16. Madame Zamasu, the Demon Instructor of Household Finances

The forest at the start of the new year was a little quieter than usual.

Even so, among the residents who were as kind as ever and
somewhat noisy,
there is one person who always appears at this time of year.

Madame Zamasu, the "Demon Instructor of Household Finances."

That day, residents were gathering one by one at Madame Zamasu's home and salon on the edge of the forest.

There was only one reason.
The first "Household Finance Lecture" of the new year was about to begin.

"I'm going to do it right this year."
"I just want to hear what she has to say."

With such small resolutions in their hearts,
each of them walked through the door on their own.

Madame looked at each of them,
welcoming them without refusal.

"Thank you for coming in this cold. First, come inside.
You can't take in what I have to say if your body is frozen, Zamasu."

With that, Madame
handed a steaming bowl of soup to each person.
May wrapped her hands around the cup and let out a sigh of relief.

"Now, it is the new year, after all."

With those words, the atmosphere in the room tightened instantly.
Madame slowly cast her gaze over everyone through her glasses.

"First, May.
Is your room tidy, Zamasu?"

"Uh, oh, um..."

A chill ran down her spine for a moment.

"Y-yes! I've been keeping it clean lately!"
(I'm so glad I did it yesterday...!)

Madame stared at May in silence for a while,
and eventually let out a small sigh.

"...Well, that is fine, Zamasu."

"I will continue, Zamasu. I hear you've changed your household account app again, haven't you?"

"Yes! It's the new year, so I wanted a fresh start!"

"That is a good attitude, Zamasu. By the way, which one is it?"

"Um... it's the 10th one!"

After a moment of silence.

"That is too many, Zamasu!!! That is faster than changing lovers, Zamasu!!"
Madame's voice rang out loudly through the room.

A ripple of laughter broke out in the room.
May shrugged her shoulders and said,

"Well, you see... the icon was cute..."

"What are you doing choosing based on the cuteness of an icon, Zamasu! Wastefulness is the tears of the future, Zamasu!!!"

Before the echo of that had fully faded,
Madame lowered the tone of her voice.

"But... we have safely welcomed another year, haven't we? The fact that everyone is here and healthy is the greatest harvest of all, Zamasu."
The air in the forest warmed up just a little.

"May, it is not that the app is bad, Zamasu. But if you keep changing them, you will never develop a 'habit.'"

"Keeping a household account book is like taking out the trash, Zamasu. It is not every day. But there will always be a habit in how it piles up, Zamasu."

"It increases when you let your guard down, and you neglect it when you are busy. If you keep changing apps, you will never see those patterns, Zamasu."
May nodded as she finished her soup. Even though they were talking about numbers, she felt like she was being told about her "life."

Madame said quietly at the end,
"This is not a place to scold numbers, but a place to rebuild your life, Zamasu."

What echoed through the new year's forest was a talk about life that sounded like a sermon.
And so—

Madame Zamasu's first lecture began to set the year in motion.

#MadameZamasu

Read another story about Madame

▶︎ Practical Forest Lessons
A 7-day course for those who can't keep up with household accounts👇

The day May benefited a little from Madame's teachings⬇︎