Corporate HQ: Renowned for Wake-Up Pranks and Unreasonable Demands

— A faint warmth, felt between dream and waking, and the soft, barely-there sound of breathing.

A gentle, comforting scent, like warmed milk with a drop of nut oil.

The instant he absently rolled over, his fingertips brushed against something unbelievably soft and squishy.

"Mn… Rauruuu…"

A meltingly sweet girl's voice tickled at his ear… wait, what.

Struck by a sudden sense of wrongness, Raul bolted upright. The moment he looked down at his narrow bed, he let out a soundless scream.

"!!!!!?"

The first thing that stole his eyes was the whiteness of the girl's skin.

The soft swell of her cleavage, pressed up against the smooth fabric of her camisole. The curves of her body floating up through fabric so thin you could almost see through it… no, you could pretty much completely see through it. Knees bent just slightly, thighs squeezed tightly together. Silver hair spilling across her cheek, catching the morning light pouring through the window in a glittering shimmer. The peaceful, innocent sleeping face of a girl, eyelids softly closed.

The instant Raul flung off the covers, the girl let out a tiny "Mmnn…" and then, slowly, opened her sleepy blue eyes.

"… Huh, Raul…?"

Looking like she hadn't grasped the situation at all, Fino combed her fingers through her hair, then rubbed at her eyes…

"!!!!!?"

… and the next instant, sprang up with terrific force.

"Wh-wh-wh-why is Raul in my room?! Wh-wh-wh-why?!?!?!"

"That's my line! Why are you in my room?! And actually, w-why are we sleeping in the same bed?!?!?!"

"Eh, uh, ummm…"

In a complete fluster, she scanned the room… and the moment she realized Raul's words were correct, Fino, looking utterly thrown, opened her mouth.

"I-I lost the key to my room a little while back, see, and I've been getting in and out through the window, and yesterday I was super tired, so I just shrugged off my jacket and crawled into bed and… !?"

Rattling it all off like she was dragging the memory back into place, she finally remembered her own state of dress. Her face suddenly flushed bright red, and Fino yanked the blanket beside her up to her chest.

"R-Raul… s-so, um… you… you didn't do anything, did you?!"

Still clutching Raul's blanket tight, scooting backward across the bed as if trying to escape, Fino peered up at him through her lashes with something almost frightened in her eyes.

The words made Raul's heart jolt, and his voice cracked.

"Eh, w-wait, do, do anything, like…"

"!! Th-that's what I'm saying! Y-you know… R-Raul's…"

When the flustered Raul echoed it back, Fino flushed so red her cheeks looked ready to catch fire. With the most embarrassed expression imaginable, she haltingly opened her mouth.

"Raul's… y-you know, the kind of thing that… ends up making a baby… and stuff…"

Still red-faced, gripping the edge of the blanket, eyes turned down to avoid Raul's, Fino looked ready to burst into tears from sheer mortification as she trailed off… At the sight of her like that, Raul's heart rate blew clean past its critical limit.

"I D-D-D-D-D-DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!!!!!"

Scrambling backward in the opposite direction from Fino, Raul threw the denial out with his entire being.

"I didn't do anything!! Nothing at all!! Really, nothing… I didn't even notice you coming in!! So… so um…"

"…"

Even as he stammered out his excuses, Raul's heart was going ba-dump ba-dump at a runaway pace. As if checking the truth of his words, the half-naked girl just stared at him with tear-filled eyes. A silence so awkward it felt like it stretched on forever… But then.

"… Oh, thank goodness."

After a beat, Fino let out a relieved breath, then murmured apologetically,

"Raul, sorry for getting the room wrong… I'll be more careful from now on…"

"N-n-no, it was my fault for leaving the window open or whatever!"

At Fino's meek tone, Raul ended up firing back some apology he couldn't even parse… Wait, oi, isn't this way too much of an overreaction from me?!

But despite her usual reckless, clingy innocence, the realization that she actually knew about that kind of thing set Raul's heart pounding all over again… Honestly, demonkin notions of modesty were completely beyond him.

… Then.

A small grrwww reached his ears. When Raul turned to look without thinking, there was Fino, hand pressed to her blanket-wrapped stomach.

"…"

As Fino stared fixedly at him, her stomach gave another small rumble.

"… Well, since you're already here, you wanna grab breakfast?"

… Feeling something like silent pressure, Raul reluctantly asked. And in answer, Fino, with a delighted look on her face, gave a vigorous nod-nod-nod.

"Ah, we sell this in our store too!"

At Fino's voice from behind him, Raul, who'd just opened the magic fridge, looked back over his shoulder.

"The MagicRange…? Huh, you don't own one?"

"Nope."

Fino nodded, opened the door of the range, and as she peered curiously inside, asked,

"Hey, how do you use this?"

"Ahh… hold on a sec."

As he answered, Raul poured a bottle of milk he'd taken from the fridge into the mug he'd set out beside the MagicStove. Sliding the mug, now brimming with white liquid, into the range and closing the door, he touched the switch on the side. For this amount, well… probably about 30 seconds.

