Cultivating Anthro CEO RPG Hero Harem Reincarnation In Another World

Vash patched up Akira, quick as he could, with a generous helping of bandages. Then helped her sit up, leaning her back against one of the benches.

"Hey, what happened?"

Akira was dazed. "That...girl...she tried to…"

She glanced over to Ai, sitting hunched on the opposite side of the room in a pool of blood. The oppressive humidity of the private sauna had dampened her hair into a dense, black shape that fell like a curtain, enshrouding her downturned face in a veil of silky strands.

"I'll call some guards," Vash said.

Though, as he made a motion to leave, Akira seized his arm.

"Heal her," Akira said.

Ai raised her head slightly, meeting Akira's gaze through a gap in the "curtain."

"What?"

"She's bleeding, so heal her."

Vash was incredulous. "But...if I do, won't she-"

"Attack me? I know she won't."

Vash sighed. "Your funeral, I guess." 

Begrudgingly, he complied, as Ai showed no signs of resistance.

Minutes later...

Vash told her to follow them outside, and again she complied⁠—silently trailing alongside the two as they searched for a somewhere in the crazy, noisy, bizarre town to carry out their interrogation.

They stopped at an empty courtyard: One where no high-levels were loitering around. Quiet, and secluded. Decorated with short hedges, well-tended flowerbeds, and a birdbath. Basked in the cool shade of a large tree with sprawling branches.

Akira and Vash took a seat at a marble bench. Ai perched herself atop a short cobblestone wall, overgrown with vines, situated across from them.

The air was tense as Vash remained fixated on Ai with a stern look, arms crossed. Whereas Ai appeared perfectly relaxed as she hummed a tune, occasionally bringing words to it; her deep purple ponytail wafting along with her playful swaying, her flawed tail jerking about in an attempt to follow suit.

Akira was fascinated by Ai Shimana.

Her little act was fooling nobody, and yet she continued with it.

It was bewildering for her to think that, mere minutes ago, this same girl had nearly sliced open her neck--in what would've surely been up there on the list of pathetic ways to die. But now, she was acting all cute and cuddly? Like Akira and Vash were her parents about to give a stern lecture, while she played all innocent.

From observing such an abrupt shift, it made the CEO stubbornly curious. Deception was part and parcel in the business world, and to effectively corner the individual in the act was an exceedingly rare treat.

If anything, she wanted to decide which side of Ai Shimana was sweeter.

However, Vash was the one currently playing the role of interrogator, and he seemed to be enjoying all the pomp this distinction entailed—a little too much.

"Enough pretending! We've seen who you really are, so give it to us straight!" He demanded, in a fake gravelly voice Akira hadn't heard before. "Why did you lure my friend into the private sauna, and pull a knife on her?"

Ai gave a measly shrug. As if she'd just been asked what her favorite color was, and couldn't decide. 

"Same reason I usually target people," she said, flashing a defiant smile Akira's way, her one unveiled eye narrowed to a leer. "Because Big Sis had something valuable, and I wanted it!"

Vash rose from his seat, looking like he was about to yell, but Akira held him back with her arm.

"Big Sis? As in...big sister?"

Ai's lip fumbled as she turned away shyly, her crooked tail jerked around in a sad imitation of a display of emotion. "Erm...well, it's nothing. Forget about it."

Akira walked over, to pat her on the head.

"No, please tell me. I thought it was really cute."

"Aha, but it's embarrassing…"

"It's okay. I promise I won't laugh."

"Well…" Ai paused to swallow. "Ever since you spared my life, I've been thinking you're like"—she raised her voice, to a cute yell—"a sweet and precious older sister to me."

Akira squealed, wrapping Ai in her arms.

"I love it! That's so precious."

"R-really? You don't think it's weird…?"

"Not at all! In fact, I'll even call you Little Sis, if you like!"

Ai squealed, hugging her back.

Y-y-yes! I would be so happy if you did!"

Vash groaned. "Come on, Akira! As 'cute' as this is, let's try to stay on track…"

Once the two had settled down, Akira moved to the empty space beside Ai, holding her hand as Vash proceeded with the questioning alone.

"Alright. You said Akira-san had something that caught your eye."

"Yeah, using this—"Ai tapped the patch over her right eye. "My Memento! I can look through it, to see into players' inventories. And I can also tell if something is special, when it turns all shiny!"

"And then you try to steal it, right? By either knocking them unconscious, or killing them, which'll allow you to access their inventories."

Ai gave a nod, maintaining her innocent smile. "Yup! That's why I'm sometimes called the 'Bathhouse Oni.' Since I like to steal from people in the sauna because, sometimes, if I'm lucky, the heat will knock 'em out and make it easy on me." She giggled. "Otherwise, I have to get in real close"—her voice and expression abruptly darkened—"and slit their throat."

"I-I-I see," Vash said, feeling more than a little perturbed.

Akira gasped. "'Something special'…!"

She retrieved her [Big Business Tie], showing it to Ai.

"Ooooh!" Ai exclaimed. As while examining the tie through the "scope" of the eyepatch, there was a sparkling white and gold aura surrounding it.

"Yes! That thingy's worth a lot of gold!"

"Oho! It's my memento, though! So you'd have to kill me to get it, right?"

"Right!"

Ai laughed. Akira laughed.

Vash did a facepalm.

'Shit. I'm getting "new party member" vibes right now,' he thought worriedly.

