District 38 of West Rukongai's Yorozuya

"Yo, Duan Mu, off to work again?"

"My little girl was just asking when you'd be back."

"The Brewing Granny made some sake and plans to sell it at the tavern in District 1 of West Rukongai. I left some by your shop door, in the basket on the left. Don't forget to take it inside."

"..."

Duan Mu smiled and replied to the greetings from the street.

This seems pretty good.

To be honest...

The people on this street are actually all pretty decent. Truly bad people don't really end up here.

Because the truly, truly evil ones rarely make it this far.

This is the Soul Society!

The destination for souls after death in the Living World.

The Soul Society is divided into Rukongai and Seireitei. Seireitei is located in the center of Rukongai and is where the Soul Reapers reside. Ordinary souls live in the Rukongai of the Soul Society.

Rukongai is divided into 80 districts in each of the four cardinal directions. District 1 is the safest area, while District 80 is the worst. In areas with poor public safety, evils like murder and arson occur frequently.

After each new soul arrives in their assigned district, they are unified and assigned by those managing Rukongai to form new families with others, living together in close proximity.

Because so many people die at the same time, even souls who die at the same time in the same place have a very low chance of being assigned to live in the same district. In Rukongai, souls without spiritual power do not go hungry; as long as they have water, they can live normally.

Therefore, souls without spiritual power will not experience changes in their height or weight until they die.

The only legal way to leave Rukongai and enter the affluent Seireitei is to possess spiritual pressure, study at the Soul Reaper Academy, and graduate to become a Soul Reaper.

Of course, it's not that souls without spiritual pressure have no aspirations. While some do just drift through life, it's not the majority.

Most people desire to buy nice clothes, and even when not hungry, they have cravings for food, enjoy drinking sake, or drinking tea.

So, most people in Rukongai take on jobs within their capabilities, such as farming, weaving, or growing tea... They then sell their goods in the districts with lower numbers or directly to the Soul Reapers in Seireitei.

The districts with lower numbers even have many restaurants and taverns that serve the Soul Reapers from Seireitei who need to eat. Thus, it's common to encounter Soul Reapers in the lower-numbered districts, and even Soul Reapers originating from Rukongai sometimes return to reside there during their days off.

Some of this information was told to Duan Mu by others during casual conversations, while some he already knew.

Duan Mu was not unfamiliar with this world.

Soul Reapers!

Upon first arriving in this world, after some deliberation, Duan Mu chose to settle in the vacant house assigned to District 38.

The administrator responsible for assignments initially intended to have Duan Mu form a new family with others, but Duan Mu refused. Coupled with the fact that there was a new vacant house available, it was simply assigned to Duan Mu.

However, the person in charge of assignments also mentioned that if new people arrived, they might assign new family members to Duan Mu.

Duan Mu was quite satisfied with District 38 of West Rukongai. It was a certain distance from the 'center of turmoil,' Seireitei, so even if something happened in Seireitei in the future, it wouldn't affect him.

Furthermore, District 38, 'Rongyao,' was located in the western center of Rukongai, a well-ordered area, so he wouldn't encounter trouble like murder or arson.

There was actually one more thing...

Duan Mu felt that the number '38' was very fitting for his system.

As for joining the Soul Reaper Academy and becoming a Soul Reaper, Duan Mu hadn't entirely dismissed the idea. But in the end, he gave up on it. Because even though Seireitei seemed good in his memories, it couldn't erase its fundamentally 'extremely unequal' feudal societal nature, where those in high positions could arbitrarily decide life and death.

Duan Mu's initial intention was not to enter Seireitei until he figured out the mysterious system in his brain.

However, three years have passed, and he has instead grown fond of life in Rukongai.

Therefore, Duan Mu has stopped paying attention to information about Soul Reapers. Without specific reference points, he doesn't even know what year it is, though he doesn't really care.

After a round of pleasantries, Duan Mu arrived in front of a building.

The building didn't occupy a large area; it was a two-story small building. The second floor was built by Duan Mu himself, as was the courtyard behind the building with its two-meter-high wall. A plaque hung on the front of the building, bearing the three large characters 'Yorozuya'!

Although...

Looking at those three characters now, Duan Mu always felt that he must have been drunk and activated his chuunibyou switch when he came up with such a shop name.

The main entrance had a price list, mostly for small tasks.

However, the last line read: For requests not listed, consultation is available in person, and the price will be determined by the owner (all explanatory rights belong to this establishment).

