Chapter 273: Ch 273: Heavy Burdens of Work

Secretary Ann did not say anything as he took Shuu back to the office. The awkward air was killing Shuu, but he did not dare say anything to ruin the mood.

But the second they entered the office, he wished he would have said something because the amount of paperwork he was faced with was not normal.

Secretary Ann also let out a frustrated sigh before he started on the work.

"You can start filling out the forms with the related information from the system. Try to do your next one without me since I won’t be able to help you out for a while. And if you get stuck, just try to brute force your way through it." 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Secretary Ann begged as he quickly smashed through his pile of work. Shuu started to do his work as well.

The work was not hard, but there was too much to do, which made it difficult for Shuu to keep track of time.

By the time he got through a quarter of the stuff, he was not only hungry but tired as well. He needed to refresh himself, but standing up for food when his senior was still working did not sit right with him.

So he kept working, and about an hour later, he felt like he was about to collapse.

’Just how much stamina does Secretary Ann have? He’s scary! How can he work so much?’

Shuu wanted to know the secretary’s secret, so he looked at him in a pleading manner. The secretary suddenly looked up at him, and that scared Shuu. He clutched his chest as his heart beat heavily, but his eyes met Secretary Ann in a calm manner.

The secretary looked at Shuu and then at the clock before he realized just how much time had passed.

"Oh-! We should stop now. It’s time for lunch. Let’s get something to eat before we collapse from exhaustion."

Shuu nodded and followed Secretary Ann out of the room. They headed to the cafeteria and decided to get whatever they could get their hands on.

They were so exhausted that they did not even care what went inside their mouths. As long as they were able to eat something, it did not matter what it was.

Once lunch was finished, it was time for them to head back. But Shuu’s body refused to stand up and walk. He felt exhausted, and the pains in his body made him cranky.

Secretary Ann shot him a pitiful look before he helped Shuu up, and they moved back to the office.

They had not gone very far when another presence ran into them.

Kris looked startled to see them but glad at the same time. He skipped over to them and decided to see if they needed help.

"Can I help you out? You both look exhausted, and I feel guilty seeing you like this. Here, I can take Shuu back to the office for you, Secretary Ann."

Kris reached to grab Shuu softly, and Secretary Ann let out a sigh as his shoulders were relieved of the burden.

Shuu almost protested at this sudden shift before he muffled his voice inside his head. There was no need for him to panic for no reason. Besides, Kris was not crossing any boundaries even while touching him, so Shuu should not panic.

A small amount of guiding escaped him, and Kris let out a relieved breath. But he did not say anything beyond it, which Shuu was thankful for.

They went back to the office and got back to work.

Shuu had no idea when Rin came back, but he did realize when Rin sat beside him and waited for him to finish.

Rin’s presence was the only reason Shuu was able to pull himself away from this pile of work and head out to eat. They quickly ordered and dragged Secretary Ann as well.

"Ugh, when will this nightmare end? Why is the dungeon situation so bad this year? Just what did we do to deserve this nightmare?"

Secretary Ann complained, and all Shuu could do was sit down and listen to him speak about his troubles.

As much as he wanted to reassure the secretary, he knew nothing about this world. Thus, no matter what he said, he would just come across as pretentious.

In the end, Shuu chose empty reassurance.

"I am sure things will be fine. It’s only a matter of time before the espers take care of the dungeons and we are free from the hell that is paperwork. Besides, being in an office and doing paperwork is better than heading out and risking one’s life in the dungeon, right?"

Shuu pointed out, and Secretary Ann nodded.

"You are right. But still...ugh, I hope this ends soon. I don’t think my mind can take it anymore."

Shuu hoped that this situation would end soon as well. But more importantly, he wished that no one would get hurt once this situation ended. But he had a feeling that it was a useless thing to ask.

When it was time to head back to their rooms to sleep, Shuu followed Rin. The younger esper looked tense, and his attention seemed to be shifting around the corridor.

"Rin, is something wrong?"

Shuu asked as he looked at his awkward son. He wanted to know what was distracting Rin and making him look so worried.

But Rin did not say much. He only blinked as he looked around the room before he forced his attention back toward Shuu.

"It is...nothing. There was a weird air around here, almost as if someone was keeping an eye on us, but it is no longer there. It must be my imagination."

Rin did not sound certain when he said that, and Shuu decided that he needed to be more alert as well.

"If you felt someone looking at you, then you might be right. With so many abilities around and so many outbreaks, it won’t be wrong for us to be on alert. But for now, we should go to sleep and rest."