I became the emperor in the comic book series.

This guy, who does he think she was because of?!

And then there's the strange thing about that idiot's pants. Toyokawa Shoko, who at least knows what that is after taking a physiology class, can't help but recall the shameful experience she had last night, from feeling like she was sitting on a needle prick to feeling like she was sitting on a rug.

Even now, when I think back on it, that strange, tingling sensation in my chest, that made me feel weak all over, still comes back.

Serves you right for losing your stockings!

The kitten rejected it!

The kitten is angry!

I wonder what Xiaomu will think when she sees my reply after dawn. I hope she won't worry too much and won't continue searching for me.

Toyokawa Shoko was still clueless about why she had turned into a cat, and was afraid of dragging Komugi into it, causing her to unknowingly become like her as well.

Chapter Sixteen: The Girl's Awakening and Perseverance

In the evening, at the same hotel as last time, a gentle knock sounded on the door.

Akira Higashino went over and opened the door.

Outside the door, a graceful young woman with light makeup stood tall and elegant, her expression subtly nervous. She quickly went inside after the door opened.

Kawasaki Saki looked even more radiant than when they last met, and apart from a hint of trepidation, her previously unconcealed weariness was no longer visible.

She clenched her fists slightly, took a deep breath, and gripped the hem of her clothes tightly.

"Shall we begin now?"

If we finish early, we might be able to get home sooner and make dinner in time.

Ever since I had that embarrassing dream, I've realized I should take regular breaks to relax.

Therefore, Higashino Akira nodded in agreement with the girl's initiative.

Seeing this, Kawasaki Saki prepared to take off her clothes.

However, Higashino Akira stepped forward to stop her, picked her up, and carried her to the bedside.

"No need to take it off."

"Well…"

The two embraced and kissed, and as he touched her body, Kawasaki Saki's eyes gradually became hazy, her face flushed, and her body became hot.

Higashino Akira laid her down on the hotel bed, took off her shoes, and the soft mattress began to rise and fall.

"Come on, turn around."

Kawasaki Saki gently bit her lip, obediently turning her back to him, burying her face in the fluffy pillow, her taillights pointing high.

Just as the two were about to get into the swing of things, a blue shadow suddenly stumbled out from under the covers, tripping over its own feet, and ran toward the sofa.

"Cat! Why are you here?"

Kawasaki Saki gasped in surprise, her whole body tensed, and then she buried her head in the pillow, letting out a muffled groan.

"Your sister is my girlfriend whom I recently started dating."

Thanks to his previous experience of practicing driving, Akira Higashino quickly adapted to the car after inserting the key back into the same vehicle and started driving with ease.

"Huh?" Kawasaki Saki didn't quite understand what he meant. A cat could be considered a lover?

But soon she had no time to think much; wave after wave of impacts came, forcing her to respond. Even though she was trying her best to control herself, too shy to make any embarrassing sounds, she still couldn't help but let out intermittent, low moans.

Later, perhaps feeling that she had already embarrassed herself enough, she stopped trying to hold back. However, she kept her face pressed against the pillow, too embarrassed to lift it up, while her ears were flushed red, making her look quite charming.

On the sofa used to enhance the mood, Toyokawa Shoko watched the scene of continuous gunfire and felt a surge of passion and shame. The huge impact made her dizzy, but the intermittent, decadent music filled her mind, and even if she closed her eyes and covered her ears, she could not help but imagine the specific scenes.

The artillery fire gradually subsided only when the sun was high in the sky and the moon hung high in the trees. The entire battlefield was in ruins, and the air was filled with the smell of bullets and gunpowder.

Shoko Toyokawa, who had suffered greatly from the war, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Kawasaki Saki, her body completely limp and tears of joy glistening in her eyes, clung weakly to the man. The shirt and skirt she had been asked to wear were nowhere to be seen; she didn't know if they had fallen into some corner of the bed or ended up under it.

After resting for a long time, she regained some strength and decided to get up and go into the bathroom to take a shower.

Seeing that she was weak in the knees and limp all over, Higashino Akira simply picked her up and carried her.

"Let's shower together."

Kawasaki Saki, who had shed her aloof and unapproachable facade, had misty eyes and pursed her lips, not refusing.

Then, the soft murmur of splashing water gradually filled the bathroom again.

Outside the bathroom, Toyokawa Shoko, who had thought the torment was finally over but then it started again, completely broke down.

As night deepened, Kawasaki Saki prepared to go home. She gathered her wrinkled and disheveled clothes and put them back on. When she touched something in her skirt pocket, her expression changed drastically, and she hesitated to speak.

"What's up?"

Upon seeing this, Akira Higashino asked directly.

