When I started Suspecting my Wife of Cheating, I Somehow Ended up Living in the Middle of Nowhere - Episode 9

As for my mother, she finally started receiving her pension. About 190,000 yen every two months. Technically, the pension amount is around 200,000 yen, but something gets deducted from it. So, it ends up being about 190,000 yen—roughly 95,000 yen per month. With that, we needed to find a facility she could afford.

Apparently, that’s the job of the care manager. I just had to tell them the pension amount, and they’d find a facility that fits within that budget. For now, my mom was admitted to a regular hospital, where she was to receive treatment for the injuries from the domestic violence and surgery for a compression fracture in her spine.

It would be really helpful if a facility was found within the next three months…

Once all the paperwork was taken care of, I started to feel that familiar emptiness creeping in again. So, I began watching YouTube. At first, I watched comedy skits and stand-up, but eventually, I found myself listening to music.

I don’t really know much about that world, but it wasn’t professionals—more like semi-professional or amateur singers on YouTube. One in particular had an amazing voice that really soothed me.

Their name was… “Nyā-tan.” Probably a cat lover, I assumed. Honestly, I didn’t care about the person themselves—I just found Nyā-tan’s singing and voice incredibly comforting. Just listening helped me relax, even fall asleep…

〇●〇

I found out my mom’s hospital stay would cost about one million yen over three months. The care manager told me that if I applied for “high-cost medical expense coverage,” the surgery and hospitalization fees would be capped at about 80,000 yen per month. But that didn’t include the room charges.

The hospital she was going to only had private rooms, and they cost around 10,000 yen per day—so 300,000 yen a month, 900,000 yen for three months just for the room.

Because of her weak heart, we chose a large hospital that could respond quickly if she needed sudden heart surgery.

Since I didn’t have any savings, I decided to use about half of the settlement money I received from my ex-wife and her affair partner to pay for my mom’s surgery.

And as for the house I currently lived in—it was meant for a family, way too big for just me. So I started thinking about moving into a smaller apartment.

But cheap apartments aren’t easy to find these days. I searched only with cost in mind.

And then—I found it.

“Rent: 0 yen.”

No way. This had to be a joke. Like something from a manga. Rent-free?

I looked into it to see where it was.

Turns out, it was within the same prefecture. A remote village in decline was recruiting new residents. The village was trying to combat depopulation by offering homes to people willing to move there. Most of the things I needed to handle for my mom could still be done by going back to the city.

I happily applied for the “Fukuoka Prefecture Itoyori Village Resident Recruitment Housing.” They were looking for ten families (individuals okay). Apparently, they’d lend out old village houses for free, and residents could renovate them however they wanted. If you lived there for ten years, the house would become yours.

What a revolutionary system!

Honestly, I had wanted to get away from my current place. I didn’t mind going to a place I knew nothing about. More than anything, the appeal of free rent was massive.

Only one thing concerned me—“Interview required.” Makes sense though. No one wants a bad neighbor in a small village.

It was an online application, so I filled out the form and submitted it. The next day, I got a reply by email:

“Please come to Itoyori Village at your convenience. The village mayor will be waiting for you!”

Was this… the interview? I headed to Itoyori, practically skipping with excitement.

〇●〇

The meeting spot was the village community center (I think?). It looked like a regular house with a tiled roof. Other applicants were mostly young people in their 20s or couples in their 30s. The older folks seemed to be retirees, also coming as couples.

And then there was me. 42 years old. Divorced. No kids. Unemployed. No money… Yeah, this was probably hopeless.

Of course the village would want those in their 20s. They’d probably want the couples in their 30s too—one pair even had a baby, so the village could expect them to stay long-term. The elderly couples would probably live there peacefully until the end of their lives…

And me? Divorced, unlikely to remarry. No job and probably won’t work. No money—no benefit to the village.

I was sure I didn’t stand a chance, but still, around 50 of us were guided through the village by the mayor.

…There was really nothing there. In the mountains, there was a waterfall called “Shiraito Falls”—a pretty generic name. They said you could do nagashi-somen (flowing noodles) there all year and catch yamame fish.

On the sea side, it was mostly rocky with only a small sandy beach. You could swim there, but there were no beach huts or anything. The sea was shallow and boats couldn’t dock easily. Apparently, you could find some sea urchin and abalone.

The flat land in between was mostly rice fields and vegetable farms. Nothing special—just cabbage, onions, and the like.

No convenience stores. Only a supermarket along the national road. At that point, about 60% of the applicants had lost interest. Maybe they had some romantic idea of the countryside.

Then came the dealbreaker—no jobs. You had to create your own work. Most people left after hearing that. Only three groups remained: a YouTuber woman in her 20s, an elderly couple, and me.

It felt like they were springing surprise conditions on us, or rather, that’s exactly what they were doing. The young men who had come for the free housing all bailed. The 30-something couples left because there were no jobs.

People were dropping out left and right, as their dreamy countryside fantasies crumbled. It was starting to look like I might actually get a house—but then, true to form, my bad luck struck again.

■■■ Kiyomi Zenpuku’s Complaint

My husband doesn’t come home! Is it work!?

My daughter barely leaves her room! Why!?

Didn’t everything go right after I got divorced and remarried!?