[LN] Senpai, Jitaku Keibiin no Koyou wa Ikaga desu ka? - Volume 1 - Chapter 3 - Part 2

 

Chapter 3 - Useless policies (Part 2)

It's already past the middle of June, last week.

Since I hired Rena to work so quickly, it will already be two months when it starts next week.

I realized that what I was doing was dangerous to society. If the world finds out about this, everything I've built up in society to this day will be destroyed, and will have to eat dirty food. No matter what Rena's situation is, I know for sure that I will end up like this.

As of now, there doesn't seem to be any sign of that.

That's why today also ended peacefully with no overtime, and I remained in the position of the bottom man in society.

My office is located in a tall building in a big city. During the day, the building was filled with garbage-like clothes, the elevator always filled with people waiting to go to work, take a lunch break, or leave the building.

Country people whose faces sparkle with a beautiful life must dream of such an uncomfortable daily life every day. They dream of being able to be part of an office life full of men in suits.

For these village kids, let me tell you a fact. You too can easily become one of us, that's all.

People who work in suits in beautiful office buildings. At first glance, it doesn't look like much. I'm sure people will misunderstand that it must be.... something really nice.

When the door opens, inside is a fat man with eyes like a dead fish, and an office lady with too much makeup.

When you're entering the elevator, you'll meet a bald old man with a shiny pudding head who is grumpy while talking about flower girls, Men over 30 years old no longer know how to brag about their marital desires.

A bunch of officials looked like they were possessed by demons, it was no exaggeration to say that the building looked like a modern-day haunted house with all the ghosts hanging around.

Everyone knows how to find the workplace of those official demons. Just look for the "feasible" or "in-house" job board that anyone can easily find.

Tenants from the 3rd floor and below of the haunted house have many opportunities to use the convenience store or canteen downstairs.

Today, I went to the convenience store to redeem the fried chicken I won in the sNs retweet campaign without buying anything. The walking deck on the 3rd floor of this building is directly connected to the station.

Once the chicken was settled and in the stomach,

"Tamachi."

An unexpected voice resounded, as if it had been planned.

I turned around and saw a middle-aged man, salt-and-pepper hair, wearing black-rimmed glasses. He was wearing a well-designed suit, and it was hard to find anything interesting in him. His name was the same, I knew it well,

"Ah, Mr. Sasaki, it's hard work."

As you can see, he was my boss.

Because of my job as a programmer and the department I worked in, I rarely had the chance to interact with outsiders. The company expects us to do nothing but follow specifications. That's all the company asks of us.

That's why, in a workplace full of dirty otaku and shabby characters, personal appearance and a sense of neatness are only of secondary or even third importance.

They have no lovers to take care of and no girl friends to beautify them, so the area is always sparse and their workplace is always messy.

In contrast, Mr. Sasaki has many opportunities to interact with people outside of the office, so he can be considered a neat and clean person for someone his age. So, even though he was single, he was well dressed here.

"It's rare to see you show up at this hour."

Such a boss is also always a double person, so he's always busy. I wonder if he never works overtime? If this is true, it might be the first time I've seen Mr. Sasaki come to the office on time.

"What, now you're going to eat miso too?"

"Yes. Right now..."

After all, Mr. Sasaki is not so naive. This expression is a sarcastic jab at the company. There is a common saying when going to work, saying that it is impossible not to eat the specialties of the area. It looks like this business trip to Nagoya.

"I envy your peacefulness these days."

I wasn't comparing myself to someone going on a business trip. Although I wasn't pressed for time, while everyone else was pushing for extra hours, it seemed like I was the only one who said: "See you later" and then go home on time every day.

It's a sarcastic saying that you can find anywhere.

"Thanks to you, I can work quietly like that."

There's nonsense like that. I knew it was sarcasm, so I replied to it.

There was nothing unpleasant about the corners of Mr. Sasaki's mouth.

"It looks like you've done your job and now need help. Did you change your mind like that?"

"I'm free, just looking at the screen and pretending to work. By the way, I sat down while thinking about how to sell it."

"An unexpected step forward. Can you share a secret with me?"

"Okay. But if I just show it to Mr. Sasaki, that's fine."

"Don't beat around the bush anymore. What is it?"

"It's that I always drink less alcohol!"

The former alcoholic raised his eyebrows as if he had swallowed something bitter. I chuckled at the sight of the old man's forehead.

