Now, evening. If there’s no evening party, dinner is surprisingly modest. Ah, “modest” is relative to our company—meaning as a king’s meal. So by modern Japanese standards, the quantity is quite large. But I properly eat everything served. If I leave anything, various things happen.
Incidentally, today’s dinner is “intimate”—we’re hosting the Duke of Gaillou’s party.
The Gaillou family, which holds a super-huge domain in northwestern Santeneri, was originally an independent country that we Santeneri absorbed—like a subsidiary company. It’s been quite a while so they’ve become fairly integrated, but differences in corporate culture are still unavoidable…
The duke himself is a distinguished nice middle-aged man. The beard extending from his cheeks to his jaw is mixed with white hair, his hairstyle is also silver (white hair? Isn’t that early?) and slicked back. And his trained physique. This is not the type who leisurely plays golf. His hobby is jogging and weight training. He probably does morning activities too. Most likely.
We elegantly got excited together about hunting (basically a variant of jogging) that this nice middle-aged man has recently gotten into.
“When was the last time Your Majesty and I shared a table like this?”
“After the New Year’s celebrations, perhaps?”
“Oh yes, that’s right. —By the way, Your Majesty, do you have plans after this?”
Xavier-Ene-En-Gaillou, the duke, is straightforward. The type who considers seasonal greetings a waste. I get it. When I was at the advertising agency, I wrote it in emails many times, but without a template, that’s really tedious.
“No, I kept tonight free for Duke Xavier. We can drink until morning if you like.”
“That is an honor. However, might I ask you to spend that time with my daughter?”
Sure. Or rather, that’s the main point, right? I get it.
Several small rooms (relative to our company) are attached to the dining area. I head to one of them. Grand Duke Gaillou goes to another room. He’ll probably talk business with other executives. Will they get excited discussing trendy business books?
The small room is as always huge, with an impossibly high ceiling. A small (relative to our company) chandelier hangs from it. Giant sofas and chairs are arranged in an exquisite configuration.
“Lady Zofie, it’s been a while.”
“Yes! I’m so relieved that Your Majesty is well!”
“You were concerned about me?”
“Of course! When I heard from Father that Your Majesty was resting, I thought about rushing over by carriage!”
Zofie-En-Gaillou is the duke’s eldest daughter. She’s still just fourteen. Her long dark brown hair is tied up and she’s dressed in an elegant deep green dress. Image-wise, she’s the young lady from a conglomerate founding family attending an all-girls school.
But I repeat: she’s still only fourteen.
Combined with her small stature, it’s like a child is wrapped up in grown-up clothes. She’s extremely energetic anyway. A friendly smile, a fearless personality. Well-liked by teachers, always at the center of conversation circles—the type of girl who would absolutely never say “Huh? That’s dull.” They were in class, right? That type.
Incidentally, Lady Zofie, perhaps abundantly inheriting the nice middle-aged man’s blood, has deeply sculpted features and is a super beauty, so if she were actually at school, she’d be the type to cause various commotions.
When she becomes an adult, she’ll probably become like Ms. Kobayashi from General Affairs (24, female). Coming at you aggressively. When we pass in the hallway, she brightly talks to me. A young entry-level employee to the president. Like “President, that’s a nice tie today!” It’s understandable to misread this, right?
When I later asked General Affairs Manager Yoshinaga (48, male), she was apparently the daughter of some local major company’s founding family. So that’s why—she was fine battling head-on with the elite members of the secretarial department. Incidentally, she apparently didn’t get along well with Ms. Misawa from secretarial. Women with guts and rich families are strong.
“Your Majesty, I’ll be able to stay in Shtrois a bit longer. I’m going to the famous Rue Centrole next time! Father gave me permission.”
Rue Centrole, the main street that cuts through the streets of the royal capital Shtrois and connects to Victory Square, is lined with clothing and precious metal shops (for the wealthy)—a prime location. In other words, Ginza’s main street.
I want to go too. I want to go shopping for the first time in a while. I want to go, but of course I can’t. When a king casually goes into town, there are many problems. And when problems actually occur, various people (physically) disappear. But I want to go. Somehow I wish I could go incognito.
This watch I have. A gold pocket watch that fits snugly in my palm. The hand-winding sensation is smooth as silk and truly wonderful. The guilloché engraving on the dial has sharply defined edges. This is 100% handmade.
I want to go to the shop of the craftsman who made this. Apparently named Mr. Blaag. I wonder if Mr. Blaag’s shop also has a secret room. Drinking champagne like bathing in it while choosing watches in such rooms at Ginza boutiques was the best fun. The best escape from reality.
