Kirigaya-san left after writing his name on various documents. "Yamada..." "Tatsuya-san..." After Kirigaya-san had left and I took a moment to breathe, Miriam and Ruri came over. "I knew what I wanted to say... but for some reason, my mouth spoke by itselve." Why is that? "Yamada, take some rest..." "Tatsuya-san, how about a Strong Zero Beer..." Miriam climbed onto my lap, and Ruri started to massage my back. But I'll pass on the Strong Zero. "I made the call by myself without any input, but how do you two feel about it?" "I think it's good. Simply put, your salary will increase, and I believe you will have more free time." It seems Ruri is in favor. "I'm in favor as well, meow. I was thinking it was a good idea from halfway through the conversation, and I was planning to suggest it too, meow." "Which part do you agree with?" "Like Ruri said, the part about more salary and free time, meow. Living with you these past two weeks, and even going to your workplace, I've seen you're too busy, meow. This way you would not have any time to take over the old man's legacy." Well, i might be short on that... Being taught magic by Ruri and reading books before bed is about all I manage. "Can we handle the demons, though? I'm not sure about that part. Since Miriam seemed capable of sensing them, I thought maybe we could just run away from an opponent we can't defeat." "That's fine, meow. Another reason I agree is that I thought you could improve your magic skills through real combat experience, meow." Indeed, actual combat might be a better training ground. It's risky, but with a high grade cat like you around, things should be manageable. "Improving my magic skills while earning money, huh...?" "Exactly, meow." I take the brown envelope from atop the kotatsu table. It definitely contains 100,000 yen. "It takes me about 10 days to make this much." "This time it was just 1 minute, meow." Nice! "Ruri, could you go to the supermarket and buy the most expensive meat?" I hand Ruri the brown envelope. "Are you sure?" "I'm sorry we've only had pork and bean sprouts until now..." While I say this, I stroke Ruri's head.

"No, we normally buy chicken, fish, and vegetables too..." "I'm sorry for not having done better during your growth spurt..." Just at the age where you're eating so much. "Haa..., what...?" "From now on, feel free to buy sweets as well, okay?" "But I already buy that ..." Ruri, you do love chocolate sweets, don't you? "Feel free to buy what you like from now on." "O-Okay. Then, today we'll have sukiyaki." "Pork belly?" "No, no, i'll use beef!" Amazing! "Oi, come back you plebeian, meow!" "Actually, I am an ordinary person. Alright then, I'll hand in my resignation on Monday!" Farewell, assistant manager job. "Tatsuya-san, I get that you're switching jobs, but what about that other issue?" Hmm? "What other issue?" "The matter of taking over as village chief." Ah... yeah that happened, didn't it. "Indeed, we'll have more time now. What to do..." "I say go for it, meow. Become the village chief, and one day, maybe a noble too, meow." Sounds like a hassle... "That's not tempting at all... I'd rather live a more tranquil life." Nobility? That just conjures up images of political intrigue and trickery. "How about the idea of creating your very own ideal village?" Ruri gives a suggestion. "Ideal?" "Yes. You like a slow life, don't you, Tatsuya-san? So why not make a village like that? You can relax, do your magical research, and sometimes defeat demons in this world to make some money... Of course, Miriam and I will help you. How does that sound?" That's not bad at all... not bad in the slightest. I can picture a wonderful slow life with a therapeutic cat and Ruri around. "Village chief, huh... Can someone like me, with no experience, really pull it off?" "Don't worry, both the village chief and Monica will be there to support you. You won't have to manage a big town right away; a small settlement of around 30 people should be fine." That's probably true.

30 people is just about the number you'd have at a small family gathering. "Surrounded by nature, fishing in the afternoon, soaking in an open-air bath at night... That does sound nice." And if I look up, there's a sky full of stars. "I'll wash your back for you!" "I hate baths, meow. I can just get clean with magic, meow." You should take a bath. "Maybe I'll give it a try..." If it doesn't work out, someone else can always take over. "That sounds great!" "From assistant manager to village chief, that's a promotion, meow!" Could this also be considered a high-class job change?! "Alright, let's celebrate today! Ruri, shall we go shopping?" "Yes!" "I'll tag along too, meow!" At the supermarket, we treat ourselves to some high-quality beef among other sukiyaki ingredients and even splurge on some premium beer. At home, I made arrangements to quit my job, simultaneously maintaining my regimen of magical training. As night falls, we eat the sukiyaki Ruri made for us. "Delicious, meow." I wonder if it's alright for cats to have sukiyaki? Well, since you're a high grade one, it should be fine. "It's delicious, isn't it?" Ruri has a sweet tooth, so it must taste wonderful to her. Yet, it's quite surprising that she can handle raw eggs. "It really does. So this is the real deal ...?" It's extremely delicious. Even the shirataki noodles are bursting with flavor. "Tatsuya-san, here you go." Ruri says, filling my glass with the premium beer. "Thanks." I bring the glass to my lips and drain it in one go. "So this is what real beer tastes like, not just sparkling alcohol..." Hmm... something's off... Regrettably, my taste buds have been fooled into thinking happoshu is beer, so real beer doesn't quite taste right. It's still tasty, though. We went on to thoroughly enjoy the sukiyaki after that.