Magic Realm Convenience Store – Ch. 163
Contrary to expectations (1)
I've been worried since the sun rose in the morning. The statement about
elementary, middle, high schools and universities being clustered together meant
one thing. That the school start times are all different.
Since there's even a kindergarten in the area, I had thought the store would
definitely be bursting at the seams from 7 a.m.. Unlike office workers at the
intersection who would drop by after work, these were students stopping by
briefly on their way to school, so they probably wouldn't cause too much
trouble...
Wherever people gather, something inevitably happens. I waited for customers to
come with a half-empty mind, but things went the opposite way I expected.
First, at 7:40 a.m., the high schoolers.
“Mister, do you have any mechanical pencil leads?”
"Please check the second corner over there for school supplies."
"Yes."
The first customer was a female student kobold with wing feathers on both sides
of her head. I call her a kobold because I can’t think of a better name, but
visually she looks more human than kobold.
Her sky-blue hair color seemed natural rather than due to lax school
regulations. But this was a unique sight in its own right. Perhaps it's because
I only ever saw dyed-haired students getting beaten with cues sticks in high
school...
Besides that, the school uniforms were all different. Since I heard multiple
schools are bunched together, I guess there would be as many uniforms as
schools, but that didn’t seem like the only reason.
Take the second group of students. I couldn't even tell they were students until
hearing their conversation. Because these students were fairies.
"When did this convenience store open here?"
"Is that why you went through the trouble of opening the door and coming in...?"
“No? I’m just hungry. What did you eat for breakfast?”
They were a pair of male and female fairies, with the female fairy appearing
cheerful while the male fairy clearly looked drained. I couldn’t tell if it was
because of morning drowsiness or if that was just his personality.
"Skipping today. I'm sure I'll get food coma during the aptitude test..."
"Oh come on, it's still better to eat. If you don't, your brain won't work and
you'll mess up, you know?"
“Still better that than falling asleep in the middle…”
""If you're worried about sleepiness, let's at least have a throat candy. My
treat."
They fluttered around in front of the main door having that conversation, then
flew over to the register. Being a species not even 10 cm tall, I couldn’t see
their uniforms until they were right in front of me.
But the uniforms they were wearing looked completely different. One wore a
cardigan and skirt commonly seen where I live, while the other wore something
closer to a robe. Are they attending different schools?
"It doesn't look like they sell food for us..."
"We can just buy this and make it last all month. Lemon flavor okay?"
Balancing a box of throat candy on her head, she flew over and dropped it on the
register with a soft thud. The box was as big as their torsos. How on earth do
these guys eat candy? It's not like they gnaw on it with their front teeth...
"Mister, please ring this up."
“Yes.”
As I was thinking, I figured it wasn’t something I needed to worry about, so I
just rang it up.
Their payment method felt unusual too. They took out something like a chip the
size of my fingernail from their bag and stood on the card reader. Then she
asked mid-way.
"Um, are you paying by card?"
"Yes. Do I insert it here?"
I've never served fairies as customers at the intersection. The only time was
during my first week when I caught a cigarette fairy that came to play tricks.
So I had no idea where fairies even insert their cards. I looked at where they
were pointing, asking if they should insert it there, and there seemed to be a
small groove on the side?
"Uh... yes. You can insert it there."
I answered with the mindset of ‘Well, if it doesn’t work, I’ll think about it
then,’ and she sat right on top of the reader and pushed the card in with both
hands. When I pressed the payment button, it went through.
"Your payment is complete. Thank you, Customers."
"Yes. Hey, should we ask the mister to open this for us?"
“Let’s just go into school and open it with magic. We’re gonna be late…”
“Then let’s do that. Goodbye, Mister.”
With that, they flew off side by side with the throat candy balanced on their
heads, and when opening the main door, the speed of their wing fluttering
quadrupled.
Watching them struggle to open the door gave me a rough idea why fairies hadn't
visited the store before. There must be stores with daily necessities sized for
fairy stature.
Anyway, an hour passed after seeing off these three customers, then around 9
o'clock, I took a quick look around the store. First off, Mongmong at my feet
was sound asleep,completely unaware of the world....