"… Here."

Releasing the switch, he opened the door, took out the mug, and handed it over. Fino, who had been holding her breath as she watched, opened her big eyes wide.

"Amazing! It's properly warm!"

"… Well, that's the kind of item it is… want some sugar?"

"I do!"

She held Raul's blue mug with both hands, nodding happily. As Raul opened the lid of the sugar-cube jar in front of her, Fino stared at the MagicRange like it had moved her.

"Our shop sells useful items like this… selling stuff like this, making everyone's lives easier… Raul, being a magic-shop clerk is super cool!"

Laughing happily, Fino said it with a kind of obvious pride.

… Cool, huh.

Sure, it was the manufacturers who actually made the items, but without places like our store where people could buy them, no matter how useful an item was, it might never make it into people's hands so easily.

His own work was making everyone's lives richer. Being of use to everyone. When he thought of it that way, even this job he'd always considered dull started to feel meaningful.

— This kind of pointless work.

Airi's words from a few days back suddenly flickered across his chest, and Raul thought, just briefly… How do I put it… I wish I could have let her hear something like what Fino just said.

While he was thinking that, Raul opened the fridge door again, and on the way to putting the milk back, he took out some eggs… and the moment she saw them, Fino let out a startled cry.

"Raul!! You… don't tell me, can you cook?!"

"Eh… no, just stuff like fried eggs, it's not really anything you'd call cooking…"

"Amazing!!!!!"

But Fino, her eyes shining at the words, rushed up to Raul, tugged on the sleeve of his loungewear, and pressed him excitedly,

"How do you do cooking?! Hey, show me! Show me!!"

"Eh… ah, ahh…"

Her enthusiasm was, like, kind of staggering. Completely overwhelmed by Fino's tension, Raul pulled a largish bowl down from the cupboard and gave an egg a light tap against its rim.

The eggshell split into two halves in Raul's hand, and the round yellow yolk slid into the bowl like a little sun. The moment she saw it, Fino let out a "Whoaaa!" of admiration.

"Amazing! Hey, just now, how did you do that?! Let me try! Let me try!!"

She watched with a gaze stuffed full of reverence, as if she'd witnessed an actual miracle. Without meaning to, Raul felt his expression soften, and picking up one of the eggs from the table, he handed it to Fino with a warning of "Don't drop it."

"You hit the shell against the rim here to crack it."

"O-okay!"

Gripping the white egg tightly, Fino nodded gravely at Raul's words.

Drawing in a breath, Fino swung the egg at the rim of the bowl with all her might… wait, with all her might?!

"WAIT, OIIII!!!!!?"

… Before Raul could even stop her, the egg, slammed into the rim of the bowl with everything Fino had, sprayed its contents everywhere as it shattered.

"Ggh…"

Pressing his hand to his forehead, Raul squinted at Fino, and then went rigid right there.

"R-Rauruuu…"

The girl who turned around with a near-tearful voice had taken the splash of flying egg directly to the face. Goopy, viscous liquid clung stickily to her silver hair, smearing across those innocent cheeks and pure lips…

… … … …

… Without meaning to, something a little impure crossed his mind. Slightly deflated at his own thoughts, Raul held out a towel and watched as Fino, clutching the remains of the egg, murmured "O-one more time…"

A solid ten minutes later.

"D-done! Hey, Raul, look! See, I cracked it without crushing it!!"

"… Good for you."

… The bowl sloshed with a massive pile of eggs, the sink heaped high with shells. Even as Raul reluctantly humored her, his face thoroughly worn out, Fino puffed out her chest proudly.

"Fuhaha, how about it, Raul! With this, I too am a cooking master!"

"Yes yes, Fino is a cooking master, a cooking master."

He let out a sigh in spite of himself. The moment Raul, chopsticks in hand, casually jabbed them into the bowl, Fino let out a startled cry.

"You crushed it…"

Her face looked profoundly stricken, like she'd taken an enormous shock. At the despair seeping out of Fino's voice, Raul hurried to defend himself.

"Eh… no, look, you cracked so many eggs, I figured forget fried eggs, let's go with an omelet instead…"

"It cracked open so neatly, and Raul crushed it…"

… Glaring up at him through her lashes, through teary eyes, Fino muttered something deeply, terribly resentful.

"Mn, super delicious…!"

The smell of butter wafted through the room. The instant she brought the steaming, golden-yellow lump to her mouth, Fino's mood recovered, and she wore an expression of complete contentment. At the sight of her like that, Raul couldn't help squinting… Geez, mercenary little thing.

"You know, eating together like this is pretty nice…"

Sitting across from each other at the low table in the middle of the room, Fino, cheeks stuffed with omelet, let the words slip happily, and Raul, whose heart had given a little jolt for some reason, hurriedly opened his mouth.

"More to the point, demonkin don't really cook, then?"

"Yeah, regular demonkin don't."

Fino gave a small nod to Raul's question.

