NOTICE: Many of the novels have been removed because they might cause violations, which we were not aware of earlier.
Episode 111. Convenience store employees hide their power (1)
* * *
A few days ago, I found this elf officer and a bag of money. The amount was estimated to be in the hundreds of millions, and it was disguised as a trash bag under a telephone pole in front of a convenience store.
I remember the officer saying that he had recovered it and that he would come back to tell me if there was any progress in the investigation. But right now, a bag of money with hundreds of millions of dollars in it is not important.
“I hope everything has been fine….”
“Oh my. Of course something happened. How could there not have been something like that?”
“?”
He tilted his head slightly, wondering if it was not the answer he had expected. Just as he was about to explain the situation in the store, a loud shout came from the display case.
“Wachugonadu!!”
“Whoa!”
There is no need to explain now. The officer who had perked up his ears at the sound of the cattle drive walked right in and followed behind. The officer stopped right where the Minotaur was visible.
“Sorry, Chan-ah! I accidentally stepped on your tail— huh, officer?”
“Can I take a look for a moment?”
“… Oh, yes! It’s okay.”
At the word that it was okay, I immediately approached the Minotaur and began to look through the shelves. The store manager, who had taken a few steps back, approached me and asked me.
“Did you report it to the police?”
“Even if you reported it, you can’t come now, manager. Even considering the time.”
“No? Then why… Oh, you came here because of the money bag.”
As we exchanged brief words, the officer stood up. He walked towards us and pointed his thumb towards the Minotaur, muttering:
“There are a lot.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I mean, the items. Property damage. Loud noise. Obstruction of business. Indecent public performance…”
He broke the display case, so it’s property damage, he’s snoring loudly, and he’s obstructing business because of that guy.
But what the hell is public indecency? Looking over the elf’s shoulder, I saw a minotaur with its upper body half exposed, scratching its belly with its fore hooves.
“If you wish, I will take you away immediately.”
It doesn’t look good, but I’m going to take him away anyway. I exchanged glances with the store manager and then expressed my thoughts.
“We don’t mind as long as we go to his house.”
“Me too. Whatever it is, just clean it up.”
Our store sales won’t go up just because that guy gets fined. We have to do business. The store manager is like, ‘Yeah, he’s young, so he can do this once in a while.’
“Whatever it is, it’s fine….”
In response to our response, the officer took out a flashlight from his waistband and started tapping our heads. This continued for several seconds.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
Then he went out and came back quickly, holding something in his hand. It was an emergency siren. He approached the Minotaur, looked back at us, and spoke quietly.
“The sound is a bit loud. And the light.”
It’s like telling me to close my eyes and ears. As soon as I closed my eyes and ears, I heard the sound of a siren turning over, and then the sound of a siren.
-Whaaaaa!!
“Wh, what is it!”
I heard the Minotaur jumping up and screaming, the display case collapsing, and my eardrums bursting in succession. It felt like a missile had exploded right in front of me.
After waiting for the siren to stop, I opened my eyes to see the Minotaur standing up and looking down at the police with a dumbfounded expression.
“No, why is the police here… .”
“It looks like you have trouble walking….”
He responds half bluntly and half dryly, then adds:
“I’ll give you a quick ride. The back seat is empty right now.”
“… Okay, it’s okay. It’s okay.”
He must have been quite flustered, even using formal language, and he hurriedly grabbed his wallet from the floor and ran out. The display case was shattered, glass was broken, and daily necessities were in disarray.
It’s just the three of us and the cheerful sound of the store singing. The speaker doesn’t notice.
“… Let me start by fixing that display case. There are some glass shards scattered around.”
“I’ll be organizing things.”
“I’ll help you too. Do you have a millstone?”
I use my Magic Phone to go back in time and fix each shelf, the store manager arranges the items in order of their expiration date, and the policeman uses a broom to slowly wipe away the sweat stains the Minotaur left on the floor…
It took exactly 5 minutes to do everything, and finally I gathered my uniform and returned to the counter. After that, the handover was done right away.
“Aside from the display case just breaking, nothing much happened, Chan-ah.”
“It matches the tense and inventory.”
“huh.”
“You don’t have any lost items?”
“huh.”
I did what I had to do, but I finished it briefly. It would be a bit much to drag things out while the police officer is standing in front of me. The police officer met the store manager’s eyes after finishing his speech, and spoke in a strangely soft tone.
“I guess you two are very close.”
“You saw it very clearly, officer.”
The store manager took it with a bright face, and I didn’t answer because I was wondering what he was talking about. Then he opened his notebook and asked.
“Before I tell you two, there’s something I need to make clear to you.”
“What do you mean?”
“Are you two really not related to this bag of money?”
After hearing that, I thought about it carefully. There was a bag of money disguised as a trash bag on the electric pole in front of the convenience store.
The time it was left unattended was at least several hours. It was long enough that it wouldn’t be at all strange for a part-time worker to recycle it without knowing.
The story is that the reason why the recycling was not separated was because there was some kind of agreement with the part-timer. For example, they were told, “There is money in that garbage bag, so don’t throw it away.”
