Conductor of the Dawn (2)
Wonder Bunny was one thing—the weakest of the lot. But fending off all three of them at once was going to be a problem.
I found myself glancing over at Ji Yesol.
For a split second, her gaze changed. Those violet eyes—always glistening like they were one blink away from tears—sharpened into something razor-edged. She looked ready to haul out her centipedes right then and there and sweep away all three shopkeepers in a single stroke.
She wasn't seriously about to go berserk... was she?
"Wait!"
Ji Yesol froze, her hand still clamped over the upper mouth her centipedes came crawling out of. And before she could peel it away, Amanecida stepped forward.
"You there. What is this nonsense I'm hearing? Are you trying to tell me that I was deceived by Jinho?"
"O exalted Conductor of the Dawn! That human bastard is a fraud!"
Amanecida's smile vanished.
"A fraud, you say."
The tip of her baton traced a slow curve through the air.
"Do you take me for an idiot?"
"N-no, of course not..."
"I picked out these wares with my own two hands." Tap.
"I asked the price." Tap.
"And I paid the points while you stood right there watching." Tap.
"And it was fraud?"
"Th-that's..."
The Cheshire Cat's mouth snapped shut.
Amanecida smiled, slow and pleasant.
"Then what you are saying is that I was the one deceived."
"G-great and noble one! Please, calm yourself just a moment—"
"Calm myself? I am the world's conductor and harmonizer. There is nothing I despise more than dissonance wailing in my presence. The noise pouring out of your mouths has my ears stinging."
She swept the baton through the air in a wide arc.
Whoosh!
A golden wind came howling in, and all three anomalies were flung backward at once.
"Then by all means, explain yourselves."
Steering her golden gale, Amanecida hoisted the three of them off the ground.
"Precisely what it was I was deceived by."
The three had counted on Amanecida—an anomaly like them—to take their side. Instead, she was the one squeezing them.
The shopkeepers traded glances. Plotting a joint assault, no doubt.
Wonder Bunny was B-Grade; the Cheshire Cat and Runner Dodo were A-Grade. They seemed convinced that if they pooled their strength, they could bring her down. And to be fair, the Amanecida standing inside the Neverland of Disaster right now was only an avatar, not her true body.
I could practically hear the gears grinding from over here.
"Dear customers, please take all brawling outside."
Slam!
"Jinho! You're casting me out?!"
Amanecida pulled a face like she was about to cry, but I shut the convenience store door with finality.
I simply had no interest in being tangled up with an S-Grade anomaly any longer than necessary.
"U-um, Boss..."
With the uninvited guests all thrown out, Ji Yesol cautiously opened her mouth—the one that didn't produce centipedes.
"A-are we really... not going to help the noble lady...?"
Ji Yesol had been reading Amanecida's every move since earlier. However strong she was, Yesol was only a B-Grade anomaly. She'd taken first place in sales thanks to help from someone who outranked her, and it was clearly eating at her to pretend she didn't owe anything.
"Yesol. Listen to me carefully."
"Y-yes, Boss...!"
"We wouldn't be any help anyway."
"W-why not...?"
Instead of answering, I quietly pointed out the window.
"Hraaagh!"
The three shopkeepers came charging at Amanecida, each brandishing a weapon of their own. Wonder Bunny's umbrella. The Cheshire Cat's claws. Runner Dodo's water bombs. Every single one packed devastating force—if I'd been the one standing there in the F-Grade anomaly gear I had on, any one of those blows would have left nothing behind to bury. All of them flew at her at once.
Amanecida merely snorted.
"Unable to explain yourselves, so you simply lash out?"
She lifted her baton and drew a circle on the ground.
A wall of golden light caged the three shopkeeper-anomalies inside. And within that wall, all manner of instruments bloomed into existence. Violins, cellos, woodwinds—every one of them struck up a tune at once. Not a single performer held any of them.
Going all-out, huh. Had being called an anomaly earlier stung her that badly?
When Amanecida designated a territory with that baton, the zone became one with the Dawn Orchestra, her home ground. Every rule inside it rewrote itself to match the Dawn Orchestra's. Even a mangy mutt wins half its fights in its own yard—and for an S-Grade anomaly like her, that went without saying.
"What I despise most is mongrels like you flailing about for no reason."
"G-great and noble one!"
"It was that human who interfered with our business first, I tell you!"
"Shhh—"
She pressed an index finger to her full lips.
"Silence during the performance!"
Swish!