"The Demon Realm's cold, so the only stuff you can eat is monster meat and the like, and the nutrients get wrecked if you cook it, so we hardly heat anything… I hear demonkin who like food make a big fuss about it, but Pops didn't really seem to care about that kind of thing."

Cupping Raul's mug in both hands and lifting it for a happy little sip of hot milk, Fino went on.

"There was bread, kind of, but not the fluffy, tasty kind humans have, and baking stuff like that was the [Slaves]' job too…"

"[Slaves]?"

"Ah, weak demonkin, like my mom, and…"

At Raul's casual follow-up question, Fino's expression suddenly clouded over… and after a pause,

"… humans they kidnapped… and so on…"

… Her eyes lowered. At Fino's faltering words, Raul too lost his.

An awkward silence. A heavy mood pressing down on the table… Eventually.

"… That demonkin, the one from before. He said his comrades were still captured by humans."

At Fino's hesitant murmur, head down, Raul couldn't help but knit his brows.

"I've been thinking about it ever since… when I think about demonkin captured by humans and being treated horribly, my chest tightens up, and I want to help everyone, but… but demonkin have killed humans, kidnapped them, done lots of awful things to you guys too…"

Airi's relentless hatred of demonkin and her past. The words left behind by the wounded demonkin hidden in Amada's storefront. Amada's manager, who'd cut down that demonkin without a second's hesitation… ever since the incident at Amada's Royal Capital Store a few days ago, Fino had been somehow sunk in herself.

"What should I do, I wonder…"

In a tight, deeply serious tone, Fino's shoulders trembled as she forced the words out, as if holding back her emotions.

"… Raul. How do you even, you know, make up for that kind of thing…"

"Fino…"

When Raul murmured her name with concern, Fino suddenly raised her face.

… With a terribly pained color welling up in her big eyes, Fino looked straight at Raul, her faintly flushed lips moving slowly.

"— If I can make it up, I… I'd do anything…"

A girl's trembling voice, whispered like she'd thought it through and through. The white skin peeking from her collar as she leaned out across the table to gaze up at him, the terribly defenseless line of her chest…

"H-hey, g-girls shouldn't be saying things like that!!"

… Even though she hadn't meant it that way at all, Raul got all flustered. Reflexively averting his gaze, his voice cracked.

"I don't think you have to make up for anything… you haven't done anything bad yourself… so…"

Fumbling through his words, eventually, Raul gave a small shake of his head.

"… Sorry."

The words of apology spilled from Raul's lips, like a door in his heart had opened.

"At first I also thought, you know, demonkin are all bad guys. When you first showed up at the store, I figured for sure you'd do something rotten too…"

"!…"

"But I was wrong. The thing is… you're, really, a good kid… so… I'll help you save the demonkin too."

At Raul's words, Fino's big eyes wavered, just slightly.

… Honestly, to Raul, demonkin other than Fino didn't matter at all.

No matter how good a kid Fino was, that didn't mean the rest of the demonkin were the same. If anything, Raul suspected Fino was the only special one. The image of inhumane demonkin, drilled into him for years, was too strong, and even now after meeting Fino he hadn't entirely shaken it… but.

— If demonkin suffered, Fino suffered. A girl this good would make this sad a face.

Raul couldn't bear seeing Fino brought low. So if she was going to try and save the demonkin, somehow, he wanted to be of help.

"… How do I put it, it'd be nice if demonkin and humans could get along."

Saying it, then feeling embarrassed beyond all bearing, Raul averted his eyes. Fino stared steadily at him… and then, eventually.

Her expression softened all at once, and with a near-tearful face, Fino quietly murmured, "Thank you."

 

*

 

"… Raul-kun, we have a serious problem."

After that little morning scene.

What greeted Raul and Fino when they reported to work at Leon as usual was a single line from Manager Seara, looking deeply troubled.

"Eh… wh-what's wrong?"

The manager was furrowing her brow in distress, the assistant manager sighing beside her. The moment Raul caught sight of the two of them standing there in the back-yard with such a grim air, he found himself straightening up.

With Amada's Royal Capital Store suspending operations, Leon's customer traffic, briefly down, had completely recovered. The image hit to Amada from the demonkin commotion was severe, and the daily-rotating sale the manager had launched to exploit the opening had also paid off… apparently, thanks to the competitor-research report the manager had submitted to corporate, popular product lines were being prioritized to them. When Amada would reopen was still unclear, but for the moment, the immediate crisis had passed. And yet, what kind of problem could it be this time…?!

"… Wh-what is this?!"

The moment Raul followed the manager's and assistant manager's gaze, his eyes flew wide open.

… There, stacked up to about chest height, was a wall of cardboard boxes. Identically sized boxes piled in quantities that took over a not-very-large space.

"They arrived on this morning's delivery, from headquarters."

The manager murmured ruefully in front of the speechless Raul. The somehow-worn-out-looking assistant manager prodded with a lift of his chin.

"… Open one up."

