I never thought a day like this would actually come. There’s a girl in my room. Soaking wet from head to toe. What is this situation? No, no, that’s not it. It’s not like I was thinking anything weird. It’s just that, as a man, I once dreamed of a scene like this. Absolutely—I have no impure thoughts whatsoever.

  Before she gets the wrong idea, I need to hurry and find something to wipe her with. I haven’t even unpacked since I got here… It should be in my bag.

  “Here. Use this.”

  I pull out a brand-new towel I found in my bag and hand it to her. I bought it as a souvenir for my mom, but I guess I’ll just use it now. It’s only a consumable anyway. Rin doesn’t move, still holding the towel.

  …What’s wrong? Rin? She’s staring at the towel, frozen like a stone statue.

  No, it’s not like that thing’s cursed or anything. Just wipe yourself. I’m serious. If you don’t hurry, you’ll end up looking like Sadako crawling out of a well. My room’s gonna look like an accident scene where someone wet themselves!

  Oh no, Sojiro. Wetting the bed even as an adult—whatever shall your poor mother do about it? That is seriously the biggest life emergency I must avoid!

  Sojiro: “Hey, it’s something to wipe with, okay? That cloth. It’s not the kind that kills you if you touch it, alright?”

  Rin holding the towel in silent distrust is, in a way, understandable. For servants, the concept of a towel hasn’t really taken root. At inns, it’s common for the nakai to use a thin cloth called a “tenugui.” A Japanese tenugui is a thin cotton cloth, similar to a scarf or bandana, and each nakai is given just one to use and wash throughout the year. Even if it tears, they aren’t allowed to throw it away, and in the end, it’s used up as a rag to wipe the floor.

  —That was simply taken for granted. “Cloth is a precious thing”—that value, the servants had come to know through daily life.

  Can’t be helped… If we stay like this, my room really will turn into a soaked accident scene.

  Sojiro: “Here, this is how you use it.”

  Rin is still holding the towel, but I guess I should at least start by wiping her head. Still, she’s completely soaked. Just how much water got dumped on her? As I roughly wipe Rin’s head with the towel using both hands, she finally seems to get it and timidly starts wiping her own face.

  …She’s using it awfully carefully for wiping. What’s with that subtle elegance? Now I feel kind of embarrassed for wiping her so roughly! W-Well, if she figured out how to use it, she should be okay on her own from here.

  As I glance sideways at Rin wiping her kimono with the towel, I realize something. Wait—oh, right. Rin can’t hear. Now I feel stupid for talking out loud like I was doing a solo comedy bit. Trying to cover it up, I just clear my throat for now. I take out a notebook and a fountain pen from my bag and start writing a few pages.

  Sojiro Page 1《I'm just gonna go grab a change of clothes, okay?》

  Sojiro Page 2《You can wait here. And when you're done with the towel, feel free to toss it anywhere.》

  Sojiro Page 3《I'll leave this notebook and pen here, so if anything happens, just jot it down, alright?》

  Rin reads the notebook once and lowers her head slightly, like a bow. That silent “Understood” vibe doesn’t have much friendliness, but… yeah. Not a bad feeling.

  It’s been about fifteen minutes since then. Because Mom didn’t give me the change of clothes right away, even more time has passed. She keeps making weird assumptions—it’s seriously annoying. Like,

  Sojiro… don’t tell me you have a hobby of playing with women’s kimono—

  Or… did you already make a move on one of the nakai right after coming back?

  Who is it?

  Don’t tell me… it’s the head nakai…

  Why would you go for a girl like that…?

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  Why someone like that? Come on! Why was the first person I thought of the head nakai…? Seriously? Come on, the age difference and size difference are way too much! I’m the one who’s gonna die from being crushed to death!

  Trying not to imagine all sorts of unpleasant things, I returned to the room with the change of clothes. What I found there was—

  “…Oh man, lie, right?”

  Everything had been put in perfect order. The once-wet tatami had been wiped clean, and my cursed item collection—which I’d carelessly tossed around after bringing it back from Tokyo—was now lined up, arranged with such neurotic precision that there wasn’t a speck of dust.

  I mean, my cursed item collection is seriously being displayed like it's part of a purification ritual. It's terrifying. And on top of that, they were neatly arranged in order from smallest to largest.

  “What the hell happened? I mean, who sent a personal maid into my room?”

  Rin was sitting in seiza at the edge of the room. Completely still, expressionless. She was there!? She’s so good at hiding her presence that I seriously didn’t notice her at all.

  I picked up the notebook I had left on the desk and began writing, trying to act composed.

  Sojiro Page 1《Did you clean?》

  When I handed the notebook and pen to Rin, the paper she returned—perhaps because she wasn’t used to using a fountain pen—contained slow, carefully written characters that said:

  Rin Page 1《I had nothing to do while I was waiting.》

  Rin Page 2《Was I not supposed to touch the things in the room?》

  Though she’s usually expressionless, this girl’s actually got a good personality. Somehow, it’s only now that I feel like the lazy one, and I’m getting embarrassed that she saw my messy room. Endure it, my sense of shame!

  Rin is staring at me seriously, like she’s waiting for a response. Though her face is blank, I kind of got the impression that she was worried and trying to be considerate. Just somehow.

  I picked up the pen lying nearby and decided to express my feelings in the notebook Rin was holding.

