What, Failure to Transition!? Volume 1 Chapter 13 (Patreon)

Chapter 13 – For a Safer and More Secure Society

After extending their check-out time and leaving the luggage in Yoichi’s room, Yoichi and Karin left the hotel before noon.

They then visited a shopping mall not far from the hotel.

Karin had intended to check out at first, but Yoichi had extended the same room for one more night.

They could have moved into Yoichi’s room as from there, it would no longer need to extend the checkout period, but the time they spent hugging each other was blissful for both of them, and they didn’t want to interrupt that.

After that, Yoichi was brought to the shopping mall half-heartedly, saying ”It’s my mission to do something about your tacky outfit,” as he was guided by Karin.

Karin was on a business trip, but since today was a travel day, and she was only supposed to be back by nightfall, she still had plenty of time to spare.

And because they still have time, the two went to a restaurant inside the shopping mall.

“Yoichi, you have become such a big eater now,” said Karin, who had been watching Yoichi gobble up his food with amazement, though she herself had ordered a fair amount.

“I’ve been feeling really hungry lately. Also, I don’t remember you eating that much either.”　

“What? Oh, this? I was really hungry today, so I ordered this on the spur of the moment.”

Despite that, Karin was still able to gobble up the large amount of food, which was already quite difficult for a woman in her mid-thirties.

***

“Ugh …… did I eat too much ……?”

Karin made an unwell expression as she walked with her arm around Yoichi’s.

“What, are you sick?”

“No, not at all. I can still go on. But I don’t want to get fat.”

“I think you’ll be okay for now. After all, it’s just once in a while.”

“When you’re in your mid-thirties, you can easily get fat if you’re not careful, you know? For your opinion, I’m in my best shape now…….”

The two talked about such trivial things as they went from one clothing store to another.

Yoichi, who had turned almost into a dress-up doll for Karin, ended up looking so decent that even he was impressed.

“Well, that’s about it.”

Not only did Yoichi shop, but Karin also took a look around at her own things, and before they knew it, evening was almost upon them.

Once they returned to their hotel room, they grabbed Karin’s luggage and headed for the station.

The time was late afternoon, so they went for dinner first, although it was still a little early.

“For some reason, I’m not tired at all after all the walking today. Are you all right, Yoichi? I ended up almost spending your entire day.”

“Don’t worry. I’m totally fine.”

“Hmm~. You know, I’ve been feeling really good since I met you the other day.”

“Uhuh……”

“I’m not tired at all after all that walking around today. Maybe it’s because it’s with Yoichi that I had the most fun?”

Although she’s only displaying her little antics, the look in her eyes was serious, so Yoichi couldn’t help but feel a bit frightened.

“Me too, it’s really fun if you’re with someone, especially if it’s you,” but Yoichi swallowed these words that were about to come out of his mouth and just smiled fondly.

They stared at each other in silence for a while before Karin returned with a smile and sighed lightly.

It was a sad smile.

“You should go now.”

“Yeah.”

Yoichi saw Karin off at the ticket gate.

“I’ll be going now.”

“Un. Take care.”

“Good luck with your work there.”

After parting those words, Karin left for the platform.

Looking at her back, Yoichi felt his heart tighten once more.

He was aware. That if he offered to get back together with her, she would definitely accept.

The reverse was true as well if Karin asked Yoichi. However, this chance was very unlikely as Karin doesn’t want to be thought of as a troublesome woman by him even more.

But what would happen if they got back together?

They are both old enough to get married in the near future.

“……no way that’s gonna happen.”

The more Yoichi thought of his own future, the more he felt that he must not involve Karin in this.

Still, he couldn’t help but feel bad that by keeping this distance on and on, he’s also wasting the time that is very important for a woman in her thirties.

“I wish you may find someone else and achieve eternal happiness together with him……” Yoichi tried to be optimistic, but as he imagined Karin spending her life happily together with an unknown stranger, he couldn’t help but feel more pain and anger in his chest.

“I’m such a scumbag.”

〇●〇●

After seeing Karin off, Yoichi left the station and took the train to the north.

The place he wanted to visit was in the north of this town.

After getting off the train, he picked up a cab and had it drive him to an apartment near the foot of the mountain.

