Extra 33: Days off in Kuzunoha

“Our place is fifth category.”

“Fifth category?! That’s…quite the generous choice there. Ah, if I remember correctly, the Rembrandt Company is also fifth category.”

“Maybe he took reference of him. I haven’t heard the details from Raidou though.”

“Lately, the person himself has been participating and cooperating frequently but, is he the type that does business himself? I feel like, lately, he has been out more often. Truly envying.”

“Fortunately, we have begun to ride in the flow of this town’s market, so the amount of offers that come to Raidou have increased. It is thanks to everyone. Next time, Raidou himself will be coming, so please make do with me for this time around.”

“Well, it is easier for me to speak with Akua-dono and Shiki-dono. It actually helps me out. Since it seems like Eris-dono likes to stir up the place, and Raidou-dono seems to be still be green in the detailed topics.”

“…It is thanks to Representative Zara that we are able to somehow participate in the guild gatherings even when we are a lacking company. We of the Kuzunoha are always grateful for this.”

The Forest Oni, that was called out and had stopped her feet, was standing in place talking to that person.

The place is the Merchant Guild of Rotsgard.

The one who called out the Forest Oni when she was about to leave after finishing the probing that was under the name of ‘friendly gathering’ was the leader that keeps the order in the merchants of this town, Zara.

The one who is speaking with him while lowering her head down a number of times was the employee of the Kuzunoha Company, Akua.

Different from her usual look, she is currently wearing a white shirt with a dark blue suit on top.

Her conduct with that straight back and a gentle smile in her face was something that she had learned as she participated in this kind of gatherings as an employee of the Kuzunoha Company. As of now, it truly looks natural.

Even when he was by no means praising her coworker and lord, her face still showed an amicable smile.

The conversation of the two was in regards to the days off of the company employees.

The fifth category meant that every week, there’s a one day break; and once a month, you are free to apply for a day to take free at the person’s convenience. In this world, you could say these are quite the extraordinary worker conditions.

It normally has to be a quite the big company or a very taxing job that requires specialized personnel for the company to choose fifth category. That’s how much of a term it is.

By the way, depending on the month, there are cases where the total days off end up as six, but in those cases, it was normal to remove one of those free days.

“Right, today I didn’t speak to you because of that. What I wanted to talk to you about is regarding that fifth category.” (Zara)

“Hm? Is there a problem?” (Akua)

“The Kuzunoha Company is being a great help in the reconstruction of the town. Because of this, we have requested from our side for the store to work for a while without any days off, right? But if we consider the number of employees reported, fifth category might be a bit bad. There might also be people that would stick their head stupidly because of this.” (Zara)

“…”

“Of course, I don’t have any intentions of preaching to you about matters of that extent. I just thought about telling you to renew the employee list or change it to the regular first category. It is not something that should take much trouble, right?” (Zara)

Zara spoke to Akua with a tone that had no hostility at all.

Having a break once a month under the first category is what’s most common.

Those are quite the normal conditions for an employee in a company.

“Thank you for your consideration. I will certainly inform Raidou and Shiki regarding this.” (Akua)

“Anyways, I see. Fifth category huh. Our place might have to change from third category to fifth category and increase the personnel… Fumu.” (Zara)

“…To be more accurate, it is more like fifth category as well as a bit of sixth category. It is certainly true that this is an incredibly good environment to work in as a worker.” (Akua)

Akua gave her thanks to Zara, and speaks about her own opinions regarding her working environment.

“?! Meaning that not only do you have days off every week, you also get break times every day?” (Zara)

“? Yeah.” (Akua)

“Good grief. No way he is leaving several hundreds of employees unreported, right?” (Zara)

“Just that…” (Akua)

“Hm?” (Zara)

“Even when there’s a break in the work of the company, there’s obviously training in magic and combat.” (Akua)

“…Right. The Kuzunoha Company’s employees need to be in a required level of battle prowess before being accepted.” (Zara)

“There’s exceptions, but most fall in that category. Thanks to this condition, the lack of personnel doesn’t seem to get solved. Raidou is a worrywart, so we want to solve as much of the problems that occur by ourselves as workers of the Kuzunoha Company’s store.” (Akua)

“Akua-dono and the other employees are all still alive after the incident at the Academy Festival, so the thinking of Raidou-dono might be the correct one, but I think the level he looks for is way too high. You guys are working inside the town simply as a company after all…” (Zara)

“But in the end, we are demi-humans. There’s no belittling between us demi-humans, but there’s a lot of hyumans that do look down on us. And we are opening shop within a group like that, so he was most likely worried for us.” (Akua)

“It hurts my ears.” (Zara)

“This came out as a topic in today’s meeting, but we are always looking for new employees….. Just to make it clear, representative Zara, we do have a number of hyumans we plan on employing.” (Akua)

Akua said the first half with a smile, and the latter part, whispered it to Zara in a low voice.

