After Reaching the Happy Ending, I Was Locked up by the Extremely Possessive Heroines I Had Conquered - Chapter 34-35

Chapter 34: It Seems This Island Is About to Go Into Seclusion

The Four-Person Group System had been based on the five-person group from the Edo period.

If that was the case, I should probably brush up on other Edo-period laws just to be safe.

For example, the alternate attendance system or the seclusion edict.

The former was one thing, but the latter seemed exactly like something Satori would do—or rather, given its strong possessive element, I needed to stay maximally alert.

I had no idea what policies might come flying out next.

That was why I was visiting the library now.

It should have been crowded under normal circumstances, but lately many islanders had been avoiding going out, so there were hardly any users.

Well, that suited me just fine.

In the quiet space with no one around, I could occupy the table to my heart’s content.

With that in mind, I pulled a book titled “Laws of the Edo Period Even a Snake Can Understand!” from the shelves and promptly began reading it at the table.

I flipped through the pages and opened to the section on seclusion, then carefully read through the contents.

“……………”

I see. A ban on Japanese people traveling abroad.

…This could happen. Satori might just prohibit islanders from traveling off the island.

And then… they had restricted trade as well, it seemed. The only exception was the Dutch and Chinese trading at Dejima in Nagasaki.

…This could happen too. The Shiomine old lady might just monopolize all trade with the outside through the Shiomine family.

Continuing such insular practices would only lead to the decline of the island’s culture and economy, but those guys were not the type to listen to reason.

There was no point in talking economics to people who ranted about curses from the Snake God.

” ‘Sigh…’ ”

I let out an involuntary sigh, and apparently someone behind me had sighed at the same time, so our voices overlapped perfectly.

Startled by that fact, I turned around.

The other person turned around in the same way, and our eyes met suddenly.

“Uncle?!”

“…What, it’s you.”

The one who had sighed simultaneously turned out to be Uncle.

Why was the former head of the three great families in a place like this?

“What are you doing there?”

“Satori asked me to bring over a few books.”

Huh, so he was running errands.

What had happened to the status of the former head of the three great families?

“I get a sense of your position now, Uncle.”

“You’re making fun of me, aren’t you?”

“So, why books on the Edo period?”

I directed my gaze to what Uncle held— a stack of books. Every one of them related to Edo-period history.

“Don’t ask me. I can’t imagine what that one is thinking.”

Uncle murmured that while gazing out the window, and a sense of melancholy drifted from his back.

He had probably been tossed around by women plenty of times throughout his life. I could sense a certain dignity in it.

“That aside, why did you approve the Four-Person Group System? The island is in a real mess now.”

I had no intention of stopping my questioning there. Uncle was just about the only one I could casually ask.

In response to my question, Uncle let out another deep sigh and said,

“I didn’t really want to approve it either. But I can’t overrule the head’s judgment.”

“What about the other three great families?”

“They weren’t enthusiastic, but no one could speak up against Satori’s opinion.”

“The Shiomine old lady too?”

“That old lady laughed as if she found it amusing. Honestly, who knows what she’s thinking.”

Uncle let out a big sigh.

In the quiet library interior, only our sighs echoed. The air felt stagnant and awful.

“…This is tough.”

“You’re not an outsider in this. As her husband, stop Satori’s rampage.”

“Do you think I can stop her? If I could, I wouldn’t have been confined.”

“Sorry. …I went too far.”

The way he apologized immediately suggested Uncle was a herbivore type. …So was I, though.

“But any more rampaging will affect the prestige of the three great families. In the worst case, you’ll have to handle it.”

“Well, I intend to take responsibility.”

“A man’s word is his bond, right?”

“Yes. At least trust me on that.”

I knew full well that I was no longer in a position to shift blame. It was already too late in various ways.

“…Then fine. I’ll be off now.”

“See ya.”

Uncle had his own troubles too.

He had finally retired as head of the three great families, only to end up running errands for Satori.

That said, Satori wanted books on the Edo period.

“……………………”

I had a fiercely bad premonition.

Specifically, it felt like my prediction was going to hit perfectly.

Seclusion? Was she really going to impose seclusion?

Well, whether she did or not, it was sad that it would not affect me much, since I was already in self-imposed seclusion.

By the way, I wondered if a Dutch ship might come.

It might be worth studying Dutch just in case. While I was at it, I should borrow some books too.

In the end, I left the library with books on Edo-period history and Dutch.

