Chapter 1 (1/2)

AN: This is my first written work. I think I might make some small changes here and there.

That day I was working my part time job to earn some income. Working late at night at the front of a convenience store. Starting my s.h.i.+ft at 22:00, my job was very simple. Other than when a customer brings merchandise to me, it’s mostly just cleaning. Shelves, toilet, and various machines. After working for a long time, my body remembers the simple tasks so I can finish them relatively quickly.

That day was just the same.

After the night becomes late, the sound in front of the store disappears. There were just the three colours of light from the traffic lights, and sometimes a car would pa.s.s by with a little too much speed. I had cleaned the store to some extent and could see some garbage in the parking lot which I put into a garbage bag with my fire tongs, and was wandering around a bit.

Is the inside of the store alright?

No problems. No customers. After 3 in the morning, people are really few. Around 2 o’clock there are some people who browse the new releases of some weekly published magazines but, h.e.l.lo Tuesday. It’s the day of little enthusiasm in that department, as no new magazines are released.

I continued to pick up garbage to some extent, and bent my back to gaze towards the sky. Looks like the stars of the Summer Triangle were s.h.i.+ning. h.e.l.lo clear weather… although the Sun’s not out yet. I continued to gaze at the sky without forgetting to pick up the garbage.

From the corner of my view, I saw the figure of a person standing in the shadow of the street lamp.

Aaaaah……!! Eh, I wasn’t mistaken was I?

I turn my head to go back inside the store. There was no one around after looking a third time. That scared me a little too much.

I entered the shop and made a straight line to the s.p.a.ce behind the cash register, before entering a position to watch the security camera footage from before. I operate the mouse to bring the footage of the parking lot to full screen. It shows me from before doing a beautiful job of cleaning. Not one piece of trash left.

While I was cleaning the trash, a human figure starts to walk down the sidewalk.

My eyes freeze with understanding. It’s that guy from before. He’s on a course to enter the store. I change the view on the monitor to show 4 part.i.tions, and after all, see that figure displayed entering the store. No matter the guy, a customer is a customer.

「Welcomeー good eveningー」

My legs tremble as I give my usual greeting. There are many people late at night who get irritated when their drowsiness is at MAX. The trick is that giving a prompt greeting will give those people stimulation, preventing them from appearing stupid. There are some people who don’t like that. However, having the experience to serve the type of people who tend to flip out by giving a loose greeting is something that our company finds effective.

Such an out of place thought went through my head as I stood behind the register. In a typical manner, the frightening customer comes straight to the cash register without stopping. In that case, from numerous possibilities I could narrow this situation down to a single pattern. Someone who is looking for something. Someone who wants something from behind the cash register. Then,

「If you don’t want to die then be quiet. Inside the register, take out all the money inside the register」

It’s a convenience store robbery.

My mind stops. A short. Eh? What?

「Did you not hear me? Take out the money」

My throat was blocked preventing my voice from coming out. Since some time ago my legs were trembling, then up through my back, my arms, hands, and finally my head.

「U…..m….., wha, eh?」

「The money. From the register and back counter, bring it to me. If you don’t want to be hurt then bring it to me quickly.」

Even if you tell me that customer, or not, dude your hand. Grasped in his hand was a ma.s.sive knife. If he had a gun I wouldn’t have felt a firm sense of reality, and would have been able to laugh and pat the shoulder of the man without trembling. But the knife was s.h.i.+ning under the dull store lighting setting off my warning bells. That this was neither dream nor imagination was something I could clearly understand.

There’s nothing to be done. There’s no way to go against him. I open the cash register with my shaking hands. I take out three types of bills and present them to the man.

「There’s a safe in the back right? That too.」

But the vault’s pa.s.sword is something that the manager has. I don’t know it.