Tabi and Tori are on their way again, this time with Tabi driving so he doesn't get left behind at a gas station again.
Tori is finally resting from all the driving, playing video games in the back. "I could really get used to this," he pointed out.
As Tabi is driving, he stumbles upon a more rural town. At first glance, you would probably think they don't even have electricity.
As Tabi gets closer, he notices that people live in houses made of wood, work in the fields, and even have a watermill nearby.
Intrigued, Tabi decides to make a stop in this place. "Hey Tori, we're getting off here."
"Why here of all places? There's nothing to do here," Tori said, but realized that Tabi had already left. "I guess I'll just go on my own..." Tori thought to himself and sighed.
Tabi was walking through the town on a dirt road, with wooden houses on both sides, each house having a field behind it.
As Tabi walked, he spotted an old man working in the fields and approached him.
"Hey, sorry if I'm interrupting your work, but I'd like to know more about this place," Tabi asked, feeling guilty for stopping the man's work but unable to contain his curiosity.
"It's okay, I was just about to go on a break anyway," the man answered, easing Tabi's mind.
The man left all his tools in the field and went to sit at a table just outside his house, with Tabi following him.
"I really like the vibe of this place. It's quiet and beautiful. Even this wooden table has such a simple shape and looks really primitive, but it fits in a place like this. Where'd you even get it?" Tabi said to the old man.
The wooden table, as Tabi noted, did feel primitive. It had no fancy decorations, as if four blocks of wood were glued together to a big block on top.
"We don't get stuff here. You can still use money in this place by law, but we don't care about material wealth. I made this table, this house, and I'm working to produce food I will eat myself."
"Don't you at least have electricity?"
Tabi's modern views intrigued the man but also irritated him. He saw that Tabi was curious and wanted to learn more about this way of life, but he was frustrated at how young people depended on things that, in his eyes, were unnecessary.
"Why would we have electricity? We're not looking for comfort or pleasure here. We work hard to sustain ourselves and value nature. Modern man has gotten too detached from the nature that created him and too attached to the feeling of comfort." As Tabi heard these words, he felt like he understood this man's way of life. Even if he didn't agree with all of it, he became wiser from hearing this; it was as if going on this journey had been the right choice.
"I see. I'll have to think about this more. Thank you for teaching me, and good luck with your work," Tabi said as he got up, leaving afterward.
After leaving the old man, Tabi started searching for Tori. He heard some singing coming from another house and sneaked a peek through the window to see Tori drinking with one of the locals. He decided to just go about his business for now.
All of a sudden, Tabi heard a female voice shouting from the old man's field. "Help my husband!" she said.
Tabi ran over there, only to find the old man lying in the field in his wife's arms.
A group of people gathered around the old man. He was already dead, probably due to working at such an old age. Some were sobbing, but some were strangely smiling.
Tabi walked up to one of the people who was smiling and asked, "He just died; why are you smiling? Did he do anything wrong to you? Are you happy he died?"
"No, I'm not happy he died. I'm happy he died as he had lived. His life was simple and primitive to most people, but doing this filled him with joy. I'm glad he was able to live as he wanted."
After hearing that, Tabi went to the house where Tori was, grabbed him, and took him to the campervan. Tori just fell asleep while Tabi was thinking about what he had witnessed.