■ Rapidly Changing Situation □
The glamorous weekend had come to an end, and Monday morning arrived once again.
And the formerly peaceful Oz began to ignite with a single topic.
“Finally, the Governor has drawn his sword! Numerous Royalist figures have been arrested!”
The morning newspapers were plastered with sensational headlines and distributed throughout the capital.
“Oh, quite the flashy job. Caldlasth.”
Dorothea, who as always managed to grab the newspaper first, said this.
“It was simply time to clean up, so I did.”
I replied thus while spearing rolled-up tomato spaghetti with my fork and putting it into my mouth.
Seeing this, Ozma, sitting across from me, asked,
“Do you need some cheese powder?”
“A sprinkle would be good.”
As I said this and pushed the bowl forward, Ozma sprinkled cheese powder on it for me.
After mixing the spaghetti coated with a light layer of yellow cheese powder well, I took a bite.
The unique creamy texture of the cheese powder was delightful.
Expressing silent gratitude to Camilla and Barnett, who had performed admirably today, I asked Dorothea, who was reading the newspaper,
“Dorothea, do you have some free time this week?”
Flipping through the newspaper, Dorothea answered,
“Well, I’ve got plenty of time. Why?”
“Starting today is a special audit period, and I figured we’ll need bodyguards for the staff. I can’t follow everyone around since I only have one body, you know.”
“Hmm, are you aware how expensive my services are?”
“I’ll buy you all the alcohol you want for a month.”
“Does that start today?”
True to her reputation as a notorious drinker within the Demon King’s Army, Dorothea accepted my offer without hesitation or negotiation.
“You just come along with me later.”
“Joosaa!”
I called out to Dorothea, who excitedly went off to prepare,
“Oh, and remember, no killing people, so don’t bring your mana absorption device.”
At this, Dorothea stopped halfway up the stairs and let out a groan.
“That thing blocks my vision and is inconvenient.”
“If you accidentally kill someone and get dragged off by the police, that’s on you.”
“I understand already…”
Dorothea reluctantly agreed after hearing me and trudged back to her room.
She’s twenty-eight this year and still hasn’t matured much.
As I sighed deeply and prepared to resume eating, Ozma in front of me giggled.
“What’s so funny?”
“It’s just… you two remind me of a parent-child relationship.”
“…If Dorothea hears that, she’ll definitely blow up 100%.”
“That’s why I’m only saying it in front of you.”
“Tears of gratitude.”
After replying like this, I finished the remaining spaghetti.
It was getting close to work time.
[[#]] As Dorothea, Ozma, and I arrived at the Governor’s Office, a protest group that hadn’t been seen recently was occupying the front of the headquarters again.
A person who seemed to be their leader was shouting into a megaphone towards the building.
“Release the unjustly captured nobles! Release them!”
“Release them! Release them!”
“The wicked Demon Tribe member Ozma must step down! Step down!”
“Step down! Step down!”
While marveling at the now somewhat familiar protest slogans, I was the first to step out of the carriage.
Then Dorothea and Ozma followed, and upon seeing us, the protesters threw something at us.
“Hmm.”
Catching one to check, it turned out to be a raw egg.
Since I happened to have a dry throat, I cracked the shell and gulped it down, which made Dorothea and Ozma stare at me in shock.
“Do demons not eat raw eggs?”
“Well, they usually don’t, but fresh ones are preferred.”
“Ah.”
Upon reflection, that’s true.
Wishing my evolved stomach was tougher than others’, I carelessly tossed the empty shell onto the floor.
The cleaning ladies will surely take care of it later.
Anyway, seeing my calm response, the protesters apparently became even more agitated and started throwing eggs and stones more fervently.
Of course, there’s no way I’d just stand there and take it, especially since this is undoubtedly an illegal protest. Therefore, I decided to suppress it ruthlessly.
Snap!
With a flick of my finger, the eggs flying toward us instantly reversed direction.
The protesters panicked when they saw this and tried to dodge, but the eggs hit far faster than they could react.
“Kyaahhh!”
The protesters screamed in terror at the calamity they had summoned upon themselves and scattered chaotically.
