episode_0069

“Sir William! Can I take just one day off tomorrow?”

As everyone was getting ready to start work, Marie, wagging her tail, suddenly approached and requested a day off.

It was a right stipulated in the contract, and it wasn’t a busy period, so taking a day off wasn’t a problem in itself, but it was unusual for someone to take a day off so suddenly the day before, so I was worried that something might be wrong.

“Tomorrow? That’s fine, but is something suddenly wrong?”

“No!”

Marie answered in a lively voice, shaking her head.

Well… if nothing’s wrong, it’s not my business to worry about, so I reached for the drawer to take out the work record that I had never taken out before because no employee had ever taken a vacation.

“Okay? Then work comfortably…”

“It’s just a simple heat cycle.”

“……?”

I stopped what I was doing and stared blankly at Marie, wondering if I had misheard.

When I suddenly stopped and stared at her, Marie perked up her ears and tilted her head, then widened her eyes as if she realized something and said in an even louder voice.

“It’s heat!”

“…?”

Marie’s declaration of being in heat caused the employees who were preparing for work to look this way one by one with bewildered expressions.

“Well… I already heard you, so you don’t have to say it again…”

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

I closed my eyes tightly at Marie’s mind-boggling behavior, put my finger on my lips, and said in a tired voice.

I looked at Marie, who was bowing her head and apologizing, with squinted eyes, then stroked my hair back and asked Marie a question.

“Is one day enough? If it’s heat, doesn’t it take a few days?”

“I can handle it as long as it’s not the worst day, just a little restless?”

“That’s a relief, but it must be hard to be in heat, wouldn’t it be better to rest for a few days?”

“Then I’ll be out too much, so I can’t.”

“Don’t demi-humans take a long time to go into heat again? About seven or eight weeks a year…”

“Pardon?”

Marie frowned as if I were saying something strange, then pricked up her ears and said.

“Cat people go into heat once every month or two?”

“What? Really?”

“Yes, I go into heat about seven times a year, are you really okay with that?”

“Um…”

I thought it was similar to dogs, which go into heat once every 6-8 months, but it was more frequent than I thought.

If I gave Marie a few days off every time she went into heat, she would be off for almost a month due to heat.

It wouldn’t be fair if I didn’t give the other employees that much time off.

“Then I can’t help it…”

“It’s okay, and one day is enough!”

“Okay… Take a good rest tomorrow, and when you come back, take it easy until it’s over, okay?”

“Yes!”

I told Marie that she could take tomorrow off and then took out the work record to record Marie’s work status as a vacation tomorrow.

_

Since it’s a workplace with people of various races and cultures, I realized through Marie that there are hardships that I, a standard human, can’t easily understand.

Even among humans, there are various complaints and inconveniences when living together, but if races are mixed together, I thought that a big problem could arise someday.

So, although it was a bit late, I felt the urgent need for time to listen to the employees’ requests.

But it would be difficult to talk in a place where everyone is watching, so I have to call them one by one and listen to their stories, so I was wondering who to start with, but I thought it would be best to start with the person who is most different from me.

“Adelheid.”

“Yes, what’s the matter?”

“It’s nothing special, I just wanted to ask you something, do you have time?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

So I chose Adelheid as the first target.

Because she is female, not even a mammal, and her appearance is very different.

I finished work earlier than usual, and when the employees were leaving one by one, I carefully called Adelheid and took her to the room used as a break room.

“What do you want to ask me?”

“Do you have any complaints about working here? Anything you want me to improve, anything you want me to do more, anything is fine, so I want you to tell me comfortably.”

“Hmm… It’s not easy to come up with something when you ask me so suddenly…”

Adelheid crossed her arms and slightly raised her eyes and pondered.

“Ah, there is one thing.”

“What is it?”

“There’s not enough work.”

“Haa…”

I sighed and scratched my head.

Why do my employees keep asking for work?

“Do you remember that you are employees? It’s to your advantage to work less and get paid more?”

“Of course I know that, but I instinctively want to sew, I want to do nothing but sew when I come to work except for meal times, but it’s too comfortable here and I’m getting antsy, I like that you’re kind and considerate, but can’t you exploit my labor as ruthlessly as an evil aristocrat in a fairy tale, at least when it comes to sewing?”