"Y-yeah…"

Following the assistant manager's instructions, Raul approached the boxes, reached out to one of them…

"… Huh?"

The moment he timidly opened the box, the sound that came out of him was deflated.

What was packed inside were bottled potions. Items that restored HP, basically over-the-counter remedies. Having braced himself for whatever monstrosity might leap out, Raul ended up pursing his lips.

"Wait, these are just plain potions, aren't they. The ones we stock on the shelf in front of the register, right? I'm pretty sure they sell something like 20 a week as a steady seller, so it's not like having this much in stock is a problem…"

"… Check the expiration date."

At the assistant manager's flat remark, Raul, with a jolt, looked at the label on the bottom of the bottle, and what was written there was…

"… Next week, huh?"

… Oof.

"For your information, that's 30 boxes of 12."

… He was done for.

In response to the assistant manager's clinching line, the manager let out a cute little sigh.

"There was an email from Maier-san at headquarters… apparently she got them at a steep discount from some wholesaler. The instructions said we can decide the price freely, just get them sold off as fast as possible."

"… Also, this was stuck to the top box."

Looking somehow utterly fed up, the assistant manager peeled off a sheet of paper and held it out. Written on it in ugly black marker, in scrawled handwriting, was just one line: Seara, leaving the rest to you.

"… Well, this is one heck of an unreasonable demand. First we've had in a while."

… Without meaning to, Raul let his gaze go distant.

Our job is to procure. Selling is your job. That was Maier Sweeper, head buyer of the Product Division at Leostad Trading Company HQ, in her own words, and just as she'd declared, problem merchandise like this got shipped off to stores one-sidedly all the time.

… Well, the fact that the small-fry chain Leostad Trading Company was managing to scrape by in this recession at all owed a great deal to the Product Division's clout, since each member had connections in some direction, securing profitable products through their own private routes. Still, the grudge from the air-purifier incident was one Raul had sworn deep in his heart he would carry to his grave.

"But seriously, what are we supposed to do with this…"

Looking out over the mountain of cardboard burying the back-yard, Assistant Manager Visor whined in a thoroughly defeated tone. Manager Seara crossed her slender arms and murmured, looking troubled.

"But since it's been entrusted to us, we'll just have to sell it all…"

… And then.

"Hey, Manager! Manager!"

Suddenly, stretching up as tall as her petite frame could go, Fino thrust her hand grandly into the air.

"I have an idea!"

In front of the three of them turning toward her without thinking, with no trace of her dejection from that morning… Fino, looking utterly confident, declared in high spirits.

"Welcome!"

A cute girl's voice rang out beneath a clear blue sky.

"Right now at our store, we are running a special-price sale on bargain potions! The expiration date is approaching, but the price is an unbeatable 30 gold! Sale items are not eligible for points, but even so they're quite the bargain. Everyone, please take this chance to come pick them up!"

Chestnut hair swayed softly, long ears popped pertly upright. Big, voluptuous chest.

Baring her foul-play body, packaged in an orange leotard and fishnet tights, shamelessly to the sunlight, smiling that fluffy smile of hers at passersby, was Manager Seara. Beside her, Assistant Manager Visor, magic megaphone (MagicMegaphone) in hand, raised his voice.

"Aaand, by the way, right now we've got an even more wonderful purchase bonus!! For every potion, we'll present you with a stylish, exclusive cosplay photo of our store's prized poster girl!! Twenty different photos including the bunny-girl look you see here, plus one we can't quite shout about in public, a secret bonus included!! A must-see for fans, a must-see for fans, I tell you!!"

While the lively callouts went on in front of the store, the inside too was busier than it had been in quite a while.

"Here is your 150 gold change."

"Thank you for your purchase. Please take this!"

Working the register shoulder-to-shoulder with Fino, Raul wiped sweat from his brow with a small whew.

The bargain sale and the manager's exclusive cosplay-photo giveaway. Fino's plan, unusually, was bearing fruit, and the problem potions were moving along reasonably well. The manager's photos in particular were a hit beyond expectations, with more than a few regulars buying them by the box… well, Raul had certainly opened his eyes wide when the regular VIP customer with an Exrediar Castle corporate member's card had bought five cases at once and, as always, asked for a receipt. The regular, apparently a palace employee with a distinctive black beard, kept clearing his throat and muttering things like "Mm, cheap. You almost never see prices like this," but of course he made sure to take his manager's photos (60 of them) along with him, and… yeah… mhm…

… But, well, can't really blame him, Raul thought. Even Raul, when the manager had cheerfully hauled out the dozen-plus volumes of her secret photo albums to pick the photos for the giveaway, had nearly impulse-bought them by the boxful too.

I mean, who'd have thought the manager was into cosplay…

The instant he pictured the manager's outfit, which she should be wearing out front for the callouts right now, Raul's face went slack. A bunny-cosplay so on-point that even the assistant manager, with his usual dead-fish eyes, had let his eyes light up as he latched onto it. Our manager's cuteness was, by this point, a level on par with national treasure.

