"Honestly, young master… even if it's to dodge reporters, choosing a place like this for hospitalization is way too remote."
Old walls. Dark stains from neglect. A dampness from sunlight blocked by newly built structures nearby.
Tama limped to the bedside—if you looked closely, her gait was still a bit awkward—and ran a finger along the windowsill like a critical mother-in-law inspecting her son's house.
"So dirty…"
Her fingertip came away coated in dust.
Her leg injury didn't look healed. The stiffness also felt… deliberate.
But Yuuki knew that if he apologized, she'd get smug and push harder, so he sidestepped the topic.
"Seems like you really don't like it here."
"Mm. I don't."
The bluntness was almost uncharacteristic, and it made Yuuki curious.
"What if I buy the building and renovate it?"
"…Still don't like it. I don't even like the name."
"Then how about renaming it 'Asagami Tower'?"
"The sound is awful. Don't like it."
"Hey… don't forget you work for a family with that awful sound. If the head hears you, he'll dock your pay."
"I'm kidding," Tama said, then tilted her head. "But Mifune City already has a building named after the Asagami family. So would this be Number Two?"
"I was kidding too. This building will probably be completely abandoned in three or four years. It has no value. I chose it for another reason."
"Oh? Young master's finally getting to the main point? Do you have a charming older lady you know working here? Or—"
"Stop. Don't guess."
Tama smiled, showing her signature small fang, adding to her mischief.
When Yuuki first met Tama, she looked like an eighteen- or nineteen-year-old girl. Even now, even if you estimated conservatively, she should have been in her early thirties—yet she still looked like she hadn't reached twenty.
Truly hard to read.
In truth, Yuuki had come here for a purpose. He hadn't read the original novel or played the game—he only knew what the anime had shown. That meant he lacked information that existed only in novels or setting books, and he needed to investigate it personally.
For example, he'd already looked into the history of this place—Wajou Tower.
The Wajou family had once run a hospital. But during a family trip, a traffic accident nearly wiped them out, leaving only their young daughter alive.
After that, the family finances collapsed. Not long after, the only surviving daughter was diagnosed with cancer and became chronically bedridden.
Under crushing medical costs and pressure from competitors who kicked them while they were down, the main hospital facilities were sold off. Only Wajou Tower remained—mortgaged out and used as a hospital annex.
And because it was an old building, with no money put into maintenance, it had become what it was now.
Which also meant: the cost of staying here was cheap.
"It's cheap," Yuuki said. "And there's likely going to be a pretty big expense coming up, so I'm saving ahead of time."
"Even you are talking about saving money… what are you building next, young master? A pyramid?"
"Even to an amateur, investing in that would be stupid. And a pyramid is basically a tomb. Isn't it a bit early to build my own grave at my age?"
"If you keep treating your body like this, it might not be."
"…."
"So what are you investing in?"
"If I have to put it simply… a person."
Tama's expression sharpened. "Young master, human trafficking is illegal. If you've fallen for someone's older sister, pursue her properly. As for your little sister, Miss Tama will—"
"Don't help. Please."
Yuuki felt the powerful painkillers he'd taken earlier finally kicking in. He slowly sat up, preparing to stand—and that startled Tama into rushing over to support him.
"Young master… what are you doing?"
"That's one reason I asked you to come."
For the past week, every night after his strong painkillers took effect, Yuuki had been wandering this hospital.
His goal was to find someone critical—someone absent from public资料 and even unknown to the front desk—a key figure hidden here: Wajou Kirie, and her room.
The drug was strong and could only be taken once a day. During the effective window, he had to conserve time.
This hospital had few staff. If he mistimed it and the effect wore off, getting back would become difficult.
With Tama supporting him, Yuuki felt far safer. Of course, he couldn't tell her he'd been doing something this dangerous every night, so he only offered a partial explanation.
"Today, there's somewhere I have to go no matter what. And it's related to you, too—that's why I called you."
"…All right," Tama said, serious for once. "I respect your decision. Where are we going?"
"Don't worry. Not far."
Yuuki opened the bedside drawer and took out one of the two blades he'd brought earlier—a short sword of pure gold—and held it in his hand. Then he pointed upward.
"In this building. The person I said I wanted to invest in."
…
Wajou Tower was a twenty-five-story building. Yuuki was staying on the third floor, and he'd been surveying the surrounding floors nightly, gathering information.
Normally, buildings like this reserved a middle level as a mechanical floor. In Wajou Tower's case, it was the thirteenth floor.
A mechanical floor was a high-rise design feature: typically uninhabited, used to place equipment—HVAC, water and drainage systems, electrical systems, the elevator machine room, and so on.
But three days ago—on Yuuki's fourth day in the hospital—he'd found a repaired corridor hidden in a corner of the thirteenth floor, and at its end, a nameless hospital room.
Yes. Wajou Kirie lived here.
As usual, Yuuki opened the door gently. Even so, the critically ill Kirie still startled, her body reflexively trembling—until she identified the golden color in Yuuki's hand and calmed again.
"You came to see me again, Yuuki."
Kirie's breathing was faint, barely lifting her chest. She turned her face toward the door and spoke softly.
Because of her illness, her vision had almost completely failed. Her empty eyes could now only distinguish a small range of warm colors—and gold was one of the few.