—

Chapter 35: The Mystery of the Surveillance Cameras is Solved

“Huh? Where’s Satori?”

In the evening, when I returned home, Toa Watarase was yawning boredly on the living room sofa.

When I asked her about Satori’s whereabouts,

“She has so much work as the head that she is staying over there tonight, apparently. She came by earlier to pick up some clothes, so we just missed each other.”

“I see.”

“Were you looking for her about something?”

“I wanted to talk about some laws.”

“Since when were you the type to say such smart-sounding things, Senpai?”

It was rude of her to picture a question mark over my head, but wasn’t her opinion of me a bit too low?

She clearly thought I was a complete idiot.

“Well, I’m worried about Satori being on her own with everything. I figured I’d support her, mainly on the legal side.”

On the legal side.

“Supporting her is fine, but I have a feeling nothing good comes when you get involved. Shouldn’t you leave that to Satori-san’s uncle?”

That sounded reasonable at first glance…,

“Uncle won’t do. He’s a yes-man down to his bones.”

“Wasn’t he a bit scarier?”

“He used to be. Now he’s completely broken.”

His dignity.

“For now, I’m heading over to Satori’s.”

“Do you want dinner?”

“Ah, yeah, please. I plan to be back by then.”

“Got it. Just make sure you don’t come back in the morning, okay?”

She emphasized it with a sharp gaze, and all I could do was nod.

※

“Excuse meee.”

“You again.”

I left home and headed to the Jindaiji family’s annex, where Uncle greeted me once more.

He took one look at my face and adopted an openly displeased attitude.

“What do you want?”

“I came to see you, Uncle.”

“Go home.”

“I came to see Satori.”

When I rephrased it, Uncle made a face like he had bitten into a bitter bug and,

“…Tch, come in.”

He let me in reluctantly.

For all his reluctance, this was my first time stepping into the annex.

Inside, it had the atmosphere of a typical wooden house. The construction evoked a sense of nostalgia, with the floorboards’ wood grain adding depth and a faint woody scent lingering in the air.

“Satori’s room is at the end of the hallway.”

Uncle said that much and then retreated toward the kitchen as if fleeing.

“…The kitchen?”

He must have been making dinner.

Not that there was anything wrong with that. In fact, it was admirable.

Still, the gap from his usual self was just too big. Imagining him in an apron nearly brought a smile to my face.

“Well, but he raised Satori all on his own.”

Satori’s parents had died when she was young.

A few years later, Aunt had passed away too, and since then, he had lived with Satori as a pair. His cooking skills were surely top-notch.

With those thoughts in mind, I walked down the long hallway and arrived in front of Satori’s room.

I knocked lightly, and footsteps pattered from beyond the door. The door opened, and Satori peeked out.

“Akira?”

“I came over.”

Satori tilted her head at the sudden visit.

I made a bold statement to ease her wariness, but it backfired, and she gave me a suspicious look.

“What? Did you come for a night visit?”

“It’s still evening.”

“Then why did you come?”

“I wanted to talk about some laws.”

My utterly suspicious statement made her gaze even sharper.

“Are you aiming to be a lawyer or something? There are no courts on the island.”

“The three great families handle judgments.”

“Yeah.”

I might need to teach the people of the three great families about separation of powers at some point.

“Come in for now.”

“Thanks.”

Satori ushered me into the room, suspicion lingering.

The room was a space that strongly reflected her personality.

“…………………………..”

Monitors, monitors, monitors, monitors, monitors.

The walls were entirely covered with them.

Smartphones, TVs, and computers were barely widespread on the island, yet an excess of monitors occupied most of the room.

Wasn’t this a bit too much personality on display?

And what was truly frightening was that most of the feeds showed my house.

Some showed the ferry terminal too, but nine out of ten were of my home’s grounds.

“Hey, Satori.”

I made a suggestion to her as she sat casually on the bed.

“How about we start with studying portrait rights?”

“What’s that?”

“So that’s the cause, huh.”

The island was so insular that Reiwa-era values had not permeated yet.

That explained the rampant rights violations. It made sense.

If they were infringing unknowingly rather than on purpose, there might still be hope for reform. With proper education, they would surely improve.

…Surely, right?

Well, either way, once dignity was destroyed, it did not come back. It was the same as a boiled egg.

Just as a once-boiled egg could not revert to raw, once-destroyed dignity could not return to its original state.

That was the law of this world.

“So, first, a rough explanation of portrait rights…”

“Not interested.”