“Hey, Kunimatsu!”
How unusual. They are likely reincarnations of the Kazama faction.
Recently, since Kazama has been absent, they’ve probably been spending their days fighting monsters and leveling up.
Why would they talk to me, knowing they probably dislike me? What do they want?
“What is it? Did something happen?”
“It’s not ‘something!’ It’s because of your reckless actions that Kazama and the others are gone!”
I can tell it’s just another baseless accusation.
It would be pointless to deny it, so I’d rather ignore them and leave. But something caught my attention.
“Kazama and the others… What happened to them? I haven’t seen them recently.”
“Because of you, we’re being treated like useless reincarnations, so Kazama and the others left to try and clear dungeons themselves!”
I didn’t know that…
I didn’t think Kazama would do something that reckless. Perhaps something happened that made him change his attitude.
But, in a way, I think that’s a good thing…
“It’s good that they’re motivated. Kazama and the others have been given power by the Goddess, so if they level up more, they should get stronger.”
“If they do that, we’ll be told we need to level up even more!”
Ah, I see. So they’re just upset about that.
It seems like everyone is worried about Kazama, but in reality, they’re only worried about themselves.
If Kazama starts leveling up recklessly, it will make it harder for them to avoid putting in more effort. They probably don’t want that kind of change.
“You’re all being foolishly overzealous. We’ve been chosen by the Goddess. With her power, even just being useful occasionally, we can still contribute plenty to this country.”
“Exactly! And now, because of those who are pushing themselves too hard, we have to do unnecessary work!”
I can’t help but feel a little sympathy for Kazama.
It’s true that we didn’t see eye to eye, but he was acting with the reincarnated people in mind.
Of course, he wasn’t leveling up enough, nor was he actively fighting monsters or challenging dungeons.
But he was just being careful to avoid dangerous actions for the sake of those present. Whether it was the right thing to do is debatable, but at least it was done with the intention of thinking of others.
“Anyway, Kazama and the others are probably getting killed by dungeon monsters by now.”
From her use of the word “probably,” I can tell how she feels about Kazama.
If they left it to Kazama, they wouldn’t have to make unnecessary efforts and would be guaranteed a comfortable life.
So, they likely praised Kazama in public, but secretly thought he was doing things that made them work harder.
“Kunimatsu, why don’t you go check on Kazama and the others? You can show the people of this country what happens to reincarnators who go too far. That should stop them from expecting unreasonable things.”
“Why don’t you go do it yourselves? I don’t even know which dungeon Kazama went to.”
Besides, even if Kazama really did die in a dungeon, I don’t think the country will change how it treats reincarnators.
This isn’t some charitable act. The country provides reincarnators with food, shelter, and other resources because it expects something in return. If they stop providing benefits, it’s only natural for the treatment to become worse.
They’re not aware that the country is only keeping reincarnators around because they hope for certain benefits: defeating monsters, clearing dungeons, collecting items, and resources.
“Anyway, if you keep doing nothing, eventually the country will abandon you.”
“—! Because of you guys!”
“Because of us…”
It’s probably not just me she’s blaming, but Kazama as well.
I’ve never been fond of him—maybe even disliked him—but in this situation, I can’t help but feel sympathy.
Did Kazama really die? If so, I hope his end was peaceful and without suffering.
“It hurts!!”
“I understand how you feel, but save the whining for later, Takemi!”
“Why are there so many customers today!? Karl-san!”
“It’s festival day! And since it’s related to alcohol, they’re serious about it! Sorry about the dwarves!”
“You’re drinking, but I think you should stop entering the dungeon!”
Since we started working at the store, we had surprisingly peaceful lives.
I had worked part-time at a convenience store in my previous world, so I didn’t mind customer service.
I never expected that my part-time experience would actually be useful, not the power of the goddess.
So, I worked with Arata and Tomoka without any major problems at the store.
Karl-san wasn’t a bad person, and somehow, it felt more comfortable than when we were at the castle.
But… this level of busyness was just too much.
“Hey, kid. Give me this.”
“Here you go!”
“Hey, store clerk. Don’t you have any alcohol?”
“Uh… well…”
“Don’t bother that kid! We don’t sell alcohol!”
“Hey, you. Wanna drink together?”
“I’m underage, so I can’t!”
…Let me correct myself. What we really needed here wasn’t experience from working at a convenience store.
It turns out, we needed experience in dealing with drunken people, like in an izakaya or something similar.
“Don’t mess with our young ones!”
“Hey, Karl. I thought you started a business here, but now you’re looking after humans too? You’re one weird guy.”
In the end, Karl-san chased the drunkards away, so it was manageable, but his real job was stone processing behind the scenes.
It was frustrating that we were making him deal with these things.
Finally, the shop calmed down a bit.
When I think about it, most of the reason for the chaos was because of those drunk people.
“Really… Maybe I should put up a sign that says ‘No Drunk People Allowed.'”
Karl-san, exhausted, muttered something like that.
“Sounds tough.”
Just then, a little girl, about elementary school age, came in.
We immediately straightened up from our slouched positions.
“Feel free to relax. You must be tired.”
The girl’s name was Primilla, if I remember correctly.
She was one of the demons who was near the Demon Lord when we were first captured.
That means she’s someone far more important than us, even more so than Karl-san.
She’s basically our boss. And quite a high-ranking one at that.
“So, what brings the Four Heavenly Kings here…?”
Karl-san, perhaps thinking she heard his previous comment, asked somewhat awkwardly.
Well, that makes sense. He had just mentioned putting up a sign to select customers, so he might get scolded.
sigh… It’s us who have to deal with the drunkards.
From their point of view, it’s probably understandable to not care what kind of customers they are.
“Thanks to an unexpectedly large number of customers, the Demon Lord is quite pleased. However, because of the unexpected volume, your burden seems heavy, so I came to remove the cause.”
The Demon Lord… Is he monitoring our work?
But if they can help alleviate the cause of our busyness, that would be a huge relief.
“Here.”
“What is this…?”
Primilla -san handed Karl-san a container filled with a large amount of liquid.
What is that? Could it be alcohol? Are they telling us to satisfy the drunks’ requests, kick them out, and improve turnover?
It would definitely be better than having them linger.
“It’s a hangover cure. Use it on the drunks who came to celebrate the festival.”
“Ah, thank you… Wait, pour it on them?”
“Yes, pour it over their heads.”
“…But they’re customers.”
“We can’t have the troublesome customers increasing your burden.”
Primilla -san…!
Thanks to the Demon Lord and Primilla -san’s help, the work for that day became relatively easier than before.
Choosing the staff over the troublesome customers… Maybe the Demon Lord’s army is actually a pretty good workplace…
