Cultural Figure of the Year

"Hello. Starting today, I will serve as the chief executive of the merchant group. My name is Elise Elysia."

"Yes, yes. Welcome. We've been waiting for you."

She's here! My slave!

At last, I'm free from this paperwork hell.

Ahh.

The long years of labor are finally over.

Time to go back to being a resting youth and just take it easy.

But first, I have to make sure the handover is airtight.

"I'll walk you through the work handover, so if there's anything you don't understand, feel free to ask anytime. Well, you're the expert, so you'll probably handle most things better than I ever could. Haha. I may be the head of the merchant group, but I'm just a parachute hire."

"Thank you for thinking so highly of me."

Great. Dump the work on her fast and go play.

"This is called a 'cash flow statement.' It's prepared on the basis of the statement of financial position and the income statement…"

"Uh… huh?"

Where am I?

Who am I?

Why am I sitting through what feels like an accounting lecture?

Hold on.

Wasn't I just supposed to hand things over and leave?

Is the world spinning backwards?

Master and slave have completely switched places.

KRAAAAAAH!

"Um, Ellie-Ellie?"

"Yes."

"Why am I learning all this?"

"Because, as the chief executive, I have to report performance to you, Merchant Group Head."

"Right, right."

"So I was explaining how to read the reports."

"Ah. I see."

Wasn't hiring a professional manager supposed to be the end of it?

The steward does all the work, and the moneybags just collect the cash. Right?

Why is there so much I have to know?

Is this how everyone does it?

This is my first time hiring a professional manager, so I have no idea.

Manager Kissinger never did any of this…

"Smaller merchant groups do tend to handle their books in a rather slapdash fashion. In those cases, however, there's a high chance of trouble during later audits. If you give me the contact information, I'll standardize the reporting system and tidy up their ledgers as well."

"Huh? Are you sure it's all right for me to ask that much of you?"

"It's a free service."

"Ah. Okay."

If it's a free service, I guess I can't refuse…

In the end, it means I have to study properly.

If I don't want to end up doing labor later—or worse, end up in a labor reformatory.

Hmm. Hmmm. Hmmmmm.

Being the head of a merchant group really is a grueling job.

No wonder Father started going bald.

Even my own dad never taught me any of this…!

Damn it.

I hired staff and somehow ended up with more work.

Is this right?

I want to resign!

I just want to loaf around and eat!

Just let me be a resting youth!

Why can't I ever be happy…!

"Still, Merchant Group Head, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you pick things up remarkably quickly."

"Ah. Yes. Thank you."

Even if you say that in a private tutor's tone of voice…

I'm your employer, you know…?

I'm the merchant group head, not a student…?

Is this normal?

Really?

Do other merchant group heads do this too?

"Ordinarily, people only receive simplified reports."

"What."

"However, given that you personally closed deals and led the group yourself, I judged that you would want to verify with your own eyes that everything is running properly."

"No. I just want to play."

"You have quite the sense of humor."

"I'm not joking."

"Haha."

"I'm really not joking."

Well.

To check things properly, I suppose you do have to go this far.

A manager could embezzle.

Breach of trust or cooked books could explode at any moment.

But I genuinely don't care.

Whether the merchant group sinks or floats, I'm going to loaf around and live off the proceeds.

"I will support you to the best of my ability."

"Ah. Yes."

Sigh. Fine. Just a few more days of suffering.

Even loafing around turns out to be hard work.

So this… is Lothringen…!

Working under Otto Lothringen, the youngest of the Lothringen family, was a genuinely shocking experience.

He seemed to decide everything without much thought—

yet almost every choice he made was uncannily correct.

What on earth did he look at to reach those conclusions?

Only after poring over countless data sets, analyzing the currents of the times, and digging through paper after paper could I even begin to glimpse the surface of his judgments.

"Merchant Group Head. We've received a proposal like this…"

"Hmm. Accept this one. Reject that one."

"Understood."

Even now it looked like he was just picking at random, but a closer look always revealed a meticulously calculated decision.

Overwhelming intuition.

That was the true weapon of the Lothringens.

Is this what a genius looks like?

What kind of calculations are running inside that head of his?

I want to look inside.

