■ A Day at the Finance Management Room □
The next day.
Though I had endured quite a harsh experience in my dreams, perhaps because my body in reality was unharmed, I felt rather refreshed as I headed to work.
Mentally, I was exhausted, but since my body was full of energy, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of dissonance.
It was 8:00 AM, the time when the Governor’s Office, also known as the Royal Palace, opened its doors.
“See you at home tonight.”
“Yeah, go on in.”
As always, Ozma and I parted ways on the first floor after commuting together in a carriage.
Maybe it was because I personally dealt with Count Bisbaden last week, but there were no protesting humans around, so for once, the Governor’s Office wasn’t noisy.
Hmm. This is what a real Monday feels like.
Every weekend, I get harassed by the women in my house, so now coming to work actually feels more relaxing.
I guess that’s what happens when you only have one body but four women in your life.
When I entered the Finance Management Room, the employees were bustling about, as tends to happen on a Monday morning.
Well, it wasn’t hard to understand.
After all, Monday is the day when all the work that piled up over the weekend comes crashing down.
But thanks to my position as the head, I didn’t have anything to do with that busyness. I sat comfortably at the Chief Financial Officer’s desk and happily watched everyone else rush around.
Just then, Aness, the Deputy Financial Officer, approached me.
“Chief Financial Officer.”
“Oh, hey. What’s up?”
“A party invitation has arrived for you, Chief Financial Officer.”
As she said this, Aness handed me a letter adorned with an antique lion crest.
“I’ve never seen this seal before. Whose family emblem is it?”
Aness slightly bowed her head in response.
“It belongs to the Glorious family, whose patriarch passed away during the capital turmoil two years ago. Due to his untimely death, an eighteen-year-old adopted daughter inherited the entire Glorious estate.”
“So she must be about twenty now.”
“Yes. She had been confined to her mansion due to frail health, but recently regained her strength and seems to be planning to enter society actively.”
“That’s good news.”
While uttering empty words that I didn’t truly mean, I was about to discard the invitation until a sudden thought stopped me.
“But doesn’t adopting a daughter usually mean treating her poorly?”
“No, typically they become pawns in political marriages. The Glorious family is an exception.”
“She’s lucky.”
“That could be one way to put it.”
With a calm voice, Aness agreed with my opinion and adjusted her glasses before asking,
“Is there anything else you’d like to say?”
“Hmm… Thanks for bringing me the letter?”
“It’s my duty. I’ll return to my work now.”
“Alright.”
Aness gave me a slight nod before turning back to her desk with the click-clack sound of her heels.
Five years ago, despite being the top graduate from Oz’s Academy, Aness worked as an accountant for a small trading company simply because she was a commoner. It was me who recruited her.
I don’t particularly care about bloodlines, and hiring someone noble just seemed like it would cause unnecessary trouble, so I chose her.
Looking back, it was a very wise decision.
Aness turned out to be an exceptional talent. Not only did she excel in her role as Deputy Financial Officer, but she also voluntarily took on the responsibilities of a secretary, which we hadn’t hired yet. As a result, my duties were reduced to stamping documents, overseeing the overall control of the Finance Management Room, and collecting taxes from chronic delinquents.
Here, I’m the only person who doesn’t strictly follow the law.
Right now, I am not known as Mage Caldlasth but as Partarth, an Elder Lich belonging to the Demon King’s Army.
Even though I’m a lich, I live like a human because I explained that I’m more advanced than ordinary liches.
When I go out to work, I wear a dog mask, but inside the building, I use the transformation magic Polymorph.
Thus, the face everyone knows as Partarth’s is that of a Hollywood actor I used to resemble.
Around 70% of it resembles my original face, so it should be fine, right?
With my legs crossed on the desk, I flicked through today’s paperwork.
Most of it consisted of reports related to tedious tax matters.
Since minor cases are already filtered out by Aness, anything reaching me at least deserves a read.
And here’s where the value of a 7th-tier mage shines.
Unlike regular people, mages gain the ability to think multi-dimensionally around the 4th tier.
This is because starting from the 4th tier, where one can mix all elements, the formulas for magic become incredibly complex, making it impossible for a normal single-core mind to handle.
Therefore, the higher the mage’s rank, the better their multitasking ability becomes. For me, reading documents of this length is done in the blink of an eye.
“Hum-hum…”
Whistling a tune, I quickly stamped the documents as I flipped through them.
