Having stopped caring about the gazes of others, Masanojo went about buying everything he needed while shopping in the city.
First were the sportswear and other items necessary for exercise.
The Masanojo of this world apparently hadn’t done much exercise, so he didn’t own many of these things.
However, the current Masanojo was, if anything — or rather, thoroughly — the athletic type.
Extremely so.
Because of that, he felt a little dissatisfied with his current situation.
Fortunately, there were a fair number of mass retailers within the Special District that handled men’s clothing, so gathering a full set of those items did not take much effort.
For Masanojo, who had no particular attachment to design or anything like that, it was more than enough.
Next he headed to an electronics store.
There he planned to buy a computer.
It wasn’t that Masanojo was a computer geek or anything.
But in order to research this world, he figured he would need some kind of information terminal.
He did have a smartphone from this world, but when it came to gathering information, a computer would almost certainly be necessary.
Masanojo was not particularly knowledgeable about computers, so he didn’t really know which one he should buy.
Surprisingly, however, Kyoka was well-informed about such things, so he received various advice from her and was able to purchase something that suited his purpose.
After that he bought various small daily necessities he thought he would need — clothes, books, and the like.
“Could I have a little time?”
When they had roughly finished shopping, Kyoka asked that, and since he had no particular plans of his own, Masanojo simply went along with her.
The place she led him to was some kind of stylish-looking store.
It sold computers and smartphones and the like, but it felt somehow more chic than the major mass retailers.
If it were his original world, it was probably something like a certain apple shop.
After waiting inside the store for a while, Kyoka walked over together with a store employee.
“Masanojo-san, here you go.”
What she handed him was a wrist-worn device that looked a lot like a certain apple watch.
“What’s this?”
According to Kyoka’s explanation, it was a GPS-equipped device.
By wearing it, the user’s location could always be identified, which would help in protecting the existence known as Masanojo.
Furthermore, Masanojo’s personal data had already been entered into the device, and with this single item his health and other conditions could be checked and managed.
Eh, when exactly did they take my data?
The statement made him feel a little scared, but it turned out to be nothing special.
The information was from the health checkup he had undergone at the hospital, and they had simply used that.
Apparently, not only Masanojo but anyone who underwent examinations at a hospital managing their physical condition with devices like this was completely normal in this world.
Moreover, when important people were protected by bodyguards, wearing such devices was also completely normal.
I see.
Once she put it that way, he could not really deny it, so Masanojo obediently accepted the device.
Incidentally, all of these costs were apparently covered by the Protection Agency.
…Seriously?
Incidentally, incidentally, the price of this device was apparently much higher than the computer Masanojo had bought today.
…Seriously? You are reading on g.com, the official source.
Protection Agency, I’m really sorry.
When he casually glanced at Kyoka’s arm, he noticed she was wearing a similar device.
Hers was issued by the Protection Agency and was used to manage various records related to bodyguards.
With this single device they could also serve the role of a time card, so working hours were accurately tracked, and the demonic practice known as unpaid overtime apparently did not exist in the Protection Agency.
…Seriously?
The Protection Agency is amazing.
Masanojo was thoroughly shown how white-collar the Protection Agency was.
He immediately put the device on his wrist.
“Looking at it like this, it kind of feels like we’re matching.”
He held out his arm and lined it up next to hers.
“Fufu.
You’re right.
Matching with Onee-san.”
Kyoka smiled brightly.
Her expression looked very happy.
――――――――――――――――――――
Having finished the shopping that had been their initial goal, the time was past noon.
Since he had gotten reasonably hungry, he invited Kyoka to have lunch.
If he had been a capable man, this would have been the time to elegantly have lunch at a stylish restaurant.
Unfortunately, however, as a mere high school student, Masanojo knew of no such places, so the meal ended up being at a family restaurant that operated nationwide.
“I like places like this too.
They’re not pretentious.”
It was obvious she was being considerate, but having her say that made him feel very grateful.
Someday he would look up a stylish restaurant and invite her.
Masanojo quietly resolved that in his heart.
Guided by a staff member, they took their seats.
Since it was lunchtime, he had expected to wait longer, but apparently there were special circumstances unique to the Special District, and when a man was accompanying someone, they were given priority seating.
He felt a little guilty, as if they had cut in line, but Kyoka told him that from the store’s perspective, having a man stand in line would be more of a nuisance, so while he didn’t feel entirely convinced, he had no choice but to accept it as how things were.
He quickly looked over the menu and ordered whatever seemed likely to fill his stomach.
After going to the drink bar to get a drink and returning to the seat, the food had already been brought out.
Eh, isn’t that way too fast no matter how you look at it?
Masanojo was taken aback by the store’s excessive consideration.
No matter how you looked at it, this was… No, better stop thinking about it.
He had no choice but to accept it as how things were.
A feeling of apology toward the other customers rose up, but learning to compartmentalize was also important.
“Well then, let’s dig in!”
He put his hands together and immediately reached for the food in front of him.
Faced with proper cooking for the first time in a while, Masanojo’s happiness exploded.
Even while he was hospitalized he had been eating proper meals, but what he had been given was the so-called hospital food, which was all considerate of health and, from the perspective of a growing boy, rather bland.
But the dishes lined up in front of him were rich and oily, strongly seasoned, salty, and full of fat — things he could never have eaten in the hospital. The source of this chapter is novelping(.)com.
Well, that was because Masanojo had deliberately ordered those kinds of items.
While thoroughly savoring those dishes, he steadily packed them into his stomach.
“Haaah—— Delicious!!”
A smile naturally overflowed.
“This is it!
This is what I’m talking about!
Meals have to be like this after all!
No, hospital food isn’t bad, you know?
It’s not bad, but still, if I don’t eat something that hits hard like this, it doesn’t feel like I’ve eaten at all.”
Exploding with the emotion known as appetite, Masanojo continued eating at a tremendous pace.
Truly, long live the big eater.
“Fufu.
You really do eat a lot, Masanojo-kun.”
Kyoka watched the sight of him shoveling large amounts of food with a smile.
“Munch munch… Munch munch… As a man, to build a healthy body, munch munch… first you must eat properly!
That’s my motto!
Munch munch…”
“Fufu.
What’s with that.”
“Munch munch…”
Masanojo was a big eater.
Back in his original world, Masanojo had consumed about 10,000 kilocalories a day through meals.
That was roughly five times the average for an adult man.
Normally, taking in that many calories would ruin one’s body, but by performing intense exercise on the level of a professional athlete, Masanojo had burned through all of that energy.
All of that was because of that certain disease, of course.
However, Masanojo had not particularly resented that lifestyle.
Above all, moving his body had never been a hardship for him.
But ever since coming to this world, excluding the convenience store food on the first day, the only things he had been able to put in his mouth were hospital meals.
That was not enough to maintain his physical strength.
In fact, with only the prescribed amount of hospital food he had been unable to maintain his stamina, and his weight had gradually decreased.
Thinking that things would be bad if this continued, Masanojo had pushed Kyoka and gotten them to increase his hospital meals.
At first the hospital side had been reluctant to increase the food, but after seeing Masanojo’s weight steadily decreasing, they had hurriedly increased the amount.
Kyoka had always watched over the sight of Masanojo eating large amounts of food with a smile.
And today, he was sitting at the same table as that Kyoka, sharing a meal together.
Until now he had only ever been watched over, so being able to eat together like this made him feel happy inside.
Whether she knew what was in his heart or not, Kyoka, who was eating together with him, also somehow seemed to be happy.
And that made Masanojo happy.