episode_0083

083 – The Onions Are Too Pungent # 1

Pandora Market definitely reminded one of dilapidated old downtowns affected by low birth rates.

As if a great plague had spread, I was alone on the desolate street.

Creak-.

Occasionally, through the windows between closed shop doorways and signs, some residents’ eyes would stare at me.

When I looked back at them, like startled mice, they would avert their gaze and close their windows.

“It’s hard to believe that a place like this was once the busiest commercial district in this Soul Society.”

Until the business reform, this Pandora Market was said to be the center of economy and distribution in this Soul Society.

Rumor had it that there was nothing that couldn’t be obtained here.

“So, where on earth am I supposed to go?”

I had become the Development Vice-Chairman of this market.

There definitely had to be a development headquarters somewhere around here. Since it was such a deteriorated area, many areas weren’t updated on the map app.

If I went straight as instructed, it was a dead end, and if I turned right as instructed, there was a wall.

Creak, creaaak-.

「Happy General Store」

As I was wandering around, my eyes caught sight of a building with a worn sign that was bent and swaying.

It was a three-story building, with an old shop on the first floor.

“……”

A woman sweeping the street in front of the store with a broom met my eyes. She was wearing something like a turban on her face, so only her eyes were visible.

‘She must be a married woman.’

She was a captivating woman with honey-colored eyes.

Having such captivating eyes, she must have ignited the hearts of many men and gotten married, and naturally, she would be a married woman.

“Excuse me—”

“If it’s about new subscriptions for water purifiers or terminals, I’m not interested.”

Oh, shoot—.

What a sharp reaction.

However, if she was a married woman, it was proper for her to put up a wall against strange men.

Since she was even covering her face with something like a hijab, she must have a strong cautious disposition towards other men.

“I am Joy, who has been appointed as the Development Vice-Chairman of this market. I’m looking for the development headquarters; where should I go?”

“If you have something you want to ask me, buy something from my store. There’s nothing free in Pandora Market.”

“I see.”

I entered the “Happy General Store” on the first floor.

It was filled with dried herbs, lizards, unknown trees, and cactuses.

Bubble bubble bubble—.

Then, I saw a pot.

A fluorescent substance was boiling inside, and just as I showed interest, wondering what it was, I heard a ‘tsk’ sound, a tongue click.

“If I were you, I wouldn’t carelessly look inside. That’s hydra venom. It’s the second most lethal poison in this Soul Society.”

Hydra venom?

To think this was a shop that handled such things.

As I recoiled in horror, I saw a glass bottle filled with yellow, round beads.

“What about this?”

“Those are honey candies made from honey collected by honey ants.”

“What are honey ants?”

“Hmph, go ahead and ask all these questions, but just try saying you’re not buying anything.”

Honestly, I’m a customer, I can ask questions.

Her attitude is quite unfriendly.

These days, the service industry in this Soul Society is highly competitive, so if the clerks or owners aren’t friendly, they won’t do much business.

“Honey ants are ants that collect honey. They are creatures that live distributed throughout this Soul Society. But lately, due to the hell roaches, they seem to have moved their habitats and aren’t seen. That’s why honey ant honey is rare.”

It occurred to me that ants and bees were cousins.

Just as bees collect honey, there’s no law saying ants can’t collect honey.

Would nymphs who like honey candies also like candies made from honey ant honey?

As that thought crossed my mind, Melinoye nim’s face suddenly came to mind.

‘…Gasp, why am I thinking of Melinoye nim right now?’

I was currently on the verge of being fired after my demotion, standing at the threshold of whether I’d be dismissed or not.

What happens next is important.

“Do you happen to have anything nymphs dislike? Something that would make nymphs’ favorability ratings drop sharply just by hanging it in front of the door.”

I recalled the conversation between the Chairman and Melinoye nim that had taken place earlier.

Melinoye nim held the aspiration of becoming the chairman, but.

When she protested my demotion, she seemed to hold enough favor for me to weigh her dream against me. That favor was the problem.

Because Melinoye nim had misunderstood and mistaken me for an incredibly remarkable employee, it was necessary to break that misunderstanding and misconception about me and lower her favorability.

“Something nymphs dislike?”

*Crumple*-.

Her golden eyes visible through the turban creased.

“Why are you trying to get something like that?”

“That’s…”

“No, it’s fine. Everyone has their reasons, I suppose. Take this onion mesh bag. Just by keeping it at home, nymphs will cry profusely and run away.”

The onions in the red onion mesh bag were small and clustered.

The onions were so pungent that my eyes stung, and a trickle of tears flowed.

Indeed. If I have these onions, Melinoye nim will also cry profusely.

Then her favorability towards me will also decrease.

However, the owner’s golden eyes showed no tremor, which was quite remarkable.

“Owner, aren’t these onions pungent to you?”

“My tears dried up a long time ago. Then, for the onions, just pay 10 gold coins.”

What? 10 gold coins?

What a rip-off.

I took out my coin purse from my pocket and dropped 10 gold coins into the owner’s hand with a clink.

However, the owner looked at the gold coin, which had Prince Zagreus’s face on it, and got angry.

“This money is strange.”

“Is this your first time seeing a new gold coin? It’s currency newly issued after the business reform. The gold content is higher than the existing ones.”

Only then did I realize that this store had no TV, not even a radio. That’s why she was so behind on information that she didn’t even know about the new gold coins.

When I revealed my name, the fact that she didn’t react with an exaggerated “Gasp! That Joy!” towards me had vaguely tipped me off.

‘Better yet.’

I felt good.

So I also bought the glass bottle of candies made by honey ants for 10 gold coins.

