Demon Slayer: Breath of Desire

Pearl looked over the file she was holding and passed it to Marcus.

"Only three shops left. Last night I had Ivy squeeze them a little with her puppets. By now the owners must be desperate, watching their properties half wrecked."

"Will they be ready soon?"

"Three days at most."

"Three days is too long..." Marcus shook his head. "I’m not going to wait, and I’ve got no interest in wasting time negotiating with them."

Pearl hesitated. "Do we offer them a higher number?"

"Not one cent more." Marcus laughed coldly. "They’ve figured out we want to buy up the entire district, and they’re playing hard to get to squeeze us for more. They’ve cost me whole days, so I’m going to knock another twenty thousand off each of them."

"But..." Pearl wavered. "What if they flat-out refuse to sell?"

Marcus chose not to answer. He glanced toward the courtyard and an invisible arrow flew, striking the window of a nearby shack.

Half a minute later, Gyutaro appeared in the entryway, scratching his ear listlessly.

Marcus pointed at him and turned to Pearl: "Leave Hakuji home today. Go close the deals with Gyutaro."

"Close the deals?" Gyutaro tilted his head. "If I’m the one going, it stops being a negotiation."

Marcus looked at him with a calculating smile. "I’m sending you precisely because I want results today."

Gyutaro was caught off guard for a moment, then let out a laugh.

At first he’d thought Marcus was a soft guy: didn’t allow stealing, didn’t permit kidnappings, and insisted on following legal procedure for every purchase. But seeing this... it was clear the man wasn’t some law-abiding citizen either.

That made him a lot more interesting.

Gyutaro leaned against a pillar, drumming his fingers on the sickles at his waist. "If I take care of this, does it translate into a couple days off for Ume to enjoy herself however she likes?"

"I don’t like having conditions forced on me..." Marcus smiled coldly. "But in my plan, Yoshiwara will be under Ume’s management, Hakuji will handle order, and you’ll handle the matters that can’t be settled in the light of day. So consider it a favor for your own future."

Gyutaro studied him closely. "Heh... sounds excellent to me. Finding Ume something to do beats keeping her cooped up competing with your women for your attention. Yoshiwara... heh, she’s going to love it."

"Go get ready," Marcus concluded. "I’ll let Ume know to meet up with you in a bit."

Gyutaro nodded and headed for the exit.

When he reached the doorframe he stopped, turned his face slightly, and gave a slight bow.

"Understood."

It was the first time he’d taken the posture of a subordinate.

Marcus watched his figure walk away as a faint smile touched his lips.

Certain people would never respect a merciful man; to earn their loyalty, you first had to prove you could be just as ruthless as they were.

Once the door closed behind Gyutaro, Marcus stretched his arms over his head with a long yawn.

"Alone at last..."

Pearl didn’t look up from her notebook. "There are still the Asakusa accounts, Master."

"The accounts have been here all morning. They’re not going anywhere." Marcus swiveled his chair toward her and rested his chin on his hand. "You, on the other hand, have been on your feet since before dawn. Come here."

"I’m perfectly fine on my feet."

"That wasn’t a question."

Pearl exhaled through her nose and took two steps toward the desk. She didn’t make it to the third. Marcus caught her by the wrist and pulled, with barely any effort, until he’d settled her sideways across his lap.

"Master, the inkwell’s still open," she warned in the same flat voice.

"Let it dry." His hand had already slipped under the edge of the white kimono, tracing slowly up the curve of a pale thigh. "Incredible... You carry all my accounting, negotiate before breakfast, and still find time to have the most obscene legs in the district. Where do you get the energy?"

"From not getting distracted by nonsense." Pearl didn’t move her leg away.

"Nonsense?" Marcus chuckled, sliding his hand a little higher, taking his time. "Pearl, you don’t have much up top, but that’s because God blew the whole budget on the other half. It’s a beautiful kind of injustice."

The white eyes with silver pupils narrowed at him, without a single drop of shame. "Have you finished your quality inspection, Master?"

"Not even close." His other hand found the curve of her ass and grabbed it shamelessly. "This one I want to check thoroughly. Someone could hand me a defective product and I wouldn’t even notice."

"I assure you the merchandise is top grade."

Pearl snapped the notebook shut with a dry click and set it on the table, resigning herself to the fact that work would have to wait. "Though for a man with so many women under his roof, you devote a suspicious amount of attention to the flat-chested maid."

"The other ten don’t keep my books." He brushed her neck with his lips, smiling against her milk-white skin. "And none of them mouth off like you do. It’s my favorite part of the day."

For the first time all morning, something like a smile tugged at the corner of Pearl’s lips.

"...The inkwell’s still open, Master."

"I already told you. Let it dry."

Marcus didn’t let her get up.

"After what we’ve spent and what we’ve got committed, how much do we have left?"

Pearl stretched out her arm, reached the accounting ledger on the table, and opened it over her own knee, unfazed.

"Counting today’s three shops, we already control the entire main street of the district." She turned a page. Marcus’s hand kneaded her ass harder, but Pearl didn’t shift her tone. "The humble dwellings in the surrounding area are a minor cost; offering between one and two thousand per family, that comes to two million four hundred thousand."

