NOVEL NEXT Volume 1 - Chapter 1.2
Chapter 1.2 – Manager Monou’s Request
[Translation By Divinity]
“You’re Sanezawa-san from the sales department, right?!”
Three young female employees looked at me with sparkling eyes.
I didn’t recognize their faces.
Perhaps they were new employees who joined this year.
“Um… if you don’t mind, could we exchange contact information?!”
One of them said, seemingly having mustered up her courage.
The other two also spoke up.
“M-Me too, please!”
“If you’d like, maybe we could go out for a meal sometime…”
“Ah, I want to go too!”
The three female employees pressed closer.
From an outsider’s perspective… it might seem like an enviable situation.
Being suddenly approached by unfamiliar female employees would probably make me look like a popular guy with girls constantly around.
But the only feeling sprouting in my chest was an empty, “Oh boy, here we go again.”
Sigh.
This kind of thing again.
“…Sorry, but,”
I said, careful not to let my exasperation show on my face.
“I can’t get you my older brother’s autograph, and I can’t introduce you to any soccer players.”
“Ehhh?!”
Their smiles vanished, replaced by expressions of simultaneous disappointment.
We exchanged a few more words, but as I continued to gently yet firmly decline, they reluctantly retreated with dissatisfied looks.
Kutsuwa, who had been watching the whole scene, gave me a sympathetic look.
“You’re used to this, huh?”
“It happens all the time.”
I replied lightly and started walking again.
We left the company and headed to our usual diner.
As we passed by a convenience store—
“…”
A large poster on the window caught my eye.
‘Don’t give up on your dreams.’
Along with that beautiful catchphrase, there was a picture of a professional soccer player.
Sanezawa Shunichiro.
One of Japan’s representative soccer players.
His position was the star of soccer, the goal-scoring forward. He was currently active in a J1 team and had even played in the World Cup as a member of the Japanese national team.
And.
He’s my older brother, Sanezawa Haruhiko.
If there’s one thing that’s not ordinary about me, a very ordinary office worker… it’s probably the fact that my blood-related brother is a super-famous athlete.
“Is it that after all?”
Kutsuwa, sitting across from me at our familiar diner, asked.
We had both ordered udon.
“Do you have a complex about your too-great brother?”
“…You’re asking so bluntly.”
Well, it’s actually appreciated.
Because being treated with excessive care is more tiring.
“…Yeah.”
I said.
“I got all that troublesome stuff out of the way during my school days.”
I said with a light laugh.
I probably managed to make a good smile.
Suddenly—I remembered.
Elementary school. Middle school. High school. University.
The days when I dedicated my entire youth to the black and white ball.
The back I chased and chased but could never reach.
The burning frustration and anguish.
The humiliation and inferiority complex that made me nauseous.
The day a snapping sound pierced my right leg, like something tearing.
The unimaginable pain.
Surgery.
My knee encased in a rigid cast.
The hellish days of rehabilitation.
The fear of recurrence that crossed my mind with every step I took.
Despair, resignation, abandonment, loss of heart, recklessness—
I realized my hand was unconsciously touching my right knee.
“…”
It’s okay.
There’s no more pain.
Not in my body, not in my heart.
I have no lingering attachment to soccer, and I can genuinely celebrate my great brother’s success.
I’ve properly—become an adult.
An ordinary adult who knows their place and lives accordingly.
“Ordinary people have to work hard and live ordinary lives in their own way.”
I declared and slurped up the rest of my udon in one go.
“Exactly. Being a salaryman is a respectable job too.”
Kutsuwa agreed.
“But first, you need to stop getting scolded by the Section Manager.”
“…I know that.”
After refueling with lunch, we returned to the company building.
Looking around the office again, I noticed there were many people in casual attire, which seemed unusual for a major corporation. There were a few people in sweatshirts and jerseys. Some had exhausted faces, as if they hadn’t been home in days.
Those people over there… well, they’re probably from the editorial department.
In the sales department, it’s either suits or business casual, but many people in the editorial department dress casually.
The editors I see in the company… most of them look exhausted.
It shows just how demanding the work of creating and publishing books is.
Kutsuwa said he wanted to transfer to the editorial department, but… seeing them working as if they’re sacrificing their lives, I don’t really feel the same way. And the guys from my year who got into the editorial department as they wished… they seem to be getting thinner every time I see them.
“But still,”
Kutsuwa said after we returned to the sales department floor.
“I feel like Manager Monou is particularly harsh on you.”
“…”
“You’ve been under her since the new employee training, right, Sanezawa?”
“Yeah… Manager Monou worked me to death.”
When I was a newbie—last year, in other words, it was Manager Monou who became my trainer.
It’s not something someone in the position of Section Manager would normally do, but at that time, the sales department was in a bit of a turmoil with a few resignations and transfers, so Manager Monou personally took charge of me.
“She’s like a beloved younger sibling. You’re loved, aren’t you?”
“Don’t tease me. If the person you trained has bad results, of course, you have to get angry.”
I felt a bit apologetic about that.
Manager Monou surely doesn’t get angry because she wants to.
“She seems like a complete workaholic. Is she still single?”
“Seems like it.”
I haven’t heard that she’s married.
And a boyfriend… I don’t think she has one either.
“Her job is her lover, huh? Well, no matter how beautiful she is, with that strict personality… I guess guys would lose interest in asking her out.”
He laughed and gossiped behind her back, seizing the opportunity.
Well, gossiping about your boss is probably normal for a working adult.
Maybe this is how low-ranking employees deepen their bonds. Especially since I had just been scolded. Bowing and apologizing on the surface, while sticking out your tongue and complaining with colleagues behind their back might be what a savvy employee does.
But—
“…I actually like Manager Monou quite a bit.”
I said.
Kutsuwa’s eyes widened.
“Huh… Wait, seriously? What, do you have feelings for her? You into older women?”
“No, it’s not like that…”
Manager Monou is certainly strict.
I can’t count how many times I was scolded when I was a newbie, and her strictness hasn’t changed even now.
But—she’s not unreasonable.
What she says makes sense, and she doesn’t say anything unfair. I feel like she scolds and encourages me because she sees me as a fellow working adult.
Even if she’s an Empress, she’s not a tyrant who abuses her people or subordinates. She’s the type of ruler who guides people to the right path with a strong will and strictness.
“I respect her as a working adult.”
A Section Manager at the young age of thirty-two.
She’s excellent at her job and respected by those around her.
I truly think she’s a wonderful and respectable person.
I want to become that kind of independent adult soon too.
“Ah, I get it. It’s her boobs, right? You’re after that magnificent bust.”
Kutsuwa said cheerfully.
Listen to me, will you?
“Hey, choosing a woman based on her boobs won’t lead to anything good.”
“…Well, I can’t deny that the Section Manager’s figure is irresistible.”
I was about to say more—when it happened.
“Oh my.”
We bumped into each other.
As we turned the corner, we came face-to-face with the familiar brand-name suit.
Speak of the devil, it was Manager Monou herself.
“M-Manager Monou…?!”
I hurriedly straightened my back.
In an instant, a waterfall of sweat seeped down my back.
Oh no.
Did she hear what I just said…?!
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