episode_0124

While I was thinking about what to do, the terminal kept ringing.

“Yes, it’s Chris.”

Since we know who the opponent is anyway, there’s no need to talk about problem-solving rankings.

“Chris, this is Ilseong.”

“Oh, what’s going on so early in the morning?”

I wasn’t feeling too bad as I was lying in bed and comfortably talking on the phone.

“Are we done discussing this?”

“Yes, the discussion itself ended last night.”

Since Ilseong and Ray are here, maybe… they decided to come under my wing.

There was that vague sense of anticipation.

“Then… what did you decide to do?”

“Our entire office has decided to come under Chris’s wing.”

It was good!

Without realizing it, I clenched my right hand, which was not holding the terminal.

“Chris, are you working on something right now?”

“Uh… No? I just went to the supermarket with Midas and am just resting right now.”

“Is this a supermarket?”

“Oh, not in that general sense….”

I thought it might be a sensitive topic for Il-seong, who had a background in dog fighting.

Isn’t that right? The dog-fighting of the dog-monger and the slave market have nothing to do with each other?

“That slave market that Chris is watching over.”

“Well, the name of that place was Supermarket.”

“I don’t think it’s a very good name.”

Is that so? Or maybe it’s just a name chosen to reduce rejection.

If you knew the truth, you might feel uncomfortable with the frivolous feeling of buying and selling slaves in a supermarket.

“After I drove out the angels of hell, I ended up looking after them. I can’t help it.”

“…Chris, this just occurred to me, but can I ask you a favor?”

“Please? What is it?”

It was rare for Ilseong to ask me for something.

Still, I thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to give them at least one to commemorate becoming a subsidiary office.

“I’m interested in the orc slaves in that slave market.”

“To the orcs?”

Since Grove Avenue is also part of Oakland, it seems likely that there would be no Oak slaves.

Wouldn’t it be more?

With that in mind, I opened the catalog I had been looking at a moment ago again.

“Uh… I think there are fewer orc slaves than I thought.”

There were not many properties for sale.

Moreover, most of them were healthy male orcs.

“Is that so? It’s a bit surprising that there are so few numbers.”

“Should I ask the person in charge there?”

“…There’s no need to do that.”

“Hey, it’s okay, it’s okay.”

The catalog also included contact information for the Grove Avenue Supermarket.

While maintaining the call with Ilseong, I took control of the terminal and made a call to another contact.

***

It didn’t connect with anyone right away.

Instead, there were conventional phrases and sounds, and after a few beeps, a human voice was heard.

“Grove Avenue Supermarket. Dear Customer.”

“Oh, I’m Chris who visited there a little while ago!”

“…Yes, yes! Chris.”

Oh, but if the guides know about me right away, it looks like they’ve already told me everything.

Sebastian, I told you, you’re a dragon-led guy.

“I have a question, can I ask it?”

The guide answered me with a slightly trembling voice.

“Looking at the catalog that Sebastian gave me… There are fewer orcs than I thought. But this is Auckland, aren’t there too few orcs?”

Ilseong didn’t say anything during the conversation between me and the guide.

The guide answered my question right away.

The reason was that the preference of customers visiting Grove Avenue Supermarket was not very high.

“…Really?”

“Since there are many people who are orcs, they tend to prefer slaves of other races rather than their own kind.”

“If it’s another race, what race are you mainly from?”

“Based on data from the past year… the most popular races among local customers are humans, elves, and beastmen.”

Suin… It was meaningful considering that there were so many races included in it, even though it was called Suin.

Indeed, there are many orcs who have unique tastes.

“Oh, thanks for letting me know. I’ll get back to you later!”

You probably won’t be too happy to hear me say I’ll contact you again later.

But what can I do? They are B and I am A!

“Ilseong, how are you? Did you hear it well?”

“Yes, I heard you.”

“But why the orc slaves all of a sudden?”

I suddenly wondered why I became interested in them.

Surely it’s not something to do with Ray or anything?

“Christ, you know, but isn’t our office all orc except for me and Youngmin?”

