CH 316

Kanbee sent a letter directly to the Emperor regarding the danger of the treaty and his plans for advance or retreat. However, what came back was an order to conclude the treaty.

Separate from the conclusion of official business, the Emperor sent personal letters to Kanbee and Floto both. Kanbee didn’t know the contents of Floto’s letter, but it was probably something similar to what Kanbee received. It’s not that Kanbee can’t understand the content, and it’s not impossible to understand the Emperor’s thoughts. But he’s not convinced.

Raise up House Caan by dispatching personnel and providing technical support, and make the activities here work to their advantage. Kanbee can understand what he means by that. Certainly, rather than sending a large number of soldiers here and securing the sphere of influence on their own, it would be much more efficient to create and nurture reliable allies and have them protect the area in their stead.

But… does House Caan, and its Lord, Floto, have such value and power? Kanbee doesn’t know that. She just looks like a foreign girl. House Caan’s Territory is certainly one of the emerging powers, but it is undoubtedly still under development, and at this stage, it is only a small force that is preparing to take off into the world.

Raising House Caan to become representatives of the Yamato Empire here would require considerable effort. You could also use the Kingdom of Del and the Kamaal Alliance, which are already in position here. Is it really worth the effort to raise House Caan from now on?

Kanbee gave advice to the Emperor with his decision to advance and retreat at stake. As long as the Emperor disregarded that advice, Kanbee would gracefully resign from his post. His purpose was, Kanbee would be officially removed from their service, leave their home country, and infiltrate House Caan to spy on it.

Instead of unilaterally draining human resources and technology from the Yamato Empire, they will infiltrate House Caan and bring back any technology that can be used to the Yamato Empire’s benefit. This was what his resignation was about.

Abandoning his job and country, he was hired by House Caan on his own merits. If Kanbee is as good as he is, he will be easily hired. And he should be able to touch anything, including secrets and technology. Kanbee thought so but was easily disproved.

“What is with this amount…?” Kanbee muttered.

He made a few miscalculations when he was hired, but he still managed to get hired by House Caan and landed a job. And as soon as he gets to work… every day, a large number of documents are carried in one after another. No matter how much he cleans up or processes it, it doesn’t seem to decrease at all.

That’s right. Every day new documents are sent out and new ones are delivered. There can be no end to them.

It has nothing to do with the glorious job Kanbee had in mind before he was hired by House Caan. He can’t give anything of worth to the Emperor because it’s all about plain clerical work behind the scenes.

What Kanbee envisioned was to command a large army spectacularly on the battlefield and achieve great results. He is highly praised by those around him for conveying his experience in the Yamato Empire to this barbarian country and carrying out administrative reforms. He teaches techniques and methods that are not found in this country and causes technological innovation. That’s what he dreamed of.

How is it in reality? If he tries to serve House Caan, it’s all plain office work that he can’t earn any accolades.

It’s as Floto said. She will let some of his bad behavior slide but if he gets too offensive, she’ll get rid of him… in other words… he’s been pushed into such a quiet position to keep secrets from him. The thought made Kanbee angry, and he headed to Floto’s office to negotiate directly with her.

After Floto completely talked down Kanbee, he was sleeping uneasily. He is less able to do office work than the others. He attempted to change the subject, as to why he had such a humble and unfulfilling job.

Certainly, spectacular battle results are also important. However, the work he was in charge of in his daily life was very important work that was directly connected to the lives of the townspeople. It’s not like Kanbee didn’t know that, either. And the work that he was given had visible results relative to the work he processed. He had no excuse.

As Floto said, of course, there are many things he wanted to say. He wanted to say that this country and the Yamato Empire, from which he learned all his knowledge, are different in many ways, and that he’s not a clerical worker, so it can’t be helped even if he’s not good at clerical work… but those are all excuses. It’s not a reason that justifies why he can or can’t do it.

If the way is different, why didn’t he learn the ways of this country? If your processing speed is slower than others, why didn’t you ask for a faster and more efficient way? Kanbee didn’t have the logic to refute such a statement.

From tomorrow, he will be Floto’s assistant. If you think about it normally, he was being promoted from clerical work to House Head’s Assistant. He should also be able to touch on the secrets of this country and send home all that he wanted to know. But… Kanbee wasn’t really happy.

Until he can get rid of this stumbling block… he’ll try to work a little more seriously…

He thought so and continued to sleep uneasily.

Kanbee saw something unbelievable. Since he became an assistant to the House Head, Floto, he has witnessed the work she does with his own eyes.

How many times, no, dozens of times the amount of documents he receives every day is the amount of work Floto was processing? It’s too much trouble to calculate.

Signing one after another, making corrections, and sometimes rejecting them as if she really was checking the contents of each paper. If you do a quick rundown, you can correct mistakes and send them back, reject things that do not match the calculations, etc., but she accurately handles things you can’t understand unless you thoroughly read the contents, such as permissions, limitations, approval, and disapproval.

It looks like she’s just flipping through them, but she is handling all of it properly. Instead, she’s pointing out other people’s mistakes. What kind of processing speed would it take to do that? He thought that the other people were quick to process the clerical work Kanbee was doing until he became Floto’s assistant, and found her a different order of magnitude.

People have strengths and weaknesses. Just because you can process paperwork faster than Kanbee doesn’t mean you’re better than Kanbee. It’s true that they might be better than Kanbee when it comes to clerical work, but that’s not the only ability of worth. Sometimes he thought that and calmed himself down. But…….

“Miss Flora, the people from the trading firm and the shipbuilding guild are here,” Katharina said.

“Understood,” Floto said.

