Convenience Store Worker From Another World Chapter 156

Episode 156. Heavy front feet, light hind feet (1)

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That Doberman is curled up in the middle of the street. He looks very relaxed as he just lifts his head and yawns and licks his lips while I’m looking at him.

Then our eyes met, and the guy who had been staring at us snorted and buried his face in his arms again.

Yet, one eye was fixed on us. Perhaps because he knew what pack the Doberman belonged to, I felt slightly uncomfortable with that gaze.

I have a feeling that he’s watching us. One by one, he looked up at me and asked, wondering why he was doing that.

“That gumball, why is he lying down like that? What if he gets hurt?”

“You won’t get hurt, right? There’s only the two of us on the street.”

“Even so… .”

Since there are no pedestrians, there is no need for it to get kicked by feet or bicycle wheels, and there is no need for it to be reported as a vicious dog. That dog knows that too, so it will just lie down without any worries.

“Still, there’s a lot of black dust on the floor.”

“I know.”

I can vaguely imagine why he’s outside, not on a park bench or in the grass. If that’s true, then that’s a problem for me in its own right…

“… First, let’s find that puppy and feed him some food.”

“Ugh. Puppy, you didn’t eat?”

“I think so. This park doesn’t look in very good condition either.”

I entered the city park and continued walking around, looking around. Just like the street, this park was filled with mud and puddles everywhere.

The vending machines that are occasionally visible have all their lights turned off, perhaps because they were submerged in water, and the trash cans standing next to them are completely empty, without a single can in them. It seems like even all the trash has floated away.

We finally reached the fountain in the middle of the park, where things were quite strange.

“Wow. There are so many idiots, sir. They’re all black.”

A dozen or so Dobermans were gathered together on top of a fountain that had stopped working. To be exact, the rest of the Dobermans were surrounding one in the middle.

I watched them quietly, wondering why they were doing that, and after a while, one of the Dobermans in the middle stepped on one of its front paws and let out a loud whine.

– Boom, boom!

As soon as the crying stopped, the other Dobermans dispersed, revealing the figure that had been hidden. Although his entire body was covered in wounds, he stood with dignity.

“Ugh. That idiot must have been bullied a lot… .”

“It’s not that he was bullied, he just fought a lot and won a lot, that’s why he became like that. I mean, captain.”

“Really? That idiot?”

“That’s what it looks like to me. Right now, you’re ordering your subordinates to look for something.”

“What are you looking for?”

“I don’t know about that.”

Even though I said I didn’t know, I have a feeling I know what he’s looking for. If only this were my delusional thoughts…

It seems like it would be better to hurry up just in case. I asked Hana right away.

“Hanaya. Did you see anything strange while walking here?”

“my?”

“That… something like magic.”

After taking a quick walk, I realized that this park was much larger than I had thought. I decided to just walk around and look around, so I ended up going to the area where the fountain was… .

Since this isn’t a very relaxed situation, I’m thinking of trying a trick. When I was looking for the key gate before, one of them detected a place where magic power was concentrated and told me about it.

Since the puppy also has a lot of magical power in his body, wouldn’t he be able to get a general sense of direction, even if it’s not perfect? When I asked, Hana tilted her head once.

“Hmm….”

He seemed to be thinking for a moment, looking to my right and slowly wagging his tail. His tone of voice suggested that he himself was confused.

“Oh my… far away. Not too far.”

“What’s over there?”

“A big white one, and several colorful ones. They were shaking a lot, really.”

Even I, the listener, am confused. If the big white thing is a puppy, what are the many colorful things and what is the shaking thing? Does this mean that this guy is not alone right now?

I don’t know if this white magic is really Puppy’s… but whatever, this is better than wandering around without any basis. After asking Hana for guidance, I walk with her for 5 minutes.

I arrived at a public restroom building, and from inside the restroom I could hear the sound of a scared dog barking. Then came the sound of horses.

– Squeak… Ugh.

– Growl… .

– Kang, Kang!

– I know that too. But –

The navigation performance is reliable. One of them was looking at the building in a daze, so I quickly patted his head.

“Thanks to you, I think I came to the right place.”

“Hey, modern times, sir. Why is the puppy in the bathroom?”

“Uh… well?”

“Is there any toilet paper?”

We’ll have to find out from now on. As we get closer to the building, these sounds are coming from inside the men’s room. It looks like this guy is still a male and went into the men’s room.

“Hanaya. I’ll bring her out, so wait outside.”

After confirming the nod, I went inside. The first thing I saw upon entering was several dogs with their backs turned.

The breeds were diverse, including poodles, Alaskan Malamutes, and Shih Tzus. What they all had in common was that they all had their tails curled up and their barking in response to what the dogs were saying was weak.

And the puppy was facing this direction with its back to the bathroom wall, its fur all over its body caked in mud, as if it had rolled around in the mud a few times.

A dog that keeps talking for a long time, as if he can’t see me because he’s so focused on the story.

“Everyone knows that if we give in like this, it’s the end, right? Don’t you?”

“Kkiing, kiing. Hehe.”

“I completely understand that you are scared, Master Sapsal. However, it doesn’t mean that anything will change if you just stay still—”

“Hey, puppy.”

