Mastore 109 - Dumpster

Magic Realm Convenience Store – Ch. 109

A side job full of innocence (4)

Have you ever seen a dragon just before taking flight?

I just experienced it. The moment an explosion erupted from the tip of the star-shaped wand the little girl was holding, her entire body shot up like she’d been ejected from an escape seat.

"Woah!"

I couldn’t see or hear anything else. The explosion blinded me, and the blast deafened me. All I could feel was the floor vibration from nearby boxes tumbling down. And then...

―tak.

The sound of snapping fingers. The sound came through even clearer than the explosion.

Right after this sound echoed, the explosion that had filled the storage room instantly died down. The same went for the spring-laden air pressure that had been rushing in.

What remained after the explosion subsided was the fallen wand, dimly glowing like a blinking LED. The little girl was, for some reason, floating about 2 meters in the air, and also...

The storage room items were messily strewn about, and the last thing I could see was Manager with one hand raised in the air. Her hand was positioned as if she had just snapped her fingers.

“Manager-nim, what is this...?”

I stopped mid-question. Manager’s face was as sour as it could get. Her eyebrows were slightly furrowed, and her lips were pouted.

That’s the expression she makes when she’s annoyed. Sensing it wasn’t the right time to ask questions, I stayed quiet. Manager glanced around before looking up and asking,

"Little girl. Are you okay?"

“Yes! The fiyah, it’s so big!”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it. What about Chan?”

“I’m fine. I’m pretty tough.”

Perhaps because the entire explosion was pure magic, not a scratch appeared on my body. Some afterimages remained in my vision, but that's nothing.

“Still, I was pretty shocked. What's going on here?"

“A situation where the toy was made carelessly.”

The vaguest and driest explanation I've heard during my employment. Manager must’ve felt the same way because she added,

“Chan-ah. Let's say this wand is set to use exactly 5 units of mana per magic cast. Then everyone would use exactly 5 units of mana, right?”

“Yes.”

"Right. Then, if it's set to use 1% of mana. How much mana would someone with 10,000 units use?"

I didn’t answer. I don't think Manager asked because she didn't know the answer was 100. First, I caught and brought down the little girl who was still floating in the air.

"Mister. Me, I’m flying for the first time."

"Is that so. Manager, assuming this little girr has 10,000 mana, what's the average mana for other races?"

“500. Pure-blooded dragons have an incredibly high total mana.”

This explains why the explosion was beyond imagination.

Magic that should have ended at a scale of 5 out of 500 for other children became a scale 100 spell because the little girl cast it.

“They should’ve accounted for the fact that pure-blooded dragons would play with it, but they didn’t.”

“Hmm….”

"To skip one formula, to lower unit cost. Idiots."

Manager kicks away an empty box that rolled to her feet while grumbling. I didn’t dare ask how skipping a formula was related to cost reduction.

It's the first time I've heard Manager curse someone using the word 'idiot.' Though she's trying not to show it, she seems thoroughly angry...

I decided not to ask why just yet. There were other things to do first.

"...I'll stop inspecting this one, Manager-nim."

"Un. The reservation was for a Kobold, but I’ll tell them. We’re returning it due to a defect."

"Got it. Hey, Hana. Just one more thing and then it's snack party time."

I bent down to remove the little girl's hat, then stroked her head carefully avoiding her horns. As I did, she looked up at me, her face clearly showing she was worried.

"Um... Mister."

“You can speak comfortably.”

“To Unnie. Am I to Unnie...?”

She must want to ask if she did something wrong. Glancing at Manager, I could see an 'oh no' expression just as plain as the little girl's. I raised my voice slightly and continued,

"We weren't saying you did anything wrong, um... ah. We were saying how amazing you are."

"Weally...?"

“Yeah. Other kids would’ve just made a small flame, but you made a huge firework show. You completely stole the stage, you know?”

"Uuu..."

“Have I ever lied to you? We were just talking about what you’ll become when you grow up—stuff like that. While talking, our expressions got a little heavy. That's all it was."

