"I can see that, obviously. It's what Donovan told me to do."
Connie pouted and answered casually.
"No, I know Donovan told you to do it, but you're originally in charge of the eastern region, aren't you?"
The documents Connie had handed me were from the western territories. Specifically, records of strategic物资 transactions between territories.
"Were you not there back then? I'm already dying from work, and Donovan just dumped this on me saying to do this too... So now I'm even more dead."
Connie gritted her teeth. I pretended not to hear the harsh words Connie was spewing and asked.
"He specifically pulled this out separately?"
"That's what I'm saying."
Strategic物资 transaction documents between territories were a kind of supplementary attachment.
It would have been much more efficient for Andrew—who was in charge of these western territories—to handle it himself.
A brief silence passed between us. And it was Connie who broke it.
"Now that I hear you say it, it does seem strange."
Connie scratched her cheek, saying her brain wasn't working properly due to lack of sleep.
"I just thought Donovan was playing favorites with that young master."
Connie tapped the documents on her desk with her index finger and complained.
"That Andrew bastard is always saying he doesn't have time because his cousin—some viscount—has entrusted him with family matters, so he avoids the hard work."
Working while getting paid and making excuses like that didn't seem right, but it was a tactic that worked fairly well on Donovan, who was a status-obsessed person.
'He's desperate to get in line with Andrew's cousin too.'
And so, the work Andrew cast aside would get passed down to employees Donovan deemed easy to push around.
'Since that viscount—Andrew's cousin—is a real big-shot noble, everyone takes it on reluctantly even though they feel wronged.'
Donovan's tendency to single out people he didn't like and harass them also played a part.
'Dirty and despicable, but this is a status-based society.'
It was a familiar unfairness. With small exceptions.
"Even so, wouldn't it have been more efficient to have someone else who handles the western region do it?"
Connie, who had only handled the eastern territories, would need to understand the overall structure of the western region first.
'Since the empire started as a coalition of kingdoms, there are slight regional differences.'
From minor things like how numbers were written in accounting ledgers, to major things like tax collection rates.
Especially between the east and west—regions that had little exchange during the old kingdom era—the differences were particularly large.
'And yet he specifically gave it to Connie? Definitely strange.'
I tried to connect the instinctual warning I'd felt while watching Donovan yell at Connie with the unease I felt looking at these documents now, then stopped.
I hoped it wouldn't be that bad—not that extreme.
Shaking my head to dispel the thought, I said jokingly.
"Maybe he thought you were the easiest target?"
I'd said it to lighten the increasingly serious mood, but honestly, it was all too plausible.
'Without any consideration for work efficiency, just dumping it on whoever looks easiest—that's exactly what Donovan would do.'
Hearing my guess, Connie shuddered as if getting goosebumps and grumbled.
"Donovan Schroer's #1 easiest target—hearing that makes this orphan too sad!"
Connie made sobbing sounds with just her mouth.
As I hesitated, unsure how to react, she started acting even more exaggeratedly pitiful, as if she were a stage actress.
"Yes, I have no parents and no moneyyy!"
If I left her alone, who knows how far she'd go.
"Hey! I never said that much!"
To prevent Satan from losing his job, I picked up a few more documents from Connie's desk.
Connie, eyeing the thickness of the documents I'd taken, stopped pretending to cry and smiled satisfactorily.
"Instead, I have Carolina Diaz!"
Connie danced a bizarre dance while going on about how having me as her academy roommate was the greatest luck of her life.
Of course, I knew she was just joking about being upset, but the shift in attitude was surprisingly extreme.
"I was going to help you even without all that, you know?"
I rolled my eyes lightly and returned to my seat. Then I picked up my pen again.
'The west has a lot of iron mines, so it's quite complicated.'
In particular, the House of Camelot—the ruler and wealthiest in the west—owned multiple iron mines, and the transaction records of their vassal families were rather complex.
'On the surface, it looks like they borrowed money during a famine and repaid in kind when they couldn't repay in cash.'
The promissory notes had been split, combined, and transferred around, making them difficult to track.
