In her office in Kaito’s home, Anima was looking at several documents with Caraway.
[It really is the right decision to have a lottery. If this many people flooded the shops, it would be chaos, and although the odds turned bad with how many people there are, the supply system is stable, so it should be resolved soon.]
[Yeah, although I’m sure some of these draws have been padded by fakes…… the nobles and the wealthy using the names of their private units to pad the number of applications, we can’t simply tell how it actually goes just by looking at these numbers.]
As for the new Nifty brand, which started today, it seems that all trading companies and stores were already sold out of today’s stocks by mid-morning. However, this was expected by both Anima and Caraway, as it was natural considering the attention Nifty attracts in social circles.
[If sales are this good, maybe we should seriously consider this when setting up our exclusive shops.][But considering fairness, we’d have to open shops in all three countries at the same time, and that’s not easy to do. Naturally, every country would want our shop in their country…… Or rather, each country’s King had already sent out letters indirectly asking that.]
[Tracing back, the portions sold during Archlesia Empire’s Founding Festival has become quite a topic amongst the nobles. The inquiry letters started coming at that point, right? They were quite indirect about it though……]
[It would certainly be unthinkable to ask Master to “open a store and sell” at that time. Well, now that our new brand has been launched, it might be easier for them to make such requests.]
During the time Kaito opened up a stall in Archlesia Empire, it was mainly surplus ceramics that were sold, while in regards to tea, it was just the excess created by Nebula and Illness as a hobby. However, now that their tea brand has been officially launched and are selling their products, they have received several requests for them to open up their shops in their country.
[I see…… By the way, Anima, when are you going to take a break? Haven’t you been working tirelessly lately? We’ve already done plenty of thinking and implemented measures, so isn’t it about time you take a break?]
[No, there’s still a possibility of problems we’ve never considered happening. If a problem occurs with the launch of Master’s brand, I won’t be able to face Master. Considering the local inspection and future development, I have to be careful and see how things go for a few more days……]
[Hmmm. However, you haven’t slept for the last ten days or so, have you?][That isn’t a problem. My abilities have improved significantly compared to before. Now, if I wanted to, I could work without sleep for a few months.]
[Fumufumu…… That’s what she said, you know~~?]
[…………Huh? Eh? Ahh…… M- Master……]
Anima, who was nonchalantly responding to Caraway’s words, immediately looked up in response to those words…… and instantly paled when she saw Kaito at the entrance to the office with his arms crossed, his eyes looking straight at her.
[Anima…… Those words just now, what do you mean by that?]
[Ahh, n- no, umm…… I- It’s true that I haven’t slept yet…… b- b- but umm, I’ve been resting properly……]
[She’s just resting for about 10 minutes when it was time to eat or times like that~~]
[Cara!?]
Anima, who is earnest and hardworking, tends to overwork, especially when it comes to matters related to Kaito, which often makes her be warned by Kaito because of this.
And this time, perhaps aware that she was in a situation where she’d get thoroughly scolded, she tried to cover it up in a hurry…… but unable to lie to Kaito, she tried to deceive him by admitting she hadn’t slept but insisted she did take breaks.
However, Caraway readily exposed the truth and feeling Kaito’s gaze, Anima sweatedly profusely and moved her gaze to him.
[……Caraway, can I leave the rest to you?]
[Yes. It’ll be alright. In fact, Anima is just too worried, as we’ve adjusted things so that it’s mostly okay even if we don’t move much. We have enough flexibility to respond immediately to any issues. So, not just today, even if Anima is absent for a few days, it’s absolutely no problem.]
[I see. Then, sorry, but I’ll leave things here to you…… Anima, you are gonna come with me…… right?]
[……Yesh.]
Seeing Kaito whose tone was just as usual, but was exuding silent anger, as if the reliable impression she had before was a lie, Anima curled herself smaller and meekly nodded.
Looking like a scolded puppy in front of her owner, Anima is then led away by Kaito under the gaze of Caraway, seeing them off with a wry smile.
[……Well, considering it’s Kaito-sama, after a brief scolding, he’s going to make Anima take a break, right? She really has been working tirelessly recently, so it would be good if she flirts around with Kaito-sama. I mean, seriously…… the problem with Anima was that when it comes to Kaito-sama, she loves Kaito-sama so much that she wants to do everything herself and wouldn’t delegate any work to others at all……]
After muttering to herself, thinking of Anima’s endearing yet troublesome habit of wanting to handle all tasks related to her beloved Kaito, Caraway sat down at the office desk that Anima had used earlier and started sorting out the paperwork in an easygoing manner.
<Afterword>
Serious-senpai : [Ahh~~ I see, when it comes to work related to Kaito, she gets so worked up that she never takes a break…… In a sense, that’s just like Anima.]
