There are days when I just feel tired.
I wonder if it’s been since I was a student that I felt tired not from physical exertion, but purely from studying.
The difference now is that unlike the cramming and rote memorization of my student days, this was an efficient, easy-to-understand, and memorable lecture, as if given by a renowned professor. It pushed me and Kitamiya to our absolute limits.
The lecture, held in this Jigen Room from the start of work until about thirty minutes before the fixed bell at 5:30 AM, placed an immense burden on our brains.
It covered everything from history, organizational management, and imperial studies to understand the existence of the Demon Lord, to etiquette for dealing with nobles, territory management, tax revenue control, maintaining and operating legions, and commanding the army.
Are these necessary for us dungeon testers? I wondered, given the sheer variety.
When I, flustered, asked what the point of learning to dance in social situations was, Minami questioned it.
According to the supervisor.
“Whether you use it or not, you will have more opportunities to interact with people who have accumulated and refined this knowledge. This knowledge is to prevent you from embarrassing yourselves then.”
In other words, it means that even as dungeon testers, if we advance, we will have more opportunities to interact with other departments.
Indeed, when I think about it, it’s true.
A regular employee can focus on their own work, but if you move up, you’ll naturally have to handle other matters.
Then, you’ll have opportunities to interact with professionals in those fields.
It seems that without common topics and knowledge, cooperation will be impossible.
The content that executives of the Demon Lord’s Army must learn is extensive. While they say today is just an overview, I can say that even during university entrance exams, I wasn’t crammed with this much information. My brain worked several to a dozen times harder than usual.
Kitamiya, who was attending the lecture with me, left his seat as soon as it ended, saying he was going to eat some snacks.
Even though dinner was waiting, Kitamiya, who usually calculates hiscalorie intake, did this.
Even with a body enhanced by magic crests, his brain craved sugar.
While I thought it was too much for one day, there were breaks in between, and it wasn’t beyond my comprehension.
I was given an unprecedentedly efficient lecture.
“Ah, this cigarette tastes great.”
I, too, was organizing my thoughts with a cigarette.
I was able to manage with some leeway due to the difference in my status, but Kitamiya’s expression was dire.
His eyes were so clouded that you could say they were vacant.
Considering it’s the first day, I shudder to think what the rest will be like.
“Thinking about tomorrow…”
I didn’t voice those feelings and anxieties.
It’s tough, but on the other hand, it makes me feel like they have such high expectations, which sparks my motivation to try.
So, it’s just a matter of how much I can endure.
Fortunately, I have the spirit of a corporate slave from working at a soul-crushing company.
My spirit isn’t so weak that a little thing can break me.
However.
“I really need to eat properly though.”
Even if I can endure mentally, I don’t have an appetite physically.
I’ve only been using my brain, so my body isn’t tired, but the command center that moves my body is completely exhausted.
Therefore, I’m in a state where I should be hungry, but I have no appetite.
“I remember this feeling. It’s been so long since I felt this way.”
I haven’t felt this sensation recently, but I used to feel it all the time in the past.
Overtime, and more overtime.
The fatigue in my brain after pulling an all-nighter and the signal my body sent asking for rest, I now understand. I can only smile wryly, thinking how much I pushed myself back then.
While thinking that cigarettes are good, I smoke in the smoking area of the lodging facility prepared in the Jigen Room.
Looking at the clock in the smoking area, I realize that if I finish this cigarette, it will be the right time.
I tell myself I have to eat something, even if it’s forced, or it will affect me later, and I savor this cigarette, dropping the ash into the ashtray.
The process is surprisingly pleasant.
And after a few minutes of respite, somewhat revived, I head to the dining hall.
“Come to think of it, are the instructors eating with us?”
This Jigen Room currently houses facility maintenance staff, the supervisor, two instructors, and us party members.
The staff will undoubtedly eat elsewhere, but I wonder about the instructors and the supervisor.
It’s not that I dislike them.
I’ve been going out for drinks with Instructor Kio and Instructor Fushio several times a month, so I don’t feel any aversion now.
In fact, I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of meals they’ll serve and what kind of drinks they’ll treat us to.
On the other hand, I’ve never dined with the supervisor, but I have no reason to dislike the idea of eating together.
If anything, I might be slightly more mindful of dining etiquette than with the instructors.
If it were my former boss, even if they offered to take me to any high-end restaurant, I would have thought eating at a nearby gyudon place a hundred times better.
No matter how exquisite the meal, if the person you’re eating with is unpleasant, you won’t enjoy it.
I’ve experienced that far too many times in the past.
