Chapter 95

Volume 3

Na… Fi…
[???]

Hoe…?
[Fina]
As I woke up, my body still swaying, I heard a voice…

Fina, wake up!
[Jane]

…Jane?
[Fina]

Good grief! Why are you so bad at waiting up when you’re usually so organized?
[Jane]
…That’s not good. It seems I fell back to sleep, but today is a day off, so…

Did you forget we’re supposed to go out to town today?
[Jane]

Oh, right!
[Fina]
From today onwards, we will be able to take our day off together once a week. Which is why we decided to go out to town together!

I’ll get ready immediately. Wait a bit!
[Fina]
Hurriedly, I got myself ready, and then I went to the lobby. There, Maria and Jane, who left our village with me to work, and our dormmate, Leelin-san, were waiting.

Sorry for making you wait! I woke up late.
[Fina]

Good morning~
[Maria]

Don’t sweat it.
[Leelin]

We’re used to it already.
[Jane]
I wanted to say refute Jane’s words, but I had nothing to say. Why am I so bad at waking up?

Now, let’s go!
[Jane]
Jane enthusiastically said as she led us to town. Leelin-san consoled me about being late while we walked, so I started feeling better.
We had breakfast at the stall that was popular among bachelor laborers. It’s a store catered toward muscular laborers, so Maria and I was able to get our fill with just one order.
After that, we bought daily necessities and shopped for clothes. We enjoyed life at town together.
Like that time passed in a flash. It was morning just a while ago, but before we knew it, it was already afternoon.
Who would’ve thought that we would be able to live like this after leaving our village? We got lucky. When I was still at the village, I thought that even if I worked early in the morning until late in the evening, I still wouldn’t have enough money to spend as I wished. After all, that’s what everyone who left said when they came back.
Jane and Maria probably thought the same, but reality turned out different. Each one of us was given a room of our own, Shelma cooks us delicious food everyday, and we get a huge salary to top it all off. In fact, I make so much that I could send money home twice as much as they need and I would still have enough to eat outside, shop once a week, and save money.
From time to time, Maria would trip and fall from being dazed, and she would get her wounds healed with healing magic. According to Leelin-san, Fei-san also had his broken bones healed. For free too.
Healing magic normally isn’t something you can rely on just like that. But the employees at our store can enjoy its benefits anytime and for free. That’s because the boss left a heal slime in the store when people started getting in the way of our store’s operation.
At first, the boss had to manage the slime, but eventually, Robelia-san and the others took over. Nowadays, Maria, who learned monster taming, is in charge of it. I hear it’s a precious slime, so I was wondering if it was really okay to entrust that to us just like that, but it’s a huge relief to be able to rely on healing magic whenever needed.
Some time ago, my parents sent me a letter, asking what kind of person our employer is. They’d clearly sent the letter out of worry, so I told them from the bottom of my heart that they didn’t have to worry.

Fina, what are you dazing off for? Are you still asleep?
[Jane]

I’m awake already. How long are you going to keep dragging that story out for?
[Fina]

For the mean time, let’s go to that store we were talking about.
[Jane]
The store she’s talking about is the teahouse that’s gotten popular lately because of it’s relatively affordable but delicious sweets. Maria and Jane wanted to visit it as soon as I heard about it, so we thought we’d rest there after concluding our shopping.
When we entered the store, we were greeted by lines of wooden tables and chairs and decorations of flowers here and there. There’s also a large fireplace in the corner, and although it’s not lit because of the season, it helps complete the warm atmosphere of the store.
We were led to a table near a window. We gave our orders to the waitress, then while waiting, Jane asked me.

Hey, what were you thinking about awhile ago?
[Jane]

Nothing special. I just thought we’re really lucky.
[Fina]

So, that’s what. But yeah, if we were hired at a normal store, we would have never been able to live this luxuriously.
[Jane]

We’re able to send back home the money we need~ We get day offs~ We found a really good job~
[Maria]

Oh yeah, the three of you came from the same village, right?
[Leelin]

That’s right~
[Maria]

Average land, no special goods of its own, and no strong monsters. It’s the picture image of a poor village.
[Jane]

Since you’re working away from home, will you be retiring eventually?
[Leelin]
It’s true that there are people among those who leave home to make money who eventually come back, but we don’t have any plans to do so for the mean time.