——————
faqwiki.xyz
Join our Discord for new chapter updates!
https://discord.com/invite/xr7SxG5T6V
——————
I guess it’s okay to be suspicious to this extent. I can understand being suspicious, but…
Honestly, it’s a bit like that. We had a good time back then, officer. We found the money bag together and sat across from each other in the warehouse. Huh?
I looked at the officer’s expression while thinking, but the officer’s expression didn’t really look like it was asking about our connection. To be exact, his eyes didn’t seem to think so at all.
After thinking about it some more, I answered.
“It’s not relevant, officer.”
“Me too. I was eating snacks at home at that time.”
“Yes. Thank you for your answer.”
I guess it was a formality question. After turning the last page of the notebook, he conveyed the information as if he was half thinking about it and half reading what was written.
First, they plan to install surveillance magic in several inconspicuous places to track the movement. So far, they have been monitoring the street in front of convenience stores or doing undercover work by walking around from time to time.
“The reason I went undercover was to cover up the possibility that someone related to the incident would return to the scene… but now I’ve decided that the possibility of that happening is low.”
There were many reasons for the judgment, but I understood it as, ‘If they were going to come, they would have come a long time ago.’ Even so, installing surveillance magic is really just a minimal insurance policy to keep track of their movements just in case.
Anyway, the possibility of convenience stores being hacked in the future is close to 0%, so how will this case be investigated in the future?
“I plan to invite one anti-magician and one magician to give me advice and even ask for my cooperation… .”
This is something you want me to hear. The police didn’t hide it either.
“Can I ask Mr. Lee Chan for advice on this matter, sir?”
“… I can’t give you something as grandiose as advice, but… .”
I was an expert without any expertise. But now I know that my body is quite useful in this world. It can easily fill in a few holes in common sense.
“I’ll do as much as I can, as long as it doesn’t involve moving my body.”
“Thank you. I plan to search for the wizard separately somewhere else… .”
It seemed like he was thinking about how to find the wizard. At this point, I glanced down at the store manager. He had already opened his mouth.
“Officer, officer.”
“yes.”
“Speaking of advice, can I ask that?”
A police officer tilts his head while looking down at the store manager. This elf officer still doesn’t know that the store manager is a former archmage.
“Are you speaking to the owner?”
“Yes! I’m a wizard. I used to be a great wizard.”
“… Could you please show me your certificate?”
I guess a verification process was needed. I took out the certificate that I had thrown under the counter and put it up, and the store manager told me to wait a moment and then searched through his pockets… .
“Oh, I didn’t bring my wallet!”
You didn’t bring your wallet. But do you really need a license to prove you’re a wizard?
“Officer. Why can’t the store manager just show you some magic?”
“No.”
“Yes. If you get a magic license, you can’t use magic unless it’s dangerous or necessary. It’ll be taken away.”
When I was going down to the basement with the kid to check the Archmage’s set, I remember the shop manager making a magic gesture at the moment of the explosion. He snapped his fingers over his head, and that was it.
In this case, the kid was thrown through the ceiling and almost hit his head, so both the dangerous and necessary conditions were met. Let’s leave it at that time, but what about now?
“Chan-ah. Do you want to be a little bit dangerous? Seriously, just a little bit is enough.”
“Well, can I hold my breath for about three minutes?”
“No. It was a joke. Then… um…”
The store manager folded his arms and became lost in thought. After a while, as if something had occurred to him, he turned his head toward the office and asked the officer.
“Excuse me, officer. I heard from Chan-i earlier that you copied the CCTV footage.”
“Yes. Because the situation at the time of speculation was recorded.”
“I haven’t seen the video yet. Could you please watch it again? This time, me too.”
I’m not sure about this one. Was there anything else in the footage besides the scene where they put the bag of money down?
There was silence for a moment, as if nothing came to mind, but eventually he nodded.
“I think that won’t be a problem. Since you are the owner.”
No matter how you look at it, he’s a really old-fashioned elf. The officer answered, rummaging through his pockets, then took out a USB and held it out to us.
“Do you have any equipment capable of playing videos?”
“I’ll take it out now. Just a moment… .”
So I put the tablet PC on the counter, plugged the jack under the PC, and plugged the USB into the jack. After loading, an image appeared on the screen, and it was much clearer than what I had seen before.
“I cut it out leaving 5 minutes left before and after the crime. What part should I show you?”
“From the moment it appeared.”
“yes.”
The scene scrolled forward and stopped when a goblin appeared in the upper right corner. The store manager, who had his face close to the screen, pressed the play button himself, and it started playing.
The image quality was improved so I could see a bit more, but it was still a mediocre video.
Someone wearing a hood, presumed to be a goblin, appears. After putting down the trash bag he was carrying, he releases his hand as if it was heavy and then exits.
“… … .”
But the store manager must have seen something. He rewinds the video without saying anything and stares at me again. He’s so focused that I’ve never seen him before, it’s almost uncomfortable.
I watched the video play once more until it stopped, then opened my mouth in silence.
“This goblin, I think you’ll find what you’re looking for quickly….”
“Yes? Really?”
“Yeah. But even if you find it, you won’t be able to hear from it right away.”
“… Please explain in detail.”
The officer next to me asked, and I found myself holding a notebook in my hand. The store manager answered right away.
“Because I thought I was hospitalized. The emergency room at a university hospital.”