And what’s more! Unlike Japan, here in Santeneri, watches, clothes, jewelry—all the various things that would be tax office cases—can all be expensed. You get receipts, too.
But you know, when I calmly consider my current position, I’m the boss of the tax office in the first place.
And going to the shop is still impossible. Suppose I tell my manservants “I want to go to Blaag’s shop.” Of course that would be brushed aside in the moment, and when tea time comes the next day, the man himself is waiting in the corner of the room. Summoning him for a custom order. This pattern.
There’s no charm in it.
“Ah, I’m quite envious, Lady Zofie. I’m also somewhat interested, but in this position I can’t move about casually. Your rare initiative is wonderful.”
“But Mother always scolds me… to be more ladylike.”
“Lady Zofie. That is also true. However, your vitality illuminates me.”
“Really!?”
No, I get it. She’s cute. Jumping for joy, practically. But she’s fourteen. If I weren’t “His Majesty,” she’d be at that age where she’d whisper with friends around her while looking at her phone without making eye contact: “Isn’t this guy creepy?”
“Your Majesty prefers cheerful girls, don’t you! One would suffocate with someone who only scolds. If permitted, I would always want to be by Your Majesty’s side.”
And now you understand. Lady Braune and Lady Zofie have a, well, you know. Slightly delicate relationship. Not just their personal relationship, but their families are, well, you know. Long-time employees versus the top of a subsidiary (former rival). Factions.
What the Santeneri court needs are excellent financial bureaucrats, politicians skilled at interest coordination, and diplomats who can appease a situation surrounded by enemies on all sides.
And what I need is General Affairs Manager Yoshinaga (48, male).
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT GADGETIZEDPANDA.COM
There’s nothing I can do in this early modern European-esque other world. What can a foreigner who was just thrown here two months ago by some twist of fate do? The Excel shortcuts that the office ladies at my previous job treated like magic, the landscaping techniques I only briefly read about in books after inheriting my father’s company—all completely useless. The only thing useful is “the skill of observation.”
When people become a little important, they get motivated to behave accordingly. They became captain of a club. Representative of a circle. Section chief of a department. Assistant manager.
Or, they became president.
Then everyone uniformly tries hard to demonstrate “leadership.” Organizational reform, management improvement, operational improvement—they want to lead the charge to change something anyway. They want to engrave their existence by changing things. I get it.
But you know, a thoroughly finished organization is harder than you can imagine. They appear in history sometimes, right? Kings who purge their subordinates one after another. I used to think what foolish things they did. But changing a completed organization means exactly that. It’s not like passionately conveying your feelings to gain sympathy or anything like that.
It’s impossible without physically destroying it.
So those purge-type kings do it knowing this. And they usually fail and die horrible deaths. But very rarely some succeed spectacularly, and they’re called wise rulers.
I can’t do it.
When you can’t, there’s only one action you can take. Observe. People smarter than you will do everything. So I become the stamp officer. Here it’s a signature, though.
Don’t look down on stamp officers. There’s nothing more painful than acutely feeling your own existence is meaningless. So being able to endure that emptiness and continue as a stamp officer is one kind of talent. Most people break down. They either half-heartedly meddle in their subordinates’ work, or throw everything away and drown themselves in women, or escape into alcohol. I’ve failed once before. I’ll probably fail again this time too.
In my previous life (?), I must have caused quite a bit of trouble for the people I left behind. I didn’t leave an heir, and there was no will. A company president suddenly taking a leap (physically speaking)—a mere few hundred million in life insurance couldn’t possibly compensate for the damage the company must have suffered.
I feel bad about it. But you see, it was impulsive. If I’d done it deliberately, I would’ve been more thorough. I’d have increased the insurance premiums and properly considered the distribution of stocks.
I’ll say it again—it was impulsive. When you’re on the balcony of the thirty-first floor of a high-rise apartment, having guzzled wine, and you realize how worthless you are, there’s only one course of action you can take, right?
So this time, I’ve decided to be a rubber-stamp official who causes as little trouble as possible. With a strong heart.
That’s what I was thinking as I fell asleep.
In a bed so fluffy it felt like my body might drown in it.
Also check out my friend Localizermeerkat for more LN translations!
BUY THE SOURCE MATERIAL TO SUPPORT THE AUTHOR !!!
Kindly click on the green button above and contribute to filling the green bar if you’re interested in having another LN from the request page translated. Also, every donation is being used to purchase the source material and to fund more English translations.
Please consider joining my Ko-Fi membership. By becoming a member, you’ll also gain access to 2-10 additional chapters of all of the novels from this site translated into English. Last but not least your support will also assist me in upholding the translation quality and speed. For more information, please follow the link.
Donation for faster release is always welcome
Additionally, I am now accepting translation requests.
