I’m an Immigration Officer!

The southern border, after sunset.
A man and a woman walked side by side down the now-empty street without a word.

Step, step.
“...”
“...”
An awkward silence hung between them.

The young man, face drawn with exhaustion, kept his gaze sharply alert.
The woman next to him—her face was flushed red.
Fortunately, the dim streetlights veiled their bare expressions just enough.

How much time passed?
“Um...”
The man summoned his courage and opened his mouth.

“If it’s alright with you, allow me to carry it. Please.”
“Oh—no, it’s okay. It’s not that heavy. I can carry it.”
The woman smiled faintly, holding a bundle of daily necessities she'd bought at the market.
“Shouldn’t I be asking you, Chief Inspector? Are you alright?”

Of course, the man had heavy bags in both hands as well.
He shrugged.
“It’s only paperwork. No trouble at all.”
“Do you handle work at home too?”
“No, not really. It’s just... I feel empty if I’m not holding something.”

A strange feeling.
They were nothing to each other.
Not lovers. Not spouses. They hadn’t even acknowledged each other’s feelings.

And yet, something tingled faintly between them.
Too subtle to be divine power, too vivid to be nothing at all.
Anyone unaware of the context would naturally assume they were a couple.
“...”
“...”

Again, the silence returned as they continued walking.
About five minutes later, they came to a stop in front of a two-story house.
“We’re here.”

The man spoke in a low voice.
“This is my residence.”
 

****
Click—creeaak.
As he unlocked and opened the door, the security enchantments activated, and the chandelier lit up on its own.

At the same time, the interior of the house came into view.
“Wow...”
Erzena let out a small gasp of admiration and looked around.

The first things that caught the eye were a luxurious living room with a fireplace and a kitchen big enough to accommodate at least eight people.
Fwoosh.
The fireplace ignited, casting light over the sofa and carpet.

Instantly, the room felt warm and welcoming.
I said, with quiet confidence:
“Welcome to my home.”

If nothing else, my house is pretty decent.
Then, just as she was slowly surveying her surroundings, Erzena let out a startled sound.
“It’s really cozy and lovely—huh?”

She blinked and turned to me.
“Chief Inspector... did someone break in?”
“A break-in?”
I chuckled lightly at her words.

“Hardly. Thanks to the security spells, there’s never been such a thing.”
I may not look it, but I’m the head of the entire border.
I was granted a thoroughly protected residence for safety. Nothing like that would ever happen.

She’s making jokes. Maybe she’s finally starting to relax.
That’s a good sign.
Considering she’ll be staying here for two months, a positive mindset is the most important thing.

I casually began to take off my shoes, not thinking much of it—
—but then she asked again.
“Then why does the house... look like it got hit by a typhoon?”
“...What?”

I quickly lifted my head and looked toward the living room.
And only then did I see it.
“Ah.”

Coats tossed carelessly across the sofa.
Stacks of dirty dishes on the table. Mold streaking the curtains.
The floor coated in so much dust, it was practically gray.

It looked like a place abandoned to nature—weathered and eroded over time.
No—like a bomb had gone off.
My house, which had clearly gone completely unmaintained for weeks, was on full, unsightly display.

“...”
“...”
Erzena slowly turned her head and looked at me.
Her expression said, This is your house?

“Ah, well, you see... I don’t usually come home, so I haven’t really had time to keep it clean...”
The excuse slipped out before I could stop it.
For the first time, I felt pressure from Erzena.

Not even when she was the Saintess had she exuded such weight.
Don’t look at me like that.
I have my reasons.

Work, overtime, special duty, collapse.
Work, overtime, extended shift, collapse.
Repeat, repeat, repeat.
When would I even have time to clean?
My daily routine was to come home, strip, pass out for a moment, then head straight back to work.

A long silence, then finally, she spoke.
“I—I understand. Immigration work isn’t exactly eas—cough!”
Erzena suddenly coughed after inhaling the dust.

I immediately threw open the windows and started ventilating the room.
“S-sorry! I’ll clean it up right away!”
My face was burning red.

It was already overwhelming enough having a young woman staying in my home, but to let her see it like this—so raw, so unprepared—
I wanted to die of embarrassment.
What kind of discourtesy is this?

What kind of disgrace to show a guest?
“Five minutes! Just give me five minutes! I’ll clean up every speck of dust, I swear!”
Formalities be damned—I shouted in desperation.

As I frantically looked around for a broom, Erzena, startled, grabbed my arm.
“A-a-a-no! It’s really fine, Chief Inspector!”
“No! How could I let a guest stay in this garbage heap? Please, just five minutes!”
Let go.

Give me the broom.
Let me sweep away this shame along with the dust.
Erzena pushed me away from the broom in the corner and shouted:

“I—I know you’ve been living such a busy life! So it’s okay! I really do understand!”
“I can’t! Please just let me clean!”
“Didn’t you say you were exhausted today?”
In the end, I lost the struggle.
There’s no way a scrawny civil servant could overpower a woman enhanced by divine power.

Slumped at the entrance, I muttered with a faint voice:
“...I’ll hire a cleaning service first thing tomorrow.”
I’ll hire a servant.

No—four servants.
And I’ll have the whole place deep cleaned daily.
Actually, forget that—I'll just contract a water mage to flood the house once a month.

As I stewed in my silent vow, Erzena stared at me blankly.
Then she suddenly burst into laughter.
“Pfft. That’s the first time I’ve heard you say that.”
“...Say what?”
“You always refer to yourself as ‘this official’ or ‘this one’... But just now, you said ‘I.’ For the first time.”

