Chapter 1: I Went to Find a Job at Hello Work Before Getting a Divorce, ButâŠ
We got married when we were students. The first year of marriage:
ăYuuri-chan, I want you to be a housewife. You donât have to get a job. I want you to make delicious meals and wait for me to come home.ă
The second year of marriage:
ăSorry, Iâm going to have dinner before coming home.ă
The third year of marriage:
ăIâm busy with work. Children? Weâre still young, we can have one later.ă
The fourth year of marriage:
ăCan you take care of this child for a bit? Sheâs the baby of one of my subordinates at work.ă
The fifth year of marriage:
ăShe couldnât get her child into a nursery school. Can you help her out?ă
The sixth year of marriage:
ăChildren? Yeah, maybe someday. Youâre too busy taking care of her child, arenât you?ă
The seventh year of marriage:
ăArenât you free all day anyway? Youâre a housewife. Sheâs doing her best as a single mother.ă
The eighth year of marriage:
ăYou want to work? You havenât worked all this time, what can you even do?ă
The ninth year of marriage:
ăSheâs having my kid, so letâs have a divorce. What, consolation money? Even though all you did was freeload at my home for close to ten years? Donât kid me.ă
*anger*
ăI can get a job and have a life myself! Just watch! Divorce? Iâll stamp those divorce papers once I live on my own without your pity money! Youâre the one who refused to give consolation money anyway! ă
Then right after, I rushed off to Hello Work.
âââââââââ
ăIâm sorry, please help me look for a job!ă
ăWelcome to the West Helena branch of the Adventurerâs Guild.ă
Eh?
Did Hello Work recently revamp themselves to be more game-like for young people?
ăMay I see your registration card?ă
Huh?
ăU-um, this is my first time looking for a job, so I havenât registeredâŠă
Was I supposed to fill out some forms and register before doing this?
It was as though I had walked into a game. I looked at the girl sitting at the counter made of wood and stone.
The girl was beautiful, with lovely blonde hair and a finely chiseled western look.
ăWell then, this means that you donât have any cards with you, correct? ă
ăCards?ă
I didnât have a credit card nor a cash card.
That was correct. I didnât have a single card on me made under my name.
I⊠Just what have I been doing throughout the past ten years? I polished my skills as a cook, looked after the child of the person my husband cheated on me withâŠ. Ahh, I wondered if the children were fine. They are innocent. I just hoped they will find happiness.
Divorce⊠Okay. I better become independent and stamp those divorce papers for those kidsâ sake.
ăIn that case, weâll process a card for you, so could you please open up your status page?ă
Status page? Was she asking to see my resume? I didnât bring one.
The lady at the counter smiled sweetly at the troubled me.
ăAh, please donât worry. The guild has a duty of confidentiality for personal information, and all information is restricted by magic. None of the information on your status page will be leaked to the public.ă
Magic?
ăPlease place your hand on this piece of paper and say status open.ă
My husband has reprimanded me many times for not knowing the ways of the world, but he might have been right.
Hello Work was not like this ten years ago, when I first went to look for a job as a student.
ăStatus open.ă
I looked around nervously as I placed my hand on the paper and did as I was told.
Then, a small game-like screen appeared in front of my eyes. There were various words and numbers written on it.
What was written on the screen appeared on the paper I had my hand on.
Oh my gosh, thatâs amazing. Itâs just like magic.
ăAh!ă
The lady raised her voice slightly.
ăOh man, this is terrible. Sheâs on the same level as a five year old child.ă
A tall tough-looking man in his thirties appeared behind the lady.
He looked at me like he saw a disappointing child after peeking at my paper.
ăEven if you say you want to work, thereâs no job we can recommend you to.ă
Eh?
ăU-um, Iâm, well, in some trouble! I really need to find some work.ă
ăHmm. Listen, young lady. If you really need a job, you should look around the merchantâs guild, not here. Your speech and manners seem to be alright, so you can probably find a job at a respectable manor somewhere.ă
Young lady?
I wasnât young enough to be called that anymore. I already hit my thirties. Maybe he was making fun of me because my status implied I was no better than a five-year-old?
ăA job at a manor? ă
ăMhm, thatâs right. You can do things like cleaning and laundry. If you can cook, then you can prepare meals too.ă