Would the Imperial Intelligence Bureau's magic tools let me see?

Fascinating. Truly.

Taking this job really was the best decision I ever made.

"Hmm. I think the handover is more or less finished, so I'll be taking my leave now…"

But I could not watch that management forever.

I had been hired as a manager, and in the end the merchant group head himself had to leave.

From now on I would have to run this merchant group in his place, as his proxy.

Could I do it?

Could I make the same judgments he did?

I was anxious.

Top of the Academy's graduate business school, Third Princess of the Empire—none of that would be any help whatsoever in real management.

I was afraid.

Afraid that I would ruin his management.

Afraid that my name might remain as a stain on ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the history of a great merchant group.

"Merchant Group Head. Would it be all right if I occasionally sought your advice?"

"Huh? Yes. As long as I can answer through a communication magic tool…"

In the end, despite the lofty title of "chief executive,"

I had no choice but to beg for advice.

At least until I could understand how he thought.

Ahh.

I want to understand.

"Thank you."

"Yep. Then I'm really going now. You take care too, Ellie-Ellie. Hwaiting!"

"Hwaiting… what is that?"

"Ah. It means hang in there. Give it your all."

"I see. Hwaiting."

Hwaiting.

It had a rather pleasant ring to it.

"KRAAAAAAH!"

No.

Don't you know you're not supposed to make work calls outside work hours?!

I just want to rest in peace!

Not having to go to the office is easy on the body, sure…!

But constantly staying on edge, never knowing when the communication magic tool will ring, is driving me toward neurosis.

I gave you full authority, so please just handle it yourself…!

You're the chief executive!

Take responsibility and do the work!

"Yes, yes. What is it this time?"

"Excuse me?"

Should I just block her?

Anyway,

apart from the occasional annoying calls, things had definitely gotten easier.

Best of all, I didn't have to go to work.

That meant I no longer had to wake up, rub my eyes, and change clothes every morning.

I could just flop around all day.

Yeah. A phone call or two… I can take those with a generous heart.

It's still the early days of the job, after all.

I understand wanting to double-check with me.

"Sigh. Guess I'll read some comics."

But I was getting a little bored.

This world has things vaguely like game consoles, but at best they're at the level of Breakout from my past life. It would be nice if someone used magic tools to make something properly good.

Maybe I should invest in a related business later.

Whoa! I almost started creating more work for myself without realizing it.

Invest? What invest.

If you're bored, just lie down and sleep.

I am a pine mushroom…

Looks like the slave mentality from my previous life still hasn't completely died.

Even after more than a decade since reincarnating.

Is this the power of job-posting gaslighting?

Terrifying. Job-po…!

I am absolutely not going to live diligently!

I feel like I've become the protagonist of a gender-bender novel declaring they'll never get hit.

This isn't a flag, right?

Nah. No way. What could possibly happen now?

Just as I thought that,

the communication magic tool rang again.

I sighed and accepted the call.

"What is it this time?"

"…Huh?"

Huh.

It wasn't Ellie-Ellie.

Don't tell me this is a voice-phishing scam?

The name that appears on a communication magic tool is set by the other party, after all.

Hmm. Nah. No way.

If they valued their lives, they wouldn't impersonate the Intelligence ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Bureau.

"Yes. I'm Otto. What is this about?"

"I retired, though."

"Ah. I've stepped away from management. Full authority rests with the chief executive, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠so for any business-related inquiries, please contact the merchant group directly."

"Then what?"

"Me…?"

What the hell even is Cultural Figure of the Year, you damn nerd.

I'm not even a celebrity. How am I a cultural figure?

"No."

"I said it's not all right."

"So refusal isn't an option, is it?"

"Fuck."

These insane bastards at the Intelligence Bureau.

Sigh. Fine. What else can you expect from a fantasy absolute monarchy.

"Then let's do this Sunday."

"…Let's make it Friday instead."

"By the way, may I have the name of the person I'm speaking with?"

"Hey. What's your name?"

The call cut off.

These insane Imperial civil servants.

"Yes."

"Yes."

"Excuse me?"

"Father? Hello? Dad?"

Why do every last one of these people just hang up on me whenever they feel like it?