"Well, for you, that wasn't a bad idea."

"Ehehe…"

Taking the chance during a lull at the register, when Raul spoke up, Fino grinned proudly.

"I mean, even I want photos of the manager! She showed them to me the other day, and the manager has so many outfits! Red ones, white ones, frilly ones… I thought the leather one was the coolest! Pitch black, all glossy, with studs and stuff stuck in it, and chains hanging off, and a collar and a mask attached!"

"… H-huh."

… For the moment, Raul decided he hadn't heard any of that. He casually looked down at Fino standing beside him.

"But to think the manager had even that kind of outfit…"

In front of Raul as he murmured to himself, the long black band-ears of a hair-band bobbed up and down. Silver hair spilling from the nape of her neck, exposed small back. The marshmallow-fine, ridiculously soft-looking cleavage peeking out from the orange leotard…

As if she'd noticed Raul's gaze, Fino, dressed in a bunny-girl outfit to match the manager, suddenly flushed her cheeks.

"Eh… ah, ahh, the other day at Amada, Raul looked so happy watching them, so…"

"!? N-no, n-no, no I didn't!?"

In front of Raul, whose voice flipped over from sheer agitation, Fino dropped her gaze and stammered,

"W-wearing this kind of thing makes the customers happy, right? So I asked the manager to get one for me… it's e-embarrassing, but… for you humans' sake, I'll do anything…"

"O-OI YOU!! Don't go saying that kind of thing to just anybody, got it?!"

At Fino's words, Raul felt somehow unsettled. Caught up in guilt toward humans, Fino seemed dangerously like she'd do anything if it was called "atonement"… geez, what if some weird guy preyed on her?!

… Then, suddenly, a presence appeared in front of the counter.

"… Welcome!"

The moment Raul lifted his face, a cardboard box was set down with a thunk on the register counter.

Thunk, thunk, more cardboard boxes piled on in the blink of an eye… coming to his senses, Raul hurriedly called out.

"Wait, customer! You don't have to load all of them up on the counter!"

"… Ah, is that right."

At those words, the boy carrying the next box quietly set it down at his feet.

Heavy-looking glasses, black leather jumper. Distressed jeans and black fingerless gloves, a black-dragon pendant hanging from the chest of his T-shirt.

… Ah, I was wondering who it was, but it's Dragon.

A regular who frequently dropped by on weekdays, browsing items and catalogs, and bought some little knickknack on his way out. Because he always wore the dragon pendant, Raul had secretly called him Dragon in his head… while looking at the cardboard boxes piled up on the register counter, Raul thought, Oh right. If memory served, Dragon was a fan of the manager too.

"Um, I'd like 10 boxes of the sale-bonus potions, please."

"Eh."

At his far-too-bold offer, Raul froze on the spot for a second… After a pause, he asked as if for confirmation,

"U-um… it says on the POP, but, these expire next week, you know."

"Ah, yes, that's fine. I'll be living off of nothing but potions for the foreseeable future."

"… I see. Best of luck."

At Dragon's perfectly straight-faced answer, Raul ended up turning a gaze of awe on him.

… 12 to a case times 10 cases was 120 bottles. If he consumed them in a week, that'd be a little over 17 a day… How do I put it, this guy is kind of a hero in his own way, Raul thought.

"Ah, then, 120 of these photos, please…"

"!!!"

The instant Raul handed over the bonuses, Dragon's expression transformed. Using the stack of potion-filled boxes on the floor as a table, Dragon flipped through the 120 photos with brisk efficiency. Letting out the occasional "Ooh" or "Ahh", Dragon's movements suddenly stopped cold on one particular photo.

"U-um…"

Sensing something off about Dragon, frozen in place, Raul timidly called out. The moment he did, Dragon snapped his face up.

"Th-this…! This…! This— AAAAAAAAA I GOT THE SECREEEEEEEET!!!!!!"

As he said it, the moment Raul saw the photo Dragon proudly held out, the words died in his mouth. Manager Seara, cheeks faintly flushed, lying across rumpled sheets, with… how should he put this, a very high skin-tone ratio… wait, m-manager, is this okay?!

Hugging the photo tight to himself, looking like at any moment he might ascend through a break in the clouds and return straight to heaven, Dragon let out a tremendous roar of triumph. Rushing off into the sales floor, he scooped up something and came tearing back to the register counter at once.

What Dragon, panting heavily, set down on the counter was a single MagicLaminator. Glancing at it, giving in to curiosity, Raul couldn't help but ask.

"… You're going to laminate it?"

"Yes!"

With a happy smile, Dragon answered crisply.

"I'll laminate it, and every day, I'll lick it!"

"… I see. Best of luck."

… No good, Raul thought. Just… you know what, better not get involved with this guy. Putting on a show of calm, Raul handled it briskly.

"Ah, this laminator is eligible for points, so your member's card…"

"Ah, that's very kind, thank you."

