Chapter 113 - Busy

“I want to learn more about the contents of this report. Please help me summon whoever was responsible for it.”

I pointed at the mountain of files on my desk.

“The ones over here are already decided. Return them to the various departments.”

And now it was time for the mountain next to me…the thought that there would still be more after I finished this load was almost enough to make me cry.

“That’s the part that needs editing. There’s too much needless waste proposed. If that section is necessary, please note your reasons for retaining it.”

And then there were more files next to me. I could already imagine the folks at this department hanging their heads in disappointment…those in the finance department should be of the same opinion as me.

“The bridge there is quite old…compared to our equipment over here, perhaps it would be better to fix the bridge first.”

…and it was only the second day back.

I had been surrounded by several mountains of paperwork since morning when I arrived in the study, and had been taking care of them slowly.

At this moment all I hoped for was that I could have a clone, but at the same time–”If you have time for those thoughts, why not spend more time working?”–that’s how I encouraged myself.

Even if I managed to somehow lessen the load of files just a bit, Sebastian kept bringing more and more in. The total amount wasn’t lessening at all.

If in the very beginning I put all the files to be dealt with together, they might not even fit in a soccer stadium.

Even someone like me would feel my motivation and energy draining away. I should be thankful for my aides, who brought me the files in groups.

Although Sebastian made an apologetic face when he brought them over, the situation was unavoidable because of my long absence.

Thanks to the riot this time, all the plans I had originally made had to be delayed significantly, so I had to work harder now.

In the mansion, some people had stopped coming to work because of the rumors spreading about me. But even after I was determined to be innocent, they still didn’t come back.

If you asked me what I wanted to say…well, it was just that we didn’t have enough people on hand. It was a very serious issue. I owed a lot to the officials of the territory who somehow kept working under these circumstances. More importantly, I don’t want those who are laboring on the frontline with full commitment to fall ill due to overexertion.

“It’s around that time of the year when the regions are supposed to hand in their tax reports. Before then, we need to handle everything that must be handled.”

As I said this, Sebastian’s expression changed.

Of course, this didn’t mean anything good. Quite the contrary, actually, it signified trouble ahead.

…I understood. With the amount of people we had right now, we couldn’t get any more work done.

Even so, tax reports were very important, so that we could understand the profits and income of each department and region. Those numbers were essential in measuring the future economic trends in the territory.

If profits were high, we could expect corresponding expenditure. If personal income grew, we could anticipate that people would relax when it came to spending; if the merchants’ guild’s income grew, we could look forward to them using those funds as capital when it came to opening up more businesses.

Because of this, I wanted to thoroughly read the tax reports so I could make use of them in the future.

…But under these circumstances, I couldn’t do that. I needed to come up with some way to deal with the issue quick.

Scratch, scratch…the sound of pen scratching against paper echoed through the room.

“…It’s about time to take a break, milady.”

Tanya said this with some concern.

…Ah, it had gotten late already? I looked out of the window. The sun had already started to sink.

“…Hey, Tanya, I have a task I need your help with.”

“Please let me know whatever I can help with.”

“Please make a list of personnel that left because of the riot. If we can also gather what others around them thought of them and their social circle, I would be very thankful.”

“I understand.”

“Then, as you suggested, I’ll take a break. Hold on, help me call Sebastian over.”

Tanya lowered her head, leaving the room.

After that, I enjoyed the tea Tanya had prepared for me while I savored my break. At the same time, I was reading the letter sent by the Anderson family, the main couple.

In other words, my aunt and uncle.

The Armenia family and the Andersons had had deep ties with one another for a long time–since my grandfather’s generation.

My grandfather and Andersons have also been similarly caring. Since the whole Academy business and the riot, they’ve always asked after me.

Although the Anderson family’s territory is technically close to the Armenia family’s western side, there are steep mountains and cliffs separating us. If we wanted to visit each other, we needed to take the sea route. Most importantly, we were both busy, so we ended up relying on using letters to communicate with one another.

After I read the letter, I was about to start working again when Sebastian walked in.

“I was thinking that it was about time for milady to start work again…”

“Just in time, Sebastian. I wanted to ask you something.”

“What is it?”

“I trust that you’ve already recruited some temporary helpers at the merchants’ guild?”

That’s how Dean came to work here. Although it wasn’t anything big, he also helped with very detailed calculations, the organization of files and so on. People were recruited for work that required a lot of helping hands.

“Yes.”

“How is the recruitment going?”

“…Not ideal. Right now we’re in a busy time. Other places are hiring as well, many of whom can offer better pay. Plus, we can’t just hire anyone here.”

“I see…”

I sighed.

“…About that, Sebastian. I had a suggestion.”

“What would that be?”

“How about recruiting some people from the students of the Academy’s officials’ leadership program?*”

Hearing my suggestion, Sebastian’s eyes went wide.

“The content of their job would be various miscellaneous tasks. Although they’re students, if they’ve taken classes at the Academy, then they should be able to do the job. It would be a huge help for us, with how busy we are, and it would give the students a chance to learn about working in a real work environment.”

“Yes…this is a good proposal. I’ll go inquire within the Academy.”

“Then take this.”

I handed the letter to the president to Sebastian. We needed to use my title as much as possible.

“If he agrees, then can I let you do the rest of the negotiations as well?”

“Of course.”

“Then I’ll hand this task off to you, Sebastian. Thank you.”

“Yes, milady.”