If the boss doesn’t mind, I’d love to work for him forever~
[Maria]

We can send back more money than other jobs, and if we retire there’s no telling if we’ll be hired again.
[Fina]

People will probably come pouring in if the boss puts up a ‘hiring’ sign. What about you, Leelin-san? I hear you were peddlers before.
[Jane]

Our country is really dangerous. Neither me nor my dad have any plans on coming back home.
[Leelin]
Zilmar… I wonder what sort of country it is. It’s big, but it’s a long way away, so all I know about is its name. When I was living at the village, I figured it would be good to know the name of this country and the name of the villages near it, so I didn’t have time to ask about countries as remote as Zilmar.
It seems Maria and Jane also don’t know much about it. I understand that it’s dangerous, but I don’t know how dangerous. Leelin-san seemed to have noticed that, so she explained.

Zilmar has been in war for a long time now. Not with a foreign country, but with itself. A battle among the nobles. The reason behind their fighting is because they want to get the equipment of the empire’s founder, which he left behind after his death.
[Leelin]

A war to get a weapon?
[Jane]

Not weapons, but a set of armor. Every piece of its set is said to have great power imbued in it. If one could acquire the entire set, he would acquire the strongest power and be able to rule the country… Or at least that’s how the bedtime stories go.
[Leelin]

Are they still fighting?
[Jane]

Right now they’re just taking vengeance on each other. That’s why the country is in a mess and there are many bandits. We don’t have any family left in Zilmar, so we plan to live in this peaceful country.
[Leelin]

I suppose that means we’ll be together from now on~
[Maria]

I look forward to continuing working with you.
[Fina]
It was then that the tea and sweets we ordered came.

Sorry to keep you waiting. Here’s your tea and your seasonal fruit pie.
[Waitress]
Jane and Maria’s eyes dazzled at the sweets and tea brought by the waitress.

It’s here! It’s here! I wanted to eat this so badly!
[Jane]

Itadakima~su
[Maria]
Leelin-san and I followed suit and ate our portion. Inside the pie were various kinds of fruits mixed together. The freshness and sweetness of the fruits expanded within my mouth.

Yep. This lives up to its reputation alright.
[Jane]

I’m so happy~
[Maria]
As Jane and Maria said that, Leelin-san seemed to agree. After that we continued chatting while drinking our tea and taking a bite out of our pie. After our conversation on the clothes we bought today ended, Jane suddenly brought up the topic.

Hey, what do you guys think about the boss?
[Jane]

What is this all of the sudden~?
[Maria]

Letters came from the village, right? Well, in my letter, I kept being asked questions about my relationship with the upper brass. Stuff like if they hadn’t overstepped their boundaries as boss or senpai or if I’m not being given the cold shoulder or something like that.
[Jane]
There were employers like that, so Jane’s family was naturally worried. Actually, my letter also inquired about that.

For the mean time, I told them that the store is great and that there are currently no men who’ve abused their position to approach me, but… It suddenly dawned on me that I don’t actually know much about the boss.
[Jane]

Really?
[Fina]

I mean all we know about him is his store and that he’s a good kid, right? And that he has a loooot of slimes and has a house in the abandoned mine.
[Jane]
Now that she mentions it, she’s right. Most of the stuff the boss has talked about with us are stuff pertaining to the maintenance of the store, how to handle customers, and about our benefits and what’s expected of us as his employees. He hasn’t really spoken much of anything outside that.
Everyone started racking their heads at that, but in the end, the conversation ended with everyone agreeing that the boss is a good kid. I should try and get to know the boss gradually. Leelin-san and I don’t really plan on probing into it that much, but Jane and Maria are really enthusiastic about asking the boss all sorts of stuff. I think it would be better to take care and not be a hindrance to the boss, though.
While I was thinking of stuff like that, we finished our tea and pie. We realized that we’ve been staying at the teahouse for a long time already, so we left. After that we walked around town and went back to our dorm before it got dark.
My purse got lighter today, but if it’s just this much, it should be fine. I’ll save up some money and have fun with everyone at the teahouse again.