Chapter 47
Chapter 47
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Translator: Silver Dragon
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: Preparing!
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After work, our destination was a furniture store with the rather stiff name of "Namdaemun Office Furniture Outlet."
The way there was, of course, public transportation.
The bus.
"Wh-why don't we have a c-car?"
"Ugh, you're grumbling."
"A small outfit like ours doesn't have a car."
Rush hour meant the bus was packed with people. And from the looks of it, a bunch of burly male orcs had piled on, making seats even scarcer.
There was a big gym nearby, and these seemed to be the orcs who worked there.
Kim Yang and I stood holding the hand straps. Reneah, unable to reach, was practically hanging off my waist.
"Some people will get off here, so hang in there."
"Boss... I feel sick."
"I know, just hold on."
"Sh-should've just gone home after work."
Who asked you to tag along?
A crowd poured off at the Financial Dome. But just as quickly, others grabbed the seats, so most of us couldn't sit.
Everyone except Reneah.
She'd plopped into the priority seat for the elderly and infirm, her crumpled face relaxing into a bright smile.
"Phew, now I can breathe."
"Nice, you got a seat."
"It's basically a reserved spot for you, isn't it?"
"Don't tease your elders."
Despite our teasing, Reneah—thrilled to have snagged a seat—swung her legs back and forth while humming happily.
"Hey, you kid!"
If only the old man hadn't shown up out of nowhere.
"Eh? Are you talking to me, young miss?"
"How dare you sit in the priority seat! Get up!"
"...I'm actually really old."
Reneah looked young enough to cause a misunderstanding.
Elves usually got a pass on age assumptions, but this grandpa had jumped the gun.
"Old?! Don't mock your elders, you brat!"
"Hehe! Here, take my seat!"
The moment she heard "brat," Reneah hopped up and yielded the spot.
This was practically a magic spell.
"Uh... Ahem! Good, good girl."
The old man awkwardly sat down, embarrassed, and stared out the window.
I sidled up to Reneah, now humming even more cheerfully.
"Lend me some money?"
"Out of the blue, huh?"
"You look young."
"...How much?"
"Don't!"
Kim Yang smacked my arm to snap me out of it.
It really was a magic spell.
"This is it, let's get off."
Our stop came up soon after, and we disembarked.
For the record, I paid for all our fares.
I had no idea why I was footing the bill after work, but I didn't want to act stingy over something like this.
...It did sting a bit, though.
"It's about a 10-minute walk from here. Hurry, they're probably closing soon."
"Wh-what are we eating?"
"Hm? That grandpa gave it to me! Yay!"
She stuck out her tongue to show off a hard candy.
She was totally high on it.
Ten minutes later, we arrived at "Namdaemun Office Furniture Outlet."
A massive rectangular warehouse building sat next to containers of varying ages. They must've added them one by one when the warehouse overflowed.
Three more than the last time I visited—business must still be booming.
"B-but this isn't actually Namdaemun?"
"They started out there, business took off, but the rent got too high for expansion, so they moved here."
Seeing the place reminded me of my own dreams: expand Meracle someday when we make it big.
"Boss here?"
Stepping inside, the scent of raw wood and faint dust greeted us.
A orc over 2 meters tall, in jeans and a tank top, emerged right away. He grinned, tusks flashing in greeting.
"Ah, Meracle, right? Been almost two years."
"Huh? How'd you know?"
"Come on, you're a customer. I remember everyone."
Wow.
Successful businesses really are on another level.
Lesson learned.
As someone who faces customers head-on, I needed to pick up on these details.
"What brings you in?"
"Looking at more furniture. Here's pics of the current office."
I showed him photos from my phone, and we dove into consultations.
6th Floor, Cyber City.
In a pitch-black basement room with no lights on, only a translucent monitor glowed.
A man with purple hair and sunglasses grinned ear-to-ear at the camera.
His name was Rex.
A Cyber City streamer infamous for provocative content, his most popular show was dedicated to "Floorists."
Floorists believed those on higher floors were inherently superior.
"Alright! Can you high-end bros see this?!"
Rex shoved the invitations in both hands close to the screen.
Pure white background, green embroidery, white rose sealing wax.
Invitations to the Tower Union's "White Rose Gala."
"I went straight to those lower-floor pigs and signed up as a member to snag these."
"Ugh! It's so disgusting I don't even wanna talk about it. The streets are filthy beyond belief. And I went there myself, paid, and signed up. You get how much I suffered, right bros?"
"Villancy bro! Thanks! This? It's tickets to the pig mating grounds! Buncha losers who wanna get married throwing a party. Pigs gathering = pig party, right?"
"Haha! I'll show you every gross detail of how those piglets live. It's gonna be hilarious."
"Ha, haha—! Exactly, bros! Who gives a damn!"
With his unstable income and overly gaudy looks—like a clown—he couldn't admit he'd barely scraped a B-rank after showing his old, average photo.
"I'll film those pigs oinking hilariously and mess with 'em too! Tune in that day, everyone!"
A few days later.
I'd said we were buying furniture, but staring at Meracle's unchanged interior, I let out a sigh.
We'd bought nothing in the end.
More precisely, it was too expensive.
The pieces I wanted were cheap, but Kim Yang and Reneah vehemently objected.
They wouldn't let us turn the office into some mob-run loan shark den.
The two picked vibrant, upscale options, but the price tags were steep.
So we put it off until we made more money.
I'd even tried ordering a nameplate, but the cheap ones looked tacky, so we scrapped that too.
"Haa... Always short on cash. Money, money."
I opened my stock app, saw the downturn, and closed it. Today was just one bad thing after another.
"Why's money not growing when I'm working my ass off?"
Slumped in my office chair, I muttered. Reneah, munching Pepero next to me, tilted her head.
"Kim Yang said it's 'cause you dump every paycheck into stocks and tank it?"
"..."
"She says even a sheep beastkin like her headbutts better than you. You've got cash rotting away—like flushing it down the toilet—"
"Stop! She didn't go that far, did she?"
Crunch crunch.
Reneah kept eating her Pepero without answering. Looked tasty.
"Gimme one."
"No. Mine. The convenience store lady gave 'em to me."
"...Stubborn as a grandma."
Crunch crunch crunch crunch.
She ate faster, teasing me, and I was starting to get annoyed when—
"I-I'm here. Idiot."
Kim Yang entered, arms full of clothes.
Outfits borrowed from the styling shop we'd contracted with.
Today's client was none other than me.
"How many did you borrow? You know they charge by the piece?"
"C-coat, shirt, scarf-. W-wanna die? J-just try 'em on."
"..."
Look at her snapping.
Had she forgotten I was the boss?
She neatly laid out the clothes to avoid wrinkles and pulled out a makeup bag.
"F-face. C-come here."
"Hey. This invite from a rival—ain't exactly a good thing, right?"
A sudden invite from a competitor didn't sound promising.
But Kim Yang glared at me with pure disgust.
"S-so. You're going like that? Old man?"
"Old man...? I'm still in my twenties."
"B-but. You look like an old man now."
"Fair. You do look older than me."
"I don't look 1,903 years old."
"Ah, h-hurry! W-wanna die?"
"You keep forgetting I'm the boss?"
With a sigh, I dragged myself to the chair opposite her.
Kim Yang dabbed foundation on her hand and slapped it onto my cheek.
Smack!
"Ow?! That hurts! You start with foundation?!"
"N-no."
"..."
"F-feels good."