This would give them the appearance that it was a resident of this neighborhood that had picked up a cab from the station.

After the cab disappeared, Yoichi walked along the path leading to the mountain, keeping an eye out for people, and when it was completely clear, he took out the mountain bike he stored earlier from the [Infinite Storage+].

“Okay. Here we go.”

Slapping his cheeks with both hands, Yoichi got on his mountain bike and pedaled away.

The terrain was quite a slope, and under normal circumstances, Yoichi would have been exhausted within ten minutes, but he had the [Healthy Body+] which made him recover with each paddle, so he was able to keep running without getting tired.

And with each paddle, his muscle strength gradually increased, so the longer this ‘workout’ took for him, the easier it became, but Yoichi was not aware of this.

In fact, the only thing he was aware of is that he did not feel ‘tired’ thanks to the [Healthy Body+].

After about half an hour, the paved road was gone, and the rest of the ride soon became roadless soil.

(I guess it was a good decision to buy a mountain bike. Also, it’s pitch black, but my eyes are getting used to it.)

Yoichi is riding on a dark mountain road with no street lights.

Under normal circumstances, he ‘should’ barely see his surroundings right now. Still, Yoichi’s desire to maintain his vision in the dark pushed an effect on his [Healthy Body+]. This, in turn, trained his eye muscles, such as the pupillary dilation muscle and the pupillary sphincter muscle, so that his night vision becomes more effective at night.

After about two hours of mountain biking, Yoichi arrived at his destination – a mountain lodge.

He put his mountain bike in the [Infinite Storage] and stepped into the hut. At first glance, it looked like a vacation house made of simple materials, and in fact, when he went inside, he found only lumber before it was sawn and tools such as grass cutters. However, upon checking the results of his [Appraisal+], there was a 20 tatami warehouse in the basement, and the entrance was cleverly hidden on the floor of it.

Yoichi gave a thorough background check and soon discovered that the owner of the shack was an underworld organization with a long history in this area. However, due to several complications, the place had been abandoned for more than ten years. To explain briefly, the armory keeper who was keeping things in check suddenly died of illness. Soon after, by a series of unfortunate events, their rival organizations became active. There was a lot of confusion, and all the people who knew about this place were either imprisoned or died suspiciously, so no one was able to do anything about it in the end.

There were security systems in place, such as surveillance cameras, but since there were no power lines deep in the mountains, the batteries that had been provided to power them were already empty, and the systems were not working.

As for the basement, it was crammed with weapons and ammunition.

There were five assault rifles; two of them had grenade launcher attachments in them, and another five compact assault rifles that can be used for concealed carry.

There were also 20 pistols of various calibers, 5 shotguns, 5 sub-machine guns, 2 heavy machine guns, 2 anti-materiel rifles, 2 sniper rifles, 2 grenade launchers, 2 rocket launchers, and more than 10,000 rounds of various ammunition.

In addition to the guns, there were 20 grenades and stun grenades each, and about 10 Japanese swords, including uchigatana, wakizashi, and nagadosu’s.[1].

“What the hell are these guys planning to fight with?”

Yoichi couldn’t help but leak those words out of his mouth.

“If by any chance, if one of them gets out and finds out about this……” Yoichi stopped thinking there, as looking at the high-powered firearms were already giving him the shivers.

But because he knows the grave importance of this place not being found out, as well the chance of those imprisoned people to remember this place soon as they get released, Yoichi immediately stored all the weapons and ammunition in the [Infinite Storage+], while also repeating to himself that “this was a way of contributing to society” and what he’s doing was not ‘stealing’ but ‘confiscating.’

The weapons and ammunition had been abandoned for more than ten years, but thanks to the maintenance function of the [Infinite Storage], they had now turned out in near-perfect condition after pulling out once.

Of course, as guns were not ‘maintained’ when brought outside, for ‘outer’ maintenance, he also purchased grease, lubricating oil, lubricating silicone, and other consumables at a home improvement store beforehand and stored them in the infinite storage.

And just as Yoichi had expected, the appropriate items were being consumed in moderation whenever he pulls them out of his inventory.

“Still, automatic lubrication and application, huh. Neat……Hmmm?”

