Private Beach? Private Bitch!

Is this a coincidence? Why does the Phantom Thief Francois keep appearing wherever Aris is? The suspicion I’d pushed aside at the hamburger shop earlier came roaring back in a whirlwind. Even if Aris really was the thief, stealing something in France one day and then hitting Kyoto the next? Unless she had a private jet on standby, pulling off back-to-back heists that fast seemed impossible.

And Jikokutenken, of all things… Out of curiosity I looked it up. Among the Four Heavenly Kings statues at Tennoji, the sword held by Jikokuten wasn’t a carving but an actual blade. That fact had made it famous, eventually earning it designation as a world cultural heritage site. The sword itself was now known as the Jikokuten Sword—Jikokutenken—and had become one of the temple’s most prized relics.

Since the Yeouiju and Cheonwanghwan I’d consumed back in Korea were items tied to Gwangmokcheonwang of the Four Heavenly Kings, this Jikokutenken probably had a matching counterpart somewhere. Like the Yeouiju, the sword itself was almost certainly a powerful Heritage-grade item.

I’d have to probe her a little the next time we met. If it wasn’t her, fine. If it was… well, I could always negotiate for the item.

###

It had been a while since I decided to spend an entire day just lounging around the house. Ever since my vacation started I’d been running around non-stop—Jukai Forest, Chuoten Island, Korea, Akita Prefecture—busier than I’d ever been at the company. Today, with no plans at all, I chose to do absolutely nothing.

I’d woken up at three in the morning for a workout, but after that there was no reason to leave. So I stayed in bed, answering KakaoTalk and LINE messages from the girls while Netflix played in the background.

One of the best parts of this possession was Netflix. All the series I’d been waiting for before had already finished their runs, so I could binge them without the agony of weekly releases. Sure, plenty of shows had been canceled mid-season and ended on vague, unsatisfying notes, but even that had its own weird charm.

I scrolled through a few titles before settling on a mystery drama starring Ha Juyoon’s mom. Right as things were getting interesting, my phone buzzed. It was Mimata Chieri.

Oh. So she really does see being my secretary as her main role. That was kind of cute. After I closed the chat with Mimata Chieri, the next message arrived almost like clockwork. It was from Sawayanagi Azuma.

That was exactly the kind of thing Sawayanagi Azuma would say. Her view of romance ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was a little warped—she’d even sent Mimata Chieri a sex video of herself, after all.

Still, she wasn’t entirely wrong. World War III had wiped out a huge number of soldiers, most of them young men. The global population of young males had plummeted. That said, not every woman was willing to share. Some, like Sawayanagi Azuma, openly admitted they couldn’t keep a man like me to themselves.

In America, a “free marriage” bill had passed before the war thanks to progressive protests. After the war, the law allowed one man to marry multiple women, and the same activists who’d pushed for it ended up spitting blood in rage. “That wasn’t what we meant by equality,” they cried. Too late.

Anyway, it really was an era that favored men. Especially when the man in question was a rare, good-looking one. Unless a woman hated men or was already devoted to someone else, she usually didn’t refuse.

Motivating them with food felt a bit cheap, but they were professionals. They’d handle it. No need for an amateur like me to butt in. Since food had come up, I decided to mention the regenerative ability user too.

Even the president herself was acting as one of the instructors. Made sense—each had their own specialty. I just hoped recommending Sawayanagi Shinya to Konoe Akina wouldn’t cause any training issues.

“They’ll figure it out.”

I brushed the pointless worry aside and went back to the drama. Whoa… there was a pretty bold exposure scene. I took a screenshot and sent it to Ha Juyoon.

She just had to bring up the music video again. It had gained weird popularity and held the top spot for two days, but luckily my identity never leaked and there was no follow-up content, so interest died down. If I’d stayed in Korea I would’ve been hounded by every entertainment industry contact imaginable.

I kept chatting with her until it was her turn on set, then turned off my phone once she went back to work. Han Yu-kyung and Aris had already messaged me this morning. No one else to talk to now…

Hmm. After being constantly busy, lying here alone felt surprisingly boring. I ended up sending messages even when I had nothing to say. It was still a bit early, but I should start packing for tomorrow’s trip.

I gathered clothes and other necessities and stuffed them into a bag. Yukiko had said she’d handle most of it, so I only packed the basics. The whole process took just thirty minutes. It was now five o’clock—the usual quitting time at the Talent Development Center—but Yukiko was staying late to finish last-minute work before her vacation, and the housekeeper was off today too. Looked like I’d be alone until late.

Just as I was wondering what to do next, the phone rang. Suzuki Chisami. I hadn’t seen her yesterday because she was out on a field job. Was she calling to meet up?

“Hello, this is Taira Ryuta.”

“Ryuta, are you free tonight?”

Her voice, which I hadn’t heard in a while, was seductively sweet and slightly husky.

“Of course.”

“Then… would you like to come to my place for dinner?”

“I’ll head over right now.”

The thought of tasting that healthy, tanned OL beauty after so long made my cock twitch and swell on its own. Guess I really wasn’t cut out to be a homebody. Going out like this was way more exciting than staying cooped up inside.