Me! Cleaner!.

Chapter 1246 Taking Over the Underworld Branch!

Lyle Days...

Looking at the old man in the file photo, with a thin, droopy face and holding a certificate of outstanding graduation from a literacy class, Leon was silent for a moment before looking up at Miss Chuangpo.

"When Lord Taurus asked you to send the documents over, did he explain why he wanted me to keep an eye on this person?"

"I told you."

Miss Chuangpo answered cautiously:

"Lady Taurus said that, according to her and the other two directors' judgment, there is a greater than 90% chance that the target you have been looking for is him."

"..."

So this skinny little old man... could very well be the master of the grave?!
After receiving an affirmative answer, Leon couldn't help but take a deep breath, feeling his head throb even more.

If this little old man is indeed the Lord of the Graveyard, then the Lord of the Graveyard's sudden disappearance for the past five months seems to have a reasonable explanation... He was dragged to a cram school to learn basic literacy!

Two months of literacy classes, one month of judicial exam preparation, plus more than two months of internship in the courtroom, just enough to completely fill the time period when the master of the grave disappeared.

Considering the small village whose origins were impossible to find, and the hunger problem that has been almost completely eradicated in the modern world, the Taurus board members' judgment did have some merit, but...

What happened to taking over the Underworld branch office? You, the so-called ruler of the graves, are you collecting a salary from me?

……

"Lyle?"

Looking at the old man with a long stack of documents on his desk, who was engrossed in flipping through them in the corner of the office, a middle-aged man with a bitter expression couldn't help but call out to him.

"Everyone else left work two hours ago, aren't you going to leave yet?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Deputy Judge."

Seemingly accustomed to such inquiries, the withered old man… or rather, the sorcerer known as Lyle Days, the master of the graveyard, answered without looking up as he rapidly flipped through the dossier in his hands:
“While I was clearing up the backlog of cases in our ‘Wrongdoings Trial Chamber’, I found some files that had been sitting for the past two years. There are many excellent precedents in them that are worth studying. I want to take a closer look at them before the trial chamber opens tomorrow morning.”

"Oh……"

Listening to the rustling sound of the old man flipping through the files, the middle-aged man hesitated for a moment, then reluctantly put his buttocks back down after he had just lifted them off the chair.

Damn, this new young man... this new old man is too damn greedy!
He goes to court whenever there's a case, judges every case, reviews every file, and does every job. He went to court more times in one month than I did in a year, so much so that the court's post-event reporting and summarizing speed couldn't keep up with his pace of going to court.

What's even more outrageous is that, despite having only recently been promoted, he has an incredibly sharp eye and never makes a mistake. Forget about minor issues; even the format of the case files is flawless. His handwriting is like printed material, with every single letter's tail curling up at the exact same angle. It's truly...

We can't afford to serve them anymore!
Looking at the two small hills of documents awaiting reply piled up on his desk, the middle-aged man responsible for liaising with "Document King" couldn't help but cover his face in pain and rub his hands vigorously up and down on the desk.

Although we are all dead and no matter how much we roll up, we can't die, but this is no way to roll up like this!
The main problem is that your actions aren't just your own business. My job is to coordinate with all the judges, and I'm responsible for collecting the reports that the court compiles and archives. Ever since you started taking action, I've barely been able to go home. I have to be here with you every day to collect case files!
God of Cookery above, I hope my review of this old man will be seen by those above, and that he'll be promoted before the end of the year! If all else fails, give him my position! Otherwise, if I'm forced to continue like this, I might as well just reincarnate!

“Lyle…”

As if he had a needle stuck in his butt, he fidgeted restlessly in his seat for a while. The deputy judge, who was usually very strict with his subordinates and often scolded them for not working hard enough, finally mustered up the courage to speak to the new, super-curly guy in the corner:
"While it's good to love your work, we also need to consider work-life balance. You haven't been home for over thirty days. How about I approve two days of compensatory time off for you, so you can get some rest and spend time with your family..."

"no need."

In the midst of his busy work, the Lord of the Graves raised his head and glanced curiously at the deceased who looked somewhat suicidal. Then, he lowered his head again, calmly replying as he flipped through the various documents he had stolen the day before:
"I have no family."

"Ah...that's true, haha...I thought so too..."

