Mastore 58 - Dumpster

Magic Realm Convenience Store – Ch. 58

Convenience Store Clerk Taking a Practical Exam (3)

I briefly explained the exam content.

The exam lasts 3 hours, and within that time, I need to choose and complete 3 commission from the 60 available on the tablet screen. The only thing you can know before accepting a commission is the place name, and the exam range is the entire academy district commercial area.

While there are a lot of things you're not supposed to do during the test, the way they phrased it makes it sound like you’re fine as long as you don't get caught, so I tried to pull a trick to not get caught at all. I don’t know the area at all, so there was nothing I could do.

After I finished explaining and waited for her reaction, Noona, who had been spinning her straw between her fingers, stopped and looked at me with a half-amused, half-impressed expression.

"How does your brain come up with stuff like that even in that situation?”

"Petty tricks or whatever, how else can I do it when this is the only way?"

They took away my smartphone and wallet, so I had no way to figure out where I was going. They could’ve at least handed out maps or something….

"...Well, this neighborhood is perfect for getting lost."

"Anyway, that’s the situation. Can you help me out?”

“Helping out’s no problem. I’ve got nothing else to do anyway.”

"Thank God Noona don’t have any friends."

"Are you asking for a beating?"

Seemingly annoyed, she kicked my shin under the table. I almost screamed. Then, she stuck her straw back in the cup and pointed at the tablet on the table, asking me.

"So, how exactly do you want me to help?"

"Do you recognize any of the places listed here?"

I thought that if I just knew what kind of place it was, I could judge whether to do it or not. Noona immediately put her finger on the tablet and started scanning through the list one by one.

"Places I know for sure? Let’s see... four of them."

"Which ones?"

"Number 6 is a funeral home, 17 is a prep school for aspiring hunters, 34 is a place that deals with tools. 56 is... probably a construction site. I remember that was the name of the dormitory they said they were building inside the academy."

I was stunned. A funeral home? What kind of magic could they need removed at a funeral home?

"If I were you, though, I wouldn't do any of these."

"Why?"

"Starting with the funeral home, there's usually only one reason they would call an anti-magic specialist there. It’s almost always because residual magic is coming from the corpse during the service, and they need it gone."

"Uh…"

"Which means you’d have to open the coffin and handle the corpse inside. Can you do that?"

No, I don’t think I could. So, the funeral home’s out, and in the case of prep schools, they might ask you to check the entire building's safety systems... This would take at least an hour and a half.

"Since it's a commission you get during the practical exam, they probably won't keep you there for an hour and a half... but there's always a chance."

“Alright, let’s skip that too. What about the place that deals with tool? Is it a hardware store?”

“Tools? Uh... Ah. Sorry, it’s a habit. Not tools, it's a place that handles and inspects hunters' equipment."

Seems hunters call their weapons or other equipment 'tools'.

Anyway, if you go to that place that handles equipment, you would need to understand the structure of hunters' equipment or have related expertise to be able to work. It's not that there are never cases where they just ask to remove magic or magical power from the equipment, but it's rare.

"Lastly, the construction site. The person who put in the commission has got to be at least the site supervisor, right?"

"...Well, a regular worker wouldn't directly request for problems at the site..."

“Right? So you have to meet the site supervisor in person, but he’ll be busy, so you won’t be meeting him for at least 30 minutes. And it won’t end with just meeting him. You’ll have to put on gear, listen to the safety briefing….”

She said that unless you're an other species who's worked in construction, you would spend much more time getting flustered in the middle, and as I listened, I was reminded of the dwarf who came with a sledgehammer earlier. I wonder if that guy got his sledgehammer back by now.

"I’m just saying what comes to mind but now that I've said it, it seems I've only said negative things, which feels a bit sorry."

"Well, that's what I asked for, so."

Knowing ahead of time that four of the lottery tickets are duds is a win. Now the problem is figuring out what to do with the dozens of other tickets….

"If you really don't know, can you tell me about an ambiguous place?"

"An ambiguous place?"

"Number 21. It's close, just 5 minutes from here. It's a place where you, Lee Chan, won't have your mental state cracked... I heard the owner there is kind-hearted. It's just something I heard briefly at the guild, though."

It's close. In other words, it means less time wasted getting there.

