episode_0065

065 – Wives’ Hell # 1

“Check this out! A whole lot of elixirs good for the body have arrived! Wow, it’s an elixir made by Luna Nixdoti nim, Prince Zagreus’s wife!”

Department Manager Hector made a fuss.

Some boxes were piled high in the Audit Team 1 office.

Inside, they were full of herbal medicines packaged in packs.

“The taste is really awful, but the effect is truly amazing! As far as I know, they say it’s excellent for delaying ghostification! It’s truly an unmatched restorative tonic!”

Delaying ghostification? There was a reason Department Manager Hector was making a fuss.

In this Soul Society, death was not an end but merely a passing point.

But?

‘Ghostification’ is different.

If you become a round ghost, you tend to forget precious memories.

Therefore, all souls feared becoming a ghost like true death.

Therefore, an elixir that delays ghostification would be an incomparably precious tonic for souls.

“Manager Joy! I heard you played a big role at the wedding anniversary event! You even found the spider and resolved the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law conflict, they say? Thanks to that, we also get to enjoy such blessings!”

Department Manager Hector finally dropped shimmering light from his eyes as if they were tears.

Deputy Narcissus also chimed in.

“Wow, to receive favor from that strange goddess. You’re truly talented. I don’t usually envy anyone, but Manager Joy, I truly envy you.”

The praise was bitter.

More bitter than the health-boosting herbal medicine.

Still, I gained a great deal from this incident.

I learned that I should absolutely never get involved with small animals like squirrels or spiders.

Especially if they barked, it was right to unconditionally avoid them.

‘In all my life, I never thought even animals would trouble me.’

I left the office with its cheerful, harmonious atmosphere and walked through the headquarters garden.

Hell cacti were abundantly planted there.

Their spiky appearance truly became a comfort to my heart.

“Indeed, you guys are the best.”

From now on, I will absolutely never keep squirrels or spiders in my entire life.

For me, there are only hell cacti.

“From now on, I’ll call you happy cacti.”

—Thrum!

—Thrum! Thrum!

So to speak, it was my own small work innovation.

Happy cacti.

After naming them that, they even seemed to feel cuter.

“Heheheh.”

As I found healing through the happy cacti, my heart also became quite generous.

At that time, someone spoke to me.

“Excuse me, where should I go to get to the Employee Welfare Department?”

It was a woman carrying many bundles in her hands.

With her slender figure and golden hair tied back, she was such a great beauty that I could immediately tell she was a ‘married woman’.

Because the probability that such a charming woman was not married would be close to zero.

“Are you looking for your husband?”

“That’s right. Hippomenes from the Welfare Department is my husband. I need to deliver lunchboxes to my husband and his colleagues. Actually, it’s my first time visiting the main office, so I don’t know where it is…”

Beyond just preparing her husband’s lunchbox, even his colleagues’ lunchboxes?

Truly a wise mother and good wife.

Spousal support must be something like this.

Husbands who have such wives are the ones who succeed.

“The Welfare Department is on the 44th floor, but it will be difficult to find if it’s your first time visiting. There will be a nymph guide in the lobby, so please ask for directions. They will answer well.”

“Thank you. Oh, this is a reward for showing me the way.”

The woman who revealed herself to be Hippomenes’ wife took something out of her pocket.

It was a small bean candy.

Crunch-.

As I bit into it, a savory taste spread completely in my mouth.

Although it was a trivial interaction, I felt good.

Since I thought of it, I wondered if I should refresh my mind by performing good deeds.

So I decided to distribute the elixir box I received as my share to people I knew.

“Oh my, Manager Joy nim!”

“Ack, Joy—.”

First of all, it was Krates and Kshali, the married couple.

Krates, who had turned pale looking at me, was very surprised upon seeing the elixir.

“This, isn’t this Goddess Nixdoti’s elixir? Why something so precious to us…!?”

“I’m always indebted to Mrs. Kshali. Madam, if more cacti come in, please tell me.”

The happy cacti, the more the merrier.

But, Mrs. Kshali’s expression today wasn’t very bright.

“Is there some problem? Did Krates cause trouble again?”

At my question, Krates and Mrs. Kshali exchanged glances.

After a slight pause, Krates opened his mouth first, as if taking the lead.

“It’s because of the wives’ association. A while ago, my wife received a mail invitation to join the wives’ association.”

“…If it’s the wives’ association, isn’t it a gathering that only women who are wives of headquarters employees can join?”

So to speak, it was a social gathering.

As a single man, it was far removed from my sphere, so I only knew that such a thing existed, nothing more.

“By the way, Krates, you’re not even a headquarters employee, so why did Mrs. Kshali receive an invitation to the wives’ association?”

“Nyx nim, who is concurrently serving as the head of the wives’ association, has descended upon Happy World, so the wives’ association must also be trying to expand its influence.”

He glanced around nervously.

Krates, who carefully scanned his surroundings, spoke to me in a very small voice.

“Since you received the elixir, I’m telling you this: you’d better be careful of the wives’ association. If you get on those women’s bad side, you won’t be able to survive, they say.”

“Then, do you die?”

Are they ‘killer’ wives?

As I thought how truly terrifying it was, Krates added a detailed explanation.

“That’s just an expression, of course. There’s a rumor that Department Manager Bones and Director Kelton were bounced out of the headquarters audit team because they got on the wives’ association’s bad side.”

“What!”

I was so surprised that I ended up shouting.

If you get on the wives’ association’s bad side, does that mean you get demoted?!

Mrs. Kshali also added to the conversation in a very worried tone.

