First Task

"Then could I have you three handle general affairs? There's a lot of paperwork. I've heard all three of you are quite capable—I have high expectations."

"Certainly. I'm quite good at clerical work, you know?"

So said the marquis's daughter, Lady Koleha Nyarlathotep, proudly as she began checking the documents.

I'd heard she was His Highness's fiancée and spoke in a high-handed way, but the fact that she proactively volunteered to work was encouraging.

I'd also heard rumors beforehand that she was good with paperwork. I didn't know how good, but…

Let's start her on something simple and see how she does.

"That helps a lot. Then Lady Nyarlathotep, could you summarize the contents of that petition?"

"…"

"If there's anything unclear in the paperwork, ask Mr. Kurushu—"

"… What is the meaning of this!!"

Lady Nyarlathotep slapped the documents onto the desk with a crack.

Dissatisfaction had erupted immediately… Was it too difficult for a lady?

"Hey, Koleha. Don't treat the documents so roughly… Is something wrong with them?"

"It's a mess!! What happened to the format? What happened to the format!?"

"… Format?"

Seeing His Highness tilt his head, Lady Nyarlathotep slapped the documents down again.

"… Sum—… Hiiro. You can see what's wrong with these papers, can't you?"

"Uh, e-excuse me… Ah. Yes, yes. I see… I understand."

"W-what? Hey, Koleha. What exactly is the problem?"

"Your Highness! I said the format! The format!! They just scribbled a note on blank paper!! There aren't even horizontal lines!!"

I didn't follow. That's what petitions were like.

But even the other newcomer, Hiiro, seemed to recognize how bad this was.

His Highness asked Hiiro.

"… Sorry, Hiiro. Explain."

"Ah, yes, Your Highness. Um, L-Lady Nyarlathotep is asking for a uniform layout. For example, we could prepare three rectangles here: the top for the applicant's name, the middle for the request, and the bottom for the requested deadline."

"Also include a section for the reason and the application date, and a place for an approval signature!"

"One more section, and also add right-top and right-bottom areas. Ah, it's easier if we draw it, right? Do you have a straightedge?"

Lady Nyarlathotep slid a ruler out from her bosom and tossed it; Hiiro caught it and quickly sketched a sample format.

With perfect coordination, they were like a boss and aide with many years together.

"Hey, Koleha, where did you just pull that from?"

"My, Your Highness. Women have many pockets men lack."

"Whatever you do, don't hand that to a man! That would be indecent!"

"Oh-ho-ho-ho, forgive me?"

While they spoke, the sample format was finished. With a "tada", Hiiro displayed it.

There was an orderliness to it.

… It was easy to understand. Name, request, reason, deadline. There were even set places for the application date and approval signature. With petitions written on a sheet like this, you could practically file them as-is.

"We'll prepare forms like this and have people fill them out. That's a 'format' or 'form'."

"… I see. If everything were written like this, it would be much easier."

"… But drawing those lines is a lot of work, isn't it?"

"Do you not know about printing plates!? And don't tell me you've never used seals!! It's common sense in my Shima!!"

"She says we can make stamps for commonly used parts, like hanko."

Hiiro looked smug.

They were in perfect sync, no matter how I looked at it.

"… I completely forgot! Outside Nyarlathotep, they still call such primitive notes 'documents'!?"

"C-come to think of it, my father also said documents from the Nyarlathotep marquis are easy to read and we should use them as reference…"

"Then why! Don't! You! Adopt! It!? Or spread it!? How dull you are!!"

Lady Nyarlathotep poked His Highness between the brows repeatedly.

The sudden assault — fiancée or not, wasn't this bordering on lèse-majesté? I felt a chill down my spine.

"Ow — hey, that hurts! And we can't go around making every lord draw lines!"

"Silence! The top is busy! If we say, 'Any document not in this format will not be accepted,' they'll have no choice but to comply!"

"That's tyrannical!"

"Oh? So it's fine if the upper ranks — His Majesty himself — die from overwork!? Coming from the First Prince!? That's treason! The very model of a wicked retainer!!"

"I didn't say that!? F-fine, I was wrong!!"

Smack! His Highness reeled back and crouched.

His expression contorted with humiliation.

I… I couldn't move. I was overwhelmed. As a vassal, I should have stepped in to protect His Highness…!

"Ooh-ho-ho-ho! As long as you understand!"

"Kuh…! … So, how do we make these stamps for formats? Carve them out?"

"How foolish — that's so much work! Stand thin boards upright and they become straight-line stamps. Combine those and they're plenty useful. Carving is only for letters at most! Or use very thin rods arranged into the shapes of letters and glue them."

"I see… that's easy to understand and make. And if we cut horizontally, we could mass-produce the same stamps. Kuh! How convenient!"

"You couldn't even think of this? What's to become of this country's future?"

"You'd go that far!? Just you wait!! I'll have format stamps ready in no time!!"

"I look forward to it—Ooh-ho-ho-ho-ho!! … Now then, I'll whip these notes into something somewhat like proper documents."

Perhaps satisfied after laughing to her heart's content, Lady Nyarlathotep sat and began compiling the papers.

… The council room fell suddenly silent.

Eh. We're just moving on to work after all that? I was still confused when His Highness stood smoothly, as if nothing had happened.

"So then, President Dagon. This will be invaluable. I want to have format stamps for petitions made immediately. How about it? Hiiro, think up formats for the other document types. Kurushu, tell Hiiro what kinds of documents we have."

"Yes."

"Understood."

At His Highness's direction, Hiiro and Kurushu promptly set to work.

I snapped out of it a beat late and finally responded.

"Ah, um, yes… Uh, Your Highness?"

"Don't mind it. It's the usual… My fiancée ought to be like this."

His Highness, whose face had been twisted with frustration a moment ago, now looked thoroughly refreshed… I could only say nothing and proceed to put in a request to the executive committee to make stamps for the formats.

Ah, and it would certainly be easier for both sides if these requests were formatted too, I thought to myself.

… Shouldn't His Highness be the student council president after all?

Incidentally, the summary compiled by Lady Nyarlathotep listed how many similar petitions there were and was extremely easy to read.