After my divorce, I became a Tokyo literary giant

Chapter 2 The Stern Queen

The sky was covered with dark clouds and heavy rain was roaring.

Water droplets covered the entire glass window, making a popping sound.

Maki Saionji looked at the sky and walked into the sales department office.

She has delicate features and a high nose bridge.

She is tall and plump, with a strong aura, and her narrow and long phoenix eyes contain a strong sense of oppression.

There is a teardrop mole at the corner of the right eye.

This rather erotic teardrop mole brings a touch of allure and charm, giving her a temperament that combines nobility and charm.

The lights in the room were bright, and the originally warm atmosphere of the sales department fell into tension and anxiety with her arrival.

"Where is Tazaki Saku!" Maki Saionji looked around the office area with cold and stern eyes.

"He, he hasn't come back yet." Someone answered cautiously.

"Tell him to come to my office when he comes back!" Saionji Maki said coldly, turned and left.

After getting rid of her powerful oppression, everyone in the sales department breathed a sigh of relief.

Because of her tough measures and harsh style, employees privately call the president the Demon Queen to show her terrifying personality.

"Alas, Tazaki-kun is going to be scolded again."

"Come to think of it, the Queen seems to be particularly strict with him?"

"It can't be called strict anymore, it's simply workplace bullying..."

"Poor Tazaki-kun..."

Amid the whispers of the sales department employees, Tazaki Saku walked into the company.

This three-story building is the headquarters of Aoba Society and is the property of my ex-wife's family.

When Tazaki Saku was in high school, the Aoba Society was still quite large.

Novels, literary journals, comics, picture books, light novels, weight loss guides...anything that can be called a book will be published here.

At its peak, the company had more than 200 employees and an annual turnover of tens of billions.

But such good times will not last long.

With the popularization of smartphones in recent years and the full arrival of the Internet age, paper books have begun to decline rapidly.

The entire publishing industry is in mourning.

Those who went bankrupt went bankrupt, those who sold themselves sold themselves, and those who survived are struggling to survive, and they may go bankrupt at any time.

There are only about thirty people left in the entire Aobasha company, with a monthly turnover of tens of millions of yen.

Walking up the stairs, Tazaki Saku arrived at the second floor, where the sales department and editorial department had their offices.

Many workstations were empty, and under the pale fluorescent lights, they looked very empty and quiet, like a ruin.

At their peak, each department had 20 to 30 employees.

Now all together it's only twelve or thirteen...

"Taki, hurry up~"

"Why did you come back?"

"Something serious has happened."

When Tazaki Saku walked into the sales department's office, his six colleagues all looked at him with sympathy.

"What's wrong?" he asked puzzledly.

"The Queen told you to go find him when you come back. It seems she is going to humiliate you behind closed doors again." Watanabe Nagase, a colleague and good friend, said with a teasing look on his face.

Upon hearing this, Tazaki Saku's face darkened.

The queen, Maki Saionji, is Ryoko's sister.

She was arrogant and cold, and considered herself a member of the noble old nobility. She had always looked down on him as a country boy, and had tried many times to forcibly separate him and Ryoko.

Because of Ryoko, Tazaki Saku has suffered a lot over the years due to her aggressiveness.

"The Queen seems to love you very much. You are the one who receives the most care from her in the entire company." Watanabe Nagase said jokingly.

"How about you take over?" Tazaki Saku said unhappily.

"It's not impossible. There are some masochists in the company who look forward to being scolded by the Queen all day long." Watanabe Nagase chuckled, his eyes rolling. "To be honest, the Queen is really charming. Her figure and face are both amazing. What man wouldn't be attracted to her? But her personality is so terrifying. I guess no man can control her..."

All office workers must have told jokes about their boss behind his back. After all, this is the biggest common topic among low-level employees.

To be fair, although Saionji Maki was very strict, she was not the kind of tyrant who abused the people and ministers for no reason.

Strict does not mean rude.

When she scolds people, she is clear and logical, and she does not make false accusations; when she issues work tasks, she does not make demands that are unattainable.

So, although the employees were afraid of her, they did not hate her.

Except Tsukuru Tazaki.

The Queen has a special "favor" for him, and others cannot enjoy this "blessing" of his.

"I won't talk to you anymore. I have to go get scolded. This woman always looks like the whole world owes her money and won't pay it back. I wonder if she's entering menopause..." Tazaki Saku laughed and complained to his best friend, and was about to turn around.