She knew that in half a year, even that trace of gold would vanish, and she would fall into complete darkness.
-------
My : pat*eon*com/RuneA
I, Herta's Fiancé, the Universe's Number One Male Fist (114 Chapter (Simulpub-Full) )
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Succubus in Sixth Street (400 Chapter)
Reborn in Type-Moon, My Sister is Aoko Aozaki (254 Chapter)
MyGO!! A Story Voiced by Me (140 Chapter)
BLEACH: Blade of Purification (158 Chapter)
Konoha: Starting the Game as Yoriichi (400 Chapter)
My Real Job is Spying on Konoha, but I'm Also its Hokage (140 Chapter)
The Pinnacle of the Navy! Starting from Being Captured by Garp (172 Chapter)
Watching Yu-Gi-Oh! short videos is making the veteran players lose...(80 Chapter)
Uma Musume : The Trainer Who Just Wants to Live (200 Chapter)
Zenless Zone Zero The Random Kamen Rider (200 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: It All Began With Me Being Stepped On by Arlecchino (120 Chapter)
Naruto: I Can Synthesize Summoning Beasts (96 Chapter)
Demon Slayer: The Great Swordsman's System, Disciple of Yoriichi (140 Chapter)
My Wife is a General, but I'm an Emanator of Abundance! (160 Chapter)
Type-Moon: My Nine-Fold Path (140 Chapter)
Uma Musume: They're Peeking at My Diary, and All of Tracen is Panickin (Ending)
The Wild History of Type-Moon world (70 Chapter)
Reborn in Conan, But I Refuse to Be the Bad Guy (80 Chapter)
Ruan Mei is begging me to go back? But there's no going back anymore (140 Chapter)
Just a Slacker at Tracen Academy (165 Chapter)
Survival in Blue Archive (70 Chapter)
Kimetsu no Yaiba: Doma Wasn't Hated Today, Either (100 Chapter)
The Vibe of This Chat Group is a Little Off (100 Chapter)
Heartbreak Simulator: I Broke Them and Made Them Cry (80 Chapter)
The Talentless Trainer Doesn't Want to Restart (80 Chapter)
A Journey Starting as a Quincy (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: The Master of Romance Obstruction (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: You Can't Be a Hero Without a Little Chemical Enhancement (40 Chapter)
Honkai Impact 3rd Your Boyfriend is Really Amazing (40 Chapter)
Warhammer 40K: My Fiancée, Fulgrim (180 Chapter)
Classroom of the Elite: Trying to Capture Me! (120 Chapter)
Genshin Impact My Named Senji Muramas (150 Chapter)
A Chef, the Vice-Captain of the Rocks Pirates? (160 Chapter)
Naruto : My Uchiha Girlfriend is Too Tsundere (130 Chapter)
Type-Moon: Reincarnated in a Lostbelt, I Became the Alien God (90 Chapter)
The Way These Horse Girls Look at Me Is Terrifying! (160 Chapter)
Naruto: Tsunade's Deskmate (130 Chapter)
I Just Want to Live a Normal (50 Chapter).
Genshin Impact: A Hundred Confessions? It's Just a System Task (70 Chapter)
OnePiece : Starting as a Veteran of the Roger Pirates (60 Chapter)
Uma Musume : I Have Special Horse Taming Techniques (190 Chapter)
Uma Musume : My other self is a Horse Girl (130 Chapter)
Jujutsu Kaisen : All Affection Stats Maxed Out (200 Chapter)
Satou Kazuma's Decision to Live by Swindling, Starting from Re:Zero (60 Chapter)
Bleach : Ichigo! Take Over the Soul Society (89 Chapter)
Crossover Anime: The Master of Plagiarism with a 'Love Obstacle (140 Chapter)
Arknights Succubus Nurturing System, But I'm a Quiet Office Worker (90 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: Using My Personas to Break the Hearts of Players (50 Chapter)
One Punch Man : i am King? (150 Chapter)
Genshin: My Stats Are Irresistible (70 Chapter)
Naruto: Master of Dream Fulfillment! (70 Chapter)
Why Are All My Chat Group Friends Spin-Off Characters? (120 Chapter)
Arknights : Batman System (30 Chapter)
Chat Group: Swapping Bodies with the Bad-Ending Herta from the Start (62 Chapter)
DanMachi: Why Did My Dungeon Turn Into a Soulslike Game? (90 Chapter)
Losing Money on Uma Musume...What Do You Mean You Actually Won? (86 Chapter)
I'm Gotou Hitori—Who Are You? (40 Chapter)
Were You Ever Even a Uma Musume? Stop Making Things Up! (70 Chapter)
Moon Project: A Full-Time Love Adventure for the Lobotomy Corporation (75 Chapter)
The Leisurely Days of the Hyuga Main House (65 Chapter)
Arknights : A Draco Surviving in a Matriarchal Terra (72 Chapter)
Arknights: What if My Luck Is Too Good? (91 Chapter)
Honkai: The Romance System Only Shows Up After I Marry Mei (50 Chapter)
Arknights: Who Are You Calling Repressed, X?! (53 Chapter)
If there's a particular novel you're enjoying on Patron, please give it a 'like' so I know to focus on it