I was so confused by his behavior that I even mentioned my family to him... If he had even a dog at home, this bastard wouldn't have gotten into this mess!

After an awkward laugh, the unfortunate deputy judge pondered for a moment, then continued to probe indirectly:
"You can't keep working overtime even if you don't have family! When you're alive... well... even when you die, you still need some personal time, to have some fun now and then. You can't waste your limited lifespan on endless overtime, don't you think?"

“It’s alright, Mr. Deputy Judge.”

Looking at the documents on the table concerning the operational models of the underworld's branches, such as "reincarnation" and "rebirth," the Lord of the Graveyard, his eyes gleaming, offered a perfunctory reply without any sincerity:

"As long as I have a job, that's enough. My job makes me happy."

"..."

The problem is, you're happy, but I'm incredibly unhappy!
Completely baffled by the graveyard master's words, "Work makes me happy," the unlucky middle-aged man, stuck with a master-level dog, finally couldn't hold back any longer and gritted his itchy teeth, saying:
"Lyle... what you're saying is a bit much. Work is still work, no matter what, and you..."

"No, this is more than just a job."

Gazing at the rough outline and operational model of the entire Underworld branch that he had spent two months outlining, the Lord of the Graves, his eyes filled with a hint of intoxication, murmured:
"This is an unprecedented concept, an art of death."

"???"

"Haven't you noticed? 3...The God of Food's arrangement for the entire Underworld branch is a concept different from everyone else's. He is gradually breaking down everyone's inherent understanding of death."

With his thin, bony fingertips jutting outwards, he gently stroked the slightly rough surface of the dossier, and the Lord of the Grave couldn't help but sigh:

"End, fear, decay, death, the torture of depriving all beings of existence, the ultimate punishment for the living... These are almost universal perceptions of death among the living, regardless of race or plane of existence. This perception of death is exactly the same for all living beings."

Although death is an indispensable part of the world, and without the existence and correction of death, everything would lead to even greater collapse, death has always been greatly rejected due to the great resistance to it, and has always remained outside the source of all things.

But in this place, everything is different!

After glancing up at the door, the Lord of the Gravesites, seeing the middle-aged man's somewhat bewildered expression, said with deep emotion:

Even the ruler who controls the source of death only perceives it as a 'necessary end,' but Lord Food God truly accepts the existence of death and attempts to reconcile it with the other sources. In his eyes, death is probably like a falling leaf, not the elimination and decay of life, but a stage that the living must go through, a preparation for the next life, and the beginning of another great adventure.

In terms of understanding death alone, perhaps the God of Cookery is the more accurate one.

"..."

Holy crap, this young man... and this old man, how come they suddenly started fawning over him?

After listening blankly to the long-winded discourse of the Lord of the Graves, the deputy judge, who just wanted to leave work as soon as possible, clicked his tongue. Just as he was about to chime in with a few words to show his loyalty to the Underworld branch, he heard a somewhat familiar voice coming from outside the door. It sounded like…

"You're overly flattering."

After listening to the Lord of the Grave's lament from outside the door, Lyon realized that the Lord must have discovered him. He then pushed open the door and walked in, scrutinizing the "dried-up old man."

"When I was setting up the Underworld branch, I just felt that since the Death Realm exists, it must have its reasons for existing. Although it's not quite right, it shouldn't be completely denied. So I made some minor modifications according to my own ideas. Actually, I didn't think that much about it."

"That would be even more amazing."

Seeing that Leon's expression was relatively calm and he hadn't immediately started shouting for help upon entering, the Lord of the Graveyard secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then grinned and said:
“When I first arrived here, I thought this chaotic world of death was a kind of pollution and desecration of death. Death should be an existence independent of everything, an absolute pure land that cannot be interfered with.”

However, the facts have shown me that my thinking was wrong. Death is an integral part of the world, and trying to separate it from it is as ridiculous as taking a fish out of the water.

"And yet, Lord Food God, you are not even a dead person, but relying solely on some almost instinctive intuition, you have gone a step further than I, the ruler of the graves, and created a branch of the underworld that has opened my eyes to a whole new world. It is truly admirable."

"Um...you're too kind..."

Before meeting the Lord of the Graveyard, Leon had already made a lot of contingency plans in his mind, thinking through almost all the possibilities. However, he never expected that instead of tensions, he would be met with a barrage of compliments.

