Tensei Shite Inaka de Slowlife wo Okuritai

Kojirou　The Morning After I Quit

(Kojirou's POV)

My consciousness is being pulled up by the light that shines from somewhere. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com

Calmly opening my eyes, it looked like the light was shining from the gap of the shouji.

And I look at the angle where the light hits the shoji, and realize that the sun had already risen completely.

(shoji / paper sliding door)

I knew that I was already very late than my usual wake-up time.

My absent-minded consciousness became clear in an instant and I was hit by a feeling of impatience.

「Not good! I have to go to the castle quickly, my subordinates.......!」

I forcefully got up after thinking to that point and was about to reach out for the katana the Shogun bestowed to me, and realized that it was nowhere to be found inside my room.

Along with that, I recall the memory from yesterday.

「Ah, that’s right. I already resigned as a swordsman......」

I still can’t believe I had already resigned from being a swordsman, but the nonexistent katana I always brought with me seems like it tells me that I had already resigned from being a swordsman.

I don’t have to go to the castle so early in the morning anymore. I don’t have practice, taking care of annoying subordinates, doing complicated paperwork, or dealing with a superior I don’t like anymore.

My heart became very clear when I thought about it. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com

「I thought I’d try to sleep again to my heart’s content today, but it would be a waste to fall asleep with such a refreshed feeling. Should I do my best to make unadon immediately, then?」

I couldn’t do anything yesterday since I was busy explaining everything to my subordinates and going around greeting the people who have helped me.

From today onward, I’m going to make unadon.

Now that it has been decided, it’s time to do it immediately

Taking off my sleepwear, I take out my clothes from the tansu.

(tansu / Japanese drawer/chest/cabinet)

But, there are only Kagura clothes with the Shogun family’s crest on them. The current me is not qualified to wear these clothes. Or rather, even wearing them for ordinary clothes is a no for me since it makes me feel like I’m going to work when wearing them.

It will be no problem with clothes with Inaba crest on them, but my relatives will going to be noisy about it.

After being troubled for a while, I decided to wear Kagura clothes for going out that have no crest on them.

I leave my room after finishing changing my clothes, then I put on a geta and head to the garden.

Being the prestigious family we are, the Inaba family’s mansion has a high-class feel to it and the garden is also very beautiful.

Brightly colored carp are swimming elegantly around.

A rock is placed as if to surround it, and hanging lanterns and a square gazebo are also built in the garden.

It looked three-dimensional no matter which side you looked at it from, and overall, the balance was extremely beautiful.

「……so pretty」

I’ve been living for more than twenty years and it’s surprising for me to suddenly think about that.

Even I can’t help but laugh at how funny it is.

Looking at the garden’s landscape once more, I head for the well in the courtyard.

Throwing the bucket into the well, I can hear the sound of it hitting and sinking into the water and then I use the rope to pull it up. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com

Even though magic tools are now being used in ryokan and other places, our house dislikes using magic tools and not allowing people to use them. Rather than acting with those old, boring ideas, I think it would be better to use convenient things in our daily lives.

I don’t deny that tools that make people’s lives easier are bad, but we could just use the time it saves by using those tools to throw ourselves into our training.

In short, it is a matter of an individual’s mentality and should not be forced on everyone.

I pull up the bucket while thinking about those kinds of things and then I wash my face with the water.

I feel refreshed after washing my face with the cold water and the slight drowsiness and even my dissatisfaction toward my family was blown away.

When I raised my wet bangs, a towel was suddenly held out for me.

The person who came into my sight in front of me was my younger sister, Kaede.

Since I quit my job I really didn’t want to meet Kaede since she’s going to object to it.

As I unconsciously stiffened at her presence, Kaede curiously looked up at me.

「What is it, brother?」

「T, thank you, Kaede」

I wipe my face with the towel I got from my sister, Kaede.

I thought that Kaede would criticize me for my decision to resign, but there’s not the slightest bit of that kind of atmosphere she’s going to do that.

Or rather, was there something good happening to her?

Kaede usually has this grim expression on her face, but it’s very gentle today.

Yesterday, my mother was strangely kind, and she even pushed for my resignation.

Both my mother and now Kaede, so they are sincerely supporting me in completing the unadon?

Normally, the two of them were always so strict with me so now I’m feeling embarrassed receiving their kind support like this.

