Act 2 Vol. 1 Ch. 1 Ep. 1: The Chief Officer's Day Off

It's been quite some time, Sensei.

Actually, that's not accurate. It hasn't been too long since I last went to Schale to collect your last report.

...You're incredibly forthright with your students, Sensei. Perhaps it comes from a lack of awareness or judgment.

Regardless, I'm not contacting you for General Student Council matters. Not in the strictest sense.

I have a request of a more personal matter.

To cut to the chase, do you have plans this weekend?

...

...

...

Excuse me. I'll go contact...anyone else.

*sigh* Fine. I don't like repeating myself, so listen carefully.

Rin... No, I mean the Chief Officer.

She's been overworked lately.

That's been a given since the General Student Council President went missing, but the situation's become dire as of late.

I've noticed small mistakes in her reports that are unlike her. And her skin is even worse than usual.

For the sake of the General Student Council's daily operations, I can't allow this to continue.

The opposite. Our workload's become much more manageable as late.

From a financial perspective, we've already recovered about 70% of the losses incurred from the General Student Council President's disappearance.

However, the Chief Officer remains unsatisfied.

She refuses to rest. She's afraid of another crisis striking the General Student Council if she can't achieve the superhuman results the President had been able to deliver, especially after the coup.

She works every weekend. She refuses every suggestion to take a break.

This is where we require your assistance, Sensei.

Use your persuasive skills, invoke Schale's authority, do what you must. Just get Rin to take this weekend off.

"That said, let's go!"

"It's time for a break, Rinny!"

What...do you mean?

Also, don't call me Rinny.

But where is this coming from?

A break is unnecessary. I get the required six hours of sleep every night and never skip meals.

I would never let my health decline. That would affect my ability to work. So please don't concern yourself with trivialities.

I object. It HAS been affecting your work.

Look at this Safety Incident Report you submitted yesterday. You used single parentheses here, when they should only be used in the table of contents.

You normally wouldn't have made such a simple mistake... Are you sure you're in good health?

Following correct processes is essential. If the established format suddenly changes, it could affect the readability or meaning.

These are the basics of drafting official documents.

...My apologies. It looks like I forgot to give it a final review.

I can assure you, this won't happen again.

No, you can't. Not if you don't take some time off, Chief Officer.

You haven't taken a single vacation day for over a month. When you're experiencing burnout, these kind of routine tasks are where concentration slips the most.

Take this weekend off. I'll postpone this quarter's financial report deadline to next week.

...I don't need a break.

Thanks to everyone's ceaseless efforts, we've managed to rebuild most of the destroyed infrastructure. But that hasn't done much to restore the public's confidence in our competence.

It's times like this when it's most dangerous to let down my guard. Moments of peace are just moments when criminals are biding their time.

...The General Student Council President would have been able to.

Before I am Chief Officer, I am the Acting General Student Council President. In her absence, I must fill the hole that she's left.

But she was a genius, and I'm just a person. The only way someone like me can live up to her legacy is through hard work.

Rin...

I have to go to Trinity for a meeting with some Tea Party officials this weekend as well.

L-Leave that to me!

Ayumu...?

I'm already going to Trinity for the Regulatory Committee!

The main subject on the agenda was the extradition of Gehenna students who have been arrested in Trinity, correct?

The Gehenna Head Prefect delegated the authority for this matter to me, so you can go enjoy your weekend!

Thank you. That would take care of that...

But I have other matters to attend to. There was an issue with consumer goods transport due to bottlenecks at Kanesaki Port...

Oh, isn't that from the train derailment three days ago? That's all sorted out already. I just adjusted the train schedule.

There's a new potato chip flavor releasing this Saturday... So I made sure to get all my work done early this week.

...This feels like a coordinated effort to take my work from me.

I can hardly ignore everyone's concerns and dig my heels in now.

Fine, I give in. I'll take some time off this weekend.

Um... Last time you said that, you took paperwork home with you and still worked all weekend.

We won't let you waste this vacation, even if we have forced it on you.

"Which is why we're going on a date this weekend, Rinny!"

Don't call me Rinny. Also, it is absolutely not a data...

...Sorry. I tried to say two things at once. I must be a bit flustered.

Your brash boldness should be studied, Sensei.

Do you proposition all your students like this?

*sigh*

Okay. I'll join you this weekend, Sensei.

I've actually been rather curious about how you spend your days off.

According to the rumors, students have seen you on your hands and knees, searching under vending machines, or even sunbathing in the middle of the street...

Do any of these ring a bell?

I'm happy to hear that.

Well, if it works for you, I'll meet you in front of the General Student Council building Saturday morning.

Ah, and one last thing.

...It is not a date.