Convenience Store Worker From Another World Chapter 180

Episode 180. We don’t have many friends (2)

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I went back in and started cleaning up the store trash. It didn’t take long to clean up today, probably because the toy display case wasn’t completely destroyed.

Instead, something else was shattered, my confidence that the glass guy would be able to handle the morning shift. This guy just followed me around the whole time I was taking out the trash?

While doing so, he would glance at one of them, and when one of them tilted their head, he would hide behind me and just stare at this guy. I asked, hoping that it wasn’t what I thought it was.

“What are you doing?”

“Observation.”

“Why are you doing that?”

“This is my first time talking to a child.”

Damn, I was right. It’s not that this guy has no sense of distance at all, but his personality changes drastically depending on which adult he’s dealing with.

“No, you were just letting the kids out earlier… .”

“I didn’t say anything at that time.”

What I thought was an innovative method wasn’t really that. It wasn’t that they kicked me out because of unspoken pressure, but because they had nothing to say and were just watching, they got scared and left.

The excuse I gave for just saying hello outside was because I was having a hard time dealing with the kids. How are we going to do morning shifts at our store now?

“What do you usually say in such cases, oppa?”

“… I don’t do that myself, so don’t say anything like that. Just.”

“Then, will the kids go out?”

※Note) If you look like an old man, don’t try it. He answered, breaking my self-esteem that had tilted 350 degrees in the evening.

“Okay. I’ll go out… .”

“Then I will do that. For now?”

“What, now is the time for you to say whatever you want.”

“hmm….”

He looked at me with his face pierced through my advice again, pulled away slightly, and told me his honest thoughts.

“cute.”

That’s right. Yuri looked embarrassed as she lowered her head for a moment, then fiddled with her skirt to receive the feedback.

“Sister… You seem like a good sister.”

I thought you might be curious about this, so I killed your constitution in advance. You must have seen for yourself that your heart is not pure, so time will take care of it.

I’m just interfering a little. I looked around more, but I couldn’t find any place to clean up, so I sat the two who followed me to the shop window on the chairs first. There were three people, two adults and two children. What is this?

After that, I looked outside and asked Hana.

“When is the kindergarten bus coming?”

“Uh… I don’t know. Mom said she’d call the teacher…”

“Then I’ll just wait here and when the bus comes I can go out and get on it.”

“my.”

I heard earlier that it takes 20 minutes to get in by bus from the main gate. Then it will take the same amount of time to get out.

I don’t think I can talk at length today. I thought about what I needed to say right away, and tried to speak as casually as possible.

“He’s a regular at our store, so please take good care of him when he comes to work next time. Yuri.”

“…my?”

One of them tilted his head as if he was puzzled by what I said, but there was nothing I could do about it. If the work shift changes to three shifts, my commuting time will be from 10 PM to 6 AM.

This means that there are virtually no meetings during work hours. Every time I looked at a contact on my phone in the middle of the night, I would worry about whether I should tell them in advance or not… .

“I, I can’t see you anymore…?”

I thought it would be better to talk face to face, so I put it off. After sitting down next to him, I stroked his head so that my hand wouldn’t touch his horns, and finished talking.

“Now you can see it from outside. You can sit like you always have….”

In fact, if we only consider meeting people, I feel much freer than before. For the past month, I have spent 12 hours a day not here, but in the 6-pyeong studio apartment where I used to live, with faded wallpaper.

The story is that the watch that was broken in half is now whole. It will have to be returned at some point to get the deposit back, though…

“If you say you’re coming, you can wait here for a few hours. You can do whatever you want.”

“Really…?”

“It’s true, but then it would be fake. It’s not like we only saw each other for a day or two.”

I want to give this guy what he wants as much as possible. I owe him something when I closed the gate before, and I don’t want to set an example for myself as a bad adult. Let’s all leave…

“… Hehe.”

Just being attached to him won’t do. When in life will I ever meet a kid who knows how to smile like this again?

As I watched her wipe away the tears welling up in her eyes, something occurred to me and I spoke up.

“I don’t want to get bitten by that little shit.”

“Ah. A puppy. Sir, have you seen a puppy?”

“I saw it, but I don’t know where it is now or what it is doing. The last time it happened was when a sister I know took it to get a bath.”

“If you’re Mr. Ajo’s older sister… then you’re Madam?”

“I’ll introduce you to her later, but even when we meet, don’t say the word ‘auntie.’ That older sister is immature and gets angry easily.”

“omg.”

On the other hand, if we didn’t stimulate neurosis, wouldn’t we be able to have a very harmonious relationship? As I was thinking about it, Yuri, who had been quietly watching us talk, suddenly opened her mouth.

“You two look really close, oppa.”

“Does it look like that?”

“Yes. It looks fun.”

I have no idea what this guy’s criteria for fun is. Considering that he started working at a convenience store because it seemed fun, it’s clear that the criteria is curved…

“How did you two become close?”

Still, I quickly understood the intent of this question. It was understandable to be curious, since a 29-year-old nerd and a 7-year-old pureblood dragon wouldn’t be able to get along normally.

