AIWON Mall Isekai Store, Grand Opening Today! - Chapter 155

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Maria : Mebius World Online 

Ouren/Yuuzen : I Was a Small Fish

Episode 12-12

“To alleviate the lines at the register… But if we gather too many at the register, it’ll just create a massive queue.”

I scribble on paper, then furiously erase it.
Tattered papers pile up again.

It’s the 38th day since I became the manager of the Aion Mall Otherworldly Branch Store.
Here I am, alone in the food court, agonizing over the layout and staffing for the Dragon Sale that’s only two days away.

Prepared foods, dragon meat, seafood, seasonings. Anna-san’s medicines, the traveling merchants’ daily goods, Colette and Fancine-san’s galettes. Plus, this time, picnic supplies and ultralight down jackets.
Considering the number of items to be sold, there’s no way we can manage with the current staff.

And just managing isn’t enough.

“The purpose of the Dragon Sale is to showcase the appeal of Aion Mall Otherworldly Branch Store. If we stress out customers, it’ll have the opposite effect. If we limit the products, it defeats the purpose. Damn it, if only there were another store to call for support!”

But in this world, there’s only our Aeon Mall, and staffing agencies don’t exist.
If this were Japan, we could call for reinforcements or at least dispatch staff for on-site sales.
Even if we temporarily hired someone, they wouldn’t know the Aeon way of customer service.

And some people here can’t even read or do basic arithmetic. It’s a problem before we even get to customer service.

“Maybe if I begged the Merchant Guild, I could borrow someone who’s cleared those hurdles.”

The Guild Master would likely make some scathing remarks. I know I’m just escaping reality.
The lack of staff is my failure as the manager.

“I guess I have no choice but to scale down this time…”

“Fufu, are you troubled, Naoya-san?”

“Anna-san? Are you on your lunch break?”

Before I realized it, Anna-san had appeared.
She was walking briskly through the expansive food court.

Behind her were skeleton soldiers clad in armor.
It’s rare to see skeletons inside the store during the day without aprons.

The captain, with his billowing surcoat, and the other five skeletons were all fully encased in metallic armor.
Even their helmets had only narrow slits, leaving no flesh visible. Not that skeletons have any flesh to begin with.

“Why the full plate armor, even for the captain, and in such numbers? I didn’t realize you had so many full sets of plate armor.”

“Yes. Normally, we wear lightweight half-plates for maneuverability in the forest… but we do have full sets for the entire unit.”

“Seriously? What are you planning to fight with a heavily armored undead squad? And in this world, such equipment must’ve cost a fortune. How did you acquire it?”

“Fufu, that’s a secret.”

“I have nothing but bad feelings about this. I don’t even want to think about the matching emblems on the armor.”

I wondered if they had wiped out some knight order sent to subdue the undead before Aion Mall was built.
Anna-san kept her serene smile and gave no answer.
Even if she had answered, that would have been a problem in itself.

“…I’m not asking any more questions but. So, what brings you here? Did a monster appear?”

“No, we heard that you were troubled, Naoya-san, so everyone came to help.”

“Huh?”

I tilted my head.
Anna-san might know, but I certainly didn’t talk to the skeletons about our staffing problem.
As I was thinking this, a black mist floated out from the captain’s torso.

A ghost.

“Ah, is that yesterday’s ghost-kun?”

The black mist—no, the ghost—seemed to nod.

“So when you say they came to help, you mean…”

“Yes! They’re all here to help with the Dragon Sale the day after tomorrow!”

“Yay, that’s a relief! Skeletons in full plate armor won’t get noticed at all! …Yeah, no way! If they interact with customers up close, they’ll definitely notice the gaps in the armor!”

I retorted.
The thought was appreciated, but I couldn’t risk a commotion if they got exposed.
If people found out the store was teeming with undead, the growing customer base might plummet.

…Though it might draw in adventurers instead. Dragons are involved, after all.

Despite being rejected, neither the captain nor the skeleton soldiers seemed disheartened.

“Fufu, it’s fine, Naoya-san. Please, take a closer look.”

“Huh…?”

Not understanding what she meant, I stepped closer.
Following the ghost and the captain’s gestures, I examined the hand of one of the soldiers.

From the gaps in the full plate armor, I could only see coarse, thick fabric that appeared to be made of burlap.

“Oh, they’re not just bare bones—they’re wearing clothes underneath. This is called… armor padding, right?”

“Yes! This way, they won’t be discovered as non-humans! I could use illusion magic, but there are too many of them for that.”

“Hmm. But the problem lies in areas clothes can’t cover… Oh, they’re wearing gloves too.”

The skeletons somehow look smug, while the ghost hovering beside me fidgets nervously.

At a glance, the full plate armor hides their skeletal nature, and the visible areas are concealed by clothing. That’s fine.
But the real issue isn’t there.

I raise my head and look closely.

“No matter how narrow those slits—viewports?—are, if someone gets close, they’d still see the face… the face… huh?”

“Fufu. Everyone, take off your helmets,” Anna-san instructs.

The skeleton squad starts clanking as they remove their helmets.
What’s exposed isn’t a bare skull…

“They have faces?”

The captain and the five skeletons all had faces.
No hair, but they bore familiar-looking human faces.
Huh, so that’s what the captain looks like—much younger than I expected—until it hits me.

I reach out and touch it.

“This is a rubber mask! Like those party costume ones!”

“Yes. We thought this way they wouldn’t be noticed, even up close.”

“Well, that might work, but—where on earth did you get these!?”

The ghost floats leisurely past me as I exclaim in shock.

“Hmm… maybe it got mixed in from one of the tenants? Or was it from the toy section?”

“This one found it in the backroom. It was in a box, and we thought it might save the day.”

“Well, even if they didn’t open it, I guess a ghost can see inside boxes, huh? Floors and walls are no obstacle, after all.”

“Yes. I apologize for acting on my own, but I’ll personally pay for them…”

Anna-san, looking apologetic, glances at the skeleton squad as they put their helmets back on.
Up close, I can faintly make out their “faces” through the eye slits.

Some resemble international actors or iconic characters from famous mystery movies.
If you didn’t know better, you wouldn’t think they were fake.

“This… might work. It just might, Anna-san!”

“Really!? That’s great news, everyone!”

Anna-san makes a triumphant fist pump and turns to her skeleton subordinates with a little hop of joy.
The captain rattles his armor proudly, and the ghost spins in delight.

“Even if they don’t handle customers directly, having them manage lines or restock items will be a huge help!”

I shake Anna-san’s cold hand enthusiastically.
I pat the full-plated skeleton on the shoulder, its armor clinking under the impact.

From within the armor, behind the rubber mask, a light glimmers.

…Dark red flames ignite in their empty eye sockets.

“They’re literally fired up! Wait, no! Their eyes are glowing! Isn’t this going to expose them as undead?!”

My shout echoes through the bright food court.

It’s the 38th day since I became manager of Aion Mall Otherworldly Branch Store.
Thanks to Anna-san, the ghost, and the skeletons’ quick thinking, the staff shortage might just be resolved.

Their eyes are glowing, though.
And we’re putting skeletons in front of people, no matter how well-disguised.

…It’ll be fine. It’ll all be fine.
In broad daylight, the glowing eyes shouldn’t be too noticeable. It’ll be fine.
I believe it’ll be fine!