Longing for the Stars - Chapter 10

My work for the afternoon consisted of organizing documents.

As I’ve said many times, this place is a gathering of muscle-brains; there are overwhelmingly more people here who would rather run than read a book. There are office workers, of course, but since this is the borderlands, they seem to be a bit short-handed. That’s why the choice fell on me, as I had helped with the paperwork the other day.

Now that the new moon is over, there are few reports of new monsters, but there is an overwhelming number of reports regarding the damage they caused. The state provides compensation for monster damage, but to receive it, you have to fill out documents.

Yes! In other words, it’s no exaggeration to say this department is currently in its busiest season.

The new moon comes once every month without fail, so for a while, I used to think they should just anticipate that and hire or assign more staff. I thought that, but eventually, I came to accept that you can’t fix what isn’t there. I looked off into the distance, thinking that no one would last long in this environment.

“Your handwriting! It’s filthy!!”

“Hei! I’m sorry!”

“If an apology solved things, you wouldn’t need me, you sludge! Go rewrite it immediately!”

“Yes! I’m sorry!”

“Next!”

“Yes sir!”

“Your handwriting is filthy too, you piece of crap! You big idiot whose only merits are magic and brute strength!”

“You called me an idiot twice…”

“Don’t be so thin-skinned! Rewrite it! Next!”

If I had to pick someone unique among this group of muscle-brains, it would be this person.

A slender man with long blonde hair tied back, long bangs tucked behind his ear, and thin silver-framed glasses. If he stayed quiet, he would undoubtedly be called a beauty. He was sent to this land solely because of his magical talent.

He has naturally pale skin, a thin frame, and above all, a very handsome face. Based on looks alone, I don’t think many people could stand as his equal. However, the moment he opens his mouth, insults fly out, and his gaze is always sharp enough to shoot someone dead. Plus, he wears a scowl all year round.

To top it off, he has a husky voice that you wouldn’t expect from his appearance.

By the way, apparently his throat was scorched by alcohol.

“Gah! I can’t handle this job without booze!”

“Mr. Heilden, it’s daytime, so drinking is not allowed.”

“I know that, you moron! You’re way too serious for your own good!”

“…If I weren’t serious, you’d beat me to a pulp, wouldn’t you?”

“Of course! This is work, don’t underestimate it!”

“If you look up ‘unreasonable’ in a dictionary, Mr. Heilden’s picture would probably be there. Ow!”

A book flew at high speed and hit my head; I slumped over in pain.

While holding the spot that was throbbing with pain, I glared at the culprit. I saw Mr. Heilden curling the corners of his mouth in a grin, looking quite amused.

“Isn’t it bad that you couldn’t dodge that?”

“I just didn’t expect a sudden act of violence from my boss.”

“It’s not violence! It’s a touch full of love! It’s what they call ‘communication’!”

“There is a discrepancy between that and the ‘communication’ I know.”

He must be at least ten years older than me, yet the way he stuck out his tongue and teased me was more childish than anyone else in these barracks. He reminded me of a neighborhood bully back in my hometown.

“You just looked at me and thought I was a brat, didn’t you?”

“Could you please stop reading my mind?”

“All right, Stark, let’s step outside! I’m gonna beat you up!”

“Only if we’re allowed to use physical strength.”

“Of course not! Look at these thin arms! If you challenged me to a physical fight, they’d break!”

“I’m considered pretty thin around here too, you know.”

“Hey, who are you calling a twig?! Huh?!”

“I didn’t say a single word like that.”

Mr. Heilden stood up with a clatter, stepped onto his chair, and put one foot on the desk to act tough. As I looked straight back at him, I heard a very awkward-sounding “Um…” from a seat a little distance away.

“……The next person is waiting…”

Yard was looking at us, timidly raising his hand with his eyebrows turned downward. Right by the entrance where Yard was sitting, there was a fellow soldier holding documents, looking visibly terrified.

“What a pain. Yard, you handle it.”

“Please don’t abandon your work!”

“You idiot, I’m not abandoning it, I’m giving you a chance. Show me how much you’ve grown.”

“Are you taking this job lightly?”

“Hey, Stark! You bastard, let’s go outside!”

“Stark! Please don’t provoke Mr. Heilden anymore! The work won’t get done! We’ll never finish!”

At Yard’s heartfelt plea, Mr. Heilden—who looked ready to grab me by the collar—stepped away. With a sigh, he beckoned the soldier waiting at the door to come in. Yard let out a breath of obvious relief, then glared at me with cold eyes.

“What?”

“It’s not ‘what.’ Seriously, Stark, you’re fearless.”

“Am I?”

“Yes. I could never say things like that to Mr. Heilden.”

“I didn’t say anything wrong.”

“That’s true, but still…!”

Yard let out a deep sigh, and his expression looked a bit exhausted. I felt a little sorry, wondering if I was making him tired again, but since I wasn’t certain, I just looked down at my papers.

These were the documents passed to me after Mr. Heilden gave his permission. The characters written there were barely legible. There were written exams at the academy, so I wondered how they managed to pass with handwriting like this. However, remembering that opportunities to hold a pen decreased sharply after graduation, I accepted that this regression was probably inevitable for muscle-brains.

Since I focused on the documents, Yard also got to work.

Yard is also a rarity among the muscle-brain crowd who is occasionally entrusted with paperwork like I am. But since I was first in our class for written work and he was second, it was only natural.

“Every single one of them writes like a bunch of crawling earthworms! Can you read this yourself? Can you?! Read it out loud right now!”

“Of course! First, regarding the uniforms damaged during this new moon, the damaged areas are… ah, I’ll come back to this one. Uhhh… the sword… this probably chipped…?”

“Go back and try again.”

“Yes sir…”

Watching Mr. Heilden make a throat-cutting gesture with his thumb, another muscle-brain walked out the door with slumped shoulders. The documents he submits next time will probably be readable, but a month later, he will repeat the same thing. I know how it goes.

“Sigh… why can’t they even write properly?”

“Because they have muscles all the way up to their brains.”

“Stark…!”

“Well, you’re not wrong. Yard, how are the documents?”

“Yes! I’ve finished checking up to here! Regarding the next part…”

Yard stood up with a Stark of assigned documents and went over to Mr. Heilden. In this room overflowing with massive amounts of paperwork and files, just standing or walking kicked up dust, which was illuminated by the light streaming through the window.

When there aren’t many people around, Mr. Heilden’s voice isn’t loud, and this room is quiet.

This space, where only the sound of them talking seriously about documents and the sound of my pen moving echoed, was comfortable. I was sorting my documents by type so I could have them checked after Yard was finished, when I heard a modest knock on the open door.

I looked up, somewhat impressed that someone in this zoo actually bothered to knock, but my brow furrowed in a way that anyone could see when I recognized the person standing there.

“Oh, Louvre.”

When Yard spoke to him, Sirius gave them both a small bow.

Seeing him holding documents, I guessed that a senior had probably told him to go submit them. Since Yard had moved away from the front of Mr. Heilden’s desk, there was space for Sirius to enter. I tried to turn my attention back to my paperwork.

“Stark. You check it.”

“…Eh?”

“I’m busy. You can see that, can’t you? I’m in the middle of talking to Yard.”

“Well, but…”

The first check of documents was always done by Mr. Heilden. That had never changed regardless of the situation, so I furrowed my brow, wondering why. In response, he shot me a sharp look.

“Do it.”

It was a voice that allowed no room for argument.