Twins?

“It seems you're close with Lumina.”

“Not at all. Close? We are……”

The manager flatly denied it.

But it was hard to say that was true when neither of them seemed the least bit reserved around the other.

“Jinjo is practically just humoring that girl. Heh.”

With her arms folded, the manager denied being close to Lumina, but the corners of her mouth curled upward.

Apparently, she was embarrassed to admit they were friends.

“How did you two become close?”

“Hmm, if I had to put it one way, we're bound by a terrible relationship. We fought together on the battlefield during the old Mage War.”

“The Mage War?”

“Indeed. We're acting like a delivery rider and convenience store manager now, but there was a time when we climbed that Hunter Tower together, watching each other's backs as comrades. Well, she was such a reckless idiot even back then that Jinjo had to keep an eye on her.”

A strange blend of nostalgia and pride colored the manager's red eyes as she recalled the past.

I tilted my head while moving the delivery boxes.

There was still so much I didn't know, having only recently arrived in Taepyeong City.

“The Hunter Tower, you mean.”

I asked while looking at the enormous tower in front of the convenience store.

“What exactly is it? I'd never seen a tower that big in the neighborhood where I lived. And it seems like all the customers who come here clock out from there, too.”

“Ah, so my retainer doesn't know. You aren't from this city, after all.”

The manager cleared her throat with an “ahem,” then sat arrogantly in the chair behind the counter.

“Back when humanity and the Demon King's Army were still at odds—in other words, during the Mage War—a gigantic tower suddenly rose from the ground. Monsters of unfamiliar kinds poured out of it. They had forms we'd never seen before and indiscriminately destroyed places all over the world. Their actions were clearly different from what the Demon King's Army wanted.”

“So that's why you joined forces.”

“Precisely. Those things were practically calamities. Ironically, that tower only strengthened the alliance between the races.”

I nodded.

I thought I more or less understood what she meant.

“Because you gained a common enemy?”

“Correct. Humans and demonfolk, elves and orcs—races that had been trying to cut one another's throats until the day before had no choice but to join hands immediately to stop the monsters pouring from the tower.”

Her gaze turned toward the enormous shadow rising over the heart of Taepyeong City beyond the window.

“At first, it was an alliance forged under pressure, but the bond between comrades is a frightening thing. After bleeding together and cutting down monsters, the walls between us naturally began to crumble. Lumina was originally part of the Demon King's Army, too, but whenever we climbed the tower, she and Jinjo made the finest party.”

“Weren't you part of the Demon King's Army, Manager?”

“Hmph! Jinjo serves beneath no one! The Demon King's Army invited me several times, but I always traveled alone!”

The manager shrugged.

She seemed proud of the fact that she had never served under anyone.

I more or less understood now.

This was why seemingly incompatible races rubbed shoulders and lived together in this city.

It was all because of that tower.

“Of course, these days, that tower has become the biggest golden goose keeping Taepyeong City fed.”

The manager pointed with her chin at the delivery box I was opening.

“More than half the products we carry in this convenience store are made from things that came out of the tower.”

The Hunter Tower was practically a symbol of turning a catastrophe into an opportunity.

“Then why don't you climb the tower anymore, Manager?”

“……”

Her shoulders flinched at my question.

“Ahem, it's because fighting has become tiresome. Absolutely! Abso-lutely not because Jinjo got addicted to a mobile game and chose an easier job!”

“…I see.”

“Anyway, hurry up and inspect the goods. Jinjo will watch the counter. Once that's all finished, you may clock out.”

“Understood.”

I moved the delivered goods and checked them against the list.

[Milk from Cowfolk - 5 each]

[Mandrake Cup Soup (Corn Soup Flavor) - 10 cups]

[High Potion Six (HP/MP) - 2 boxes]

[Slime Jelly (Grape Flavor / Acid Flavor Random Mix)]

[Holy-Attribute-Coated Dental Masks (KF-94) - 50 masks]

They clearly looked like snacks, canned drinks, cup soups, and masks sold at convenience stores on Earth, but their contents were completely different.

‘How fascinating.’

There was even this.

[Blood Packs (Catfolk Flavor)]

They even had blood packs tailored to vampire customers.

“These products are really fascinating.”

“Hahaha, surprised? Of course, to a human, everything here must seem mysterious. We even have fertilizers popular with ents.”

“You sell fertilizer, too?”

“There is nothing Jinjo's convenience store doesn't carry.”

After checking even the items buried at the very bottom, I couldn't believe my eyes.

“What's this……”

[Dwarf-Made Two-Handed Sword (Holy Attribute)]

An enormous sword.

A greatsword giving off a soft white glow lay separately packaged.

“Ah, that came in. A retainer who could carry it for Jinjo came in and ordered it.”

“You sell this at a convenience store?”

“Hehe, hunters use our convenience store, too. Sometimes people who can't make it all the way to a blacksmith come to Jinjo's convenience store to order things. We didn't used to carry holy-attribute weapons or items, but now that we have a human retainer, we'll be selling them from now on!”

“Where should I put it?”

“Not on the shelves. Put it in the stockroom. Once you've finished sorting the goods, I'd like you to move it there.”

“Understood.”

It really brought the point home.

This was a mysterious convenience store, completely unlike the world I'd lived in.

After checking the final item, the greatsword, I began arranging the goods I'd sorted.

I set aside the cans of High Potion Six that belonged in the heated display case.

I hung and arranged the Slime Jelly, cup soups, and so on in the snack section of the shelves.