I lowered my voice a bit because I thought it would take too long. The dog that was talking immediately raised its head and made eye contact with me. Its already round eyes widened even more and it shouted in embarrassment.

“Hey, boss. How did you find out about this place and come all this way?”

“It’s not that far, is it? Are you busy right now?”

Only after this conversation did the dogs that had been turning their backs to the entrance turn to look at me. They all had haggard faces, as if they had starved for several days.

The streets have been chaotic these past few days, so it must have been impossible to find anything to eat… If what you just said is true, today seems to have its own story.

Judging from the fact that he didn’t move at all even when he encountered a stranger, he must have been so hungry that he didn’t even have the energy to run away. The dog, who was glancing at the dogs, quickly spoke.

“Everyone, you can rest assured. That is the person I often spoke of.”

After hearing Mongmongi’s words, they turned around and sat side by side, and each said something to me.

“Wah, wah!”

“Heh, heh. Creep.”

“Growl… .”

“Woof.”

I couldn’t understand a single word they were saying. The dog, who was watching me, translated everything the dogs said, one by one.

“This gentleman from Jindo said it was amazing that he provided hamburgers every day.”

“Is that so…?”

“Yes. And this savage said that everything was fine, but he asked that I not be handed over to the animal shelter.”

“Ugh… .”

These guys’ economic standards and circumstances are both pitiful, but that’s not what I came here to hear.

“This poodle said he would never trust you, sir.”

“What did I do?”

“I hope you understand, sir, as he has been deeply hurt. And, what this Malamute gentleman said… Do you have any dog gum in the store?”

“I can sell it to you if you give me money.”

If I had known this would happen, I should have brought some wet food with me. The situation was so burdensome that I just waved at the puppy.

“Hey, Puppy. If you’re not busy, let’s go outside and talk. There’s someone waiting for you outside.”

“What? Miss Hana is here too?”

“I came with you because I was worried about you. He also told me that you were here.”

A dog that runs all the way to my feet at my words and sticks its head out the door to look around.

Then, when he made eye contact with Hana who was looking this way, he lowered his head as if he couldn’t win, walked towards Hana, and collapsed.

“… Hello, Miss Hana.”

“Yeah. Bye bye.”

Then, one of them bends down and picks up the puppy in his arms, hugging him tightly. The front of his raincoat is covered in mud in an instant, but he has a bright smile on his face as if he doesn’t care at all.

“How have you been, Mongmongi?”

“Of course I’ve been doing well…”

Before he could finish answering, a growling sound came from the puppy’s stomach. Hana, whose eyes were wide, looked down at the puppy, put it down gently, and spoke.

“Hey, idiot. Let’s eat chocolate together later.”

“Dogs shouldn’t eat chocolate, Hana. You’ll be in big trouble.”

“Me?? Really??”

“Is that true, sir?”

“Oh. If you eat chocolate, you have to throw it all up, even if it means drinking hydrogen peroxide.”

“What is hydrogen peroxide? Is it like steak?”

“That cow is not that cow, Inma. Anyway… .”

I changed the subject because I felt like the conversation was going off on a tangent. What the heck was going on in the park, and why were you all hiding in the men’s room?

When asked, the puppy couldn’t answer and just lowered its head. It was the most frustrating sight I’ve ever seen, with its tail and ears pressed against the floor and its head.

And then one word.

“This park is now gone.”

Then he started explaining that for two days, not a single pedestrian came across this street. This means that no food was wasted.

The current situation is that both the black dogs that made hot places like campsites their base and the stray dogs that barely managed to survive in the corners of the park are starving without distinction.

“If things continue like this, we will all perish together, so I went to see the leader of the Black Wind faction, Black Wind, and told him. Since things have come to this, shouldn’t we find a way to make a living? But…”

“But?”

“The Black Wind has completely different thoughts.”

There’s nothing to eat in the park. Then I guess we should just reduce the number of mouths to eat?

With this dictatorial idea, they are chasing out all the stray dogs in the park, and the only ones who are holding out are those gathered in the bathroom.

“I don’t think I can hide here for long. This is the third bathroom I’ve been to, and the number of them that used to be in the dozens has now dwindled to just five.”

“hmm….”

The first thought that came to my mind when I heard this was that I didn’t know if this was such a serious issue. Sooner or later, this park will be maintained, and then everything will go back to normal, right?

Especially since we haven’t been able to go out and play because of the rain for the past few days, once the weather returns to normal, pedestrians who haven’t been able to go for a walk will come running out to the park, even if it’s hot. Then, there will be an abundance of food.

However, these guys obviously wouldn’t know about this. It rained a lot a few days ago and there haven’t been any visitors since then, so they might think, ‘The park is ruined.’

I also didn’t know anything about the stray dog community. I guess there must be some rule that if you get kicked out once, you can never go back. I asked as if I didn’t know.

“From what I heard earlier, it seemed like you wanted to do something about the park situation.”

“Yes. If we don’t do something about it, we’ll be in a situation where we’ll have to find a new place to stay right away.”

“What are you trying to do?”

When I asked, the puppy, who had been silent for a long time, gritted its teeth and muttered.

“I’m going to fight against those Black Wind guys just one more time, just one more time.”