Edo, somewhere——

A young man with red lips and white teeth walked slowly to Nishino's cell, carrying a bowl of steaming soba noodles.

In the cell, in a corner where the light does not shine, Nishino leaned against the wall behind him with his arms folded, his eyes closed, and his breathing steady. He seemed to be sleeping or resting with his eyes closed.

"Nishino-sama, Nishino-sama?"

The young man called Nishino repeatedly, but the other party was indifferent.

As a last resort, young people can only increase their volume:

"Lord Nishino!"

This time, Nishino finally reacted.

"...It's so noisy."

Nishino slowly raised his eyelids and cast an impatient look at the young man standing outside the prison.

The young man bowed his head and apologized:

"terribly sorry……"

Rakshasa, who has a "talent collecting habit", values ​​Nishino, who is proficient in criminal investigation techniques, and wants to take him under his wing.

In order to show his love for talents, Rakshasa specially ordered: Nishino Hoseijiro is my distinguished guest! No matter who he is, he must be treated with courtesy!

Because of this, young people are so respectful to Nishino.

Although he was the one standing outside the cell, he acted more like a prisoner than Nishino.

Nishino swept his eyes and looked at the young man from head to toe several times.

"I've never seen you before. Are you new here?"

"Yes! Toru Kibe! From today on, I will be responsible for your daily diet! This is your dinner today!"

After saying that, the young man passed the soba noodles in his hand forward.

Nishino glanced at the soba noodles in the young man's hand, then withdrew his gaze and pursed his lips toward the small window next to the cell door.

"Put it there."

"yes!"

The young man bent down, took out a small key from his waist, inserted it into an inconspicuous hole on the edge of the cell door, and turned it to the right twice. Then he heard a "clack" sound coming from the door.

There was a sound, and a section of the doorframe at the bottom of the cell door suddenly popped open, revealing a small window.

This window is specially used to deliver meals, drinking water and other items into the prison.

"Master Nishino, please eat as soon as possible."

As the young man spoke, he stuffed the soba noodles in his hands into the window and passed them into the prison.

Nishino didn't say much. He stood up and took the noodles silently. He didn't even say "I'm ready" and just started eating.

When the young man saw this, he couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief and thought to himself:

——Tanaka-senpai is right... Nishino is quite easy to deal with.

Tanaka was the last person responsible for taking care of Nishino's daily diet.

According to Tanaka-senpai, although Nishino often had a bad face, he was generally quite docile and did not engage in hunger strikes, suicides or other such "non-violent non-cooperation movements".

At every meal time, he would eat on time, and he would eat every meal he was given without any leftovers.

Young people are just lower-level cadres of the Qingshui clan.

He didn't care at all whether Nishino surrendered or not.

He only cares about his job and whether his tasks can be completed perfectly.

As long as Nishino is willing to cooperate with him, is willing to eat on time without trouble, does not have a negative impact on his mission, and does not cause him trouble, he will not bother to care about Nishino's future fate.

"Master Nishino, I'll take my leave now. I'll be back in half an hour to clean up the dishes."

"..."

Nishino, who did not change his indifferent expression, kept snarling and ignored the young man.

Such an indifferent attitude naturally made the young man feel a little unhappy.

But he didn't dare to say anything. He bent down and bowed before leaving.

——Ah... I'm so busy... mopping the floor, boiling water, cooking, doing laundry... all I do every day is boring work. How long will it take for me to get promoted...

The young man complained angrily in his heart about all the recent events.

Just when all his thoughts were focused on self-pity and self-pity...as soon as the rabbit rose and the falcon fell! A big hand holding a cloth handkerchief stretched out from the thorn and covered the young man's mouth and nose!

"Uh huh...!"

The sudden change caught the young man by surprise. His mouth and nose were completely covered by the cloth. He was frightened and subconsciously took a deep breath.

Suddenly, a very strong and pungent medicinal smell penetrated his mouth and nose.

——Oops!

Knowing that something was serious, he quickly held his breath.

However... it's too late.

"I'm sorry~Please sleep for a while~~"

A familiar young male voice came to the young man's ears, and it sounded like it came from afar.

My eyes were completely dark, and my field of vision didn't reflect anything.

——This voice is...?!

The moment this thought occurred, the young man's consciousness was completely interrupted.

…

Nishino eats very quickly.

As soon as the young man walked away, he ate the large bowl of soba noodles without even a drop of soup left.

After eating and drinking, Nishino sat back down in his original position, in the corner of the wall where the light could not reach, folded his hands on his chest, closed his eyes and rested.

However, at this moment, he was no longer as motionless as before.

He raised his eyelids from time to time and glanced outside the prison. His mind was not at peace, as if he was waiting for something.

However, every time he opened his eyes, all he saw was a quiet corridor with no one around.

Gradually, Nishino's eyebrows became impatient and disappointed.

The frequency of opening his eyes also decreased.

Suddenly, just when the disappointment on Nishino's face was about to reach its limit, the sound of footsteps approaching from far away was heard outside the prison.

"!"

The next moment this string of footsteps reached Nishino's ears, he cheered up and looked forward - a familiar figure came into view.

"Nishino-kun~ Good evening~~"

My grandson smiled and waved to Nishino through the gap in the fence.

"...My grandson, you are actually here."

Nishino's thick eyebrows were raised at the corners of his raised eyes, his expression was stiff and complex.

"Of course I will come~ I told you already, right? I will never lie to you again this time~~"

Having said that, my grandson bent down and took out the key to the cell door from his arms...

"I brought the key to the cell and your sword~"

…

…

A while ago——

"...Jun."

A voice came from a distance.

"...Yajun."

The sound gradually approaches.

"...Nishino-kun."

A familiar voice.

"Nishino-kun!"

White light shines into the dark world.

"……Um?"
To be continued...