“Then, I think this is enough for the information fee. How do I get to the development headquarters? The map app isn’t updated, so finding my way is really difficult.”

“Development headquarters? I don’t know anything about that.”

The married woman from the general store shook her head.

I felt tricked.

“However, I do know where the most foolish and lazy person in this market is. When that person first came here, they seemed to have mentioned ‘development’ or something.”

“Oh, where can I go to meet them?”

“Go to the third floor of this building.”

The third floor.

I left the store and climbed the stairs whose handrails were completely rusted.

It was a building that reeked of mold, to the extent that one couldn’t tell when it was last cleaned.

The second floor seemed to be completely vacant, used as a warehouse.

When I went up to the third floor, wasn’t there a sign on the door that read “Market Development Headq—”?

The last character seemed to have fallen off, perhaps due to lack of paint maintenance.

This must be the development headquarters.

‘I wasted 20 gold coins with my destination right above me, didn’t I?’

What a start.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been this unlucky.

Knock knock knock-.

I knocked on the door with a joyful heart.

But there was no sound from inside.

Creeaak-.

Just in case, I opened the door, and it wasn’t locked.

When I went inside like that, I saw the interior of an office filled with dust and all sorts of jars.

─Snore-.

I heard snoring.

It must have been the sound made by a skeleton lying with its legs propped up on the desk.

It was a skeleton that reminded me of Director Bones and Director Hector.

The difference was that even as a skeleton, it had magnificently abundant red hair.

And it was wearing a cloak.

“Are you, by any chance, the Chairman of the Development Headquarters?”

“Ugh, huh, uh!”

*Crash*-.

As if woken from sleep by my question, the skeleton was startled and fell off the desk.

# # #

The red-haired skeleton, as I expected, was indeed the Chairman of the Development Headquarters.

He looked in the mirror and combed his hair.

Swish swish swish-.

“So, you’re Joy, who’s going to be the Development Vice-Chairman of this Pandora Market, right? And before that, you were active as a Deputy General Manager in Audit Team 1?”

“That’s right.”

“I hadn’t heard any news that a Vice-Chairman would be coming. Well, it’s not like the great headquarters has ever shared information with a guy like me. Anyway, it’s really too bad for you.”

“For me?”

“Being a Deputy General Manager in Audit Team 1 means you were literally on an easy road. I don’t know what went wrong, but you also ended up demoted and thrown into this trash can.”

From Deputy General Manager of an influential team at headquarters to Vice-Chairman of a market with no customers.

It was an unconventional demotion, no matter who looked at it.

“Your promotions and glory are now over. There’s only one thing to be careful about in this market: properly disposing of food waste so that hell roaches don’t crawl up from the sewers. That’s it.”

“What about other things? Like what tasks I should handle in the future, or if you could advise me on business policies or direction?”

I need to know the job details in advance to fail perfectly, right?

But the skeleton Chairman stopped looking in the mirror and stared at me.

*Flare*-.

For a moment, his red eyes glowed like an oil-fed bonfire.

“Advice? It seems you haven’t grasped the situation yet, so I’ll give you a piece of advice: Once you’ve entered this place, abandon all hope. You’re now nothing more than a banana peel in a trash can. Like me!”

The skeleton Chairman’s words contained a mix of ridicule directed at me and self-deprecating lamentation.

“So, Chairman, you’re saying this place is a trash can where no amount of effort can lead to success.”

“Yes! So you should just conform like me. You must have seen it on your way here, right? The dead commercial district. The dead motivation of the merchants. This place is a graveyard.”

A graveyard for office workers?

I…

…This was the heaven I had been searching for!

With such immense joy, I felt like tears would stream down profusely.

It was then.

“Ahem! I heard that Joy, who fell flat on his face and got demoted, was here?”

Some bald man came to the headquarters.

He found me and burst into loud laughter.

“You really were here! In this shabby, dust-covered office! Joy, how dare you fail me in the interview? From the moment you looked down on me, your failure was already decided!”

“Excuse me, but who are you?”

“Surely you’re not going to say you don’t know me! I am Manhae Yongmun Gwijeung, whom you failed on the interview day—.”

“Joy! Joy, did you really get demoted?”

*Bang*-!

The door opened and another person entered.

It was Krates, who had worked with me in the Happy World’s Penal Enforcement Department.

“They say even nymphs can fall into water. So, the day you get demoted has finally come. I told you not to rush your career advancement.”

“Is Deputy General Manager Joy, who was demoted from Audit Team 1, here by any chance?”

*Murmuring*-.

Was my demotion really that surprising? Many people flocked to the market.

“Alright, alright! Line up! Line up! Those who want to say something to Joy, take a number ticket here!”

“Joy! To think you’d come to such a dilapidated place! This Krauser doesn’t know what to make of it!”

“Deputy General Manager Joy! How did you end up demoted to a place like this…!? But now that you’re no longer a Deputy General Manager, what should this Hedone call you…!? Oppa…!? Joy oppaahhh!”

“This Carnoy doesn’t know what’s what, but I’m sensing a very strange nymph aura in this market…! More importantly, I’m hungry, where’s the restaurant…!”

*Murmuring*-.

Pandora Market, where countless people gathered to see me.

That evening, articles like these were posted:

「Pandora Market, Long Abandoned, Shows Signs of Life?」

「Top 3 Restaurants Near the Development Headquarters」

「Joy’s Demotion Ignites the Market!」

“It’s… it’s a coincidence! This is just a coincidence! It’s just one night’s luck!”

As the skeleton director tore at his hair, I, standing next to him, also shed copious tears.

It was too pungent. The onions.