I Did Say I'd Become Store Manager Someday, But...

"… … … …"

Dazzlingly bright skin, set off by the cheerful chatter of girls.

From boldly thrown-open swaths of cloth, soft-looking breasts and thighs peeked out without the slightest restraint, and every shelf and chair arranged inside the tent had freshly removed clothes and underwear strewn across it.

What drifted faintly into his nostrils was an indescribable scent of girl, like flowers and citrus blended together…

On the south side of the Shinrurian Coast, at one end of a wooden temporary stage, there stood a tent perhaps ten meters across. Pushing aside the unbleached cloth that hung at the entrance, the sight that came flying into Raul's vision the instant he stepped inside was a group of girls his own age changing in the most defenseless manner imaginable.

… Wait, hey, no one told me about this!!!?

His thoughts cratered into instant panic. As Raul reflexively averted his eyes, the girl beside him, who had been looking around the room, raised her voice.

"Ah, that shelf over there's open!"

Wavering at the edge of his vision: silver hair like silk threads, tied with a red ribbon, and innocent features that gave no hint of her [Demon King] blood.

A slightly small-statured girl in a camisole-style sundress… his junior part-timer Fino was pointing to one corner of the tent, urging Raul on with a faintly triumphant look.

"Hey, let's hurry over there!"

"Eh… ah! Y-yes!!"

When Raul nodded back at Fino, who was tugging insistently at the hem of his outfit, he finally let go of the entrance flap he had been clutching and stepped forward into the throng of half-dressed girls. But… w-what am I supposed to do in this situation!?

… Keeping his head down as best he could so he wouldn't see anything, trying not to focus on the alluring bare legs that kept drifting into his peripheral vision, Raul made every effort to mount a defense of himself in the privacy of his own chest.

I-I just did what the attendant told me to and walked into this changing tent, that's all, there was absolutely no way of predicting the girls would be in the middle of changing into their swimsuits in here… I mean, why are they changing here in the first place!? Aren't swimsuits something you're supposed to put on under your clothes before you leave the house!?

"Hey, when this is done, we can go play outside, right?"

… Cutting through Raul's spiraling thoughts came Fino's oddly excited voice, checking in with him from his side.

"Earlier, some kids were building a castle out of sand… I want to make one of those too! Kukuku, I shall erect the coolest, most powerful [Demon King]'s castle I have ever conceived upon this barren stretch of sand…!"

"W-well, sure, I guess that's fi—"

"Also, I want to buy food at the stalls outside! There was juice the color of dragon blood, and bright red candy stuck on sticks, and colorful baby chicks, all kinds of food I've never seen before…"

"No, color chicks aren't actually in the food cate—"

"And, and I want to try swimming in the sea! Right behind the [Demon King]'s castle (my old home) was the ocean too, but it was a sheer cliff, and I thought it was the place you threw scraps and corpses, so I never went near it… humans really are gutsy, swimming in a place like that!"

"… After all, demonkin really do need to be wiped out once."

The cool murmur that came in reply to Fino's predictably ominous remark belonged to the other girl Raul was chaperoning that day… And almost at the same moment, a pair of denim hot pants, presumably belonging to the voice's owner, filled the center of Raul's downcast field of vision.

The hem of those hot pants, snugly hugging slim hips, was short enough you could practically see where her legs began, and from there a pair of slender thighs stretched down, tightly toned in a way that made you imagine their springiness…

"… Manager Seara, you've looked sort of unwell for a while now. Is something the matter?"

"Eh… a-ah, aah!"

Raul jerked his face up away from the all-too-direct view, only to find himself being regarded suspiciously by a beautiful, honey-haired girl: his former classmate, now his second junior part-timer, the one they called "All-A" Airi.

At her words, Raul's voice betrayed him and shot up an octave.

"I-it's nothing in particular, n-nothing at all, I assure you!?"

… That, that was a close one!

Choking down the casual speech that nearly came tumbling out from sheer panic, Raul smiled in an attempt to paper over a great many things at once.

"S-so long as you're sure…"

Raul's smile leaked unnaturalness from every seam. Airi's face suggested it didn't quite sit right with her, but for the moment she seemed willing to let it drop.

As the girl quietly turned on her heel, Raul, relieved, muttered inside his head.

The road ahead is fraught with difficulty… no, actually, however I look at this, isn't it just plain impossible!?

 

*

 

Raul Chaser. A boy who had aspired to be a hero from childhood and who, through extraordinary effort, climbed to within a single step of his dream, only for the [Hero System] itself to be abolished. With his dream broken, he had no choice but to reluctantly take a job at a magic shop.

But then, through his encounter with Fino, the [Demon King]'s daughter who came to the store as a new part-timer, he had managed to sever his lingering attachment to being a hero, and the two of them had ended up competing for the manager's chair…

… As to why this particular boy was currently flustered out of his mind beneath a tent on the Shinrurian Coast, in the middle of a group of girls changing into swimsuits, the story has to go back to a Sun-Day night three days earlier.

Yes, that day. The shop had pulled in decent sales for a day off, and closing up had gone relatively smoothly too… and what awaited the young Raul as he stepped into the Manager's office, riding a pleasant glow of satisfaction, was a turn of events he'd never seen coming.

 

*

 

[Recently, in the royal capital, crime involving illegal items has surged sharply…]

From the other side of the open Manager's office door, the grave voice of a news anchor drifted out.

[In particular, there have been frequent incidents in which suspects burst into stores late at night, use a "ShockGun" to knock store clerks unconscious, snatch the cash from the register, and flee…]

"Excuse me. Thanks for your hard work today, Manager."

"… Ah, good work, Raul-kun."

Soft, swaying chestnut hair. An angelic face graced with a gentle smile.

The moment Raul called out, Manager Seara raised her face from her paperwork. Stretching out a graceful fingertip to turn down the volume on the MagiAudio, she offered words of appreciation to Raul as he came in carrying his report.

"You've finished closing out the register already? You've been awfully quick lately."

"Yes, 'All-A'… I mean, Airi helped out. She's frighteningly efficient, that one… is that another illegal-item crime on the news?"

"Yes…"

At Raul's question, Manager Seara glanced at the small MagiAudio beside her and furrowed her brows.

"Apparently the convenience store on the next corner over got hit just the other day. We're not open late at night, but we deal in high-value merchandise too, so we'll need to be careful… oh, by the way, Raul-kun."