I paused to think.
Normally, I would’ve used bon-gwan—the formal self-reference.
I must’ve dropped the formality without realizing it.

I was too flustered.
“Well, I suppose... because it’s home.”
“Still, this place really must be comfortable for you. You’re always so thoroughly formal.”
“Which is precisely why it’s home.”
The one place where I could relax—where I could be at ease.

At the very least, it was a place °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° where I could sleep without worry.
Here, I was not an Immigration Officer.
I was just Nathan Kell.

Guess I really have been spending too much time at the Office.
Ever since becoming Chief Inspector, I’d used this house for little more than sleep. A part of me regretted that.
It was, in some way, a place that deserved to be called a haven.

As I drifted into thought, Erzena hesitated, then murmured in a small voice.
“Then... when it’s just the two of us, you don’t have to keep using ‘this official’ either.”
“...Pardon?”
At the threshold, our eyes met again.

That awkward tension returned.
A tingle not quite divine power, but something else.
“I—I’ll try.”

The atmosphere was so unbearable I barely managed to respond.
“O-okay…”
Erzena, clearly flustered as well, started fanning herself as if suddenly overheated, then tried to shift the topic.

“So, if you’re that busy, how many hours do you usually work in a day?”
“There aren’t many inspectors at the southern border. I work about fourteen hours, on average.”
“F-fourteen hours!?”
“Twelve, if things are quiet.”
She asked, alarmed:
“Then do you even get breaks? What about hobbies?”
“Hobbies?”

I tilted my head at the unfamiliar word.
What was that?
I vaguely remembered hearing it a long time ago.

“Y-you know, things you do for fun? When you have free time?”
“I have free time?”
“Leisure time!”
“Leisure?”
Another unfamiliar word.
I carefully pondered what she meant.

“Oh. Activities done while not working.”
“...”
“Well... back when I was younger, I used to play an instrument.”
“An instrument?”
Back before I became an Immigration Officer.
Back at the merchant academy, I vaguely remembered playing the guitar every now and then.

It was a hobby I’d taken up when the endless barrage of balance sheets began to drive me insane.
Now that I thought of it, I think there was a guitar somewhere in this house.
“I never would’ve imagined you had a hobby like that, Chief Inspector... Ah—would it be alright to hear you play sometime?”

Erzena looked up at me with eyes full of expectation.
“I’ve forgotten almost everything by now. It’s a bit embarrassing. Come to think of it, weren’t you once famous as the ‘Rock-Spirit Saintess’?”
“In hindsight, that nickname is... a little mortifying, isn’t it?”
An awkward laugh.

I pointed to the door beyond the living room that led down to the basement.
“I believe the guitar’s somewhere in the cellar. It’ll need tuning, but if I have time to clean it up, perhaps you could give it a try.”
Erzena’s face lit up.

“Really? Are you sure?”
“Of course. It’s your home now, too.”
She’d be staying here for the next two months—there needed to be at least something to pass the time.
I glanced out the window at the now-blackened sky and murmured:

“I’d love to keep talking, but it’s getting late. I need some rest before tomorrow’s work.”
“Sure. Which room should I use?”
“Please take the room on the right upstairs. It’s the guest room.”
She peeked up the hallway, then pointed to another door beside it.
“And the one on the left?”
“That’s mine.”
“Oh.”

A soft, short breath escaped her.
Erzena lowered her head.
It hit me—this meant she and I would be living with only a single wall between us.

“I-I can offer you a different room. If I clean it up quickly—”
“No more talk of cleaning.”
Her voice turned cold.
“...Understood.”

And just like that, I had a housemate.
 
****

The next morning.
Clack!
I threw open the doors to the Immigration Office and called out:

“Good morning, everyone!”
“C-Chief Inspector?”
“As of today, I’m back on duty. You’ve all done well in my absence.”
The Senses Inspectors exchanged glances, as if they hadn’t heard such an energetic morning greeting from me in years.
“Did he eat something weird?”
“That’s the first time I’ve seen the Chief Inspector that lively in the morning.”
“Same here.”

I smiled and said to them:
“Ah, I had the best sleep in ages. I feel reborn.”
I wasn’t sure why, but I’d had a dream last night.

A golden warmth had wrapped around me like a blanket.
Maybe it was because of that dream, but the chronic headaches and muscle pain that had plagued me were suddenly gone—as if they’d never existed.
I swung my arms confidently.

“This official is in peak condition today.”
It wouldn’t be surprising if I ended up twice as productive as usual.
“I see. So you slept well...”

Suddenly, the Inspectors’ eyes narrowed suspiciously.
“See? It’s always like that on the first day. They don’t get drained immediately. First, they get revitalized. And then the draining begins.”
“Must’ve had a real nourishing night.”
“They say youth is everything, but you’re really making it obvious~”
Nonsense.

I ignored it and returned to my desk.
It was buried under a mountain of paperwork, nearly as tall as me.
“...Oof.”

Even though the Olfactory Inspector had done what he could, this much backlog made it painfully clear just how much they’d suffered over the past three days.
I calmly flipped through the stacks.
“List of arrivals. List of departures. Financial reports. Border complaints...”

The types and volume were endless.
As I began to sort the documents by priority—
Thud.

A strange envelope fell onto the table.
“Hm?”
It was unusually elegant—far too expensive-looking for any ordinary civilian.

I opened it.
Inside was a letter.
The handwriting, pressed carefully into the page, left a distinct impression.

It read:
[Recipient: Chief Inspector Nathan Kell]
[Sender: Friend]