There wasn’t a single customer. The store was completely empty.
The situation was unfolding almost exactly opposite to my expectations. No, we
moved here because business wasn't going well, so why aren't there any
customers?
It's 8:40 a.m. now. There are people outside. There are students in uniforms
walking around too. But the thing is, all the students are either rushing or
flying into the school buildings.
This is just a guess, but most of them seem to be high school students. The
students wearing uniforms were all tall, and they don't have that characteristic
youthful impression of middle schoolers. I wonder if there's some reason?
—Ding-a-ling.
While thinking, one customer entered.
The customer who came in this time is a woman of unknown race who looks almost
human. Judging by the bag she's carrying, she seems to be a student, but she's
not wearing a uniform. Probably a university student.
There were two reasons I couldn't guess her species: first, this customer's hair
and eyes were completely silver.
If I had to narrow it down, she looked more like an elf, but I couldn’t tell for
sure because her ears were hidden by her hair.
And the other reason was that this woman's behavior was a few screws loose to be
a normal human. The moment she entered, she came right up to me and abruptly
asked.
“Excuse me.”
“…Yes. Customer.”
“How old are you?”
It was an extraordinarily flat-toned question with absolutely no pitch
variation. I couldn't even tell if it was a question or if she was asking out of
curiosity.
Thrown off, I looked at her face. Her features felt like they were somewhere
between elf and human. I wonder which species characteristic it is to ask
someone's age...
"Perhaps you don't know your own age?"
I didn’t know what her intention was, but I could at least tell that if this
conversation dragged on, my patience would explode regardless of what she
intended. It seemed like the better move was to just answer whatever she asked
and send her off without asking anything myself.
“I’m twenty-nine.”
“Then you’re oppa. Excuse me, Oppa.”
“...Yes, Customer.”
“Is it okay if I sit at a table before I go? About two hours.”
No, if she was going to ask that, why did she even ask my age in the first
place?
The difficulty level of resisting questions felt about Lv.99. If another
customer had asked ‘Don't you know your own age?’, I normally would've brushed
it off as sarcasm about me not answering.
I have some experience with social interactions, and I can generally infer
someone's intentions from their tone or expression. But with this woman in front
of me, I had no idea what she wanted or was trying to do.
Her silver eyes just stared holes through me without the slightest change in
expression. At least I could tell she wasn't angry about my lack of response...
“Or do I have to get permission from someone else?”
"No. Just go ahead and sit. But, Customer."
"Excuse me, Oppa."
Why did she ask for my age? I was about to ask because I couldn't hold back my
curiosity, but she responds to my question with another question. Is she even
listening to what I'm saying?
“Yes?”
“If you’re twenty-nine, that means you’re older than me, right?”
Since I neither asked nor heard her age, I wouldn't know, but I suppose that
must be the case. She's still consistently calling me 'oppa' after all.
“R…ight. So what.”
“You’re older, so why do you keep speaking formally?”
"I just do. You can sit and stay, whatever convenient for you."
“...Can I listen to music?”
“Just plug in your earphones and listen.”
I give up trying to ask anything. After saying that, I looked into her eyes
again, and she was staring right at my face like she had another question
sparked by just now’s conversation.
Go ahead and say what you want to say. As I calmly returned her gaze without
avoiding it, after a moment, she silently turned her back, walked to a table,
put down her bag, and inserted Bluetooth earphones in her ears.
Then she took out a notebook and began scribbling something. Staring blankly, I
called Manager.
I had a lot to say, so I called and Manager picked up right away without a
single dial tone.
[Yes, Chan. How's work going?]
“Not many customers. I’ve had three people come in all morning.”
[Huh? Really?]
“Yes. I’ve only seen the high schoolers occasionally, but they hardly ever come.
They all looked super busy.”
That’s something the tiny fairies mentioned earlier when buying throat candy.
They didn't want to eat because they were worried about getting food coma during
an aptitude test.
So I guess that's what they're going for, what else could it be? As soon as I
said this, a clapping sound came through the phone with a sharp 'clap'.
[Ah, right, it’s the beginning of the month. I forgot since it’s been a while.]
“What are you talking about?”
