Mastore 133 - Dumpster

Magic Realm Convenience Store – Ch. 133

Even dragons can roll (2)

Hana is a pure-blooded dragon. Through her horns, she can detect the magical energy of other species, and with that energy, she can see the ‘color’ of their hearts. Truly malicious individuals appear pitch black, while their opposites shine white.

It's an exceptional ability for preventing fraud in face-to-face interactions, but it has one big drawback. Because she’s so young, she can't control it on her own. I asked Hana.

"Hana. I'm really sorry, but can I touch your horn for a moment?"

"Mm."

She nodded and lifted her head toward me, standing on tiptoes. I gently placed my thumb and index finger on her horn and asked again.

"How about now?"

"Wooow."

Her voice brightened several notches.

"Now it doesn't itch awt all, Mister."

“I see.”

"I wanna stay like this fowevew."

I heard that pure-blooded dragons are a species with extremely sensitive horns, so I don't understand why this kid is so comfortable with me touching her horn. Anyway...

“I’ll think about it for a second.”

"Mm..."

"It's not that I don't want to. It's something else."

I really needed to think this through. Is this a coincidence?

Probably not. The itching she felt in her horn disappeared the moment I touched it. It must indeed be related to magical energy.

This is also the first time Hana has complained about her horn being itchy. The only difference between today and previous days was one thing: something nearby was emitting a large amount of magical energy.

Just like how she detects the magical energy of other species, perhaps she also detected that magical energy from whatever it was nearby. Even if it's a stretch, I couldn't dismiss it entirely…

“Mister?”

“…Hana.”

"Yeth?"

“Could I ask you for a favor?”

Now that I had doubts, I needed to confirm. With the consent of the person involved. Hana bowed her head and the tip of her tail simultaneously as she answered.

"Mm."

"I haven't even told you what the favor is yet?"

"But, it's you, Mister. You helped me make Mommy's pwesent..."

"That was because I wanted to. You didn't ask me to."

"And, you helped with my homewowk. And helped me buy a pwesent for my frend."

She seemed too absorbed in reminiscing to properly hear me. Come to think of it, have I really done that much for her?

"You also let me meet Mongmong, ah."

My heart sank the moment I heard that. The last time I saw Mongmong was when he was buried in Noona's jacket, flying through the night sky while riding a winged horse.

With all this rain causing trouble, I wonder where and how that rascal is staying dry. There's no way to contact that one either...

"Mister. Do you know where Mongmong might be?"

“Hmm. The last time I saw him, he was going to meet someone, but I don’t know where he is now.”

"Uhh. It's raiwning so much..."

“…Yeah…”

Thinking things through helps clear my mind. This wasn’t the time to hesitate about whether or not I should ask for a favor.

The rain is pouring down to the point of being abnormal weather. Once we eliminate the anomaly, this rain should let up. It's definitely because of the gate.

“Anyway, could you help me?”

I can see something like magical energy, but I can't look into other species' hearts like Hana can. It's not like I have horns to sense them either...

I thought Hana might be better at this than me. I was about to explain what I wanted to ask, but Hana immediately answered.

"Mm. Anything."

“Anything?”

"Mister helped me lots, so I wanna hewp lots too! Anything!"

“Thanks, I appreciate it.”

"But, what are we gonna do?"

"We're going to check that place we talked about earlier... Hold on."

First I grabbed an umbrella from inside the store. Since the place I was going to was in full view of the store, there was no need to lock the door.

Next, I held the umbrella handle with one hand and placed my other hand on Hana's horn. If I take my hand off, she'll obviously start scratching it because it's itchy again.

Then, I pointed to the hem of my clothes with my finger.

"Hold onto me tightly so you don't fall."

"Mm."

She grips my sleeve tightly as instructed, but her claw tips dig into the fabric and slightly poke through. I don't show any reaction and start walking.

After exactly three minutes we reached the center of the four-lane intersection. There were no cars passing by, so we could take it easy. I spoke to Hana.

"We're going to search for something here. Is your horn itching now?"

“No? 'Cause Mister holding it."

“It’ll get itchier from now on. Probably.”

A few days ago, I did something to help Noona’s with her work. When I needed to erase a magic spell with 100 magic power, I used my constitution at around 90 instead of 100.

I had used that technique to differentiate between fire-burning water and water-burning fire. This time I'm doing the same thing. This time I'm doing the same. If the core magic energy of what we're seeking is 100, its periphery would range from 99 to 1.

Since Hana’s horn detects magic, I thought if I suppress its detection ability so it can't detect magic less than 100, then we might be able to pinpoint just the location of the center with magic power of 100...

It's just a theory. Not sure if my body can pull it off.

But it wasn't a losing deal. If things didn't go well, I could just say thank you for her hard work and go to her mom's company. I explained this to Hana, but at first, she didn’t really understand.

“Uh… so….”

"Just tell me when your horn starts itching or you feel something strange."

"Mm."

Her attitude suggests she doesn't really understand but wants to get started anyway. It's true that this is something I need to do well. After taking a brief breath, I lightly stroked her horn with my thumb.

“How’s it feel now? I’m thinking about 95.”

“?”

She still looked confused. I took another deep breath and imagined it at around 80 this time. It felt like tuning a radio frequency.

"...Uhh."

This time her whole body flinched, and she tightly pulled on the hem of my clothes. I immediately asked.

“Is it really itchy now?”

"...No. I can beaw it."

"Tell me if it's too muchme. Okay?”

"Mm."

I readjusted my grip on the umbrella handle. My palm was drenched in sweat. I wanted to finish this as quickly as possible before I felt more guilty toward Hana. This time, 90.

“How does it feel now?”