Thanking him, Dragon pulled a member's card out of his wallet. As Raul casually read the tag on the back of the offered card with the reader… in that instant.

Raul's eyes went so wide they looked ready to pop out of his head.

"… Huh, what's wrong?"

"Ah, n-no, it's nothing…"

Shaking his head in front of the dubious-looking Dragon, his hand on the magic-tag reader trembling, still unable to believe it, Raul looked at the name one more time.

… Ciel Script.

The boy's name displayed on the magic register's checkout screen, he definitely recognized… wait, no way, oi! Dragon, you were an Amada employee?!

I mean… realizing that, Raul felt an impulse to just outright start screaming. I lost so badly to a guy like THIS?!?!?!

… Somehow, completely burned out.

As he worked the magic register, Raul ended up thinking thoughts along the lines of what even is life.

"Thank you all for your hard work today."

After-closing, the lights inside the store turned low. At Manager Seara's smiling voice, the worn-out staff each let out sighs of relief.

"Phew. It's been a while since we've been this busy."

"But! Thanks to that, the potions sold out!"

"… Ahh, my throat… my beautiful voice, aaaah…"

"So, for the lot of you, I have good news, and bad news."

Looking around at the assembled staff, the manager said it casually. The staff received the words with a vague nod… and after a pause, all of them simultaneously snapped their faces up.

"Eh, w-wait, Manager, what is that?!"

"Raul-kun, which would you like to hear first?"

The moment Raul raised his voice without thinking, the manager put a fingertip to her plump lips and asked with a soft little laugh.

… Hesitating just a touch, Raul timidly opened his mouth.

"… Uh… let's start with the bad."

"Understood."

Nodding, chestnut hair swaying, with a smile, the manager calmly let the words out.

"This afternoon, more potions arrived from headquarters."

"Eh."

In that instant, Raul and the assistant manager fell speechless. In front of them, the manager tilted her head with a small "Hmm…"

"It was around five, I think… Koboru-chan, the carriage dragon, ran out of steam, so the morning delivery couldn't carry the whole load, and Raiza-san from logistics specifically brought them in on a special run. I had Visor-kun handle the storefront and signed for the shipment myself, and… when I opened it, more potions."

A silence enveloped the area… Eventually, fearfully, the assistant manager asked.

"U-um… Manager, that's, um, how many boxes…?"

"Roughly, 60 boxes."

After answering immediately and casually, the manager added smoothly,

"Well, double what we sold today… it seems our store is more counted on by corporate than I'd thought."

"Which means…"

In a worn-out tone, Raul's shoulders slumped.

"W-we're doing this all over again tomorrow…?"

"You've got to be kidding me, oi… aaaah corporate, just blow up alreadyyy…"

Almost in unison, Raul and the assistant manager raised their voices and slumped, drooping. Between the two of them, Fino raised a hand grandly.

"Manager! So, what's the good news?"

"That is…"

At Fino's question, a somehow mischievous smile played on the manager's lips.

"It looks like they're a different lot, and the ones that came in fresh still have room on the expiration date. We'll mark these down, pile them on a wagon, and sell them normally… Fino-chan, could I ask you to do the pricing together with Raul-kun?"

… Well, with all that.

At the kachan, kachan rhythm of the hand labeler (the price-tagging tool), Raul couldn't help but sigh.

Sticking price labels on the lids of 60 boxes, totaling 720 potions, transferring them from cardboard to fold-up containers, and loading them onto a cart: a monotonous job. The work itself was simple enough, but at this volume, even with Fino splitting it with him, there was still plenty of time before they'd be done.

"Hey, Raul…"

Suddenly, called by name by Fino. The moment Raul lifted his face, without warning a single price-tag sticker was pressed pat onto his shoulder… Wait.

"H-hey, what are you doing?!"

When Raul let out a voice of protest and peeled off the sticker Fino had stuck to his uniform, printed on it was the highest amount the labeler could put out, 999,999G.

"?"

Looking over, right beside Raul… Fino, labeler in hand, gave a mischievous little smile.

"— For pricing you, this machine doesn't have enough digits."

"!…"

Fino's words, whispered with a kind of bashful air. The instant they hit, Raul, who couldn't help but blush in spite of himself, watched as Fino, beside him, giggled and narrowed her eyes happily… and then.

"Raul-kun, Fino-chan, how's the progress?"

A hand suddenly placed pat on each of their shoulders, and Raul and Fino lifted their faces in unison.

"Ah, Manager! No problem, no problem at all!"

"Ah, um… well, about another 20 minutes, I'd say…"

At the two answering quickly, the manager wore a smile of appreciation.

"Both of you, thank you for staying late. The assistant manager and I will handle the rest, so once you've loaded what you're working on now onto the cart, you can go home for the day."

""Yes!""

Nodding with a smile, chestnut hair fluffing around her face, the manager headed back to her own work.

Watching her go, Raul suddenly grinned, then asked Fino in a teasing tone,

"Oi, Fino. Don't you need to stick a label on the manager too?"

