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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Simzy
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Autumn had arrived.
Of course, in Neon City, where the concept of four seasons was not distinct, most (ignorant) people probably wouldn’t even know that autumn had come.
In fact, this was an unavoidable part of it.
It wasn’t like the autumn leaves were falling, nor was a (deadly poisonous) storm accompanied by an autumn wind raging inside the city.
Basically, since the outside and the inside were separated by the city’s shield, the temperature difference according to the season was not clear either.
Of course, I didn’t know the exact principle and reason either.
Acidic or poisonous rain and snow would occasionally fall inside the city, but apart from that, it was not easy to distinguish the seasons inside the city.
But nevertheless, I was confident that it was now ‘autumn.’
After Drek’s wedding was over, autumn had also come to my daily life.
The season when all living things prepare for death and wait for the spring that will come again next year.
In a word, it was a kind of ‘cataclysm.’
“It is more efficient to sleep in one bed.”
“…I agree.”
“Wouldn’t it be fine to just put about 4 beds together?”
“What the……, it’s not bad.”
“Of course, the spot next to you belongs to me, the childhood friend….”
“What do you think, Chairman?”
“Hoho, being lively isn’t bad either.”
Wow, this is really dizzying.
7 housemates.
And the sight of an entire floor having been changed into ‘one house.’
It was hard to express in words.
To be honest, I might have reached the limit of my patience.
Even when it was just the three of us, Eve, Catherine, and I, living together, there were plenty of situations where I didn’t know where to put my eyes.
And now, 5 more people had been added for a total of 7 people to live in one house.
…….
What on earth should I do?
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But very thankfully, my daily life didn’t change as much as I thought.
First of all, it wasn’t that the 7 housemates were always together.
Just the chairman, the head of ‘Black Monolith’ named ‘Taylor Blackstar,’ had a fixed schedule that was beyond my imagination.
I had heard that she had installed an entire ‘artificial body management facility’ on another floor to minimize her commute time.
Still, except for the late hours, it was hard to see her face.
The chairman herself seemed to be quite satisfied.
Besides her, there were many people who were busy with their own work.
Natasha, Andrea, Julia, and even Maya had to go down to the lower level to help at her father’s shop.
Ah, for the record.
I had separately asked Maya how she had ended up moving into this house.
At my question, Maya answered as follows.
“Ah, I got a call from the Chairman.”
“……”
So the Chairman was the cause of everything.
Maya continued.
“And you also said you would protect me last time, Shiun…”
“……”
And there was a sin I had committed too.
In fact, since I had already heard the news that she had bought this entire building, it was a part I had been expecting to some extent.
Anyway, as a result, the only ones who were always at home (like bums) were, as before, ‘Catherine’ or ‘Eve.’
And since an entire floor had become one house, the space was much wider than I thought.
It wasn’t like there were no walls at all.
There were fewer things to worry about than I thought.
…….
It’s a little disappointing in a way.
Anyway, that’s how it is.
I fiddled with my visual interface while rolling around on the bed.
In the past, I would have watched Eve’s streaming broadcast, which was on 24 hours a day.
But as the commentator had said at the fighting game tournament last time, Eve, who had earned enough credits, had almost quit streaming.
I was just checking if any new videos had been uploaded to my subscribed video channels.
Still no new uploads on the Master, 『Real Magician of the Machine Age Channel』.
Then….
『How to Grow Artificial Plants』, huh.
…….
I closed the video with the insane content that said you could easily grow artificial plants by purchasing about 500 credits worth of plant products.
Nothing to watch, nothing to do.
Should I play some games?
Just as I was thinking that.
Ding-dong.
The sound of the front door’s intercom bell, which made me anxious when it rang, echoed widely.
…There shouldn’t be anyone coming to visit.
Drek also left for his honeymoon right away.
For now, there was no one I knew who would be visiting the house.
I stopped Eve, who was about to get up.
“I’ll get it.”
I didn’t have anything to do anyway.
Eve, just as she had done for Andrea, was sitting next to Catherine and power-leveling her in the classic game.
It was because Catherine, after hearing that she couldn’t enjoy the game with me if she didn’t reach the max level, had hurriedly started to focus on leveling up.
I closed my visual interface and lightly got up from the bed.
Who is it?
I pressed the intercom button and checked the hallway outside.
A man in a uniform was standing there. On his chest was a company mark that signified a delivery person.
Not a drone, but a human employee.
It was rare, but not unheard of.
It was often used when delivering important (or expensive) packages.
I opened the front door and greeted the delivery person.
The man who had confirmed my appearance operated his visual interface and said.
“Excuse me, is this room 702?”
“It is, and it isn’t.”
“?”
At my meaningless Zen-like answer, the delivery person made a clueless expression.
It’s true.
Even if you open the door next door, it connects to this side anyway.
The professional delivery person calmly followed the procedure and confirmed the identity.
“…Anyway, are you Ms. ‘Catherine Lee’?”
He was a staff member with a rich gender sensitivity.
I’m sure the gender was also written on the identity information, but for him to ask if I was Catherine.
In fact, it wasn’t a strange thing in cyberpunk.
I turned my head and called Catherine’s name.
“Hey, Catherine! Did you order a package?”
“No?”
Catherine, who had hurriedly put on a coat, revealed herself with an answer.
There was a minor problem where the delivery person’s face turned red upon seeing Catherine’s appearance, but since the identity verification process wasn’t that complicated, we were able to receive the package quickly.
“City ID and vital signs confirmed, have a pleasant Neon City.”
The delivery person who had finished his short greeting disappeared.
