A new chapter begins.
This time, I want to further narrow the distance between Japan and the Demon Lord’s Army.
“My, what a disaster right at the start of the new year. I never expected all of us to get caught up in something like that!”
“You’re telling me. It was chaos afterward. We weren’t released by the police after all the questioning until the afternoon of the second day.”
“Kitamiya-chan, you’re fine. I was just fighting back against the terrorist group head-on, so I got a lecture from a burly detective. After that, the interrogation started, and I was probably the last one. Compared to that, it’s nice for you, Senpai, to be relaxing in your room, isn’t it?”
The three days of New Year’s celebrations have ended, and although there were no plans to enter a Dungeon today, the Party Members have gathered in the Party Room for New Year’s greetings.
The company itself is still on holiday.
Without even changing into their adventuring gear, they’re all in their casual clothes, holding coffee brewed by Katsu, and relaxing in their own seats.
Kaido and I are seated at a table in the living room. Kitamiya and Minami are sitting on the sofa in front of the TV.
“When I heard you guys got caught up in it, I couldn’t do anything else. I was busy myself at the end of the year. Originally, I planned to leisurely eat Himik’s New Year’s soba.”
While Kaido wasn’t able to fully relax, I had attacked the terrorists but was only detained for less than half a day. In that regard, I could say I had a relatively decent three days, but considering the effort, it wasn’t exactly so.
I have no intention of boasting about who had it tougher, so I just listened to Kaido and the others’ stories. It seems that everyone at the shrine had to explain themselves to the police because they were all involved in directing evacuations and providing immediate responses. Kitamiya complained that her professional experience and inability to explain the situation made for difficult conversations with the police. Everyone there was exceptionally practiced in emergency situations and dealt with them accurately. There were also many witnesses who saw them. They were likely mistaken for being in a related profession or having some connection to such affairs. Our company is a hotbed of confidentiality. Moreover, aside from Kaido, the rest are university and high school students. The police must have had question marks floating above their heads. Their appearance, initiative, experience, and judgment—all of it must have seemed disjointed to the police in Japan.
“Hey, Jiro-san, did something happen?”
“Didn’t you say you were going to spend New Year’s Eve with Suella and the others in your room?”
Katsu and Amelia, the youngest duo in the room, brought out homemade cookies from the kitchen. As Katsu placed the cookies on the table on Amelia’s behalf, I reached for one, pondering how to explain. Something did happen, that’s true, but if I were to tell the truth, the answer is no. Getting involved in this incident has become a bit troublesome, and it would lead to information leakage if I carelessly revealed the truth of the incident that occurred at the new year. So. “Nothing, just a holiday shift like any other. I was just called in to finish up some work I had left from the end of the year.” I decided to brush it off with a joke.
“Ugh, seriously? That’s tough. By the way, are you the supervisor?”
Hearing about the holiday shift, the person who reacted first was the one most familiar with those words: Kaido. In his previous company, he had heard of the term “two days off a week,” but it was something that was never realized. “Saturday is a weekday” was their motto.
“No, it was a separate matter. It’s all finished, and I’ve submitted the report, so I can relax here like this.” The sweet cookie tasted a bit bitter, bringing back a faint memory of the past.
“Ehh, is that true? My intuition tells me it wasn’t just a holiday shift.”
“I don’t like saying this, as it’s the same as Minami, but Jiro-san, are you hiding something?”
This is where the difference between those who can be easily dismissed and those who cannot becomes apparent. Kaido, Katsu, and Amelia sincerely worried about me, but Minami, who never misses an opportunity for excitement, sensed something mysterious and pursued me with sparkling curiosity. Kitamiya, on the other hand, looked like she had half a hunch and half a sense of experience, predicting impending trouble.
“Well, all I can say is that I was at work during the New Year’s holidays.” No matter how they looked at me, I couldn’t say what I couldn’t say. So, I calmly sipped my coffee.
“Well, if it doesn’t involve me, then I don’t really care,” Kitamiya said.