So, at first, I helped her make a Parents’ Day gift. After that, she said she wanted to make friends, so I helped her with that in my own way… Ah.

“Hanaya. Are you making friends at kindergarten? Is that going well?”

When I asked, Hana, who had a blank expression for a moment, immediately answered while wagging her tail. It seemed as if she had been waiting for that question.

“Hey! I’m getting ready!”

“Preparing for what?”

“Individual skill!”

What individual, no. When asked how to approach children of the same age, I remember saying that it would be good if I could do something like an individual skill.

Now, I’m thinking, ‘Honestly, what kind of individual skill is a 7-year-old kid capable of?’, but looking at his confident expression, it seems like he’s quite confident in the individual skill he’s preparing for. Hmm…

“I’m preparing something.”

“Oh, they’re still preparing!”

“That preparation process, it might feel different for each person. Even if you think it’s in the preparation stage, wouldn’t it look perfect to someone else?”

“…Is that wrong?”

Even he himself is hesitating, and his tail is gradually becoming a question mark. Judging from the fact that he easily agrees with what I say, it seems like he thinks he is almost done with it…

“I want to see it too, oppa.”

Yuri came from behind to request a proxy vote, and we won with a majority. Hana jumped down from her chair, spread her legs shoulder-width apart, and cleared her throat loudly.

“Hmm, hmm.”

After a while, it started to breathe out.

“Kyaoooo… .”

“?”

Flames began to leak out from the gaps between the shark’s teeth in its gaping mouth, and its breath was quite long. For a creature that is less than 120cm tall to breathe flames that are half its height, it must be long.

It didn’t look like it was particularly dangerous in terms of firepower, but the problem was that the smoke that came out at the same time was quite thick. This was unexpected for Hana, as she tightly closed her eyes and started to groan at the smoke that came out at the same time.

“Keluk. Keluk, eww!”

“Ugh, my eyes sting.”

While I was indifferent, Yuri must have been sickened by the smell of smoke, so she jumped up and opened the front door. Then, she grabbed the doorknob on the other side and shook it, then asked me.

“Brother. Brother, the door on the other side won’t open.”

“That’s because the door is closed. Try unlocking it below.”

While Yuri was doing as she was told, I tried to brush away the smoke that had gathered like a cloud with my hand. Seeing it disappear as soon as I touched it, it seemed like this was also some kind of magic trick.

In fact, it looked like magic to anyone who saw that the smoke had gathered and was not dispersing. I was thinking that it was fortunate that I could at least clean it up, and I was about halfway through cleaning up the smoke when one of them apologized.

“I’ll send it to you. You did well yesterday, too. Keluk.”

“Who recommended this individual skill?”

“Misters and ladies… .”

It seems like he’s talking about the attendants who follow his mother around. It’s just a guess, but those gentlemen are probably dragons too, and since he asked about their individual skills, he would have recommended skills that a dragon would do…

Since they had been together since they were little, I could naturally imagine that even if the child had coughed instead of breathing, I would have thought, “Oh my, our little girl is good at coughing!” and thought it was cute. Right.

Yuri, who had come back after taking a few breaths outside to escape the smoke, sat back down and gave a brief comment on her personal experience just now.

“I suddenly want to eat squid.”

“… I think it would be right to say that this individual skill is in preparation.”

“my….”

It was an answer that clearly showed regret, but Hana was not the type of person to be stubborn even though she knew full well that she was wrong. At the same time as this answer, an exhaust noise could be heard from outside the store.

Looking outside, I saw a yellow bus parked in front of the main gate of the academy district. I picked up the school bag on the table and handed it to Hana, saying:

“Isn’t the bus coming outside just now?”

“Ah… Ah, Mazayo! Sir, Sister. I’ll tell you later!”

“Okay. Text me if anything comes up.”

“my!”

After answering cheerfully, I went out the open front door, crossed the street, and watched the process of boarding the bus. While I was watching, Yuri blurted out her second thoughts.

“That kid is really good at breathing.”

“Is that really a good shot?”

“Yes. I mentioned this in passing in a college lecture, but kids that age can’t even make fireworks properly. They say they have to be at least 10 years old to learn how to do it.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that earlier? I think you would have liked it.”

“At that time, I couldn’t think of anything else but squid.”

In fact, there was a smell similar to squid being grilled on a gas stove in the store. It was only after the bus had completely left that this guy gave a somewhat humane answer.

“I’ll tell you when I come back later.”

“Good. But Yuri, there’s one thing I’m curious about.”

“What is it?”

“Do you have friends in college?”

“Of course not. Could there be any?”

His voice was very calm compared to the content, but I don’t know why he said he had no friends so confidently. Of course, friendships are not something you can put on an asset list or portfolio…

“I found something in common with that kid.”

He said this as if he was proud, so I was going to ask him why, but I stopped myself. Yeah, so what if a convenience store worker doesn’t have any friends? As long as you do your job well, that’s fine.

“By the way, do you have any friends?”

I asked if there were any. It’s only been three days since I moved to this neighborhood. When I answered that there weren’t any, Yuri ended the conversation.

“I found something in common with my brother.”

“okay….”

“Let’s get along well, even though we’re not friends.”