Third Person's Point of View

Chapter 5: Slice of Life & Consequences

Drinking tea while listening to Yu-Peng Chen's song "To Dream's End" made me feel like a European, melancholic writer thinking about the younger days where everything was better. This is despite the fact I am an American living in a two-story minka in Japan while also drinking from a very non-European teacup. The only thing that matched the European aesthetic in this household would probably be my homing pigeons I use to help deliver messages.

Still, I've had a great relaxing week so far.

I've taken to mostly staying near the house since I didn't have any outside matters to care about at the time.

My walks took me to the mountains near my house. The sight of all the flora was relaxing enough that I couldn't help but let my Mist Flames run about. Back in America, I couldn't afford to roam around in this sort of wilderness, nor let go control of my Flames. It's almost like letting go of a nasty fart you've been holding back. The trails I've walked now stink with Mist Flames.

My bad.

Other than roleplaying as a gnome in the wild, I've also cleaned the house again. Well, more like inspecting the house for anything that needed to be replaced. Stuff like termite damage.

My parents did say that the structure house was in good condition before I flew over to Japan, and that everything was in order, but I at least wanted to double check it.

...

Actually I just wanted to try out what that termite damage guy does on Tiktok with a screwdriver. Boy am I sure glad I tried it out!

Sure there was no termite damage but the tapping was super satisfying!

Anyways, other than an amateur termite inspection, I decluttered the house as well. It was hard though. Looking through every old furniture and little item in a two-story house obviously meant for a family was exhausting.

I did find some cool trinkets though, like some small wooden sculptures.

I kept them—free decor and stuff. Also something about wooden sculptures was so satisfying. It's probably because they got a heft to them as wood does.

There was a dog, a cat, and a dragon. The three were admittedly a little misshapen. For example, the dragon's face was barely symmetrical and the cat looked more like a fox than anything with that snout. The only reason I was able to pick it out as a cat was by the whip-like tail. The dog looked pretty fine by all accounts.

Other than there being some jagged edges, it was generally smooth to the touch. The three sculptures had a finish on them and only had a couple of chips.

Perhaps these were made for a child in mind? Like little figurines for them to play with.

I decided to display them in the living room, all lined up on a drawer after cleaning them up.

Maybe the previous owner had a dog and a cat and decided to honor them with little sculptures, maybe they had a hobby of wood carving, or maybe a friend gifted them it. Who knows. I certainly didn't find any sort of wood carving set in the house. Either the owner took the set with them when they moved out, or they were given the figurines.

Sweated plenty when making the house look more lived in than abandoned like before. I should be paid for doing all that cleaning.

Except the only income I had would be from my commission-based business and I had no commissions at the time. Plus, I have no boss to pay me a consistent wage and I'm only just cleaning up my house.

I'm also my own boss.

...

Reborn please commission me again, I really want money.