A Brief Respite, And The Next Shower

Thanks to the waterwheel which was built in the middle of the newly dug-up river, the electricity around the shelter had become more than sustainable. Of course, electricity was still available in the area, but everyone knew that it wouldn't take long before the reserves were depleted.

Fortunately, Arisu and Jurou had also been working on setting up a couple of sizeable solar panels on one portion of the mountain. That project would be a long-time project, and they knew that it would take long before it finished. They estimated that the project would be completed before the electricity in the area gets depleted.

Right now, the only stronghold known near the outskirts of Tokyo was the Kazuichi Stronghold. That's why they basically soloed the electricity. While they weren't sure whether that assumption was true or not, their rough statement was more than accurate enough so they based the future on that. They didn't expect something extravagant though, just a couple of months at most.

Right now, Kazuichi was still not aware of this, but he was knowledgeable enough to know that he could still use electricity. That's one of the reasons why he was actually looking forward to staying in his room for a couple of days or something along those lines. And as a note, Arisu actually knew what Kazuichi was going to do the first thing he entered his room. A smile swept across her face as she prepared the bath for Kazuichi (as if that was her regular duty in the past and they were just returning to their usual mundaneness)

While the others comfortable stayed in the living room, they got their well-deserved rest after such a long journey through two prefectures.

They didn't bother following Kazuichi who headed straight to his room on the second floor. For one, they wanted to give Kazuichi some privacy. And secondly, they wanted to give Kazuichi his rest.

After all, he led the entire group all the way, and whole they did help him from time to time, Kazuichi pretty much did all the leading, and it resulted in them safely arriving in the Kazuichi Stronghold.

They wanted to thank Kazuichi, and thr least they could do was give him some space while he tried to get some rest.

Honestly, Kazuichi was more than happy that they were considerate enough to leave him alone. He didn't think twice about m entering his room and he didn't feel guilty at all.

The moment he opened the door, a cold blast of air greeted him, almost blowing him off his feet (that was just over-exaggeration in his part). He was surprised to know that the room was colder than he had expected— probably because it had been so long since he experienced the full blast of air conditioning.

'Since Arisu was with us, and Jurou went out of his way to pick us up midway… then that means Jurou turned the air conditioning on before he met up with them.

Kazuichi wasn't surprised at all since he knew how proactive Jurou could get when it comes to assisting him.

In the past, when he picked Jurou as his personal bodyguard/butler, he instantly became extremely loyal to Kazuichi.

Before Kazuichi could say anything... and even before Kazuichi would mention any tasks that he needed to accomplish, he had already done it.

Even in the past, Kazuichi had a hard time finding fault on his personal butler. He was good at his job, and Kazuichi trusted him a lot.

With a sigh of relief, Kazuichi removed his clothes and changed into his bathing robes. He knew that he stinked, and he didn't want to dirty the sheets before he took a bath. Right now, he wanted to at least experience the softness of his bed before he headed to the bath— and then he would head straight to his room to enjoy the air-conditioning as much as he could.

"This is the life right here." Kazuichi exhaled like an old man as the coldness of the air-conditioning touched his skin.

He didn't feel the need to cover himself up with a blanket. Instead he just lay belly-first on the bed while he slowly drifted into slumber.

While he was entering his sleeping phase, he felt like the journey back home lasted a couple of years due to how exhausted he was.

Then again, it was all worth it since he get to sleep on his bed once again. Now that he reverted to his usual shut-in life, he felt like he could stay in this room for a couple of days without difficulty.

'No, I can't do that. In any case, I have to at least help out in managing the stronghold. If I didn't do anything about this, they'd treat me as an outcast... Or worse, they wouldn't respect me at all. Fortunately, I have reliable friends on my side. I could rely on them as much as I could.' Kazuichi shook his head before a smile appeared on his face.

"N-n-not that I wanted to skip work or anything," Kazuichi said out loud before his eyelids started drooping.

Then he fell asleep.

When Kazuichi woke up, he felt like a brand-new man. It's as if he had just gotten a week's worth of sleep and judging from their adventure, that week's worth was not enough.

Knock. Knock.

Slide~

"You shouldn't have too much sleep. You're still going to take a bath, remember?" Kazuichi said to himself as the slumber called out to him for a second time.

There was no way he'd sleep for the second time that day.

As if on cue, Arisu entered the room after waiting for a couple of seconds. "I'm done preparing the bath." Arisu said, not flustered at all after seeing the loose robe on Kazuichi's well chiseled body.

Her face did redden a little bit though.

"Thanks, you can stay here if you want." Kazuichi offered, experessing his thanks by letting her relax in his room.

"Actually— I have an offer on hand." Arisu fidgeted before she bowed her head forward. "I would like to wash your back. Please let me wash your back."

"Eh?! Er- sure..." Kazuichi trailed off in bewilderment.