I wasn't lying, as the amount of alcohol I drank had actually decreased. I no longer have the habit of drinking before going to bed. I no longer drank alcohol two hours before going to bed because I didn't want Rena to feel awkward seeing my unsightly appearance... Above all, I had to avoid finding something awkward in the morning when I woke up drunk.

But the most important thing for me to be able to focus on work and improve my performance was to take a break from housework and have a more competitive personal life. Although I said to guard my heart, I was afraid that if I said this, he would say that I had a woman.

"Katagiri was also confused. She said what happened to Tamachi in the end."

Katagiri is the leader of my work team. A senpai at work with an otaku-like expression.

"Too bad I can only praise you."

"If you feel so bad, give me a raise."

"What? Can I increase it again?"

Old Sasaki said sarcastically, then grinned happily.

"Understood. Then let me make a fair assessment of what you have accomplished so far."

"...This is enough."

I quickly retracted the joke.

Ever since I joined this company, I had never received a raise. It was up to Mr. Sasaki to decide. Although it is said that if your work efficiency is good, you will get a raise, but you don't get the rank you deserve.

Anyone who doesn't know what to look at would say Sasaki is a bad boss, right? But to me, this guy is the best.

If you're given the right rank, you have to do the right amount of work and have more responsibility.

What I hate to death is responsibility. Right after that is overtime.

It's been eight years since I entered this industry.

It's been six years since I moved to this company.

However, the salary is only a fraction of what an inexperienced newcomer would earn. It's the lowest level to be exact. It's not that I'm easy or anything, it's just that I've always been willing to stay here. I like my current warm life and I don't want to work hard anymore.

"Like that, is it really alright?"

Mr. Sasaki suddenly spoke in a serious voice.

"If you have that kind of spirit, I'm willing to let you take on new things for sure."

"If I had that mentality, I would have jumped from this job a long time ago. If I work in a new place and still have the same job as here, then the salary there should be higher than here."

"Hm, it should be."

"I didn't do that, because I'm lucky to have a good leader. By the way, I'm the type that just needs to try."

Old Sasaki snorted like he was embarrassed or something.

I'm not ashamed to say that either. This is proof that this is not self-indulgence, but rather self-irony.

"First of all, I want to live to the age of 30. That's my goal in life."

"And what happens after that?"

"I haven't thought about it yet. I'll think about it in the future."

"If it's like this, it will be difficult when you're my age."

"If you don't have the ability, that's it, you can't deny it. It's impossible in this industry."

Now I couldn't think of anything else.

After all, I didn't want to do anything.

I wasn't even hoping for a bright future.

To be honest, I'm not looking for happiness in this society.

I don't want to die, but I don't want to live in pain either.

There are meaningless sayings like "being alive is great". I don't mind if others do the same, but I feel disgusting when anyone tries to force me.

I hate the tendency to be like, "Let's all work together."

"That's right."

That's why I came up with this.

That's what I wanted to do.

"It must be a challenge to do something new with non-human friends."

The rainy season is an unpleasant time.

Until I moved to Tokyo, I didn't know that the temperature humidity would affect my life so much. I was born in a rural slum in Hokkaido. I could get through the summer with one fan, never faced tropical nights, and had no concept of the rainy season. But that doesn't mean it's comfortable all year round. Since it is an area with heavy snowfall, the temperature is not 0 degrees but also minus degrees.

Summer is gradually getting hotter every year. In the past, if the temperature exceeded 35 degrees Celsius, people would complain about the weather because of the unusual weather. However, nowadays, temperatures exceeding 35 degrees Celsius are a common sight every day.

If you look outside of Tokyo, you will see that the hottest city in Japan has been determined. Instead of complaining about the fact that the temperature exceeds 40 degrees Celsius, people are even proud of it. Finally, there are those who call it "unfair" and "cheating" about the location of the local weather observation system. Can they prove that it is still hot after relocating the regional hydrometeorological monitoring system and restore the stigma? The heat must be transmitted to their brains. That's the picture of hell.

This year will also be a hot summer like that.

I don't know if the heat will reach the peak anytime soon, it's only the beginning of July and it already feels overwhelming.

"It's so hot..."

The excitement of summer, with a maximum temperature of 36 degrees Celsius, is getting closer. The temperature difference from yesterday was 10 degrees Celsius. The high humidity from last night's rain made it even more uncomfortable.

