Mastore 111 - Dumpster

Magic Realm Convenience Store – Ch. 111

Convenience store clerk hide his power (1)

A few days ago, this elf officer and I found a money bag. It contained an estimated amount in the hundreds of millions, disguised as a trash bag under a utility pole in front of the convenience store.

The officer had taken it in and said she would come back if there was any progress in the investigation. But right now, money bag worth hundreds of millions wasn’t important.

"Has everything been alright..."

"Sigh. Of course there's been things, how could there not be?"

“?”

The officer tilted her head slightly, seemingly not expecting that answer. Just as I was about to explain the store situation, a thunderous cry came from the display area.

"WHATCHUGONNADO!!"

"Eek!"

Now there was no need to explain. The officer perked up her ears at the cattle-herding sound and walked right in with I’m following behind. The officer stopped abruptly upon seeing the Minotaur.

“Sorry, Chan-ah! I accidentally stepped on his tail— Oh, Officer?”

“May I take a look for a moment?”

"...Ah, yes! Go ahead."

Given permission, the officer immediately stepped closer to the Minotaur and began inspecting the shelves. Meanwhile, Manager took a couple steps back and leaned in toward me.

"Did you call the police?"

“Even if I had, they wouldn’t be here this quickly, Manager-nim. Time-wise, it doesn’t add up.”

"No? Then why... Ah, must be about the money bag."

As we exchanged quick words, the officer stood up. Walking over to us, she pointed at the Minotaur with her thumb and muttered,

"Quite a few."

“What is it?”

“Charges. Property damage. Noise disturbance. Obstruction of business. Public indecency…”

Property damage for breaking the display, noise disturbance for snoring, obstruction of business because we're dealing with this guy.

But what's with public indecency? Looking over the elf’s shoulder, I saw the Minotaur had half his shirt off and was scratching his belly with his hoof.

"I can arrest them right now if you wish."

It’s not a pretty sight, but arresting them seems excessive. After exchanging glances with Manager, I shared my thoughts.

“We’d be fine if he just went home.”

“Same here. Just get them out of here, whatever it takes.”

It’s not like our store’s sales will go up just because he gets fined. We’ve got a business to run. Manager seemed to think, ‘Well, they’re young, so this can happen once…’

“Whatever it takes…”

At our response, the officer pulls out her light baton and starts tapping her head thoughtfully. After a few seconds,

“Excuse me for a moment.”

She went outside and came back shortly while holding something. It was an emergency siren. She walked close to the Minotaur, then turned to us and said softly,

"It's quite loud. And bright."

It sounded like they were telling us to cover our ears and close our eyes. The moment we did, I heard the rattle of the siren being turned over, followed by the siren sound.

—WEEEENG!!

"Wh- What the!"

The Minotaur jumped up with a shout, the sound of the display collapsing, and the sensation of my eardrums bursting all came in quick succession. Like a missile went off right in front of me.

After waiting for the siren to stop before opening my eyes, the Minotaur was standing bolt upright, looking down at the officer with a dumbfounded expression.

“No, why is the police here…?”

"You seem to have trouble walking..."

The officer replied with a mix of bluntness and dryness, then added,

“I’ll give you a quick ride. As it happens, the back seat is empty."

“…N- No. It’s fine.”

So flustered they even switched to polite speech, he hurriedly grabbed his wallet from the floor and bolted out. Thus leaving behind the shattered display, glass shards, scattered daily necessities—

Just us three, and the cheerful store music remained. The speaker lacks situational awareness.

“...Let me start by fixing that display case. Glass shards are scattered everywhere."

“I’ll organize the items.”

"I'll help too. Do you have a mop?"

I restore each display one by one using the magic phone's time reversal, and Manager arranges the items in order of their expiration date, then the officer uses a mop to slowly wipe away the sweat stains the Minotaur left on the floor...

It took exactly five minutes to finish everything, and I finally grabbed my uniform and returned to the counter. After that, it was time for handover shift.

"Nothing special happened except the display breaking just now, Chan-ah.”

“The inventory and sales match up.”

“Un.”

“And no lost items?”

“Un.”

We kept it short and to the point. It felt awkward to drag things out with the officer standing there. After we finished, the officer met Manager's eyes and spoke in a strangely soft tone.

“You two seem quite close.”

"You've got an eye for things, Officer."

Manager beamed as she answered, while I stayed silent wondering what she was speaking about. The officer then opened her notebook and asked,

"Before I relay information to you both, there's something I need to confirm definitively."

“What is it?”

"Whether you two truly have no connection to this money bag."

I took a moment to think at the statement. A money bag disguised as a trash bag had been placed on the utility pole in front of the convenience store.

It had been there for at least a few hours—long enough for a part-timer to unknowingly throw it away during trash collection without it seeming suspicious.

They're suggesting that maybe it wasn't recycled because there was some kind of arrangement with the part-timer. For instance, receiving a tip that 'there's money in that garbage bag, don't throw it away'—

This level of suspicion is understandable. I understand the suspicion, but...