Somewhat awkwardly, he returned a few compliments, completing a harmonious exchange of flattery. Leon, somewhat unsure of the Graveyard Master's intentions, decisively abandoned further stalling and chose to cut to the chase:
"Your Excellency, Lord of the Gravesites, what are your plans for this sudden appearance in the mortal realm and your private involvement in the Underworld's branch office for investigation?"

"I wouldn't call it a plan."

Although his understanding of Leon had greatly changed during his time working at the Underworld branch, the Lord of the Graveyard still worried that Leon might not be as easy to talk to as he seemed, having witnessed the fate of the Dream Lord and seen Leon's gluttonous behavior. Therefore, he cautiously spoke:

"I just discovered that the root of death has been affected... and is no longer as pure as it used to be. It's even starting to shift towards the underworld branch, so I wanted to come and investigate the situation."

"Your Excellency, as a descendant of the original lineage, you should understand the immense impact a mishap to our very being would have, wouldn't you?"

Indeed, this is the attitude that the ruler of the grave should have.

Upon hearing the question from the Lord of the Graves and seeing his dark, gaunt face, Leon's back involuntarily tensed slightly, thinking that the most troublesome situation had indeed occurred.

Even if the praise and exclamations mentioned earlier are not false, they are at most just the prelude to this negotiation. The real "main event" will eventually come down to the root cause.

No matter how nicely the Lord of the Gravesite speaks, he is still a descendant of the original source. The source of death is his lifeline, the ultimate forbidden zone that he can never back down from.

The underworld branch that they have created has damaged the original pure source of death, causing a certain degree of "pollution," and even seems to have a hidden meaning that "the orthodoxy of death lies in the underworld," which the ruler of the grave soil will certainly not accept.

So, after what appears to be a warm and affectionate opening, the ruler of the grave, with whom he has irreconcilable differences, might very well make demands, asking for the underworld branch office, or even simply demanding the "erasure" of this influence. Then...

"so what?"

Lyon took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself to take action if negotiations broke down, and said with narrowed eyes:

What exactly do you plan to do?

"I plan to move the grave soil here."

Oh no! He actually plans to... um? What are you planning to do?!?!

"Your Excellency, this is my plan."

Fearing that Leon, with his "fierce temperament," "ruthless heart," and "cunning and suspicious nature," would doubt his motives, the Lord of the Graveyard pushed aside the already stunned Vice-Judge, stood up, walked to the opposite side of Leon, and explained with a serious expression:
"The death of the underworld branch you established, though not pure enough, is actually better than my grave soil in terms of its invocation of the root of death."

Compared to the painful and inefficient way of handling grave soil, the Underworld Bureau's arrangements and disposal of the deceased are already very mature. Therefore, I hope to move the entire grave soil here and gradually transfer the deceased accepted by the grave soil to the Underworld Bureau.

My burial mound is currently responsible for receiving all the deceased from the old mound. If, after some trial and error, it is found that the underworld branch can take over this responsibility, I hope to completely merge the two and then have myself serve as the head of this underworld branch.

"?!!!"

"Of course, even if I become the director of the Underworld Branch Bureau, you will still be the one in charge of the Underworld Branch Bureau. The Underworld Branch Bureau after the merger will still be subject to the constraints of the Cleanup Bureau."

"Although the cooperation is primarily yours, as the director of the Underworld branch, I must have a certain degree of advisory authority. When you take any significant measures, you must inform me and discuss them with me..."

After briefly explaining his requirements, the Lord of the Graveyard, looking at Leon's expressionless face (mainly because he didn't know what expression to make), clenched his fist slightly and suggested somewhat uneasily:
"As for the root cause issue... I don't think we necessarily have to be enemies. We can call that donkey over and make an exchange in its presence, bringing together the two roots of life and death."

Moreover, as the proposer of this collaboration, and considering the cost of utilizing the existing system of the Underworld branch, I am willing to pay an extra price: 20% of the dead's essence from the grave soil in exchange for 10% of the "living" essence in the present world. What do you think?

"..."

"Thirty percent!"

Looking at the silent Lyon across from him, the Lord of the Graves gritted his teeth, hesitated for a moment, and then raised three withered fingers.

"Three for one! This is the absolute bottom line, we really can't go any further!"

　ヽ(；Д｀)

　　
　
(End of this chapter)