“That’s right. At first, I thought it was the orcs’ office.”

Well, the Silver Side they were in was also one of the areas of Cabrini Green where many orcs lived.

No matter how you look at it, it wasn’t a strange case.

“This time, we became Chris’s subordinate office, and I think we need to increase our staff for various reasons.”

“…So you’re going to fill it with orc slaves from the supermarket?”

“Yes, while we’re giving them freedom, let’s give them a choice.”

“Hmm, really?”

Most of them were healthy men.

Unless there are special circumstances, I don’t think I would refuse that offer.

“Then I’ll help you too.”

“Yes?”

“How about I pay for those orc slaves?”

“That’s not what I was asking for when I called.”

“Hey, now the Ildong office is under my control, so I can do that much for you.”

The disposal of the golden statue made with Midas’ help has not yet been decided.

To me, who had absorbed the slush funds of Eslock and Psylocke, that amount was like the price of a gum.

“I’ll tell the supermarket in advance.”

“…Okay, Chris, thank you.”

Was it because I used Midas to turn a group of slaves into golden statues a little while ago?

I thought that if you do evil, wouldn’t it be good to do at least one good deed?

There was a concept called karma in the Dream City game too.

Depending on whether the karma was high or low, various changes occurred in this city.

“Chris!”

“Huh? What, you already ate it all?”

“I used too much force earlier! Give me more!”

Midas, who had emptied the food bowl while they were talking for a short time, confidently demanded it.

“Okay, wait a minute!”

I quickly got out of bed and poured more food into the bowl, almost to the brim.

“Midas, just eat for a moment.”

Just feeding them food is a bit much.

Of course, there is not just one type of feed, but the feed I am giving now is not dry feed, but feed that is closer to raw food.

I went straight to the living room and headed to the refrigerator in the kitchen.

***

As soon as I opened the refrigerator door, a chilly breeze greeted me.

Here it is.

Various pieces of cheese that you can get your hands on right now.

When I returned to the room with the cheeses, I saw Midas eating his food in a hurry.

“Midas! Let’s eat this too.”

Midas didn’t stop eating, his face buried in the food bowl, as if he could hear me.

I had to be content with placing cut pieces of cheese on the feed around Midas’ face.

“Whew… Should I make a phone call now?”

Sheila and Janggun were still sleeping soundly.

Now, unlike before, I’m going to keep doing the same thing. Won’t my back hurt later if I do that?

“Eww! Those cute guys.”

Playful spirit kicked in and he lightly tickled Sheila and Janggun’s stomach.

Fortunately, the current general was in personified form.

No matter how much he sleeps, it’s a bit much to touch the general’s true form…

Same old clichéd voice.

“Yes, Grove Avenue Supermarket···.”

“I’m Chris, please change to Sebastian!”

I stated my business before the guide had even finished speaking.

Then the guide, embarrassed, asked us to wait for a moment.

I don’t know how many phone calls were made in that short time…

I finally got a call from the guy I wanted.

“Sebastian?”

“Yes, Chris. Is something wrong?”

“Ah, that’s not the difference. Ahem, big.”

He added a little cough to make himself look presentable.

“I have a friend who is interested in the orc slaves we deal with here.”

“Are you talking about someone Chris knows?”

“Yeah, I’ll pay the bill. I think I’ll contact you separately or visit you in person soon.”

“…Can you tell me your name?”

Il-seong, head of the Il-dong office.

Sebastian seemed to be a familiar name.

“Chris, as you may have heard from our guide, we only have a few orc slaves in our shop due to the local popularity. Could you please connect me to another shop that has better items?”

“No, no. I said it’s better if the number is small. So don’t worry and do whatever Ilseong wants.”

“…Yes, I understand.”

This time, Sebastian’s consideration was not needed.

The guy didn’t respond any further, as if he knew about it, and just said that he understood.

***

An hour later.

Finally, Sheila and the General woke up from their long sleep.

After taking a shower, we enjoyed breakfast prepared by Sylvia!