  Sojiro Page 2: “Here, take this with the notebook. It’s easier than using a brush.”

  I handed Rin the fountain pen I was holding and showed her the message in the notebook.

  Rin looked at the notebook once. Then she wrote.

  Rin Page 3: “I can’t accept something that looks this expensive.”

  Rin Page 4: “As the landlady said, I only served the young master.”

  Rin Page 5: “I am a servant of this inn. Working for this inn is everything to me.”

  W–Wait, stop it. That kind of loyal-to-the-master vibe... I'm not good with that stuff. That’s why I’m not cut out to be the master of an inn.

  "Somehow, now it just looks like I'm forcing it, even though I was just trying to be nice."

  "Whatever. Even if you get it, it won’t mean anything unless you actually say it."

  Sojiro Page 3: "This is kind of like my way of showing how I feel—my thanks for the cleaning."

  Sojiro Page 4: “This kind of thing is called a present.”

  Sojiro Page 5: “Even if you don’t understand it in Japan, this kind of thing is normal in the West.”

  Sojiro Page 6: “It’s not about being a servant or devotion—I just wanted Rin to use it.”

  Sojiro Page 7: “Or… would you not be happy receiving Western goods either?”

  After thinking for a moment, Rin briefly lowered her eyes—then wrote in the notebook.

  Rin Page 6: “…I’ve never received such charity before, so I do not quite understand.”

  Rin Page 7: “It’s not like I hate Western culture or anything.”

  Rin Page 8: “Even if I do receive it, if I lose it…”

  Rin Page 9: “Will the young master be upset, sir?”

  "What the hell kind of image did you have of me back when we met in Chapter Two?" Well, I kind of get what you’re trying to say though. You’ve probably been treated like that all your life, right? That’s why I hate it—coming back to a place where these customs still exist.

  I run my hands through my hair in frustration, disheartened—but this is just how things are in this region. No point in dwelling on it.

  Sojiro Page 8《You don’t dislike Western culture, right?》

  Rin gives a slow, slight nod.

  Sojiro Page 9: “Then I won’t be angry.”

  Sojiro Page 10: "If you use up the notebook, come by again."

  Sojiro Page 11: "'Cause I just wanna talk with you more, Rin."

  Since coming back to this inn, I feel like I’ve finally found someone who understands me. Even Mom makes a sour face just seeing how I dress. That grumpy look… is that how you treat your own son?

  I still don’t know what Rin is thinking, but at the very least, she doesn’t seem to think I’m that weird. That’s how it feels. It’s not just that she’s expressionless and hard to read. Maybe… she’s just not good at expressing herself.

  "Here I am, with a buddy who understands me."

  "One or two notebooks, even a whole box—I'm happy to present them."

  Rin, still holding the notebook she had received, stared straight at my face. She didn’t say anything, but her eyes looked like they were trying to confirm something. Then she gave a small nod and lowered her gaze.

  "This... a sign you're gonna take it?"

  Oh right—I almost forgot. I brought this, so I’d better give it to her.

  I handed Rin the kimono I had received from my mother.

  Sojiro Page 12《New kimono. You can take it.》

  Sojiro Page 13《Still a bit wet, huh? You can use the towel too.》

  When I placed the kimono and towel beside her, Rin picked up the fountain pen and began quietly writing something. And then—she gently held out the paper to me.

  Rin Page 10: “…Thank you very much.”

  Just those few words somehow hit me hard in the chest. Holding the kimono and towel, Rin turned her back to me and quietly stood up. Her back as she walked away said nothing… but it felt just a little warm.

  …Or so I thought.

  What’s going on? She suddenly stopped. Before leaving the room, Rin started writing something in the notebook. She tore out the page and placed it on the desk, gave a small bow, and left my room.

  Huh? What was that? Leaving just a note like that—did she write something too embarrassing to say out loud?

  Feeling a bit nervous, I picked up the paper.

  Rin Page 11《The third tea bowl from the right... it seems to want to go home.》

  …What?

  My thoughts froze in an instant. A tea bowl? Wants to go home? There’s something like that in my collection… well, yeah, there is! When Rin cleaned up and lined everything up by size, the third one from the right was definitely a tea bowl. The others are jars or plates, and that one’s the only tea bowl.

  Wait, what? Was that thing some kind of cursed object? I mean, “go home”? To where!?

  No no no, this is scary! Rin-chan, come back for a sec! Let me hear you out!

  This is clearly the last message Rin left behind. That hit way too hard... Was she joking? Some kind of gag? Is this some new trendy joke among Meiji-era youth? I’m twenty and I already can’t keep up.

  Before I could even hear a reply, Rin had already disappeared from sight.

  These are extraordinary gestures, even for someone who is not a servant, and would understandably leave anyone confused at the time.

  Donald Trump gives a homeless person picking up trash a free room in one of his luxury buildings.

  Only a handful of such pens were imported from the U.S. or U.K., and they were exclusively used by diplomats or the extremely wealthy elite.

  In 1883, only about 1% of the Japanese population had ever used one.

  Just like fountain pens, these towels were limited to diplomats, wealthy families, or aristocrats living in big cities.

  letting the lowest-ranked servant in the household use what would now be the equivalent of a 1,000,000 yen brand-new luxury towel was an extreme gesture.

  Rin’s hesitation in using it is, therefore, an entirely natural emotional response.

  who was also introduced in the illustration previews.