Shut-in Magician - Chapter 37
Chapter 037: Determined Girl
s.h.i.+u’s stall flourished. The reason why everyone was waiting in line was because he had asked them to do this. It was also helpful that there were many middle-cla.s.s women in the line. The barn manager’s group was blocking the path to s.h.i.+u’s stall. s.h.i.+u looked at the barn manager and he lowered his head a little in apology. In short, they weren’t customers. He helplessly warned them without stopping his hands, “As you can see, I’m busy. If you’re a customer, then please line up. If you aren’t, then you’re bothering the other customers, so please leave.”
“You’re saying I’m being a bother?!”
The high-pitched shrill came from a girl, one that probably had a high standing within the group. Her almond-shaped eyes looked determined. Even though she was surrounded by men that looked to be her guards, it didn’t feel like they were protecting her.
He quickly appraised her, so he knew her name and age too. But much more than that information, she looked like an adult. She was only a year older than s.h.i.+u, but the expression in her eyes and her att.i.tude were quite different for someone her age. Only her long brown hair that were tied in pigtails above her ears were appropriate for her age.
Her name was Sofia. She was the daughter of the Oberio House, which s.h.i.+u had been involved in a quarrel with the other day.
Even if s.h.i.+u was disturbed by this fact, he still informed them clearly, “It’s common sense to know that if you stand in front of a shop with a group of people, then you’ll be a hindrance, isn’t it?”
Sofia narrowed her eyes as if she was offended. The barn manager, who was standing next to her, gave a small nod. s.h.i.+u wanted him to warn Sofia not to do this if he also agreed, but the barn manager really didn’t want to go against the granddaughter of his employer.
s.h.i.+u continued, “You’re being a bother to the other customers and you’re standing in the pathway, so you’re also being a nuisance to everyone. It’s not just my stall, but you’re bothering the other stalls as well, you know.”
He had intended to say that nicely, but she got angrier probably because she thought he was chasing her away.
“It’s your fault that the Oberio House received punishment! You’re the one who’s being a nuisance!”
“Ah,” s.h.i.+u muttered and looked up at the sky.
Then he sighed and apologised to the customers in front of him.
“I’m sorry. This seems to be a bothersome thing. I’ll make your order as quickly .”
“It’s okay. It must be difficult. Don’t worry about us.”
“Thank you very much.”
s.h.i.+u said while moving his hands and putting the finis.h.i.+ng touches on the food.
Sofia was ignored, although it seemed like she wanted to say something else, but the surrounding people said, “We’ll report that you’re interrupting his work,” so she kept quiet.
Meanwhile, s.h.i.+u continued to make pancakes and pa.s.s it to the women who were waiting in line. He apologised for the commotion and pa.s.sed them a small bag full of lemon peel. When he did this, the woman looked happy and sympathetic at the same time and said some kind words to him.
Even though his stall was also thriving on the 2nd day, the customers died down. s.h.i.+u looked at the barn manager in disappointment and all the barn manager did was bow his head in apology.
“I heard that a kid called Feles is being the figurehead and that a kid was managing a stall.”
“Were you told to show the way?”
“I’m sorry, mm”
“I think the employment conditions are really bad if you can’t tell your employer about your displeasure.”
He said harshly since he thought of the Oberio House as a black company. That was probably why Sofia stomped her feet and shrieked angrily, “You, who do you think you are?! You’re just a commoner, do you think you can take that att.i.tude with me?!”
The barn manager frowned more than s.h.i.+u at her voice.
s.h.i.+u was a pacifist, but he didn’t think it was good to suffer from her abuse, because the girl was conceited. Nevertheless, he didn’t have the savvy to reply with a good answer. In this life and even in his previous life, he only knew about the stormy lives of characters in stories. In a sense, he was a shut-in. If he didn’t concern himself with others too deeply, then he didn’t need to be savvy.
In short, s.h.i.+u was troubled about how to deal with the girl in front of him. He didn’t know what the right thing to do was, but he couldn’t just remain silent.
“Who are you? You have not stated your name nor your business here.”
Those words really got to her head. She was easy to understand; her face turned red and she was stomping on the ground. No matter how much of an adult he thought she was before, it was bad to stomp on the ground. s.h.i.+u nearly laughed and strained his expression. He coughed to change his feelings.