"Yes?"

"Would you mind taking my place in the beauty pageant?"

… As casually as if she were extending the small talk.

The instant the Manager let those words drop, Raul's thought process crashed.

"… Eh, um… w-what… what exactly do you mean…?"

… He couldn't immediately make sense of it. After a short pause, when Raul finally managed to ask that much, the Manager opened her mouth nonchalantly.

"Yes. The day after tomorrow there's an event at the Crown of Light Festival on the Shinrurian Coast as part of the afternoon program, and the first prize is the newest model of MagiVi."

"H-haa…"

"You see, I've just received an order from one of our regular customers for the very same model number, but the manufacturer's out of stock and delivery would take another whole month. So I'd really like to secure one through this opportunity… but well."

Manager Seara let out a faintly troubled sigh.

"This year's Crown of Light Festival falls on Water-Day, which happens to be our store's regular day off, but I have paperwork I absolutely have to finish that day. So I was wondering if you, Raul-kun, could go in my place…"

"H-hold on!!"

To Manager Seara's explanation, which had wrapped up without ever touching the essential point, Raul couldn't help raising his voice to confirm.

"… Manager, you just said beauty pageant, right?"

"Yes."

"… Unless I'm completely misunderstanding, a beauty pageant is a contest girls enter, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"I'm a guy!!!?"

In front of the Manager, who was nodding with perfect equanimity, Raul made his case with every ounce of strength he had.

… Honestly, this was a problem so fatal and fundamental it eclipsed even the already-hopeless issue of Raul's looks. It demonstrated, plainly, that there was no way Raul could carry out the request the Manager had just made. And yet.

"Yes."

Manager Seara breezily acknowledged Raul's point. Then she turned in her chair to face him directly.

"And that's why I'd like you to enter in my place."

Smiling sweetly, the Manager picked up the "MagicPhone" lying on her desk.

The adult-palm-sized device was painted silver, with a small protrusion on top for sending and receiving magic-wave signals. It looked entirely unremarkable, the sort of MagicPhone you'd find anywhere.

But… what…?

"Here, Raul-kun, this is for you."

"Eh?"

Out of nowhere, she held it out in front of him.

Question marks all over his face, Raul reflexively accepted the MagicPhone. That was when it happened.

Suddenly the boy was struck by a sensation as if someone had seized hold of the contents of his head and carried them off somewhere far away.

The world around him swayed violently, warped as if churned, and spun a full rotation.

His consciousness receded like a wave drawing back, then returned like a wave rolling in…

… With a start, he came back to himself.

What met Raul's vision, somehow brighter and clearer than usual, was Raul himself, standing there with a MagicPhone in hand whose "in-call" lamp was glowing brilliantly.

"Wha… … … …!?"

Confusion, agitation, an indescribable sense of wrongness wrapping his entire body… The sensation in every part of him was utterly unfamiliar. The instant he glanced down at both hands, Raul's eyes went wide enough to fall out of his head.

Graceful fingertips that moved exactly as he willed in his field of view. Along with the white palms, what came into sight were chestnut-colored locks spilling softly from shoulder to chest, Leon's familiar women's-staff uniform, and the heavy, fit-to-burst swell of an impossibly generous bust… wait!

"Hold, eh… ehhhhhh!!?"

No, hold on, calm down, me! No matter how you slice it, there's no way something this stupid, me actually turning into Manager Seara, could really be happening, right!?

… B-but, the voice I'm using right now sounds like the Manager's, my palms obviously, plus this completely unfair chest is definitely the Manager's boo… n-no!!

… Or rather. Wildly disoriented as he was, Raul desperately raced through his thoughts.

If, hypothetically, if I really have become Manager Seara, then… the "me" standing in front of me now is, surely…

… Finally arriving at that thought.

Raul snapped his head up, and right before his eyes, his own familiar face smiled sweetly.

"Looks like it worked out, doesn't it?"

"M-Manager, is that you, Manager!?"

"Yes."

Holding up the MagicPhone in hand, Raul… rather, the Manager-in-Raul's-body nodded.

"This MagicPhone is an item that swaps the consciousnesses of living beings."

"A-an item that swaps consciousnesses!!?"

"Fufu, I made it myself."

In front of Raul, mouth hanging wide open in that instant, the Manager-wearing-Raul's-face declared this with perfect composure.

"This is the casing from one of our store's MagicPhones that broke down the other day. It seemed a waste, so I wrote new "Magic Syntax" (Magic Program) into it and recycled it. I'd been wanting to try out a consciousness-exchange "Syntax Module" I'd found a while back…"

"A consciousness-exchange "Syntax Module"…?"

"It's a "Syntax Module" from the "Bioprogram" of the Puppet-Lizards that live in the Demon Realm. These lizards have the habit of swapping consciousnesses with larger monsters living nearby for nesting and hunting, you see? That's how, despite being small cold-blooded animals, they're able to survive even in the subarctic Demon Realm—"

"… That's not the point!! Manager, what are you doing casually discovering a Novle-Prize-class "Syntax Module" all by yourself!!?"

She might as well have been sharing an original recipe, and yet the content blew utterly past common sense. Raul couldn't help bellowing.

"I mean, isn't it settled science that "Bioprograms" involved in mental activity are too complex and intricate for even specialist institutions to analyze, let alone reproduce!? How on earth did you…!"

"Well…"

… However. Manager Seara tilted her head and answered in a strikingly offhand tone.

"… Intuition, maybe?"

"In-intuition…"

In front of Raul, who had unthinkingly parroted her, she let out a soft little laugh.

"A-and you know, I'm actually pretty dexterous. I can write fairy tales on a grain of rice, or build castles out of stacked grains of salt, or carve portraits on a strand of hair… fufu, granted, this particular magic construction did make my shoulders a bit stiff."

"… … … … That's not what 'dexterous' means."

… A statement that would send even a Living-National-Treasure-class craftsman fleeing barefoot. Having quite thoroughly given up on a great many things, Raul just shook his head.

I mean, fretting about common sense around the Manager is pointless at this point… as Assistant Manager Visor had said before, our Manager really is a genius at magic construction.

"… So, that's the situation. I'd like you to use this item (the MagicPhone) to enter the pageant as me, Raul-kun."

"Eh… wait, ah!"

The original purpose, the request the Manager had made before this string of unexpected events had completely driven it from his mind, came back to Raul, and he nodded vigorously.