"Eh."

But at that question of Raul's, Fino, with a blank look on her face,

"What are you saying, Raul. There's no way I could stick a price-tag sticker on the manager I respect. You should learn to mind hierarchy better, you know?"

… Eh… ah, ahh, of course.

At Fino's serious reply, Raul's gaze went distant… and that was when it happened.

Your life, revolutionized! ☆

A familiar phrase suddenly flew into his ear, and Raul reflexively looked up.

We'll change it! We'll sell it! Amada Magicccc! ☆

What flew into Raul's vision was the figure of a Capital-famous idol holding a blue robe and a broom, striking a perfectly-on-pose.

The display MagicVision the assistant manager had left running as overtime company. At the CM playing on it, Raul couldn't help raising his voice.

"Whoa, Amada is running CMs even on MagicVision… as expected of the big chains, they really are something else."

"Seeyem?"

Stopping her hands as if drawn in, Fino made a puzzled face, and Raul explained,

"Ah. If you pay money, you can advertise your shop for a short time on MagicVision. Well, it's super expensive."

"Eh, you can show up on MagicVision?! Amazing! Can't we do that?!"

"No, like I said, it's super expensive…"

"Raul."

… With a terribly serious voice.

In front of Raul, who turned a dubious face toward her, Fino, pointing at the Amada CM playing on the MagicVision, murmured in a hard tone.

"… That… what's inside that, that's a demonkin's 'Core'…"

"Eh."

Fino's abrupt words.

When Raul hurriedly shifted his gaze to the MagicVision screen, what was being shown there was the "Magic Orb" Ciel had been promoting at Amada the other day.

"When I saw it at Amada, I got distracted by the toy and didn't notice, but that, no doubt about it… a demonkin's 'Core' is inside…"

"A demonkin's 'Core', meaning…"

"It's like a second heart inside a demonkin's body, this stone… Raul!!"

Suddenly, as if she'd realized something. Fino, her face turned serious, looked up at Raul.

"That guy, the wounded demonkin from before! He said his comrades were captured… and he was in Amada too, and Amada's manager wasn't even surprised seeing a demonkin… maybe Amada has been capturing demonkin to make 'Magic Orbs'…!"

"That… makes sense."

At Fino's words, Raul thought back to the incident from a few days ago. The demonkin who'd been hiding inside Amada's storefront, both his arms and legs wrapped in restraint-like metal, his body battered and bloody…

Come to think of it, Amada's manager's reaction when he saw the demonkin radar had felt off too. Maybe that guy had known there was a demonkin in detection range, and had deliberately pulled the radar off the promotion, or lied that it was broken. If so…

"On the second floor of Amada's Royal Capital Store, Amada's headquarters, a demonkin held captive… no."

… That possibility was thin, Raul thought.

There was no way they'd hold a demonkin captive right in the dead center of the royal capital, in the very floor directly above a major magic shop visited by tons of customers. Of course, that wounded demonkin had probably escaped from Amada's headquarters on the second floor, but the demonkin being there had likely been only temporary, and…

"… After all, the most suspicious thing is the 'Magic Orb' factory. But the location of the factory…"

Whether it was outsourced to another manufacturer or produced in-house, it was hard to imagine the location of a pre-release product's factory would be publicly disclosed. All the more so if demonkin were involved. For someone inside Amada it'd be one thing, but from the outside, there was no way to look into…

It was then that Raul, with a start, lifted his face.

"That's right, Airi… if it's her, she might know the location of the 'Magic Orb' factory…"

"Eh…"

But the moment that name came out, Fino's face changed color.

"But… Airi hates demonkin… she'd never, no way, help us…"

… Ever since learning Airi's background, Fino seemed to have been feeling thoroughly guilty about it. In front of the girl trailing off with a pained look, Raul deliberately spoke up brightly.

"It's fine, leave it to me. I'll cover up the demonkin part, and get it out of her…"

"Raul, you're going to deceive Airi?!"

The moment he said it, Fino's face snapped up in surprise.

"But, Airi respects Raul so much…"

"Eh?"

"Ah… um… i-is it okay to deceive Airi?"

"Well, doesn't feel great, but… but you want to save the demonkin, right?"

When Raul asked it back as if for confirmation, Fino held her breath with a tense expression and let her eyes drift awkwardly… and eventually, as if making up her mind, gave a hesitant nod.

Looking down at Fino, Raul suddenly snapped his fingers.

"That's right, I just thought of a good one. Fino, how about this for a plan?"

Lifting the cord of the magic transceiver (magic intercom) tucked in one ear, Raul let the corner of his mouth quirk up.

 

*

 

… Abruptly, the sound of knocking.

Airi, having just stepped out of the bath, swept back her still damp hair and made a dubious face. Lifting the sword leaning against the wall, she opened the front door.

"Who is it…"

"'All-A'!!!!!!"

In that instant, charging in with terrific force, came the familiar figure of a boy in a gray parka. Frozen for an instant, sword still gripped in her hand, Airi raised her voice.

