Chapter 5: The Meeting and Kyrias

　Although the meeting was a gathering of the heavyweights, there was another young man in attendance in addition to Henry. This was the wizard Kyrias. Kyrias gave a report at the beginning of the meeting.

“The whereabouts of Mr. Jusel Leesley are still unknown. It has already been five months since he went missing, so it will be difficult to find him. Whether he is alive or not…we don’t know.”

　The atmosphere in the conference room grew heavy. Henry was listening, wondering, (Why was I, a civil servant, summoned?). The Minister of Military Affairs  asked Kyrias a question.

 “Jusel Leesly was researching teleportation, wasn’t he?　Don’t you know where he wanted to go?”

“Mr. Leesley was a secretive man. I don’t know anything.”

“Nothing?　Absolutely nothing at all. A wizard is no more than a pinky finger away from being useful in anything but magic.”

　The minister made no attempt to hide his disdain for wizards as a whole. Kyrias shrugged his shoulders without a hint of concern. He is aware that he has no interest in anything but magic.

　After that, opinions criticizing Leesley continued without any solution. The king, who had been listening silently up to that point, looked at Henry.

“Henry, what is your opinion as the head civil servant?　I want to hear what you really think.”

　Henry gets a little nervous at the King’s nomination.

“I offer my opinion from the perspective of loss or gain. Originally, teleportation magic was something that only Mr. Jusel Leesley could use. Eventually, under his guidance, there were plans to increase the number of wizards who could use that magic tool. However, now that the magic tool under development and the instructor are gone, I think that spending more time and manpower on the search will only result in greater losses.”

“That’s true, too. ……. He is a loner and even if we wanted to use the system of guilt by association, he has no relatives we can punish. Civil servants, military personnel, sorcerers. It’s already been five months since we mobilized a significant number of them for the search. It’s time to give up. ……”

　Then the Minister of War spoke up.

“But, Your Majesty, if we let this go on without punishing anyone, won’t a second or third Jusel Leesley appear?　There may be more wizards in the future, who disappear near the completion of the project while using State funds.”

“Wait a minute. That's an insult to all of us wizards."

“Wizards are all about magic. It is possible.”

(Oh, what a waste of time. I’ve got a lot of work to do.)

　Henry looks at the Minister of War and the Wizard with cold eyes. The Minister notices his gaze.

“If you have something to say, speak up, Head Civil Servant, Henry Howler.”

“Well then, how about this? How about we end this by having the Department of Magic take appropriate responsibility for this matter?”

　Kyrias was startled.

“The Department of Magic is responsible for this?　When Mr. Leesley was at the top, all of us wizards were under him, remember?　Where in the world do you find a workplace that makes subordinates take responsibility for their superiors?　Usually it’s the other way around.”

“That’s true, but unless we clarify who is responsible, the matter will never be settled. How about this? How about we cut the Department of Magic’s budget by 30% for one year? How about that?”

“Thirty percent?　I absolutely hate it. I can’t accept it. What am I supposed to tell my colleagues? Tell them that our budget has been cut because of Mr. Leesley?”

“That’s right.”

“No way!”

　Henry wanted to end this meeting as soon as possible. The Minister of Finance is in overall charge of accounting, but Henry is at the helm. On the books, he could reduce the budget for the Department of Magic, then give the wizards new jobs, pay them for them, and make a deduction of zero. That kind of thing was a piece of cake for him.

“Kyrias-kun, we can discuss the details later.”

“I won’t be seduced!”

“Yes, I know you won’t.”

　The Prime Minister confirmed that the King had nodded and concluded the meeting.

“Then I will cut the budget of the Department of Magic by 30%. With this, we will put an end to the Jusel case.”

　The Minister of Military Affairs had no better idea than this, and although he was reluctant, he agreed and stood up. The one who was not convinced was Kyrias. As soon as he left the conference room, he came at Henry.

“Mr. Henry, this is terrible. Why are you cutting our budget when we have been working so diligently on this project? Even now, our budget is totally inadequate.”

“Please calm down. I have thought of a good solution. Kyrias-kun, are you interested in delicious food?　I don’t know if you are interested in food, because wizards tend to skip meals and devote themselves to their research. I will treat you to a delicious meal. I’ll explain the solution to you while we eat?”

“I’ll just have to give up now that His Majesty has given his consent. So, what is this delicious food?　I would not eat in the castle cafeteria. I don’t want to be cajoled into eating that food that I’m already tired of.”

“It’s not castle food. It is delicious and unusual food. Shall we go tomorrow? I will explain to you in detail how we can make up for the lost budget.”

　Kyrias’s eyes lit up when he heard that the budget would be restored.

“If that’s the case, why didn’t you tell me sooner? I knew you’d be on our side.”

“You’re all talk as always. I couldn’t just tell you right then and there that I’m going to give you back the budget I took away from you, could I? Can we meet tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 p.m.? The restaurant is not far from here. You’ll be surprised at how good it tastes.”

“Okay. Tomorrow at 2 p.m.?　I’m looking forward to it!　I’ll meet you at your room.”

　Thus, Henry promised to take Kyrias to “The Hideaway”. He really did not want to take anyone he knew to that restaurant, but it was the best Henry could do to entertain him, since he did not know of any restaurant that was better than that one.

　From now on, Kyrias would tell his friends that their budget would be cut and they would complain. Even if they take on other jobs to make up for the reduced budget, the wizards will have much more work to do. They will complain that they will not be able to carry on their original research.

(No matter what you do, there will be dissatisfaction. It’s a matter of how you convince them.)

　Back in the large room where the civil servants were working, Henry sighed, and his peers approached him.

“What are you sighing about? Did the meeting not go well?”

“No, not really. The disappearance case has been closed.”

“That’s good. A lot of money has been wasted on the development, but no one can afford to be involved in it forever. Everyone is busy.”

“Well, yeah.”

“Thanks for your hard work. Let’s have a drink tonight. Eight of us are going out for a drink. Come join us  sometime.”

“Yeah, let’s do that.”

　Henry didn’t drink much. It’s not that he couldn’t, but he doesn’t want to risk making a mistake by getting too relaxed with alcohol. It is ingrained in him to live with caution. However, it would be conspicuous if he did not attend drinking parties at all, so he makes the excuse that he is “weak on alcohol” and only occasionally joins in.

　Thus, Henry goes out for a drink with his friends for the first time in a long while, and meets an unexpected person at the bar.

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