Convenience Store Worker From Another World Chapter 22

Episode 22. Traumatized nerd (1)

Finally, the cars on the street started to move, but not very fast. One car was completely destroyed by the orcs’ blockade. The drivers were so frustrated that they could tell just by looking at the movement of the cars.

Of course, it wasn’t my fault. The fight was over, so I decided to take a picture.

In the middle of the walk, an alarm went off on the old man’s phone. The old man, who was looking at the screen, showed me the phone and asked me a question.

“Sir, do you know where this restaurant is?”

“Uh… this restaurant?”

“I got a call asking me to come here, but I don’t know the area very well.”

Oh, you received a call for a designated driver. I answered right away.

“I don’t know much because I haven’t been working here for very long. Sorry.”

“No, it’s okay. You can just find it using the map app.”

He kept fiddling with his smartphone, brought up the map screen, and spoke to me in a sly manner.

“If you don’t mind, can I come and rest here sometimes in the future?”

It’s common for surrogate drivers to stop by the convenience store in front of the intersection and rest before leaving. Since you never know when or where you’ll get a call, they make a base in a place that’s easy to get to so they can go right away no matter where the call comes from.

It didn’t matter to me.

“Do whatever you want.”

I don’t stop guests from coming. They just don’t come to me the day after working too much and ask what love is, or swear at me and say that all humans should die.

There was something else that came to mind, so I suggested it briefly.

“Sir. Do you have any personal business cards?”

“There is.”

“It’s nothing special. I was just wondering if you could help me out if I need to call a designated driver for the store.”

There are quite a few people who park their cars on the street in front of a convenience store, go to a nearby bar, and don’t take them out for hours. If you leave them alone, they’ll be parked until the next morning.

In this case, customers who come to the convenience store by car will not be able to park and will just pass by. To avoid this, if you call the car owner and ask him to move his car, he will make excuses like he is too drunk to drive or that it would be a waste to hire a designated driver.

This is why I’m worried about this, so I’m going to get the senior’s business card. We’re happy because we get rid of the car, and the senior’s work is increased, so let’s help each other out.

When I explained this, the old man smiled as if he understood and handed me his business card. This was the second business card I had received.

“I’ll contact you later if I need anything.”

“Yes. Thank you, sir.”

Then he bowed and left. I flipped through the proxy driver business card I was given and rubbed the ‘proxy’ part with my thumb.

Of course it wasn’t erased. But, sir, no matter how I look at that old man, he doesn’t seem like a simple surrogate…

* * *

After that, it became quite quiet. Maybe the alcohol had run away from the orcs fighting, or something.

While I was occasionally receiving guests, I watched the situation outside being sorted out, and then suddenly I heard a whistle blowing. The police had come to direct traffic.

The police officer’s hair color felt familiar, so I looked closely and saw that it was the female elf police officer who had come and gone yesterday. Her expression was clearly tired, and the movements of her arm swinging the light stick were weak.

I think the police in this neighborhood are really having a hard time. I’m just stuck inside a convenience store, but that elf must have a pretty wide jurisdiction, including the intersection.

Even the events that occur are so outrageous. I never thought that they would fight to the point of destroying cars. Considering that I paid the admission fee, can you not let me see something like that again? World?

After seeing off two or three more customers, I checked my smartphone and saw that there was a reply to the photo I had sent to the store manager.

[ what? ]

[ Was there a fight outside? ]

[ are you okay? ]

Instead of replying, I called.

“I’m okay, sir.”

[ … Then that’s good. Oh my, Chan, you really have been through a lot. ]

“That’s right. Are you possessed by some devil?”

[ That’s not right. Chani won’t be able to stick to you because of your constitution. ]

I was just joking, but is there really a devil?

[ You won’t even be able to enter the convenience store . ]

“I guess that’s also prevented by something?”

[ Of course, demons are very dangerous. Not only are they invisible, but if you leave them alone, they will mutate on their own. If you’re not careful, all sorts of misfortunes can happen. ]

This devil is probably similar to the corona virus of my world, the cold virus. The only difference is that while corona physically harms people, these devils harm people mentally.

[ I’ve drawn a lot of magic circles, put up amulets, and signed a contract with a company, so you can rest assured about that part. ]

If anything happens, Magical Security will come looking for you, so don’t worry. While the store manager’s voice became more optimistic, I became more depressed.

“Store manager. Then… doesn’t that just mean I’m unlucky?”

[ … That’s… That’s how it is… ]

The once proud voice had become gloomy. Later, when I have time, I should go to church and go to confession. My karma is too much.

Still, the gloominess quickly went away. At least it was thanks to the vague expectation that the truth would not come true any more. Even though the streets outside were almost completely cleaned up, not only were there no customers, but there were also noticeably fewer pedestrians.

I think I’ve done enough today objectively, and if anything else happens, I won’t be able to handle it mentally. If I can just hold out until morning, it’s Saturday morning, so there won’t be as many customers…

The front door bell rang softly.

“Sir, a customer has arrived, so I will take a break for a moment.”

[ huh. ]

After hanging up the phone, I got up and tried to say hello… No, what is that?

