"Sato, you'd better make it up to me. You still haven't taken office these past few days, so all the extra work landed on my head. It's been brutal!"
At the Johto Alliance office building, Lance grabbed the Sato who had come to report in and poured out his grievances, utterly devoid of the dashing Elite Four air he showed in public.
But after hearing Lance put it that way, Sato grew curious instead. Were the Elite Four really that busy? Before he could think further, Lance had already pulled him straight toward the reporting office.
Once he had completed all the reporting procedures and confirmed receipt of every reward, Sato's work schedule for the coming week was quickly sent to the phone assigned to him.
Three seconds later...
"Can I quit?"
"Hahahahaha, I knew you'd say that!" Lance laughed smugly, wearing an expression that said he had known this would happen.
Sato twitched the corner of his mouth. In the end, he chose to wait until Lance could no longer laugh before asking again seriously.
"Actually, the tasks may look like a lot, but you don't have to do all of them.
"For example, an invitation to the hundred-day celebration for the child of the Johto Alliance Minister of Finance Department is an unimportant invitation-type matter. You can reject it outright.
"You can choose whether to accept invitations to serve as a guest at certain events, but in principle, you should attend at least two each month..."
"Why?"
"For exposure!"
Sato blinked without speaking, a lost look settling into his eyes.
Lance continued, "The Elite Four are Guardian Deities in the hearts of the people in every region. When people see their Guardian Deities actively appearing before them every day, it gives them a sense of security in another