c6 (1/2)

Chapter 6: I hired an elf-eared girl as a cas.h.i.+er

*Chirp chirp chirp*

It’s probably not a sparrow, but I woke up by the sound of some small bird.

I had put out a sleeping bag on the open floor in the shop and had been sleeping.

“Fuwa~”

I crawled out of the sleeping bag, and the first thing I did was a big stretch.

I put water from a plastic bottle into a pot, then put the pot on the portable gas stove, and for the time being boiled some water.

While I was waiting for the water to boil, I grabbed my toothbrush and headed outside.

*Brush brush* I brushed my teeth while thinking of today’s plans.

Alright, I’ve decided.

Same as yesterday. Done.

Today’s plans, decided!

This is the epitome of immersion in slow life.

I had become completely dyed by this other world slow life.

All day I tend the store, without a care, waiting for the customers whose arrival can’t be predicted. When I get hungry, I just go to that nearby cafeteria to eat.

It’s that kind of lifestyle.

Thanks to that single bag of salt, it seems I can go eat for free for the rest of my life. Whenever I go, oba-chan always welcomes me in with a smile.

When I leave the shop, I leave a note that says “I’m in the cafeteria.” If a customer comes by and has a request, they can call me back to the shop.

On a side note, I can’t read or write the letters of this world, so oba-chan wrote the note for me. She really doesn’t give off the feeling of an oba-chan though.

Looking at her appearance, she looks like a loli. Appearance of a thirteen year old, personality of a woman in her thirties, a legal loli*.

Today’s plans are completely the same as yesterday. In other words, taking it easy. Waiting for the customers whose arrival can’t be predicted is the job of C-mart’s owner, me.

On a side note, I didn’t realize it at the time since I wrote it with such a confident expression, but… the people of this world, they can’t read it can they? Since to them it’s letters from a different world.

Oh well.

Ah, I forgot about today’s plans… same as usual… wouldn’t work I guess. I rethought my plans as I brushed my teeth.

My stock is reaching its limit. For now, I need to go to modern-day j.a.pan. The sleeping bag, toothbrush, gas stove, and bottles of water – I ended up using it all myself.

If I want to sell items like those, I need to acquire them again.

By the way, it was a feeling of “going there then returning.” Not “returning” to j.a.pan.

I, who had lived here in this world for many days now, had completely lost the feeling of “returning.”

When I go to the other side, it’s just to replenish stock.

In that case, is it better if I canceled the lease on my room? Well, if I don’t have an address on that side, it might become troublesome.

I decided it would be best to keep paying rent and think about what to do later.

Oh, I know. I can just put everything off until later. Let’s do that. If I can do something tomorrow, I won’t do it today.

This is the foundation of my current lifestyle.

What a wonderful idea. It’s perfect.

This is the true essence of slow life. As I thought that, I had finished brus.h.i.+ng my teeth.

“*gargle gargle* *spit*” Right at the spot where I spit, there was a person sleeping.

By the entrance of the shop, there was someone lying on their side, collapsed.

“Huh!? Uwah!? Sorry! Sorry! I didn’t notice!” I panicked and said in apology.

I had spit a mixture of toothpaste, saliva, and water on them. In other words, I had spit on them.

However, I swear it wasn’t on purpose. I didn’t notice them. Someone sleeping in such a place is…

In the first place, why is someone sleeping by the store entrance? Why is this person sleeping? In any case, why aren’t they waking up?

Why don’t they notice the mixture of toothpaste, water, and saliva and wake up?

“…umm?” I eventually called out.

Rolled up in a worn out mantle, the person was still curled up lying on their side.

“O, oi… are they dead?” I murmured in astonishment.

The collapsed person moved their shoulder slightly.

Thank goodness.

For the time being, it appears that they are alive.

“I’m… hungry…”

I heard a soft, weak voice.

Now that I knew the reason they had collapsed, I was relieved.

After the tension faded, I felt weak at the knees.

“I’m back to life! I hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday you see!”

They wiped their face with a towel and ate my canned food. Having finally become comfortable, the person had said something.

I looked at her face closely. The person who had collapsed was a girl.

She was wearing a worn out mantle, and her face had dust and dirt on it, but now that I look closely she’s quite a cute girl.

However… she’s really covered in dust. Only the part of her face that she had wiped the mixture of toothpaste, water, and saliva off of was clean, but… how is that? Is that OK?

I looked closely at her face.

“W-what is it? Ah… i-if it’s about money I don’t have any. If I had money there’s no way I would be collapsed like that right?”

My eyes s.h.i.+fted towards her ears which were showing slightly from under the hood.

She was properly wearing the hood, but from the small part of her ears that was visible, I could tell that they were long.

“Ah, so you noticed? That’s right. That’s right… You see, I’m an e-elf.”

“Elf?”

“Even though I say elf though, I’m not from any tribe. Both of my parents were human, but for some reason I was born as an elf.”

“Perhaps your parents picked up an abandoned child…?” I asked as such.

“I also thought that, and asked them, but…” She said while heartily moving the contents of the can into her mouth.

Those were not meant for her to eat, but were cans I had been saving for my own breakfast, but…

Without losing composure, she ate as if it was meant for her.

The food that had been intended for my breakfast was steadily disappearing into her stomach.

My image of elves were that they had small appet.i.tes, only ate vegetables, and started their day with a cup of fruit juice for breakfast… that kind of feeling.

Well, I suppose she was at the point of collapsing while walking.

The girl displayed an astonis.h.i.+ngly large appet.i.te.

“But they said I was really born from my mother. I’m often told that it’s likely I was a changeling. You know, in human towns there are often some people who are born as changelings. I had trouble living in the human village, so I figured I’d go to the elf village in the hopes that they’d welcome me. So I went on a journey, but this time the elf people said ‘Someone who eats meat can’t possibly be an elf!’ and kicked me out of the village.”

“Ah! This! This meat is delicious! What kind of meat is this? I’ve never eaten it before.”

“Those were… canned tuna, canned saury, and yakitori… this one is corned beef… err corned meat but… what kind of meat was corned meat again?”

I look at the can. It says chicken and beef, but in this fantasy world are there chickens and cows? If I tell her, will she understand?

“It was exquisite, thank you” she said after eating all of the corned meat.

She arranged her hands on the floor and with a bob of her head, bowed.

In that way only, she was polite. She must have been raised well.

“…by the way, by any chance, about that previous… thing you didn’t want to say”

The thing about being a changeling.

Perhaps she had led a miserable life until now… I had become curious ever since hearing her story.

“Why was that?”

“Ah, you know… you said it was hard to live, so were you persecuted or anything?”

“Ahh, so it sounded like that kind of thing to you. It’s not like that at all, I’m OK!” The elf girl smiled with a bright expression.

“Why did you leave the human town?”

She was smiling so brightly, I decided to pry a little bit more.

“Both of my parents died, so”