With nearly eight times the reading comprehension speed of others, I could skim through the text, filter out minor phrases, and focus solely on the core content.
Before I knew it, lunchtime arrived as I spent the morning stamping papers.
Employees began checking each other’s movements, preparing to leave before 12:00 PM.
I had already finished my work for the day and was leisurely playing chess alone, giving me some extra time to relax.
Those with lunch appointments were already fidgeting, while those buried in work seemed oblivious to the time, their heads buried in their desks.
Sitting at the highest seat, I could see everything happening below. Moving my black queen into checkmate simultaneously, I stood up and clapped.
“Alright, everyone, let’s get up. Let’s go eat lunch.”
One by one, people started glancing around, gathering their belongings.
Especially the female employees, who seemed to have separate lunch plans, were already checking their makeup.
But I had no intention of letting them go easily.
“Since it’s Monday, I’ll treat everyone today.”
Some people froze upon hearing this.
“Surely, no one will sneak out without honoring this gesture, right?”
People who originally had lunch plans exchanged glances and shook their heads, seemingly giving up.
Seeing this, I smirked inwardly.
Ah, trying to escape when the boss offers to pay for lunch?
Hanging my coat from the rack, I addressed the Finance Management Room staff.
“There’s a great restaurant nearby that I know well. Let’s all go there for lunch today.”
Everyone responded in unison with “Yes~!”
Aness, who had already prepared perfectly for our outing, stood beside me and adjusted her half-rim glasses.
I nodded, placed a black silk hat on my head, and began leading the way outside.
The place where I took the Finance Management Room staff for lunch was a popular diner near the central fountain where Excalibur used to be embedded.
I’ve been visiting this place ever since I first came to Oz with my Master, making me a regular customer for about fifteen years.
Lately, I haven’t visited much because I’ve been eating home-cooked meals, but when I lived alone, I ate here almost five times a week.
Thanks to its longstanding reputation, the restaurant was bustling with lively customers.
Perhaps noticing our large group, the owner himself greeted us with a bright smile.
“How many of you are there?”
“Twenty,” Aness answered for me.
“This way, please.”
Following the owner’s guidance, we split into groups of five and sat at round tables.
Because I ended up sitting with the junior members of the Finance Room, they trembled nervously as they took their seats.
I smiled warmly like a neighborhood elder and patted their shoulders.
“Relax. Someone might think I’m intentionally scaring you.”
“Uh? Yes… sir.”
Despite their verbal response, their trembling legs betrayed their continued unease.
I don’t understand why they’re so nervous; it’s just a simple lunch.
The owner approached me directly with the order pad instead of sending a server.
“What would you like to order?”
I ordered the dish I most frequently requested here.
“Hunting stew.”
A dish commonly called hunter’s stew, this restaurant prepares it daily by boiling new stock with milk, sausages, meat, and chunky vegetables for nearly ten hours, resulting in a rich broth.
“Got it. One hunting stew.”
“What about you, Aness?”
“I’ll have the same as the Chief Financial Officer.”
“Then two hunting stews. And these three?”
“Uh, we’ll have the same!”
Since both the first and second in command, myself and Aness, ordered the same dish, the juniors, feeling pressured to conform, followed suit.
I smiled kindly at their behavior.
“You don’t have to follow us exactly. Order whatever you want.”
“Um?… Then, I’ll take the Stamina Set…”
“By the way, if we don’t stick to one menu, the food might take a bit longer.”
As I glanced at the clock hanging on the wall, I calculated that lunch breaks generally last an hour. Since we had spent about ten minutes walking here from the headquarters at 12:00 PM, we had roughly forty minutes left including the return trip.
Understanding my implication, the person who had just tried to change their order to the Stamina Set suddenly declared with determination,
“To be honest, I wanted to try the hunting stew!”
True to form as rookies in the elite-only Governor’s Office Finance Management Room, they were quick on the uptake.
Following their lead, other employees at different tables began ordering hunting stew one by one.
After successfully standardizing the menu, I turned to the owner standing nearby.
“Please bring enough hunting stew for the number of people, and lay out the largest platter of assorted sausages on each table.”
“Understood!”
The owner’s face lit up with a radiant smile, a sight that brought joy.
‘I should bring everyone here again for the next team dinner.’
Considering how the owner used to take care of me when I was a regular customer, I still needed to support his business even more.
