Chapter 4 : Preparing for the trip
405 Words
That night, Elfriede was in a nap room in a corner of the office building.
It is originally a simple room for civil servants.
It is surrounded by stone walls and contains nothing but plain bunks and small desks.
The windows were also small and had thick curtains drawn to block out the night air.
On the desk, a pile of papers.
A neatly aligned stack of paper is mixed in with the paper still crumbling along the way.
It's a handover letter.
Who is in charge of which cases.
When is the deadline and what to look out for.
Which nobles are troublesome and where to pass the talk.
――It should take days to put together.
But he was only allowed one night.
"...This is the last one."
He mutters softly and puts down his pen.
My fingertips hurt.
She is wearing the same pale grey-blue dress as she does during the day.
The tailoring isn't bad, but the fabric is a little worn from running the sleeves through it so many times.
The cuffs were still slightly frayed and the color had faded slightly.
This is the part that the maid should have noticed and fixed.
But no one said anything.
Her hair is tied low, but not neatly tied.
There are marks from finger strokes and trailing hairs on his cheeks.
I no longer had time to look in the mirror.
Take the pen and write again.
――The other party comes out bullish in this negotiation.
――Meeting deadlines. If you delay, you will definitely be held accountable.
――You should review your budget once.
The letters bleed.
The back of my eyes are hot and my vision is shaking.
Still, I didn't stop.
"...It's still okay."
I mutter this to myself.
I haven't finished work, so there's no reason to take a break.
It was already a habit to think that way.
Before dawn, when I had finished putting together the last bundle,
It was also difficult to get up from the chair.
"...the end"
There was very little voice.
Sit down in your bunk and take a deep breath.
The back of my chest hurts.
――This is the end of the country's work.
I should have thought so,
All that came to mind was the fear that there would be no handover.
"...It's really serious."
He smiles softly and closes his eyes.
- Writer
