落とし穴８３堀：年末の戦場 (Part1)
**Pitfall 83: The Year-End Battlefield**
**Side: Eris**
The year is drawing to a close.
Christmas has passed, and Weed is now in the midst of preparations for its third New Year’s celebration.
Following the customs of Yuki-san’s homeland, Japan, we are busy with "Oosouji" (the year-end deep clean) to wash away the year’s grime, preparing *toshikoshi soba*, organizing the New Year’s mass, and setting up festivals. It is, without a doubt, the busiest time of the year.
I never imagined that people would be this active in the dead of winter, when food is scarce.
As expected of the culture from Earth that raised my Yuki-san.
"...Au, au. The work... it just won't end."
As I was thinking this, that voice drifted over from the Accounting Representative’s desk.
There sat Tiffany—or "Tefa" for short—her eyes glazed over as she stared at a mountain of documents.
As you can see, Tefa has become my successor.
I have already moved into the position of Deputy Representative, finally liberated from the hellish workload I faced a year ago.
Well, I’m still kept quite busy traveling to the New Continent and handling other matters related to Yuki-san, but it’s manageable.
"Representative Tiffany, please check these documents as well."
"Ah, yes. Let’s see... from the Merchant Company? Wait, not Ratz-san, but... Non-chan?"
"Non" is the girl who took over as the Merchant Company Representative in Ratz’s stead. She is also female, and her race is Wolf Beastman—the same as Tori.
According to Ratz, she has an exceptional nose for business.
"Hmm, hmm. Expenses for the *oshiruko* to be distributed at the Lithea Church for the year-end. If that’s the case, it overlaps with the Lithea Church’s own application, so..."
I see. So the Merchant Company took over the application process for the Lithea Church.
Normally, one wouldn't go out of their way to volunteer for such a task.
Since the head of the church is Lilishe-sama, and our ties are deep, the application would have passed without any issues anyway.
The Merchant Company is, in the end, state-run, meaning it’s all supported by the Weed government, so there’s no real reason for the company to file the application themselves.
So, why do it?
It’s likely because Non wants to make a good impression.
The fact that it was Non’s proposal is the key.
It’s a bit cheeky to swap the Weed government’s name for Non’s proposal, but it’s important that someone with clear intent took the initiative.
As a merchant, selling one’s name is vital.
If the other party is the Church, they will remain a valuable connection even after she eventually steps down from her representative role.
Indeed, just as Ratz said, her business sense is sharp.
"Umm, where did that document go...? ...Waaaaah!"
And there goes Tefa, crying because she can’t keep her paperwork organized.
"Sigh. Tefa. The documents from the Church were settled yesterday; they’re in the Church-related section in the back."
"Representative! Thank you so much!!"
"You’re the Representative, Tefa. I’m the Deputy."
"Au. R-right. But, is the year-end Representative always this busy?"
Tefa said this while searching through the settlement files as instructed.
"It’s not exactly 'normal.' Other places aren't this busy. Usually, the end of the year is meant to be quiet and solemn."
"I thought so. I was surprised that Weed is at its busiest during the year-end. Actually, Eris-san, how did you manage to do this for two years?"
"Well, you get used to it. Besides, the scale grows every year. More people from other countries are coming to spend the year-end in Weed, too."
"Whoa. Does that mean I’m going to be even busier?"
"Only for accounting. I have to assist Yuki-san and Seraria-sama as well, after all."
"...Eris-san, you work so hard."
"It’s the power of love."
"...I’m stuffed."
We continued our banter while rapidly processing documents.
You can’t hold an accounting position in Weed’s treasury if you can’t handle at least this much.
"Oh? Did you finish those Church-related ones from earlier?"
"Ah, no. There’s something I don’t quite understand, so I thought I’d ask Non-chan later and put it on the back burner."
"I see."
As we repeated these exchanges and verifications, a report came in that we had visitors.
"Who could it be at such a busy time? There were no appointments scheduled."
"Please tell them to go home. It’s probably just another department begging for money. Isn't it Poni? Last summer, she came asking for funds to establish a new department. And she used Yuki-san and the others to back her up—that rabbit is a cunning one despite her loli face. Because of her, my paperwork increased! And she did it right when Eris-san was on break!!"
"...Is that so?"
"Yes! Thanks to that, I had a hard time coordinating with Seraria-sama to secure the new budget. She was talking about 'same-day' approvals and other nonsense. That loli-rabbit!"
Ah, that department created when those strange rumors started circulating in Weed.
Come to think of it, I didn't see the application documents, so she must have done it while I was away.
And to get that done with only Tefa there, even demanding same-day approval—perhaps this girl is quite something herself?
As I was thinking this, the room door opened and people began to file in.
"Please don't say that. I only did it because I heard from Yuki-sama that Eris-sama was there to help."
"Ahaha, it’s rare to see Tefa complain like that, so it must have been quite tough. Anyway, yahoo."
"Wha—!? Poni!? Non-chan?"
For some reason, the Police Representative Poni and the Merchant Company Representative Non were there.
"I’m here too—"
"Umm, excuse us."
"Pardon the intrusion. Since Milly-san is here, we’ll just borrow the sofa—"
"Ratz-san!? Tori-san!? Lilishe-sama!? Even Milly-san!?"
My best friends and fellow wives continued to pour into the room.
"What’s going on? Why is everyone here? And Milly, you’re due to give birth soon, aren't you? Why are you out?"
"It can't be helped. I’m still the Representative of the Adventurer’s Guild. But it’s fine. Lilishe-san is with me, and I’m feeling perfectly fine."
"Is that so? So, why is everyone here?"
"That—I will explain—"
For some reason, Lilishe-sama, who seemed the least involved, spoke up.
The situation, it turned out, was exactly about the expense application Tefa had put on hold.
With the scale of the event expected to far exceed last year’s, Poni’s office—which handles immigration—had contacted Lilishe, noting that the *oshiruko* for the church would not be enough. But since the application had already been submitted, they were at a loss. Non, who happened to be visiting for church equipment installation, heard the situation and suggested, "Why don't we just apply through the Merchant Company?" and they had come here to explain the double-filing.