Convenience Store Worker From Another World Chapter 89

Episode 89. It’s okay to be friends with a 5 year age gap (4)

After this first customer, there was no real success. This was because the number of family customers was increasing, and some of them would come in, do their business, and then leave.

“Wow! You little brat―”

“Oh, don’t touch the puppy. We decided to go to the pool.”

At around 9:40, a kid and his mom came into the convenience store and said just these two words before leaving. I don’t know what petting a puppy has to do with going to the pool. They were just going to shower anyway, right?

“I’ve never rolled around on the dirt floor. I’ve always just walked on grass or pavement…”

This guy seemed to be too sad to do anything about it. I thought that if I did any more, I would end up having to give him dog psychological counseling, so I gave up and sat him down under the counter.

After that, I asked.

“Hey, puppy. How do you want to pay?”

“Pay? What is that?”

“I told you earlier that we should work together. I’m just saying that I’m going to give you a raise.”

This guy was in the store for about 40 minutes. It would be simple to multiply minimum wage by 2/3… .

“They said they’d give me ten thousand won first. What do you think?”

“For ten thousand won… isn’t that enough for three hours of vending machine use?”

“That’s the price of four hamburgers. So, call?”

“But, I haven’t been working that long. Four is too many, so let’s do three.”

“Oh, just give me ten thousand won. I don’t want to bother calculating it.”

It was because I was really annoyed, and I thought that if the compensation for the first labor in my life was less than minimum wage, that could be hurtful in its own way.

It’s not like I’m broke. I’ve already paid all the utility bills and rent this month. The house elf is free! Until next month!

“Or what, should we go into wage negotiations? Are you confident?”

“Oh, no. I would be grateful.”

“Yes. And the payment is in cash or in kind…”

“What else is there?”

“… No. It’s not.”

I also felt this. This is the guy who said he would buy all the convenience store hamburgers with 50,000 won he found. What if he found 500,000 won?

He would probably storm into a large fast food restaurant and monopolize all the burgers. Maybe it’s because he’s never made money himself, but he spends money very impulsively.

You don’t need to give cash or goods directly, you need someone to manage them. Even if you wanted to give cash, you wouldn’t know how to give money to someone who doesn’t have an account or a wallet.

“I’ll just give you a hamburger every time you come, Emma. As long as it’s not expired. Do you mind?”

“It’s okay if you just count them.”

After saying okay, I immediately erased it from my mind. With this, I won’t have to worry about whether I’m getting a favor when I buy a hamburger for a while.

“Let’s do it this way… Aren’t you hungry now?”

“Uh… I’m a bit tired. I’ve been running around the park so much.”

“I’ll take one out now, so eat it. Is there anything else you want to eat?”

“I’m fine. I’ll eat some guaja…”

“Then you must be thirsty.”

I saw some high-calcium milk on the shelf.

After heating up the hamburgers, I brought them some milk and gave them both a try. The puppy munched on the hamburgers on top of the wrapper, and the little one drank half a sip of the milk.

I chewed oxygen with my chin up. As I was doing this, at 5 minutes before 10, the store manager came.

“Hi, Chan-ah.”

“Yes, sir.”

After exchanging greetings, he looked at the little boy and the dog inside the counter and clapped his hands.

“Oh, there are a lot of happy faces today?”

“There are two?”

“Chan-i, Mong-Mong, and this little one. Three is more than enough, I guess.”

“What’s so nice about seeing your face every day?” The store manager asked, looking down at the little boy as he came gently to the counter.

“Hello, kid. It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other, right?”

“Hello, sister.”

“What brings you here today?”

“to….”

When the store manager asked the question, the little boy looked at my face once and muttered with an uncertain expression on his face.

“I’m so sad to see you… Why don’t you give me some?”

“What could go wrong? What about Puppy?”

“This is my second time meeting you, sir. Well, I guess it’s my opinion—”

He must have been quite pleased with himself for not being caught in the biggest game of tag in his life, because he said it again. And then he added:

“After going through that, I thought of your face. That’s why I came to see you.”

“I heard that Chan-i is really popular.”

“That’s right… .”

Now I’m confused about my own identity. Last night I was a counter-magician, and today I’m the director of a daycare center. Come to think of it, I’m kind of competent, huh?

“It seems like the two of them have started talking.”

“Yes. They had a great time together.”

“It’ll be hard to leave work in this situation.”

The store manager whispered these words so that only I could hear, and I nodded in silence.

To get off work, I have to lock the door, close the curtains, and teleport to the entire convenience store. I can’t do that with these guys.

If there was only one of them, I would have tried to tease them and sent them away, but since they both said they came because they wanted to see me, I feel a bit uneasy about just leaving work.

“There is a method to this too.”

“What method?”

“Just look at it.”

If you tell me to watch, I will watch.

The store manager cleared his throat and crouched down towards the boy and the puppy.

“Guys, I’m really sorry, but we have some cleaning to do soon.”

“If you want to clean, I’ll help you too!”

“I’ll help you too. I can at least sweep the dust on the floor. With my tail.”

“No, that’s not it. I’m going to clean the bathroom. The toilet.”

Toilet. A dark cloud covered the little boy’s face upon hearing these two words, and the puppy instinctively made a face.

“Change… Contribution…?”

“Yeah. The toilet is clogged, so I’m going to stick my hand in and unclog it.”

“Hands…? Is that true?”

“That’s true.”

“Is that why you made Makin?”

“Yeah. Because of the crying.”

Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve heard that word. Ugh.

