Chapter 493: Helping Out

I arrived at the trading company’s office. There, my older brother Alex and my sister-in-law Daniela were buried in piles of paperwork, working on something. No wonder only the servants answered when I knocked on the door earlier.

It seemed that a lot of work had piled up during their stay in the Kingdom of Raven. Father and Mother had helped out as well, but they each had their own work to do. They probably couldn’t get everything done.

“Julius, Fabienne-san—you’re here.”

Alex-niisan peeked out from between the stacks of documents. I felt a little bad. I had just been thinking of dropping by to greet them before heading back, but it looked like I was interrupting their work.

“Sorry for disturbing you when you’re busy. I thought I’d say hello before leaving…”

“You’re very courteous, Julius. Well then, shall we take a break?”

“Yes, let’s do that. When it’s just the two of us, there’s no one to stop us, so I’m glad you and Fabienne came.”

This time, Sister-in-law Daniela peeked out from between the documents. They both really did look busy. I immediately asked Nero to prepare tea and helped out as well. Of course, Fabienne helped too.

It was a bit tricky since there were documents on both the table and the sofa.

“This is quite a situation you’ve got here.”

“Haha, yes. Everything here is money-related. As you can imagine, we can’t exactly let others handle it.”

The flow of money is important. Even if the Heine Trading Company’s staff is trustworthy, it doesn’t mean they can be entrusted with full authority. From a quick glance, it seemed they were checking the amounts for any mistakes.

I wonder if I could help with that?

“I see… Well, I happen to have a little free time—would you like me to help?”

“Would you?”

“Of course. Leave it to me.”

Just in case, I checked Fabienne’s expression, and she nodded back with a smile. Will she help too? That would make me happy.

“Thank you, Julius. That’s a big help. New documents keep coming in every day, so no matter how much we do, it never ends.”

Sister-in-law Daniela looked a little tired. To see my sister-in-law, who is usually all smiles, with such an expression… she must be really worn out. Looks like it’s time for the younger brother-in-law to step in.

In the game, I used to make and sell large quantities of potions. That meant I was always calculating profits from the cost of materials and selling prices. Eventually, I got tired of opening the app every time and learned to use an abacus. So I’m good at mental arithmetic.

“I’m not sure how much I can help, but I’ll do my best.”

“I’ll help too, sister-in-law.”

“Thank you, Fabienne.”

Since both of them looked quite tired, I made sure they took a proper break. Refreshing the mind is important—it improves efficiency. When I told them that, they replied, “We’ll do that from now on.” I’ll hold them to that.

Once the break ended, we started working again. Alex-niisan and Sister-in-law Daniela returned to their own desks. We decided to work at the table.

“Fabienne and Nero, I’d like you to sort these documents. Separate these from these, and place them here.”

“Understood.”

“Got it.”

It’s not that I don’t trust them, but it would be painful if they were suspected in case anything went wrong. So I only asked them to organize the documents. Even that should greatly improve efficiency.

I began processing the documents they sorted, one after another. It was mostly just adding up amounts, so it was easy. I quickly did the mental math and checked for mistakes.

“Oniisan, I’ll put the documents with incorrect amounts in this box.”

“Got it. I’ll check them later.”

And so the verification work began. Thanks to the two of them sorting the documents, things went smoothly. Ah—this one’s wrong.

“Oniisan, I’ll mark suspicious amounts with a pencil. Once you’ve checked them, you can erase the marks.”

“I see, that’s another use for a pencil. More convenient than I thought.”

“It can be erased, so it’s not for important documents. For those, please use a fountain pen.”

“I’ll recommend it to our business partners as well.”

We continued working at full speed while chatting. It’s been a while since I’ve done clerical work. I never liked it much, but once in a while it’s fun. And it’s even more fun when it helps someone.

“J-Julius-sama, aren’t you going a bit too fast?”

“What are you talking about, Nero? Look at this pile of documents—if we don’t hurry, it’ll be sunset! Hurry, hurry!”

“E-Even so, you’re way too fast, Julius-sama.”

The two of them were complaining, but once they get used to it, they’ll be faster. In the end, it’ll probably be me who can’t keep up. I’ll have to work hard not to lose. Oh, another mistake here. There are quite a lot of errors—no wonder Alex-niisan and Sister-in-law Daniela have been struggling.

“What is that? It’s moving so fast…”

“I wonder what’s going on? I’d like to peek inside Julius’s head.”

“Uuuh, Julius-sama, too fast!”

“Nero, that document goes over there.”

One way or another, we managed to finish the pile of documents near our table. A third of them contained mistakes. That’s a bit of a problem—it means there are quite a few people who can’t do calculations well.

Well, I guess that’s to be expected. This world doesn’t have computers—or even calculators. There’s a limit to what you can do by hand. And it’s questionable whether people here have learned proper arithmetic at all. Maybe I should make a calculator…? If I design a magic circuit cleverly, it might work. Or maybe it’d be better to make an abacus.

“Julius.”

“Hmm? What is it, Oniisan?”

“I was thinking it might be time for another break.”

“Is it that time already? Sure.”

I glanced at the clock. So thirty minutes had already passed. Time flies when you’re focused. Since I was the one who suggested taking frequent breaks, I can’t very well ignore it myself.

Nero looked completely exhausted, so I prepared things in her place. It’s rare to see her like this.