After Reaching the Happy Ending, I Was Locked up by the Extremely Possessive Heroines I Had Conquered - Chapter 37.1: Found by the Person I Absolutely Shouldn't Be Found By

Chapter 37.1: Found by the Person I Absolutely Shouldn’t Be Found By

The next day.

I had come to the meeting hall, where I wandered around in front of the building that was still empty of anyone.

The reason was that Satori was extremely likely to declare a lockdown at today’s gathering. I wanted to stop her somehow before that happened.

Even as I thought that, I couldn’t come up with any strategy, so I had ended up rushing out of the house early in the morning and coming all the way to the venue.

“No one’s here again, huh.”

It was nine in the morning. The gathering was set to start around ten, so I had arrived about an hour early.

The reason I came early was simple. I just wanted to talk to any participant in the gathering, whoever it might be.

What did they think of Satori?

I wanted to hear the opinions of the other participants about the four-person system and the lockdown that she would likely announce soon.

And if there turned out to be a lot of opposition, maybe I could team up with them to get her proposal rejected.

With such faint hopes in mind, I was wandering around the meeting hall.

The problem, however, was the number of surveillance cameras in the area.

Countless cameras installed at the entrance to the meeting hall, under the eaves, and at the corners of the grounds were precisely capturing my figure.

If Satori was checking all the cameras, my actions would be discovered right away.

So I searched for blind spots in the surveillance cameras, slipped quietly into the shadow of the building, and observed the surroundings.

Then, suddenly, a low voice rang out from behind me.

“Who’s there?”

When I turned around, there stood the Shiomine old lady.

Her white hair was neatly tied up, she wore a deep blue kimono, and she glared at me with sharp eyes, making my heart jump with a thud.

“Whoa!?”

“What, you’re Satori’s husband, aren’t you?”

“I’m not her husband, though.”

Of all people, the Shiomine old lady had spotted me. It might be okay if it were some other influential figure, but the Shiomine family was definitely bad news.

There was no way she would side with me, and in the worst case, she would chase me away immediately.

As I braced myself with that in mind,

“What were you doing there?”

A gaze as fierce as a demon’s flew at me.

“Well, um… I was just out for a walk.”

“I don’t like liars.”

“Uh—!?”

Her sheer intensity made the cold sweat pour nonstop.

As expected of the Shiomine old lady. It seemed excuses wouldn’t work on her.

“I’m worried about Satori, so I just ended up coming here.”

As I said it with a wry smile, the old lady replied coldly without changing her expression.

“Outsiders shouldn’t get close!”

With those words, my faint hope of somehow being allowed to join the gathering crumbled away.

But I couldn’t just back down without gaining anything.

“The Shiomine old lady…”

“Old lady?”

“The Shiomine lady’s sister…”

“Are you mocking me?”

She glared at me fiercely, and I nearly faltered but pressed on with my words.

“What does the Shiomine old lady think about the four-person system?”

That was something I really wanted to ask.

Satori might hold the most power among the three great families, but that was purely nominal.

From actually participating, I had learned that at the gatherings, everyone watched the Shiomine old lady’s face and followed her opinions.

In reality, she was the top authority on this island. That was exactly why I wanted to know what she thought.

I had asked with that in mind, but…

“It’s nostalgic, isn’t it. Just like a little bird, it really brings back memories.”

It sounded like an answer but wasn’t one at all.

Nostalgic? Could it be that something similar had happened back when Satori’s aunt was the head?

“She’s just like that little bird when she goes off the rails. It reminds me of the old days.”

“Was Satori’s aunt that wild?”

“That one was truly crazy. For the sake of her goals, she boldly stood up even to me. I don’t know how many arguments we had, but it was entertaining!”

The Shiomine old lady evaluated her with a hearty laugh.

Standing up to this old lady? Was she sane?

Well, though, Satori had been saying unpredictable things lately. I couldn’t rule out the possibility that she would pick a fight just like her aunt.

“Haha, I’d love to see you two arguing sometime.”

As I subtly signaled that I wanted to join the gathering, the old lady’s smiling face suddenly turned stern.

“Entertaining, right!”

“Yeah.”

“But you’re an outsider. If you’re so interested, just hurry up and get married!”

“Well, that’s a bit…”

Marriage was way too extreme.

But she clearly didn’t like my response at all,

“Then you have no right to participate!”

“…”

“Go home!”

The dry sound of her staff tapping the ground echoed sharply, and the Shiomine old lady turned and headed toward the meeting hall without a backward glance.

“Getting married just to join the gathering? Nah…”

I could only watch her retreating figure.

*

After the Shiomine old lady told me to go home, I couldn’t stay there, so I reluctantly decided to head back to the house.

On the way back.

Hoping to run into some influential members of the three great families, I walked slowly, when

“Oh no…”

I spotted a girl with silver hair coming straight toward me from the front. It was Satori.