"Right… certainly, with this item, even a guy like me could legally enter the pageant in the Manager's place… no wait, that's not the issue here!!!!"

For an instant he'd almost been convinced, but Raul came to his senses and hurriedly raised his voice.

"This is impossible! Impossible! No matter whose body I'm in, me entering a beauty pageant is a bad idea!! Besides, I get terribly nervous in front of crowds! Forget me, even setting aside the Assistant Mana—, there's Fino or Airi, either of them would be a better f—"

"Ah, that's not going to work. You see, I plan to have those two enter too."

"Eh."

… In front of Raul, eyes going round, the Manager smiled.

"The more bullets you have, the more sure-fire your aim, after all. With me, Fino-chan, and Airi-san, I think we can cover quite a wide range of the judges' tastes."

Smiling serenely, the Manager stretched out a trusting hand and rested it on Raul's shoulder.

"So, Raul-kun… I'm counting on you to chaperone the two of them in my place, all right?"

"W—!!! No, wait, please, hold o—"

The instant Raul, panicking, started to protest the Manager's brook-no-argument tone, a figure came barreling in through the open door.

"Manager, good work today! I finished mopping the sales floor!"

In a tone that gave no indication she had just finished a full day's work, the silver-haired girl who had charged into the Manager's office spotted Raul and brightened.

"Huh, you're here too, Raul? Good work!"

"Good work today, Manager."

"… Ngh… finally… done…"

Following Fino into the room came a dignified, honey-haired beauty and a sleepy-eyed red-haired man with drooping eyelids: Airi and Assistant Manager Visor.

At the sudden appearance of the other staff, Raul, still in the Manager's body, froze completely… and without sparing him a glance, the Manager opened her mouth.

"Good work, Fino. Thanks for your work today, Assistant Manager… Airi, you finished up too?"

"Eh? E-er, yes, more or less…"

"Then your timing's perfect."

… … … … Eh?

The Manager-wearing-Raul's-form's natural attitude, indistinguishable from the real Raul. In front of Raul, who couldn't help gaping, the Manager nodded with satisfaction and continued, smiling.

"We were just talking about going out for a meal together as kind of a welcome party for you and Fino… Right, Manager?"

"Eh… ah, y-yes!"

Suddenly tossed the conversational baton, Raul nodded reflexively, but a beat later, registering the content, his eyes went wide.

… Manager, what on earth are you thinking!?

"Ahh, that's right, we never did throw a welcome party for these two…"

"… What's a welcome party?"

Fino tilted her head in puzzlement beside the Assistant Manager, who stroked his chin as he spoke. The Manager crouched down to meet the girl at eye level and explained.

"A welcome party is, well, Fino. It's a celebration of you and Airi coming to work at our store… things got busy and it got pushed back, but the Manager here's apparently going to treat us to something tasty."

"Wow, I'm coming!!"

In an instant, Fino's blue eyes lit up… and the Manager, satisfied with her reaction, turned to Airi.

"You're coming too, right, Airi?"

"Eh… m-me?!"

But Airi, looking somewhat conflicted, gave a small shake of her head.

"I-I already made preparations for dinner at home… and besides, having other people treat me to things isn't something I really…"

"… You know, it's a welcome party, and the Manager's offering to treat. Just let yourself be spoiled. You're up to your eyeballs in scholarship payments, so I bet you don't get to eat anything decent normally, right?"

"Wha—"

At the Manager-in-Raul-form's observation, Airi's cheeks reddened visibly for some reason.

"W-why do you know that!?"

"Why? You've been eating nothing but half-price sweet bread for lunch lately."

"That's because the local supermarket marks them down! I-I cook proper meals at home, you know!!"

"Cooking? You mean like that curry with no ingredients in it you were eating the other day, or that spaghetti with just salt sprinkled on?"

"Th-that was just because it was right before payday…"

"You should eat something proper once in a while, you know? … Right, Manager?"

"Eh…? Ah, y-yes that's right, 'All—' a-ah, Airi-san!!"

In front of Raul, who hastily nodded along, the Manager added one final shove.

"Well, if it's bad timing, I won't force you… but it'd be lonely if you didn't come."

"Ngh…"

The word "lonely" coming out of Raul's mouth, spoken by the Manager.

In that instant, Airi flinched for some reason, then haltingly opened her mouth.

"… W-well, if it's a welcome party, then… Manager, I'm sorry. I'll let you treat me."

"Good, that settles it!"

The moment Airi tentatively agreed, the Manager nodded with satisfaction.

"Manager, you can be ready to leave the store in fifteen minutes, right? I'll go finish up the rest of the closing!"

"Ah, I'll help too!"

"W-wait a moment!!"

To the Manager, who turned on her heel as if to leave just like that, Raul hurriedly raised his voice… and at that moment, the Manager-wearing-Raul came to a stop and gently patted the back of Fino, who had paused alongside her.

"… Oh, sorry, Fino. Sounds like the Manager has something to take care of, so go on ahead."

"… M-Manager! What is going on!?"

"What is going on, you say…"

Pressing in on the Manager the instant they were alone, Raul demanded to know with such force he was practically spitting. Manager Seara simply blinked her eyes as though puzzled.

"You'd struggle if you had to go on cold, wouldn't you, Raul-kun? You need time to prepare yourself mentally too, so I thought we could use this opportunity to have you practice imitating me… fufu, I'd been thinking we needed to throw Fino-chan and Airi-san a welcome party anyway, and there's no way I could just swap places with you during work, so the timing worked out perfec—"

"Hold on, why is me entering the pageant being treated like a settled matter!?"

This is bad, really bad…! Realizing he was being swept along by circumstance step by step, Raul became thoroughly flustered.

I mean, no matter how much the Manager is asking me, this is impossible… in any case, I have to avoid the beauty-pageant route at all costs!

"To start with, I haven't agreed to anyt—"

"Speaking of which, summer bonus assessments are coming up soon, aren't they?"

… In that instant.

"My, what's the matter?"

Smiling at Raul, who had frozen mid-motion, the Manager picked up the jacket draped over the chair.

"Jacket's here, bag's here… your work is all done, so just take these and leave the store, Raul-kun."

Issuing her instructions briskly, she placed the jacket in Raul's hand as he stood there frozen stiff, and Manager Seara patted the boy on the shoulder as she passed.

"Fufu… please be careful not to give yourself away too obviously, all right?"