So no need to worry, I added, keeping my hand patting her hair. She seemed to relax a bit as I did. It was a pretty decent excuse for something I came up with on the spot.

Since I spoke loudly, Manager must have heard everything too. While I was brushing off some dust from the little girl’s hair, Manager approached.

She's holding something like a bubble gun. This must be today's final work item.

"Little girl. Good job, and now just one thing left."

"Ye... yes."

“It’s fine. This one’s super easy. We’ll do it outside while enjoying some fresh air.”

“We’re doing it outside?”

"Un. I'll clean this up later."

Still, we did minimal cleanup. Took off the kid’s robe, packed up the plastic wraps scattered on the floor, and bundled them into the set.

Once we were out of the storage room, we stood side by side at the stairs, and the little girl, wanting to make up for her mistake, said she would go up the stairs by herself. I subtly helped by lifting her tail just enough so she wouldn’t notice.

While I closed the storage door after we all got up, Manager gently suggested a break to the little one.

“Little girl, it must’ve been stuffy down there. Be honest.”

"Honestwy... yes. A wittle."

"Then why don’t you go breathe some fresh air out front for a bit? Mister and I need to talk.”

"Ah, yes."

The little girl nodded and scurried off to the lobby. The moment she were gone, Manager let out a sigh and pressed the bubble gun’s muzzle against her forehead.

"Is it okay to put that against your forehead?"

“It’s fine. It’s non-lethal.”

She seems quite troubled about getting angry earlier. As I waited quietly, Manager said,

“The child almost got hurt.”

"Yes. She almost did."

“By magic.”

“... Ah, by magic. Right.”

"That's why I got angry. Sorry, Chan-ah.”

I figured she was mad because of the little girl. Whether it was the little girl or mongmong, it was plainly visible how she softened when dealing with young ones.

I had guessed that part, but I didn’t know the rest. I didn’t realize how seriously Manager took magic. What magic meant to Manager, who was once a great mage...

There wasn’t enough time to ask and hear the answer. I still had to finish work and clock out. Instead, I shared a short thought I’d always had.

"When there are two people, Manager-nim."

“Un.”

“No matter how chaotic the situation gets, if one of them stays calm, the other tends to calm down too.”

I was angry too. I wanted to ask those idiots who made this toy, especially those idiot parents with 7-year-olds: would you let your own childs play with this?

But if I snapped too, it seemed like it would put the little one in an incredibly awkward position. So I tried to calm her down. Thankfully, Manager vented all the anger I was holding in.

“I was able to experience it thanks to Manager-nim.”

“Thanks to me?”

"I'm talking about my first day. When I'd worked here for exactly 10 minutes, and went whining to Manager-nim saying 'There are green monsters walking around here—'"

Even thinking about it now, Manager's response then was incredibly composed.

If a 29-year-old man suddenly called me claiming 'I flew here from another world—', would I have believed him?

Absolutely not. I would've asked what drugs they were on to say such things.

But Manager did believe me, and thanks to that, I was able to stay calm enough to keep working here. I just did the same thing now.

“I know the calmness back then and the calmness now are on different levels, but… um….”

I trailed off. Because throughout my speaking, Manager hadn't turned her head once, just staring intently at me. It was a bit overwhelming.

"...Just your subordinate speaking out of turn for a moment. Yes."

Still, I managed to finish my words. After a moment, Manager grinned and responded,

“You’re reliable, Chan-ah.”

"Thank you. Holding back my anger was worth it."

* * *

Manager and I stepped outside the convenience store, and he handed me the bubble gun. This is today's final work item, the Magic Bubble Paint Gun.

Manager handed it to me and immediately explained how to use it, but even after hearing it, I was still confused.

“Bubbles pop in midair, right, Chan? Paint sticks to the floor or walls.”

"That's common sense, yes."

"This does both. It pops in midair, then paints the air within that radius.”

