Chapter 3

“Hey! Yorinobu!”

“Yes! What is it, sir!”

Not even during middle school club activities had I ever answered this briskly.

I had been yelled at so much that this reply had completely become a conditioned reflex.

Thanks to Kengo’s excellent tutoring, I learned the language and writing, and was able to smoothly find work at the island’s largest merchant company.

It was called the Nodon Company, and since it had the finest storefront on the island and the appeal of smiling cash payment every day, I got a job there.

Or rather, all the other merchant companies felt like subcontractors of this Nodon Company anyway, so it would be fair to say I had no real choice.

At my previous company, I had been made painfully aware of the difference between the prime contractor and the subcontractors.

However, the company owner, Nodon, was an extremely eccentric man.

A greasy, overweight man with a gleaming bald head.

He yelled constantly, and often got physical too.

By the standards of my previous world, I absolutely would never have taken a job under an employer like this, but different place, different customs.

Or rather, compared to the silent pressure exuded by the beastfolk wandering the town, just the fact that he was the same species as me made me feel considerably more at ease.

Living with Kengo meant I was constantly interacting with beastfolk, so my standards in that area had become completely lax, and I felt I had become quite a bit thicker-skinned too.

“Get that sales ledger for the magic stones we’re handing over to the lord sorted out already! If you keep dawdling, the new ship from the provincial capital Roran will be here! Work properly for the wages you’re being paid!”

“Yes! Nodon-sama!”

In this rough world, there was no such delicate relationship as boss and subordinate. An absolute hierarchy more like master and servant was the norm.

And in this world where the word human rights would probably not be recorded in any dictionary for a long time yet, someone making enormous profits was no different from a king.

Apparently, his favorite thing was to surround himself with beauties from all over the island in the courtyard of his mansion, fill the pond with alcohol, hang meat from the second floor, and hold lavish banquets.

Still, whether working under Nodon was painful or not, surprisingly, it was not.

That was because Nodon was crude and vulgar, but he was crudely and vulgarly the same toward absolutely everyone.

The people under Nodon all felt united in enduring the storm that was Nodon together, making it an ironically comfortable workplace.

Even after coming to another world, what mattered in the end was still human relationships; that thought left me feeling both disappointed and strangely convinced.

“Yorinobu! Once you finish the ledger, hurry up and take it to that animal-smelling lord and get the certificate for the magic stone trade! Absolutely do not be late for the ship’s port call! I’m paying you good money, after all!”

“Yes, Nodon-sama!”

Of course, I was not being paid a high salary. When one mug of ale cost two imperial copper coins, a skewer of grilled meat cost three, and a cheap inn where you could do nothing but rent roof space and sleep packed together cost ten copper coins, my pay was twenty copper coins a day.

Probably one copper coin was like about one hundred yen, but it was the kind of wage where having a drink after work and sleeping in a cheap inn would leave you flat broke.

Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, I was borrowing a corner of the company’s unloading area as a place to sleep, so I was able to save a little money. But since there was no bank, I always had to carry cash on me, so if I saved too much, it would probably become dangerous.

There were anxieties like that, and it was nothing at all like living an overpowering life in another world or setting off on a grand adventure with a sword in hand, but at least my life had stabilized.

“Nodon-sama, about the delivered magic stones…”

Holding a bundle of papers whose ink was still not dry, I approached Nodon, who was sprawled arrogantly at the accounting stand in the back of the unloading area, where the floor had been deliberately built higher as if to flaunt his status.

Stopping myself from breathing through my nose because of the overpowering smell of alcohol, I spoke.

“Is the number correct? It’s far fewer than last time, and compared to the record from half a year ago, it’s probably only about half.”

“Vaaah…”

Letting out a groan like snoring that suggested sleep apnea, Nodon glared at me.

“I’d like to think it’s a mistake, but the mine’s doing poorly. Haven’t you heard that from your friend?”

It was a small town, so if someone got drunk somewhere, what they talked about would always end up reaching somebody’s ears. Naturally, Nodon knew that I often drank with Kengo, the mining supervisor.

And this was a mining town, where talk of the mine came up even more often than the weather.

“He did say production is dropping. He said there’s probably nothing to be done unless money is invested in exploration.”

Kengo was the supervisor of the magic stone mine, so whether magic stones could still be found directly affected his future work. And since his previous job had been in consulting, the low productivity apparently bothered him.

Sometimes, once the drinks started flowing, he would grumble about how he wanted to do this or that.

“Vaaahh…”

Nodon groaned again and made a sour face. The magic stone trade was not just the backbone supporting the Nodon Company; if the mine were to run dry, everyone on this island would be ruined.

“Well, whatever. We’ll deal with the exploration matter sooner or later. You take that bundle of papers and get that beast-smelling ornamental lord to approve the trade already. If she starts whining that there are too few magic stones, tell her to go dig them up herself!”

If that awful boss from my previous world had told me to really give a client a piece of my mind, I would have felt gloomy and pent up, thinking it was easy for him to say since he was not the one doing it.

But Nodon basically acted high and mighty in front of anyone, and even with Lord Iiria he was endlessly rude.

I thought he was a thoroughly rotten person, but the one thing I had to like about him was how consistent he was.

“Understood. Then I’ll report these figures.”

“Get it sorted already! If the ship comes to buy magic stones and we have to say the certificate still isn’t ready, I’m not paying your wages!”

“Yes, Nodon-sama!”

At first, I froze every time I got yelled at, but once I realized Nodon was satisfied as long as I answered loudly enough, I was able to accept it as something like the backup shouts in karaoke.

I returned to my seat, did one final calculation check just to make sure there were no mistakes, and stood up.

“Nodon-sama, I am going to deliver the trade records to the lord.”

“Yeah. Don’t make any detours! I’ll know right away! The reason I pay you is to make you work!”

“Yes, Nodon-sama!”

Rather than having my mind broken by power harassment, it somehow just started to make me laugh.

Bowing respectfully, I left the merchant company.