” Do merchants all take this kind of att.i.tude? Speaking as if they’re looking down on commoners and getting in the way of business. Acting as you like with no regard for the inconvenience you cause to those around you. You tell lies and get angry at the victim, no that’s not it, you stomp around like a child.”
s.h.i.+u ignored Sofia who had flared up and screamed, and looked at her guards, but they looked as if it was no concern of theirs. They were loyal to their work and only guarded her. The barn manager turned pale.
s.h.i.+u tilted his head, troubled; he was actually troubled ; and then he sighed and continued, “You came during business hours, but not as a customer. You didn’t give me your name and you took up s.p.a.ce when there’s a crowd of people. This is a really big problem, but are you really okay?”
He wasn’t being sarcastic. He was really worried about her. She yelled without thinking, “What!” She couldn’t keep her composure because of the commotion.
s.h.i.+u’s EVERY DIRECTION SEARCHwas functioning even now. That was why, the uniform that he could see from afar, walking this way in high spirits would surely be trouble for her.
It seemed that the Collins couple had reported her and two patrolmen were rus.h.i.+ng towards them. Chloe from the Adventurer Guild and the man who worked at the Merchant Guild reception was also with them.
“Are you the one who caused the disturbance?”
The two patrolmen headed straight for Sofia and looked at her. This was a little surprising, since if you compare the wealthy Ojou-sama appearance against s.h.i.+u’s common stall owner appearance then the social status was obvious. He’d heard when investigations were held, they would question the person with the lower status. Of course, there were exceptions to this rule.
“We made a report to the guild before. The patrolmen are brought here by the person from the guild.”
Collin’s wife grinned. Since they’d reported to a top organisation called the guild, the circ.u.mstances of the commotion must have been pa.s.sed along while they were rus.h.i.+ng here. The patrolmen heard the situation from Chloe and seemed to have believed her. s.h.i.+u bowed towards Collin’s wife and Chloe.
“Thank you very much. Chloe-san, I’ve caused you trouble.”
“It’s fine. I’m glad this happened when I was on duty.”
“You didn’t get the day off?”
“There are a lot of adventurers who act without restraint, so the guild can’t close.”
“That sounds tough. Well, I’m also someone who has caused trouble.”
“You’re the victim. Ah, I also brought Zafiro with me. He knows about what happened the other day,” she said and introduced the man from the Merchant Guild.
“Did you remember me from when you applied for the stall? Once again, I’m Zafiro.”
“I’m sorry for the inconvenience.”
s.h.i.+u bowed his head and Zafiro waved his hand and forgave him, “It’s fine, don’t worry.”
He briefly explained what happened to the two and bowed his head again at the end.
For now, the patrolmen said that they would question s.h.i.+u afterwards, so he could continue working. The Collins and Darrell complained many times about how inconvenienced they were and the patrolmen judged that they couldn’t get away from the trouble because they were managing a stall.
Sofia was not only reprimanded by the patrolmen but also by the person from the Merchant Guild and she reluctantly followed after them.
“I didn’t give my name and caused a disturbance on a public road. I’m very sorry!” It felt like she was forced to say those words, but she finally apologised to s.h.i.+u.
He was supposed to be questioned by the patrol once work finished, but Zafiro had already worked everything out.
It seemed that Sofia didn’t know the full details of the Oberio House’s penalty. Her parents and employees had told her, “A trainee adventurer called s.h.i.+u caused the problem,” and “Because of that, the House is under supervision for misconduct.” While she was angry, she learnt that, “There’s a child running a stall with a beast mount child on display.”
When she asked the barn manager about it, he said, “It’s probably s.h.i.+u,” so she dragged him here.
She intended to give s.h.i.+u some advice.
The truth was that s.h.i.+u wasn’t making an exhibit of Feles and she had also caused a commotionin front of a crowd of people; so it had the opposite effect. Then, Zafiro kindly warned her and she apologised.
She did look reluctant, but she did apologise so s.h.i.+u decided that that was the end of it.
When Sofia was about to leave, she turned to s.h.i.+u and said, “Next time, I’ll get you to come to my house! That’s fine, isn’t it!?” While watching the girl get escorted back home by her guards, s.h.i.+u asked no one in particular, ” I don’t have to go, do I?”
Then, Chloe and Zafiro both replied, “We wouldn’t accept it even if it was a request.”
Are they good friends? He thought as he thanked the people around him. The stall owners around him were also worried about him and helped him clean up.
Something troublesome had happened, but s.h.i.+u was also touched by the kindness of others.
He gave the dinner he’d made to Zafiro and Chloe because he was indebted to them. The two received it without restraint.
Translator: Blushy
Editor: HSM