Won't have my mental state cracked, this seems to mean that I, a civilian, won't be greatly shocked. The part about the owner being kind-hearted, well… I haven’t met them, so that’s still up in the air….

After pressing it, I told Noona.

"I've chosen number 21 for now."

“But I wasn’t even done talking yet?”

"If someone else takes it, it won’t matter what we talk."

“True enough.”

That’s because the task description was something like this: There's a wrong bone among the bones, please purify it.

After looking at the updated screen, the previously blank title now had more detailed information. As reading this, I almost lost my mind for a moment.

“Noona.”

"Why?" (A columbarium is a structure that houses the cremated remains of the deceased in niches)

“Is this a columbarium?”

The request was roughly as follows: Among the bones, there is a bad bone, so purify it.

Noona finished sipping the rest of her iced Americano through her straw and casually replied.

"Well... better than a corpse, right?"

* * *

Getting there itself wasn’t hard. Noona said she knew where it was after looking at the lot number on the screen, so she would go with me.

As we walked, a thought came to mind. Something along the lines of: “Little girl, life rarely goes the way you plan. That’s what makes it interesting, don’t you think?”

I agree too. Life is interesting because it doesn't go as you think. But this is too far from what I thought...

If I had known I was destined to go to a columbarium and fiddle with urns containing bone ashes, I would’ve taken some time out to set up a shamanic ritual or something. Just how many more twists of fate am I supposed to deal with in my life?

However, my thoughts changed right after arriving. It was because the columbarium was very different from what I had imagined. The exterior wasn't too different from my imagination, but the atmosphere was a bit... bright. Too bright, actually.

"Great-grandfather, I hope we can find the right bone today. Don't you agree?"

“That... Uuh....”

"Oh my, grandfather, your jaw might drop off."

What kind of conversation is this? As I was standing blankly in front of the main gate, a mid-sized SUV slowly approached from a distance and stopped. Then, a middle-aged red fox kobold and a skeleton holding a cane got out of the car.

The skeleton that set foot on the ground leaned on a cane, and the red fox kobold gently supported the skeleton's bony hand as they walked into the columbarium. Did I just witness some isekai-style abandonment of the elderly? (고려장 (Goryeojang) is a term that refers to a legendary practice in ancient Korea. It is said to describe the act of abandoning elderly parents in remote places, such as mountains, to reduce the burden on their families when they were no longer able to contribute to the household due to old age or illness.)

In addition, there were quite a few foreigners walking out of the main entrance of the columbarium, but no matter where I looked, they didn’t seem to be paying any attention to their ancestors. It seemed like the purpose of construction was different from the columbarium in the dictionary sense that I know of....

“Hey, are you spacing out again? Should I go in first?”

Ah, screw it. I’ll understand more once I go inside and see for myself.

I followed Noona through the main gate. Inside, the lobby had an office on the right and a reception desk straight ahead. Behind the desk stood a receptionist, dressed in black, almost like mourning attire, with black ram-like horns on their head and smoky makeup around their eyes that was a bit heavy. Looked like a black sheep kobold.

Behind the reception desk were rows of antique-style doors, about a dozen of them. These doors probably led to rooms where the urns were stored, but the space between the door is a bit far apart. Isn't the room size a bit too big for storing urns the size of jars...?

As I thought this through, I started to get a sense of why the atmosphere was so bright, and what kind of work I would have to do here. I approached the receptionist, and she spoke to me in a listless voice.

“Welcome... What brings you here...?”

I cleared my throat before answering. How should I speak in this situation...

"...I'm here for an anti-magic license practical exam commision. The commisioner's title seems to be listed as the director of this place, could you please contact the director for me?"

"Oh?"

"Just a moment...."

Meanwhile, I glanced at Moona's face, and she looked like she was dying trying to hold back laughter. The receptionist bent down behind the desk and, in a barely audible voice, murmured something like this:

"Director... a guest is here... it seems to be that... they said they came to see the coffin...."

After exchanging a few more words of conversation, she gave a brief answer.

“The director will be out soon… about a minute… please wait in the lobby….”

“Thank you.”

I had already spotted a row of waiting seats nearby, so I went and sat down. Noona sat beside me, staring at my face for a moment before bursting into laughter.

