AIWON Mall Isekai Store, Grand Opening Today! - Chapter 141
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Maria : Mebius World Online
Ouren/Yuuzen : I Was a Small Fish
Episode 11-6
“…Alright, the arrangement is done.”
It’s been 32 days since I became the manager of the Aion Mall Otherworldly Store. After closing, we selected furniture on the third floor and, with the help of Barbera and the skeletons, brought it in.
My new home, where I’ll start living today, is filled with boxes of various sizes. I haven’t unpacked yet, but the boxes with the table and work desk, along with the sofa, are already placed roughly where they should go.
As I stood there absentmindedly, a skeleton who helped with the moving peeked at me.
“Oh, right. That’s all for today. Thanks for your help.”
Upon hearing this, the skeleton gave a small bow and left the room. Having extra hands was helpful, though they weren’t exactly human.
“Hmm, should I assemble the bed or just sleep in the tenant space for tonight?”
I muttered to myself. Thanks to the otherworldly allowance that raised my salary, I didn’t hesitate to buy new furniture. The stuff I’d been using until now is still in the tenant space. I thought I might live there until I fully settled in.
“Everyone’s moving in today, so they wouldn’t mind if I did some assembling now, right?”
It was already past 8 p.m. since we did all the work after closing. But a little noise should be fine. After all, Colette, Francine-san and Peddler-san’s family are all likely doing the same thing. I’m the only one living in this wing of the employee apartments. The other two families chose the opposite wing. Francine-san said, “It’s too overwhelming to live near you.” Their trust is a bit scary.
“I can hear some light sounds coming from Colette’s or Peddler-san’s place. Maybe I should… huh?”
The sound of my personal electric screwdriver, which I had lent them, stopped. Then I heard a faint door creak open, followed by hurried footsteps running down the hallway.
Hmm, I guess the stone floors amplify the sound of footsteps. Suddenly, there was an urgent knock on my door.
“I wonder what’s up? Alright, I’m coming.”
I opened the door, and Peddler-san, looking frantic, burst into the room.
“Manager-san! What is this!? What is that!?”
He was holding the electric screwdriver in his right hand, pointing toward where he came from with his left.
“Well, that’s an electric screwdriver… but you did manage to use it, right? I heard the sound.”
“Let’s sell it! We need to sell it right away!”
“Calm down. That electric screwdriver runs on batteries, so it’ll stop working soon.”
“Ah, so it’s a disposable magic tool!?”
“No, you can use it again after recharging. But since there’s no electricity outside the Aion Mall, it won’t work there.”
“Ugh, how frustrating that we can’t offer this convenience to our customers!”
“Plus, you need screws that match it. That might be tricky in this world…”
“Exactly! I wanted to talk about metal parts too!”
He eagerly pulled me out of the room. We passed by an armored skeleton patrolling the hallway.
Oh, since there aren’t any customers here, it’s free to patrol out in the open. Much appreciated.
Led by the high-energy Peddler-san, we arrived at the other wing where the two families lived, referred to as the South Wing. For the record, I live in the North Wing, where my windows face inward toward the “U” shape of the building, making it south-facing. According to this world’s standards, it’s considered the best room. Interesting.
“To think you’ve gathered so many small metal parts! Do you have a skilled blacksmith in your employ!?”
“Oh, Colette, Francine-san, too. So you’ve been assembling furniture with Peddler-san and his family.”
As we passed through the hallway of the South Wing, inside Peddler-san’s family’s room were a sleepy-looking Colette and Francine-san, who was intently studying the screws and metal parts in her hand. There were also skeleton helpers and a ghost floating around, curiously observing.
“They’re not one-of-a-kind. These are mass-produced factory products. Well, I suppose handmade items in this world would make these more competitive in terms of price…”
“The precision of the wood is also impressive! And by following the reverse instructions, you can disassemble and reuse it! It’s not fixed in place!”
“Oh, I see. In this world, furniture is usually nailed or fastened tightly, right? I heard that when I went to town.”
“Furniture! Metal parts! Wood! Manager-san, we must sell them!”
Peddler-san was practically panting with excitement. Even though he’d found products that people in this world would want, my energy was fading.
“A revolution! This is a furniture revolution, Manager-san!”
“Hold on, calm down. Using that word in a world with kings might be risky.”
I took a step back, but Peddler-san kept edging closer. Francine-san gazed up at me with admiration.
“Furniture takes up a lot of space, so it’s hard to stock in large quantities. Metal parts have low unit prices, so even if you fill a cart with them, it won’t amount to much.”
As I held him back, the Merchant-san apologized, saying, “I’m sorry for getting carried away without knowing the full circumstances.”
It seems he got excited over an unfamiliar product or maybe just the high quality of it. I get the feeling.
“Unlike cooking, we can’t exactly make this stuff here. We need machines… Wait, but if we had magic, could it work? I mean, the Aion Mall was built without issue… No, but if magic could handle it, they’d already have this stuff here, wouldn’t they?”
I got caught up in my own words and started thinking it over.
Peddler-san and Francine-san quietly waited, while Colette’s tail dropped as she dozed off.
“Well, I guess thinking won’t solve it. Maybe I’ll ask Anna-san about it tomorrow. Or Chloe, well… yeah, that’s a whole other thing.”
Even after several inspections, I still don’t know much about this world. And I know even less about magic or magic tools. For now, I decided to table the issue and tell everyone to call it a day, but just as I was about to speak—
“Naoya-san? What’s wrong?”
A voice suddenly came from behind me.
There shouldn’t have been anyone behind me.
“……Anna-san? Where did you just come from?”
“Ufufu, it’s a secret.”
“Saying it cutely won’t fool me! Wait, can Lich pass through walls like ghosts?! That’s way too scary!”
Anna-san placed a finger on her lips and smiled sweetly. I looked behind her and saw a skeleton peeking out from the kitchen floor’s storage hatch. We made eye contact—or, well, it didn’t have eyes, but it definitely looked at me.
“I heard loud voices, so I came through… a secret underground passage that leads all the way to Aion.”
Anna-san smiled in a way that practically said “tehe~.” Peddler-san and Francine-san both looked shocked.
“Wow, hidden passages in the room… it’s really like a castle or fortress. So, this is for escaping in case of an emergency, huh?”
The view outside the window was dark. From my room, I could see the light I had forgotten to turn off leaking out.
Time to stop avoiding reality.
I held my head in my hands.
“Ughhhh! A hidden passage in my room?! Even if I lock the door, people can still come in and out?! What about my privacyyyyy?!”
It’s now the 32nd day since I became the manager of the Aion Mall Otherworldly Store.
Looks like there are still a lot of secrets in the employee apartments I ordered to be built.
“Privacy, you say?”
“Anna-san, you’ve studied Japanese, right? You even have an electronic dictionary, don’t you? You’re saying that on purpose, aren’t you?”
???
Business Report
June 2, 2019
Aion Mall Otherworldly Branch Store
Manager: Naoya Taniguchi
Daily Sales: ¥1,522,000
Daily Customers: 335 people
Monthly Cumulative Sales: ¥3,111,000
Monthly Cumulative Customers: 663 people
Report Details:
- Even after the Dragon Sale, seafood, including prepared dishes, continues to sell well.
- The employee apartment complex has also been completed.
- We will continue to investigate the lifestyle in this world to identify new business opportunities.
By the way, was the excess stock of furniture intentional? Was it for me or the employees? If so, I wish I had known about it earlier!!!
???