Kawasaki Saki hesitated for a moment, then took the item out of her pocket. It was a circular object vacuum-sealed in a square plastic package.

"Taking medicine frequently is bad for your health. Can you use this next time?"

She handed the item to him somewhat shyly. Higashino Akira took it, glanced at it, and instead of answering the question, he stood up and gently pulled the nervous girl into his arms.

"You don't need to be afraid of this. If it really happens, I will take responsibility for supporting you."

Kawasaki Saki shook her head firmly upon hearing this.

“I don’t want to be a mother so soon,” she said, her expression somewhat forlorn. “Besides, I don’t know how I’ll explain my relationship with you to her if we have a child.”

In this relationship, she and the man could only be described as mutually benefiting; the pleasant experience during the process could not mask the fact that it was a distorted relationship.

If one day he no longer needs you, or you are capable of supporting yourself and your family, obtain his consent to break up.

At most, they will break up peacefully and become strangers again. No one will be hurt because of this.

But if you have a child, regardless of whether you stay together or not, the relationship between the two of you will be complicated, and in the end, the child will be the one who suffers the most.

Born into an ordinary family, Saki Kawasaki was unaware of the extravagant ways the powerful and wealthy played. Even after compromising herself amidst the superficial atmosphere in her home country, she tried her best to maintain her bottom line and never changed her fundamental personality that valued family.

Higashino Akira didn't force her. He didn't care if there would be another child, but he knew that the system encouraged having a harem. As the emperor, he would definitely be rewarded by the system for having offspring. Even if there were many children, his assets would at least guarantee that each child would have enough to live a life of comfort and wealth. But since Kawasaki Saki was not willing yet, it didn't matter.

What happens in the future, we'll talk about that later. People's thoughts and ideas always change with the passage of time.

Even if she persists.

Anyway, Akira Higashino isn't just in love with the God of War. As a seasoned pragmatist, he doesn't think he's already dead and will honestly commit to a lifelong, monogamous relationship.

That's a joke; he never intended to do that before he died.

“Then I’ll buy them myself from now on. It’s not very convenient for a girl like you to go shopping alone.”

"Moreover, the model is wrong, it's too small."

Higashino Akira smiled as he watched the girl's face turn bright red and her expression become awkward.

"It's getting late, would you like me to take you home?"

Saki Kawasaki shook her head and refused, choosing to leave alone.

For the next month or so, Higashino Akira maintained a routine of meeting with Kawasaki Saki every few days. Occasionally, when their emotions ran high, they would forget the time and stop at the station.

On weekdays, he would go out to buy houses, mortgage the new houses, and continue to buy houses with cash until the value of the haunted houses, which were already low and whose mortgage loan amount was lower than that of normal properties, was completely squeezed dry, and he could no longer borrow enough money. Only then did he gradually stop this process.

Chapter Seventeen: Though Late, It Arrives Under the Snow

Having already experienced being cursed once, Higashino Akira only acquired subsequent haunted houses after thorough investigation, ensuring that he was not haunted by curses simply because the property was registered in his name.

Moreover, thanks to the generousness of the professional he consulted earlier, who sent him a full million yen as a thank-you gift, the professional later even compiled a list of high-risk locations in the Tokyo metropolitan area and sent it to him.

[Emperor: Akira Higashino]

[Spirit: 9]

[Constitution: 6]

[149.1k]

[Authorities: Astrological observation, imperial decree]

[Land area: 1352 square meters]

[Harem: 2]

To be honest, this area isn't very large; it's smaller than many wealthy businessmen's mansions, let alone those of the truly powerful and wealthy.

However, it is currently the largest asset that Akira Higashino can leverage in one fell swoop.

Based on his current land area, his daily income from the land alone is 13.5 yen. Adding the 3 yen daily from the bestowed title of Kawasaki Saki, and the 5 yen daily from the unknown Blue Hakimi, his daily income has reached 21.5 yen.

That's about 6.5 million a month.

This is almost twice the total income of an ordinary wage earner who works for a year without eating or drinking.

Even if about half of it is used to pay off various mortgage loans and give Saki Kawasaki pocket money, there will still be about four million yen left.

With so much money, it's impossible to expect the system to forcibly and reasonably deliver money to him through various channels and coincidences; that would be too much of a coincidence. So, Higashino Akira took the initiative to buy a lottery betting shop, mainly by acquiring its operating license, and then sent a local expert, Jun Luan, who had already established himself in the area, to be in charge of its operation.

Every day after that, they sent other nearby residents to buy various types of lottery tickets. Relying on the guaranteed high odds of winning through the system's rewards, they distributed the winning probability among them and then pooled the winnings together. Because the winnings were distributed, the amounts were small enough that they didn't even have to pay taxes to the Japanese government.

