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Chapter 161. [The Will From My Past Life]
I crossed my arms and hummed as I gazed at my collection lined up in the rented warehouse.
Naturally, a smile crept across my face.
"Hehehe! So many goodies from my VTuber oshis. What a happy space this is! Oh, the memories. Is this one right here? It's the first one I ever bought!"
I pinned one of the keychains neatly arranged on the corkboard and picked it up.
Ah, those were the days when I was starting to get into VTubers.
"I didn't even think about displaying my oshis items back then. I used them so much they got worn out. Well, I did buy them all over again when they were re-released."
This warehouse held a treasure trove of memories for me.
Especially the precious items from the early days of VTubers, I had already moved most of them to my room.
But there was still a lot stored here.
"Anyway, I'm really glad I could recover these goodies."
"Iroha-chan, what are you doing here?"
"?!?!?!"
I spun around abruptly at the sudden voice from behind.
There stood Mai, looking at me with a puzzled expression.
"Why are you here!?"
"Well, Iroha-chan, your time in Japan is almost up, right? So, I thought I'd visit and spend some time together. And then, just by chance, you showed up."
"Well, if that's the case, you should have just called me!"
"Well, you see, you were acting a bit suspicious, looking around nervously. I thought this might be a chance to hold something over Iroha-chan."
"That's a terrible reason!"
But of all people, it had to be Mai who found out about this place.
Well, at least it wasn't Ah-nee.
"Anyway, it's an incredible amount of goodies here. What's all this?"
"Of course. I've been collecting them, and..."
"You said earlier that you 'recovered' them. Did you lend them to someone?"
Oh no! What an idiot I am!
Did I let something slip in my excitement?
I have to be careful. Mai is in a position to know my secrets better than anyone else.
"Uh, I received them as a gift from a VTuber enthusiast I knew who passed away."
"Is that so?"
Mai nodded solemnly.
I felt a bit embarrassed for making it sound more dramatic than it actually was.
But I'm just glad all these goodies are safe.
I only managed to recover them a few months ago, and it was quite a struggle.
First and foremost, right after that incident, there was a period when I couldn't move.
During that time, I was constantly plagued by the fear that they had already been disposed of.
However, what protected all of this was something unexpected.
The law.
In my past life, I didn't have any immediate family members (you could say heirs, in this case).
However, that didn't mean the landlord could terminate the apartment lease or dispose of my belongings without permission.
Instead, they had to file for the appointment of an estate administrator.
Then, lawyers appointed for this purpose would settle the estate, and the landlord could recover any unpaid rent.
Now, here's the crucial part.
If there were still assets left behind, the fact that there were no heirs would be reexamined.
If, after 6 months, no heirs appeared, the rights to the property would finally pass to a "special kin".
Legally, even a stranger with a special connection could inherit the belongings.
"But Mai had no idea you had such close friends in the fan community, Iroha-chan. Mai, I had no clue."
"Well, hehe..."
If there were no special kin in this situation, the property would become the state's.
If it had gone that far, recovering my collection would have been hopeless.
In other words, I didn't inherit my past self's collection as a special kin! I couldn't inherit it at all!
But when I tried to file, they said, "You have no relation to this person.".
I could only reply with, "You're right."
That's because there was no connection except in the afterlife
In that case, the collection would have gone to auction and would be almost impossible to retrieve.
I was ready to give up entirely when something unexpected happened.
A "will" was found.
Not just any will, but one legally valid.
Naturally, I have no memory of writing such a thing, so it was undoubtedly a forgery.
However, it emerged from somewhere and allowed me to inherit the collection.
This kind of miracle doesn't just happen.
There was clearly some pressure or maneuvering from somewhere, and someone who knew about the connection between me and the deceased man.
It was undoubtedly the work of "her".
Well, it was a calculated move on her part, weighing the risk of being found out against the collection.
Still, I never expected her to cooperate willingly.
This had to be a down payment for some reward.
One reason I couldn't decline the Nobel Peace Prize was probably due to this.
"Haah..."
Those two are always up to something.
I let out a deep sigh.
***
And then... Finally, the day to go to the U.S. arrives.
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