Sorry for the late update, I had a high fever a few days ago and thank God I'm better now.
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"Get up. Time for work."
The man was awake the moment he heard Kalpas voice. This was the first time he had slept so deeply and woken so late—perhaps because he didn't have to do early morning training?
The man didn't have a "waking temper"; his mind was fully alert the moment he opened his eyes. Kalpas threw a set of work clothes and a pair of gloves at him.
"Put them on."
"..."
Both the clothes and the gloves were grimy and stained with sweat. The man looked at Kalpas, but Kalpas didn't bother to explain. He changed into a set of work clothes, put on his gloves, and headed out.
The man also changed quickly and followed.
"I don't care if you plan to stay long-term; as long as you live here for a day, you work," Kalpas said as they walked. "Be quick. If you can't carry something, leave it for me."
The man was the type who looked thin in clothes; he had no obvious muscular lines. At a quick glance, if one didn't look at the chest, it would be hard to tell if this masked person was male or female.
Naturally, Kalpas thought he was just a "thin bamboo pole" who couldn't carry much.
"...What are the job duties?"
"Job duties? Heh, you use such 'civilized' words." Actually, Kalpas had noticed the man's clothes didn't look like they belonged to someone from Sundown Alley—neat, clean, with few wrinkles. It wasn't an expensive brand, but it was enough to see he was different from the others.
Kalpas didn't want to think about why such a person would come to Sundown Alley; it was pointless. He had already said that since the nun brought him back, as long as he followed the sanitarium's rules, he could stay. Kalpas didn't want to care about anything else.
A country person might care about someone from the city, but Kalpas was neither. If necessary, he was a man who spoke with his fists.
"We don't have to do much; Sundown Alley doesn't have that much work for us anyway. Just move some cargo or equipment," Kalpas said as they walked out of the sanitarium. His "reputation" seemed to precede him; people in Sundown Alley gave him a wide berth, afraid of accidentally provoking him.
Even without a fight, Kalpas terrifying tone and voice were enough to make people shiver.
"And you'd better be careful... Huh? Where is he?"
He turned around to find the man had vanished. Furious, Kalpas turned in a circle only to find the man stopped in front of a wild flower.
"You..."
"Are there many plants in Sundown Alley?"
Kalpas was about to snap, but the man interrupted him. He turned his Ultraman mask toward Kalpas.
"How should I know! Who else is as bored as you to pay attention to wild flowers?"
The man looked at the flower again. Seeing that it could grow so vigorously in such cold weather, a seed of suspicion grew in his heart regarding this abnormality.
...
"Hmph."
Kalpas watched the man lift the last item onto the shelf, looking effortless without even breaking a sweat. He snorted, but the expression under his mask had softened.
The man was surprisingly good at manual labor; he clearly wasn't some soft "pretty boy" type. He was much better than the trash who clung to the sanitarium but couldn't even perform a single task.
He spoke little, but gave off a reliable vibe. Good—just his style.
"Is that all?" the man asked.
"That's it. I told you there isn't much work to do." One reason for the sanitarium's meager income was that Sundown Alley had few jobs. Cheap labor was everywhere; even if Kalpas could do the work of ten men, there weren't many jobs to take.
If they reached into more "complicated" areas, they could increase their income significantly, but Kalpas disdained such things, and the nun wouldn't accept money from those sources.
For the man, this work didn't even equal thirty minutes of exercise at the gym.
When people are idle, they tend to chat. But Kalpas was not the type to ask about others' business. Most of the time, he just stood there radiating a murderous aura, signaling to everyone that he didn't welcome strangers' conversation.
The man was supposed to be the same, but this time, he was the one who uncharacteristically opened the conversation.
"Did you grow up in Sundown Alley?"
"Tch..." Clicking his tongue, Kalpas hadn't expected the man to initiate small talk. He replied irritably, "Grow up in Sundown Alley? Aside from that weird woman Aponia, I doubt anyone can manage that. You either run away or you don't grow up. Probably less than half stay from birth to adulthood."
"When did you meet Aponia?"
"Three years ago? Two? Can't remember."
"You—"
"Shut up! You never stop with the 'gu-ji gu-ji' ( Note: Something like questions) chatter!" Kalpas had a fiery temper but was a man of few words. His lack of eloquence seemed to have bred a habit of silence. He glared at the man. "Are you checking my family registry?"
"Fine, Kal... zhi."
"What Zhi! You didn't even remember my name!"
As Kalpas fumed, a person stumbled toward them. Kalpas glanced over and roared: "Scram!"
The person, who had looked half-dead, immediately found his spirit and scrambled away in the opposite direction.
"Are these pickpockets not afraid of death?"
"They are afraid of death, which is why they steal."
Kalpas frowned at the man who was contradicting him. The man watched the departing pickpocket.
"Are you making excuses for him?"
"I'm looking for the reason."
"Heh... regardless of the reason, what's done is done."
"But one still needs to know why."
The man turned back to Kalpas. "You weren't wrong. That is all."
I really don't understand this guy. He talks in riddles just like the nun, as if he's studying philosophy. He'd definitely have a lot in common with that woman.
"Hmph. What about you? Where are you from? What did you do before?"
Facing Kalpas retaliatory questioning, the man thought for a while and spread his hands. "I came from... Nebula M78, a planet illuminated by an artificial sun. I was a member of the M78 Space Garrison. While exploring this galaxy, I accidentally fell to Earth and haven't found my way back."
"..."
Kalpas stared at the man blankly.
"So... that's how it is."
"Yes. That's how it is, Kal... Zhi."
"Zhi my ass!" Kalpas snapped out of it. He had almost believed it because of the man's dead-serious expression. He said exasperatedly, "Kalpas! My name is Kalpas!"
"Names aren't that important; you just need to know who is being called. Kal... shi."
"Now even the 'Zhi' is gone?!"
Kalpas grumbled as he walked back to the sanitarium with the man. Less than an hour later, the two of them packed up the barbecue tools and, along with the entire sanitarium staff and a bewildered nun, headed out.