"Why are you laughing? You're embarrassing me."

"No, it's just that your voice is so different from when you're serving customers at the convenience store. Your manner of speech too."

"Well... I'm not wearing a uniform now."

If I thought this was on the level of scanning barcodes at a convenience store, I would have just been moderately polite. If a convenience store clerk greets with a loud "Welcome, Customer!" and bows 90 degrees, it would be burdensome, wouldn't it?

But they’re using words like "contract" and "commission," so I felt it needed a certain level of formality. Back when I used to do sales, I learned that if I acted formal, the other side wouldn’t take me lightly either. I picked up this way of handling things back then.

Noona, who was chuckling, seemed to deflate as my reaction was lukewarm. Still, a faint smile remained.

"I wasn't just laughing because it was funny. Just... I think I saw an unexpected side of you. When you were scheming earlier, and even now.”

"What unexpected side..."

"Excuse me, is the examinee here...?"

While we were talking, a raspy, elderly voice cut in.

I tried to stand up and answer comfortably, but my mouth wouldn't open. That was because what was walking towards me is something that didn't look like a foreign species or a skeleton. That was... a lich?

"Ah... there you are, sitting."

The lich approaching us wasn’t particularly out of the ordinary in terms of attire or smell, but their facial skin wasn’t in the best condition. Even from a distance, the hollow area in its cheek was visible, but now, up close, it was even more pronounced.

"I'm the director. Thank you… for taking time out of your busy schedule…”

Every time the lich spoke, there was a faint whistling sound, as if air was leaking. I wazs about to ask if his body is really okay, but I stopped when I saw the lich smiling with his eyes. This world, just when you think you're getting used to it, a jump scare pops out...

"I was told by the academy... that you don't have much time... that's what I understand..."

“To be honest, yes, that’s correct."

"In that case... shall we walk... as I explain briefly?"

"Please do."

I slightly feel what Noona meant about the owner being kind-hearted. It's not easy to be considerate like this when you're the one making the commission. As we started walking, the lich director began explaining.

"A few days ago... we received some bones in good condition."

They had been acquired through two methods: either unearthed from excavations or donated with the consent of the deceased and their bereaved families. Any other means would result in prison time, no exceptions.

At this point, I realized something. This wasn’t a "columbarium" in the traditional sense of just storing urns of ashes. This place stored actual bones.

The bones handled here are said to be particularly durable among bones. As I listened, I recalled the skeletons who came to find corpses on my first day of work. If the ones sent from the morgue could be compared to a convenience store, then this place must be like the headquarters.

“But... in the process... two problems arose...”

First, one of the bones hadn’t been properly embalmed. More precisely, there were some who made a mistake in the embalming process and lied that they had finished embalming.

“What kind of mistake is it?”

"There was... a mistake in administering the preservative... they said..."

Isn't this exactly like spilling the entire sugar bowl when you're trying to put sugar in a coffee cup?

At first, they received the bones with the spilled preservative without knowing, but the guys who sent those bones also confessed the truth after sending, thinking 'If this goes wrong, we might really end up eating prison food?' Thanks to this, they figured out that there was a problem with some bones, but here a second problem occurred, complicating things.

"Would you care to take a look…?"

The lich paused in front of one door and nodded toward us before opening it. A cold, crisp air rushed out as the door opened, revealing the room beyond.

To briefly summarize the interior scene, it was a place strewn with coffins everywhere. Probably around 100 or so. I stood there, dumbfounded, as the lich continued from behind.

"The paperworks... were misplaced."

Secondly, an employee lost the paperwork. It takes at least a week to reissue the documents.

Normally, it wouldn’t be a big deal—just a matter of waiting for the new paperwork. But the problem is that even as we speak, one set of improperly embalmed bones is decaying by the day.

They need to find the coffin containing those bones and send them back or do something, but they can't know where they're stored. Because the paperwork is gone.

"So... we made this commission..."

"Director. To put it simply, you want us to figure out which of these coffins contains the problematic bones. Is that correct?"

“Yes....”

"The number of these coffins... how many exactly are there?"

To my question, the lich answered immediately without a moment's thought.

"112... there are..."

Noona muttered from the side.

"Hey, you’re in big trouble, huh?"











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