Then I placed the blood packs, milk, and the rest one by one in the refrigerated section.

While I was organizing the shelves.

Ding-a-ling! Ding-a-ling! Ding-a-ling!

The manager was handling the customers pouring in.

It was past six in the evening.

The post-work rush had begun, with hunters who had just finished their shift at the tower and construction workers flooding in.

“Hey! Two cans of that potion-flavored energy drink!”

“Cigarettes! Give me a carton of the strong stuff for orcs!”

More than a dozen customers poured in at once, turning the area in front of the counter into a marketplace.

The manager, manning the registers, handled the customers with practiced ease.

“Don't make a racket. Get in line.”

At her single command, the noisy hunters and orcs obediently formed a straight line.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

The manager's hands moved too quickly to see.

Scanning barcodes, bagging purchases, and handing over change flowed like a single work of art.

On top of that.

Vrrrmmm-.

A red shape that had risen behind her operated the barcode scanner like a living arm, scanning the items one by one.

She was handling three registers all by herself.

How many people's workload was she doing alone?

This was insane.

I thought I understood how she'd managed the store alone all this time.

Just five minutes.

After clearing the chaotic crowd in one fell swoop, the manager dusted off her apron and turned to me.

“Have you finished sorting the delivery?”

“Yes. I'm going to put the remaining items in the stockroom now.”

“Hmm, I see. Then just store that holy-attribute greatsword in the stockroom.”

Her lips twitched as if she were pondering something.

“My retainer hasn't been to the stockroom before, has he?”

“This is my first time. Is there anything I should be careful about?”

When I first got hired, she'd told me that the convenience store's stockroom was enormous.

But she hadn't said how large it was or where it was located.

“Jinjo shall show you herself. You may get lost if you go there for the first time.”

“Get lost?”

Come on, surely it wasn't possible to get lost inside a stockroom.

“I think I can step away for a moment, so come along.”

The red shapes that had helped the manager deal with customers at the counter earlier took their places in front of the registers.

Seeing that, the manager led the way.

“Be careful not to lose your way.”

Following the manager, I opened a steel door at the back of the store bearing a sign that read ‘Employees Only.’

The moment I opened the door, tucked away in an inconspicuous corner of the convenience store, I saw stairs leading underground.

Carrying the heavy greatsword on my back, I carefully descended the stairs.

“This is…… the convenience store stockroom?”

A gigantic underground bunker stretched out so far that I couldn't see its end.

Glittering orbs floated like stars beneath the impossibly high ceiling, brightly illuminating the interior.

Rows upon endless rows of metal shelving filled the underground stockroom.

I felt as if I'd come to a gigantic logistics-center warehouse.

Now I understood why she'd said I might get lost.

“There's no need to be surprised. I merely cast a rather potent space-expansion spell.”

The manager led the way with her hands clasped behind her back, putting on airs.

I followed behind her, looking around as if entranced.

“This is where we keep items suitable for long-term storage. Everything from unidentified artifacts mined in the depths of the Hunter Tower, to demon swords forged by dwarven masters, to premium magical reagents supplied to the nearby academy is stored here.”

“Our convenience store even supplies the academy?”

“Of course. The goods sold at Jinjo's convenience store are the finest in Taepyeong City!”

Having finished speaking, the manager raised her chin high.

The place the manager led me to was.

[S-14 : Magical Artifacts]

A metal shelf where artifacts were stored.

“Now, go put the item over there. Jinjo will wait here.”

“Aren't you coming with me?”

“J-Jinjo detests holy power! It's power that makes me nauseous just from touching it, so why would I go near it? You do it.”

I carefully removed the holy-attribute two-handed sword from my back and placed it on the stand in the shelving unit.

Bzzzt-.

The moment the sword touched the stand, a barrier activated and the light was contained.

Only then did the manager, who had been standing far away, approach with a relieved sigh.

“Phew. Having a human retainer is truly convenient at times like this.”

“Can't you touch it, Manager?”

“I-it isn't that I can't touch it. It just feels awful. There is no reason to deliberately do something unpleasant, is there? Before you came, I put it in a thick lead box and kicked it along the floor. Thanks to that, I received quite a few complaints from hunters about scratching the merchandise, though. Anyway, good work. Let's go back up.”

So she really did find it uncomfortable.

Having completed our task, we climbed the spiral staircase back to the surface.

“The customer will come to pick up that weapon tomorrow morning. The payment has already been made, so just hand it over when the customer arrives.”

“Understood.”

“Then hurry up and go home. You worked hard today.”

***

The next day.

It had only been a short while since I took over the counter after the morning shift.

Ding.

A tired-looking hunter entered the store.

He looked like a typical veteran warrior, wearing a battered silver breastplate and bearing a shallow sword scar on his right cheek.

“The holy-attribute greatsword came in, right? I ordered it…….”

“Ah, yes. It arrived at the underground stockroom yesterday. If you could confirm your name and order number…….”

It was just as I was tapping the register screen to check the order number.

Ding!!

“Stop! That holy-attribute greatsword is the one I ordered!”

A shout filled with anger.

I looked away from the register monitor and at the newly arrived customer.

I stopped breathing and froze solid.

The battered silver breastplate.

The shallow sword scar on his right cheek.

Even the hollow, exhausted eyes.

The hunter who had just come through the door had exactly the same appearance as the first customer standing in front of the counter.

“Huh?”

What was this supposed to be?

Were they twins?