"Wha… Raul Chaser?!"

"'All-A'! Actually… wait."

But Raul, just about to say something, suddenly went wide-eyed and froze on the spot.

Following the boy's gaze dubiously, the moment Airi caught sight of what lay through the wide-open door past the kitchen, the floor entirely buried under stuff without a gap, the textbook example of a so-called pigsty, she shrieked, utterly thrown.

"DON'T LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOK!!!!!"

Flinging her sword aside and dashing over with frantic footsteps, she slammed the dreadful door shut, sealing away the room full of trash bags and scattered clothes and underwear. Panting harshly as she turned back, Airi shot a sharp glare at Raul.

"Wh-what's all this?! And anyway, how do you even know where I live?!"

"Eh… ah, sorry, I looked at the registration info on the member's card you signed up for the other day…"

"Wh… y-you shouldn't be doing that?! Have you ever heard of the personal-information-protection law, Raul Chaser?! On top of that, barging into the apartment of a girl living alone in the middle of the night like this, what about common sense… wait! N-no… !"

In the middle of speaking, her expression suddenly stiffened, and Airi hugged her own body warily.

"… No way… y-you couldn't possibly mean to, to force me to…"

"… Huh."

"DON'T COME ANY CLOSER!!!"

In front of Raul as he let out a witless sound, Airi took a frightened step back.

"… Y-you've fallen in my esteem, Raul Chaser! W-waiting until I'm fresh out of the bath, y-you, you're going to do what kind of thing to me…?"

… Brows drawn tight, skin flushed, tear-misted eyes turned on Raul.

Long legs in denim hot pants pressed together, hands trembling as they shielded the cleavage peeking out from her tube top. Airi, cheeks flushed, hung her head, her pink lips trembling.

"… Please… d-doing that kind of thing between an unmarried man and woman, I…"

"YOU I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-DIOOOOOT!!!!!!!"

Finally coming to his senses, as if to clear up Airi's misunderstanding (which had her thoughts running away in all sorts of unhelpful directions), Raul yelled with everything he had.

"This isn't the time for that! Fino… Fino hasn't come back!!!"

In a desperately tense manner. The moment Raul said it, Airi caught her breath sharply, and with a hard color in her deep blue eyes, murmured, "… What do you mean?"

"There was a note left behind saying Going to the 'Magic Orb' factory."

Showing her the slip of paper with Fino's handwriting on it, Raul gave a small shake of his head.

"After she went to your store (Amada), she got super interested in the 'Magic Orb.' She was looking into it on her own all over the place… and then yesterday, she left this note behind and went out, and still hasn't come back."

"But… it's not necessarily our company's fault…"

"But there might be a lead."

At Airi's immediate counter, in a serious tone, Raul went on.

"If she's been caught for trespassing or something, that's fine. She brought it on herself… But I went to the police too, and they said no such report had come in… the only lead is your company's 'Magic Orb'."

"!…"

In front of Airi, eyes wavering, Raul shook his head with a worried look.

"… Even if it has nothing to do with your company's factory, she could've gotten caught up in something on the way there… I mean, look, she's kind of cute, right? If something weird happened to her, there'd be no taking it back, and we have to hurry…"

"B-but… I can't tell that kind of thing to an employee of a rival company…"

"You owe her too, don't you? She saved you from the air purifier, took the rap when you went off on her about the demonkin and all that."

"Th-that's…"

In front of the faltering Airi, Raul clapped his hands together and bowed his head deeply.

"Please, 'All-A'… you're the only one I can rely on."

A brief silence.

Eventually, Airi turned on her heel, slipped past Raul, and reached for the door to the back room…

"Airi?!"

"… Our store is still closed for a while."

She cut off Raul's anxious voice flatly.

… With her back still turned, Airi gave a small shrug of her shoulders.

"I'm going to get ready, give me three minutes… Geez, just this once."

"… Thanks, 'All-A'!"

In that instant, his expression softened with relief. Saying his thanks and stepping outside, the moment Raul closed the front door, he touched the mic switch on the magic intercom pinned to his collar, and in a low voice, quietly murmured.

'— Fino, it worked.'

'… Roger!'

As if she'd been waiting for it, Fino's voice came through from the other side of the earpiece.

Pretending Fino had been kidnapped to persuade Airi, having her guide him to the "Magic Orb" factory. Once they got to the factory, send Airi home, sneak in, stay in contact with Fino through the intercom, search out the demonkin that might be held captive, and rescue them if possible. If a rescue seemed too difficult, secure the evidence and bring it to the police. That was the plan Raul had put together.

… Of course, not only deceiving Airi, who knew nothing, but as a result making her help save the demonkin she so deeply hated, weighed on him… feeling a prickling sense of guilt, Raul shook his head… But there was no other way.

'I'll move about three minutes from now, so be ready.'

Cutting the mic switch, Raul leaned his back against the door of Airi's apartment, let out a sigh, and looked up at the night sky where a thin moon hung.