… Raul, still in the Manager's body, blankly watched his own back walk out of the room.

 

*

 

"Thank you for waiting. Your table for five is this way."

"I want the window seat!"

A clean six-person booth, to which they were guided by a young waitress. The instant Fino, with a cheer, slid onto the inner sofa, Airi's voice rose in reproach.

"Wait, Fino-san! That's called the head seat, it's where the Manager—"

"The 'Divine Seat'?! What's that, that's so cool!!"

"Now, now, 'All—' A-Airi-san, it's fine, w-we don't mind, do we?"

The unfamiliar fluttery openness of a skirt. The intoxicating scent of the Manager's hair drifting up with each shift of his body.

A family restaurant not far from Magic Shop Leon, Royal Capital Store.

Forcing a smile onto a face that was about to slip into outright tragedy if he let his guard down for even a moment, Raul, as Manager Seara, soothed Airi while sighing inwardly.

… Fino and Airi. With the back-to-back new-hire training, Raul's sales numbers for the current quarter had dropped significantly.

That was, of course, unavoidable, but all corporate could see were the numbers, and Raul's bonus this time essentially hinged on the assessment of his direct supervisor, Manager Seara.

In Raul's mind floated the sword he'd seen in the weapons catalog he'd had sent over the other day.

The demonkin in question, the former [Demon King]'s right-hand who was scheming to make Fino the next [Demon King], was still on the loose, and there was no telling when the major magic-item mass retailer Amada Magic might attempt another contemptible plot. Fino was a demonkin of the [Demon King]'s bloodline, but she was a really good kid. Having resolved to be a strength for Fino, Raul's conviction that he needed to get his hands on a proper sword of his own had only grown.

… That said, between Raul's meager paycheck and his nearly nonexistent savings, the means simply weren't there, and there was a limit to how much he could cut from his daily expenses.

Setting aside the beauty pageant business for now, he had to somehow make a good impression on Manager Seara and rack up some points…!

"When you've decided on your order, please let us know via the magic call button on your table."

"Thank you very much."

Smiling back at the waitress's bow as Manager-Seara-in-Raul's-body returned it, Fino, who had been looking around at the late-night restaurant with its sparse patrons, suddenly piped up after the pink-uniformed waitress departed.

"Ah, hey, only that guy server's wearing a cool-looking badge."

"Ahh… that'd be the manager here, probably."

"I see, so that's the boss of this place…"

Following the Assistant Manager's words, Fino narrowed her eyes as if calculating something, then quietly remarked.

"… He'd last, hmm… about a minute, I'd say."

"What kind of simulation were you just running in your head!!?"

To Fino's deeply ominous remark, Raul reflexively shot back from somewhere below the conscious mind…

""""… Manager?""""

The instant the Leon staff's gazes turned to him in unison, Raul, in the Manager's form, hurriedly shook his head.

"N-no, that's not… F-Fino-chan! Let's look at the menu together!"

"Eh… y-yeah…"

Fino's face had been puzzled, but the instant Raul opened the menu, her eyes sparkled.

"Wow, amazing… there are photos of all kinds of food in here…!"

"Fino, today's your welcome party, so you can order whatever you want."

"E-eh… e-everyone, please don't hold back either!"

"Yaay, Manager, thanks!!"

The instant he said it, Fino lifted her face, silver hair swaying, and thanked him happily, looking up at him from below.

… I mean, her face is close…

At a distance close enough that he could feel the warmth of her cheek, Fino stared hungrily at the menu Raul was holding open. From the other side, Airi was timidly peeking at the menu as well… sandwiched between the two girls leaning shoulder-to-shoulder against him, Raul was tense to the bone.

The two girls' utterly defenseless napes flickering right in front of him. … I mean, the Manager too, but why do girls smell so good? As the boy fidgeted, Fino suddenly raised her voice beside him.

"Manager! I want this!!"

Looking excitedly up at Raul, what Fino pointed to was…

"… … … … the Kid's Plate."

"Fuhaha! At a single glance, this gets you the widest variety of foods and it's the cheapest! This is what they call good cost-performance, isn't it?"

… Raul muttered in exasperation as Fino puffed out her chest proudly. And then…

"Heh… that's pretty clever of you. Good job, Fino."

"Hehe."

The moment the Manager-in-Raul's-form praised her, Fino laughed bashfully.

"… Anyway, this blood… what kind of blood is it?"

"Eh?"

In front of Raul, who couldn't help asking again, the silver-haired girl pointed at the menu.

"Look, almost every dish here is drenched in blood! The meat and the rice and the noodles are all stained bright red… fufu, humans have surprisingly good taste! Coating rice and noodles in blood is an idea even the Demon Realm never came up with—"

"It's not blood!!"

Unable to ignore Fino, who had jumped to a tremendously unflattering conclusion about humanity and was now nodding to herself in admiration, Raul couldn't keep his voice from sharpening.

"Like there'd be any such grisly thing as ketchup rice or napolitan!!"

"Eh, but isn't the 'family' in 'family restaurant' meant in the Mafia sense?"

"Why do you only know stuff in that weirdly specific zone!?"

After laying into her with full force, he came back to himself and clamped his mouth shut, but it was too late.

… The gazes of the staff around the table once again converged on Raul.

Beside Raul, who froze stiff, Fino whispered uncertainly.

"Today's Manager is sort of… like Raul…"

… Fino's suspicious gaze. Sensing the silent pressure radiating from the Manager across the table, Raul flustered into speech.

"E-eh, well… i-it's a recent personal trend, copying Raul-kun's retorts! … W-what do you think!?"

A brief silence.

… Eventually, Fino, looking somehow deeply shocked, murmured.

"You're good at it… but, I don't want the Manager to do stuff like that…"

"I also think it's unbecoming, so you should stop…"

"Ngh, dammit… what could possibly have driven the Manager to a state like that…!?"

"… Manager. It feels strange for me to say this, but if you have something on your mind, I'm here to listen, all right?"

"S-seems unpopular, so I'll stop!!?"

W-what! Were you guys looking at my retorts like that this whole time!?

… Receiving sympathetic looks from not only Fino and Airi but even the Assistant Manager. Raul had suffered a wound to his soul that wasn't going to fade anytime soon, but his sacrifice had at least allowed him to gloss things over.

The staff returned to perusing the menu… Manager Seara, sitting opposite Raul with a thoughtful expression, mused as if to herself.