[The aptitude test. There's something high school students do every month.]
Among high schoolers in this world, those entering magic-related departments
have to go through a pretty complicated aptitude test at the beginning of each
month. The non-magic departments have a much simpler process.
[High school students may be called students, but physically they're close to
adults. Some of them are still growing too.]
"Well... kids at this age do grow a few centimeters each month."
[Right. At the beginning of every month, schools test what kind of magic
aptitude they have and to what degree. It affects their career paths and all
that, so it’s really important.]
To my ears, it sounds like a concept similar to a mock exam. The busy lives of
the kids in this neighborhood seem similar to the neighborhood I live in.
“Well… I still don’t get why we haven’t seen any elementary or middle schoolers
though.”
[Elementary and middle schools are closed until today due to the gate incident,
Chan-ah.]
“Aha.”
[I was worried it might be crazy busy from day one, but this morning seems quite
relaxed. What a relief.]
I thought our store's underground water vein came along with us when we moved.
It being quiet is good news for me, but maybe not for Manager…
I stayed quiet as it didn't seem like something I should comment on. As I
waited, Manager asked about something else.
[Anyway, if there weren't many customers, I guess nothing unusual has happened
yet. How's Mongmong?]
“He’s still asleep. Not even sure if he’ll wake up today…”
[He slept that long in the sewers before too, so it should be fine. Don’t worry,
Chan-ah.]
"I'm not worried. He's sprawled out tossing and turning. By the way,
Manager-nim."
[Un.]
"Could I ask you one quick question I’m curious about?”
I spoke almost in a whisper while looking toward the table. During my brief
conversation with Manager, something like a pile of paper had accumulated on the
table, as if she had torn and crumpled up a notebook. Whatever it is, things
don't seem to be going well.
[What is it?]
"There's a customer sitting here right now who's somewhat unusual.”
It’s been a while since I’ve asked a question like that. Asking what race a
customer is when they show up. Orcs are more violent the younger they are,
goblins are generally cunning, and Jungin are hopeless.
So whenever customers of the species I just listed occasionally visit, I've
tried to respond according to their characteristics as much as possible. I can’t
complain if someone calls me a racist, but it’s not like anyone else is taking
care of my mental state. I’ve got to look after my own sanity.
And among all the customers I’ve ever had, this woman just now isn’t the number
one, but she definitely ranks high in terms of being her own pace. The top spot
goes to that one guy who always had swearing on his lips.
Since this is a customer type I've rarely encountered while working, I ended up
sought Manager's opinion. As I explained by mentioning what happened earlier,
Manager asked in return.
[The hair color and eyes are silver, what else is there?]
"Yes. But I'm not asking about anything strange this time, am I?"
[No. Asking about someone's species isn't that unusual, though it doesn't happen
often. It's even frequent among kobolds. But based on what you're saying,
perhaps her magical power and—]
“Just a moment, Manager-nim.”
It was because the woman at the table suddenly looked at me while we were
talking. I was watching to see what she would do after I put down my phone, and
this woman walked right up to me with heavy steps and stood in front of me.
Then she just stared at me silently. For some reason she was frowning, and her
silence didn't seem like she was waiting for me to speak. More like she had
something to say but was figuring out how to say it...
"Um, can I help you?"
If she said our conversation was bothering her, I was planning to make up
something on the spot. Although I was told that asking about species isn't an
unusual thing, I had started by saying ‘there's an unusual customer’—
While I was thinking of what excuse to make, the woman spoke to me/
“I was trying to do something at the store.”
“What kind?”
“That’s a bit difficult to say....”
She started, then went quiet for a long while. Just as I was about to open my
mouth from the frustration, she spoke again.
“…Anyway, it’s not going well. And I think it’s probably because of you, oppa.”
“No, I need to know the whole story to sympathize or not―”
"Oppa, what are you really? Are you even from this world?”
|Note
Consider supporting me by subscribing on Patreon for 5$.
Advance chapters of Magic Realm Convenience Store Worker : 20 Chapters
Advance chapters of Got a Gallery in the Wild : 8 Chapters
Also, consider visiting my patreon to check out my other projects
Komentar
Posting Komentar