'No wonder that young master Andrew tried to weasel out of it.'
It seemed I'd taken on more work than expected, but it was better to read one more page than regret it.
I forced my blurry eyes wide open and flipped through the documents one by one.
Connie was also working silently, wanting to finish quickly and get even a little sleep.
The two of us left in the office worked like that until sunrise.
'Literally just breathing and working—truly.'
Thanks to that, I managed to finish everything before Donovan—who had left saying he'd step out for a bit and apparently gone home—returned to work.
I handed the completed reports to Connie.
After receiving the documents, Connie once again sang and danced to her original song with the lengthy title "It's Luck That I Became Roommates with Carolina Diaz."
"Just make sure to get Donovan's approval when he comes."
"Yeah. I really appreciate it, Rina."
After having Donovan confirm the processed documents when he arrived, Connie said she'd really die if this kept up and immediately left work.
Donovan made a comment about Connie's weak mental state, saying she was being too dramatic, but today marked the start of a three-day special holiday for all capital officials anyway.
'Naturally, his scolding didn't stick—it's the emperor's special decree, after all.'
Most employees didn't even show up to work. And the few who did just finished urgent tasks and left immediately.
I watched the situation a bit longer before cautiously slipping out.
Worried someone might call out to me, I left the palace as quietly as possible, walked another block, and quickly caught a shared carriage.
Dozing off while feeling the bumpy ride of the shared carriage, I soon arrived home.
Mustering my last bit of energy to wash up, I stretched out onto the bed.
From the moment I lay down, as if someone had struck the back of my neck, my memory completely cut off. Whether it was sleep or unconsciousness, I couldn't tell.
"Slept really well."
The outside was dimly lit, and when I checked the clock, it was 6 AM.
"Is this considered waking up early?"
I'd wasted the first day of the holiday, but it was fine. Still had two days left.
'I wanted to see the imperial army's march and the fireworks, though.'
I wasn't too disappointed. It seemed like it wouldn't be bad to spend time catching up on the daily life I'd postponed due to busy work.
"It's been a while—I'll give the cats some treats, stop by the grocery store, and then do some house cleaning."
I prepared for a brief outing and took out some chicken jerky from the cupboard.
Arriving at Grizel Park, where the cats had made their territory, I called out to them in a small voice.
"Do Re Mi Fa Sol, where are you?"
After calling a couple of times while checking the glances of visitors, the cats began appearing one by one from a distance.
Sol, the most affectionate one, rubbed against my calves and greeted me.
"It's been a while, hasn't it?"
Sol, who lived up to her name with the highest-pitched meow, let out a cute "Nyaa."
I gave each cat a piece of jerky.
The cats, each holding a fairly large piece of jerky in their mouths, moved to a slightly distant spot to start eating.
I distributed more chicken jerky to the cats that came back asking for more right after finishing, until I ran out.
Fortunately, the now-full cats went to their preferred spots and began grooming or purring in the sunlight.
I watched them with a proud gaze for a while, then raised my hand to say goodbye to Do Re Mi Fa Sol.
"See you next time."
It was about time for the grocery store to open.
I was heading toward the west gate of Grizel Park, which was still under construction, when I encountered someone entering the park from the opposite direction.
A large man with his hood pulled down deep. As a temporarily opened gate, the path to the west gate was quite narrow for two people to pass.
'Especially including a man that big—two people is impossible.'
I stepped aside to let the other person pass.
Just as I raised my head to tell him to go first, I caught a glimpse of the man's jawline beneath the hood—it looked familiar.
I had only met him face to face twice, but his wasn't a face easily forgotten.
'Huh?'
I seemed to have shown some surprise without meaning to. 'Everett Rohas' turned his head sideways, avoiding eye contact first.
'I must have stared too intently.'
"Go ahead, please."
I offered, somewhat embarrassed.
Everett Rohas gazed at me for a moment, then nodded and passed by.
Only after he'd gone quite far did I turn around.
'What a coincidence.'
I hadn't expected to run into him again. And I certainly hadn't expected this incredible coincidence to continue.
