Because of Miyauchi Hikari's scream, all the members of the Miyauchi family were drawn by the noise.
A few minutes later, the whole family had gathered in the living room. Even Renge was looking at her second-oldest sister with some curiosity, wondering what was wrong with her now.
This saved Miyauchi Hikage the trouble, so he repeated the matter of him buying a house in Tokyo once more.
"So what I mean is, our whole family can go to Tokyo together for a few days before coming back, and you can also help me see if there are any problems with the house. But let's not tell the village about buying a house in Tokyo for now, to avoid any unpleasant gossip."
Previously, because he was going to study in Tokyo, rumors had spread in the village that he was leaving Asahigaoka and not coming back. Even Kagayama Kaede, whom he had known for so long, was shaken.
So to avoid rumors, he would only tell Kaede and Suguru and a few other close friends about this matter. There was no need to tell the other villagers.
And after listening to Miyauchi Hikage's words, the entire Miyauchi family looked at each other in dismay.
Although Miyauchi Hikage's status at home was very high, and he usually didn't have to worry about what he did, the matter of him suddenly buying a house in Tokyo without a word still left them unable to react for a moment.
His parents were the fastest to react.
"Anyway, you earned all the money yourself. How you use it is your business. And since you'll be in Tokyo most of the time for the next few years, buying a house is a good thing."
Originally, his parents wanted to decline on the grounds of being busy with farm work, suggesting that Kazuho just drive and take Renge over for a few days.
But in the end, under Miyauchi Hikage's forceful reasoning, and after he immediately called a few people to help with their family's work on the spot, his parents still compromised and agreed to go to Tokyo for two days.
Knowing that two days was the limit his parents were willing to agree to, Miyauchi Hikage didn't push any further.
And so, the next morning, the Miyauchi family set off on their trip to Tokyo with high spirits.
It was Renge's first time leaving home to go to such a distant place. For this reason, before leaving, she had even made a special trip around the village. Whether she saw a person or an animal, she had to say goodbye to them.
Miyauchi Hikage also pulled his second sister along to walk around the village with Renge.
Miyauchi Hikari only thought that Renge was excited because she was going to Tokyo. Only Miyauchi Hikage knew that Renge was actually reluctant to leave Asahigaoka, and was doing this to tell others that she was just going out for a trip and would be back soon.
After driving for more than four hours, they finally entered the bustling Tokyo metropolitan area.
Although Miyauchi Hikari was quite excited when they first set off, because she was too excited the night before and hadn't slept well, she had started to get drowsy not long after getting in the car.
Now, there was a rather obvious wet patch on Miyauchi Hikage's shoulder, from her drooling in her sleep.
At the same time, because she was asleep, she once again missed the opportunity to learn Hamon.
Because of his parents' questions, Miyauchi Hikage took the opportunity to briefly explain and demonstrate the problems they had encountered in their practice.
As for Renge, she was still young, and with the adjustments made by Miyauchi Hikage, she would automatically perform ripple breathing, so there was no need to worry about her progress for the time being. So at this moment, she was seriously looking at the tall buildings around them.
Only after the discussion about Hamon in the Miyauchi family ended did she suddenly ask Miyauchi Hikage, "Our home is in the countryside, isn't it?"
Miyauchi Hikage smiled and pulled his little sister onto his lap.
"It's precisely because Asahigaoka is in the countryside that your brother is working so hard to revitalize it."
Renge nodded as if she understood, then suddenly asked with some nervousness, "Then after Asahigaoka is revitalized, will it become like this in the future?"
"Do you want this kind of change, Renge?" Miyauchi Hikage asked his little sister back.
This kind of question was indeed a bit advanced for a child who hadn't even started elementary school yet.
Miyauchi Hikage rubbed Renge's little head.
"Right now, the foundation of Asahigaoka's revitalization is that it is the countryside. So for a long time, Asahigaoka will not change too much."
"But if Renge wants to make Asahigaoka look different, your brother will also work hard to fulfill your wish."
Hearing this, Renge hurriedly shook her head. "No, I think Asahigaoka is very good as it is now!"
Now this is how a child should be.
Miyauchi Hikage smiled and didn't say any more.
...
Miyauchi Kazuho had already driven the car to Beika Town according to the address information her younger brother had given her.
It was just that the deeper she drove following the navigation, the more she felt that something was not right.
Have I driven into a rich people's district?
Next to them were steel skyscrapers, but here it was all standalone villas and Western-style houses.
The Miyauchi family's land was about five or six hundred square meters. The rich district here, including the courtyard, was probably over a thousand square meters!
My younger brother couldn't have bought a house in this kind of place, right?
No way, definitely not. It should be a normal single-family home or an apartment next to the rich district, right?
As Miyauchi Kazuho was muttering to herself, she heard the prompt that the car had arrived at the navigation point.
She stopped the car, then glanced to her right and saw a luxuriously decorated, large Western-style house.
Beika Town... 2-chome... number 23...
Miyauchi Kazuho matched the address her younger brother had told her, character by character.
And then she heard her younger brother wake up Hikari. "Hikari, don't sleep. We're here."
Miyauchi Kazuho looked at her younger brother in silence.
The Miyauchi parents looked around, a hint of confusion in their eyes as well.
They had originally thought that the house their son had bought would at most be a single-family home, but this place... although it was indeed a standalone villa, it seemed a bit too advanced.
Although their Miyauchi family was also considered a "prestigious family" in Asahigaoka, was this really a place that country folk like them could come to?
Sensing the suspicious and shocked gazes of his parents and eldest sister, a grin spread across Miyauchi Hikage's face.
"Actually, when I knew I had gotten this house, I was also quite surprised at the time."
"Anyway, I've already notified them. There's someone waiting for us inside. Let's get out of the car, put our luggage inside, and then talk about other things."
Under the dreamlike gazes of his parents and sister Kazuho, Miyauchi Hikage pulled open the iron gate and walked into the courtyard.
As for Hikari?
She wasn't fully awake yet and was still in a daze, completely unaware of the situation.
As their group, plus a dazed Hikari, walked into the Western-style house, an old butler in a tuxedo had been waiting at the door for a long time.
This was the previous butler of this mansion. Before Miyauchi Hikage's arrival, he had already worked in this mansion for more than ten years. The diary's reward had given Miyauchi Hikage his contact information.
He was here now to hand over the mansion and to give some instructions on its daily maintenance and possible renovation work.
Of course, Miyauchi Hikage didn't want to touch these things. Maintaining a mansion was very troublesome.
However, he hadn't found a suitable butler at the moment. It would be no problem to have Koshigaya Suguru come, as he was a natural at this kind of work.
But he was still in school, and in the future, he would be the leader of the Asahigaoka revitalization plan. Miyauchi Hikage couldn't bring himself to do that.
Before a suitable candidate was found, Miyauchi Hikage felt it was better to continue to let this veteran old butler handle these matters.
And the old butler, although he was a little surprised to see the casually dressed Miyauchi Hikage and the clearly somewhat constrained relatives behind him, as a butler's etiquette, he still very politely led the crowd to the reception room.
It wasn't until they walked into the luxuriously decorated reception room that Miyauchi Hikari finally woke up completely.
As expected, another scream came from the reception room.
Fortunately, the soundproofing of the mansion was good, so it shouldn't have disturbed Dr. Agasa, who was working next door.