“Boo, boo! I’m not convinced, gozaru. I’m sure the leader is hiding some interesting information!” While Kitamiya easily backed down, saying it was fine if I couldn’t tell her, Minami, unable to give up, moved from the sofa towards me, pointing at me with a gesture that seemed to come with a sound effect. Furthermore. “Here, I’ll even give you the right to touch my chest right now, so please tell me, just me.” “Unfortunately, I’m satisfied with Suella and the others, so I’m not interested in that kind of talk.” She struck an obvious pose. Minami is beautiful enough to be popular if she just paid attention to her appearance. However, her actions are often disappointing, so she is probably rarely seen as a potential romantic partner. As for me, Minami is troublesome, but. Having even tried to seduce me, I was exasperated and let out a sigh. I’m not exactly blameless myself, but Minami is outstandingly curious among our members. It’s better to resolve this type of situation quickly than to engage in a lengthy exchange. With a grunt, as Minami was about to do something else. “Katsu.” “Don’t do anything weird.” “Oww!?” I asked the guardian to step in and suppress her. Even though it was probably just a light tap, Minami, who dramatically clutched her head, glared at Katsu, who had chopped her. “Ugh, but Katsu, you’re curious too, aren’t you?” “I am, but if the leader won’t say it, it means he can’t.” “That may be, but…” “Here, I’ll pour you some more coffee.” “I desire chocolate.” “Alright, alright.” It was less of an exchange and more of how their vocal tones conveyed that they understood the boundaries they shouldn’t cross. The conversation felt natural, likely possible because they have been childhood friends for so long. I felt relieved that the attention had shifted away from me, and thinking that it would be good to continue with a little work talk, I powered up my PC. I remembered there was a schedule for conquering the Dungeon I had created at the end of the year. As I thought this and operated my PC while holding my coffee, I noticed an incoming email. “An email from the HR department?” I raised an eyebrow at the sender, not my direct superior Suella, but the HR department itself, and opened the email. “…” “What’s wrong, Senpai? You look as bad as when I heard about a story where your boss’s mistake almost caused the company to go bankrupt,” Kaido said, looking concerned, but I couldn’t afford his worry right now. My mouth twitched, cold sweat dripped, and my eyes darted back and forth as I read the text. The content was straightforward, but I had to read the details carefully to understand it. “…” “Senpai, please, I beg you, respond. Honestly, I’m scared!” I ignored Kaido’s hesitant words and just kept checking the email. Seeing the sender’s name at the end, I slowly closed my eyelids. “Haa.” I gently took out the cigarette from my breast pocket, walked to the kitchen with a flowing motion, turned on the ventilation fan, and lit a cigarette. “Is this a New Year’s dream?” “No, I don’t know what happened, but why are you suddenly escaping reality?! Explain yourself!?” As Kaido said, I wanted to escape reality. I wanted to make an excuse that it was a dream and pretend I hadn’t seen that email. “Leader, your reaction… is this a new year’s disaster, gozaru? As expected of the leader, he’s got something going on.” “Jiro-san, you’re already talking about trouble again. Stop it. After what happened, I’m tired.” “Oh, no. Jiro-san, you’re not involved in trouble willingly, you know.” Listening to the women’s reactions, my thoughts gradually settled with the smoke from the cigarette. I wanted to believe the email’s content was a lie, but reality wouldn’t let me. Resigned. “Be happy, everyone.” “Oh, Senpai’s back. But when Senpai tells us to be happy, it usually means bad news, right?” “You know me well, Kaido. That’s impressive.” “Ah, I didn’t want to be praised for something like that.” With a smile that I wasn’t sure was a smile, I told them to rejoice. Kaido responded with a smile that also didn’t look like a smile, and the others were similar. Kitamiya made a gesture of holding her head as if enduring a headache, fearing trouble, while Minami, thinking it was an event, clapped her hands with excitement. Amelia looked genuinely worried, wondering if something had happened, and Katsu once again took a chopping stance, ready to hold down Minami. “I’ve received a proposal for a promotion. The duration and specifics will be announced later. It will be a training program under the supervision of a supervisor and two instructors.” “…” “…” “…” “…” “…” “…” A promotion—it sounds good when you hear it, but the content of the email didn’t make it something I could easily rejoice about. The email stated that as a chief, there was a possibility of becoming a section chief or holding a higher position in the future after completing the training, but that wasn’t the main issue. “Furthermore, while proposals for full-time positions were also made to the part-time members Kitamiya, Minami, and Katsu, this can be refused.” “By the way, can we refuse the training?” “You can, but if you turn down this offer, superiors will likely judge that it will be difficult for you to continue working at this company.” The company is trying to bring us in. Originally, I planned to continue working, and I had been attending various events to deepen my involvement with the Demon Lord’s Army. There was no problem as Suella was carrying my child. But that was only for me. Kaido is still fine. He is an adult and can make decisions with self-responsibility. “Amelia, I’m sorry, but you have no right to refuse.” “Yeah, it can’t be helped since Mom works here.” Amelia is in a situation where she cannot refuse. Her health is managed by the Demon Lord’s Army. Furthermore, the Demon Lord’s Army also supports their household finances. It’s not that the treatment is bad; they are being treated very well. If she were to refuse the offer to prepare a position for her, it would create a negative impression on the organization. In this situation, she cannot distance herself from this organization. The problem is. “From the Demon Lord’s Army, while I’m happy that everyone here is being evaluated, it also means they are assessing us as continuing combat power here.” Part-time workers, compared to full-time employees, have lighter responsibilities, albeit in a less flattering way. It’s a position where you can quit anytime you want. It seems like an intention to avoid losing trained combat power by saying, “It’s too hard, I quit.” Perhaps the higher-ups thought it was inappropriate to put Kitamiya and the others in such a position. “Probably, even if you refuse this training, there won’t be any problems with your work itself. However, if you aim to move up in this company, it’s a different story.” Implicitly stating that refusing a recommendation means something like that, I sighed at the worried faces of the members. “However, that’s my official explanation. You all probably don’t intend to refuse this offer, but there’s one point that bothers you, isn’t there?” And up to this point, I’ve only stated the facts. I only described the common social understanding of what would happen if you refused training. Everyone here probably understands that. With that in mind, they are showing expressions that suggest they would be willing to undergo the “training.” The problem is. “The training that the supervisor and the two instructors are planning—it’s scary, isn’t it?” “I agree.” “Yes, just thinking about it gives me chills.” “Will I survive, gozaru?” “Ugh, my body is trembling.” “If I survive, I’ll buy some high-quality dragon meat.” We are all anxious about what kind of training the three beings we know will prepare.
A word for today: It’s a good start, but the future is uncertain.
That’s all for this installment. Thank you for pointing out any typos and for your comments. If you enjoyed it, please leave a review, rating, bookmark, etc.
*The first volume of the novel has been decided to be published by Hayakawa Bunko JA. It was released on October 18, 2018. The e-book version was also released on October 31 of the same year. The second volume was released on December 19. The third volume was released on February 20, 2019. The content has been revised and supplemented from the version posted on Shosetsuka ni Naro, with the addition of an unreleased interlude. Please check out the new books!
A comic adaptation has also been decided for Kodansha’s “Young Magazine The Third.”
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