Most importantly, the rent wasn’t expensive either.
It was only 96,000 yen a month.
After negotiating a little, Touma managed to bring it down to 90,000 yen.
Ninety thousand yen a month for a thirty-square-meter apartment was already a great deal in Tokyo.
After discussing a few more details, Touma left and headed to RiNG.
Before long, he found Matsugi Ririko, who was greeting customers on the first floor.
“Ririko-san.” Touma walked over, addressing her a bit more familiarly.
“Togawa-san, welcome.
It’s been a while.” Matsugi Ririko greeted him, then leaned in slightly with a mysterious smile.
“Please come with me.” Touma nodded and followed her into an empty room.
“Here’s the 100,000 yen.” Matsugi Ririko quietly took out a thick stack of bills and slipped it into Touma’s hand.
The next second, the system’s voice sounded in his mind.
[Part-Time Work Bonus Lv.1 (205/100)] [Lv.1 → Lv.2] [Part-Time Work Bonus Lv.2 (105/500)] [Reward settled: 100,000 yen.
Deposited into the system and may be withdrawn or stored at any time.] One hundred thousand yen in hand.
Not bad!
Unfortunately, it looked like the reward was settled before the bonus leveled up.
Otherwise, this payment would have been 200,000 yen.
Still, earning 100,000 yen so effortlessly made Touma very happy.
His previous hard work had definitely paid off.
Now he could really make the most of Sakiko’s talents!
“I never imagined Togawa-san was this amazing.
You sold your first song so quickly, and even earned a 100,000 yen commission on your very first job.
Even I’m a little tempted now.” Matsugi Ririko’s voice pulled him back to reality.
“No, it’s all thanks to your recommendation, Ririko-san.
Otherwise I wouldn’t have had this first success.” “That’s only because Togawa-san truly has the ability!” The two exchanged a round of polite compliments.
At that moment, Touma suddenly said, “Ririko-san, I have a proposal.” His expression turned much more serious.
“I’d like to work under RiNG as a composer.
In the future, you would be responsible for finding and contacting clients, while I’d handle the composition.
RiNG could take a twenty percent commission from the payment.
Of course, RiNG would also handle things like copyright agreements and contracts.” After listening carefully, Matsugi Ririko looked somewhat puzzled.
“Wouldn’t it be better to leave that sort of thing to an agency?” Touma shook his head.
“Agencies are too troublesome, and the competition is fierce.
I much prefer the atmosphere at RiNG.
Of course, if it isn’t possible, that’s fine too.
We can keep things as they are.” Hearing that, Matsugi Ririko didn’t reject the idea immediately.
She stroked her chin in thought for a few seconds before looking up.
“Sorry, I’m not authorized to make that decision.
I’ll need to discuss it with the manager.
As soon as I hear anything, I’ll let you know.” “Alright.
Thank you.” Touma nodded.
If this worked out, life would really start getting better from here on.
After returning to the rundown apartment, Touma began packing his belongings.
Black socks, white socks, bear-print underwear, everything went into the suitcase.
Meanwhile, Sakiko looked around the room she knew all too well, feeling a little sentimental.
After all, she had lived here for quite a long time.
“Everything’s packed.
Get up early tomorrow morning and head to the new apartment yourself.” Touma checked the time and saw that the twelve-hour experience period was almost over, so he simply lay down on the bed.
“Me?” For some reason, Sakiko suddenly felt nervous.
“…Okay.” A few seconds later, she realized she had regained control of her body.
Resting her right hand on her forehead, Sakiko thought about it carefully.
Only having to bear half of her life wasn’t actually so bad.
There were many troublesome things she no longer had to handle personally.
It was just that sometimes it still felt a little strange.
No, no.
How could she think something like that?
It was almost as if she were making someone else carry the burden of her life.
Sakiko shook her head and forced those thoughts out of her mind.
In any case, there was no need to overthink it.
Keeping things as they were was enough.
Soon, morning arrived.
Sakiko got up early, picked up her luggage, and prepared to leave.
However, the moment she opened the front door, a middle-aged man suddenly called out from behind her.
“Little Saki, where are you going with that suitcase?
Are you moving out?” Togawa Kiyotsugu’s face was filled with sorrow, his voice unusually subdued.
“So you’ve finally made up your mind?” He continued, “Go…
Staying away from me is the right thing to do.” Hearing that, Sakiko looked back at the dejected middle-aged man.
A trace of reluctance appeared in her eyes, but in the end, she turned around again, grabbed her suitcase, and prepared to leave.
“Go on.
Go.
It’s better if you leave.” Togawa Kiyotsugu said those words, but his hands were far less honest.
He quietly held onto the suitcase handle.
Seeing this, Sakiko suddenly found him a little frightening.
Gritting her teeth, she yanked the suitcase free with all her strength, then fled without looking back.
Some time later, she arrived at the new apartment.
After paying the next month’s rent, she officially moved in.
Phew…
A new environment.
Sakiko lay down on the bed and took several deep breaths.
Her energy immediately returned.
Just then, she suddenly felt her body becoming lighter.
Touma had arrived.
“So you’ve already moved into the new apartment?” Touma got up and looked around.
“Mm.” Sakiko nodded.
After hesitating for a long time, she finally voiced the worry that had been weighing on her heart.
“Touma…
Are we really…
just going to ignore that useless father of mine?
What if he…” Her concern was understandable.
No matter how terrible he was, he was still the person who had raised her, someone connected to her by blood.
“Don’t worry.
Nothing will happen to him.
I guarantee it,” Touma replied.
The old man’s secret stash contained quite a fortune, at least 16.8 billion yen.
It was enough to last ten lifetimes.
Hearing his absolute confidence, Sakiko gradually let go of her worries.
At this point, she trusted Touma almost completely.
Today was Saturday, so there were no classes, leaving them with plenty of free time.
For Touma, however, that was actually troublesome.
First, he couldn’t supervise Sakiko’s studies, allowing her to experience the…
pain…
of acquiring more knowledge.
Second, without a special reason, he couldn’t enter Tsukinomori Girls’ Academy.
He needed to find a piano to practice on.
Should he rent a piano practice room?
Touma was still thinking when his phone notification interrupted him.
He checked it and found that it was a message from Matsugi Ririko.
She said she had already spoken with the manager, who wanted to meet him in person to discuss the matter.