"Hmm… what should I get…"

"Ahh, Raul-kun. The hamburg steak here is good, you know?"

Catching her musing, the Assistant Manager offered advice in his most senpai-like tone.

"They keep the texture coarse on purpose, grind Orion beef lean cut, sear it rare, and top it with a special gravy made from heaps of those sweet black onions…"

"Oh, is that so?"

The Manager nodded with a look of genuine interest at the trivia the Assistant Manager was happily reeling off.

"Then I'll have the curry rice."

"… … … …"

In that instant, watching the Assistant Manager now wreathed in an aura of profound dejection, the Manager laughed as if to make it up to him.

"Just kidding, just kidding. The hamburg steak is what you recommend, right, Assistant Manager? Then I'll have the hamburg too… And Airi, what about you?"

"Eh…?"

Suddenly addressed, Airi jerked her face up from the menu and answered hurriedly.

"I-I'll have this walnut chicken butter omurice…"

"… This is a rare chance, you sure you don't want to go heavier on the meat?"

"What other people eat is their own business!!?"

At the Manager's teasing tone, Airi's voice flared up in protest.

"Besides, beef is for special occasions like birthdays! It's not the kind of thing you should casually be eating every… wait."

The instant she'd declared it as a matter of course, pitying gazes from around the table converged on her, and as Airi froze at the unexpected reaction, the Manager-in-Raul's-form let out a sigh.

"… You really do have it rough, huh…"

"Eh, hold on, what's that supposed to mean…"

"… Don't hold back, all right? Today is your welcome party, so you're free to choose whatever you want. Look, the hamburg steak the Assistant Manager is recommending is right there too…"

"S-stop with those pitying eyes! And anyway, it's late, so I want something light…"

"But the hamburg steak is actually lower in calories, you know?"

"Eh."

At that observation, she looked back at the menu sharply… and after a moment, Airi cleared her throat quietly.

"Y-you're right… it's a bit of a splurge, but since the Assistant Manager is recommending it, having hamburg steak once in a while wouldn't be so bad either…"

"OK, then hamburg for Airi too."

The Manager laughed in Raul's form, looking amused at Airi's transparent reaction.

… I mean, somehow… Watching his own self briskly consolidating orders with a refreshing smile, Raul couldn't help muttering inwardly.

I always thought my face wasn't much to look at, but seen like this it isn't actually that bad. Maybe I'm actually one of those trendy 'ambient-attractive' guys…

"And, Manager, what about you?"

"Ngh!!?"

Right when he was steeping in that conveniently flattering daydream, Raul was caught off guard by being suddenly addressed.

"Eh, ah, t-then, m-… I-I'll have the hamburg too!"

Voice rising from the sheer disorientation, Raul answered nervously as the Manager-with-his-face asked her question cheerfully, then he narrowed his eyes.

… Ah, right. The reason "I" had been coming across as kinda decent just now is just because Manager Seara is the one inside… yeah, I knew that already… Dammit.

"Hey Raul, can I press the button to call the server?"

… Beside Raul, who let out a deep sigh, Fino piped up excitedly.

"Four hamburg steak sets, one Kid's Plate… and the drink bar, please."

Manager-Seara-in-Raul's-body placed the order briskly and without hesitation, and as the waitress departed with a light bow, the Assistant Manager, sitting on the aisle side, rose to his feet.

"All right, I'll go grab some drinks…"

"Ah, thank you, Assistant Manager."

The Manager seized the moment as the Assistant Manager stood.

"I'll have a hot coffee… how about you, Manager and Airi?"

"Eh, ah, e-er… then I'll have an iced coffee…"

"Ah, I'd like a vegetable juice."

"E-hold, wai—"

The orders piled on without giving him room to protest. Ignoring the Assistant Manager's growing distress, the Manager turned to Fino across the table.

"Fino, what do you want to drink?"

"E-er… t-the most delicious one!!"

Fino was looking up at the Assistant Manager with eyes full of expectation as she spoke.

Resisting those innocent eyes was simply not within human capability…

"… Y-yeah, leave it to me."

… In the end, going to fetch everyone's drinks alone. Watching the Assistant Manager's somehow soot-stained back as he headed for the drink bar, the Manager suddenly piped up as if she'd just remembered.

"Ah, that's right, Manager… about that beauty pageant from earlier, why don't you ask Fino and Airi too?"

"Eh?"

"You know, the one the day after tomorrow…"

The Manager winked at Raul, who couldn't help asking again.

… Wait, does this mean she wants me to tell these two about the pageant?

"A-aah, r-right!"

Catching on a beat late, Raul hurriedly opened his mouth.

"There's a customer I really need that prize MagiVi for, so I'm planning to enter the beauty pageant at the Shinrurian Coast on my day off, and, um… if it's okay, would the two of you enter with me?"

""A beauty pageant!?""

The instant he said it, Fino and Airi spoke in unison.

"A beauty pageant… what's that?"

… To Fino, who had asked back curiously, the Manager across the table raised one finger.

"Fino, a beauty pageant is an event where the participants compete over who is the most stylish."

"Wow, I'll enter! I'll enter the beauty pageant!!"

… Well, Fino's a given.

Pivoting away from Fino, who had accepted on instant reflex, Raul turned to the girl on his other side. … The real problem is this one.

"A-and what about you, Airi-san…?"

… Just as expected. To Raul's hesitant question, Airi gave a small shake of her head.

"M-me, in something frivolous like a pageant…"

"What, that's a shame… I figured you could easily take first place."

To the Manager's words, slipping in from the side without missing a beat, Airi's face shot up.

"Wha— a-are you trying to be snide, Raul Chaser?!"

"Eh… not at all. You're really pretty, you know."

… Wait, what are you saying with my mouth, Manager!?

In front of Raul, who couldn't help being stunned into silence, Airi's indigo eyes went round.

"Ngh, p-pretty?! Th-that can't…"

"Huh, are you actually unaware? … I don't think I'm the only one who thinks so, though."

"Ngh…!?"

… The instant the Manager tossed off the line, Airi's well-formed face flushed redder than any face had a right to, and she lowered her head.

"… A… w… I… I…"

Bashfully lowered eyelashes, lips that parted hesitantly.

To Airi's flustered stammering, an utterly demure expression you couldn't picture on the girl she usually was, Raul, sitting right beside her, felt his heart skip.