“Um…”

I couldn’t say anything at the terrible words that came out of the employee’s mouth, not the employer’s, and moved my lips several times.

“Ah…no matter what…that’s a bit much, right? And it’s hard for us to keep up.”

Then, with great difficulty, I squeezed out my voice and shook my head sharply, cutting off Adelheid’s recommendation.

“I guess so, right? That’s too bad…”

Adelheid made a slightly sullen expression, slightly puffed up her spider torso, and tapped the floor with her legs.

I don’t know what it means, but it’s probably not a good sign, so I pretended not to see it and asked another question.

“You complain that you’re slow all the time, is there something wrong? Are you sick or need treatment or something?”

“Hmm… Unfortunately, I injured my fourth leg a long time ago, it doesn’t need treatment, but I’m slower and clumsier than other spider demi-humans, so I can’t keep up with others.”

“Huh… You’re lagging behind?”

“Yes, the limb movements of spider demi-humans who are good at sewing are close to magic, they can make four clothes at the same time, or complete a fancy dress in an hour.”

“Wow, are they even human?”

“Do you know why I always say I’m slow?”

“Yeah.”

I thought two or three at the same time was amazing, but four?

Even making a dress in 1 hour?

I wanted to see it in person if I could, because it was such a ridiculous story that a creature could do something that was possible after computers came out in my previous life.

“But, how do you do four jobs? Even if you have eight limbs, some of your legs are always on the floor, right? You said you don’t like sitting on a chair with your stomach down because it’s suffocating.”

Thanks to Adelheid, I learned that spider demi-humans have breathing holes in both their upper and lower bodies.

She always stood up to work, so I gave her a long chair to work comfortably, and I unintentionally learned that fact.

“I usually work by hanging in the air with a spider web, then I can use all eight limbs.”

“Ah~ That’s right, I forgot because Adelheid doesn’t use spider webs very often, but why don’t you hang in the air when you’re always complaining that you’re slow?”

“It’s a bit grosser than a smooth back… And that appearance is very embarrassing.”

“What?”

“Ahahaha…”

Adelheid smiled awkwardly as if she were in trouble and scratched her cheek.

“Sir William, think about it, what do you see when you pick up a dog or cat and look at it from below?”

And she pretended to lift something and asked me a question in a voice as if she were persuading me.

“A cat?”

I frowned and looked up, imagining a cat being lifted up.

You’ll see cute paws first, then fluffy fur, chest, and then belly…

“Ah.”

I gasped, my eyes flashing as if I had been electrocuted.

I realized.

‘That organ’ that most animals must have to preserve the species.

As I was looking at Adelheid, my eyes trembling, Adelheid smiled awkwardly and said.

“Do you understand now?”

“Ah, I’m so sorry, I was so insensitive…”

“No, it can’t be helped because the body structure is different, I want to cover it up like humans or other demi-humans, but… unfortunately, the second breathing hole is around there…”

“Oh, no! You don’t have to, just work as usual!”

Adelheid explained why she couldn’t cover ‘that organ’ with a really apologetic expression.

I was startled and waved my hands, emphasizing that she didn’t have to.

I like it when efficiency goes up, but I’m not crazy enough about efficiency to block my employees’ breathing holes to get them to work a lot.

That’s torture in the first place.

I have no intention of becoming a crazy evil aristocrat.

If I did that in a place where there are no slaves, I would be guillotined for sure, so why would I do that?

“It’s best to work in a comfortable state, and you’re already fast enough, so you don’t have to overdo it, okay?”

“Hehe, okay.”

Adelheid nodded, smiling.

“Is there anything else besides wanting more work?”

“Hmm… I want to make some different clothes, like clothes that are hard to find in the world, like the fabric I got to touch this time.”

“I’ll try my best for that.”

“Then there’s nothing else.”

“Hmm… okay.”

I took out a notebook from my pocket, wrote ‘more and different clothes’ and put it back in.

“If you have any new difficulties in the future, don’t keep them to yourself and tell me anytime.”

“Yes, I will.”

“Then you can go back today, sorry for taking up your time.”

“Hehe~ It’s okay.”

Adelheid, with a bright and gentle smile, bowed her head and left the break room.

I followed Adelheid out of the break room and left work with Emily.