Farewell

[Tanaka's perspective]

The moment when Hiroshi and Selena stepped through the portal was both exactly what I'd expected and more emotionally difficult than I'd prepared for.

I stood in the Royal Treasury chamber, surrounded by my comprehensive organizational projects and systematic reform documentation, watching two of the most important people in my professional life disappear into a shimmering rift between dimensions.

The portal collapsed almost immediately after their passage, leaving me alone with the suddenly quiet treasury chamber and the realization that I was now the sole representative of Earthly Solutions LLC in this world.

"Well," I said to the empty room, "I suppose this means I need to update our business registration to reflect the change in partnership structure."

The practical implications of their departure were manageable—I'd spent weeks preparing comprehensive handover documentation precisely to ensure continuity of operations regardless of personnel changes. But the personal impact was more significant than I'd anticipated.

For the first time since our original transportation to this world, I was truly alone with my work.

"Mr. Tanaka?" The [Human Royal Treasury Clerk, Level 7] who had been assisting with my organizational projects appeared in the doorway, clearly having observed the portal incident but uncertain how to respond to interdimensional transportation events.

"Yes?"

"Did Mr. Yamamoto and Miss Selena just... leave through a magical gateway?"

"They returned to their original world," I confirmed, organizing my materials with the systematic precision that had become automatic over the past months. "Which means we need to adjust our staffing projections and workload distribution to account for reduced personnel."

"Are you... are you all right, sir?"

I considered this question seriously. Was I all right? I was alone in a fantasy world, separated from my business partners and closest friends, responsible for implementing systematic reform across an entire kingdom's financial infrastructure.

"I'm exactly where I belong," I realized. "Doing work that matters, with the authority and resources necessary to achieve meaningful results."

"And you're not... sad... about them leaving?"

"I'm proud of them for making decisions based on their professional priorities and personal values," I said. "And I'm grateful that our partnership taught me what I actually wanted from my career."

Over the following days, the absence of Hiroshi and Selena created opportunities for me to understand how much my own professional perspective had changed since our arrival in this world.

Without Hiroshi's genre knowledge and strategic insights, I had to develop my own approaches to understanding the cultural and political dynamics that affected our institutional reform projects. Without Selena's systematic manufacturing expertise, I had to find new methods for ensuring that our optimization principles could be applied across different types of professional activities.

But more importantly, their departure forced me to recognize how much confidence I'd gained in my own professional capabilities.

"Mr. Tanaka," said the [Human Royal Administrative Coordinator, Level 13] during one of our reform implementation meetings, "your systematic approach to institutional modernization has exceeded all projected efficiency improvements, and you've accomplished this while maintaining complete continuity of operations despite significant personnel changes."

"Systematic optimization is designed to be resilient to personnel fluctuations," I replied. "Proper documentation and standardized procedures ensure that effective methods can be maintained regardless of individual staff members."

"But surely the departure of your business partners has created challenges?"

"The departure of my business partners has created opportunities to demonstrate that the principles we developed are genuinely systematic rather than dependent on specific personalities," I corrected. "Which validates our methodologies more comprehensively than continued collaboration would have."

It was true. Operating Earthly Solutions LLC independently had proven that our optimization techniques were robust enough to function effectively regardless of team composition, which suggested that they could be scaled and replicated across any number of institutional frameworks.

"Furthermore," I continued, "Mr. Yamamoto and Miss Selena's decision to apply our methods in their original world will provide valuable data about the universality of systematic optimization principles across different technological and economic environments."

"You're treating their departure as a professional development opportunity?"

"I'm treating their departure as confirmation that meaningful work creates value that extends beyond immediate business relationships," I said. "Their success in implementing our methods elsewhere will demonstrate the broader applicability of systematic competence and professional excellence."

Six months after their departure, I received what appeared to be the first interdimensional business correspondence in the history of either world: a detailed report from Hiroshi and Selena about their success in establishing advanced materials consulting and systematic optimization services on Earth.

The report included financial performance data, client satisfaction metrics, and technical specifications for industrial applications that had adapted our fantasy world optimization principles to Earth's technological and economic frameworks.

"Remarkable," I said, reviewing their documentation with professional satisfaction. "They've successfully transferred our methodologies to a completely different world and achieved results that exceed our original projections."

But more than the business success, their report included personal updates that confirmed they'd made the right choice for their own professional and personal development.

"Mr. Tanaka, Selena's metallurgical innovations have revolutionized three separate industrial sectors, and our systematic optimization consulting has generated client satisfaction ratings that exceed anything we achieved in the fantasy world. More importantly, we've discovered that the principles of meaningful work and professional excellence that we learned there are applicable anywhere that competence is valued over compliance."

"We hope your institutional reform projects are proceeding successfully, and we want you to know that our success here validates everything we learned about the value of systematic approaches to complex challenges. Meaningful work really is universal."

As I filed their report in the appropriate section of my comprehensive business records, I realized that our interdimensional adventure had accomplished something remarkable: it had created three different but equally successful applications of the same fundamental principles.

Hiroshi and Selena had found meaningful work that utilized their skills in a technologically advanced environment. I had found meaningful work that utilized my skills in an institutionally complex environment. All three of us had discovered that professional fulfillment was more important than personal convenience, and that systematic competence could create value anywhere it was properly applied.

"Mr. Tanaka," said Malachar, appearing in my office doorway with what appeared to be his latest compliance enforcement report, "I've completed the investigation of irregular procurement practices in the municipal administrative offices. The systematic fraud I identified appears to be more extensive than originally projected."

"How extensive?"

"Extensive enough to require comprehensive reform of purchasing procedures across six different departments," he said with the satisfaction of someone who had found his true calling in preventing the problems he'd once caused. "Which means additional opportunities to implement systematic optimization and institutional transparency."

"Excellent. Schedule the reform implementation for next month, and ensure that all affected personnel receive proper training on the new procedures."

As Malachar departed to organize what would probably be the most thorough compliance reform in municipal history, I reflected on how completely our situation had transformed since the original portal incident.

We'd started as two miserable corporate employees trapped in meaningless jobs. We'd become successful entrepreneurs, institutional reformers, and ultimately, three people who had each found their own version of meaningful work worth pursuing regardless of personal cost or convenience.

That felt like exactly the right way for an interdimensional business adventure to conclude.