Chapter 48

Akio POV

Osaka, Japan

The car door opens. I climb out, and I march to the mountainous staircase with my jacket billowing behind me. I look up at an opulent set of posts and lintels that support the main building, boosting the large and gently curved roof, double-tiered with coloured tiles, constituting more than half of the size of the whole edifice. The slightly curved eaves extend far beyond the walls, covering the expansive verandas. The giant-sized door is wide open.

After entering a network of hallways, I reach a place with multiple rooms that have moveable screens as interior sliding doors, consisting of wooden frames with translucent paper.

I stop at the expansive screen flanked by guards.

I unlace my boots, taking them off to place them aside.

I return to the entrance. The one guard slides the screen open, granting me entry.