1 – The princess and the former company livestock
Naoto Ono, company livestock until yesterday.
Naoto, who forcibly used paid leaves for the first time in
three years was excited since morning as he made his way to the car dealership
on the 23 wards.
To receive the ordered car.
“This is Mr Ono’s order, Dear Queen 5.”
Guided by the clerk, I arrive at the vast parking lot where
the new minibus is parked.
The blue base for the exterior is stunning, while also giving
off a sense of elegance.
“The features that you requested have also been installed.
Let me explain them in order. First, the latest solar panels with 40%
efficiency are covering the entire roof. The battery is fitted to the limit so
that it can power all the daily use electrical home appliances inside the car
without ever starting the engine.”
The clerk seemed to be explaining something, but it didn’t
reach Naoto’s ears.
He entered the bus that will from now on be his favourite
ride.
Inside the minibus, there were no seats that you would
naturally find, but rather, it was covered with tatami mats that gave off a
brand new smell.
There is a kotatsu on the tatami mat and storage made using
bran on the ceiling.
There is a wooden sink and an IH cooking heater next to it.
In addition there is a shower room with an integrated toilet
and a bath at the rear end of the bus.
It’s like a single person’s living apartment.
In a word, it is a Japanese style 6-tatami size room and the
interior is completely unpredictable from the outside of the car.
“When you open the rear door, it will be an open porch. It
took a long time because it was made just as Mr Ono had requested.”
Naoto sat with back porch door open and let his legs hang
down.
The wind was blowing and it felt good.
It felt good but he thought it lacking a little in taste.
“It’s a porch after all. Alright, let’s buy a wind chime
later and put it on.”
“Sounds good!”
I took the clerk with his business-like smile to the other
side of the minibus this time.
Next to the blue-based body, the five-lettered “Petricia” (パトリシア)
was hung with a big designed logo.
The print of the name of the car he ordered.
He remembered the time he had named his computer back in
college.
While receiving the explanation of the details of the bus
from the clerk, he walked around it.
This semi-custom minibus was exactly what he wanted.
Very satisfied, the car in front of him was just one word.
“Fu fu fu”
“Mr Ono?”
“Fufufufufu, Fuhahahahaha”
Laughter came from the bottom of his heart. And he laughed
happily for the first time in a while.
Ten years of company slave life.
At the end of his day-to-day stress and savings, he finally
got the camper he wanted.
He drove the delivered Patricia and went shopping for this
and that.
He also bought new beddings such as futons.
It’s the same 6-tatami mat room as Patricia but there is a
senbei* futon that has been used for many years in the 50-year old beaten down
apartment, but since he’s starting a new life he replaced it with better ones.
He also bought clothes. Until yesterday, everything was fine
as long as he had a suit, but it was really troublesome now, he didn’t have
many plain clothes so he decided to buy a lot from a mass retailer.
Daily consumable stuff was also bought. Rice was stored in
an underfloor storage room and fresh food was stored in a refrigerator with
decent capacity.
Reminiscent of the time he moved in a new apartment ten
years ago, it felt very similar.
He did that 6-tatami Japanese style room in his camper.
He couldn’t help but enjoy.
The act of parking his “house” in a parking lot. Loading
what he bought and then returning to the store to buy something he forgot kept
him excited.
By the time he prepared everything he needed for living, it
was already evening.
After leaving the home improvement store he first stopped
by, Naoto drove Patricia to the company he worked at.
He parked Patricia in the opposing parking lot. Entering the
building and heading straight to the floor where the company is located.
It’s been a while since the sun had set but most of the
employees still remained in the office. Naoto’s colleagues were surprised
seeing him coming in plain clothes.
Ignoring all of those eyes, he went directly to the director
he reported to.
“Oh Ono-kun, you came at just the right time, the matter
that I left to you----”
The director told Naoto who should’ve been absent about his
work as if it were a matter of course.
“Director, I have something to say.”
“Why, I also have something to say about work, so make it
brief.”
“Yes, this.”
Naoto slammed the white envelope he had prepared in advance
on the director’s desk.
Resignation, that’s what the envelope said.
The eyebrows of the director who read it rose.
“What’s the meaning of this?”
“Thank you for your help until now.”
“Don’t mess around, you think this kind of selfishness is
allowed! Just what do you think of the company?”
“Corporate Slave Manufacturing Plant”
Naoto didn’t hesitate to say these words he had been
thinking to the yelling director.
The director’s face became redder the angrier he got.
Naoto saw a man staring at him worryingly from the side. He was
nicknamed “Phoenix” with pity by other people around him after returning to
work from both of leaves that he took due to depression and overwork.
He weighed 100Kg when he first came in this company, now he
is less than 60Kg.
He didn’t want to be like this.
“Well then”
“Wait, Ono-kun! Ono~!”
The yelling voice of the director and under the eyes of his
confused colleagues, Naoto left the company where he had worked for the past 10
years, as he put it all on his sleeves.
