Chapter 91

I have made the necessary corrections to the parts that received various comments.

On the day he returned to planet Ittsu,

after a modest celebration with Gonzalez, he immediately went home.

Although one gets tired after work, he was especially exhausted from the "battles" involving noble rivalries, the suppression of foreign forces, and the extermination of rebels, so of course, he fell into a deep sleep.

When he woke up the next morning, it was already 10 AM, so he decided to have lunch out and first tackled the laundry.

To be precise, he just separated the colored and patterned clothes and threw them into the fully automatic washing and drying machine.

During this time, he cleaned the room. This cleaning involved sucking up accumulated dust with a vacuum cleaner and wiping with water and a dry cloth.

Once the laundry was done, he folded it and threw it into the closet.

After these tasks were completed, he changed clothes and headed for lunch. The places he went to for lunch were usually fast food restaurants or cheap set meal places; he had no intention of going to fancy restaurants.

Moreover, he planned to take it easy for 5 to 6 days, so he also went to buy groceries for that period.

On the first day, both lunch and grocery shopping went smoothly.

From the second day onward, he spent his days indulging in anime, games, light novels, and the internet from night until morning.

He hunted materials and raised his rank in "Creature Hunter Breeze Starbreaker," watched the fourth season of "Mysterious Summoning Ring" in one go, and read the novelization of "Maiden War History," which he had been putting off, enjoying fulfilling days.

On the morning of the fifth day,

it was the release day of the new volume of "Assassin×Family."

He had gone to bed by midnight the previous day and woke up at 5:30 AM.

He could have slept in until just before the bookstore or "Animember" opened, but his body felt sticky, and he wanted to take a bath in a large bath, so he quickly got ready and went to a 24-hour bath facility.

This large bath facility, "Relaxation Health Land," also had a spa, restaurant, various entertainment facilities, and accommodation, and being open 24 hours a day was quite impressive.

I put my change of clothes and bath towel in a large bag and prepared a backpack to carry the new volume, then headed to "Relaxation Health Land."

The main hall of "Relaxation Health Land," which could be called the entrance, was quite spacious, with a high ceiling that gave a great sense of openness.

The building was bright and clean, and since it was early in the morning, there were many elderly people, but some families were also visible.

I bought a ticket for the bath facility and took it to the counter.

Incidentally, this ticket was made of plastic paper, and the pattern printed on it changed every month, with some people collecting them.

After the ticket was checked at the counter, I received a key to a shoe locker.

Once I put my shoes in the locker with the key number, I could finally enter the changing room.

I put my belongings and clothes in a numbered box, locked it, and entered the bath with just a towel, rinsed off, washed my body, and then soaked in a large bathtub.

"Ah... "

Although I had a bath at home and a refreshing shower on the ship, this sense of openness was something I couldn't replicate.

While enjoying this happy time,

"Hey, isn't that you, kid?"

I heard a familiar voice.

"It's you... You look pretty bad, but are you okay?"

"I drank a bit too much yesterday. I'm thoroughly hungover, so I came to detox."

"Baths don't detox alcohol..."

This was Bernard Zag, a former police officer and a colleague a few years older than me.

As a former police officer, he was quite sturdy and looked a bit younger than his age.

"Ah, what a good bath. A beer after the bath must be delicious!♪"

"Didn't you drink too much yesterday?"

"I won't be working for a while, so it's fine. You might think it's beneath a mercenary, but 'battles' and 'exterminations' are tiring. You must feel the same, right?"

"Yeah. 'Guarding' and 'security' jobs pay less but are more relaxed."

Unless you're in dire financial straits, a complete battle maniac, or someone who doesn't fight at all on the battlefield or treats it like a game, most mercenaries take a few days off after 'battles' or 'exterminations.'

Standing on the battlefield is that tiring.

"There will probably be more pirates for a while..."

"Rebels and their offspring will fall from grace..."

"It's more relaxing than war. So, what are you going to do after this? I'm going to a place where I can drink in the morning."

"I have some shopping to do. I might have breakfast here and then go."

The conversation ended there.

I don't usually talk much with Bernard, but this level of interaction is just right.

After soaking in silence for about 5 minutes,

"See you later."

"Yeah, see you at work."

We exchanged brief greetings, and I left the bath.

After getting out of the bath and having breakfast at the facility's restaurant, I headed to the main street of Block 65 in the bustling area where "Animember" is located.

This block is lined with trendy cafes, bookstores, restaurants, boutiques, cosmetics, and jewelry shops, and there is a lot of mixed foot traffic.

Navigating through the crowd, I entered the Mashitomo Building where "Animember" is located and arrived at the book section.

First, I got the new volume of "Assassin×Family," and also bought the new volumes of "Corinna-san is Shy" and "The Kind Reaper" that I had forgotten to buy.

Then, I started browsing aimlessly.

Suddenly, I felt someone's gaze.

Looking around to find the source of the gaze, I quickly found it.

Two high school girls were glaring at me.

I didn't recognize them, and I didn't remember doing anything to offend them.

Perhaps they were new mercenaries who had been told various things by protagonist-type characters.

If that was the case, I definitely shouldn't get involved.

If I'm not careful, I could be labeled a criminal just for making eye contact!

So, I quickly paid and left the store.

They didn't chase me any further, which was a relief.

☆ ☆ ☆

【Side: Rubina Radoom】

On that day, my sister and I came to planet Ittsu.

The reason was that the figure of my favorite character, "Onizuka Gura" from the social development simulation game "Oni Shin Engi," was still available, so we had it reserved and came to pick it up.

After getting the figure, I was in high spirits, but then that guy appeared in our line of sight.

He was the pilot of the battle cruiser that had shot us down before.

As my sister Elisa said, the moment we saw the images from the battle, we immediately recognized him as a chubby otaku, which filled me with intense anger.

Why wasn't he a cool, handsome guy, a dashing older man, or a cute androgynous boy, but a chubby otaku!

I wanted to find him immediately and kill him, but I couldn't because we had a job from the Duke.

To run into him here was a stroke of luck.

I reached for my gun, ready to kill him.

"Stop it, sister. The Duke told us not to cause trouble, remember?"

But my sister Elisa grabbed my hand and stopped me.

"But! Don't you feel frustrated too?"

"To win next time, shouldn't you focus on improving your skills?"

"But I never thought he would be such a creepy otaku!"

I can't accept that the strong enemy who defeated us so easily is someone like that!

But the skills that defeated us were real, no doubt about it.

"Is that just your personal bias? I'm telling you again, if you kill someone here, it will cause trouble for the Duke. Besides, he might look handsome if he loses weight."

"There's no way he could look handsome!"

Elisa tried to reason with me while looking at the man.

When he noticed our conversation, he seemed anxious and quickly left "Animember."

He probably didn't recognize us and thought we were suspicious.

But usually, it's the other way around.

Well, I'll let it go this time. I'll defeat him in a fight someday!

"Have you finished your shopping?"

Putting aside the creepy otaku, I asked Elisa if she had completed her task, as she had been doing something separately.

"Yes! Perfectly!"

Elisa was holding two large paper bags and beaming.

I've never seen what she buys, but I've seen her read with a scary smile sometimes.

Not long ago, she was muttering to herself, "Titan Trooper Ren's weak attack × Ami's seductive reception is divine!"

I wonder what she bought...

Should I sneak a peek?

★ ★ ★

Finally decided on the names for the sisters.

Thank you for your comments, feedback, and any typo reports.