After a series of clever moves, the lottery shop's sales increased. In fact, because many people won the lottery every day, the shop became a promised land in the eyes of lottery enthusiasts, who would go there every day to buy a few tickets and try their luck. The business of the lottery shop, which was not doing well, became very prosperous. As a result, in addition to the system rewards, Higashino Akira was also able to share a portion of the profits earned from normal business operations.

The profits from these normal operations were not withdrawn by Higashino Akira, but were left to be used as salaries for the employees in charge of operations. Any excess was then turned over to the company to cover the overall operations and expansion needs of the company.

The infiltration plan with the Luan Luan team went smoothly. After all, they only had a hundred people in total, which was nothing in Japan with hundreds of millions of people. With the elite Luan Luan team's professional skills, it was too easy for them to obtain a respectable identity here. They even divided into different factions to carry out their infiltration. Some worked and ran normal businesses like ordinary people, some became firefighters and prepared to take the police exam, some went to join the underworld, and the furthest one even went to Hokkaido to fish. Only a dozen or so people were left to completely go into hiding and be on standby at any time. They were secretly protecting Higashino Akira and his important associates, and carrying out the investigation missions assigned by Higashino Akira.

It's fair to say that even if he stopped here and never tried again, as long as he didn't think about the ultimate luxury or research satellites and rockets, Akira Higashino would already be financially independent.

Unfortunately, ever since I learned about the existence of supernatural elements in this world, money alone can hardly provide much of a sense of security.

One day, as usual, Akira Higashino invited Saki Kawasaki out. They indulged in the fun for a while and missed their way home.

Kawasaki Saki, who had gradually gotten used to the situation, decided to stay overnight and go home earlier the next day.

In the early hours of the morning, Akira Higashino's cell phone suddenly rang.

He fumbled around the bed for a while to get his phone, checked the incoming call information, and then answered the call.

"What is it?"

"Your Majesty, Miss Kawasaki's classmates are here with her younger brother and they have arrived downstairs at the hotel."

Kawasaki Saki's classmate?

Are you still staying with her?

Akira Higashino frowned, realizing that this might be another episode from the original Oregairu storyline. Although he had given Kawasaki Saki enough money to stop her from working all night, her frequent visits to him often caused her to miss the train home and stay out all night. As a result, her younger brother went to the Service Club and asked Yukino Yukinoshita and the others to investigate Kawasaki Saki's situation.

If this were discovered, it wouldn't be a big deal for Akira Higashino; at most, he'd just get a scolding from Shizuka. But it's different for Saki Kawasaki, who appears strong on the outside but is actually cold on the outside but warm on the inside, soft, sensitive, and cares about her family.

She will either have to admit that she is his girlfriend, or she will be seen as selling her body. Either way, her image as a good older sister in the family will be shattered.

This situation must be difficult for her to accept.

It might even lead to a complete break with oneself.

As an experienced driver, Higashino Akira couldn't accept losing the right to drive a car he had just bought and hadn't even used it for long, just after it was broken in.

Moreover, he neither has the habit of driving used cars nor likes to give away his own car.

Thinking of this, Higashino Akira instructed them to continue keeping watch and report back as soon as they went upstairs, and then hung up the phone.

He turned around and patted Kawasaki Saki on the shoulder, shaking her awake.

"Um... I can't go on anymore. I have to catch the early train home tomorrow. Can we come again next time...?"

Kawasaki Saki, still a little groggy from being shaken awake, pressed her little head against his chest and begged for mercy, completely unwilling to fight another battle with Higashino Akira at this hour.

The idea that there are only exhausted oxen but no overworked fields is a lie.

It's obvious that doing that kind of thing would also tire the woman out. She's still young and tender, and had never had any experience in that area before. As a girl, her physical strength is generally average. And then she met this energetic man. At best, they could only manage a draw; she never won.

"Wake up, your brother is here, he's downstairs right now."

Akira Higashino's voice rang out, instantly waking Saki Kawasaki, who was still somewhat sleepy.

Seeing that Kawasaki Saki suddenly froze and looked at a loss after hearing this, Higashino Akira helplessly pinched her pert buttocks to bring her back to her senses.

"Get dressed, and I'll take you somewhere else."

"Ah."

Kawasaki Saki responded and then silently got to work. Once everything was ready and she was dressed, the information from the informant was sent over. Yukinoshita and her group did not directly obtain information about Kawasaki Saki from the front desk, but instead took a roundabout approach, booked a suite at the front desk, and waited quietly in the lobby downstairs.