After our normal walk through the store, we went through the hallways and doorways into the back alley. The covered wagon I had seen every day was there as usual.
"Good morning Biar-san, Kenji-san. Today is just rudvisk, right?" Mulock tilted his hat to us as we stepped out.
Meeting with the wagon driver has become an everyday occurrence at his point. Now the carriage driver doesn't try to ensure that I'm alright every time I so much as get close to the wagon.
"Yes it is, we should be in and out fast…" Biar stretched out and gave a cartoonishly large yawn. "...And by we, I mean Kenji-kun here will be." He pat me on the back. "I'm going to wait inside the store and make sure… nobody robs us."
And as always, Biar-san pushes the majority of the work onto me. As my senpai, Biar-san could do this with no repercussions so I just dealt with it.
I walked forward and cracked my knuckles. "Alright. A crate of rudvisk coming right up."
"As expected of Kenji-kun, he's raring to go!" Biar pumped his fist.
"M-Mmm. Have fun, Kenji-san." Mulock tilted his hat to me. He seems to be bothered a bit by Biar pushing the work onto me, but he's too polite to say anything about it.
With that, I stepped inside of the wagon and into the metropolis that was the interior.
"No matter how many times I see it, it still amazes me." I muttered to myself.
Despite how quietly I spoke, my voice still echoed around the wagon. The only things that could hear me in here were the lizards so I had nothing to worry about.
I began walking towards my destination, following the alphabetical order and the item sorting system along with the tiles, I would be able to find the exact location of the rudvisk crate. Though it took me a long time to figure out, I can now navigate the wagon's interior without getting lost and, in fact, I have learned how to identify my exact location within the wagon through the subtle physical landmarks.
"Hmm… They should be around here…" I slowly walked along the outskirts of the wagon. The walls were made of cloth that could not logically stand, but did so anyway. "Ah! There you are you turnip wannabe!"
I spotted the crate of rudvisk, walked up to it, and lifted it up with one arm. As I was doing this I saw a lizard staring at me.
"Ah, hello Lizard-san, are you having a good day so far?" I bowed my head to the lizard as I greeted it.
The lizard said nothing, obviously, but it did bow its head to me.
"That's good to hear." I motioned to my box. "This is all I need, so I'll be going now."
The lizard said nothing once again and only blinked. After it decided that we had concluded our interaction, it walked off.
I waved as its visage disappeared into the depths of the wagon. "Sayonara, Lizard-san. I hope we meet again someday."
Honestly I never thought I would have a bittersweet parting with a man eating lizard, but I just did so I suppose that goes to show that we don't really know what will happen in our lives.
With my goodbye, I took the crate of rudvisk and began to leave the wagon. On my way out, I took intermittent stops and looked at the other items inside the wagon.
Suits of armor made of materials between iron to mithril, clothing for people between the weight I used to be and babies, and also your run of the mill food items. It's strange that I've gotten used to seeing something like this on a daily basis, but now that I think about it, I suppose I have just gotten used to the way this world works a bit more. When you think about a car or a train, they would be weird in this world too. It's the same principle.
With that final thought, I stepped out of the wagon, a crate of rudvisk in tow.
"Have a good day, Kenji-san!" Mulock shouted to me as I walked up to the back door of the shop.
I turned and waved. "You too, Mulok-san. Stay safe in your travels!"
With our parting words, I heard the crack of a whip and a horse neighing loudly as the sound of wooden wheels on cobblestone reverberated throughout the alleyway.
After I went back inside, I began to silently stock the shelves of their items as quickly as I could before the shop opened. Once some time had passed, I placed the last rudvisk on its shelf.
"And… done. That takes care of that, time to open up!" I stood and wiped my brow.
Biar turned to look at me as he placed his last product on his own shelf. "Good job Kenji-kun. That was 30 minutes! You've finally reached my speed!"
I gave a large grin out of pride as Biar-san flipped the shop's sign from "closed" to "open."
My final day of work at this shop begins now.
Most time-skips involve the hero gaining new powers and then showing up to wreck fools. Kenji got really good at cooking and managing a store. It's not about size, it's about importance.
Catch you on the flip side!