Otherworld Company Chapter 145.1: Seasons Passed, And There Will Come A Time To Let Bygones Be Bygones

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　From my point of view, I intended to walk up to him normally without doing any kind of coercive behavior like I would do in battle, such as glaring at him or making a sour expression.

　From the other side, I wonder if it felt like a dragon was approaching, as soon as one of the men surrounding Kaido noticed me, his expression turned grim and he bowed his head toward Kaido and quickly walked away like spiders scattering.

　Come to think of it, I felt an overwhelming aura when I first met the instructors.

　I remember that even though I was just standing there, my danger instincts, untrained in the peaceful Japanese society, warned me that I was in trouble even though I was just standing there.

　Was it the same as that?

“What happened to those guys?” (Jiro)

　I approach Kaido with a nonchalant look on my face, wondering when my body acquired such power.

　However, I was aware that I did not get along well with the other testers except for the party members, but lately, I feel that they tend to see me as an object of fear rather than dislike.

　Of course, when I am in the same company, I have the opportunity to pass by other dungeon testers and say hello to them, but what used to be ignored when I first joined the company is now greeted back in a small way, avoiding eye contact.

　I was about to rush into the room as if I were some kind of backroom boss that I was not allowed to fight with, but the other party was quickly leaving without time for such small talk.

　Of course, the other parties, such as the duo Hizumi and Nanase, and Kanzaki, the leader of the female party, responded to me as usual, but the rest of the party members quickly left as the others had done before.

“Oh, that’s right.” (Kaido)

　And Kaido was surrounded by such members and was doing something, it would be curiosity.

　What came back was Kaido’s expression, which seemed to be difficult to say.

　It’s a word from those who have been so blatantly avoiding me.

　It must have been something that was difficult for them to say to me.

“If it’s something you don’t feel comfortable saying, there’s no need to say it. I’m simply asking out of curiosity.” (Jiro)

“No, it’s not that I don’t want to tell you, okay?” (Kaido)

“Is it so?” (Jiro)

“Well, it’s not something to talk about in a place like this, so why don’t we go out for a drink?” (Kaido)

“Alright.” (Jiro)

　Deciding that it was nothing to talk about standing around, we went out for a drink as planned.

“Ugh, it was hot until the other day, but it’s cold at night.” (Kaido)

“Yes, it’s not so cold that my breath turns white, but I can’t walk around in short sleeves anymore.” (Jiro)

　What enveloped us was the cool autumn night air.

　The hot sun and warm air seemed to have gone without us noticing.

　Such a change of season makes me aware that I spend too much time in dungeons and underground facilities, and that I am living a life in which I am less aware of the changes in the outside environment.

　A peaceful Japan, a world without magic power, lies beyond the automatic door of the extraterritorial company.

　The feeling of powerlessness and the coldness on my skin, as the magic power of the otherworld is lost, becomes a reminder that the season has entered autumn and winter will soon be upon us.

　Fortunately, Kaido and I are both wearing long sleeves, so we start walking without worrying, but we both feel the cold.

　Kaido and I walk down the street, passing by people who are also wearing long sleeves and jackets.

　There are not many pubs within walking distance from the office.

　Even if there are, they are often small and do not meet our needs.

　So naturally, we headed for the nearest station and extended our walk a little.

“Well, when I go out for a drink with my senior on a cold day like this, it reminds me of something.” (Kaido)

“What?” (Jiro)

“You know, we forced ourselves to cut off overtime work before the year-end deadline at our former company and went out for a drink, right? That’s what I’m talking about.” (Kaido)

“Oh, yes, that’s right. I remember the time when I wanted to punch the manager in the face for giving me additional work to do when I had almost finished the job.” (Jiro)

“That’s it. But still, were you thinking like that?” (Kaido)

“Oh, I didn’t want to get into a lot of trouble with the police.” (Jiro)

　It’s too late to talk about this, but Kaido is not good at keeping quiet for more than five minutes.

　He can be silent at the right time and place, but when he doesn’t have to be silent, he will bring up a subject like this.

　He has no taboo subject, and there is no way he can remember the number of times I went out drinking with Kaido, so when I asked him what he was talking about, he brought up a topic that I had missed.

　It was the busy season at the end of the year at my former company, where stress often reached its limit.

　It was a time when it was difficult to find a person who did not have dark circles under his eyes, and my boss, whom I disliked, made a reckless demands of me.

　The last bastion of my self-control, which had long since burst and cleared out my inventory, came up with a compromise: I could put the work off until tomorrow and change my mind.

　I am now able to laugh at my boss’s unreasonable behavior at that time, which I can say was unreasonable even when I recall it.

“At that time, Senior was really scary, you know? Everyone around me was scared that you were going to explode at any moment. When you suddenly asked me to go out with you with your eyes fixed on me, the guys around me felt really sorry for me.” (Kaido)

“That much?” (Jiro)

“Maybe, people don’t want to get involved with you since you have a dangerous atmosphere. You also didn’t notice that with your level of insensitivity.” (Kaido)

　I don’t know why Kaido chose this story, but old stories are easy to share.

　Therefore, it is easy for the conversation to spread.

　The conversation naturally starts with the cliché.

　The conversation continues with “I wish I had done this at that time.”

　At first, it was a dark topic, but the story gradually shifted in a different direction, and there was a story about when a colleague at work was caught cheating, and we laughed, and there was a story about putting the squeezed juice of a rag into the tea of the section chief. And so on, back then, when work was first, second, and work and third, there were more and more inside stories that I couldn’t believe, and before I knew it, Kaidou and I were laughing as we talked.

“Did that really happen?” (Jiro)

“It’s all true!” (Kaido)

　A silly talk between men.

　I had been reluctant to talk about my former company, but it turned out that I just didn’t like to talk about it, and to my surprise, I was able to laugh about it easily.

　I could afford it, it seems.

　I was able to look outside of myself, and I had some level of self-awareness.

　I think that is why I am able to talk like this.

　If I had been at my previous company, I would have wanted to go home quickly rather than waste time chatting like this.

　And I would have been thinking about the next day’s work while I was going home, while I was taking a bath, and before I went to bed.

“Then, Kuwata, the office worker.” (Kaido)

“You decided to unleash your full power Yakuza kick at the sales guy, didn’t you? I’ve heard of it.” (Jiro)

“Yeah, I heard them complained about canceling their date because of their job, but that story doesn’t sound right. Of course, I kicked them.” (Kaido)

　Now I am able to make time for such conversations.

　I guess I have learned to have a good balance between work and private life.

　Thanks to this, I can now focus on my time outside of work.

　During this conversation with Kaido, I glanced aside to see a man in a suit walking quickly past me on the phone.