What's Wrong with a Capitalist Exploiting Vengeful Spirits?

Shinomiya Kaguya's eyes shifted slightly toward Amamiya Natsuki, and the corners of her rosy lips lifted. "Amamiya-classmate, take out the 'food.'"

"Wait, how does Natsuki-classmate have food?" Fujiwara Chika's eyes widened with curiosity. She clearly hadn't caught on yet. "Kaguya-chan, did you get it wrong?"

"Kaguya-classmate was right. I do have 'food' for Miss Cow on me."

Amamiya Natsuki had already understood what Kaguya meant. As he spoke, he took an item out of the game's inventory.

Its vivid, glistening green stood out in the gloomy, eerie room.

Green.

The color of life and miracles.

"Huh, chives?"

The girls all widened their eyes.

"That's right. You can feed chives to a cow." Fujiwara Chika slapped her forehead, suddenly enlightened. "The cow eats chives, and the milk comes out—perfect recycling!"

"That bunch of chives actually came in handy?"

Kujo Asuka, the previous owner of the chives, stared in amazement.

Now that she thought about it... it did seem completely feasible?

People couldn't eat chives raw, but cows had no problem with them.

Cows were herbivores, and chives were a kind of herb. It was perfectly normal for cows to eat chives, wasn't it?

Although she was surprised, Kujo Asuka didn't regret it at all. Even if she'd kept the chives, they would still have been useless junk. She wouldn't have dared go feed them to a vengeful spirit anyway.

Trading a bunch of chives for the chance to cozy up to powerful people was a bargain no matter how she looked at it!

"Here."

Amamiya Natsuki handed the chives to Shinomiya Kaguya. He was standing behind the Cow vengeful spirit and had to keep holding her, so the task of feeding her naturally fell to someone else.

Shinomiya Kaguya took out a small knife, cut off the chives, and held the vivid green stalks in front of the Beast-girl vengeful spirit. Her voice was calm.

"Please enjoy."

"I'm not eating that!" The Beast-girl vengeful spirit stared at the chives before her, her voice trembling with anger. She bared a mouthful of sawlike teeth. "You can tell from my teeth—I'm a carnivore now. I want meat!"

"Carnivores can eat grass too," Fujiwara Chika said from the side. "Cats sometimes eat cat grass, and you're a cow to begin with."

"I'm a vengeful spirit, not a cow!"

She was an evil spirit, after all. How could she put up with this humiliation?

"Miss Vengeful Spirit..." Shinomiya Kaguya tilted her head slightly. Her voice echoed with the sound of the night. "Do you know how foie gras is made?"

The Beast-girl vengeful spirit looked completely bewildered. She clearly had no idea.

"I do." Fujiwara Chika raised her hand. "I saw an explanation on Twitter before. They make a goose stand in a special little cage all day long, where it can only stand and can't sleep. Then they hold the goose by the neck and force food down its throat... Foie gras is delicious, sure, but I haven't eaten it since I learned that."

Shinomiya Kaguya picked up the thread. "Miss Vengeful Spirit, will you eat it yourself, or should we force it down your throat?"

"..."

The Beast-girl vengeful spirit's eyes welled with tears as she gave in.

Eating of her own accord was better than having them shove it down her throat. At least she could preserve a final shred of dignity.

"Ahem..."

The Beast-girl vengeful spirit opened her mouth and bit down on the chives. Chewing with tear-filled eyes, she issued a threat. "Humans, I'll remember this!"

Shinomiya Kaguya remained cool and composed, completely unmoved.

Threats from a prisoner only revealed that her fierce exterior concealed a cowardly heart.

"Amamiya-classmate, go ahead." Shinomiya Kaguya looked over at him.

Amamiya Natsuki nodded and grabbed the Beast-girl vengeful spirit's tail again. He had to admit, it felt surprisingly nice.

"W-wait!" The Beast-girl vengeful spirit hurriedly cried out. "That tiny bit of fodder isn't enough. Even if you play with my tail, it won't make any food appear."

She thought a single bunch of chives would make her produce food? No way. These humans were celebrating far too soon!

"It's fine." Fujiwara Chika pointed at the table and spoke in a clear voice. "The chives will have grown back in no time."

The Beast-girl vengeful spirit turned to look. Her eyes widened. The chives were actually growing out of thin air at a speed visible to the naked eye. It was simply unbelievable.

"Oh, they're ready to cut."

Fujiwara Chika eagerly took on the task of harvesting the chives. She cut them and handed them to Shinomiya Kaguya.

"Miss Vengeful Spirit." Shinomiya Kaguya held the chives to the Cow vengeful spirit's mouth. "Please keep eating."

"This is too much! You've gone too far!" The Beast-girl vengeful spirit completely broke down. "You won't even spare a vengeful spirit!"

"..."

Resistance was futile.

The Beast-girl vengeful spirit soon began her miserable life of eating grass and producing food.

"It tastes good."

"It really does taste like Meiji Milk."

"By the way, there's also the word 'Meiji' on Miss Vengeful Spirit's neck. Was she a dairy cow for Meiji Dairies when she was alive?"

The girls chatted among themselves, drinking the milk one by one and clearing the "hunger" status they had.

