After Reaching the Happy Ending, I Was Locked up by the Extremely Possessive Heroines I Had Conquered - Chapter 43: The Lockdown Room That's Way Too Ahead of Its Time

Chapter 43: The Lockdown Room That’s Way Too Ahead of Its Time

After they fully enjoyed wrecking my dignity, I lay there exhausted, staring out the window.

That said, wooden boards covered it, so I could barely see anything.

Still, the faint light slipping through the gaps was my only comfort. It was the one thing that let me feel the outside world.

“If I weren’t locked up, I’d be off the island by now…”

I muttered to myself.

I had persuaded the three of them, gotten the Shiomine old lady to arrange the ferry, and all that was left was to board the ship.

And yet here I was in a place like this, which meant the plan had fallen apart completely.

But I hadn’t given up entirely yet. Because this building had a manager besides Satori.

“…I’m coming in.”

The iron door creaked open, and a familiar voice rang in my ears.

I didn’t need to turn around to know it was Uncle.

Uncle came over to me with an awkward look, then quietly set down a tray with food on it.

“Uncle.”

“What?”

“Why is there a heart on the omelet rice?”

“Satori’s orders.”

“But you drew it, right, Uncle?”

“…………Yeah.”

An awkward silence filled the quiet room.

When I turned around, Uncle blatantly looked away.

“Want to talk for a bit?”

“I don’t have time. I have to deliver meals to the other residents too.”

“Other residents?”

“……Never mind. Anyway, I’m going.”

Uncle cleared his throat uncomfortably and turned away like he was fleeing.

But I couldn’t let him get away like this. He was the only one who held the key to escaping this room.

“Wait. At least answer one question for me?”

“……Depends on what it is.”

His hand paused on the door for a moment.

“Are the other residents victims of the four-person rule?”

“……Yeah.”

“So this place is basically a holding pen for people who break the rules and try to leave the island, right?”

“That’s one way to see it. It might be that for you guys, but for Satori, it’s just a lockdown room.”

“……Lockdown room.”

What an ominous ring it had.

“Well, formally, it’s a guesthouse owned by the Jindaiji family.”

“No, a guesthouse…”

If they called the people getting locked up guests, it was barely understandable.

If you ignored the hellish perk that once you checked in, you never checked out, then yeah, it might be a guesthouse.

“Isn’t that a bit of a stretch?”

“It originally was.”

“Originally…”

“We renovated an old folk house to provide for tourists. It was part of a local revitalization project. But then…”

Uncle’s face twisted like he’d bitten into a bitter bug.

It wasn’t hard to imagine what happened. The carnivorous girls must have gotten involved.

Someone wanted to lock up a certain somebody for selfish reasons, and they forced a change to the original plan.

Still, renovating an old folk house.

I’d heard about it in a class at the university from my previous life.

It was a method to restore the traditional retro atmosphere while adapting it to modern lifestyles.

It turned the downside of being old into an upside, so it was getting a lot of attention in local revitalization efforts.

But no one could have imagined it would end up used like this.

–A modern renovated lockdown room.

I really wanted an apology from the big three families for creating such a ridiculous space. And while they were at it, they could take responsibility too.

But before that, free me first. Releasing the victims should come before apologies, right?

Huh, am I saying something weird?

“That satisfy you?”

“No way it does, but at least my questions got cleared up.”

“Then I’m…”

Uncle muttered that like he was escaping, then left the room in a flash.

Right after, the iron door slammed shut with a thud. The metallic echo bounced around the silent room.

“……Don’t put a weird door on a folk house.”

It ruined the whole modern vibe. They should have paid more attention to the design.

*

A decent amount of time had passed since lunch…

“It’s cool, but I’m bored.”

I was muttering to myself in the room.

Last time I was locked up, the heat was unbearable, but this time the air conditioning worked great, so it was comfortable.

On the flip side, without the three of them on shift rotations, I had no one to talk to, and it got boring.

Satori seemed busy with big three family work, so she hardly showed up.

She only appeared for a morning greeting and between dinner and bedtime, at most.

It left me feeling both lonely and grateful, a complicated mix.

“……Time to push it, I guess.”

By the way, there was no toilet in this room.

Just a call button near the bed.

“Might as well mash it.”

So when I needed to go, I pressed the button. Then Uncle would come and take me to the toilet. That was the setup.

It was pitiful to think the former head of a big three family was helping with residents’ bathroom breaks, but in terms of dignity wrecking, I had him beat, so it was even all around.

“I told you a million times, one press is enough.”

A few minutes after I hit the button.

The door opened, and Uncle came in. He scratched his head lazily, his face openly reluctant.

“If you were napping, you might not notice, right? This is just insurance. I’m not trying to mess with you or anything.”

“You little punk.”

Uncle let out a huge sigh.

“But yeah, I know I’m doing stuff like this…”

“Huh? You feel guilty about it?”

“Of course I do. I don’t really want to help with this ridiculous crap either.”

“Then–”

“But I can’t go against it. I promised her… Aunt I’d support her fully if she became head. That I’d always be on her side as family. So I can’t go against it.”

Uncle muttered that while gazing off into the distance.

It had this heartwarming story vibe, but what he was doing was just running errands.

Plus, Aunt never imagined Satori would grow up to lock people away like this.

So in the end, it wasn’t some touching tale.

“You’re really weak to women, Uncle.”

“Don’t you dare say that to me.”

After that, he uncuffed my ankles and led me outside the room.

My feet were free now, so I felt like bolting, but my arms were bound in front of me, so even if I ran, I’d get caught right away.

I couldn’t even open a door like this.

“Whew…”

After I finished, Uncle waited for me at the entrance.

I wanted to savor the outside air a bit longer, so I stood still and looked around.

The building looked like a big standalone house at first glance. Rooms lined up along a long hallway: one, two, three, four.

Across from them were the toilet, the bath, and what was probably Uncle’s manager room.

It was a really odd layout. The whole building was too narrow and long.

No matter how much you renovated, you couldn’t change the skeleton, so it was probably built that way from the start.

What a weird place. What did they use it for back then?

As I stood there lost in thought, Uncle hurried me with a “Hurry back.”

“Come on, a little longer’s fine. Lying in bed all day makes my body stiff.”

“You’ve got a point, but…”

“The other residents probably feel the same, right? So hey, why don’t we all play soccer together?”

“No way that’s happening. Besides, the others get released in a week anyway. A little lack of exercise is no big deal.”

“The others? …Huh, what about me? What happens to me? I get out in a week too, right?”

His words bugged me so much that I leaned in and asked full force, but he just lowered his eyes and said nothing.

“……Sorry.”

“You think a sorry fixes it? I’m serious here! They’re seriously wrecking my dignity!”

“Can’t be helped. Any guy who gets involved with the Jindaiji family is doomed to this sooner or later. Hang in there until Satori’s satisfied. That’s all I can say.”

“What if she never gets satisfied? That’s forever! You’d have to help with my bathroom breaks for life, Uncle! You okay with that?”

I said it like a threat, and Uncle pressed his brow and let out a deep sigh.

“……This is the fate of Jindaiji men. Fate.”

Pain filled his face.

Why were us guys so weak? It really was a mystery.