And sure enough, moments later...

Vash was showing Akira and Ai a weapons vendor, where shiny new armaments of all types were arranged for their perusal, across rows of display tables: longswords to battleaxes to boomerangs to longbows to giant pairs of scissors to spears to—

"They're all really expensive though," Akira lamented. Then donned a sultry look, tossing out her hair. "Couldn't I have a"—she gave a flirtatious wink and a giggle—"'talk' with the manager?"

"Well," Vash gave a sheepish grin. "Stores are all player-owned, but—"

He walked Akira to the store counter.

The cashier: a portly man with a small lip mustache, greeted them both with a wave and a hearty "hello, travellers!" Followed by an earnest "what can I do for you on this fine day?"

Akira, being somewhat...unnerved...by the exuberant display, gave a feeble wave.

Vash leaned in, whispering into her ear:

"He's not real; it's an NPC."

Akira raised an eyebrow. "NPC?"

"Computer programs, made to perform small automated processes. Like quest-giving and cashiering."

"Computer programs…?"

She bore a mischievous grin, rubbing her paws together. "So, free labor exists in this world."

She stared into the Shopkeeper's eyes a long while, noticing he didn't blink. Didn't shift his expression. Rustle, or shift in the slightest. He merely continued to eerily gaze in her general direction, saying nothing, with a plastered on ear-to-ear grin, while he awaited further input...until the end of time, if needed.

It dawned on Akira that everyone she'd seen in this world, thus far, was young and fairly attractive.

'Then again,' she mused, 'who would willingly choose the appearance of a homely looking, slightly rotund middle-aged man?' Especially with options like a hot piece of ass Squell, or lovely underdressed young lady, or the countless spiky-haired twerps Akira had glimpsed scampering across town.

Vash waved a hand in front of her face, to snap her out of the stupor she'd fallen into.

He said, "it goes like this, Akira-san..."

Then, in a loud clear voice, he ordered the shopkeeper:

"SELL!"

"Ah, of course!" it was prompted to respond, startling Akira when it abruptly came to life and swiveling around to turn its eerie gaze upon Vash. "I will gladly take those off your hands, sir!"

Already, Vash was in the process of clearing his inventory. Piling the large quantities of [Mangy Fur], [Dog Steak], [Sharp Fang] and [Wolf Tibia] he'd accumulated during his earlier hunting with Akira, spilling huge stacks of them unto the counter as the shopkeeper diligently went about processing them.

"All the junk you collect from monsters can be sold," he explained. "Then, with the money you get, you can buy new gear and become stronger."

Nodding, Akira turned to look across the storefront at all the equipment on display.

'What to choose...what to choose…'

She impulsively reached for a battleaxe, envisioning herself as a sexy badass barbarian warrior chick!

'I'll wear the barest, skimpiest armor!'

'Enemies will bow at my feet because of how sexy I am!'

'Then, I'll chop off their dicks with my—'

Akira let out a shrill scream, as just then an excruciating electrical shock had travelled all the way up her arm, immediately upon attempting to swing the battleaxe.

The shock was so intense, it left her smoldering. Covered in ash.

Akira was speechless, twitching in pain, as Vash calmly elaborated, "only certain weapons can be wielded by each class, or else—"

"I get zapped," Akira croaked. "Got it."

Meanwhile, Ai, having been observing the two from a distance, promptly retrieved a [Longbow] and [Small Quiver] from one of the display tables.

"Here"—she handed them to Akira, beaming—"maybe you'll like these!"

"Eh?" Akira turned the bow over in her hand, her tail wafting with curiosity as she examined it. "Are you sure I can use these?" Without being fried?

"Mhmm!" she answered, with a cheery nod. "I'm a Rogue, just like you!"

"What do Rogues even do?" Akira asked, groaning. "If I can't shoot fireballs or swing a giant axe, and only get to use a flimsy bow or a small knife"—she huffed—"it feels like I'm being ripped off!"

Ah giggled. "Us Rogues like to be sneaky", she said cutely, when her voice and expression then abruptly darkened into a deep-voice d growl and a vicious snarl. "We shoot fuckers in the head, or stab them in the back before they can even see it coming."

"Oh?" Akira said, still looking overall unenthused—as a "step in and take charge" kind of guy like she thought she was.

"Yes, well, that's just one approach to being a Rogue," Vash said, having been raising an eyebrow of concern at Ai's small outburst, before clearing his throat then turning to Akira with an amused smile. "It's more accurate to think of the class you start out with as just...a general blueprint."

"So it's up to me," Akira murmured to herself, eyeing the longbow and the quiver again with a nod. "It doesn't hurt to be versatile, even if sneaking isn't for me."

Now content, she brought her wares to the store counter but then paused, just as she was about to make the purchase, to contemplate the strangeness of this very moment. How she'd gone from buying out the stocks of entire companies, to purchasing such a simple tool, at a lowly shop, to aid in her and her friends' basic survival.

And at that moment, she smiled to herself. Because she couldn't recall a happier time.

...after which, she lifted the bow--

And fired is straight at the shopkeeper! As the AI didn't even flinch from the attack, or show any kind of pain from having an arrow sticking out of his eye.

"This'll do., Akira said, grinning, as Ai clapped and Vash gawked in horror.

Yet the shopkeeper looked jolly as ever.

"Thank you, come again!"