Based on the provided documents, the account balance is clearly insufficient to continue the business as it is… It seems that Mr. Takakura’s store has been in severe financial distress for quite some time… Am I understanding this correctly? While you’ve managed to stay afloat despite issues with workflow and labor shortages, not taking on any debt is truly commendable… However, it’s unlikely the business will last another year at this rate. In any case, I understand the situation, and we will cover the immediate utility payments.
Ms. Kashima continued speaking while I was lost in thought.
“Eh? Surely that’s… Utility costs for a convenience store are far beyond a typical household, you know?”
After all, convenience stores can easily spend 200,000 yen on electricity alone… and over 300,000 yen in the summer…
Gunma is incredibly hot in the summer… The air conditioners and refrigerators are running at full power every day, so it’s only natural.
If I were to hire part-time workers, I could get two to three people for that amount… The idea of someone covering that for me is an incredibly sweet deal…
Financial distress… It’s true that if you only look at the surface-level financial transactions, my store might appear to be on the brink, barely scraping by, all year round… to an outsider, at least!
…I’m not surprised they’ve accurately grasped our account balance.
Even a small-town city hall could easily access a resident’s account balance and transaction records if they set their mind to it…
After all, if the government demands bank account information, they have to disclose it, so I should never expect it to be kept secret from the start.
“We’re not a government agency for nothing, so that level of expense is not an issue for us. We’ve already made arrangements with the power company, water bureau, and telephone company. For now, we promise to continue the supply of lifeline services free of charge. It is, quite literally, a lifeline.”
“R-right… I never imagined that our lifeline services from Japan could be used in another world… I was worried about how I would handle payments, so this is a tremendous help.”
“Yes, we will provide all the assistance we can in that regard. Regarding product procurement, we’ve arranged for multiple delivery services specializing in inter-world express deliveries through our connections. Were there any issues? We’ve also covered the costs of procurement and payments to the delivery companies yourselves, so please don’t concern yourself with those matters.”
…I see, so Wakako was arranged by Ms. Kashima and her group…
On top of that, covering delivery fees, procurement, and utility payments is, frankly speaking, an exceptionally generous offer… And they expect me to do business freely in another world with these terms?
…There’s definitely something else going on here.
The offer is too good to be true, no matter how I look at it.
In reality, even if it were just unconditional goodwill born from recognizing our dire financial situation, these terms would leave us completely at their mercy.
…Why?
Nothing is more expensive than something that is free… Being able to control procurement and distribution channels is akin to having control over the management rights.
If, on top of that, they were to make some unreasonable demand, and I refused, they could then demand repayment of all expenses incurred to date with interest… and I would have no choice but to comply blindly.
In essence, it’s the same dynamic as a small, independent convenience store being unable to defy its headquarters.
I suspect that’s their intention…
In other words, they’re fitting us with shackles disguised as favor and goodwill.
…But for now, I have no choice but to rely on their generosity…
Still, their meticulous planning and seamless execution are remarkable.
These services, which are the epitome of being taken care of… what exactly are these people?
And Wakako is connected with Ms. Kashima and her group… that must be it.
Given that she seems to be paying for delivery fees properly, they’re likely not the same organization but rather in a cooperative relationship…
In any case, they said they were in charge of otherworldly matters…
Perhaps they use people like Wakako to bring back Japanese people who have been sent to another world, and to provide various logistical support…
And, if possible, to influence things to benefit the Empire of Japan… They’re quite shrewd.
This method of luring people in with favor and goodwill to control them… younger individuals with little life experience would easily fall for it.
“Ms. Kashima… you seem very experienced in these matters, and it doesn’t feel like this is your first time doing this, does it? Could you explain things properly? Or rather, what is that same building from your world?”
…Well, since I’ve figured out quite a bit of what’s going on behind the scenes, from here on, I’ll keep my questions to a minimum to avoid seeming too unnatural, without saying anything unnecessary.
I want to ask about the building; it’s a normal question to ask… What is that? It makes no sense.
