/
2. Worry before leaving
――A business trip to Oita? Where was Oita again

 Was there such a place in Tokyo?
I involuntarily began thinking in an escapist way.
Un, no matter how I think about it, I feel like it’s in Kyushu


After snapping out of my astonishment at the abrupt discussion, I fiercely rebutted words into the phone’s receiver.
「Business trip? Furthermore, to Oita!? Or rather President, you realize today is a Saturday?」
I knew my voice was becoming more and more peevish.
No, I mean. I worked to near death until just yesterday, why do I have to sacrifice my finally obtained vacation to go to Oita!
No matter how representative SE Company was of a black company 1 , this was outrageous.
Rather, no matter how much of a demon President is, to think he was this nefarious!
Incidentally, I live in the 23rd ward 2 of Tokyo. There are only fields in the surroundings, but it’s more or less in the 23rd ward. Naturally, Oita is far away.
『I know, I know. But there’s no choice, the other party is saying they won’t discuss if it’s not you.』
「Like I care.」
As I angrily retorted, white steam swayed and rose from the large pot in front of me.
I was supposed to enjoy this tonjiru with freshly made rice from here on, but why did this absurd problem get pinned to me.
『Whether you care or not, that won’t cut it you know? The other party is super angry (gekioko) 3with the blunder the new guy who went recently caused. I’m begging you, you know how their system works, right?』
「What’re you doing using cute words like “gekioko”. Think about your age, President. By that major client in Oita, you mean that place. M Industry. Since they’re such a big customer, won’t it be fine for President to go?」
『Fool. I’m the president you know? You want me to leave the company empty for a month?』
I blanked at the words of “1 month” that suddenly arose and was stunned.
「Eh

? One month!? Eh, that, I’m going? Don’t kid with me!」
『It can’t be helped, that company’s system development is in tatters. ETA is unforeseeable, and we can’t give an outline for a progress report either, so they’re pissed. If you don’t go, they’re saying the job will return to scratch.』4
「

Seriously?」
Astounding. From hell to hell again. Plus, it seems it’ll take a month at the least.
『C’mon, I’m begging you! I’ll definitely give you a vacation once you’re done! I’ll give you a special bonus too!』
To President who was persuading me, I breathed a deep

 A really deep sigh.
Certainly, M Industries is our very frequent customer, and they sustain 10% of our yearly sales. 5
If returned to a blank slate, it wasn’t difficult to imagine that this’ll turn into an endless death march to regain our losses.
「

Vacation and bonus, don’t forget it.」
Beaten down by his persistence, President cheered.
『AlrightăƒŒ! Then enter Oita by today! I bought a ticket departing from Haneda at 7:55PM 6 , so I’ll send you the reservation ticket by email.』
By those words, I was stupefied again.
「Haa!? There isn’t even 2 hours left! Rather, why’d you get a ticket ahead of time? President, did you already decide to send me there beforehand!?」
『Then, I’ll be counting on you! Concerning the specifics, I’ll have send them to you from here, so take a look before you go meet the other party tomorrow.』
Speaking just that, he hung up.
Without meaning to, I fixedly stared at my cellphone.
What forceful methods. As expected from Demon President.
Inadvertently, I admired him. But I gasped and returned to myself.
「If I don’t leave now, I won’t make it! I have a business trip set prepared so I’ll take that, and in the worst case, I’ll get the minimum necessities locally and mark them all as business costs!」
I yanked out the business trip bag from inside the closet.
Prepared for an emergency business trip, inside was a change of clothes and similar things.
When I shoved in my business notebook laptop and was changing into a suit――
――ChaăƒŒchaăƒŒraăƒŒraăƒŒcharaăƒŒraăƒŒâ™Ș
A cheery electric sound played.
Yes, the rice was ready.
Frozen in my tracks, I jerkily turned around.
At that place, there was a large quantity of tonjiru and a rice cooker filled with freshly cooked white rice. Respectively, each amount was a week’s worth.
「

Eh, what should I do with this?」