“…What?” (Zara)

What she said was shocking, but Zara also whispered lowly, understanding the intention of Akua.

The Kuzunoha Company doesn’t employ hyumans.

That matter had been made a topic several number of times in the guild meetings.

These were just the pitiful howls of other companies that had no other way to attack the Kuzunoha Company other than this though.

Akua understood this and didn’t let it leak carelessly, dealing with it without looking for agreement.

If that matter were to move in the surface instead of hidden, it would be quite the big deal; probably not in a favorable way for the Kuzunoha Company.

Zara was able to reach to that conclusion quickly, so he waited for the continuation of Akua’s words.

Hyumans will be able to work in the company, it will be a working place that accepts hyuman employees; that’s in no way going to bring only good effects in the Kuzunoha Company.

“That’s why, if representative Zara has trustworthy people, please do introduce them to us. We will properly test them, and if they manage to pass, we will be hiring them. Of course, this matter is something that Raidou and Shiki are already in the know of.” (Akua)

“…Is that okay?” (Zara)

“We don’t mind it if you are to leak this information to other representatives by saying that you managed to pull it out from us. But do understand that the minimum line we look for is people that can at the very least graduate at the Academy with quite the exemplar grades.” (Akua)

“…I see. There are indeed people like that. If I remember correctly, Jin and Amelia, right? So you guys are planning on hiring them. Hmph, Raidou-dono is also… no, this must be the suggestion of Shiki-dono huh. Whichever the case, they are quite shrewd. Understood. I will not restrain myself in making it my accomplishment.” (Zara)

“This is just a small show of gratitude for the daily consideration you give us. Well then, I will be taking my leave now.” (Akua)

“Okay. Thanks for the hard work.” (Zara)

Akua lowered her head deeply once, and then, turns around with her back facing Zara.

Orderly steps rang as they got further away from Zara.

But suddenly, the silent expression of his while he was seeing her off had turned into a grim one.

“Akua-dono! Sorry but, can I ask one thing?” (Zara)

“What is it?” (Akua)

“Akua-dono, you said that you take combat training, but in that case, if we were to count those training instances, how many actual breaks do you have in the month? This is pure curiosity of mine, but it just bothered me you see.” (Zara)

“Actual breaks huh. In that case…it would be twice a year.” (Akua)

“…Huh?” (Zara)

“Well then.” (Akua)

Akua left this time for sure.

Only Zara was left in place.

The last thing she said was quite shocking for Zara.

“T-Twice a year? That Raidou, just how do his employees manage to keep up with that? I don’t understand. It is a complete mystery.” (Zara)

The reconstruction of the Academy Town, Rotsgard, is proceeding well.

The merchants obviously were passing busy days.

Within that, the dutiful attitude of the Kuzunoha Company’s employees as well as their will to work was exemplary to the point that other representatives sent envying gazes towards them.

Zara thought that this was because of the great working environment that the fifth category provides, but that believe had been quickly shattered to pieces just a few moments ago.

Raidou is still missing quite a lot as a merchant, but in terms of gaining loyalty from his employees, even Zara felt like he would want Raidou to teach him.

◇◇ ◆◆ ◇◇ ◆◆ ◇◇ ◆◆ ◇◇ ◆◆

The working conditions of the Kuzunoha Company are just as Akua told Zara, fifth category.

But the reality was different.

This is also something she said, but she has combat training too, and there are times where there’s work related to the whole race when returning to Asora.

Even if they are working in the company, if they were to say whether they have a day off every week, the answer would be no.

“I don’t have any dissatisfaction with Waka-sama, but we do have to be thankful for Tomoe-sama in this occasion.”

“To Shiki-sama as well. If we were to do as Waka-sama said, our bodies would just rot.”

Laughs and orders were flying around.

An Elder Dwarf and an Orc were conversing with beer mug in hand and a red face.

It is the bar that serves as a dining hall in Asora.

