After reminiscing for a moment, Kasumi Takamine patted away Ethan's hand, which was starting to wander. "Little Ethan, stop fooling around. There's something I need to tell you. I originally planned to wait until you came of age."
Seeing Kasumi Takamine's serious expression, Ethan also set aside his ulterior thoughts and asked, "Sis' Kasumi, what is it that had to wait until I came of age?"
"It's about your parents..."
Kasumi Takamine looked at Ethan's handsome face, her thoughts slowly drifting back to the year she adopted him.
"Your parents gave me a bank card back then, containing about one billion yen. After I agreed to the terms for adopting you, they completely disappeared. I tried many methods afterward, but I was never able to contact them."
"Wait, wait." Ethan rubbed his forehead, interrupting. "But didn't monthly living expenses get deposited later on?"
Kasumi Takamine shook her head and explained, "No, they left another card before they left, also containing one billion yen. That's a total of two billion yen. The so-called living expenses before were just me withdrawing from that amount each month and giving it to you all."
Two billion yen was enough not only for Ethan to live comfortably for a lifetime but also for the entire Takamine family's expenses.
Of course, this was the agreed-upon condition before fostering Ethan.
It was just unexpected that Ethan's parents would give so much all at once and then completely vanish, never once returning to see Ethan over all these years.
If Kasumi Takamine had been a wicked and greedy woman, the grass on Ethan's grave would probably be several meters high by now.
Two billion yen is enough to tempt a decent ordinary person into the abyss.
Fortunately, in this chaotic world, there are still quite a few simple and kind women, which is a major factor in why the "Blonde Guy" archetype is so successful.
If pretty women were all cunning and ruthless, then the cleaver and the nice boat would probably become the main theme of this world.
Kasumi Takamine chose to keep working afterward, first because the company President surprisingly decided to keep her on, and second, because she didn't want to rely solely on savings and wanted to give the three children as normal a childhood as possible.
The half-year business trip was unprecedented, and many unpleasant things happened during it, which was one of the reasons she decided to resign.
Finally, while Ethan was pondering, Kasumi Takamine added, "That's also why when you cried for your mom and dad when you were little, I couldn't even show you a picture or let you talk to them."
Ethan closed his eyes and leaned back, sinking into the soft sofa.
When the original body was fostered, he was already old enough to form memories. Upon arriving in a strange environment, a child would instinctively look for their parents.
As time passed, his memory of his parents grew fainter, and once he adapted to life with the Takamine family, the matter was completely buried.
"Two billion yen, huh..." Ethan let out a soft laugh and pulled Kasumi Takamine into his embrace. "That's quite a fortune, indeed."
Seeing that Kasumi Takamine didn't react, only staring at him blankly, he squeezed her sweet buttocks and asked, "Sis' Kasumi, wouldn't you agree?"
A blush rose on Kasumi Takamine's face. She scolded playfully, "Does that even need to be said? Even now, let alone back then, two billion yen is an income an ordinary family might not earn in a lifetime."
After a moment, she couldn't help but say, "Little Ethan... don't you have anything else to say?"
Ethan looked at the beautiful wife's face, shrugging dismissively. "No. If they're alive, I'll take care of them in their old age. If they're dead, and I know who the killer is, I'll help seek revenge. But I won't deliberately seek out information about them."
"Aren't you curious why they left such a huge sum of money and suddenly disappeared?"
"A little, but not much." Ethan spread his hands. "Compared to that, if someone suddenly showed up now claiming to be my parents, I'd actually be more troubled."
In fact, he had suspected his parents when Rias suggested he might have ancient Devil genes. Such a situation was unexpected but logical.
More than curiosity, his birth parents suddenly appearing now would be the most troublesome thing.
Not only had his soul been replaced, but even the original Ethan, after so many years, probably wouldn't be able to call two strangers "Mom" and "Dad."
However, according to Ethan's speculation, the probability of his parents appearing was infinitely close to zero. The possibility of them being dead was higher than that of them being alive.
Because if the situation were manageable, they wouldn't have gone years without a single phone call or even a letter.
Kasumi Takamine wanted to say more, but he interrupted her.
"After all these years, I can't even remember what my parents looked like, and I'm living a very good life now."
Ethan dropped his smile and hugged his beautiful adopted mother tightly. "Alright, I know about this. Sis' Kasumi, don't overthink it. More than this, I want to know what you originally planned to do."
Her full, soft body nestled in Ethan's embrace, Kasumi Takamine quietly said, "What else could I plan? I originally planned to tell the three of you when you came of age, and then let you decide how to distribute the remaining money..."
The seductive wife sighed, and a stream of brilliant blue light quietly appeared in her palm. She stared intently at the continuously flowing Magic Power, her mind racing with thoughts.
Even after a week, the new worldview still made her feel, at times, like she was dreaming.
Ethan chuckled, kissing her fair cheek hard. "Sis' Kasumi, keep the remaining money. It can serve as the organization's operating fund."
He had already discussed with Kasumi Takamine how to manage the girls in his harem. The best approach was indeed to establish a formal company, developing simultaneously in both the mundane and supernatural worlds.
Because besides women with exceptional talent, many ordinary girls also had a relationship with Ethan. If they only focused on developing the supernatural world's influence, these girls' positions would be awkward.
Moreover, ordinary people still constituted the majority in the human world.
There were many people with latent talent, but perhaps only one in ten truly mastered supernatural power.
If they wanted to grow large and strong, providing services to ordinary people was essential.
Ethan left the company structure, personnel allocation, and even the name entirely up to Kasumi Takamine. The beautiful wife, with years of corporate experience, was the expert in this area.
He also didn't plan to interfere with the company's operations, merely giving two broad directions.
The supernatural world side was obvious: accepting commissions to earn funds and rare resources, and simultaneously strengthening their abilities.
For the mundane side of the business, Ethan wanted to focus on delivery services, such as food delivery. Besides the fact that this area was relatively underdeveloped in Japan (Nippon), such work also facilitated the establishment and expansion of an intelligence network.
The first goal was naturally to cover all business in Kuoh Town, then the whole of Tokyo, and finally, all of Japan (Nippon).
If they truly achieved that level, they would be considered a powerful conglomerate.
Furthermore, the supernatural world also had commissions for escorting items and personnel. The two types of businesses were not mutually exclusive and could even be mutually beneficial.
However, Kasumi Takamine proposed operating the company as an "Odd Jobs Agency" (Yorozuya). Whether it was mundane or supernatural work, commissions would be rated by difficulty, with different levels corresponding to different fees.
Girls without supernatural talent would stay at the 'Agency' office, handling reception and secretarial work.
They wouldn't need to go out on commissions but would receive a fixed salary.
Girls with supernatural power would be responsible for carrying out external commissions. Besides a minimum monthly quota, they would receive half of the commission fee for every extra job completed.
Finally, the girl with the highest number of work hours each month would receive an additional reward.
For example, an extra session of dual cultivation with Ethan the following month...
This method was certainly feasible. If it developed smoothly, the establishment of the intelligence network might accelerate, as an Odd Jobs Agency is likely to encounter all sorts of people and situations.
As for the final operational model, Ethan waved his hand, once again delegating the responsibility, leaving everything to Kasumi Takamine.
The optimal model cannot be determined without practical implementation.
However, one thing was certain: a company entirely staffed by beautiful women would surely be highly competitive, regardless of what they did.
Conversely, they would also face inevitable trouble.
Fortunately, the abilities of Sakura Miyajima and the others were already considered above average even in the human world.
Leaving ordinary people aside, even supernatural beings, they could generally handle minor troubles.