Amanecida raised her baton high.
Fortissimo
Amanecida — Conductor of the Dawn
Pressure came crashing down from the instruments, crushing the shopkeepers under its weight.
BOOM!
The three of them burst apart in an instant.
Not that it mattered. They'd simply revive the next time a fresh batch of sacrificial owners wandered in. There was a reason the Company quarantined anomalies instead of exterminating them.
Ding-dong—
Shop Zone business has concluded.
The Neverland of Disaster management competition has ended.
Final rankings have been confirmed.
You have achieved 1st place in the management competition.
Quest completed.
🎁 Reward: Random A-Grade Anomaly Equipment
You have cleared every zone of the Neverland of Disaster.
The exit is now open.
"Huh?"
An exit had opened at the very end of Zone 3. Ji Yesol blinked at it.
"B-Boss... why... is it open already...?"
"Because we cleared the quest, that's wh—huh?"
Come to think of it—I hadn't ridden a single ride in Zone 1. Hadn't watched the parade in Zone 2, either.
Ping!
The Boss has not complied with the usage rules.
However, the Boss is classified as a shop operator.
Usage rules do not apply to shop operators.
As if to answer my question, a status window had floated up right before my eyes. No human being—not a single one—could slip the rules of a ghost story. And yet the Neverland of Disaster had exempted me from them as easily as brushing away lint.
"Damn it..."
I ground my teeth. This was exactly the kind of thing that made it feel like I'd become an anomaly for real.
Daily Ghost Story Business has ended.
💰 Sales: 10,000 Ghost Story Points
⚔ Anomalies Subdued: 50
😤 Troublemaker Customers Subdued: 1
📋 Part-Timer Training: FAILED
Ah. So the part-timer training had counted as a failure.
It had been an absolute madhouse, what with the rival shopkeepers throwing their tantrums. I hadn't had a single spare moment to train Ji Yesol.
"F-failed..."
She must have seen the failure window too, because Ji Yesol hung her head, looking utterly deflated.
I rested my hand on her fluffy head.
Watching her like this, she seemed less like a centipede and more like a puppy.
"It's all right, Yesol."
"I'm sorry..."
Tears were welling up in her eyes.
Oh no. Please, not the tears. If the bugs started dropping, I'd be mopping all over again.
I hurried to soothe her.
"You didn't do anything wrong, Yesol. The ones at fault are that S-Grade anomaly and those shop owners who wrecked our business. Rotten bastards, the lot of them."
Swoosh—
At that moment, Amanecida turned her head.
Had she heard me call her an anomaly? Even if she had, so what.
"C-can we really... say things the noble lady hates to hear...?"
Ji Yesol trembled, her gaze darting between me and Amanecida.
Just then, Amanecida strolled back into the convenience store.
"We're closed for business."
"You do know convenience stores trade around the clock, my friend."
She snapped her fingers.
Shelling out Ghost Story Points again? Then she wasn't a troublemaker—she was a customer.
"Welcome in, valued customer."
"You truly have become a merchant, haven't you? Come to think of it, I forgot my receipt."
So all that spending had been an act.
"Ah. Then one receipt, coming up."
Since when did anomalies start using receipts?
I punched the register and printed one out for her, and she tucked it away into her breast like a treasure.
"Throw it out if you're not claiming a tax deduction."
"I shall do no such thing. Is this not a token of our momentous first meeting!"
So it wasn't for using—it was for keeping.
The moment Amanecida treasured that receipt away, the scenery began creeping back to normal.
"How it grieves me. To think I must part from you all over again."
"Take care. I'm sure you'll get along fine without me."
"Nonsense! Next time, you shall be the one calling on my mansion! I shall grant you the privilege of hearing my performance with your own two ears!"
Right. The Company's anomaly containment cell was a "mansion" now.
She still believed whatever happened to suit her.
What was with her, casually laying curses like that?
For me, "visiting Amanecida's mansion" could only mean one of two things: rejoining the Company, or being judged an anomaly and hauled off to a containment cell. I'd quit my job precisely because I couldn't stomach either—and here she was, offering them up like party invitations.
Whether she had any clue how I felt or not, Amanecida simply waved and vanished.
The instant she was gone, the convenience store snapped back into reality, complete and whole.
I checked my smartphone. Six in the morning.
"Aigoo, every bone in me aches..."
That was two all-nighters in a row now.
I opened up the Karrot part-time job app. Speaking as a human being, I'd earned myself at least half a day of rest.