Convenience Store Worker From Another World Chapter 94

Episode 94. You have to lose what you have to lose (3)

The bag of money was brought into the warehouse.

I thought it wouldn’t be a nice sight to see a 007 bag on the counter and fiddle with it, especially to other guys who would come looking for the money bag.

The officer who came into the warehouse flipped the bag of money over and over, then after a while, he tapped the area near the password with his hand and spoke indifferently.

“It’s a dial type. Six digits. The serial number is damaged… .”

He said that since it was a frequently traded model, it was difficult to track down, and that he couldn’t open it here and would have to ask the investigation department to investigate, and concluded his analysis by shaking the bag of money at the bedside.

“Lastly, the contents are packed tightly. Even if you shake it, it doesn’t make any sound.”

“It’s full? With bills?”

“Yes. I don’t know how many tens of thousands of won bills there are.”

The bag is roughly 20cm thick. If we compare the size simply, it is about the size of a high school student’s school bag.

To put it more simply, it means that it is a size that can hold 10,000 bills, 10 bundles of 1,000 bills each. If it is a 10,000 won bill, it is 100 million won, and if it is a 50,000 won bill, it is 500 million won.

There is money in here that I would have to work for three years, or even fifteen years, without spending a single penny to be able to touch. I couldn’t believe it, so I looked at it, and the policeman handed me a bag of money and asked me.

“I guess you’re curious about what’s inside.”

“Uh… How are you, sir?”

“You have to see it. You have to know the exact amount to be able to estimate the circumstances of the incident.”

“I, uh… if I can’t not see it, I don’t want to see it.”

Of course I’m curious.

They’re wads of money. If it’s small, it’s 100 million won, if it’s big, it’s 500 million won. Don’t men want to stack up wads of money and look at them, or sit on them like a cushion? That’s how I am.

But my mom always said, don’t pick up and eat things that fall on the floor.

Isn’t it dirty? I don’t know how the money inside came to be, but it’s definitely not clean money. If it were clean money, they wouldn’t have tried to transport it by paying a fee to an illegal gambling site.

It’s money that will obviously make you socially ill if you eat it, and I want to live healthily without leaving a red surgical scar on my ID. I know this in my head, but will I be able to think the same way after seeing the contents of the money bag?

I can’t do that. I knew he’d blurt out a few things like, “Aren’t there any rice cakes falling?” or “Are there any rewards?” In that case, I decided not to look at him at all, so I spoke indirectly.

“I think you’ll have some strange thoughts if you look at it. Is there anything else I can help you with?”

“… There is one more thing I would like to ask you.”

It felt like I was forcing myself to swallow my words, but I didn’t ask.

“I would like to ask when this bag of money was placed there.”

“I heard it was around 3pm. Ah. Do you want to watch the CCTV?”

“Yes. Are you okay?”

There’s no way it won’t work. I answered, nodded, and immediately started rewinding the time by operating the CCTV computer. It stopped at around 2:50 PM and played at 32x speed… .

Stop at a certain point and scroll in comma-second increments. In the minutely moving screen, a silhouette holding a trash bag is captured, either walking or walking backwards.

The image quality isn’t that good, so the facial features aren’t very distinct, but the dark-toned skin and small build make it look like a goblin. You can tell just by looking at it…

“Excuse me.”

The officer hums, takes out a USB chip from his pocket, plugs it into his computer, and after a few seconds, pulls it out and puts it away, restoring the CCTV to its original state. It looks like he copied the video file.

“Are you finished?”

“Yes, for now. Thank you for your cooperation.”

“No, well. I didn’t really do anything—”

“There are many.”

It’s so resolute to say one word. I’m saying this because I really can’t feel it.

“In the case of dispelling the disguise spell, it takes at least two days to find an expert. The search itself is also difficult.”

“The process is difficult?”

“They all said I was busy. It’s true that I am busy.”

Just thinking about the search process made him want to smoke a cigarette, so he put his hand to his mouth and started to move it. He continued talking while still holding his hand in that position.

“… I also think the idea of disguising a bag of money as a trash bag and leaving it on the street is refreshing.”

I get it. People rarely look at trash bags carefully while walking down the street. Now that I’ve found it, I can say, ‘No one would notice this unless they’re hungry stray cats,’ but this is also a conclusion…

I was also skeptical before I saw it for myself. It was just a coincidence that the circumstances coincided. It wasn’t because my thought process was new.

“Still. Thanks to you.”

From the way he speaks, it seems like whatever I say will be taken with humility. I decided to change the subject.

“But, officer, there are two things I still don’t understand.”

“What are you talking about?”

First of all, the area under that utility pole is definitely not a safe place.

Even though there are separate places to collect trash, there is always a chance that someone will clean it up, whether it be a dedicated sanitation worker or a volunteer.

I didn’t clean it up because the store manager told me not to. If he hadn’t told me, I would have just thrown it out with the trash when I took it out in the morning. I was either sure that the bag wouldn’t be removed against my will, or…

“So you’re saying there was a reason why it had to be done this way, even if it meant taking on some risk?”

“It’s a delusion, but there’s something else.”

Second, it was a trash bag, not a bag of money.

Then shouldn’t the order have been given differently? Instead of telling them to find the lost bag of money, they should have asked them to go to the convenience store and show them the trash bags.

I can think of a reason for this, too. The only thing I can think of right now is if the person in question understands, “A garbage bag? How many L do you need?”