“Cigarettes, just give me two packs of those.”

A customer came in with a potbelly and thick lips like a puffer fish. I’m not sure if he’s classified as a fishman or a mermaid, and his puffy face might be because he’s drunk or angry…

Actually, none of this mattered, the problem was that this guest had brought a pet dog. A white Pomeranian, a small dog, not even 30cm tall when standing on all fours.

Not a cobalt, but a real dog. Why are you even here?

In my world, this is not surprising at all, but I’ve only seen customers with Chihuahua or Retriever heads, so seeing a real dog made me lose my mind. What should I classify this as? Is it a Kobold? Is it a mammal?

“What are you doing? I asked for a cigarette.”

I finally came to my senses and spoke.

“Customers, pets are not allowed inside the store.”

“Why? This dog doesn’t bark. It even goes to the bathroom well.”

“No, it’s just that if people with allergies come later, there will be a problem.”

Of course, the practical reason is that the hair flies and you don’t know where to urinate. If you add a little more, there’s also the fact that it prevents guests who are afraid of dogs from coming in.

Anyway, there is a reason why it doesn’t work. I said it with the intention of asking for some understanding, but this pufferfish head showed no signs of bending.

“You can just buy some cigarettes and beer and leave right away.”

“hmm….”

Still, if I leave right away, then so be it… .

This is nominally wrong, but it’s also a problem that depends on the owner. If you bring in a muscular pit bull terrier, you’d be terrified and try to stop him, but this Pomeranian is not like that.

It just sticks its tongue out and pant. The weather has gotten a bit warmer these past few days.

“Okay, then.”

“uh.”

After giving a short answer, he goes to the refrigerator corner and grabs a beer, then opens the pack of cigarettes he didn’t even pay for and stuffs the trash into his pocket.

“ruler.”

Then, when he handed me his card, I tried to insert it into the reader to make a payment. It said my limit was exceeded.

“Sir, it says your limit has been exceeded.”

“Hey, sir. Wait a minute.”

Then I tried to pay with another card, but this also said that the limit was exceeded.

“This is also true.”

“Wait a minute. Then what else… uh…”

He rummaged through every nook and cranny of my pockets, even checking the pockets on the chest of the shirt I was wearing, and then spoke to me bluntly.

“Sorry, I didn’t bring my card. I’ll go home for a bit.”

“Uh… that won’t work, sir.”

“Why isn’t this working?”

Why not? I just opened the cigarette pack.

If you leave the stuff and go home to get the money, I won’t interfere. But since the packaging is open, you have to sell these cigarettes right now, right here, right now. You can’t sell cigarettes with the packaging open.

But if this pufferfish head goes out and doesn’t come back, what should I do with this cigarette? Should I smoke it? How many years have passed since I quit smoking?

Let alone if the customer was normal, this pufferfish head didn’t seem to be in his right mind. It was unusual for him to come out to the convenience store at 1 AM with his dog for a walk. His drinking habits are really…

“Then what do you want me to do?”

“Can’t you transfer money?”

“I didn’t bring my phone.”

That’s really tricky.

Anyway, I hated being bitten so much, but there was no way I could make any money if I stayed here. I said whatever came to mind.

“Then… then, please leave something behind for a bit. Like the car keys or something…”

“I don’t even have car keys.”

“Anything is fine, as long as it’s something you can come back for later.”

The pufferfish head nodded as if it understood… .

“ruler.”

He handed me the dog leash.

“customer?”

“Don’t ask me. It’s only 10 minutes from my house, so I’ll be back soon.”

“That’s not the problem….”

I feel so uneasy. Is this morally right?

I glanced down at the Pomeranian out of the corner of my eye. Whether or not it knew that its leash had been handed to it, it just looked back and forth between me and its puffer-headed owner, tilting its head left and right.

I’m not a regular member of the dog association, and I have no right to interfere with what the dog owner does with his dog, but if it were me, I don’t think I could bring myself to go home and get money for cigarettes using my dog as collateral. Even if it’s a dumb animal, this is a bit…

“Or just go and come back.”

“… Have a nice trip.”

But there was no other way than this dog leash. All that was left was the belt of my pants, and I couldn’t take that off and use it as collateral.

So the puffer head customer left, and the Pomeranian and I were the only two people left in the store.

No customers came for the next five minutes.

No guests came, but the more I looked at this Pomeranian, the more I felt sorry for it. It was as if it had suddenly been mortgaged with the money for cigarettes.

It’s not that I hate dogs. The studio apartment I live in doesn’t allow dogs, so I can’t bring one in, but I’ve often thought about wanting to raise a dog someday. Aren’t puppies cute?

Except for the pit bull terrier, of course. That’s a protein lump in the shape of a dog. Not a dog.

“You’ve suffered a lot because you have a strange master, Inma.”

I tried talking to him once, but he just tilted his head and panted as if asking what I was talking about. He still didn’t take his eyes off me, so I asked him out of boredom.

“Or what? Do you have anything you want to say?”

The Pomeranian answered.

“I have something I want to say, but….”

After a brief pause, he adds:

“I’m sorry for the late reply, I was wondering if I should say this or not.”

“uh….”