It was the end of a normal working day, but the remnants of the 36 degrees Celsius outside air made my body sweat. Unlike relaxing in a cool air-conditioned room, this difference was shocking from the previous days.

On a hot day like this, a cold beer is just what you need right now.

After gulping down a full glass at Gami's bar, I simply said "Thanks for the meal" and left in less than 2 minutes.

Such carefree days, I thought it would only be 3 months.

So cold in the stomach.

As I was walking, I felt the heat of the air, and I finally reached my home.

What do we have today?

With a sense of anticipation, I crossed the hot entrance and entered the living room.

"Ouch...!"

What is this, I frowned. The living room, which I thought would be cool, turned out to be just as hot as outside.

"...Welcome home."

Rena peeked out from the kitchen. She was wearing a hoodie and half pants as usual. Her face showed no shame. Her forehead was covered with obvious drops of sweat, it must be from being too hot.

The boss is back. I smiled at myself coming back, but it was a bit sluggish.

"Hey."

I grabbed the remote on the altar and turned on the air conditioner. After pressing the button repeatedly, I set the air conditioner to a temperature limit of 28 degrees.

"Why didn't you turn on the air conditioner?"

"Ah, sorry."

Rena apologized.

"You should have turned it on since I was about to leave, right?"

"Eh...?"

"I said why didn't you turn on the AC before, why are you letting your body sweat like this."

Rena rarely opened the windows during the day. There was no ventilation system, the space in the house was no different from a steam room. Probably hotter than the maximum temperature during the day.

I wanted to ask if she held an endurance competition by not turning on the air conditioner in this weather.

"Ah, that..."

Rena clenched her fists, and shyly brought them to her chest.

"It's because... the electricity bill..."

When I wondered why Rena didn't turn on the air conditioner, my hand unconsciously stretched out in front of Rena's face. It's not to punch or slap her or anything. It's to flick her forehead. Bring my hand in front of her, then hit by pulling your middle finger with your hand to form an arc.

Pop, a faint voice was heard.

"You idiot. Watch the stingy electricity bill and what if you get sick and come here?"

I scolded Rena who was holding her forehead in pain after being yelled at by me with a sharp sentence. Although she didn't say it in a loud voice, it seemed to be enough to show her anger.

"When I got home, I was so drunk that I thought I had met the Buddha."

"Ugh..."

"Even in times like this, I would've given you a pile of money."

When Rena gave me a stack of 100 pieces of 10,000 yen earlier, telling me to just deduct it from my living expenses. I was surprised to see that much money for the first time, I frowned at her relationship with her father.

It would look like a more mature adult if I returned the money, but I was an unreasonable adult. If Rena could live carefree, I would have kept this money alone.

Rena said, but what about the electricity bill?

"Didn't I say you can't trust people in the hospital?"

"I'm sorry..."

How dangerous it is to not do and not do what you do. Realizing that, Rena shyly apologized in a small voice.

I knew Rena didn't mean anything by it. She probably didn't want to enjoy this kind of endurance contest either, I could have turned on the air conditioner, but I felt worried about the family budget and her daily life.

I put my hand on Rena's head and let out a really languid tone. It was a sign that I wasn't angry anymore.

"Ah, you were trying to be frugal just now..."

My eyes were slightly wet with tears.

Even though I said that, I didn't dare to go in before that.

Damn it really.

If you want to endure the gentle sun, be hard like the north wind.

"Really, this is all very sweaty already."

My hair was wet with sweat.

"The smell of sweat is also overwhelming."

"Eh!?"

Rena suddenly felt confused.

It's very difficult to recognize a person's body odor, unless it's too horrible. Rena was sweating a lot, but she didn't seem to notice,

Her cheeks were also flushed, but it wasn't from the heat.

"A, a, a, I... smell... no?"

Rena felt embarrassed as she repeated her recent stuttering.

"No, it doesn't stink at all."

"Ah, that would be great..."

"It's just that the body odor is stronger than usual, like being sexually exploited. It smells like that."

"Ah, a..."

To be honest, Rena's face now looked like a flame about to erupt. Her throat let out a dry cry.

"If you can think like [I want to satisfy Senpai's sexual needs], that's great. I'm also ready for sexual exploitation."

"Eh, I'd like that too!"

Rena scoffed and ran to the bathroom.

I smiled with a bitter smile.

*

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