When it is late and gets darker, the residents that drew a good sweat during the day gather in this place looking for food and drinks.

“I heard that he said at first that we should have two days off every week. That’s crazy.” (Dwarf)

“Even one day off is a grateful thing every once in a while, but having many of them every month would be troubling.” (Orc)

“Yeah! Two breaks a year is already a luxury. In the first place, we can all live in peace without the need for a night watch in this place, you know.” (Dwarf)

“True. It is because of diligent daily training and working that one can progress. It would be troubling to have breaks every week!” (Orc)

What they were talking about was also about the days off.

The same topic Zara and Akua had in Rotsgard.

For the residents of Asora, Misumi Makoto is an incredibly generous lord.

Of course, the amount of dissatisfaction and criticism towards him is low.

But in terms of the labouring conditions, there was a slight dispute between Makoto and them.

To put it in perspective, Makoto, who is in a managing position, proposed days off, but the laborers that are the residents of Asora spoke out their discontent for that.

At a glance, it looks like the normal flow of things, but it was quite the weird confrontation.

Because Makoto proposed two days off every week, and the residents complained that it was too much.

The residents actually requested for no days off.

It goes without saying that Makoto’s eyes were wide open at that time.

Not just once a week, they refused the very idea of having days off as if it were natural.

His followers said ‘understood’ and tried to bring the matter to a close, but Makoto obviously gave out the ‘Hold it!’.

He got worried that, at this rate, the company might become a black corporation with exploitation of its employees and evil managers.

But this was brought by Makoto’s way too lacking knowledge of how this world worked, and he was simply speaking with the common sense of a completely different world.

The claims of the residents were concise, and if Makoto were to leave his common sense to the side, what they said would be quite the natural logic.

And so…

“Until now, I have lived for the sake of protecting the tomorrow of my village.” (Dwarf)

“It was impossible to think about having decent sleep. Because there’s no way to tell when and what kind of attack we would receive. We are having our breaks every night already.” (Orc)

“After moving to Asora, there’s a mountain of things to do. Even though we would be able to proceed further the more we do, why is it that we should have to take days off in specified days when our stamina and mental health don’t require that rest?” (Dwarf)

“There’s point in training only when you do it every day. If we were to take a day off once every week, it might not only bring stagnation to our training, but even bring deterioration.” (Orc)

“We have been given food, a place to sleep, and safety. We want to repay that gratitude with work. I would like it if we were allowed to work without rest.” (Dwarf)

“Even if I were to be given a day off, I would find a reason to work or train. That’s why, there’s no need for it.” (Orc)

So on, and so forth.

For Makoto, this would be a conversation on another level.

For the strong people of the wasteland that were in an environment where no one was sure if they had a tomorrow, Asora’s livelihood was way too much of a luxury.

Being brought to an unknown land, ordering them to make a settlement, and making them investigate; Makoto put it all together in this way, so it was pretty clear the difference in views he and the others had.

It deeply differed from the residents that think of sleeping every day in peace as a blessing.

To begin with, in this world, there may be cases where people have days off once or twice a month, but it is rare for them to have set days for those days off.

Even if they are working in a company, it was more close to the treatment of a public servant.

In the first place, even in the common sense of the hyumans, the proposal of Makoto had way too many days off.

“In the end, thanks to the holiday system that Tomoe-sama proposed, things settled down. So let’s say all’s well that ends well.” (Dwarf)

“Right. I am fine with having days off once in summer and once in winter.” (Orc)

“Waka-sama likes festivals, so we will probably be going wild in those holidays.” (Dwarf)

“Then I am looking forward to it! Waka-sama is providing us with the opportunity to drink and eat. I am truly thankful! That’s plenty enough for me. There’s no need for days off! Let’s drink till morning and then go to work~!!” (Orc)

“Yeah! That sounds great! I am totally in!” (Dwarf)

Everyone began to raise their mugs as they chanted ‘We are thankful!’ ‘Thankful!’.

It was a sight that one would think, isn’t this just working as an excuse to drink?

“Good grief.”

There was a single man, that was working at the other side of the counter, shrugging.

An Arke.

He has been entrusted with this bar.

If asked why him, it is because Mio was meddling with the menu and the store interior, and in the end, she ordered for someone to regulate this, so it ended up this way.

Maybe because he found being the master of the bar as fun, he didn’t have any discontent.

