Wait, what time is it?

“—guh.”

You woke up with a start from your bed.

It had been a while since you had a good night’s sleep with little worries weighing you down.

But even so, as you rubbed sleep out of your eyes and yawned, you couldn’t help but feel you were forgetting something…

It was only after splashing some water on your face that your brain actually caught up to your new reality.

“Oh, crap.

I forgot to pick up Tsunade.”

* * *

You hurried back to the hospital, hoping to the gods that it wasn’t closed for the day.

You doubted that the hospital would simply let someone else’s Character roam free when no one came to pick them up, but then again, it was hard to think of what other thing they would have done in that case.

There weren’t any “police stations”, per se—not after RealDreams basically declared them unnecessary alongside military over the whole world.

Why have regular people do the hard work when you could summon a hero from another world who would do everything for free under the name of “justice”?

The problem that worried you was that, since you had left Tsunade outside your presence for a long time, she might be considered discarded.

In that case, getting her back would be quite the trouble.

You gasped for breath as you arrived at the hospital.

Luckily, the lights were still on.

“Oh, you’re back. Took you long enough.”

The same nurse sitting behind the counter greeted you in a not-so-friendly way.

“Where is my Character? Is she discarded?”

You demanded.

The nurse rolled her eyes.

“No. But you’re lucky that you left her in a building instead of on the street.”

You were seriously considering giving the nurse an uppercut on her jaw, but the nurse stood up and beckoned to you to follow her.

The nurse opened a small storage room with countless lockers.

“What is this place?”

“Lost and found.”

The nurse opened one of the lockers.

“Mmmph! Hmmph!!”

“…huh.”

Tsunade was inside the locker.

Her arms and legs were tightly bound with black leather cuffs, a black ball gag sealed her mouth shut, and a blindfold was placed over her eyes.

“Before you make a complaint, it is stated by law that any lost Characters in the property should be immobilized while being kept for at least three days before being considered discarded, so…don’t sue my master.”

“…right.”

You would’ve been more irritated if it weren’t for seeing Tsunade completely bound and gagged, which was completely up your alley.

“Can I take the restraining gears with me?”

You asked.

The nurse rolled her eyes again, as if she expected nothing less.

“You can, but I must notify you that they’re not high quality.”

The nurse rummaged around the back and handed you a small paper bag.

“This is the Character’s clothes.”

You looked in the bag. Indeed, it was Tsunade’s grey sleeveless tops and trousers.

After signing a form, you took Tsunade out of the locker.

For a moment, you considered taking her home in this state and then freeing her, but since it was your fault for being late, you decided to be slightly more merciful to her than you normally would have.

“—gah, haaah…”

Tsunade rubbed her chin as you pulled away the gag.

“M, master?”

“Hold on.”

One by one, you undid the restraints on Tsunade.

Once you were done, Tsunade remained seated on the floor, absentmindedly rubbing where the cuffs had been binding her.

“…I, I thought, you…you threw me away…”

“Well, you were lucky today.”

You said.

“If you keep being useful, then I won’t be throwing you away.”

“I…”

Tsunade swallowed.

Your answer didn’t seem to comfort her much, which was fine by you since that was never your goal to begin with.

The last thing you wanted to happen was to lose the power you held over her, and letting her know that she was crucial to you as you were to her was one of the ways that might just make it a reality.

“…alright, master.”

“Good, now get dressed. I’m hungry.”

You threw Tsunade’s clothes onto her face.

“Yes, master.”

As Tsunade wordlessly put them on, you turned to the nurse.

If you were going to have Tsunade make supper at home, you needed to get groceries first.

“Where’s the rest of my payment?”

“We’ve deposited it into your bank account once her shift was over.”

You checked your bank account.

Indeed, several dollars were deposited into your bank account.

8, to be exact, which meant the daily payroll was 10 dollars a day or 2 dollars an hour.

It was a decent amount. It was certainly more than enough to cover the monthly fees of 20 dollars and your living expenses.

Although if you wanted to purchase another Character, there was still a long way to go. You recalled that the lowest price available for niche Characters that barely anyone recognized was over a hundred, and the famous ones easily topped one grand.

‘…man, I hope that survey pays off.’

On your walk back home, you made a quick grocery delivery.

You didn’t have the knowledge or motivation to actually look over and consider which food to buy, or worse, calculate which nutrition you needed, and all of that nonsense.

Just buying an all-in-one grocery package released by RealDreams was more than enough.

By the time you were close to your house, you saw a delivery drone fly away from your doorstep.

“Did you buy something, master?”

“Yeah. Groceries.”

You nudged at the huge sack of various ingredients with your foot before unlocking the padlock.

“Carry that inside and make me something.”

Tsunade opened her mouth to say something, but then, she changed her mind midway and nodded.

“Yes, master.”

She hefted the huge grocery bag over her shoulder and waddled over to the kitchen.

“And don’t forget the rules!”

You shouted behind her back.

Tsunade set down the bag and quickly pulled off her clothes before heading back into the kitchen.

You couldn’t help but smirk.

Ever since you received her for free today, your day had been amazing for the most part, which was something you haven’t felt in years.