She starts moving as soon as she stops her writing hand. Floto’s job isn’t just about this ridiculous amount of paperwork. Many people visit Floto every day. It would be a ridiculous number of people and time just for that meeting. Is the House Head going to that extent for the contents of her job? There are many things to think about.

The daimyos and ujinokami that Kanbee knows are those who let their subordinates do their jobs, only receive reports, and if anything, only make the final decisions. He can imagine them wandering around the mansion and being absorbed in luxury.

How is it in reality? Floto is always doing some kind of work without taking a break. When she meets people, she listens to them and even gives detailed instructions. She comes up with things one after another that surprises and impresses even Kanbee, who’s there with her, and she instructs and implements these suggestions.

If you think about it normally, one day would not be enough to process that many documents and meet that many visitors. But Floto doesn’t stop there.

During the day, she goes out for inspections here and there, and even at the places she visits, she doesn’t just look around, she gives various instructions. Instead of speaking empty theories without thinking about the actual situation in the workplace, which tends to be the case with superiors, she will produce results in a wide range of ways, such as improvement proposals suited to the workplace, the next steps, and the next priorities for research and development.

What is going on in Floto’s head? It would take a lifetime to master just one area of expertise. Despite this, Floto easily solves the problems that experts in each field are worried about, thinking about, and confronting. Experts who are supposed to be the best in their fields are like children being taught by a teacher.

And when night falls… Floto finds herself in a deserted forest with Musashi. This is the Musashi who decided to leave the Yamato Empire like Kanbee, but his reasons and motives are completely different. Kanbee thought that Musashi had been deceived by the charm of this young girl named Floto. He used to suspect that the two of them were sneaking into the forest as a tryst.

But, he was wrong. What Kanbee saw after following them was an impossible sight.

Against Musashi, who is said to be the best swordsman in the Yamato Empire, such a little girl is fighting with a sword without taking a step back in retreat. You can’t possibly say that Musashi is being lax with her.

Kanbee is on the fringe of the bushi. He has never neglected his training with swords, spears, and bows. It’s not like he’s exceptionally good at individual martial prowess, but all the bushi of the Yamato Empire train their bodies on a daily basis. In contrast to the fact that the nobles of the Kingdom of Ploiss became established as the ruling class and changed their nature, they forgot to fight on the front lines themselves, and in contrast to this, in the Yamato Empire, the bushi still fight on the front lines if there is a battle.

Such bushis do not neglect their training. Floto’s strength is abnormal even from the perspective of Kanbee. Kanbee is unable to keep up with the fight between Floto and Musashi as it unfolds before him.

She can’t just do clerical work. She can handle conflicts with people. She has knowledge and ideas that surpass experts in their respective fields. And she has such skill with the sword.

All of this is out of the ordinary. How much training and study would it take for a child like that to become that good? And this training isn’t just for this night. Even Kanbee knows they hold it again early in the morning when most are just waking up or still asleep.

She trains in the morning and evening, completes many times more paperwork than Kanbee can in a day as part of her morning routine, meets with people, goes out for inspections, and issues all sorts of instructions.

Floto is not human. She has gone beyond mortal limits. Therefore, she is superhuman. And it’s not just a natural talent.

If there’s something she doesn’t understand, she’s always looking for new knowledge, and if she had time, she’s always trying to study and absorb something even if it’s not related to work.

At first glance, everything seems to be resolved quickly. People around her tend to think that it is a natural talent bestowed by the Heavens. But no. You can see it if you look closely. Floto also worries, thinks, and strives to somehow solve any problems. It’s not something like a divine revelation and the answer is being taught to her and that just solves it.

Compared to that, how small he is.

Kanbee looked down on those around him, thinking that he could do more, that he was better than them, and did not bow his head to learn from those who had better skills, techniques, and experience than him. It’s just because he was afraid to know his limits. How terribly boring. What a small man he is.

Floto knows her limits, and even so, she goes to great lengths to exceed them. It’s completely different from the snobs who just pretend to be bossy because they were born into the ruling class. She constantly refines herself, suffers, and yet still aims high.

Kanbee was ashamed of himself. And he would make amends.

The ideal bushi that he envisioned in his childhood… there is no such thing as an ideal bushi, like the legends. At some point, he came to think so.

But… there was such a thing. An ideal bushi, like the protagonist of a fantastic story…

That’s why, Kanbee himself… he roused himself, after having stopped walking that path, he was ready to set upon it once more and change himself.

It’s been about a week since Kanbee started serving Floto in House Caan. That’s all there was to Kanbee’s change. If he doesn’t understand, he asks other people for instructions. If he is interested in something, he researches it and acquires knowledge. He doesn’t find the other person’s inferiority and indulge in a feeling of superiority, but he finds the other’s superiority and emulates that in himself.

It’s only been a short time, but Kanbee was able to realize his growth. And the surroundings have gradually changed.

Now he understands what Floto, no, his Lord, was saying. Instead of despising and scorning people, he should recognize that they are also skilled and what they are good at, and then he should learn what he could from them. If you build relationships with those around you, it will make your job easier. Everything is going smoothly as if the conflict with his surroundings until now was all just a fabrication.

People say it’s because of Kanbee’s ability and talent. But no. As he knew from his previous job, no matter how good one person’s abilities and talents are, it won’t help them. Kanbee recognizes the value of his surroundings, and the surroundings also recognize Kanbee’s value. Only by working together can they achieve such results.

Kanbee’s mind was decided. His original purpose has changed, but he will bury his bones in House Caan’s land. He was born to come here.

For his Master, Floto von Caan!

Kanbee vowed to dedicate all of himself to his beloved Lord