“Uh…”

This time it seems a bit ambiguous, as Hana looks around in confusion. However, most of her gaze was fixed toward the ground.

She must be sensing something. Let's try 93...

"Ah! Mister, Mister!"

"What, can you tell something?"

"Hewe."

She pointed somewhere with her finger. When I checks, it isn’t in the sky, not near a building, not anywhere on the stretched four-lane road.

It was the ground. More precisely, the manhole cover a few steps away from where we're standing. I stared blankly and asked.

"Down thewe..."

"Think so. Down thewe's all black."

“How far down?”

"Super deep. Like, mega deep."

I feel like I've been hit hard on the back of my head.

The gate I saw near the academy district had appeared midair. Near the top of the clock tower, a place with empty space all around. Seeing that, I had vaguely assumed: ‘It appeared where there was space to appear.’

I thought it wouldn't be possible underground. Because it's filled with soil. There would be pressure from the earth, structures, and everything else pushing down on it.

I had always assumed there couldn’t be any empty space underground, so nothing could appear. But seeing this manhole cover made it obvious.

The inside of the sewer is empty, isn't it? If something like a gate appeared in there, it wouldn't be strange at all. I asked Hana again.

"Very deep down?"

"Mm. Lots and lots."

The standard for sewer pipe installation is about 2.5m underground. That's not deep enough to describe as ‘lots and lots’ below. I wasn’t sure if this was a result of the gate's influence, or if the scale of sewers in this world was different from mine…

Her tone and gaze were full of confidence. I didn’t ask further and just stared at the manhole cover absently.

It was hard to see because it was submerged in rainwater, and there didn’t seem to be any space to fit a hand or finger into the handle. Prying it open would require a heavy-duty crowbar.

"What else can I help?”

“...No. I think this will do.”

"Weally?"

“Yeah, really. Thanks for clearing the obstruction, Hana.”

Grateful, I gently ruffled her hair. Even while stroking, raindrops fell one by one on the back of my hand or on her hair.

It seemed like the rain had gotten heavier in just this short time. Now I don't even dare to look up to see how much rain is falling.

"Hana. Thank you, but you should head back now."

"Aww..."

“It’s good to see you again after such a long time, but if the rain gets heavier, you won’t even be able to go home. Seriously.”

"Oh! Then Mommy will wowwy."

"She would. And I'd worry just the same. Let's start walking for now."

"Mm."

Standing in the middle of the four-way intersection for too long wasn’t ideal. Keeping my hand on her horn, we crossed the intersection and continued walking in the direction Hana had pointed.

After about 10 minutes, walking through the rain-soaked streets, Hana stopped abruptly and released her hand from my sleeve.

“I can go by myself from here, Mister.”

"You sure? No crosswalks, downhills, or uphills in between?"

"Mm. Just a wittle."

She pointed with her finger toward a tall building. Looking at it, I remember now. She said her mother works in that building.

The distance to the building doesn't seem too far. Hana takes a couple of steps forward, splashing in her rain boots, then turns to look at me and gives a little bow.

"I’m going now."

"Don’t trip on your way. Got it?"

"Yeth. See you again, Mister."

"Yeah. Next time, let’s eat lots of snacks. On a sunny day."

“Hehehe.”

She laughed and turned to walk away, but I saw her stop abruptly in front of a puddle on the ground. I shouted.

"Don’t play there! You'll slip and fall if you step wrong!"

At my shout, her tail jerked up under her raincoat and started running forward in a panic. I should’ve told her not to run, too.

Soon after, Hana disappeared from view, and I was alone. I’m still worried, but with no pedestrians around, there was no real risk of her running into anyone…

I had things to do too. I headed toward the store and pulled out my phone.

I had checked the Magic Bureaus phone number in the early morning. 999. Where I used to live, 999 was the emergency service number.

I dialed and after a moment, I heard the connection tone, but the sound was filled with so much static it was almost impossible to make out.

[#&$… $#’s……speaking. Voice#&$…]

It kept cutting out so much that I couldn't tell what they were saying. My ears were ringing, so I hung up and checked the signal icon.

The ‘out of service area’ icon kept flashing on and off. What was going on? Was it the gate again?

Frustrated, I tried calling someone else. To Manager. I had half given up because she left me on read, but Manager answered.

[@#!, you#&$?

The sound was still a mess, but I pushed forward with what I had to say.

“Manager-nim, can you come in for the shift change today?”

It was already around 9:30 a.m., and I seriously doubted she could get here on time. How’s she supposed to come here when there's not a single bus or taxi in sight?

Manager seemed to keep speaking, but it was still filled with static and cutting in and out, making it impossible to hear properly. I said it out of frustration.

“It’s the gate, Manager-nim. I think that’s what’s causing this."

[.......]

This time the voice cut out completely. I feel like about to lose my damn mind...

—Click.

Out of nowhere, I heard the sound of fingers snapping from the phone. A moment later, Manager's voice began to come through clearly.

[Chan-ah. Can you hear me now?]

“Yes, much better. But how did you fix it?”

[Can Chan hear me now?]

“Yes, I can hear you well. But how did you—Wait, Manager-nim, can you not hear my voice?"

[If Chan is asking whether I can't hear Chan’s voice, then yeah, I can't.]

That's what she said. If we continue the call in this state, we'll just be having a Zen question-and-answer exchange (선문답(禪問答)). The store manager must have thought the same thing, because he calmly said what he wanted to say.

(D: It is where neither party fully understands what the other is saying. Similar to talking past each other or having a disjointed, confusing exchange where clear communication isn't possible.)

[First of all, I'm sorry, Chan-ah.]

“What is it?”

[I think I’ll be late today. It took longer than expected to get permission to use magic…]




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