In addition, as I was hearing this word from the store manager and the little girl, I could hear the sound of my head’s illusions being slightly crushed. I thought women didn’t use the word “groan”… .

“Still, I think it would be a little easier if you guys helped me out. Can you help me out?”

“That guy… Uh… … .”

“that….”

These two guys are mature for their age, but they probably don’t have the courage to put their hands in a clogged toilet and unclog it. They look at me with expressions that look like they’re about to cry or howl.

The store manager also looked at me. I guess he wanted me to follow the rhythm.

“I can do it by myself, so you guys go do your own things.”

“Really…?”

“I find that more comfortable.”

It seems like these guys have chosen the latter between friendship and mental health, but I don’t care. I wouldn’t have made them clean the store, though.

“I’ll give you some rubber gloves, Chan-ah.”

“Yes. But not a small one, right? A small one won’t fit in your hand.”

“Sir, I’m sending you a letter… .”

“I’m truly sorry, sir. I’m not even able to clean up my own poop….”

“Don’t worry, I won’t mind it and won’t take it to heart. When should I start, sir?”

“Right now.”

Speaking of which, these two seemed to have realized that it was time to leave. They each grabbed a glass of milk or a piece of bread and nodded to me and the store manager.

“Cheer up, sir.”

“I also agree with your opinion.”

“Okay. Be careful on your way.”

After he went out the front door, he paused and listened in, wondering why he was doing that. He was having this conversation.

“Hey, you. Do you want to go to my house?”

“The main point? Are you talking about the young lady’s house?”

“Yeah. Our house has a large open space, so you can run around and play.”

This is the first time I’ve heard of this. The house is about 50 pyeong?

However, the following content was not heard because the two began to move away, and after a while they were no longer visible. After confirming that the two had disappeared, I asked the store manager.

“Do I really need to unclog this toilet?”

“No? It hasn’t been blocked yet, so don’t worry.”

The store manager’s tone of voice was so natural that I half thought it was real.

“I’m going to clean the bathroom, but I’ll do it with magic, so Chan-i, don’t worry and go home. It’s almost 10 o’clock.”

“Yes. But, sir, before I go, there’s something I’d like to ask you.”

“What kind?”

I asked directly. What kind of beings are dragons in this world?

“I just remembered something I heard from that kid earlier, but I think the kindergarten kids are afraid of that kid. Because he’s a dragon.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes. The adult guests love that child and treat her indifferently.”

Because in the world I lived in, I had never seen a child being afraid of someone else for no reason. That little kid wasn’t big or had a ferocious appearance.

They are afraid of the dragon just because it is theirs, without having had any proper conversation or interaction.

“I guess dragons aren’t such scary creatures in Chan’s world?”

“It is true that it is a scary thing. It was created to be scary.”

In the old days of the West, when imaginative storytellers thought, “I need something scary in my stories. What would it be?”, they came up with a reptile that could breathe fire and beat people with its tail: a dragon.

Or… it could be because they need a neighborhood drum with a good impact. If you just look at historical tales, it’s said that most kings have tamed dragons at least once.

I don’t know why, whether it’s because dragon tails are a delicacy or because they are harmful to the country… .

“I don’t think he’s a harmful being.”

“Chan-i, do you remember when I told you about the history of this world? On your first day at work.”

“Uh… If you’re talking about war… .”

War. I remember talking about it, but I don’t remember the exact details. Anyway, there was a war, and it was caused by the elves, and the human race died a lot. That’s about it?

“That’s enough. The one who was most active there was the dragon.”

“Ugh… .”

“I think everyone who was there at that time will remember. The older people.”

I think it was something like this. On the battlefield, seeing dragons chewing, tearing, and tasting hostile alien races, the alien races tremble in fear, thinking, ‘What a horrifying sight!’

After the war, each person would tell their children about the cases they had witnessed, saying, “Don’t mess with Yonghan, you’ll be in big trouble.” These were passed down through word of mouth, and were gradually distorted… .

Now, regardless of the war, she has become a witch-like being who bites children if they do something wrong.

“I think Chan’s personal interpretation is a bit mixed in, but I think I understand it well enough.”

“But… in this world, dragons aren’t imaginary beings, right?”

I guess that’s what happens when you scare people with the witch hag. If the witch hag had been wronged, wouldn’t she have appeared on TV herself and explained it? Saying, “Stop making jokes about me.”

But, in this world, dragons are a social population that goes to kindergarten and works at a company. I don’t know if it’s right to educate a certain species that is doing well by saying, “Dragons are a scary species.”

“That point, um… I don’t know how Chan-i will take this… .”

“Please speak.”

“Adults don’t really care about that. As far as I know.”

They don’t care that they are treated as a scary race. Hmm…

“Is it like image making?”

“To put it really simply, yes. Image making.”

“… I’m not sure, but I understand for now.”

The world is really like that. Just when you think you can understand it, something strangely twisted pops out one by one. I’m not a police officer from the Japanese colonial era, so what good is there in being treated as a scary person?

Since someone is being harmed by this image, I can’t help but think that this is a problem that needs to be improved. I hope that I can have a chance to talk to an adult dragon sometime soon.

“You say you understand, but your expression shows that you don’t understand.”

“I don’t quite get it, but I’ll think about it later. I’m starting to get sleepy.”

“Do that. Oh, and Chan-ah. Make sure you close the front door well tomorrow. They’re doing construction outside.”

“If you’re outside, do you mean the road in front of here?”

“Yeah. This road ahead.”

After saying this, he added while looking outside.

“I heard the dwarves are doing road maintenance work.”