I turned my head in Catherine’s direction.
“…I don’t have any packages coming.”
Catherine said, repeatedly tossing and catching the box lightly with one hand.
The box was in a very messy state.
The packaging, and the invoice, were also like that.
It even seemed to smell a little of pee.
What on earth is this?
Eve, who had approached our side at some point, stared intently at the package box.
“No special electronic signals or vital signs are detected. The possibility of it being an explosive or a living creature is very low.”
To be honest, just by the look of the box, it wouldn’t have been strange to just throw it away as is.
I continued to question Catherine.
“Is the sender’s name written on it?”
“Hmm…, let’s see.”
As if she had a similar impression as I did, she turned the package over using only the tips of her fingers.
It really looks like it was picked up from a garbage d—.
“It says Four-eyes.”
“?”
At Catherine’s words, my eyes widened.
Four-eyes.
The orc I had recently seen at the garbage dump.
It was also the nickname of the orc who had taken care of the young me and Catherine in the garbage dump in the past.
As if Catherine was also surprised, she hurriedly tore open the packaging of the box.
Seeing that, I muttered.
“Why would he be sending a package from there?”
He should just take good care of his own body.
Of course, I, who had said that, was just as curious about the contents of the package that had come for Catherine.
I stuck close to Catherine’s side and watched.
“…Hey, move back a little.”
“Huh?”
Ah, was I too close.
After experiencing this situation where ‘one floor’ had become ‘one house,’ my concept of personal space seemed to have gotten a little strange too.
“Sorry.”
“…It’s not something to be sorry about.”
Catherine answered, fanning her face with her hand.
It wasn’t the first or second time.
Why is she suddenly acting like that?
Anyway, I took a step back.
I also wondered if our golden child had finally learned ‘men and women should not sit together after the age of seven.’
“So what’s inside?”
“Hold on.”
Catherine, who had squatted down, carefully checked the contents.
“…He’s put all sorts of things in here.”
Catherine’s words were just as she said.
A small picture frame, a necklace, a toy that shoots bullets.
For reference, ‘a toy that shoots bullets’ is also called a ‘pistol.’
Since they were all things that Catherine and I had touched at least once when we were young, or before we left the garbage dump, a feeling of nostalgia arose.
Why would he be sending these old things now?
Catherine, who had the same question as I did, said.
“…But why did he send this?”
It was then that she discovered a piece of paper in the corner of the package box.
It looked like a recycled piece of paper (scrap paper) made by neatly cutting a snack wrapper.
Something’s written on it. I subtly stuck to Catherine’s back again.
As if she had noticed my movement, Catherine flinched for a moment. But she didn’t send me away like before.
Catherine, who had coughed briefly, began to read the contents written on the paper.
“First of all, I received the credit chip well, thanks to that, my life has improved a lot. Thank you.”
When we had gone to kidnap the vice chairman of Ko-ozaka.
It sounded like he was talking about the magic (credit chip) I had given to Four-eyes.
As I nodded and recalled the past.
Catherine continued to read the paper.
“Because of the circumstances, it’s hard to contact you, but I have to let you know that there are no problems. So I’m sending this package.”
As long as you have credits, even in a garbage dump, and even if your identity is unclear, just sending a package is a simple matter.
“Nothing special has happened since then, so don’t worry.”
That part is a relief.
To be honest, since we had even met a ‘ninja’ while escaping the sewers, it was a part I had been worrying about in a corner of my heart.
Even if it was a hidden village, it wasn’t impossible to find.
“Just sending a piece of paper seemed like a waste of the delivery fee, so I’m sending along the toys the kids used to play with a long time ago. Take care.”
“……”
This seems like he just pawned off his trash.
I thought briefly to myself.
But probably, it wasn’t just the reason written on the paper.
It was probably something he did to make us firmly believe that the person who sent this package was ‘Four-eyes.’
Because there were very few people other than him who knew about this past of mine and Catherine’s.
“Wow, look at this.”
At Catherine’s words, I looked at the picture frame in her hand.
Wow, he sent this too.
I took the picture frame Catherine held out with a nostalgic heart.
There was one picture in the frame.
Before we came to Neon City.
A picture of me and Catherine.
I looked back and forth between the young Catherine in the picture frame and the grown-up Catherine next to me.
That such an innocent child.
How did she become such a golden child….
“…It feels like you’re thinking something annoying.”
“No.”
No matter how much it was Catherine, she couldn’t read my mind. I brushed off Catherine’s suspicion with a nonchalant expression.
Seeing my younger self after such a long time.
I felt nostalgic. And somewhat restless.
“What were you like in the past?”
Just then, Eve asked me.
“Us?”
Seeing the contents of the package box, it seemed Eve had also become curious.
It was after the main scenario of the game that Eve had joined me, us.
It was a part she could be curious about.
“……”
Where should I start explaining this?
I glanced at Catherine.
Just then, Catherine also looked at me. My and Catherine’s eyes met.
Before long, Catherine and I turned our heads toward Eve and opened our mouths in unison.
“I basically raised this one on my back.”
“She would have died if it weren’t for me.”
Catherine and I looked at each other again.
What is our golden child saying right now?
Of course, it was true that Catherine had saved me, but how much had I taken care of her after that.
Catherine and I continued our explanation at the same time.
About the events of the past, in the garbage dump.
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“You want to go to Neon City?”
“Yeah.”
Is it because of the smell of the sewer? Our kid has finally gone crazy.
A kid who isn’t even fully grown yet.
Looking at Catherine, I shook my head at that time.
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Flashback time