We decided to focus on the work that needed to be done.

That’s right!

This was a summary of the interviews with the subordinate forces.

“Well, then shall we go down to the first floor first?”

“Do you really need to say that?”

“But wouldn’t it be better to do it at the bar where Johnny and Lina are rather than here?”

I gave a reasonable reason to Lund, who asked me as if he was annoyed.

“Well, then there’s nothing I can do.”

It was good that I gave up quickly in times like this.

“Then let’s go!”

“Don’t stick.”

She freaked out when I tried to climb on her back.

“You guys go first. I’ll follow you soon.”

“Okay? Got it.”

“Lund, what happened to the opinion Oleg left behind?”

“Don’t worry about that. I have already confirmed the opinion that your uncle sent you.”

“No, then don’t keep it to yourself, share it!”

“Can’t I just say it while taking my uncle’s opinion into consideration?”

…Is that so?

Lund and I headed to the elevator first.

I asked Sheila and the General to look after Midas while I was away.

Honestly, rather than the general seeing Midas… maybe it’s more like Sheila seeing both the general and Midas?

Tiring!

We arrived at the first floor with a familiar sound.

As I entered Sylvia’s bar on the first floor lobby, I naturally blended in with the bustling atmosphere.

“Sister!”

“Johnny!”

Come to think of it, if Johnny had a silver body… would he be Johnny Silverhand?

Leaving aside his idle thoughts, Johnny asked me and the wolf-faced Lund if they wanted anything to drink.

“Uh… Not right now. I’ll tell you later when I feel like it.”

“Hahaha! That’s not bad either.”

“But it seems like the number of customers has increased a bit.”

“Sister, look over there.”

“Huh?”

I quickly turned my head in the direction Johnny was pointing.

Besides the few orc guests, there were some unusual guests.

Are you a metal sight office problem solver?

A few guests, who had most of their bodies converted to prosthetics… and who looked practically like androids, were drinking amongst themselves.

“Can you drink alcohol with a body like that?”

“It’s alcohol, so something will work out.”

Or are they just drinking industrial alcohol among themselves to get a feel for the alcohol?

Judging from the different colors of the alcohol I’m drinking, I don’t think so.

“So what’s going on today?”

“Oh, I had an interview recently.”

“Ah… that?”

“Johnny and Lina were with Sylvia. We all need to get together and decide whether to pass or fail.”

“Well, at least all the guys who came for the interview were okay.”

“Really?”

Well, on our side, except for the saint, everyone else wasn’t bad.

I was thinking about asking about the company that Manager Gargoyle was in, but decided to ask about that later.

While I was talking to Johnny, Sylvia appeared in casual clothes.

It made me feel bad to see some of the orcs rolling their eyes here and there at Sylvia’s appearance.

‘How dare you! To our Sylvia!’

“Sylvia, this way! Quickly!”

“Will Johnny and Lina come too?”

I quickly took Sylvia into the inner space.

Sylvia calmly called out to Johnny and Lina while being dragged away by me.

Meanwhile, Lund was the last to enter the inner space.

“Lund! Quickly! Quickly!”

“Don’t complain.”

The door to the inner space was closed as soon as Lund entered.

Even though two bartenders are missing, we’ll be okay as long as we have Eslock and Lillian.

“Oh, sir. By the way, I got a call from the hospital.”

“A hospital?”

“Oh, it’s David.”

As I expected, the news was that David would likely be discharged from the hospital soon.

Looks like Leia took good care of you!

I thought it would be a good idea to buy some food for David and the kids.

Psylocke, that guy didn’t do anything weird to the kids, did he?

“That’s fortunate.”

Sylvia decided to have a separate event to celebrate David’s discharge from the hospital.

And then he mentioned the very reason why we gathered here.

“It seems like the interviewers are already waiting anxiously for us to tell them the results.”

“Really?”

I think I would do the same thing, though.

“Then let’s get started right away. First, let’s start with our interviewees.”

These are excluding the White Office and the Office.

For example, for individuals, businesses, or other organizations.