The guy holding the megaphone looked flustered and tried to do something, but Dorothea moved much faster.
Snap! Crack!
Dorothea stomped her high heels on the ground, and a towering pillar of flames surrounded the protesters.
There was no escape route; it was a wall of fire enclosing only the protesters.
Since it would take the police some time to respond after being reported, this served as a good way to keep them from escaping.
The brown-haired guy leading the protest trembled and shouted into the megaphone,
“You devil spawn! Not only imprisoning patriotic individuals but also oppressing ordinary citizens!”
“Right! Right!”
I scratched my ear and used a similar amplification magic to reply,
“Sorry, regular citizens don’t participate in protests like this.”
In the history of Oz, this is the best time to live. What grievance could ordinary citizens possibly have to come here and protest?
“That’s…!”
The agitator, upon hearing my words, couldn’t think of any rebuttal after racking his brain and bit his lips in humiliation.
Apparently, even he recognized the absurdity of his own rhetoric.
“There they are! Catch them!”
Just then, police officers, seemingly alerted by the Governor’s Office staff, rushed in. The trapped protesters tried to escape, but alas, the spellcaster who cast the fire barrier was a sixth-tier mage, renowned as the top expert in flame magic. There was no way random people could neutralize it and escape.
Eventually, the protesters were unable to flee a single step before the police arrived, and all were arrested on the spot.
“Damn it! We’ll see about this! Partarth! Once the Count is freed!”
The guy giving speeches at the forefront shouted angrily, but I shrugged and responded,
“You know, hearing that line too often gets tiresome.”
“Kraaaaahhh!”
With a nod from me, the police gave him a full-body massage with electric batons.
‘Rather, the Count, huh?’
Since there weren’t many Counts among those captured yesterday, it wouldn’t be difficult to figure out where this guy belonged.
Watching the protesters being taken to the headquarters jail by the police, I chuckled and moved on.
Upon further thought, there didn’t seem to be any particular need to investigate this guy’s background.
Since I planned to shake off every speck of dust from the Royalists starting today, there wasn’t much point in worrying about minor matters.
As I made a throat-slitting gesture to the police dragging him away, a senior officer among the responding police cautiously nodded.
“Alright. With this, it’s settled. Let’s head inside now.”
“Woo-hoo! Alcohol! Women! Delicious food!”
Dorothea, chasing after me while openly displaying her desires.
Who would look at her and think she’s a twenty-eight-year-old spinster?
Ozma glanced at our duo with a slightly nauseated expression and shook her head, saying,
“I occasionally suspect that magicians are just a bunch of eccentrics gathered together.”
I could provide an answer to that question.
“Statistically speaking, out of 100 magicians, 70 of them have peculiar tastes.”
Without going crazy over something, it would be hard to continue magical research that doesn’t even make money.
This applies even to those overflowing with talent.
Whether my answer sounded convincing or not, Ozma muttered, “Well, such things exist in this world,” and started walking into the headquarters.
Seeing this, both Dorothea and I exchanged glances and hurriedly followed her into the building.
“Let’s go!” [[#]]
From Monday morning, the expressions of the Finance Management Room employees were tense.
It was probably because the day of reckoning I had previously announced had finally arrived.
Walking into the management room with Dorothea in tow, everyone from the junior staff to the director stood up and bowed.
Seeing this, Dorothea whistled.
“Your leadership is quite strong.”
“Sometimes, fists are closer than laws.”
As I shrugged and said this, Dorothea slipped her hands into her pockets to observe further.
After briefly scanning the Finance Management Room staff during the morning roll call, I announced,
“As I mentioned last week, we’re entering the debt collection phase for long-term delinquents this week. No one will come out entirely clean when shaken thoroughly, so feel free to speak up. That’s all.”
Having heard this, the members of the Finance Management Room immediately began preparing for external fieldwork.
After taking in this sight, I headed to the Chief Financial Officer’s office and sat down.
Dorothea, who had timidly followed behind me, asked,
“So, what should I do now?”
“You… let’s play chess for now.”
As I said this and pulled out a chessboard, Dorothea gleamed her red eyes and sat opposite me.
“Just so you know, I’m strong.”
That’s a flag for defeat.