Watching all the humans finish their milk, the Beast-girl vengeful spirit let out a tearful sigh of relief. At last, she was going to escape the chive-field hell.

What she didn't know was that hell had only just begun.

"Kujo-classmate, Takanashi-classmate." Shinomiya Kaguya folded her arms across her chest and spoke coolly. "You can open the door and start bringing in customers according to the plan."

The evil capitalist Young Lady, Shinomiya Kaguya, was about to start building her own wicked empire.

(PS: Come to think of it, you can eat chives raw. I once had raw chives at a roadside shop. I think they'd just been pickled with salt, but they tasted pretty good...)

Chapter 49: Is There Anything Wrong with a Capitalist Exploiting Vengeful Spirits?

Where there are people, there are rivalries.

Cross that out.

Where there are people, there is business.

When business developed to a certain point, it gave rise to capital.

As the Young Lady of an evil capitalist family, Shinomiya Kaguya knew all too well how powerful capital could be.

Then, was it possible to become a capitalist in a Horror Game?

It was certainly possible.

First of all, each game round seemed to have a lot of players. It would be such a waste not to make use of all those people.

Shinomiya Kaguya had received an elite capitalist education since childhood. In this world, there were two kinds of people: those who could be used, and useless people who couldn't.

If they could exploit vengeful spirits, why not make use of the players too?

Taking risks alone and toiling away at quests was the stupidest choice. A true capitalist should take control of everyone, organize them, and put all the players to work clearing the game.

I, Shinomiya Kaguya, will become a capitalist in the Horror Game!

Of course, that was a long-term goal. She would have to take things one step at a time and build up gradually.

For now, she would set a modest goal, such as earning a hundred million first.

"Knock, knock."

A soft knock sounded at the door.

Shinomiya Kaguya turned toward it and said, "Come in."

The first customer had arrived.

"Excuse me."

A girl who looked like a high school student pushed the door open and came in. This Horror Game didn't seem to admit elementary school or junior high school students, and they hadn't seen any elderly people either.

"I'm Kiyono..." The girl briefly introduced herself, then timidly looked at the cow vengeful spirit beside Amamiya Natsuki. In a quiet voice, she asked, "Can I really trade with you for food?"

"Yes." Shinomiya Kaguya nodded slightly. "You've heard the exchange rules, right?"

"I have." The girl quickly nodded and took an item out of her pocket. "Please give me a glass of milk."

Capitalists usually started out as small merchants.

The rules for exchanging food were simple.

One Blind Box item for one glass of milk. Fair prices, no tricks.

Although the things players got from Blind Boxes were all over the place—sometimes even instant noodles or mineral water—they might come in handy in special circumstances.

Standing for so long had been tiring, so Amamiya Natsuki was now sitting on a hospital bed. The Cow vengeful spirit sat beside him, shoulder to shoulder, and they looked quite intimate.

With nothing else to do, Amamiya Natsuki looked curiously at the item.

[Item: Bloodstained Eraser]

[Usage: Erase]

[Type: Consumable]

[Effect: Guaranteed to erase one wrong answer from an exam paper. Few uses remain. Use with caution.]

[Note: A top student coughed up blood and collapsed in the examination hall. With a bloodied hand, she reached for the desk. "Help me up. I have to delete my browsing history from my phone..." Unfortunately, all she managed to grab was an eraser.]

"Um, can I trade this eraser for food?"

The girl asked timidly.

A bloodstained eraser looked like a completely useless item. She was worried they might not accept it in exchange for food.

"No problem." Shinomiya Kaguya took the eraser, then glanced over. "Amamiya-classmate, I'm counting on you."

No matter what the item was—even a roll of paper towels—Shinomiya Kaguya would accept it in exchange.

The most important thing now was to spread the word.

After all, all they needed to do was feed the cow a couple of bunches of chives to get milk. It was a sure-fire business.

Amamiya Natsuki nodded. "Leave it to me."

"Wait." The Beast-girl vengeful spirit, who had just relaxed, sensed something was wrong. She shot Amamiya Natsuki a sidelong glance. "Humans, what are you planning to do?"

"Do business, of course." Amamiya Natsuki replied as if it were obvious. "They trade items, we provide food. That's perfectly normal."

The Beast-girl vengeful spirit gritted her teeth. "I mean, what are you going to do to me?!"

"Please don't ask such an obvious question." Amamiya Natsuki sighed and turned his head. "Fujiwara, come feed her chives."

"Coming."

"..."

The Beast-girl vengeful spirit felt darkness closing in. She trembled with rage... Well, actually, she couldn't tremble now.

Shameless!

What shameless humans!

It was bad enough that they toyed with her. They still weren't satisfied and were turning her into a money-making machine... How could humans be so evil?!

A short while later,

a glass of milk appeared out of nowhere.

"Thank you."

The girl beamed with delight and thanked them over and over. She quickly drank the milk, then timidly said her farewells under the vengeful spirit's blood-red gaze.

Other players began filing into the hospital room and trading with Shinomiya Kaguya. Before long, they had acquired all sorts of random Blind Box items.

For example, an improper marker.

[Item: Proper Marker Pen]

[Description: This pen has been used by someone to write the character for "correct" time and time again. It has acquired a special power. Hold it, and you can write the character for "correct" in a single stroke.]