Thinking that I’m in a different environment now, that thought stimulated my stomach, and I felt a hunger I hadn’t felt moments before.
“This should be fine,” I think, as I recall the way to the dining hall. Ahead, I hear something noisy.
This area should have vending machines, so is there some problem?
At least, I know it’s not Kaido and the others making that noise.
So, who is causing the commotion? It’s on my way anyway, and nothing major should happen, so before satisfying my appetite, I’ll satisfy my curiosity.
“My lady! To come to a place like this and only eat such unhealthy things! I told you I would prepare your meal!”
“The food you prepare takes too long to eat.”
“I understand that time is precious and your work is important, but that work is only possible if your body is healthy. Since coming to this world, you’ve eaten convenience store bento boxes, gyudon, hamburgers, and cup noodles every single day. No matter how sturdy your body is, my lady, you’ll eventually fall ill!”
Am I witnessing something rare?
The supervisor is being scolded and trying to avoid the maid’s gaze with an embarrassed expression.
“And besides, weren’t you planning to dine with your subordinates today! Yet you prepared such things.”
“It can’t be helped. An urgent job came up. It’s fine with Jiro and the others, they’re here.”
“It is a problem!! Even with the presence of the two generals, you cannot neglect them. Interacting with subordinates is also part of the job! And that job was given to you right before this training began, it’s not something you should be handling!”
Even after blinking, the scene before me didn’t change.
The supervisor, holding a familiar-looking tall cup noodle container, stood perfectly still in front of the vending machine.
That in itself might not be an unusual sight.
I’ve experienced being a corporate slave.
Now, I have Suella, Himik, and Memoria who cook for me, but in the past, I relied on junk food and convenience store meals to shorten eating time and secure even a little more work or break time.
Therefore, I understand and agree with the supervisor’s words.
So, what’s unbelievable about the scene before me?
“Honestly! When I’m not looking, my lady neglects her personal life like this. It’s always been like this. You’re hopeless outside of work.”
I couldn’t believe the being that called the supervisor “my lady” and admonished her.
Calling the supervisor “hopeless.”
I’m honestly impressed.
Her pointed, long, black tail, swaying with slender tips, is a demon’s tail.
Although she has no horns, I can tell that the one scolding the supervisor is a demon.
But that’s not the problem.
Compared to the supervisor, who is tall for a woman, this being appears half her height, or at least significantly shorter.
Her short, permed hair is a beautiful bright pink.
Her jade-green eyes sparkle like jewels.
Her cute face contrasts with the beautiful supervisor.
She’s wearing a frilly maid uniform that accentuates her appearance.
This lolita maid, who looks like she could be from Akihabara, is scolding the supervisor.
I doubt if the scene before me is a hallucination brought on by Instructor Fushio.
She’s still scolding the supervisor, hands on her hips, looking up at her.
Perhaps because she’s concentrating, if I shift my gaze slightly, she might notice me, but she shows no signs of doing so.
On the other hand, the supervisor seems to have noticed me and keeps glancing my way.
“My lady! How dare you look away while I’m speaking! Today, I will not back down until I have your promise to properly improve your personal life!”
Each time, the lolita maid corrects the supervisor’s gaze, preventing her from looking elsewhere.
It’s strange that the supervisor, who would normally not allow such behavior and would simply silence the other party with a single word, is not doing so.
It’s also rare to see the supervisor with a bewildered expression.
Well, this scene is making me want to escape reality a bit, but it’s time to face it.
“If you had told me, I would have prepared something you could eat while working, instead of buying such things. But you said it was troublesome and just ate convenient things. To top it off, you’re treating the company’s overnight room as your own because you can’t be bothered to return to your room. If you had contacted me saying you didn’t have enough clothes, I would have at that very moment—”
Yes, if I let her continue, I can tell it’s going to be very bad.
Especially what comes after “at that very moment.”
I mean, if I learn about the supervisor’s private life, I might be erased by her. I think.
Sensing the crisis that I must not let the lolita maid finish her sentence, I don’t run away. Instead, I deliberately call out to the supervisor in a loud voice.
A voice deliberately made so loud.
“Good work, Supervisor. What’s going on? Ah, and who is this…?”
I speak as if I’ve just arrived.
To the supervisor, who noticed my presence including the time she was stunned, this is a too-obvious act, but it’s what I came up with in an instant to cut off the flow of the conversation.
The supervisor glares at me for being late, and I can only offer a wry smile, begging for forgiveness.
“Oh, my. To be making such a scene on the street is unbecoming of me. I apologize for my unsightly appearance.”
And with my actions proving effective, the lolita maid, who had been heating up, quickly comp