“The problem is that the wives’ association meeting is annoying and troublesome, just like society in life. I’ve only heard about it, so I don’t know the exact details, but…”

Alright.

At this moment, my direction was decided.

“That wives’ association. Something smells fishy. I need to dig into it.”

“What? Joy, no! No matter how great you are, sticking your head into the wives’ association is just a suicidal act! Do you want to give up on promotion!?”

Krates really turned pale.

Hearing his words, I became even more convinced.

Returning to the office—.

—I handed Department Manager Hector my declaration of intent.

“I will investigate the wives’ association.”

Department Manager Hek’s bony face became even paler.

“You, are you saying you’ll stick your hand into a beehive with hands covered in sugar water? We know your great ability well, but! The wives’ association is a completely separate world! Even executives cannot carelessly touch it!”

“That’s why I should probe into it even more, shouldn’t I?”

“For everything, there is a right time. Not yet. Not yet. Joy, you should take annual leave and rest for a few days. It would be good to cool down your excessively boiling enthusiasm.”

This was the problem.

In this Soul Society, there were so many superiors of good character that it was not easy to be hated.

# # #

Department Manager Hector returned home and sighed.

It was such a deep sigh that his proud bones trembled.

“Hmph…”

“Honey, why are you sighing like that?”

His wife Andromache approached.

A cup of warm tea was in her hand.

“You’re the kind of person who never even sighed when that fierce Achilles called your name outside the walls of Troy.”

“Achilles was like a lion. But with a lion, you can at least choose to confront or avoid it. On the other hand, Manager Joy is a typhoon. Although he is my subordinate, I cannot do anything about him.”

Slurp-.

Department Manager Hek drank the tea his wife had brewed.

But it was different from usual.

“Did you put salt in the pomegranate tea instead of honey or sugar?”

“Oh dear, look at how scatterbrained I am! I’ll brew it again.”

“No, sometimes this is good too.”

Department Manager Hek observed the flustered Andromache.

She was still beautiful. But dark circles had unsuitably descended under her eyes, making her look just like a racoon or a panda.

“Did you go to the wives’ association meeting today as well?”

“That’s right. I was busy making Korean rice rolls for the executives’ wives to eat, so I couldn’t even sleep since last night. Oh dear, even I, a department manager’s wife, am struggling this much. I wonder how the wives of other regular employees are…”

Andromache recalled the time when Department Manager Hector was a regular employee.

At that time, Andromache was having a terrible time due to the influence and pressure from the wives of high-ranking employees.

If they said they were going to the department store, she had to follow them around to carry their bags.

If they said they were doing large-scale kimchi making, she had to prepare all the cabbage and seasoning and be on standby.

‘Even so, she couldn’t not do it.’

The wives’ influence was powerful.

If she appeared unfavorably to the wife of Assistant Department Manager So-and-so, that woman might speak ill of Andromache’s husband, Hector, to her own husband, So-and-so.

So Andromache devoted herself to the wives’ association with extreme dedication.

Thanks to that, Hector was also able to rise to the highest position for a mortal: ‘Department Manager’ at the headquarters.

“My dear wife, I am truly grateful to you. If you hadn’t been there, I would never have been able to reach this position. In this Soul Society, the influence of the wives’ association is absolutely necessary for promotion…”

Hector recalled Manager Joy.

He was single.

Hector, as a single person, could not receive help from the wives’ association, and without supporting connections, promotion to assistant department manager level or higher might be difficult.

“No matter how great Manager Joy is, I wonder if he can do anything about the wives’ association.”

So the next day.

Hector learned that Manager Joy had not come to work.

“He seems to have taken annual leave and is resting.”

A sigh of relief escaped him.

At the same time. The wives’ association meeting.

Atalante, who had newly joined the wives’ association this time, was very intimidated.

“Well, Atalante ssi. My husband got an upset stomach after eating the lunchbox you made yesterday!”

“My husband too! I’ve been busy these past few days and couldn’t prepare my husband’s lunchbox, so I just asked you for one day!”

“When I was a manager’s wife, such a thing never happened—.”

Atalante.

In her lifetime, she was such a formidable heroine that she was called the Princess of the Hunt, a genius.

Even great male heroes cowered in front of her.

But?

The current Atalante was just a manager-level wife, being mistreated by the wives of assistant department managers and department managers.

In this Soul Society, women’s social status was clear.

Rather than a woman herself getting a job at the headquarters and becoming a manager, becoming a manager’s wife was valued more highly.

A woman’s power came not from her own abilities but from her husband’s position.

Atalante, who had lived solely by her own abilities, absolutely could not understand why such a culture existed.

However, if she wanted to help her husband Hippomenes, who had newly become the manager of the Welfare Team, she had to adapt.

“…I’m sorry…”

“Oh my, Andromache ssi! Welcome! This is a cake I baked diligently yesterday, would you like to try some?”

“Atalante ssi! What are you doing! Come quickly and carry her bags for her!”

“It’s alright. I’ll carry my own bags.”

The wives were desperate to make a good impression on the wives who had husbands of higher positions.

This was their social life, and all of them staked their lives on it.

The hell that changed its name to Happy World, Tartarus, was in this wives’ association.

At that moment—.

Creak-.

As the door opened, a man appeared.

“Hello. I am Manager Joy of Audit Team 1, who has become a one-day visitor and participant of the wives’ association.”

Oh?

That man is—.

As the married woman Atalante, who had been intimidated by the mistreatment, recalled yesterday’s events, the wives beamed with joy.

“You really came!”

“We received your call yesterday and couldn’t quite believe it! Welcome!”