Next to the price list, a brand-new discount list was also posted, stating: Women 10% off, female Soul Reapers 20% off, female Lieutenants 30% off, female Vice-Captains 40% off, female Captains... all half price!!

"Hmm, this should attract some Soul Reapers, right?"

Duan Mu looked at the discount list he had newly posted before leaving that morning and nodded with satisfaction.

"Dream on. No Soul Reaper is going to commission you."

A crisp voice came from behind Duan Mu. Turning around, he saw a beautiful girl who looked about seventeen or eighteen, her gaze filled with disdain as she looked at Duan Mu.

"At least the chance of you developing a second time is higher," Duan Mu commented, glancing at the girl's unremarkable chest. He nodded and emphasized again, "Yeah, many times higher."

The girl's face instantly turned red, not from embarrassment, but from anger. She threw a punch, "How did I end up knowing a pervert like you?"

Duan Mu didn't dodge. Although his physique wasn't tall, her small fist didn't hurt when it hit him.

This girl was named Uzuki, the same girl who had shown a slight 'interest in Duan Mu' with a '61 love value' in the past, though that trace of interest had now been erased by Duan Mu.

Knowing Duan Mu's true nature, her affection for him had reached the maximum friendship level of 60, with no romantic feelings whatsoever.

It's worth mentioning...

When Duan Mu inexplicably fell from the sky, he landed right in her home. It caused quite a commotion at the time, even leading to rumors of an intruder from the Living World, which attracted Soul Reapers to investigate.

After a period of investigation, they confirmed Duan Mu was just an ordinary person and let him go. The reason he was allocated an empty house back then was partly as compensation.

Duan Mu took out his key and was about to open the door when he seemed to remember something. He tossed the key to Uzuki, "Help me open the door." Then he turned and started rummaging through a bamboo basket in the corner of the house. Finally, he took out several large wine bottles, a smile immediately appearing on his face.

"Brewing Granny, I love you more and more!!"

"You drunkard."

Uzuki opened the door with the key, giving Duan Mu an exasperated look. "If Brewing Granny's husband hears you say that, he'll definitely beat you up. There are already rumors on the street that the 'Yorozuya owner likes to seduce old ladies'."

"Jealousy, it's all jealousy."

Duan Mu didn't care, picking up the bottles of wine and entering his small house.

The room wasn't large. Below the stairs, there was a bar counter with a few chairs. The central area had a somewhat worn-out sofa. Besides these, the only other furniture was the liquor cabinet behind the bar counter. The second floor was where Duan Mu rested.

"Do you want some?"

"What do you think?"

"Then do you want milk?"

"...Mm."

"Hahaha, as expected, she's such a..."

Seeing Uzuki pick up the wine bottle, Duan Mu quickly swallowed the words 'little brat' and instead took out a box of strawberry milk from under the liquor cabinet, handing it to Uzuki.

If you're going to name a shop like this, it feels incomplete without stocking some strawberry milk.

Although, after Uzuki discovered it, all the strawberry milk Duan Mu bought from District 1 ended up in her stomach.

However, he had bought it for Uzuki to drink anyway, as he didn't have a refrigerator. Rukongai didn't even have electricity. Seireitei seemed to have electricity. When he went to District 1 to buy food, he had seen Seireitei from afar and noticed buildings that looked like power stations.

But whether they generated power using methods from the Living World or spiritual energy, Duan Mu didn't know.

"Since you like strawberry milk so much, why don't you go to the Soul Reaper Academy? Their cafeteria provides free desserts. I heard that some of the strawberry milk I bought was brought back by students on vacation."

Uzuki finished the milk with gulps, let out a satisfied burp, and then said with disdain, "I don't want to be a Soul Reaper."

"Heh heh~~"

Duan Mu didn't ask further and instead placed the bottles of wine on the liquor cabinet.

"Speaking of which, I always see you buying alcohol from the bar, but I've never seen you drink it. And I've never seen you drink at the bar either."

"Little brat, have you ever heard the saying, 'I advise you not to meddle'?"

Uzuki rolled her eyes, her expression filled with disdain. "Age-wise, I could be your mother."

"..." Duan Mu.

He couldn't refute it, because as far as Duan Mu knew, this girl had been living in District 38 for nearly thirty years.

"I'm leaving." Uzuki waved and left, completely carefree.

Duan Mu shook the empty milk carton, considering whether he should buy more strawberry milk to put in the shop for ambiance. Anyway, she wasn't providing him with any experience points.

Muttering to himself, Duan Mu got up, closed the shop door, picked up a bottle of wine, and went upstairs.