Honestly, it feels a bit unfair. We were on good terms back then, Officer. Finding the money bag together, sitting face to face in the storage room. Yeah?

I studied the officer’s expression, but she didn’t seem to genuinely suspect us. More precisely, her eyes said she didn't believe it for even 0.1%.

After thinking a bit more, I answered,

"We have no connection, Officer."

“Me neither. I was at home eating snacks at the time.”

“Understood. Thank you for your answers.”

Must have been a procedural question. She flipped through her notebook and began relaying the information, half from memory and half from what was written.

First, they plan to install surveillance magic in several inconspicuous locations to track movement patterns. Until now, they had been monitoring the street in front of the convenience store or patrolling the area undercover.

“The undercover work was to catch any suspects returning to the scene… but now we’ve determined that possibility is low.”

She gave several reasons for this judgment, but I understood it as 'if they were going to come back, they would have by now'. Still, setting up surveillance magic is a minimal insurance measure to at least track movements in case something happens.

Anyway, she said the possibility of the convenience store being targeted is close to 0% from now on, and as for how this case will be investigated going forward.

“We plan to invite anti-magic specialist and mages one by one for consultation and, further, request their cooperation….”

This must be meant for me to hear. The officer didn't hide it either.

“Regarding this case, may I ask for your consultation, Boss? No, I mean, Mr. Lee Chan.”

"...I can't provide anything as grand as consultation, but..."

I’m an expert without expertise. Still, now I know my body has quite some use in this world. Enough to fill in several holes in common sense, at least.

“As long as it doesn’t involve physical labor, I’ll do what I can.”

"Thank you. I'm thinking of putting out a separate search for a mage elsewhere..."

It seems they’re still figuring out how to recruit a mage. At this point, I glanced at Manager. She was already opening her mouth.

"Officer, Officer."

“Yes.”

"About that consultation, could I possibly do it?"

The officer tilts her head while looking down at Manager. This elf officer doesn't yet know that Manager was once a great mage.

"You mean you, Owner?"

"Yes! I'm a mage, you see. I was a great mage in my prime.”

“…Could you show me your license?”

Guess they needed verification. I pulled out my license that I'd thrown under the counter and placed it up, while Manager said to wait a moment and searched her pockets...

"Ah, I didn't bring my wallet!"

She didn’t bring her wallet, apparently. But is certification really necessary to prove she’s a mage?

“Officer. Can’t the manager just show you a bit of magic?”

“No.”

"Right. When you get a mage license, you can't use magic unless it's dangerous or necessary. They'll revoke it."

When we went down to the basement with the little girl to inspect the great mage set. I recall Manager making a magic-using motion at the moment of explosion. She snapped ger fingers above her head—snap.

In that case, since it was a situation where the little one might have been launched into the ceiling and hurt his head, both the ‘dangerous’ and ‘necessary’ conditions were met. That was then, but what about now?

“Chan-ah. Want to get a little dangerous? Really just a little bit would do."

"Well, should I hold my breath for about 3 minutes?"

“No, I was joking. Then… um….”

Manager crosses her arms and sinks into thought. After a moment, as if she had thought of something, she suddenly turned her head and asked the officer.

“Excuse me, Officer. I heard from Chan that you took a copy of the CCTV footage."

“Yes. The moment the bag was abandoned was captured."

"I haven't seen that footage yet, could we possibly watch it again? This time together."

I'm not sure about this one. Was there anything else in that footage besides the scene of the money bag being placed?

The officer was silent for a moment as if also trying to recall something, but eventually nodded.

"That should be no problem. Since you're the owner."

Really quite a by-the-book elf. The officer rummaged through her pocket, pulled out a USB, and handed it to us.

“Do you have a device to play the footage?”

"I'll get it out now. Just a moment..."

I placed the tablet on the counter, plugged in the jack underneath, and connected the USB. After loading, the footage appears on screen, much clearer than what I saw before.

"I've trimmed it to 5 minutes before and after the incident, which part would you like to see?"

“From the moment they appear, all the way through.”

“Understood.”

The officer moved the scroll forward and stopped at the point where a goblin appears in the upper right corner. Manager brought her face close to the screen and pressed play.

The improved quality made more details visible, but it was still pretty uneventful footage.

A hooded figure, presumably a goblin, entered the scene. They put down the trash bag they were carrying, stretched their hands as if it was heavy, and then left.

“.......”

But Manager seems to have spotted something. Without a word, she rewound the footage and stared at it intently. Her level of focus was almost unsettling, unlike anything I’d seen before.

After watching the replayed footage until it stops, she opens her mouth with a small sigh.

“This goblin, we could probably find them quickly..."

“Sorry? Really?”

“Un. But even if we find them, we won’t be able to hear their story right away.”

"...Please elaborate."

The officer asked, already holding her notebook, seemingly prepared to take notes. Manager answered immediately:

“They’re probably hospitalized. In a university hospital’s emergency room.”




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