"Go on." Marcus kept his eyes fixed on her profile as he slid his hand under the kimono.

The skin of her thigh radiated heat against his bare palm, a rough, feverish contrast. His hand began to climb slowly, dragging the silk along with it and making every millimeter of flesh prickle.

Pearl moved on to another page without blinking. "The land connecting the district to Asakusa was simple. The administrators gave in quickly." His hand found her other cheek, and now with nothing in the way, gripped it fully, sinking his fingers in.

Pearl’s breath caught for half a second; she covered it with a clearing of her throat. "S-Since... the strip is wide and there are scattered residents, the cost came to six million seven hundred thousand."

"Am I distracting you, Pearl?" Marcus’s breath grazed her neck.

"Not in the least, Master." Another page. "Lastly, the valuables Ume brought sold for twenty-one million in cash. After deducting the investments, we have twenty million forty thousand left."

"Mm." Marcus nipped lightly at her neck while his hands kept working her ass hungrily. "Set aside ten million for rebuilding the district, and with the rest start buying up commercial shops in Asakusa."

"...U-Understood." Pearl’s voice came out a notch lower than usual. She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again.

As she shifted on his lap to reach the map, she felt something hard pressing against her back. She didn’t comment on it. She only shivered, her eyes fixed on him.

"Work gets you hard, Master. Such dedication."

"You get me hard." Marcus nibbled at her earlobe, with no intention of moving. "Will the surrounding area be cleared before the afternoon?"

Pearl spread the map out on the table, stretching to do it, a movement that arched her back and offered her whole body against him—something she pretended not to be calculating. "With Gyutaro in charge, no doubt."

"Excellent. Then the construction companies start work tomorrow."

"What direction will the design take?"

Marcus leaned over her shoulder to trace the silhouette of a trident on the table, using the gesture to press her against his chest.

His other hand didn’t quit its task for a moment.

"The district is the head of the trident, the middle stretch is the shaft, and Asakusa is the base where it drives in." He touched the top. "We’ll design three main avenues. The central one will keep the traditional courtesan houses. The left will be a commercial corridor, ideal for clients to stroll and spend alongside the girls. The right..."

He paused, more to enjoy Pearl’s fat ass than for dramatic effect.

"...Master, the right," she pressed him, her pen suspended over the notebook and his hand climbing dangerously.

"The right will keep the nighttime business, but with an exotic concept and themed rooms." He smiled against her ear. "For clients with particular tastes."

Pearl kept writing, and her handwriting, always impeccable, trembled across one line when Marcus’s fingers brushed her cunt. She clamped her thighs together, trapping his hand, and shot him a perfectly serene warning look.

"You’re going to stain the record, Master."

"Then write faster." Marcus chuckled, not withdrawing his hand, leaving it still and warm where he had it. He ran his finger down the map to the middle strip. "The spas, taverns, and dance halls will be concentrated here."

"And at the Asakusa base?" Pearl’s voice held steady out of pure stubbornness.

"In Asakusa, exclusive entertainment comes first. Only young, attractive girls; they can be admired, but no contact whatsoever." The sly smile returned to his lips, though his breathing had already grown heavier against her neck. "...That calculated distance will tempt the ones who didn’t come looking for fun, dragging them toward the central stretch. There, close contact will be allowed, but with limits. By the time they reach that point, they’ll be completely surrendered."

"The way a certain employee has his master right now..." Pearl murmured, still feeling him rock-hard against her.

Marcus let out a hoarse laugh. He squeezed her thigh. "Insolent." And he touched the top of the map again. "The district is the final destination of the route... and the breaking point for their wallets."

Pearl turned her face just slightly to look at him, those white eyes a hand’s width from his. "You know this business far too well..."

"Pure theory." Marcus held her gaze without any shame, his hand still firm between her legs. "Things you hear here and there."

Pearl made a skeptical face, but noted down the instructions with a precision that, given the circumstances, was almost a miracle.

"One more detail." Marcus pointed to the center of the map, finally sliding his hand out of the kimono to settle it, possessively, on her hip. "Reserve a large plot in the middle strip for our headquarters. It shouldn’t face the street directly, just a discreet entrance. I prefer wood over concrete. Add training areas and recreational spaces."

"Anything else?" Pearl closed the notebook, and used that second to deliberately shift on his lap before standing up.

Marcus let out a hiss of air through his teeth.

"...That’s all for now." His voice sounded a little strained.

Pearl straightened her kimono with two exact movements, composed as if she’d just walked out of a routine meeting. Only the faint flush on her cheeks gave her away.

"I’ll see to it right away, Master."

"There’s a lot of work ahead." Marcus reclined in his chair, watching her leave with a smile of pure unsatisfied appetite. "Move fast."

"Rest easy." At the doorframe, Pearl paused for a moment and added, without turning around: "And take care of... your situation. You can’t receive the construction companies in that state."

The door closed before Marcus could respond.

He sat there alone, chuckling under his breath.

Now all that was left was to wait.

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Throw your stones, drop them ALL! 💎

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