Peter followed Rina to the attic, where he occasionally went out to smoke a cigarette. The old man, who had been waiting for them to arrive in the attic for a long time, turned his head and looked at the people who came when he heard the sound of the fire escape opening.
After the door opened, Peter saw his elderly neighbor standing in a cool pose, wearing loose clothes, taking the morning sun behind him, while the strings of the sash he tied on his head were blowing with the wind.
"Why did you call me here, old man?"
"What kind of style is that? Uncle Ichiro, calling it is enough."
"Why am I here"
"Oh no, you're boring, we get it. Today, I decided to give up my time and teach you a few things from the martial arts I learned when I was young."
When Peter was about to turn around and go home, the old man got worried and stopped Peter.
"Don't run away now, I'm teaching you something here."
"I'm not running away, I'm just hungry"
"Ohh, so you're not running away. How about this? If you beat me with my rules, I'll leave you alone and give you 3 pieces of the fried cheese dough left over from breakfast."
Peter heard about cheese fries and decided what he wanted for breakfast
"Hahaha, that's it. You missed me, didn't you? When I was a kid, I sent you fried dough with cheese once and a few minutes later, you knocked on my door again and asked if there was anyone else."
"I remember. You opened the door and kicked me, saying find your own food, dirty beggar."
" Holding grudges is not a good thing, young man. Now come and earn your own food. "
Rina found it to watch the duo bickering with each other and took a comfortable position, crossing her legs as if watching a movie.
"Rule 1; no leaving this area. Rule 2; all you have to do is touch me with your hands or feet, if your other limbs touch me you lose. Rule 3; it lasts 15 seconds."
After drawing a small circle for two people to chase each other, Peter looked at the old man who had taken his place and took his own position, about a meter from the old man.
" Rina come and be the referee "
"Tch"
"Don't complain, no one likes girls who complain. If it continues like this, you won't even be able to get married."
Rina ignored her grandfather's words and took her position outside the circle and shouted "go"
*tap*
The old man admitted defeat after briefly glancing at Peter, who was looking at him while touching his forehead with two fingers.
"Huh? Grandpa, did you just accept defeat? It's not like you to act at all."
After scolding his grandson, who made fun of him for being old, the old man came to the fire escape and started to go down with help from his grandson.
"What about fried cheese dough?"
"You go home, Rina will bring it"
"Oh, grandpa. Let him come and get it himself, don't bother me"
"Do 4 full sets of exercises after taking away the food"
"Are you trying to kill me, old man?"
After the little incident, Peter returned home and waited for his food to arrive.
-------
After the old man returned home and entered the bathroom, he looked at his reflection in the mirror and ran his hand over his cheeks.
"I wonder if I've gotten too old. No, it's just laziness. The fact that a retired soldier like me couldn't keep up with the speed of an alcoholic kid is just a big nonsense. I've softened up, just like I wanted. An ordinary life, a sweet grandchild, a comfortable job. What then?" "Why am I so disappointed?"
The old man's eyes were filled with only disappointment as he looked at himself in the mirror.
" 14 years. A whole 14 years have flown by like water. A life away from death, without killing anyone, without getting blood on my hands, without entering the battlefield. "
The old man took a water container, filled it with cold water, poured it over his head, and unlike his usual hunched posture, straightened his back and looked at the hard-eyed man in the mirror.
"Although I will admit that I have softened a little, this alcoholic brat has a better body than I thought. My grandson has also learned to stand on his own feet, more or less. I think it is time for the last mission. Isn't it, Major Ichiro Tojiro?"
The old man suddenly ripped off his clothes with both hands and revealed his body, with barely visible muscles and scars in every corner, in front of the mirror.
" I have dedicated my life to restoring this country. And now it is time to make the sacrifice "
When the old man unlocked the outer door and heard the voice of his grandson entering, he turned on the bathroom fountain and revealed his old facial and body expressions.
----------
Rina entered the door that Peter had left ajar with a plate of fried dough in her hand. When she saw the house with almost every corner shining, she stood where she was for a while. Until Peter came to him, took the plate from his hand and took him out.
"Don't go in with your shoes on. The carpets get dirty."
"Huh?"
Before Rina could react, she was kicked out empty-handed.
"This freak just said he didn't let me into his house because I was dirty."
As Rina entered her house, she started swearing out of anger.
"I even took this guy into my room, even though he was filthy and dirty everywhere. Now he chases me because I'm dirty. They didn't say 'feed the dog' so it can come and bite you. Stupid freak. Ahhhh"
Hearing Rina's loud curses, Uzume turned her head and looked questioningly at Peter, who was watching the television while eating the breakfast in his hand.
"Don't you think you were too cruel?"
"Did I act like that?"
Uzume saw Peter looking at her with pure eyes and for some reason she felt something was wrong.
"Uzumee, when will we travel again?"
Uzume said there is still a waiting period of 5 days, as if to be patient.
"Why is the waiting time so long?"