He left the building and towards Patricia who was parked in
the parking lot across the street.
Removing his shoes at the entrance of the ramp, he entered
the Japanese style room.
“What to do from now on…. Should I play some games?”
Naoto decided to do so, and so he attached the latest game
console that he had just bought to his 32-inch LCD TV.
Putting one of the games he bought into the main unit, he
played a game for the first time in almost 10 years.
It was fun, but the game ended too quickly and so he quit
the game and watched TV.
It was a regular news program, but it was still interesting.
Even though it was summer, he still tried to get in the
kotatsu.
It was hot so he turned on the air conditioner as well.
Then, since it was his new house, he spent a lot of time
doing things that didn’t make sense.
“This is the best….”
A laid-back life with no purpose.
The best luxury that you can’t imagine from being a company
slave till yesterday… how to spend your time.
In front of this luxury, even a custom made camper that 15
million yen feels cheap.
On that day, he fell asleep sneaking into the kotatsu.
“I’m sorry, I’m coming to work right now!”
Naoto shouted as he suddenly got up.
As he slowly breathed out, he realized he had a bad dream.
It’s not a big deal, this used to be his reality until
yesterday.
It didn’t matter if it was the middle of night, on holidays,
at home, or at his parents’ house in Hokkaido, it was a daily nightmare that
you could be called in by the company with a simple phone call.
Besides, I was just told.
“Hmm, I’ve already left the company, I’m no longer a company
slave.”
Telling himself, he looked at the cuckoo clock option that
hung on the wall.
It was 11:30 at night, he thought.
Wearing his shoes, he walked out of Patricia.
Looking at the company building across the road that he came
out of a few hours ago.
The lights on the floor where the company was still on, even
though a new day was about to begin.
“It’s about time…”
As soon as Naoto muttered that, several men came out of the
building.
The men in suits were his former colleagues.
Tired and in shabby suits, they sprinted in the same
direction.
“Last train dash, good luck~”
It was a scene he was part of until yesterday, he never
wanted to go back.
He drove through the city at night while humming.
Patricia, which was remodelled based on the latest model of
a famous foreign manufacturer, [Dear Queen 5] is a suitable gasoline car, and
it is made so that it hardly feels the vibration even when it is running between
6 tatami mats.
As for how there is no vibration, even the mandarin oranges
he bought in the supermarket were still kept on the kotatsu without issue.
There is no vibration at all.
Contrary to its huge body, it is a comfortable ride.
The [Dear Queen 5] is designed such that it can even handle
rough terrain to some extent, so it is natural that it will not shake on public
roads.
Naoto, who is driving it, didn’t really have anywhere he
wanted to go. He forcibly turns on the navigation, but it’s just that Naoto was
consciously running in the opposite direction of his home and office.
“By the way, I wonder if this can be put on a ferry, if so,
then I can go to Okinawa, going around japan as it is may also be good.”
He muttered and set the navigator to go west.
The moment he took his eyes off the road, the front window
glowed, and a dazzling and blinding light covered it.
Holding his hand over his eyes, he saw an oncoming truck
meandering unnaturally towards his direction.
The truck is heading straight towards him.
“It’s going to crash--!”
He reflexively stepped on the brakes and steered away.
At that moment, he ran around like a revolving lantern. It’s a lie! He wanted to scream.
Immediately after, a deafening sound is heard and Patricia
grandly spins around on the road.
There was no shock. He spun around but there was no
collision and it seems he didn’t roll over.
He was completely out of breath and his back was soaked.
“Damn it!”
He cursed as he hit the steering wheel, the horn rang
loudly.
He thought it was an accident, he almost got hit by a truck.
Leaving aside the fact he was a company slave, the fact that
he was about to start a new life in a comfortable place, it won’t be funny if
he got hit by a truck and died.
However, there was no collision.
There was no impact and even the airbags didn’t come out.
He was okay, as he was rubbing his chest, he noticed the
completely blank LCD screen of the navigation system from the corner of his
vision.
Neither the touch panel nor the physical buttons respond, it
seems to be out of order.
“Don’t tell me, we actually hit something?”
Naoto hurriedly left the driver’s seat and went around to check.
Fortunately, it doesn’t look like it was hit.
Naoto was relieved.
This 15 million yen camper, Patricia is going to be his
partner from now on.
He would be sorry if he ever hit a truck.
So he was relieved when there were no visible damage, just
then
“Ju-Just kill me!”
He heard a young woman’s voice in the distance.
It was a line he had heard somewhere.
“What?”
What he looked, he saw a princess knight in armour, but she
was restrained under a tree and two pig-like monsters were approaching her
while snickering.
“…Fantasy?”
Was it a dream, or was he actually hit by that truck?
Naoto involuntarily pinches his cheeks.
It hurt.
Thanks for picking this up
ReplyDelete