In the corner of the basement where the weapons had been removed, he found a bag that was left behind from the ‘looting.’

As the bag looked vaguely foreign, and as Yoichi was curious, he decided to open it.

“Wow!”

From the bag were 10,000 yen bills, all tightly packed inside.

He checked them with [Appraisal+], and he found out that they were all genuine and totaled 50 million yen.

(I see. If you cut the belt like this and pack it tightly without any gaps, even a bag of this size can hold up to 50 million yen.)

Yoichi was strangely impressed, but he had no choice but to also put it in the [Infinite Storage+], thinking that it would be a disaster if it was used for those anti-social activities.

After returning to the hotel via 【Return+】, Yoichi went back to the city to have his second dinner of the day.

(Now that I’m here, I have to have ramen, right?)

And so he haggled with about five ramen shops that seemed to have good reputations in the vicinity. Thinking he has consumed a considerable amount of calories from the long hours of cycling, he always asked for another serving at least once at each restaurant.

(Ahh, I still can’t get enough.)

Yoichi didn’t have much of a habit of drinking, but now that he had finished his work, he felt like having a pint or two.

As he walked through a certain bar, he was approached by a barman, so he decided to take him up on his offer and enter the establishment.

Even if it looked like a malicious store, Yoichi felt that he had nothing to fear anymore with all the arsenal he had.

“Welcome to the club.”

Typically, a bar was a noisy club-like place, but on this day, since it was a weekday, there were hardly any customers, and the atmosphere was quiet.

After they entered the bar, the man who called him in explained the system of charge and other fees to take note of.

They were so meticulous that Yoichi couldn’t help but wonder if something had happened in this store before, or they were just strictly enforcing the law.

He was hoping to experience something like a rip-off bar, but apparently, it was not that kind of place, much to his disappointment.

Yoichi sat down at the counter and immediately ordered a glass of champagne.

It wasn’t that he was particular about it; it just came out of the blue that he wanted to celebrate with a glass of champagne.

Unlike Karin, Yoichi was not much of a drinker to begin with.

“We can prepare sparkling wine, but are you sure you want champagne?” The bartender looked at Yoichi with a bit of concern, probably judging by his cheap, freshly purchased attire, and suggested something of more affordable value.

“Yeah. champagne is fine.”

“Very well, sir. What brand would you like?”

“I’ll leave it to you.”

The bartender cut the seal of the champagne, uncorked it with a practiced hand, and poured the contents into a long, thin champagne glass.

Yoichi took the glass in his hand and drank the champagne in one gulp.

(Ooh, this is good!)

When the second glass of champagne was poured, Yoichi also downed it in one gulp.

“Would you like another glass?”

“Why, of course. Pour me another.”

“Please wait a moment. I’ll go get you another bottle.”

Apparently, if you want more than three drinks, it’s cheaper to order by the bottle than by the glass.

(……but I’m not drunk at all!)

Yoichi is not a very strong drinker.

If it’s beer, half a medium beer is already enough to finish the job for him, but even though he already drank two glasses of champagne, which has three times the alcohol content of beer, for some reason, he wasn’t getting drunk at all.

In fact, this was another effect of the [Healthy Body+].

Unlike mental abnormalities, there are clear standards for physical abnormalities.

Since being drunk is a condition that qualifies as a “bad” status, he was unable to get drunk at all.

In addition to alcohol, he had also developed a tolerance to drugs.

Drugs here include not only illegal drugs and dangerous drugs but also painkillers and cold medicine.

However, as long as he has a [Healthy body+], he won’t be needing to rely on drugs in the first place; hence it won’t be a problem.

(But then again, champagne is delicious when you drink it.)

Some people may feel that not getting drunk deprives them of half of the enjoyment in life, but it was not the case for Yoichi, as he never felt drunkenness as something to be enjoyed. In fact, he even found this an advantage as he could now enjoy the taste of alcohol without worrying about its side effects.

While sipping champagne with light snacks, Yoichi chatted with the bartender about random things.

“I see, that hotel is ……. Shall I get you a girl or something then?”

“Girl?”

“Isn’t that why you took that hotel?”

“No, it was simply because it was cheap and available.”