"There are multiple reasons for this. The first is that the gate you are traveling through needs to be recharged. The second is a restriction imposed by the system based on issues such as how much time you spent in the world you visited, what you did, how long you stayed in the freezer, etc."
"Does the gate we travel through need to be charged?"
"Of course. But you don't need to do anything, it charges on its own within three days at most."
"Hoy uzume. You told me that if I died in a world, I would return directly to my own world, right?"
"Yes. Why did you suddenly ask that?"
"If I die as soon as I pass to the afterlife, doesn't that mean the gate can't bring me back because it's not charged?"
"Hmmm, I'm not sure, but according to my memories, there is a definite statement that you will return here when you die."
"So you're not sure"
"I guess nothing will happen. Right?"
As Uzume thought about this, she began to share Peter's doubts, and as time went on, she began to think that she was the one who had forgotten important information.
"Why are you asking me, aren't you part of the system?"
When Peter saw the undisguised changes in Uzume's facial expression, he guessed why Uzume was showing such an expression.
"Maybe the system has emergency energy or something like that reserved for situations like this."
Since Uzume knew that the system did not have such a feature, she closed her eyes tightly and tried to find the answer herself.
"Don't worry so much. All I have to do is wait 3 days after entering a world and then start doing quests."
"Peter, I'm sorry, it's my fault. I promise I'll find the answer to that question the next time we travel."
"It's not a big deal. It's not worth the effort."
Uzume quickly flew onto Peter's neck and started crying.
"You are very kind, Peter. I am happy to serve you."
Even though Peter didn't make a sound, he made a note in his mental notebook that being nice to Uzume was very troublesome.
--------
After waking up in the morning, Peter turned off the alarm on his newly purchased smartphone and checked the date. Today was the 4th day of Peter's return from the world called oshi no ko and there was only a day and a half left.
As soon as Peter woke up, he heard a loud banging on his door and he slowly got up and opened the door.
"Uncle Ichiro! Don't you think it's too early to disturb people?"
"Of course not, you cheeky brat. Have you forgotten that you owe me something?"
" I remember "
"Good, today is the time to pay that debt"
"Do you want me to work in the market?"
"I'm the one who will give you the task, brat. Invite me in first."
Peter moved his body from the doorway and allowed his neighbor to come in.
After taking a step into the house, the old man raised his head in surprise and checked the surroundings.
"I thought Rina was exaggerating, but apparently she was right. If you want me to teach you some fighting techniques, clean our house sometime too."
Peter rejected the old man's offer, not bothering to hide that he didn't trust the old man with his martial arts skills.
" Ahaha , I'm glad to see that you haven't changed at all . The thing I dislike most about people is that they change all the time . Anyway, let's talk business "
Peter brought the chair he used in the kitchen and sat in front of the old man, who sat in his favorite leather armchair.
"First of all, the job I will give you this time is very different from what you are used to. Don't worry, it is not difficult."
"It doesn't matter, I can do any job"
"Hahaha, that's the spirit. Then listen carefully to what I say..."
---- 10 minutes later
"The man you hired to monitor your grandson cannot enter the place where your grandchild has been spending a lot of time lately because he is over 18, and you are worried about your grandson and you want me to check on your grandchild's safety."
" TRUE "
" I am 21 years old "
"As long as you don't say it, make sure no one notices."
"All I have to do is check if you're safe, right?"
" Yes "
" When "
"Hahaha, here is the expected answer from my favorite young man. Go now, I have already told you the address."
Keeping his promise, Peter did not forget to kick the old man out before leaving the house.
As Uzume looked at Peter coming down the stairs of the house, she started to think to herself whether what she did was right or wrong.
When Peter arrived at the area the old man was talking about, he saw a dilapidated, old and unusable school.
When Peter stepped into the school garden, a young boy who was playing a card game among himself in what used to be a security booth came out and blocked Peter's path. After a short silence, the young man took out the cigarette from his mouth, blew the smoke into Peter's face and started talking.
"I don't know how old you are, but only high school students can enter here. Do you understand?"
While looking at the overweight and bald young man who was 15-20 centimeters taller than him, Peter chose to remain silent because he knew he should not say that he was 21 years old.
"Hoy hoy hoy hoy, you swallowed my tongue. Answer me."
The overweight boy stuck his tongue out and put his hand on Peter's shoulder
" I heard "
"I can guess that you are a high school student, but I'm sorry, I don't like handsome boys like you. So you can't enter, go back home. Hahaha"
When the other 3 kids sitting inside the security booth saw Peter still standing there, they started laughing and talking among themselves.
" Haha, do you see the fool? He's still waiting there "
"Right, if the little captain beats up that fool so we can have fun too."
The boy with blonde-black hair, earrings and quieter than the others suddenly opened his mouth, surprising the others.
"Do you want to make a bet? I think little boss will crush his balls."
"Of course I'm in, I think the little captain doesn't know his place and will break the arm of the brat."
" I vote for the rat. Kekeke "
While these three young people were putting the money in their pockets together on the table, a sudden scream from outside the hut turned their heads at the same time and they saw their little boss rolling on the ground in tears, holding his arm folded in half.