Lord of Disease (JP-GL) 502

502: A Person Who Waits

The Doctor, who had calmed down, pressed a handkerchief to the corners of her eyes again and then, her expression serious, she opened her mouth.

“Take care of Haru. But don’t treat her as special.”

“I know. I intend to treat all of my employees equally.”

“…Do you really know?” The Doctor looked at me with a suspicious gaze.

While I only bathed with the female employees. I hoped she would forgive me, as it was not a matter of discrimination in the workplace. In theory, I also sometimes listened to the consultations of the male employees. In my case, regardless of gender, I would just listen while petting a Barghest, and I rarely took any action. While I wondered if that was alright for a consultant, since it was more of a ‘gathering around a Barghest’ than a consultation, I had a feeling it was not a problem.

There were also times when I would listen to a consultation while soaking in a bath, for women only. In theory—yes, really, in theory, since the peeping prevention measures were also in place, as a byproduct, the voices would not leak. I had a feeling it was a specification that would crush the rom-com chance of having a conversation over the wall of the men’s and women’s baths. …Well, I would have them make do with a heart-pounding moment at the sight of a flushed skin after a bath.

The door to the infirmary was knocked.

The Doctor quickly—and with a great deal of reluctance—let go of the Barghest she had been petting and put on a composed face. I, too, welcomed the Barghest into the shadows of my skirt, went to the door, and unlocked it.

“…Ah, manager.”

“—Haru.”

Was this what they called ‘speak of the devil’? It was Haru. Her long dark elf ears were drooping, and there was no life in her eyes. Her hair had often been a mess, but since I, Liz, and recently, Diana had been taking care of it, her shoulder-length hair was neatly arranged. Even now, her bedhead was terrible when she woke up, and Diana had said that it was a problem that she would just hand her a brush and leave it to her. Since she had not looked troubled at all, but rather, had seemed happy to be relied on, I could only think of it as a flirtation. Well, since it was Diana, she probably had no such intention.

If anything, they were a purer pair than Laila.

“The two of you… with the door locked, what were you doing?”

Haru tilted her head.

“The Doctor was giving me a consultation.” It wasn’t a lie.

“A consultation? …What kind…?”

“A doctor has a duty of confidentiality. They can’t tell anyone about the consultation.”

“…Does the manager also have a duty of confidentiality…?”

“Well… I suppose so. At the very least, I won’t casually talk about the consultation with others.”

I was, despite appearances, known to be a ‘manager who is tight-lipped and can be trusted.’ I was not overly concerned about the human relationships in this small space. —Who would willingly pour oil on a spark?

Incidentally, Liz was also sometimes consulted. She, too, was tight-lipped, so I didn’t know the content of the consultations—but I had a feeling they were more serious than the ones I received.

…Wasn’t she just looking at the person? I couldn’t shake the suspicion.

Haru looked at me and said, in a whisper.

“I want to talk to you.”

“…Me?”

“? The manager is good…”

She said such nice things.

“Then, after work.”

“Mmm.” Haru nodded, a small nod.

“…Ah, manager. Liz-san was looking for you. For tomorrow’s meeting.”

“Understood.” I nodded.

“Well then, see you later.”

As I waved, Haru awkwardly waved back. As I was seen off by the Doctor and Haru, I left the infirmary and went to look for Liz.

I was in the office with Liz, side by side, in front of the reservation list.

“Is this about it?”

“Yes. The weather is stable, so it’s a good day for a hot spring.”

We finished the final check of the ‘transport vehicles’ and the reservations, after receiving the weather reports from both the top and the bottom of the mountain. As Liz had said, as long as the weather was stable, you could enjoy the hot spring in peace. A little bit of snow was also charming… and well, if there was no wind, then a part of the open-air bath also had a roof. And even if there was a blizzard… there was also an indoor bath.

But if the weather was rough during the transport… then you could get stranded. Of course, we couldn’t take such a risk… but then the reservations would be a mess. It would be a matter of a discount, or an upgrade of the plan, and a rescheduling… a kind of a puzzle, and a shitty game with no right answer.

Of course, we had explained that that might happen beforehand… and I thought that it was strange to think that you could reliably climb a mountain that had even functioned as a border, even with a transport vehicle pulled by a Liverit sheep, in any weather, but there were also customers who didn’t understand such circumstances.

And yet, as long as they didn’t lay a hand on the employees and paid the prescribed fee, they were ‘customers.’ I thought I had become more patient than before.

Basically, their travel plans had been ruined, and they had just said something harsh… but they were people you could talk to. But there were also people who were not… unfortunately.

The one monster claimer we had had had been suppressed with force.

We had brought him to the office… politely asked him to come… and then—we had had him ‘calm down by interacting with our black dogs to his heart’s content.’

After he had descended the mountain, he had apparently turned himself in to the nearest military post, which was acting as a police station. I had heard later that he had been a habitual offender. It was because the shops in Listrea, which had a culture of honor and pride, were generally so polite that a fool who had misunderstood would sometimes appear.

The rumor was that he had said, “Put me in jail or whatever!”, but that was probably an exaggerated rumor—I couldn’t believe it.

I thought that I might have gone a little too far, but since then, the number of unreasonable complaints had decreased considerably.

“And then, we just have to share it at the end-of-day meeting.”

After that, it would be handed over to the night shift. Whether it would be a matter of relaxing at the reception counter or of dealing with a trouble was a matter of luck. They were in pairs, and the undead were given priority. I, too, sometimes joined the shift, to adjust the schedule.

“Yes. I’m going to talk to Haru after the meeting.”

“Haru? Understood.”

“Probably while we’re in the bath… the detached open-air bath isn’t reserved, is it?”

“It’s fine. I’ll be in with everyone else.”

I, too, usually bathed with everyone in the employee bath. There was an open-air and an indoor bath, but aside from the detached, dragon-sized open-air bath, it wasn’t as spacious as the large bath for the guests. But since we didn’t all go in at once, there was no problem if we decided on an order and took turns.

“I don’t think it will be that late… but you can go to bed first.”

“Yes. …But I’ll be waiting.”

Liz, with a smile.

Liz was a workaholic, to an exasperating degree, but she was the type to have a clear on-off switch. In the Sixth Army era, when she could have been said to be always on… she had probably only been off when she was alone in her room.

After we had become lovers… and after we had gotten married, she had begun to show me her ‘off’ side.

Liz leaned in and gave me a short kiss, just a touch of our lips. Though it was short, her feelings were conveyed.

“Please take care of Haru.”

“Yes, of course.”

I nodded… and I gave Liz another short kiss.