「You are very late today. Looking at you, are you off duty today?」

「Off duty? Hahaha, if you say I’m off duty, then I am off duty. Just that, unlike the usual off-duty, I will take a rest forever!」

「Yes? What do you mean by ‘take a rest forever’?」

When I was joking along with Kaede, she somehow asked me as though cross-examining me.

「Hm? That means that no matter how you see it, I’ve already resigned from my job as a swordsman. So this means I’m resting forever, yes?」

「Haa? Eh?」

Kaede was surprised as if she had just heard about it for the first time, then her gaze turned toward my waist.

If the Shogun has bestowed a katana on you, then it is natural you will wear it on your person at all times. However, I don’t have that katana on my waist.

「……b, brother, where is the katana bestowed by Gouki-sama?」

「 I returned it to Gouki-sama yesterday, y’know」

「Haa!? Brother, even as a joke, there are good and bad things to joke around!」

When I clearly told her that fact, Kaede said that to me with a serious expression. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com

Eeh? Maybe, she still does not know that I resigned from my job as a swordsman?

「What are all these noises you all are making so early in the morning?」

Suddenly, our mother’s voice of rebuke can be heard coming from the mansion’s corridor.

「I’m sorry, I was about to scold brother for lying and saying that he relinquishes the katana from Shogun-sama and quitting his job――」

「That was not a lie」

「Eh?」

Hearing our mother’s quiet remark, Kaede lets out a stupid-sounding voice.

Aah, it looks like Kaede did not know about it. No wonder she did not complain about it yesterday or last night.

「It’s a lie, right? Mother should not have allowed such a......」

「No, I allowed it」

「…………」

Once again, Kaede was speechless hearing Mother’s calm comment.

Our mother does not have the personality to lie about that kind of matter. And Kaede - who fully knows of that fact - finally seems to accept it.

「Why did you do that brother!?」

「Because I wanted to open up a new path for myself so I resigned from being a swordsman」

「A new path!? A life of only shutting yourself inside the house, eating, and sleeping!?」

「I have already said it before, but you’re completely wrong Kaede」

I certainly remember saying that kind of thing in the past but to think that she still remembers that remark I made.

Both mother and Kaede, as a woman, seem to remember things of the past.

「Now, I have found something I want to do more than that」

「Then, what is this ‘new path’ you are aiming for to make you resign from your job?」

Facing Kaede’s serious gaze, I say it straight out without averting my eyes.

「It is to make a delicious unadon. And then, I will open a restaurant to spread it」

「Unadon? ‘Open a restaurant’, you mean you are going to be a chef?」

「I’m only aiming to cook eel but it’s not wrong to call it a chef」

Even if it’s just making eel dishes, that will still make me a skilled chef.

Even so, it sounds surprisingly cool when you say it like that. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com

While I was still immersed in this faint feeling of satisfaction, Kaede let out a sigh in amazement.

「It is impossible for brother - who has not the slightest initiative - and when your only redeeming feature is your swordsmanship」

Kuuh, as expected from my own little sister. She pokes where it hurts. Or rather, her words are merciless.

「It’s true that I was a man who is easily swayed but the current me is different! But that changed when I met my irreplaceable friends. I’m going to make unadon and spread it. I will do what I want to do!」

Kaede made a surprised face when I strongly retorted to her without losing to her, but then her expression immediately turned grim.

「To begin with, what can brother - someone who can not cook even a simple dish - do? In the first place, the ingredient you are going to use is eel, right? Even if you cook and serve such unrefined and unsavory ingredients, no customers will come. It’s impossible」

As expected, even I, with my big heart still made angry by Kaede’s remark.

「How can you say something like that despite you never ate unadon before!」

「Eating those eels will not taste good in any way! I don’t have to eat it to understand that much!」

Even after I said that, Kaede still disregarded it outright.

Ei, when did this sister of mine stop being a cute little sister?

She always followed me in the past, saying that she would marry her big brother in the future and whatnot.

「――the two of you please calm down」

As Kaede and I were glaring at each other, our mother told us in a quiet voice.

She doesn’t sound particularly angry, but just hearing our mother’s voice alone makes me straighten my back.

「Kaede, if you have any complaints then why don’t you try Kojirou’s unadon first before continuing? At least, the eel dish Kojirou makes is different from any you have had, you know?」

「Even mother says something like that……」

That will happen if you eat unadon. Unadon is that delicious.

「Kojioru. Please prepare unadon for us」

「Understood」

Hm? Just now, she said ‘for us’ so calmly, right? That means mother will also eat it? www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com

While I was having my doubts, my mother walked away as if she had just finished with her business.