Chapter 283: Ch 283: Start looking for a New one

Shuu tensed up as soon as he felt that arm across his shoulder draping itself all over him. He looked at the offender, only to see Kris raising his hands after being caught.

"What are you doing, Kris? Can’t you tell that you are making Shuu feel uncomfortable?"

Secretary Ann asked, and Kris quickly pulled himself together and gave a nervous laugh back at him.

"I-I don’t think I am making Shuu uncomfortable. He can tell me himself if he feels uncomfortable by my presence. Right, Shuu-?"

Unfortunately for Kris, anyone with eyes could see that Shuu had not liked his actions. That felt like a sobering experience for Kris, and he pulled himself back.

"Alright, fine-! I get it. I will keep myself in check from now on. Anyway, what are you two doing? Anything fun that I can help you with?"

Kris asked, trying to get past the awkwardness and make his way toward Shuu and Secretary Ann. He looked interested and was harmless, so Shuu decided to answer him.

"We are going through the needed paperwork. I don’t think it’s something that would interest you."

Kris pouted at the clear rejection he heard in Shuu’s voice. Shuu was making it clear that he did not want Kris to be anywhere near him while he worked.

"Hey! That’s not fair. I am sure I can do a fantastic job of finishing paperwork if you give me a chance. How can you dismiss me so easily?"

Kris asked, and Shuu looked at him with tired eyes before he handed Kris a pile of paperwork to handle.

"Since you have volunteered yourself, why don’t you help us as well? That way, you can demonstrate your ability with paperwork more efficiently."

Shuu proposed as he held the papers out even more, and Kris realized that he had unknowingly fallen into a trap he was supposed to avoid.

He quickly looked away from Shuu’s eyes and laughed nervously.

"I-I did say I could do this, but isn’t this too sudden? I hardly have any training-"

"It’s a good thing that paperwork is more about common sense and writing the right thing at the right time. You don’t need training as long as you have the attention span to work."

Shuu assured Kris, and he realized that he had nowhere to run now. So he sat down and grabbed a paper, only to get stumped and look at Shuu instead.

"Excuse me, but...can you tell me what I am supposed to do with this? Which column do I fill and how?"

Kris’s question caused Shuu to sigh and look over his work. He had not even started yet and had gotten confused about what he should do.

"Just fill this and fill the column with the appropriate data. You’ll have to find it every time in the spreadsheet and verify it. For example, data for this sheet is here."

Shuu quickly pointed to all the fields, and Kris listened to him like an eager puppy getting ready to learn more. He was paying attention like his life depended on this paperwork, and seeing him work made Shuu feel better.

But not everyone was as happy to see Kris working as Shuu was.

Secretary Ann’s eyes clearly told Shuu that this was a useless attempt on his side to make someone else learn paperwork, and Shuu decided to give him a reassuring smile.

"There is too much paperwork for a single person to do. It would be better if Secretary Ann had help once I am gone. Don’t you think so as well, Secretary?"

Secretary Ann looked stuck between a rock and a hard place. His face looked like he had swallowed lemons, and he could not believe what he had just heard.

But even he had to admit that Shuu was right. Having help did make things easier, especially when he was forced to do too much in a single day.

Even now, he had to go and guide espers once he was done here.

Unfortunately, Kris proved to be a bad choice when it came to partners for paperwork. Not only was he easily getting distracted, but he often crossed the wrong field while filling in data.

This disaster caused Secretary Ann to lose his temper. He snatched the paperwork from Kris’s hands and forced him to leave.

Kris looked at Shuu like a kicked puppy, but Shuu only smiled at him to show his silent support. Once he was gone, Secretary Ann rubbed his forehead and sat back down.

"You know, I am beginning to think that you are right about me needing help with all this. But I don’t think those espers with no attention span are the best options. It would be so much better if I hired secretaries of my own and paid them to handle this paperwork."

The fact that Secretary Ann had not done that meant that he had not thought it worth it. Or maybe he thought it lowered his own worth.

Whatever the case was, Shuu was glad to see the secretary valuing himself a little more.

"Hmm, I am sure it’s going to be fine as well. There are a lot of people who want to work for the Survivor’s Guild and would work hard if hired. You also have three months to get a new workforce. I think that’s plenty of time."

Secretary Ann opened his mouth to say something, but then he decided not to say anything. He did not want to tell Shuu that he considered Shuu a friend after all this. It felt like he would burden Shuu if he said these words now.

So those words got buried inside Secretary Ann’s throat, and he gave Shuu a smile instead.

"You are right. I do have the time and resources to look after more help. But I can only comfortably do that once this disaster of the dungeons passes. Until then, let’s keep working hard..."

Secretary Ann’s words were interrupted by a yawn, and he suddenly looked tired.

But he was not the only one. Shuu was beginning to feel tired as well, and he yawned as he felt his eyes closing.