I was once again traveling while sitting in the passenger seat. Honestly, I thought it was a bit too boring, but there was nothing I could do about it.
Still, the silver lining was that I had a really good sleep yesterday.
At first, I questioned whether I really needed to sleep at the accommodation, and I had a lot of worries.
But it seemed like the benefits outweighed the downsides.
After all, when I woke up, the commander wasn’t even next to me.
I felt slightly disappointed, but I was glad nothing strange happened.
“…?”
It felt like I had some strange thoughts… hmm.
I decided to neatly ignore them.
“Commander, you should eat this.”
“Thanks.”
“And this too.”
I casually handed some snacks and drinks to the commander.
After all, I would have to stay still in the car until we reached the accommodation today.
Anyway, it was better to just munch on snacks than eat some awkward meal.
The food in the fridge wasn’t anything spectacular either.
It was mostly just frozen stuff, right?
-Ding!
“…?”
While I was sitting quietly, I suddenly got a notification on my phone.
There wasn’t anyone I expected to hear from.
“Who is it?”
“It’s the boss.”
“Oh.”
The message was from the boss, checking in to see if we were doing okay.
They had texted me before we set off yesterday too.
Since it took a bit of time, they were probably worried.
“Commander, did you tell your mom we’re heading to Zone 0?”
“?”
“…You didn’t mention it?”
“At least?”
“…You should do it quickly.”
It felt like I was taking the role of a model son.
I began to understand why the commander’s mom seemed so worried the last time we met.
“How can a son suddenly go somewhere without any news? Please do something.”
“…Alright.”
“And buy some nice gift to give her next time.”
“I got it, just let me text her first…”
“Yes.”
The commander was good at following orders, at least.
It would be great if they could take initiative without needing to be told.
Well, since I was used to the commander being like this, I just went with the flow.
“…What did the boss say?”
“They just asked if we were coming along fine. That’s about it.”
“Really…”
“Yes, that’s right. There’s nothing to worry about anyway. The road isn’t dangerous.”
Honestly, there was nothing to worry about at all.
Just checking in to see if we were alright was the level of concern.
There wasn’t much to ask since I had known the boss for a long time.
That’s probably why I was getting these individual check-ins.
“Are we taking a break at some appropriate place along the way today?”
“Don’t you want to?”
“No, it’s not that. It’s definitely better to sleep at the accommodation than to just sit in the car.”
“Then we’re sleeping.”
There was no reason not to sleep.
Of course, I had expressed concern to the commander at the beginning, but there was really no need to skip sleeping.
Although just going to a motel with a man was… still unfamiliar.
Honestly, I had a lot of worries even until just before falling asleep.
But the commander didn’t do anything strange and just slept comfortably.
So, sleeping more was definitely not a problem.
After all, as the commander said, the accommodation was much more comfortable than the car.
“By the way, still knowing we have a long way to go… is a bit disheartening.”
“Right?”
We still had a long way ahead.
It was disgustingly far.
At this rate, we might have to stop at the motel two or three more times.
It was a little unfortunate, but there was nothing I could do.
I figured the commander was probably thinking the same.
The commander wouldn’t exactly be thrilled about sharing a room with me all the time.
“Ah, let’s try to rent two rooms if possible today.”
“Wasn’t yesterday because there was only one room available?”
“Still, it’s better for you to have your own room, right? Sharing the bed would be uncomfortable.”
“…That’s true.”
“There was no other choice yesterday, but there’s no way there would be only one room left today.”
Common sense dictated it.
“Yes, there should be at least two rooms available.”
“Anyway, we’re getting two rooms.”
With that said, we kept moving along in the car.
We whispered about trivial things while traveling.
I had nothing to do anyway, and since traveling was my current job, that was fine, right?
“Yawn…”
“Feeling tired?”
“I’m just bored.”
I yawned unconsciously. Really, it was so boring right now.
Sitting still in the car with the commander, doing nothing but looking outside felt too dull.
It was the same as yesterday, but today was even worse since it was the second time.
If I kept this up, I might end up doing something strange.
“Isn’t there just nothing to do?”
“Why didn’t you bring a game console or something?”
“We can’t set it up in here.”
“…That’s a shame.”
There was nothing I could do about it, but I still felt a bit disappointed.
If we could just travel in the car a bit more comfortably and enjoyably, that would be great.
