Uncle Hikigaya is Forever Young [3]

Rousseau really did say: "Man is born free, yet everywhere he is in chains."

These chains naturally included the shackles of money.

As a middle-aged member of society, "Hikigaya Ryōhei" had already deeply experienced this truth.

Money isn't everything, but without money, nothing is possible! This was especially true in capitalist societies, which measured everything by money. The new Hikigaya Ryōhei had already steeled himself—no matter what, he would survive and live well.

The first step was to clearly figure out how much money was left at home.

"Ah, I'm not really sure. But Papa’s wallet is in the drawer—I’ll go get it." Seeing her "father" showing increasingly genuine smiles, Komachi vaguely felt that Papa seemed a bit different now, yet because of the instinctive trust a child held toward her father, she also felt oddly reassured. She happily jumped to her feet and rummaged through a smaller cardboard box nearby.

Speaking of which, the messy room had already been tidied somewhat in the past two days by the older boy named Hikigaya Hachiman. It wasn't as chaotic as when Ryōhei had first opened his eyes.

Thinking about it again, Hikigaya Ryōhei had this weird sense that he'd heard the surname "Hikigaya" somewhere before… Yet, the more he thought, the more elusive it became. In his previous life, he'd only casually learned a bit of Japanese and never even traveled abroad.

The cheerful, adorable little girl quickly placed a green wallet and another card holder into her father's hands, then knelt beside the bed, resting her delicate chin on both hands, her lotus-like legs swinging gently as she smiled brightly at her Papa.

For a child like Komachi, even though she understood that the series of family misfortunes had completely overturned their lives, she still felt that as long as she was together with family—or rather, with Papa and Onii-chan—besides living in a much smaller home, nothing had really changed too drastically.

As for "Hikigaya Ryōhei," he had already resolved to continue living under this new identity. After all, there really wasn’t another option. Deep down, he had no real complaints. His previous life had been a stagnant pool anyway, so perhaps restarting might actually lead to a completely different future.

Over the past two days, he'd gone online to check news and gradually realized just how different this world was. It seemed that this timeline diverged around the year 1900; without the explosive eruptions of the two World Wars, even the numerous crowns from East to West still sat firmly on their heads.

Thus, everything since the 20th century had become unfamiliar. All the Eurasian empires and kingdoms still existed—including the one he was currently in. Ryōhei even saw some bizarre news in an old newspaper tossed in the corner: all those empires hadn't collapsed yet?!

The front page also carried news about a female soldier named Munetani Mashiro becoming the headmistress of a maritime security school exclusively for girls… Apparently, due to low birth rates and an aging population, many young women were now joining the military.

Oh, right—the most astonishing thing was that this world hadn't developed airplanes as a technology tree; instead, airships seemed to be prevalent…

For now, that was all he knew!

After figuring out his current financial situation, Hikigaya Ryōhei’s smile froze instantly. "What?! Only…a hundred thousand yen left? Right, how much is this month's rent?"

Ryōhei suddenly felt a bad premonition.

"It's…sixty thousand yen. Papa, didn't you personally pay the landlord a few days ago? Uh, I forgot that Papa wasn't feeling well, hehe." Komachi either didn't understand what this shriveled wallet meant—being just a kid after all—or she did and pretended not to know.

Either way, her innocent smile made Ryōhei sigh gently inside.

"Tonight, let’s have some meat. Komachi is still growing, after all," he said, not wanting to keep discussing such a heavy topic in front of a young child. He gently patted the little black-haired girl’s head.

She looked up, her expression turning blissful, just like a contented kitten.

"Eh? Really? Meat? But money..." Komachi’s eyes briefly flashed with excitement before immediately dimming again, wearing a worried little frown that made his heart ache.

Hikigaya Ryōhei sat up in bed and waved his hand grandly. "No worries! Papa will go find work tomorrow. Making money isn’t difficult for me!" Though his current knowledge seemed somewhat unsuitable for this era—and he hadn't inherited any of the previous owner's experiences or skills—Lin Zhe still felt that at the very least, he had strength left in him!

For someone who'd already died once, these hardships were trivial matters. No pain or exhaustion could match the joy he felt simply breathing again.

"Ohh! Komachi’s Papa is the best!"

Seeing her father visibly filled with energy, the little girl breathed a sigh of relief, proudly raising her right hand to cheer and flex her tiny muscles. Little girls at this age always gave people a feeling of hope.

"Of course I am. Komachi, stay at home and play, okay? Papa will go out to stretch a bit and buy some groceries on the way back." Ryōhei pushed himself up, grabbed a random jacket lying near the bed, and fished out what he assumed were his own shoes from under the bed.

The black-haired girl shook her head cutely, hugging her father's arm tightly, saying sweetly, "Komachi wants to go with Papa!"

Ryōhei gently shook his head and softly pressed Komachi back onto the bed. "No need. Komachi was worried about Papa these past two days, right? You barely slept at all. Use this chance to get some rest—and you can wait for your brother to come back, okay?"

"Mm, okay... Papa, please be careful!" The adorable girl opened her big, innocent eyes, considered it for a moment, and obediently nodded before falling backwards onto the bed, burying herself into the still-warm blankets.

...

Ryōhei then spent a little time getting familiar with the neighborhood around his shabby apartment.

The rented apartment was a cheap two-story building that seemed somewhat old but was at least decently maintained from the outside.

He currently didn't have any special requirements about housing, especially considering he wasn't originally the pleasure-seeking type anyway. Besides, he was already worrying about paying next month's rent, so what more could he ask for?

"Hmm… seems language isn’t a problem. Communication will be smooth at least," murmured the still somewhat decadent-looking middle-aged uncle as he walked out of a small vegetable shop (yaoya) roughly two hundred meters away. He hefted the plastic bag containing meat and some fresh vegetables, planning to cook something delicious tonight as a little thank-you to Komachi.

Maybe because of lingering feelings from the original body, he felt inexplicably close to Komachi.

As for her older brother…

Just so-so.

Ryōhei had only learned today—from a divorce agreement he found buried at home—that the boy was named Hikigaya Hachiman, a slightly too-mature teenager who rarely took the initiative to speak with his father. In the past two days, he'd barely been home, apparently busy working part-time.

Ryōhei decided he should probably show the boy some care when he returned home, so things wouldn't become too awkward.

"Yo! Ryōhei?! You're here!"

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This is a fan translation of 比企谷大叔永远年轻 by Stargazer All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!