Stalking People to Relieve Boredom

"Yawn! Good morning Astra." 

< It's evening, master. >

"Oh." Sakura realized it was noon not morning. She just slept during noon and woke up in the evening. 

"Well, I can kiss my night sleep goodbye then." Sakura stood up from her bed. She could feel the rusty feeling in her body. This might have been the result of sleeping out of routine. 

"Argh, I want to take a bath." 

Sakura hadn't taken any baths in the last few days. All she did was pay the system to clean her body. Which was a holly grail and all, but she was mentally exhausted, right now. 

< There should at least be a bath in this house. > 

"Yeah, let's look around." 

Sakura didn't have to search far. Turns out there was a bath just attached to the bedroom. It had a small bath tube and many of the aesthetics were foreign to her. But the core concept of the bath was essentially the same.

"How do I get hot water again?"

< You pour mana into a water-heating device. But I will suggest against that since you would overload the device. >

"Then what should I do?"

< You can take cold water and pay the system to heat it. It should take around 1 to 2 EP. >

Sakura did just that and soon enough she had a tub of water. 

*"Fueh!!!"*

Sakura felt her body calm down as she dipped in the small bathtub. It clearly wasn't comparable to the shrine's open-air bath. However, for her who hadn't taken baths in a few days, it was haven. 

Since she had taken off her clothes she was now back to her blue-haired form. Her long light blue hair had been bound so it didn't touch the hot water. 

Sakura raised her hand and inspected her pure white skin. Since this was the fifth day she had grown taller and more of an adult than she was in the first few days. 

Sakura stayed in the bath for a while before remembering something. 

"Hey, Astra. Do you take baths?" It was a sudden thought but crucial. 

< I don't need to take baths, master. I don't have a body. >

"Wait no, ew. you gotta bathe." Taking baths wasn't about the cleanliness. It was also about rejuvenating the body.

< As I said, master. Just like how I don't need to eat, or sleep, I don't need bathing either. > 

"No, ew. That won't do. Get out and take a bath. And this is an order." Sakura stood up from the bath. 

< As you wish, master. > 

"Good."

 Sakura put a towel around her body as she saw Astra materialize in front of her. 

"Remember to wash your body thoroughly ok?" Sakura said patting Astra on the back and proceeded to get out of the shower room. 

< But, master. my body automatically cleans whenever ever dematerializes. >

"No, you will still clean yourself thoroughly." 

< yes, master. >

"Sigh! Seriously." Sakura closed the door with a little disappointment. She felt like Astra needs to be a little rebellious. Astra was too submissive. And maybe get some hobby.

"Serving you is my reason for living," Astra said in a muffled voice from inside the shower room. 

Sakura blushed,

"Stop reading my mind, you idiot!" she shouted.

-

-

-

-

-

After Astra's bath, Sakura went out of the house to see the night city. Previously she had noticed the night city was fairly lively. It might not be comparable to the likes of Tokyo or anything, however, it had its own charm. 

"Hm? Feels less lively than what I expected." Sakura noticed the apparent lack of people on the streets. There were people but they were nowhere near the amount she had seen in the previous night. 

"What's going on?" 

< Not sure, master. Seems like the people that are on the streets are hurrying. It may be related to the lack of people around. > Astra pointed out something.

Sakura also noticed it. 

"Hey, mister," Sakura called out to a random man who was hurrying somewhere.

"Little miss, I don't have time right now." The man said and scurried away in a hurry. 

"..."

'There's definitely something wrong going on.' 

So, Sakura tried to find a person who could give her any information. There weren't many people in the streets to begin with and most of them seemed to be in a hurry. Sakura with a bit of difficulty finally found an elderly who told her that there was a curfew implemented by the territory lord. 

"Curfew?"

"Yes, my dear. It was very sudden. It came just this evening." The old woman said. 

"Okay thank you, granny."

"You are welcome, dear. Stay safe out there." 

"Yeah, I will," Sakura said her goodbyes to the nice granny who was willing to talk to her. 

'So, a curfew, huh? Well, that seems a little out of the blue.' 

< Maybe because of internal struggle regarding late-night crimes. >

'But it's still so sudden.'

< It is. It seems the person in charge here is not that good at governing. >

'Why do you think so?' 

< Rapid changes like this will further elevate the civil unrest. >

'Yeah, you do have a point.' Even for Sakura, it didn't take long for her to understand the fundamental problem here. 

However, Sakura was sad for another reason. She was looking forward to the night city. But now there goes another plan of touring.

"Damn it, why does this keep happening to me. I just want to tour the city." Sakura wasn't sure why her luck was so terrible from the morning. Her touring plan was being hindered every step at a time. It wasn't even funny anymore. 

Defeated, Sakura began to return back to her home. 

"Hm?" While returning home Sakura noticed a familiar figure near the alleyways. 

"Oh! it's Phil!" Sakura recognized the figure as it was one of the few faces she knew in this town. 

"But what is he doing here?" 

Phil was looking around suspiciously. To begin with, he wasn't good at acting. Sakura had first-hand experience with that.

As of now, Phil was acting like a thief, scurrying around the roads while looking around suspiciously. 

"What is he up to now?" Sakura took a minute to decide whether to call him or secretly follow him as the latter seemed to be more lucrative. 

So, Sakura decided to secretly follow the boy. It was the only interesting thing she could do to get rid of boredom right now.