, relieved to be free from leek purgatory—unaware that her ordeal was far from over.
"Kujo-san, Takanashi-san," Kaguya said, arms crossed, her voice sharp, "you may proceed as planned. Open the door and bring in the customers."
The capitalist overlord, Kaguya Shinomiya, was about to build her empire of sin!