After that, Tomon laid out the tea (setting Mina’s cup down so reverently, it went far beyond mere politeness), and after waiting for him to return to the office, Zen and Mina continued their conversation.
“I would very much love to cooperate, but I hesitate to leave my house for ten whole days...” Zen said. Even if Elysia hadn’t been the imperial princess, having to leave behind his fourteen-year-old daughter would definitely have made him uneasy.
“I’ve heard from His Excellency Cummel as well that you have a daughter. What would you think about having her come with you to attend the party?”
“What? Are you sure?!”
“I’ve already received permission from His Excellency Cummel. Apart from when we’re at the party, I don’t intend to be so uptight, and your daughter can enjoy this like a normal trip. Additionally, as a daughter of the Leadon family, wouldn’t this be an opportunity for her to learn about the real world?”
I don’t think she’ll learn anything from a local prefectural governor’s party at this point, but I’m sure she’ll be happy if it’s a trip. Even if it was just a small trip to a neighboring prefecture.
“Of course, the travel and living expenses for your daughter will also be funded by the prefectural government office.”
“We also have a large wolf who’s like a part of the family...”
“I understand. They will all be considered public expenses.”
Hell yeaaah! We’re going on a triiip! Internally, Zen himself was leaping with joy. Part of it was him purely looking forward to going out with his family, but it was also because this was sure to put Elysia back in a good mood. It was perfect timing.
✦ ✦ ✦
“And so, Zen will be going to Alona City for some official business,” Tomon explained to his subordinates, who’d taken their seats in the office. It was after he had ordered every member of the town hall to see Mina off.
“He’ll be departing in five days,” he continued, “and will be gone for ten days after that. During that time, we must keep the town hall running with just the four of us. Work harder than usual.”
“Okaaay,” whined Max.
“I’m so jealous of Mr. Zen.” Anna sighed.
“Even if it’s for official business, I bet it’s still mostly a vacation. I’m jealous,” mumbled Namnam.
“What’s with these unmotivated responses?!” Tomon exclaimed. As their boss, he scolded Max, Anna, and Namnam, who were frank about their low morale.
“No, it’s true,” Zen said. “I’m getting all the benefits, and yet you guys are getting extra work shoved onto you. I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to apologize! It’s His Excellency Cummel’s direct orders! Hold your head up high and go!” Tomon exclaimed, disguising his selfishness as kindness in order to emphasize how cooperative he was being with Cummel. Internally, though, he was not calm.
Why is His Excellency Cummel requesting this of Zen?! He really is partial to him. He’s not trying to somehow have Zen make a notable accomplishment and replace me, right?
Of course, Mina was the one who’d selected Zen, not Cummel, and Tomon’s suspicion of Cummel wanting to appoint Zen the chief of this small village town hall was wildly off the mark, but he was genuinely afraid of the possibility.
Now that things have come to this, we’ll really emphasize our willingness to cooperate. I’ll make it like a major mission that the entire Todd Village Town Hall is taking up instead of only Zen. If we do that, then it’ll be difficult for His Excellency to let Zen hog all the credit.
Tomon was fast to think only when it came to selfishly getting along in life.
“There were only four of us before Zen was appointed here. Let’s prove that we can keep Todd Village Town Hall functioning even without Zen! Especially to His Excellency Cummel!” Tomon particularly emphasized the “even without Zen” part. The four of them had only kept the town hall running for two months, though, after the previous chief had been promoted. To make matters worse, they’d been floundering, unsure of when things would start to go awry. Tomon conveniently turned a blind eye to those facts, making unnecessary snide remarks without thinking.
However, Zen didn’t seem to interpret it that way. “What wonderfully inspiring words, Chief!” He abruptly stood up, deeply overcome with emotion.
Tomon gaped at him.
“No matter what post I used to work at, if anyone was away for even a day for any reason, they’d receive tons of complaints later, asking them if they knew how much they’d burdened everyone else. It was like lying on a bed of nails. It didn’t matter if it was a cold or if you’d taken time off.”
Tomon was stunned. What? I didn’t know the central government agencies had such an unfriendly atmosphere...
“But that’s just not right, you know? If the work schedule is so tightly packed that the place won’t function if just one person goes missing, that actually means the system is inefficient. Thanks to you, Chief, I’ve realized just how abnormal that was.” Zen kept prattling on and on, as if he’d seen the light.
Moreover, that seemed to have sparked the other subordinates’ motivation.
“Huh. Guess there’s nothing else for it.” Max shrugged. “We’ll cover the gap you’ll leave, Mr. Zen.”
“You’re always supporting us, after all,” Namnam chimed in.
“We passed the civil service exams too,” Anna said, “so let’s show off that we’re part of the elites around here.”
They were now talking in high spirits. Yet Tomon’s speech as a chief hadn’t motivated any of them.
“Ah, yes, indeed...” Tomon said stiffly. Now that the atmosphere was somewhat nice, he couldn’t come out and say, I was just making a snide comment. That’s all. So, he switched to taking on the attitude of a boss who was warmly watching over his subordinates as they got fired up.
W-Well, everything turned out all right in the end! It wouldn’t be wrong to say that my subordinates’ inspiration started from what I said. Now, so long as I don’t forget to make a grand show of sending off Zen together with everyone at the town hall, it’ll be perfect! Reassessing things, he satisfied himself.
“In exchange, we’re expecting souvenirs.”
“Hey now, you’re so ruthless, Anna. But make sure you get me one too.”
“You and Anna are two peas in a pod, Max.”
Zen laughed. “Ha ha. I hear you. I’ll buy you some, so look forward to it. Same goes for you too, of course, Namnam.”
Gazing lukewarmly at his subordinates who were saying such carefree things, Tomon cleared his throat. “Ahem! If you’re going to get souvenirs, you should choose something that’s the finest of the finest to bring back for His Excellency Cummel. And when you give it to him, be sure to tell him that I’ve trained you well.”
Zen was smart, yet he was likely to neglect something like this. That was why Tomon shared some of his worldly wisdom with him.
Tomon didn’t care that his other subordinates like Anna were looking at him coldly, like they were saying, You always say more than you need to, Chief, and handed down his orders. “Now everyone, it’s about time we get back to work.”
However, upon realizing it was almost lunchtime, he corrected himself with a smile. “No, that’ll come second. Everyone, let’s have lunch. You can leave now, Zen. It’s better to leave early to discuss the plans with your daughter.”
“I’m thankful for your consideration, Chief. However, I want to work a bit longer today before going home.”
“What?”
Zen always reached his quota before noon, and his default was to clock out right away. However, after saying something so unusual, he went to sit back down in his seat.
“What’s the occasion?”
“You’ll be down a person for ten whole days,” Zen explained. “I need to get a little serious and take care of my quotas for that time.”
Stop! Don’t be such a hard worker! It won’t look like we’re supporting you anymore! Tomon’s face turned pale while his lukewarm smile remained. Each day’s quota took all day for people to complete, yet Zen was trying to take on ten days’ worth of that work all by putting in a bit of elbow grease. Tomon wanted to call Zen “You monster!” but he managed to keep the words in his throat...just barely.