In my case, I would have answered, ‘We don’t sell trash bags, so go to another store.’ And the guys who came to get the bags would have stammered, ‘It’s not that trash bag, so—’… .

He must have even asked to see the trash bag, so at this point, only someone who is not a lazy person on the verge of retirement would be suspicious. Could it be that he was trying to avoid this?

“I don’t think so for that reason.”

“Oh, do you have any guesses?”

“Rather than that, ‘I accidentally threw my welfare card in the trash bag along with the receipt. Can I look for it?’ In that situation, I wouldn’t be greatly suspicious.”

That’s a pretty plausible excuse. I’ve never thrown away a card in my life, so I just never thought of it…

Why the welfare card? No way.

“Officer, have you ever had a similar experience?”

“In the end, I couldn’t find it, so I wrote a report.”

For a moment, I imagined the elf officer digging through a trash bag looking for his official ID card, but that didn’t work out so well. I ended up just giving him a little consolation.

“Well, that could happen if you’re tired.”

“Yes. And, I have a guess personally….”

I waited for him to explain this as well, but he just tapped his head and didn’t say anything. Then, he glanced outside the window of the warehouse door and opened his mouth.

“I’ll tell you about this later.”

Following my gaze out the window, I saw a large orc loitering in front of the door.

I thought the orc must be a normal guest, and went out to the lobby with the officer. But as soon as the orc made eye contact with the officer, he avoided eye contact and ran away at a fast pace.

I only received five customers after my shift change, and they were all bastards. The officer, who was staring blankly in the direction where the orc had disappeared, asked casually.

“I bet you are very uncomfortable.”

“Yes… that’s right.”

The bag of money they’re looking for has already been recovered, but they don’t know that. They’ll keep coming for it today, or maybe even tomorrow.

What’s more worrying is that I’ll have to really lie to those who come looking for me. The bag of money? The police took it? It’d be easier for me if I told them, but-

No. After I say this, the guys who won’t come looking for the bag of money will come looking for the police officer who took the bag of money. I’ll report it to the person who requested it. I think I’ll have to put on some iron plate on my face for the next few days… .

“hmm.”

While thinking about it, the officer let out a small breath and immediately went outside. A minute later, a police car suddenly appeared and stopped on the shoulder of the road right in front of him.

After the elf officer got out of the driver’s seat of the police car, he came right in and pointed to the parked police car and spoke.

“I’ll wait in front of you tonight. Is that okay?”

“I would appreciate that, but what about you, officer?”

“It’s okay. In the case of emergency vehicles, parking in parking control zones is permitted only for purposes such as traffic control….”

For example, if you put a sign saying ‘Traffic Control’ on your windshield, the guys who come looking for you won’t be suspicious. Even if the purpose is traffic control, the police are right in front of you, so they won’t come looking for a bag of money, right?

We’ve been talking about this, but I wasn’t asking because I was curious.

“No, you need to get some sleep. You probably didn’t get a good night’s sleep last night either.”

Leaving aside the relationship between police and civilians, I say this out of concern for humanity.

Most of this elf’s hair is black, and the dark circles under her eyes are so dark that it makes you wonder if she should be using bleach instead of cosmetics.

To put it bluntly, I feel like I’m going to pass out on the spot the moment something soft touches my head. Finding the money bag this time is an achievement in some ways, but can’t I ask for some sleep as a reward?

I should just hand this over to another officer and go to sleep. I tried to say that, but before I could open my mouth, the officer shook his head sharply.

“Thank you for your cooperation and it was a great help.”

“No, but still―”

“It’s something I have to do and something I want to do. You don’t have to worry.”

If you don’t want me to worry, then at least dye your hair, he said, opening his mouth. His eyes were half-closed, and he looked like he was going to have me arrested for obstructing official duties if he said anything else.

I changed my words because I thought it would be pointless to say more.

“Then… while I’m at it, can you do me a favor?”

“Yes, go ahead.”

“If you feel like smoking, just smoke in front of me. Don’t go far away.”

I remembered how he didn’t even seem to have time to smoke a cigarette earlier. Given this officer’s personality, it was obvious that he would hold back even if he felt like smoking, saying that now was not the time to leave his seat.

I used to be a smoker myself, so I know how it feels when you want to smoke but can’t. At that time, all you can think about is cigarettes. Even when riding the subway, you have to worry about which station will have fewer people.

“I guess that’s a bit… .”

“You said that my cooperation was a great help. Won’t you listen? I helped you a lot.”

It suddenly seemed like he was encouraging smoking, but I think that once you become an adult, you should figure out how to quit smoking. Isn’t this elf older than me?

Plus, if I were in this officer’s shoes, I don’t think I would have been able to quit even if I wanted to. You need firewood to burn off stress.

“I’m not saying you have to do that. Do whatever you want. I won’t mind.”

The smell of cigarette smoke seeping in is nothing, it’s just a matter of airing out for a bit. Let’s talk a little more gently. The officer seemed to be completely refusing, so he slightly averted his gaze and answered.

“All right.”

“Yes. Thank you for your hard work.”

After nodding to each other, the officer returned to the police car. It seemed like he had done all he could to talk to them, and now… .

I should report this to my boss. I sent a text message and waited, but there was no reply even after 30 minutes. I tried calling him directly, but the call didn’t go through.

‘You are on a call and will be connected to a voicemail. To voicemail―’