落とし穴１３３堀：頑張る人にも年越しを (Part1)
Pitfall 133: A New Year’s Eve for Those Who Work Hard
Side: Kagura
*Rustle, rustle...*
With that sound, a stack of documents collapsed.
"..."
However, no one reacted to the sound. That was because everyone had their faces buried in their desks.
"To think the aftermath of Christmas would reach this far..."
"...I never imagined it would."
"I didn't think the Princess would actually order us to write up such detailed reports..."
This was the punishment for carelessly asking Lady Hairen for a favor. The request had reached Yuki, and because he had arranged for us to take time off to attend a dinner party with dignitaries from various countries at his home, the news had eventually reached the Princess.
Thanks to that, we received a scolding from the Princess and were ordered to write these reports. Well, if handled poorly, our careless behavior could have been seen as a diplomatic incident, so one could say the damage was kept to a minimum.
Still, if we just kept our faces buried in our desks, the work would never end. And as the highest-ranking official currently in the Haiden Embassy—since the Princess is busy in our home country, I am effectively the Haiden Ambassador stationed in Weed—I had to lift my head and resume clearing the mountain of paperwork.
What I was processing now were, fundamentally, petitions for the allocation of trade goods. Some were even from nobles who had mocked us relentlessly in the past. I’d like to know what kind of face they had when they submitted these petitions.
"Even if they send so many petitions now, the usage of these supplies has already been decided..."
The allocation of imports from Weed had already been settled in meetings. Because of the nature of the goods, they were strictly managed.
"I mean, there are even some that say, 'I'll pay, so just buy it for me.'"
"...They're idiots. We've been told that trading with Weed on our own is forbidden."
As Mikos said, sending letters like this was foolish. The Princess had warned us quite sternly never to accept requests of this nature. Of course, this wasn't just the Princess's arbitrary decision; it was a policy decided by the King and all the senior vassals. That was how attractive trade with Weed was, and how much they judged that one wrong step could lead to disastrous consequences.
And among those, the most dangerous item was...
"Even if they ask for 'Divine Sake,' it's not something we can just get our hands on..."
Before I knew it, Solo had also sat up, picked up a fallen document, and read its contents aloud. That document concerned one of the most strictly managed items in our country: Divine Sake.
Our Kamishiro family had also offered sake to Lord Mizutatsu-no-Mikoto, so in terms of naming, that was also "Divine Sake," but the sake Lady Luna brought was in a league of its own. Our investigations had revealed that it could heal not just old wounds, but also missing limbs and even congenital disabilities, making it the greatest treasure of the country, let alone the royal family. That was precisely why we had faced so much coercion and intimidation to hand it over.
"There's no way we can get our hands on Divine Sake."
"That's right. The Divine Sake from that time was an apology to us."
"Ahaha... call it what you will, but I never want to go back to that ghost school again."
Mikos and I nodded along to Solo’s words. The Divine Sake we obtained was something we got after trying out the ghost school Lady Luna had created on a whim. The idiots probably thought we got it easily, but it was truly a life-or-death situation. As Solo said, I never want to experience that again.
While thinking about such things and clearing the backlog, a strange document caught my eye.
"Let me see... what's this? 'Introducing the Zodiac starting next year? The first sign is the Boar? What does this mean?' Wait, Mikos!?"
As I read the document aloud, Mikos peeked over from the side.
"Let me see, Mikos-chan. I have a feeling this will be a good article."
"A 'feeling'...? Come to think of it, you also have the job of gathering information on Weed for public relations."
"That's right. The Princess told me to summarize Weed's culture and technology into simple articles. I've been too busy with my assistant diplomat work lately to get to it, but I've been told it's about time I put something out. Well, there's no shortage of things to write about."
"Choose your topics carefully, okay? If you write something stupid and Yuki ends up hating you, don't come crying to me."
"Of course, I'll adjust it properly. Anyway, leaving that aside, the content is..."
Mikos took the document from my hand and scanned it, finishing in an instant.
"I see. Simply put, they're starting a culture called the 'Zodiac.' And to go along with it, they're holding a reveal on the night of the 31st."
"Zodiac? What kind of culture is that?"
"Originally, it was the order in which animals rushed to a sick god. But it's not about who was first or last; it's about how they cooperated to reach the god, and each animal has different blessings. For the Boar, it's courage and good health."
"Wow, that sounds amazing."
"Well, it says they'll be selling products related to it, so Lady Seraria is probably hoping to revitalize the economy using this Zodiac culture."
I see. Establishing a new source of income.
"Doing this nationwide means there's a possibility of selling goods related to each year's animal. You noticed that quickly, Mikos."
"Fufun. I'm not just a gossip-lover, you know. Reading between the lines like this is Mikos-chan's specialty. Unlike before, I'm learning by watching Yuki-sensei."
"That's amazing, Mikos-senpai! ...But."
" "But?" "
For some reason, Solo’s expression darkened. Did Mikos say something strange? As I was thinking that...
"We can't go to this Zodiac reveal, can we? We're working all day today."
" "Ah..." "
Solo said that with a blank, lifeless expression. That’s right... Today is December 31st. While the other staff members were already on their year-end holidays, we were the only ones working overtime on Christmas reports and the paperwork that had piled up in the meantime.
Moreover, we weren't expected to finish until around 2:00 AM. And we had work again from the morning tomorrow...
"...I had forgotten, or rather, I was intentionally keeping it out of my mind..."
"While everyone else is on break, only Mikos-chan and the others have to keep working... Ah, ahahaha..."
As I slumped over, Mikos started laughing while crying. Oh no, Mikos had broken down.
"Ah, Mikos-senpai, please calm down! I'm sorry. It's not just me who's having a hard time!"
"Calm down, Mikos!!"
"I thought I could spend some warm time with Yuki-sensei and the others at the end of the year, but it ended up like this! Enora took Yuki-sensei's gift on Christmas, and this situation is just what Mikos-chan deserves! Ahahaha!!"
It seemed she had reached her limit from working non-stop. She had been able to attend the party on Christmas night, but other than that, it had been nothing but work. She hadn't had a day off in two months.
In any case, if I didn't calm Mikos down, she would end up causing trouble for Yuki again, and we'd be forced to write even more apology letters to the Princess. I had to prevent that at all costs. Just as I was trying to soothe her...
*Click.*
"Hm? What are you lot doing at a time like this?"
Lady Enora opened the door and walked in.
"Sob... hic... We have no days off..."
"There, there. For Mikos to get like this, the workload must have been truly immense."
"I apologize. I forced her to work without considering Mikos's health."
I said that and bowed my head to Lady Enora.