“Indeed… As we explained at the beginning, we are from the specialized department handling otherworldly incident response. Nothing more, nothing less, but the fact that such a department is necessary means that otherworldly incidents are occurring everywhere… You can understand it that way.”
I see, Ms. Kashima is probably just a frontline operator.
She herself likely has no ulterior motives and is only privy to the minimum necessary information.
She naturally understands that I don’t trust them and is making a sincere effort to gain my trust by accumulating achievements, paying close attention to every word she utters… I can see that.
…But the superiors who are likely monitoring this conversation from their end, and their organization… individuals whose faces and forms I cannot discern.
I’m not foolish enough to trust them unconditionally.
“Regarding your question… as for the building that replaced Mr. Takakura’s convenience store here, frankly, we are also unclear about the situation ourselves… I must preface this by saying I cannot provide an accurate answer. It is speculated to be a sort of shadow left behind in this world, a device to achieve a permanent connection between different worlds… However, any careless actions could result in its occupants being transferred to a subspace or another world. Therefore, we haven’t conducted detailed investigations and have instead declared it to have high-concentration radioactive materials, evacuated the surrounding residents, and sealed off the entire district.”
They sealed off the entire area… What is that, scary…
It seems like things have become quite large-scale.
Could it be that the Goddess the Manager mentioned went to such lengths to establish a system that could supply lifeline services from that world, specifically for the purpose of operating a convenience store in this one?
In reality, operating a convenience store is practically impossible without a connection that’s almost on the same level as being directly linked to that world…
First of all, without electricity, all the bento boxes and frozen foods would be ruined, and drinks wouldn’t be sellable either… They would all be lukewarm, or in the cold season, only cold drinks would be available, and who would want to buy that?
And, more than anything, the register wouldn’t work, and I wouldn’t be able to place orders… If the power goes out, it’s a disaster… It’s practically a notice of business closure.
Even so, customers will come regardless of our circumstances, so we try our best to operate with handheld registers… but it’s only possible for about two hours at most.
But still… just how powerful are the Gods of this world?
To be able to bring lifeline services directly from that world using such mysterious technology…
And Ms. Kashima and her group too… More than anything, the response time from when the incident occurred to when they took action is abnormal!
At this point, I can infer that the organization possesses vast authority across various fields, numerous connections, and a large number of highly skilled personnel.
The earthquake occurred around 1 AM… I can assume that was the zero-time of the incident.
By 6 AM the next morning, Wakako’s delivery had arrived, meaning they likely grasped the situation within about an hour of the incident, made a swift organizational decision, and consulted with the relevant departments.
They sent people directly to Gunma to assess the situation on-site, coordinated with the police and other departments to control information, and the emergency earthquake warning, which should have been national news, was quickly dismissed as a false alarm due to the lack of damage, and the situation was de-escalated.
An earthquake with only P-waves across such a wide range… that’s impossible, so they probably concealed this fact and replaced it with a story about an earthquake occurring in a different location simultaneously.
Afterward, they coordinated with headquarters and arranged for Wakako and her team, requesting product delivery based on yesterday’s order information…
In fact, the timestamp for the handover at the distribution center was 5 AM, meaning they handled all these matters in parallel and gained complete control of the situation, including conducting explanations for those involved, in less than four hours.
What in the world… that’s too efficient… what an incredible organization…
Even the military would be outrun by this… Japan is terrifying.
However, judging by their actions, such troubles are not new to them.
Perhaps Japanese people inexplicably transfer to another world, or people from another world transfer to Japan.
While it doesn’t make the news, perhaps such events are not uncommon?
The former might be understandable, but the latter would surely cause a stir… yet I’ve never heard any news that resembles it.
But what if it’s disguised as inexplicable mass murders or large-scale accidents…?
It’s possible… the death of a person in the ordinary world is difficult to hide, even in the dark world. For that reason, it is said that methods such as deliberately causing other incidents or accidents are sometimes used to conceal them…
However, with the ability to suppress even internet information through large-scale information manipulation, it’s not impossible…
An organization that secretly resolves various issues between worlds while coordinating to benefit the Empire of Japan… Is that what they are? This is an incredibly dangerous adversary…