… Coming back to himself at the eye contact the Manager across the table sent his way, Raul hurriedly raised his voice.

"Y-yes, that's right! Having you enter with us would be such a reassurance, Airi-san!"

"… I-if you say so, Manager…"

Cheeks flushed, Airi nodded modestly. Feeling his own cheeks heat up for some reason as he watched her, Raul couldn't help muttering inwardly.

I-I mean… this honest version of her is actually pretty cute…

"T-thank you, Airi-sa—"

Just as Raul opened his mouth to cover his own embarrassment.

"Ah!"

Fino's loud voice cut Raul off.

"Outside the window, there's something out there…!"

At her words, the Manager, Raul, and Airi all looked up sharply.

Where their gazes converged simultaneously, beyond the window Fino was pointing to:

A translucent sphere the size of a person's head, wreathed in a faint glow, was floating there.

In the darkly painted frame of the window, a colorless mass drifted through the air like a jellyfish.

Inside the dimly translucent membrane, multiple equally translucent spheres tinged a pale green bumped lazily against one another and bounced around slowly…

"… Don't startle me like that."

… After a moment, Airi, who had braced herself in tension, suddenly let the strength drop from her shoulders.

"That's just an Air Volvox. It's a plant, a plant… It probably drifted over here, attracted by the shop's light."

"I-it's a plant!?"

Watching the thing bounce soundlessly off the window glass, Fino's eyes went wide.

"B-but, how is it floating without wings or feathers?"

"How? It's just a creature with that sort of "Bioprogram"."

"B-Bio… is that different from the "Magic Program" in magic items?"

"Eh."

Airi, who had answered in exasperation, found herself stumbling at Fino's follow-up question.

"E-er, how do I put it… a "Bioprogram" is innate, while a "Magic Program" is artificial…"

"Oh ho, sounds like it's time for the former ME to step in, doesn't it?"

… And then.

"Ah, Assistant Manager!"

"Welcome back, Assistant Manager."

Assistant Manager Visor, who had returned from the drink-bar corner at some point, set the tray laden with cups and glasses for everyone on the table and cut in, looking amused.

"Sorry for the wait. Now, first, grab your own drinks… ahh, and Fino-kun's is this one, by the way."

"Thanks! Wow, this smells really good…!"

Thanking him happily, Fino lifted the white mug placed before her in both hands… and her big eyes narrowed the instant she brought it to her lips.

"… Fuwaa, this is super delicious… as expected of the Assistant Manager…"

"Fu fu fu, you like it then, do you…?"

The Assistant Manager puffed up with pride at Fino's blissful sigh… However, the moment the Manager-with-Raul's-face caught on to what was in Fino's mug, her eyes narrowed.

"… Assistant Manager. Giving her cocoa before a meal seems like a questionable call…"

"Eh…"

Flinching for a moment at the criticism, the Assistant Manager stammered out an excuse.

"I-I mean, Fino-kun said she wanted something delicious, so…"

"… And anyway, melon soda during a meal seems a bit much for you too, Assistant Manager…"

"M-more importantly, we were talking about "Bioprograms", weren't we!"

Hastily averting his eyes from his subordinate's exasperated look, the Assistant Manager turned to face Fino.

"All right, Fino-kun? In this world, beyond length, width, and height, the dimensions we ordinarily perceive, called the "Real Domain", there's one more direction, an invisible one."

"An invisible direction?"

Fino, eyes wide as she cradled the mug in both palms, asked back, and the Assistant Manager nodded.

"That's right. What spreads out in that direction is the "Magic Field"… everything in this world only becomes a single existence when you combine the parts that belong to the "Real Domain" with the parts that belong to the "Magic Field", you see?"

As he explained, he twisted his finger, muttered "'Open'", and surfaced the "Magic Field" of the glass of green juice in front of him. He pointed at the faintly luminous glass, now overlaid with the physical glass in a double image.

"… So, as you can see. Glass, metal, stone, water… the "Magic Field" of non-living things is basically blank. But the "Magic Field" of living things has, from the start, the syntax necessary for the creature's life processes written into it. That's the "Bioprogram"."

"Eh, that means it's written in my "Magic Field" too?"

"Of course."

He tapped his own temple lightly with a fingertip as Fino looked up in surprise.

"Thinking, talking like this… our conscious activity is carried out not just by our brains in the "Real Domain" but through the "Bioprogram" in the "Magic Field" too… Well, that part of the syntax is a touch too complex, so it's said to be impossible to fully analyze."

"My, as expected of the Assistant Manager. You really know your stuff."

"… … … …"

To the painfully fake reaction of Manager-Seara-pretending-to-be-Raul nodding in admiration beside the Assistant Manager, Raul couldn't help giving her a thousand-yard look… The reason I'm in this situation in real time is because of a magic item that uses that supposedly unanalyzable syntax, you know…

"Well, the useful parts of those "Bioprograms"… the "Syntax Modules" that convert magic power into light, or into kinetic energy, picked out and written into the "Magic Field" of non-living objects: that's what magic items are. And the artificial syntax written in that way is what we call "Magic Program"…"

… And then.

A sensation of something being pressed against Raul's shoulder as he listened to the Assistant Manager's impassioned lecture.

Glancing down without thinking… and the boy froze completely.

"Ngh!!?"

"Fufufufufuu… … … …"

Slender arms stretched out and squeezed tight against Raul from the side. Fino, cheeks flushed in an inexplicably blissful manner, nuzzled her caramel-with-nuts-scented body against him as if begging for affection… wait!?

"Ngh, w-wha—, s-so suddenly…!!?"

The demonkin girl proceeded to bury her face square in Raul's… rather, Manager Seara's chest.

Letting out a soundless scream at the unforeseen development, the boy could only watch as Fino purred happily.

"Mmm… the Manager's boobs are soft and feel really nice…"

"H-hold… y-you…!"

His face going extremely hot, his heart pounding away.

Shaken by the warm weight of the girl playfully clinging to him, Raul couldn't move…

"H-hey, isn't that kid kind of… drunk?"

At Airi's hesitant observation, the Manager's face shot up.

"Assistant Manager… don't tell me, in Fino's drink…"

"Eh… wait, hey, that's a baseless charge, baseless! I-it's not like the drink bar carries alcohol, you know!?"

"But, there's nothing else that could be the cause…"

To the Manager's suspicious gaze, the Assistant Manager stammered out denials… and Airi, who had been thinking something over, suddenly opened her mouth.