As they talked for a while, the bartender and Yoichi seemed to have gotten closer, and their tone of voices became a little more relaxed.

“Is that so? My apologies then. I thought you were the kind of person to be interested in that kind of service.”

(I wonder if that service is a delivery kind of thing…… Speaking of which, the hotel I am staying in allows anyone to go to the guest room’s floors without going through the front desk……is that it?)

Yoichi is correct. The hotel he was currently staying allows one to go to the guest room floor without going through the front desk, which was a pretty bad idea from a security standpoint, but also provided a convenient way to use ‘such’ services.

In fact, there were many guests who used the hotel for this kind of service, and the hotel were also aware of it, but they just tolerate it.

“On the other hand, I think I might be interested.”

For a moment, Karin’s face resurfaced at Yoichi’s mind.

(If I don’t want to get back together with Karin, I really should keep our distance. And if that’s the case, the quickest way to do that is to get in touch with other women.)

As a first step, Yoichi thought that adult entertainment was not a bad option.

And so, Yoichi listened to the bartender’s detailed explanation.

Finding no problems with the system nor the price, he then proceeded to talk about it in earnest.

The bartender then swiped at his tablet PC and asked a few questions, probably to get an idea of the girl’s availability.

“Are you okay with plain-looking girls?”

“Yeah. Totally fine.”

“This one’s a bit timid, though.”

“As long as she does her job well, it’s fine.”

“All right, if it’s what you say so. We’ll go with this girl for now.”

“And, that’s it?”

“That’s it. If you’re into her, that’ll be great, but if you don’t like her, feel free to ask us, and we’ll change it for you.”

“Is that so. Thank you for the tip. I think I’ll drink the rest of the champagne there.”

“Thank you too for the patronage. Have a happy night.”

After Yoichi paid the extra fee, he returned to the hotel.

(I knew I was right that something was odd in this hotel. And thankfully, I made the right choice in sleeping with Karin in her own room.)

If by chance, they did it in Yoichi’s room, the lingering scent would drive him crazy, ending up changing his stay to consecutive nights while also refusing to clean the room with a “Don’t Disturb” sign to avoid any interruptions, not to mention the residue that would soon remain after their embrace.

To keep his head from thinking about Karin, Yoichi turned on the TV and watched, trying to put her out of his mind.

Then, at the appointed time, there came a knocking at his door.

“Coming.”

Yoichi peeked out of the door’s peephole and saw a woman with glasses standing there, giving him the impression that she was more of a neat person rather than plain.

He couldn’t help but make a fist pump on the spot as Karin disappeared from his consciousness.

He was that much of a scumbag.

Translator Notes:

[1]. Uchigatana is basically a ‘poor soldier’s katana. Used commonly by Ashigarus (footmen, lowest infantry in the caste), these are poorly made and are deemed as “disposable” by the samurai. No difference in shape, just quality.

According to the wiki: The “katana” is generally regarded as a higher quality sword made of premium materials and superior craftsmanship. It typically took months for a bladesmith to produce a katana, whereas an “uchigatana” could be constructed in just weeks.

“Uchigatana”

Note that no Uchigatanas exist today due to deterioration as they went past their age, being poorly made and all. But appearance-wise, it bears almost no difference to the katana.

Wakizashi is basically the pistol counterpart of the katana. Easier to draw in close quarters as it is smaller and also serves as a ‘medal’, signifying that the wielder is a samurai, as it represented their social power and honor. This is why they are always on display together with the standard katana if you go around Japanese-themed places.

Also, it’s the sword they commonly use in committing seppuku.

The wakizashi

Wakizashi and Katana size comparison.

Wakizashi and Katana display. They always come in pairs.

Nagadosu is the common name for a long wakizashi without a tsuba (guard) in a white scabbard. This is used in ancient times in Japan as a weapon for the non-samurai class. “Dosu” is the short for odosu, which means to threaten (Naga means long because it’s a ‘longer wakizashi.’ Still shorter than a katana, though).

They are commonly used weapons by the Yakuza in various tropes and films, often pulled out as a concealed weapon. It is the most overused trope weapon, almost equivalent to the use of Thompson submachine guns to represent the mafia in Western films.↰

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