Mastore 126 - Dumpster

Magic Realm Convenience Store – Ch. 126

It may be easy to enter as you please, but when leaving... (4)

It is said that someone proposed this during the meeting. Can a person who isn't honest with themselves ever be honest with others?

It was Elena who suggested it. She continues with a shy tone.

"I'm the youngest on our team. So—"

“Co…ffee… is ready….”

Just then, a creaking voice like a falling old tree came from the counter. Looking over, I saw the Ent barista placing two potion vials on the counter.

(Ents are giant humanoids in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy world of Middle-earth who closely resemble trees. Treant if you aren’t familiar with Ents.)

He leaned the round potion vial against the stand and turned his head towards us, accompanied by the sound of twigs snapping. I immediately stood up and said to Elena, who was half-rising from her seat,

"I'll go get them, please stay seated."

"No, I'll—"

I quickly went over and brought back the coffee. This was probably another occupational habit from working in customer service.

As I carried them, I realized how impractical these potion vials were for holding coffee. The bottom was so nearly perfectly round that it seemed impossible to stand them up without a stand.

On top of that, seeing coffee served in potion vials made it feel like I'd ordered poison or some kind of transformation potion instead of an Americano and latte.

And mine was large size, so the potion bottle was twice as big. Is this supposed to be some kind of high-grade potion or something...?

When I placed the vials onto their stands on the table, Elena carefully took hers first and sipped it gently. I opened the lid and took a sip too—it was refreshing and smooth.

"This tastes good.. I usually only drink chain store coffee, so this is a nice change."

“Right? This place is really nice. Because of the distinct concept, only certain people come here, and it's usually quiet.”

"Does this place not usually have many customers?"

“Usually not, but this is the first time I’ve seen it this empty. It’s probably because of the gate.”

Seems like this damned gate was cutting into more than just convenience store sales but also all city store sales. I wasn’t sure whether to take comfort or feel sorry about this.

“So… um, sorry. Where did I leave off?”

"You were saying you're the youngest at your team."

"Ah, right. So, I have to be really careful when I speak."

After she presented the idea, it went something like this.

First, there was a moment of silence, then one of the senior researcher succubi said, ‘Isn't that fine? Since it's about being honest with oneself, it doesn't affect others externally, and we just need to include one or two more ingredients.’

That kicked off a positive review of the proposal, 'Do we need any separate permissions?' 'I don't think so?' 'What about the timeline?' 'We have two weeks free. Thanks to the anti-magic specialist processing things quickly. ' 'Will it require a lot of budget?' 'Probably not much?'

Finally, the lab director said, 'This is interesting. Let's proceed.'

After hearing all this, I shared my thoughts.

“That's impressive. It’s not easy for the youngest member’s idea to get approved at work.”

“I guess I was lucky. Of course, that's on the premise that it passes verification, but..."

"Wow. Then I'll really need to do a good job. That's a lot of pressure."

“Huh? …Ah. N- No, I didn't mean—”

"I’m just joking. I don’t feel any pressure.”

It seemed my attempt at humor didn't register with her; she began looking down at the table with an expression half fidgeting, half apologetic. I immediately changed the subject.

"By the way, I think this is the first time I’ve heard you talk about your company, Elena."

"Um... come to think of it. Is there anything Chan curious about?"

"No, I wasn’t asking because I’m curious about your company."

This was also new in its own way. We’ve always talked about work or her pursuit of true love, so this was new. I decided to ask another question.

"This is a bit off-topic, but do you happen to know how to make other magic potions besides love potions? I have a feeling you’re good at it.”

Though maybe not as much as her passion for finding true love, Elena did seem genuinely interested in magical potions. I mean, she even went out of her way to find this oddly themed café.

"I'm not that goodit. There’s no opportunity to make them at work, so I bought my own kit at home… and, um, I make some potions as a hobby?”

"You can make magical potions at home? With a kit?"

“Yes. Sometimes I buy ingredients from distant herbal stores, and order them online at other times.”

I thought you needed proper certification or access to a workshop to make even simple magical potions. Listening to her, it sounded almost as accessible as baking bread at home.

“Could you give an example?”

“That’s, uh... Could Chan name something? There are just too many types.”

"Well, like a potion that helps you sleep well?"

I remembered what Manager made for me on my first day of work. Back then, she made it sound like it was no big deal, but from what I'm hearing now, that doesn't seem to be the case.

"That one’s a bit tricky. Sleeping is essentially forcing your body to stop its activities, and you need to know how to handle magic or herbs that directly affect brain function—"

She went on with all sorts of explanations, implying that you need to be well-versed in many areas, but I couldn't understand even half of it so I just listened quietly. After a bit, she wrapped up,

“Still... Um… I think I could make it if I tried. It would just take some time."

"Even though it’s really difficult?"

"Yes. Besides that potion, I can make pretty much everything else, and also... Ah. Does Chan happen to need any specific magical potions?"

I appreciated her consideration, but I hardly knew anything about magical potions myself. So I gave her a vague reply.

“Nothing comes to mind right now. But… I'd still like to see it sometime. The process of making magical potions."

"Then I’ll bring my kit next time we meet, Chan. It’s pretty portable."

How one carries around a magical potion-making set was another question, but I decided to figure it out myself. Maybe it’s foldable and fits in a bag, or maybe she carries it in a suitcase.

It was also surprising how knowledgeable Elena seemed about potion-making. I wondered if this is another trait of succubus that I didn’t know about, or if Elena is just particularly unique.

"...Ah, come to think of it."

In the middle of my thoughts, Elena spoke half muttering.

"Yes."

"I don't think I've ever heard Chan talk about yourself."

