Arisu let out a light breath as she looked at the thick stack of documents on the table in front of her. All she felt was a headache.
"It's too much. I can't finish all of this."
She muttered in frustration.
Right now, she was sitting in Toru's chair, as if she had become the District Mayor of Tokyo's Koto Ward, handling all kinds of affairs.
Toru, meanwhile, was lying on the sofa nearby. He had even taken off his shoes and was playing on his phone with his legs crossed.
After hearing Arisu's soft sigh, he raised his head to look at the troubled girl and smiled.
"What's wrong? Is our District Mayor Sakayanagi too tired?"
"Should I get you a glass of water, or maybe some cookies?"
Arisu said irritably, "That would be very helpful, Secretary Fujiwara. Please pour me a cup of coffee and get me some cookies too."
She had said it out of spite, but she did not expect Toru to actually get up, put on his shoes, walk over to the coffee machine nearby, and leisurely hand-grind a cup of coffee for her.
Then, Toru took out some packaged pastries from a nearby cabinet, placed them on a tray, and set them in front of Arisu.
Looking at Arisu's stunned expression, Toru smiled and said, "What's wrong? Did I do something wrong as your secretary? Please tell me, District Mayor Sakayanagi, though I may not necessarily change."
Toru's words finally brought Arisu back to her senses.
"I thought you were joking."
She frowned, picked up the coffee, and took a sip.
Arisu, who loved coffee, had to admit that Toru's handmade coffee skills were not bad. Although he was still a little far from master level, he was already around the level of an ordinary coffee shop employee.
But considering that Toru owned a coffee shop and occasionally brewed coffee for the customers there, having this level of skill seemed quite normal.
"How could I be joking? I can see your fatigue, District Mayor Sakayanagi. As your secretary, not being able to do anything about it is truly shameful. How about I give you a shoulder massage?"
As he said this, Toru stood behind Arisu.
Arisu was just about to refuse when she found that Toru's hands had already landed on her shoulders.
As Toru massaged her, Arisu initially felt a sharp pain that almost made her cry out, but soon, her tense shoulders relaxed, making her hum in satisfaction.
"If you work hard in the future, I can spend some time massaging your shoulders every day. Consider it your reward."
Toru's words actually made Arisu feel a little tempted.
If she could make this scoundrel massage her shoulders every day, then her exhaustion would seem worth it.
As soon as this thought surfaced, Arisu herself was startled. Was she being manipulated by him?
Compared to Toru's effort, she was the one being worked to death!
Toru said at this point, "Actually, you don't have to be so serious. Just handle the more important tasks."
"The work of a District Mayor is not like that of a Student Council president. In the Student Council at school, you can work hard without rest, finish everything, and leave no trouble behind."
"But in a government department, that's impossible. Not only are there simply too many things, you also can't solve every livelihood issue."
"It also involves more complicated relationships."
As Toru spoke, he picked up a few documents from the desk.
"For example, the preferential policy the Suzuki Zaibatsu wants. You can set it aside for now and leave it alone."
"Why?" Arisu asked.
"Because if you give them preferential treatment, other somewhat influential companies or groups will start getting restless. The problem isn't scarcity, it's unfairness. Some things are very troublesome."
"But you can't directly refuse the Suzuki Zaibatsu either, because the Suzuki Zaibatsu is a major taxpayer in Koto Ward, and you need to rely on it to produce political achievements. At a time like this, what you actually need more is to personally step forward and have a proper talk with the chairman of the Suzuki Zaibatsu."
Toru taught Arisu little by little.
Arisu also listened seriously. Some things could never be learned in school.
After all, no matter how much power the Student Council at school had, it was still restricted by the school's rules.
But here, rules were sometimes something that could be crossed at any moment.
"Of course, if you're short on money, you can also hint to the Suzuki Zaibatsu to offer you some money, and then you can approve this proposal."
"But there's also a big problem with that. You might end up giving the Suzuki Zaibatsu leverage over you, which would be detrimental to your political career. That depends on whether you have the ability to keep the Suzuki Zaibatsu from catching you, or make them not dare to do anything even if they do."
As Toru spoke, he continued massaging Arisu's shoulders while explaining the documents to her.
Arisu listened intently, quietly remembering his words.
"And there are some things that you simply cannot do, or have no way to do at all. In that case, what you need to do is delay them. Delay them for as long as you can."
"So those matters will never be resolved?" Arisu asked.
"Who says that? We have to believe in the wisdom of future generations. What I call delaying means delaying until our term ends, then letting the next District Mayor solve it. If the problem just happens to explode during the next District Mayor's term, then that's his bad luck and has nothing to do with us."
Toru shrugged.
"Do you understand? Government agencies are like this. Even if you are a decisive and capable commander, there are still some things you can't solve."
"Because those problems were not caused by you at all. They were passed down by your predecessors, and even your predecessors' predecessors. These problems have become too deeply rooted to reverse, and you can't solve them at all."
"The same principle applies to dynasties. No matter how capable the emperor at the end of a dynasty was, when facing problems that had piled up over hundreds of years, he had no other choice but to destroy everything and rebuild."
Toru's words made Arisu fall into deep thought. After a long while, she said, "I think I understand what you mean. Next, I will work hard to learn how to become a qualified official."
"Then good luck, Arisu. This position will be yours in the future. When I become Prime Minister, how about I hand the entire cabinet over to you to manage?"
"That is still up in the air. And are you really willing to hand the cabinet over to me to manage, instead of the Fujiwara family?"
Toru exaggeratedly said, "Arisu, how much do you hate Japan, to actually want my sister Chika to manage the cabinet? Then Japan would really be finished."
Arisu was amused by Toru. Was Fujiwara Chika really that incredible?
She stood up and straightened her clothes.
"I'm going back. And don't mess around while I'm working."
(To be continued.)