I was one of the Civil Official Girls. As for my name, I preferred to remain anonymous.
Why anonymous, you might ask? Because there was no need for me to stand out as an individual. I was simply one of the Civil Official Girls, and that was enough for me.
This time, I wanted to introduce the work we did as Civil Official Girls.
First and foremost, our primary responsibility was to record the crop yields of the Village of the Great Tree, secure what was necessary for our own needs, and arrange for the surplus to be sold outside the village. It might have sounded simple, but it was actually quite an ordeal. After all, here in the Village of the Great Tree, we had three harvests every single year.
Three times a year. A spring harvest, a summer harvest, and an autumn harvest. It felt bizarre, but since it was our reality, there was nothing to be done but accept it.
As you likely knew, this was a village where Inferno Wolves would roll over and demand belly rubs. One couldn't afford to worry about the small details. As for the absurdity of three harvests a year, I found that I couldn't endure it unless I averted my eyes and cheered about how our annual yield was tripled. Truly. Though, of course, I couldn't actually look away from the task of managing that tripled workload.
The Civil Official Girls had other duties as well. For instance, the management of Reward Medals. These served as the currency circulating primarily in the Village of the Great Tree, as well as Village One, Village Two, Village Three, and Village Four. The Village Head insisted they weren't currency, but we certainly treated them as such. As long as we were careful to prevent them from leaking to the outside world, they didn't present much of a problem. The task of counting them had even become easier since the Village Head created specialized cases that held exactly ten medals each. We were very grateful for that, Village Head.
Then there was the Festival Executive Committee. That was beyond grueling. People gathered from all the satellite villages in addition to the Village of the Great Tree, and we had to host various guests of honor. I used to think that being tasked with welcoming the Demon King was some sort of cruel punishment, but he turned out to be one of the "safer" guests. When it came to hosting the Dragon King, the Dark Dragons, and the Sovereign of the Korin Religion, it was painfully obvious that our social standing was nowhere near sufficient. The Village Head told us not to let it bother us, so we tried our best not to.
The Village Head agonized over the festival's activities every year, but in my opinion, it was enough as long as everyone could blow off some steam. Safety was a priority, of course, and universal participation was the ideal. However, this village was a melting pot of races far more chaotic than the Demon Kingdom itself. We couldn't push for the impossible; we had to stick to what was feasible. We did, however, put a great deal of effort into the food. Every dish the Village Head came up with was delicious, after all.
A similar responsibility was the management of the Martial Arts Tournament. Everyone involved was so hot-blooded that it was honestly terrifying. It was, after all, the World’s Best Deciding Match—or at least, that’s what we called it amongst ourselves. If we had officially labeled it the "World’s Best," the participants would have become far too serious. It was supposed to be a form of village recreation, so safety remained our top priority.
Interestingly, after a few years of experience, I found myself capable of scolding anyone, regardless of their status. I even surprised myself. Usually, it happened because people tried to force me to choose them during the lottery even though I explained it was a strictly impartial drawing. I often wondered if the Dragon King and the Dark Dragons couldn't just fight each other in private. Did they really feel that lonely without an audience? Well, even if they did, there wasn't much I could do.
And then there was the Demon King. It was a lottery. A strict, impartial drawing. There was no foul play involved. He had even checked the lots himself before drawing one, hadn't he? He should have just been happy he won a spot. I wished him luck, even if his opponent turned out to be the Dragon King’s wife. I hoped he gave it his all.
Another massive undertaking involved Big Roof Shashato. This was a source of constant headaches. Initially, we were told it would be a shop on the scale of a food stall; who could have imagined it would transform into a massive commercial complex almost overnight? On top of that, there was the management of the private school and the inn. Fortunately, they managed to secure excellent personnel in Shashato, which helped immensely with the accounting.
One of those individuals seemed to have quite a sense of humor, as they often hid codes in the letters they sent us. "H-E-L-P-M-E." Hahaha. What a clever joke. I figured if they were truly desperate for help, they wouldn't have had the leisure to craft such a code. I didn't bother with codes myself and simply wrote back with total honesty: "No surplus forces on our end."
Hang in there, my unseen comrade-in-arms. For some reason, my eyes were watering as I wrote that. I decided to send over some of those long-lasting sweets the Village Head made as a consolation.
Finally, there was the management of Village Five. We were told a new village was being built, but the scale was anything but village-like. It was a city. Luckily, Village Five was staffed with a full roster of capable civil officials. I suspected I saw several names on the payroll that I probably shouldn't have seen, but I chose to ignore it. As long as they processed the paperwork, I didn't care who they were.
As you can see, the duties of the Civil Official Girls were vast and varied. On top of the major tasks, we each had individual responsibilities like managing village accounts or handling trade with Howlin Village. It was exhausting. I especially respected Rasshashi, who also served as the caretaker for the Centaur race, though I would never tell her that to her face.
The ten of us, along with Lady Frau, handled all of these responsibilities. To put it mildly, we were chronically understaffed. We weren't quite as desperate as our ally in Shashato, but we desperately needed reinforcements. I consulted Lady Frau about this many times, but her response was never what I hoped for. Every time I brought it up, she provided us with the latest calculation tools, high-quality writing utensils, or new desks and filing cabinets. While I appreciated the equipment, what I truly wanted was more people.
I assumed the Village Head was aware of our situation, seeing as he was the one who built the new desks and cabinets. And yet, I had to ask... what was this Top Secret Operation? Infiltrating a foreign nation to quietly spirit away several hundred people? Was I even supposed to be hearing this? More importantly, why were the names of the Civil Official Girls on the list of participants?
Were we really going to use a Teleportation Gate as a disposable item? Do you have any idea how much those are worth? Ah, I see. It was one of those situations where my protests wouldn't change a thing. And asking the Demon Kingdom for help was strictly forbidden? We were supposed to handle this entirely with the members present.
I wondered if the Dragon King or the Dark Dragons couldn't just go and flatten the place. Apparently not; there were too many political constraints. Fine, I understood. I just needed to know exactly how many people we were taking. I needed accuracy so I could secure enough food and bedding. Were they coming to the Village of the Great Tree? No, Village Five. Well, that city could probably absorb a few hundred more people without much trouble. Regardless, the plan was far too crude! I decided I would have to rewrite the entire operation from the ground up.
The Civil Official Girls were originally noble daughters chosen to be the personal aides of the Royal Princess. When Lady Frau, our leader, was away, a series of complications led to me being removed from the Princess's side. To be honest, I felt a little lucky at the time, but that was a secret.
Later, the girls who replaced me as the Princess's aides made a massive blunder. This prompted a fierce counterattack from Lady Frau. I never imagined she would be so ruthless... it was quite chilling. I thought that would be the end of my career, but for some reason, Lady Frau selected me to join her new team. I still wasn't sure why.
My new colleagues consisted of both the aides who had messed up and those like me who had been distanced. We were all treated the same. Naturally, there was some friction at first, but I kept my mouth shut. I realized very quickly that our past mistakes or grievances didn't matter in the place where we were going to work. We had our share of arguments, but now we were reliable companions. In the face of a mountain of paperwork, we were sisters-in-arms. I wouldn't let a single one of them go—excuse me, I meant I wouldn't abandon a single one of them.
It was us, the Civil Official Girls, who supported this unusually large-scale operation. Taking pride in that fact, I continued to battle the endless piles of documents today.
Oh, look. Another coded message from my friend in Shashato. I had to write a reply. "Fight on with your current forces."
I made sure to include some sweets with the letter.