"… It might be theobromine."

"T-theobromine?"

When Raul parroted it reflexively, Airi nodded.

"Yes. It's a component in chocolate and cocoa. Humans are fine with it, but for creatures that have trouble breaking down theobromine, like dogs, it can cause poisoning…"

"D-demonkin get drunk on chocolate!?"

"… Well, the main effect is stimulant, so it's a bit different from inebriation, but…"

At Airi's words, Raul looked down again at the demonkin girl who was rubbing her cheek against the chest she'd buried her face in, laughing softly and merrily… and sighed.

… I mean, thank goodness I didn't end up giving her cocoa when she came to my place the other day…

"Thank you for waiting."

"Waaaaaaaah!!"

The instant Fino caught sight of the Kid's Plate the waitress had brought, she sprang up from Raul's body with a delighted shout.

"Amazing! There's so much stuff on it, and there's even a flag stuck in the rice! Hey, can I really eat all of this myself!?"

"Y-yes…"

Finally released from the embrace, Raul nodded with a faint pang of reluctance. Fino gripped her fork happily.

"Fufufuu, itadakimaasu!"

"Fino, stop."

"Ngh…?"

… At the sudden order from across the table, Fino froze her hand mid-motion… and the Manager-with-Raul's-form addressed the girl in a teaching tone.

"Listen. That thing in the upper right you were just about to start with is called 'pudding', and it's the final boss of the Kid's Plate. If you don't clear out the small fries first, it'll turn the tables on you, you know?"

"F-final boss…!?"

Fino flinched at the Manager's words and eyed the pudding apprehensively.

"… G-got it, Raul! I'll take this one out last!!"

"Good, you catch on quick, Fino."

"Ngh… R-Raul praised meee!"

At Fino, who broke into a delighted smile in that instant, Raul couldn't help being impressed.

… Yeah, the Manager is way better at handling Fino than I am. As expected of seniority… well, I don't know how old she actually is.

"Fuwaaaa… this is super delicious too… … … …"

… I mean, she really does eat like it's the most delicious thing in the world…

Setting aside the pudding's pacification as instructed and instead chomping into the napolitan first, Fino was lost in admiration, and Raul watched her with a quiet smile…

"It's true… this is red, but it tastes nothing like blood…"

"… It's not blood, it's tomato sauce, all right…?"

… Just as he was sighing again, the waitress's voice rang out once more.

"Thank you for waiting, here are your special hamburg steaks."

A heavy iron plate was set in front of him with polite words.

On the plate, with hot steam rising, sat a lump of meat browned beautifully on the outside, sizzling away…

"A-ah, thank you ver—"

Raul reflexively offered thanks, but the instant his eyes fell on the side garnish accompanying the hamburg steak, his expression froze.

Geh, this is…

… Off to the side of the plate sat a portion of slightly grayish, glossy potatoes: a tuber widely eaten across the country, and the specialty product of Raul's rural home village.

Of course, his family, who farmed for a living, grew them, but Raul had never been able to handle their distinctive slimy texture, not since he was a kid…

"Oh, Colonia potatoes."

… The Assistant Manager across the table glanced at Raul with a meaningful look.

"That reminds me, Manager, you used to be wild about these potatoes, didn't you? When we were kids you'd even reach over to mine and Elt's plates…"

"Eh… a-ah, h-how nostalgic!"

After a moment of hesitation, Raul remembered. Right, Manager Seara and Assistant Manager Visor were childhood friends. I'd completely forgotten… wait!

"H-hold on, w-what are you doing!!?"

"Eh?"

In front of Raul, who couldn't help yelling, the Assistant Manager, who had been busily scooping potatoes onto Raul's plate, looked up blankly.

"What? You'll eat my share too, right?"

"Eh… n-no, but, I couldn't possibly…!"

"Aah, don't hold back. They're your favorite, right? No matter how full you are, you can always make room for these. That's been your line as long as I've known you, hasn't it?"

Wielding his fork as he spoke, the Assistant Manager pressed the potatoes onto Raul's plate without giving him room to refuse.

Ngh… d-don't do me any favors…!

As Raul ground his teeth involuntarily, beside him, Airi, who had been observing the exchange, spoke up tentatively.

"Manager… if you like them that much, you can have mine too."

"Ah, Manager! I'll give you mine too!"

"E-everyone, y-you don't need to be so considerate…! Wait!"

… Despite his desperate resistance, the mountain of potatoes towering on Raul's plate soon grew more impressive than the main hamburg steak itself.

Thoroughly flustered, Raul looked to the Manager as if seeking salvation… and the Manager, catching his gaze, smiled with Raul's face.

"If you'd like, please have mine too."

An arm casually extended, adding still more potatoes to the plate… Staring down at the now-even-loftier peak, Raul, plastering on a strained smile, murmured tentatively.

"S-so much, can I really finish all this…?"

"Fufu, Manager, leaving food in front of your subordinates is a no-go, you know?"

… Subtly nailed to the wall by the Manager's refreshing smile across from him.

Picking up his fork resignedly, Raul brought one of the grayish nightmare lumps to his mouth with a trembling hand…

… … … …

"Huh… Manager, is it so delicious that you're crying?"

"F-fu fu, fufufufufu…"

To Fino's innocent question, Raul, eyes faintly glistening with tears, let out a hollow laugh.

"Yes… very… delicious…"

… Choking down the various somethings welling up from the back of his throat, the boy silently chewed through the potatoes he hated, harboring resentment for the entire world.

… And then.

"Hey hey, what should I do with this flag on top?"

To Fino, who had polished off the napolitan at some point and was apparently setting her sights next on the mountain of ketchup rice, the Manager paused her hand.

"Fino, if you can finish the rice without toppling that flag, whatever you wish for will come true, you know?"

"Eh, whatever!?"

"That's right."

The Manager nodded with Raul's face, a somehow amused look about her.

The instant she heard, Fino swallowed audibly and stared at the flag in front of her.

"… All right."

… Then, as if she'd made up her mind, she nodded.

Just as the girl, wearing a solemn expression, slowly and carefully extended her fork.

A dull thud suddenly echoed through the store, followed by a long, sharp scream from a woman.

The strained cry, however, was cut off abruptly. In its place came the sound of yet another heavy object crumpling to the floor…

What met Raul's vision when he reflexively looked up was an empty register, the male clerk (evidently the store manager) and two waitresses collapsed in a heap in front of it, and a suspicious-looking man with the lower half of his face hidden behind a large white mask, looking down at them with cold cruelty.