“Good evening. A samurai on the rocks, please.” (Akua)

“Akua, welcome back. I will make it promptly.” (Arke)

After the greetings, the Forest Oni had taken a seat on the round seats that are lined up at the counter, and ordered something with a casual tone like that of a regular.

It is Akua who has finished all of her work for the day.

Samurai on the rocks is a favorite cocktail of hers and it originates from the world of Makoto.

Akua likes weak and sweet alcoholic drinks, but lately, she has been able to enjoy the tougher drinks as well.

She directed her gaze towards the guys that were making a ruckus with a specially loud voice and made a smile.

“They had their complaints about Waka-sama at the beginning, but well, just as always, they end up going ‘thanks’ as the ending. No problems. You are the unusual one right now. Eris is not together with you today?” (Arke)

“Eris will be with Komoe-sama tonight, so she said she will be passing for today.” (Akua)

“…The reason why Komoe-sama has been doing weird things lately is because of her influence huh. Good grief… But my preparations of the hunter mist have gone to waste then.” (Arke)

“In that case, I will drink that one as well. By the way, what is that about the complaints towards Waka-sama?” (Akua)

The hunter mist is an original cocktail of the Arke that was made taking the demands of Eris as reference.

Eris has the tendency to enjoy strong alcohol as if it were water, so it enters into the strong type of drinks.

“They said that they are glad the days off didn’t increase.” (Arke)

“Ah, I see. Leaving aside weirdos like Eris, there’s only a minority who would prefer having more breaks.” (Akua)

Akua made a wry smile.

When Makoto proposed the pleasant working conditions of having two days off every week plus a salary every thirty days, her partner Eris stood up and went ‘banzai!’.

She was one of the few ones who agreed with Makoto there.

“People who want to become stronger, people who want to work more; there’s a lot of those in Asora after all. Of course, we also get a lot of work from Mio-sama. There must be a lot of people who think that having too many breaks would dull their bodies. It can’t be helped.” (Arke)

“I would like the right to be absent in the drill camps, but in general, I don’t have any particular dissatisfactions.” (Akua)

“In the first place, Waka-sama is speaking about breaks, and yet, he himself doesn’t take breaks. For actual days off, it is better to follow the proposal of Tomoe-sama about this holiday system that comes twice a year.” (Arke)

“True. In Waka-sama’s case, he considers his own training as hobby time, hence, taking a break. Even if there were two days off a week, I don’t think it would have changed much from the current Asora.” (Akua)

“No doubt.” (Arke)

The two retort to the training of magic and bow that Makoto does and he himself calls as hobby time.

At times, he would wake up even when it was still dark outside; at times, he would miss meals; at times, he would reduce his sleeping time.

Seeing Makoto training with such diligence, or knowing he does this, it would be obvious what answer the residents of Asora would have when asked to take a break as told.

The answer would be no.

If Makoto truly wanted to make it into a two days off every week, an order wouldn’t have been enough. He would have had to show it with him actually following that practice, or it would be difficult to make anyone accept it.

And in reality, those two who have seen the current Makoto, even if the two days off a week were present, they would simply take a break in name only and would still act just like they have been doing until now. That’s what they thought as they looked at each other and laughed.

“Oh, looks like the Gorgons have come as well. It will get even noisier.” (Arke)

“Ara, if there’s a group there that came from the outside, I would like to have a talk with them.” (Akua)

“Keep it moderate, okay?” (Arke)

“Okay. Thanks for the food.” (Akua)

With the drink of Eris in hand, she heads to the new high pitched group that had come into the bar.

The girls already smelled thickly of alcohol, so it was clear that the Gorgons had already drunk somewhere else before coming here.

“What what, what are you all talking about~? Let us in~.” (Gorgon)

“We were talking about how working is living!”

“Nee-chan, more importantly, where did you leave your clothes?!”

“I am wearing clothes~!” (Gorgon)

“I can only see them as strings!”

“Listen well, lady! We were talking about Waka’s proposal about working environment! It ain’t the type that goes along with the standards of work! Rather, it is more for the specialized areas…”

“Old man, that’s a cask you got there! Just go sleep~!” (Gorgon)

“Glasses glasses…”

“H-Hey!” (Gorgon)

“Fuuuu~~siooon!!”

The way to wrap up the daily work.

There might be slight differences in this bar, but it is a sight that can be normally seen when night comes.

Even if there’s more races, more different environments, more work; the residents of Asora continue their fulfilling daily lives as always.

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