It was really such a boring time.
*
“Uh… hmm…”
“Back hurting?”
“Yeah, it’s a little sore. Probably from sitting for so long.”
“There’s really nothing we can do. We can’t stop every now and then.”
“That’s true…”
After getting out of the car, the commander and I were chatting.
We got out of the car a bit earlier than yesterday, but still, it was a necessary stop.
Today, it was really too boring to keep this going.
If we went a bit further without stopping, the risk of not finding a restaurant or accommodation was too high.
There was just no choice but to stop at a convenient place.
“Which zone are we in right now?”
“Right now… It’s Zone 04. We still have quite a ways to go.”
“…Definitely a lot left.”
To get from Zone 07 to Zone 00, it would take a while.
After two whole days of driving, we arrived at Zone 04, so it would probably take another two or three days.
“What do you want for dinner? There are plenty of stores.”
“Hmm… Sashimi?”
“…Eh?”
That was… unexpected.
I really didn’t see that coming.
I had no idea the commander would suggest eating sashimi out of nowhere.
“Do you not like it?”
“No, it’s not that…”
I definitely didn’t dislike it.
In fact, if I liked sashimi, I was on the ‘like’ side of things.
It’s just that it was expensive, so I didn’t eat it often.
I would normally get chicken with that money instead.
“Then let’s just get sushi or sashimi… we can go into any store. I’ll pay.”
“Ooh…”
Something about the commander was looking pretty cool right now, and that’s not just my imagination.
Anyone treating you to expensive sashimi must be nice and good!
So, I began to follow the commander.
But I truly never expected the commander would suddenly treat me to expensive sashimi…
“By the way, why the sudden craving for sashimi?”
“I just wanted to eat it.”
“Oh…”
“I like sushi and sashimi. But you don’t often get to eat them, do you? So I thought it would be nice to have some for the first time in a while.”
The commander was saying this while walking.
Well, regardless of what the commander liked, I was just happy I could enjoy some delicious sushi.
I personally liked sushi and sashimi as well, you know?
“How about that place? It looks like a sushi restaurant.”
While walking, I spotted a place that clearly looked like it sold sushi.
From the wooden signboard and various hints, it seemed like a specialty sushi place.
When you walk inside, it felt like the guy wearing a white hat would shout, “Welcome!”
“That looks good… since we came across it, let’s go in there.”
“Let’s go.”
And with that, the commander and I entered a suitable sushi restaurant.
I was looking forward to having sushi after such a long time.
*
The place we entered was surprisingly…
“It’s delicious.”
“Right?”
It was tasty.
The fish was definitely better when eaten raw rather than cooked—you might even say it was excellent.
We only ordered two plates of 12 pieces and they were definitely good.
“Linda?”
“Yes?”
“Since the sushi is this good, how do you think the other items would be?”
“They’d probably be… more delicious, right?”
If the sushi was good, then there’s no way the other items would taste bad.
Honestly, I also wanted to drink a little… alcohol.
“Tempura… soba…”
“…”
Watching the commander read the menu, I couldn’t help but drool a bit.
It definitely looked delicious.
Udon might be nice too.
No, nabe might work too…
If we ordered nabe and paired it with a suitable drink, it would definitely taste… definitely be delicious.
“Let’s order tempura first… how about some drinks?”
“Y-Yes?”
“You look like you want to drink.”
“……..”
Did it show that much…?
I thought for a moment but didn’t think it was so obvious.
However, about drinking…
“…Can I order it?”
“If you want to drink, what’s the problem?”
“In that case…”
Maybe just a little wouldn’t hurt?
I wanted to drink.
And the commander said it was okay to, so I figured there was no reason not to drink.
Plus, the situation with plenty of snacks was a good excuse to drink.
Instead of worrying about getting into trouble, there was no need to resist an opportunity like this.
After all, I had absolutely no intention of causing trouble after what happened last time.
Today, just one bottle.
If I drank too much and ended up feeling a bit tipsy, that would be a problem of its own.
“Commander, but why are you spending so much today…?”
“Just a little thank you for you…?”
“?”
A thank you, huh.
Hmm…
Thinking about it, the two remaining members working in the office were probably enjoying something nice with the company card.
So, maybe that’s why the commander was treating me like this on purpose?
If it weren’t for that, there wouldn’t really be a sudden offering of gratitude like this, right?
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