"About me?"

“Yes. About Chan.”

I wasn’t sure. Haven’t I talked about myself enough? Just in our last meeting, I'd spent over twenty or thirty minutes recounting stories from my convenience store shifts.

That was my thought, but Elena seemed to have something different in mind.

"I mean, things like Chan's hobbies."

“...Ah. That kind of thing."

"Yes. And how Chan usually spends your time, or what kind of work Chan did before working at the convenience store—"

I cut her off on purpose.

"I don’t really have any hobbies. Not really."

"...Um...."

"I’m too busy with night shifts and sleeping at home. If I waste time doing something else, I’ll probably be late for work. This is pretty much all I do in my daily life..."

I knew this wasn’t the ideal answer to casually toss out in a conversation like this, but I felt lying wasn't polite either. I continued. Honestly.

“I used to have another job before working at the convenience store. An office job. I went on business trips here and there.”

“.......”

"And before working at the company..."

I had a lot of gigs. 18 hours a day, for 6 years after graduating high school.

“…my life wasn’t particularly great.”

"Ah."

"Do you still want to hear about it?"

I purposely lowered my voice and met her gaze. t wasn’t because I was afraid of revealing that I’m an outsider from another world.

I just didn't want to talk about it. To anyone. Not even to myself.

The moment I thought about what to say, I knew my own voice would start narrating my past in dry detail inside my head.

Even that I dislike. The life I’ve lived is so tough and bitter that it’s hard to even chew on as a topic for drinking party snack.

If she doesn't accept this, then I'll speak more firmly. That she's trying to cross a line. Thankfully, Elena read the room quickly this time.

"N... No."

I can clearly see her fidgeting uncomfortably.

I understand. A mere convenience store worker doesn't tell you where he lived, what he did before. That must be quite frustrating.

But what can I do? This is just who I am. Since we’ve already changed the subject, I decided to keep it that way.

“Elena don’t have to feel uncomfortable. I’m the strange one here.”

"Still, I, um..."

"Let’s get back to talking about work, okay? Work. We were in the middle of talking about the effects earlier."

I gently lifted the potion vial from the table as I spoke. Elena still looked frustrated, but after a moment, she bowed her head slightly and began explaining.

“Last time, the two of us shared half the potion, right?”

“Yes.”

"This one doesn’t require that because the target is yourself. You can drink it alone, and the effect will activate. The potency isn’t too strong, but..."

She said it was difficult to predict what side effects might occur.

The original effect of the potion was to make the two people who drank it answer each other’s questions honestly. When narrowing it down to one person, the questioning subject disappears.

So, an additional process was added to create ‘someone’ who could ask questions to the drinker. This ‘someone’ is described as another self, derived from the drinker’s personality and thoughts…

"So... you’re saying another version of me will temporarily appear in my mind and then disappear?"

An elixir that gives you chuunibyou when you drink it—its effects are incredibly bizarre. I said it half-jokingly, but Elena didn’t entirely deny it.

"Yes. And we don’t know how this temporary version of yourself will react to you. It might act aggressively, or it might even hide something from you..."

"So it doesn't just ask questions, I guess."

“That seems to be the case, but that wasn’t our original intent. We couldn’t find any suitable alternatives during the meeting…”

She says they're in the midst of considering the distribution of additional ingredients and magic to add, but something came to mind as soon as I heard this.

"Why not just use something like a notepad?"

"Huh?"

"I was thinking, why not structure it so that you can’t ask questions directly? Maybe make it so the effect only activates when you read something written on a notepad or something like that."

It's not like the dark partner born in my heart would be born with eyes too, right? Reading and responding to something would be handled by the brain’s language region anyway.

I blurted it out without much thought, but Elena stared at me with a dumbfounded expression and couldn't continue speaking for quite some time.

“…I hadn't considered that at all. I only thought about the pharmaceutical side...”

“Would that actually work?”

“Yes. You wouldn't be able to hold deep conversations, but it would remove the need to add more chemicals or magic for stabilization… Just a moment.”

She immediately placed her tablet on the table, opened a memo app, and began writing various sentences.

I expected she would just jot down a line or two, but the number of notes she was writing was far greater than I had anticipated. I deliberately didn't speak to let her concentrate and quietly sipped my potion vial coffee.

Ten minutes later, Elena put away her tablet and looked up at the ceiling, softly mumbling something. I cautiously asked,

“Are “All finished?”

you finished?”

“Oh, yes! I'm done. Sorry, that was so sudden!”

"Not at all. I just threw out a random thought as a non-expert. I’m glad it helped.”

"No, really. I'm always receiving help from Chan..."

She bowed her head again. Over the past few weeks, I’ve noticed that Elena doesn’t seem to have very high self-esteem. She’s also quite introverted.

I thought about asking the reason for this, and if I did, where I would begin, but I decided against it.

Low self-esteem usually has a reason behind it. To understand, I’d need to hear her story first, but it didn’t feel right to ask about her past when I wasn’t willing to share mine.

Instead, I asked something else.

"About the effect of becoming honest with yourself, how did you come to think of that?"

Honestly, it was surprising that this proposal even got approved. Love potions are usually something you’d find in fairy tales or myths, right?

This idea felt much more grounded in reality, and not like something a species specialized in love-related professions would typically deal with. However, Elena spoke confidently about this part.

“There’s something like that. Common phrase you often see on the internet or in motivational talks?”

“What is it?”

“That loving yourself is also a form of love.”





|Note

Consider supporting me by subscribing on Patreon for 5$. 

Advance chapters of Magic Realm Convenience Store Worker : 15 Chapters

Also, consider visiting my patreon to check out my other projects