"Wait, that, is that a ShockGun!?"

The naked switch attached to the tip of the black cylinder… the instant Raul caught sight of the item in the man's grip, a chill shot down his spine.

A ShockGun: pressing the switch against a target forced them to output thousands of ampyle of magic power, instantly tripping their consciousness "Breaker". An illegal item recently familiar from newspaper and MagiVi reports… mere possession of one was banned!

Speaking of which, on the MagiAudio in the Manager's office earlier…

In Raul's line of sight as he involuntarily stiffened, the masked man leaned over the register counter, plunged his hand into the still-open register, and grabbed up a 10,000-gold bill…

"The flag…"

… A small voice from beside him.

When Raul turned without thinking… apparently, the sudden scream had startled Fino into bumping her hand, sending her fork astray. Watching the ketchup-rice flag, which had been knocked onto the table, Fino murmured numbly… and then.

Suddenly, she pressed her cherry-like lips together firmly. The next instant, Fino launched herself up from the sofa.

"… I'll never forgive him!"

"Hey, hold on, Fino!!?"

Without time for him to stop her, Fino leapt onto the table and charged toward the masked man at the register.

Forgetting that he was in the Manager's body, Raul also followed after Fino, sprinting from the innermost seat of the booth, stepping on the table as he launched himself out.

"Ngh!!?"

"How dare you, how dare you, how dare you, how dare you!!"

A few high-denomination bills fluttered down from the man's hand.

Bowled into bullet-fast by Fino's body blow, the masked man, entirely focused on the register's cash, flinched for an instant, but immediately readjusted his grip on the ShockGun, trying to press it against the neck of the Fino clinging to him desperately.

"Fino, get back!!"

… Just in time. Knocking the man's hand aside the instant before the tip of the ShockGun's switch made contact, Raul shoved Fino's body out of the way as he shouted.

At yet another intruder, the man's eyes, visible above the mask, narrowed bitterly.

"Damn it…!!"

With a click of his tongue, the masked man lunged to grapple Raul.

… However, fortunately, the man seemed to be a rank amateur who relied on his illegal item. To Raul, who had been training rigorously to become a hero, the man's movements were full of openings. So long as he watched out for the ShockGun being thrust out so carelessly, this would be a cakewalk… wait!?

The instant he leisurely caught the man's wrist and tried to overpower him with brute force, Raul felt the wrongness and held his breath. … Right, I'm in Manager Seara's body right now…!

The man's arm wouldn't budge no matter how much force Raul applied.

By the time he realized his mistake, it was already too late. His arm caught in turn, the black switch of the ShockGun closed in on the bridge of Raul's nose… damn it!

Just as Raul squeezed his eyes shut.

"Ngh!!?"

Right under Raul's nose, the ShockGun suddenly tumbled out of the man's hand.

Driven into the arm of the man who had jumped back with a scream was a metal fork from the hamburg-steak set, faintly glowing with traces of magic power…

"'Byle Shot'!?"

"Byle Shot": the signature technique of his fellow junior part-timer Airi, who like Raul had once aimed to become a hero, using a metal fragment embedded with a "Time Circuit" as a projectile… as expected of "All-A"!

"Ngh…"

The instant the man yanked the fork out of his arm, he scrambled to pick the ShockGun back up, but Raul was just a little faster.

The next instant.

Raul, who had grabbed the ShockGun first, jammed its switch hard against the back of the man's outstretched, exposed hand.

The masked man crumpled to the floor as if his strings had been cut.

… Sinking down to the floor himself without thinking, Raul looked up at Airi, who had run over, and let out a relieved breath.

"Thanks, you really sav—"

"… Raul Chaser?"

Airi, looking down at him as she murmured, wore an utterly bewildered expression… and in that instant, Raul's blood ran cold.

Crap, I gave myself away in that scuffle…!?

The very un-Manager-Seara-like actions he'd taken just now, pulled along by Fino. Under Airi's suspicious gaze, Raul lost all words for excuses… and as if to shatter that atmosphere, the Manager-wearing-Raul-form raised her voice cheerfully.

"Good work, Manager… you really are strong!"

"… Eh?"

"Ahh, that's right, Airi-kun, you didn't know yet, did you?"

In front of Airi, who couldn't help blinking, the Assistant Manager, arriving a beat later, scratched his head as he explained.

"Our Manager Seara here, despite how she looks, is stronger than your average hero, you know?"

"B-but, the way she just moved was just like Raul Chaser…"

"Haha, being compared to the Manager. What an honor."

To Airi, still pressing the point, the Manager-wearing-Raul's-face laughed. Receiving those words from the genuine article, Raul Chaser himself, Airi eventually gave a small shake of her head.

"That's… true… I'm sorry, Manager."

"I-it's fine…"

… T-thank goodness.

Letting out a sigh of relief at Airi's apparent acceptance, Raul slowly stood up… and then Manager Seara suddenly addressed Fino, who was standing just in front of him.

"… Still, Fino. Jumping at a bad guy out of nowhere like that is dangerous, you know? Times like that, you need to listen properly to the Manager's or my instructions…"

"But, because of him, the flag fell over!!"

Glaring down at the masked man collapsed at her feet, Fino spoke regretfully.

"After I went to the trouble of making a wish…"

"… What exactly did you wish for?"

Curious about Fino's reaction, Raul asked without thinking. The silver-haired girl, head still hanging, gave a small shake of her head.

"… That I could stay with everyone at the store, forever…"

… The instant she spoke it aloud, as if the emotions she'd been holding in had spilled over at last. Fino's slender shoulders began to tremble.

"… That's why I was determined to make it succeed… but this guy ruined it…"

"Fino…"

"… After all, is it impossible…? Because I failed, are we going to be split apart…?"

"… Let's all come back here together again."

The words slipped out of Raul's mouth at the sight of Fino, on the verge of tears.

In that instant, Fino raised her face sharply and looked up at Raul with damp eyes…

… Placing his hand on the girl's shoulder, Raul-in-the-Manager's-form smiled at her gently.

"And then, we'll challenge it again… it'll be okay. Next time, things will surely work out."

"… … … … Yes!!"

As if utterly emboldened by Raul's words.

Fino soon nodded vigorously and broke into a smile so happy it was almost dazzling.