Suddenly, all the colleagues in front of him turned back to their computers. "Not good!" Tazaki Saku's heart skipped a beat.

"Da da da……"

The sound of high heels came from a few meters behind Tazaki Saku.

The sound is crisp and very rhythmic.

Tazaki Saku was all too familiar with such imposing footsteps, and his heart beat uncontrollably.

He turned around with difficulty and saw the queen in black uniform standing in front of him with a frosty face.

Delicate, fair, oval face and cool red lips.

Slender phoenix eyes, willow-shaped eyebrows, and bright eyes that are deep and sharp.

With a net height of 172cm and wearing 7cm high heels, she looks almost as tall as Tazaki Saku who is 180cm tall.

"...Sister!" Tazaki Saku straightened his body, and cold sweat oozed out from his back in an instant.

Saionji Maki looked at him coldly, her voice devoid of any emotion: "I've told you countless times, please refer to your job title when you're working!"

"President!" Tazaki Saku quickly changed his words.

"Come to my office!" Maki Saionji turned around and walked forward without looking around.

Tazaki Saku followed behind, feeling a tragic sense of rushing to the execution ground.

The two of them walked up to the third floor, one in front and one behind.

At the workstation, Watanabe Nagase poked his head out and sent him a message.

【Taki, come back alive! 】

Tazaki Saku, who had already reached the stairs, stopped, turned around and gave him the middle finger.

The Queen's office is on the third floor, and there is a female clerk at the door.

She is Kyoko Shimamoto from the editorial department.

She is also the Queen's cousin.

Seeing Saionji Maki approaching, Shimamoto Kyoko tearfully complained, "Teacher Otaku's contract renewal is in trouble. He wants me to accompany him this afternoon and stay overnight, otherwise he won't renew the contract..."

Saionji Maki frowned, a hint of displeasure flashing in her eyes: "You don't have to go, I will go and talk to him in person this afternoon."

"Thank you very much!" Shimamoto Kyoko bowed quickly.

"He was wrong to make such an unreasonable request. But when you face this kind of thing, you should be more resolute. A weak attitude will make people take advantage of it!" Saionji Maki continued to teach, very much like an elder.

"...I understand." Shimamoto Kyoko nodded timidly.

"Go ahead."

"Thank you, Aunt Maki."

After Shimamoto Kyoko left, Saionji Maki entered the office.

The documents on the desk were a bit messy, with rent reminders and unpaid expense invoices from the printing factory sandwiched between them.

Saionji Maki picked up the folder and covered the documents, then turned sideways and pointed to the performance chart posted on the small whiteboard beside her: "I want you to explain what's going on here!"

Amid the Queen's stern questioning, Tazaki Saku looked at his performance chart.

Many bar charts are placed side by side, and the one with his name is the lowest.

"It's the 25th, and you haven't completed even half of your target performance. What have you been doing at work?" Saionji Maki's voice was cold, and there was a sharp light in her narrow eyes.

These words stung Tazaki Saku a little.

what are you doing?
Of course it’s because of the problems in my marriage with Ryoko, which has caused me to be restless and depressed this month!
You, my sister, have made an indispensable contribution to this situation!

"The days when publishers could sell books simply by relying on their name are gone! In this era of diverse entertainment, the entire traditional publishing industry is in a slump. If you salespeople don't run, who will buy our books?"

When Saionji Maki speaks, the oppressive feeling in her gaze makes people feel uncomfortable.

Tazaki Saku used to be a little scared of her.

It's like a useless son-in-law who is afraid of his strong mother-in-law.

Now, I'm getting divorced and I'm going to quit my job after these five days, so what is there to be afraid of?

So, facing her scolding, Tazaki Saku lowered his head and responded perfunctorily: "Yes, yes, yes, um, I understand. I will pay attention next time..."

"You've been in the company for a year, and you haven't made any progress at all!"

"Yeah, you're right."

"I'm not a student anymore. I need to act like an employee!"

"Okay, okay~~"

"You need to have a proper attitude. Look at what you are like now..." As Maki Saionji scolded, her brows furrowed.

Why does this cowardly man look so confident today?

Seeing that she was gradually running out of things to say, Tazaki Saku raised his head and said casually, "President, can I leave now?"

There was no longer any of the timidity and respect that existed before.

Saionji Maki felt very strange, but she was troubled by many things and had no energy to think about it, so she waved her hand and said, "Go out... Oh, wait, there's something. Accompany me to meet Okatake Yomiuri at 3 pm."

(End of this chapter)