Part 3 – Osaka’s Auntie, Rescue the Beastmen

Chapter 15 – Return of the Employees

 

Thus, for a short period of time, Haruna returned to the dungeons as an adventurer.

“Ah, I met a really huge centipede today, that really surprised me, wa~ Its bodily fluids just gush out when I chopped it with my sword. That thing was just foul. Disgusting fluids are way scarier than flames, wa~”

“You’re really the type to do things your own way, aren’t you?”

“If you want to talk about it that way, isn’t Natalia the type to do things your way, too? You’ve made your own wall according to your own style, ya mon.”

“Things like that, must you really say it all to my face?!”

The customers who came to eat Okonomiyaki all laughed heartily.

Unexpectedly, within this brutal and bloodthirsty dungeon, such a light hearted atmosphere actually existed.

“Ah, oh yes, since I’m on my way back, why don’t I give you this now, na?”

Haruna made her way to the back of the store, opened the safe with a key, and hauled out a large cloth bag.

“Ugh, this is really heavy! But gold is important! So this labour is gold level too!”

With a thud, the bag of coins landed in front of Natalia.

“Well, here are 700 gold coins, na. Go ransom your brother, ya.”

Naturally, there was no way of knowing the exact number of coins just by looking at the bag. However, to Natalia’s eyes, it felt like the bag contained more than just 700 coins.

All of a sudden, Natalia fell to her knees, and tears poured from her eyes.

How many years would it take if she had to collect the money by herself? Ten years, or maybe more? She was prepared to spend all that time just working and scrounging her way to earn enough money for her brother.

To think that she would actually be able to collect the entire sum in just two weeks in this town.

“This isn’t a dream, right…?”

“I can pinch your cheeks, but I expect it will hurt, ya de…”

“Thank you, thank you so much…”

Though there were many people around, she continued to bow repeatedly at Haruna’s feet. There was none of that cool attitude anymore. There was actually nothing much that she could use to repay the 700 gold coins now, but her sincerity.

“Thank you for your work today as well, ya na. Someone else will be here to take over the night duties, so you can go back to the surface and relax. Ah, but I expect you’ll be anxious to bail your brother out, right? So, you’ll be leaving tomorrow?”

“Well, will you at least let me treat you to a drink…?”

 

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When they reached the surface, Natalia tried to treat Haruna to some higher end alcohol.

While Haruna’s economic situation meant she could afford to buy the most expensive alcohol at any time, it was the thought that counts. Natalia would not be able to rest well if she did not do at least this much.

“By the way, where is your brother kept anyway?”

“North of here, some earl’s territory. It used to be a country occupied by the Beast Clan.”

“I see, na. Maa, please come over anytime you like. I’m actually really interested in leopards. So, next time you come over let’s chat about leopards. I’d like to know more about your culture, naa.”

 

The next day, Natalia’s trip began.

“Aa~, such a hard-working kid. I’ll have to look for more workers, na…”

Though she had put up advertisements on the mission board, it looked like no one had accepted the job, so it was quite troubling.

Since it can’t be helped, Haruna would have to personally pick up the slack to some extent.

While she enjoyed working in the service industry, she actually had plans to increase the number of shops and eventually move into office matters and paper work duties.

“I’ll have to eventually think up a better plan, na. As far as this job is concerned, most adventurers could easily make it all the way to Level 13. Maybe I should look for people from larger towns?”

However, the matter resolved itself before she had to put any of her countermeasures into practice.

A week later, Natalia came back.

“Good afternoon.”

“Welcome~! What the heck! Okonomiyaki, I have to make Okonomiyaki~ eh? It’s Natalia, yan!”

Natalia was wearing the mage outfit she had on when she first met Haruna. As for Haruna…

“You… that’s a really weird outfit you’re wearing.”

Natalia had a little shock when she saw the leopard face snarling at her from the front of Haruna’s shirt. It actually looked kind of barbaric.

“I wear this once in a while to beef up my spirits, ya.”

Though her leopard face outfit [1] did not actually have any defensive properties, it’s not like Haruna actually needed it, considering her crazy stats. Down at Level 13, she was free to wear whatever she liked.

“I’ve settled my brother’s matter.”

“That’s good, na~ Unfortunately, I still have some issues with staffing, wa.”

“If that’s the case…”

There was a shy look on Natalia’s face.

“I’d like to, once more…work here…”

“Eh, really? You’re not joking, ya ne? For real, na?!”

Haruna became ridiculously happy.

The matter of employee shortage was now resolved!

“To be honest, me working for you probably isn’t worth 700 gold coins a day, but I can probably at least make 3 pieces of gold a day.”

One gold coin is worth about 50,000 yen, so 150,000 yen a day is actually pretty good.

“So, I’d like to work at your store for a bit more.”

“Okay, I understand! Please work here!”

Haruna launched herself at Natalia and hugged her.

“This is…a bit embarrassing.”

Natalia flailed about a little. Physically, Haruna was way more abundant compared to Natalia. Parts that should be narrow were quite narrow, parts that should be abundant actually stuck out quite a lot.

“Please support the Tigers from now on, now and forever, na! Great Deity Natalia, Buddha Natalia!”

“I really have no idea what you’re talking about!”

Regular customers who saw this spectacle started to celebrate the return of Natalia and started to whistle enthusiastically.

“Oh, Natalia-chan really came back! Our eye candy will now increase!”

“It’s great to see female adventurers hug each other.”

“I want to be part of the hug, na.”

After that, Haruna made an announcement, “In celebration of Natalia’s return, everything is now half price!” Sales went up that day, though total profit went down a little…

 

[1] Leopard Face outfit

 

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