CH 55

55. Story of the countryside

When I got home, Sis was like a corpse on the sofa in the living room.

From the fact that she was wearing a jersey and her hair was wet with sweat, I could roughly imagine what had happened.

“……Ah, Take-kun. Welcome back.”

“I’m home, Sis. Did grandmother train you?”

“Yeah. “If you’re going to survive the exam, get the minimum physical strength”, was what she said…”

When Grandma came here five years ago, she didn’t pay much attention to Sis.

Since Mom also has an educational policy, perhaps she tried to respect that.

On the contrary, she showed no mercy towards me.

Perhaps she thought that she had to do what she had to do even if her grandson ended up hating her.

In the end, a lot was beaten up to this body in a short period of time.

“At that time, I was spoiled all the time, I guess she thought that she couldn’t keep it like this after seeing you.”

“Hmm? Take-kun, did you say something?”

Rather than complaining about my educational policy to Mom, Grandma directly trained me. And this time too. Well, it was so like her.

“No, it’s nothing. Sis, you should rest there.”

“You’re right. I feel like I’ve already done a year’s worth of exercise. I want to become one with the sofa, just like this…”

No matter how hard a person tried, no one could become one with a sofa, but looking from the side, Sis was like melted butter on top of the bread.

Five years ago, I was traumatized by Grandma.

This time, Sis was the target.

“Namu amida……”

I placed my hands together before heading to my room.

◇

At night, Mom was on the phone in the living room. The person she called was Minayo-san.

“Is that so…… I see. It must be hard.”

From what I heard, it seemed that Minayo-san’s place of work had changed.

She used to work in the Public Relations Bureau, but recently started working in the Central Office.

Speaking of the Central Office, it was like the ideal job in the Special Ward.

Even though her affiliation hadn’t changed, she could work there, in a way, it could be said that she had made it.

Instead, the workplace was far from home.

So, Minayo-san started leaving home earlier than usual.

In addition, it seemed that the people working on the same floor stayed until late at night. It was hard for her to be the only one going home early.

In other words, the time for work had increased more than before.

“Fine. See you the day after tomorrow. I’ll prepare the stuff.”

After finishing the call, Mom wrote down a new schedule on her smartphone.

“Mom, just now, was it Minayo-san?”

“Ara, Take-chan. That’s right, it looks like she’ll be able to go home early the day after tomorrow. That’s why I decided to have a BBQ in the garden.”

Said Mom happily.

It’s been a while since we’ve had a BBQ in the garden, she must be that happy.

“I see, that aside… Minayo-san, she’s working even in GW holidays?”

“It seems like she’s that busy with her new job. It must be hard.”

I thought she would be able to rest according to the calendar since she’s working at a government office, but it seems that this world is different.

Well, there are a lot of people who work at GW, so it’s not particularly strange, but still, I’ve never thought it was the same for government officials.

“What about you Mom?”

“Well. I can take it easy for the next couple of days… Ah, that’s right, I have to talk to Moe-chan and Saki-chan about the BBQ.”

Saying so, Mom left the living room.

◇

I had dinner with Mom and Sis.

Apparently, after Grandma trained Sis, she went to meet an acquaintance.

“Hmm, Mom. So, grandmother has an acquaintance in the special ward?”

“It seems that her childhood friend is here.”

“I see…”

She’s soon to be 60 years old. If it’s her childhood friend, probably the same age?

“I wonder if that person will return outside after retirement.”

“Maybe so?”

Hearing Sis and Mom talking, I thought,

…I see, the taxes are high to continue living here, and the qualifications are tough.

After having success in the special ward, it may be possible to live a leisurely life in the countryside, right?

Suddenly, I remembered the story of the Goddess.

You shouldn’t go to outside, because it’s not good to get involved with the Kazoku huh…

“That’s right, Mom. What kind of place is Grandmother living in?”

“Ara, are you interested?”

“Sis has been there before, right? But I’ve never left the special ward, so yeah, I’d like to know.”

Then Mom looked a little confused.

“Well… even if I say it’s typical countryside, Take-chan can’t imagine it, hmm…”

“I’ve seen on TV about the outside of the special ward, but that’s it.”

“In my opinion, it’s a little more desolate than that. It’s a small town, and there’s a main street, but it’s a few hundred meters away. Around there, there’s a concentration area of shops selling various things.”

“What about the supermarket?”

“There’s a small one over there. All the shops are densely packed in one area after all, and the rest, scattering around, are houses. When I lived there, houses were hundreds of meters away from the main street on both sides. And at night, it was always pitch black.”

Mom also said that buses run around town, and public transportation was kind of normal. But, to reach the neighboring town, one must cross a mountain.

“If that’s the case, it must be a pretty rural area.”

“I don’t know. I heard that the population is about 7,000, so I think it’s a town that could be found anywhere?”

Well, as long as there are companies and factories, you can live until the end of your life there…

“Are there no people from the Kazoku there?”

“You mean, Toki-sama? No way such a person could live in such a small town. But there are towns where people from the nobility live.”

Even among the peerage, there was a rank, and the Toki family, which had influence over the two prefectures, seemed to be in the upper ranks among the peerage.

There were also branch families of the Toki family and descendants of the warlords who once ruled the castle. Those people were scattered across the prefectures.

“Isn’t it scary to live with people from the nobility?”

“Why? It’s an honor you know.”

Apparently, Mom really thought so.

The Goddess said that the noble is acting like a king outside.

But, it seems that they’re able to maintain their power even now because they are loved and respected by the residents, not by fear or power…?

For some reason, I had a strange feeling hearing the fact that Mom thought it would be an honor.