Deceleration magic, water magic, and light magic are appropriately combined to produce appropriate effects, she explained. The precaution is to avoid using it in dusty areas.

"So that's why we brought it outside. Wouldn't look good if dust stuck to the air, right?"

“…I still don’t really get it, but would it be alright if I watch how it works and judge then?"

“Then let’s do that. Little girl, it must have been boring to wait.”

“No. I was doing morning exewcises."

I saw her waving her arms around earlier. I guess that was her morning exercise.

"Little girl. We're going to shoot this now, okay? Just in case, stay behind for a moment."

"Ah, yes."

She seemed a little scared by the ‘just in case’ part, as she quickly ran over and grabbed the hem of my uniform. She didn’t grip it too tightly, though.

“What’s the effective range of this, Manager-nim?”

"You can adjust it with the dial on the side, it's set to 3m now."

Shooting toward the street would cause accidents. After making sure there were no pedestrians around, I aimed the bubble gun at the sidewalk and gently pulled the trigger.

Then, pyoong.

A single yellow bubble was launched. The bubble, about the size of a ping-pong ball, floated gently in the wind before suddenly stopping in midair.

It stopped and instantly began to expand. It swells almost to gym ball size then stays fixed. As it swells it becomes translucent, like looking through tinted sunglasses.

After waiting about 5 seconds, I asked Manager.

"Does that actually pop?"

“It won’t pop. If you stick your arm in, it’ll just go right through. Probably.”

"Ah. What if you put your head in?"

“You’ll be able to breathe just fine. Though it’ll shrink a bit with each breath.”

If left alone, she says after about a minute the deceleration magic will wear off and it'll sink to the ground. Once it touches the ground, it’ll scatter and evaporate.

"Then, if a child inhales it—"

I was about to ask if it would make him sick later, but then my uniform hem was tugged hard.

I leaned back to look at the little girl, and her eyes were sparkling brightly. She didn’t even seem to realize she was tugging on my clothes.

"So pwetty..."

"It's fine even if you eat it, Chan. That one's lemon-flavored. See? It's yellow."

“It looks like it’d sting if it got in your eyes. Can we change the color?”

"Look at the opposite side of the range adjustment dial, there's another dial. Up to 24 colors."

I turned it around and, just as Manager said, there was a 24-section dial. One end was white, and the other was black.

"It's a toy without a single dangerous element, so you can inspect it without worry."

“Got it. Hana, from now on, you’re the gunslinger of the West.”

"Gunslingah?"

She tilted her head in confusion, so I just handed her the bubble gun without another word. She waited long enough.

She took it respectfully with both hands, stepped forward, and pulled the trigger into the air. A yellow bubble rises and fixes in mid-air.

She stared at the frozen bubble with wide-eyed wonder, then started shooting bubbles in all directions except toward the road. Perhaps too fascinated to spare the effort to turn the dial, they're all yellow.

I watched for about 5 minutes, but I didn’t notice anything unusual. I quietly mentioned it to Manager.

"This uses a magic stone, right? In the handle."

“Un. Does it seem fine?”

"I've been focusing on it continuously, and the magic stone's behaving well. I don’t think there’s anything to worry about.”

“That’s a relief. Should we start getting ready to head back in?”

"No, I'll leave when she does. Feels wrong to send her home while she’s having so much fun.”

Checking the time on my phone showed 10:03. Since we're already late, might as well stay a bit longer...

Something suddenly came to mind, so I called out to the little girl.

"Um, Hana."

"Woow, so pwetty."

"Hey. You're gonna pop your eyeballs out at this rate."

"Eek, I don’t want my eyes to pop out.”

She looked at me, startled. I continued.

“Hana, you didn’t go to kindergarten today.”

"Ah, yes. The teacher said to stay home today.”

“Why? Is something going on?”

I thought it might be one of their monthly days off, so I asked without much thought. But the little girl’s answer was completely unexpected.

"Today because it's dangewous, we might get hurt if we come."



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