Magic Store 38



Earlier, I noticed this guy’s back pocket looked heavy.

That meant he had a wallet there, and if he was hiding anything, it had to be in that spot.

Sure, the most he could hide in a wallet would be a few batteries or something small like that….

But this is another world, right?

There’s no guarantee that a wallet here is just a regular wallet.

The wildcat looked confused for a moment, then quickly changed his expression to one of bewilderment and asked again.

“What did you say?”

He definitely understood me.

I repeated myself.

“ID. Identification.”

“Oh. Sure. Take a look.”

He handed over his ID without any resistance.

He took out his wallet from his back pocket, pulled out the ID, and handed it to me.

I took the ID, pretending to examine it, while actually looking at the wallet.

It was a slightly worn leather wallet.

The wallet itself wasn’t special.

However….

“Nice wallet. How much did it cost?”

“What?”

“Your wallet. How much did it cost?”

He looked slightly distorted.

It was like there was noise, or like a screen that hadn’t fully loaded.

The distortion was minimal, but compared to other objects, it was noticeably off and out of place.

I wasn’t sure if it was because I hadn’t slept enough, if I was seeing things, or if it was because I was tense….

Thinking about it wouldn’t give me an answer right now.

A normal wallet wouldn’t look like this anyway….

Ah, forget it.

The moment I mentioned the wallet, I couldn’t back out.

I decided to go full throttle.

“Can I take a closer look? Can I touch it?”

“…Why?”

I pulled out a wallet that a worker had left behind and waved it in front of the wildcat's face, spouting whatever nonsense came to mind.

"This is my wallet, sir. But I really don't like it - can I exchange this thing, okay?"

"What?"

"So I'm trying to swap it out -"

I knew I was talking utter nonsense.

But he didn't know that.

The wildcat furrowed his brows in confusion and reached for the wallet.

Just as he was about to grasp it, he realized what was happening and tried to pull his wallet back, but it was too late.

The moment my fingertips touched it, the wildcat's wallet exploded.

From the burst wallet, a barrage of snacks, drinks, instant coffee boxes, oatmeal, and all sorts of other food items came flying out.

"What the fuck?!"

That wasn't me shouting—it was the wildcat, who had been hit on the head by one of the stolen coffee boxes.

This guy, getting so flustered that he reverted to his native dialect?

As the wildcat fell backward, I pounced on him and grabbed him by the collar, leaning in so only he could hear what I was saying.

"Since there are eyes on us, I'll keep this brief, sir."

The kid was watching.

And the CCTV too.

I didn't want to show that innocent kid a scene of adults brawling.

So, for now, I planned to let him go.

But first...

"If you come back again, sir, your face will end up like this wallet. Understand?"

I waved the tattered wallet in front of his face.

The wildcat, looking half-possessed, managed to nod.

His eyes, looking at me, were filled with terror as if he was seeing a ghost.

He probably never expected to get caught this easily, coming in with such a determined plan.

Or maybe he thought I really was some kind of ghost.

"Have a nice day."

After saying that, I helped the wildcat to his feet.

He staggered a bit, then bolted out of the convenience store without looking back.

Looking around the store, I saw the lobby was a mess, littered with snacks, oatmeal, and other items he had tried to steal.

I sank to the floor.

This was the first time I had ever grabbed someone's collar and shaken them.

Honestly, I hoped this would be enough to scare him off for good and prevent any future trouble.

“Are you okay, mister?”

The little kid had come out from behind the counter and was looking up at me with a worried face.

I didn't have the energy to manage my expression, so I turned my head away and answered.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Honestly, I've never seen such a bizarre character in my life."

"Yeah…."

I tried to sound nonchalant, but I knew this 7-year-old was probably more shaken than I was.

I couldn't just sit there, stunned.

After taking a moment to catch my breath, I crouched down in front of the kid and spoke.

"Hey, thanks. If it wasn't for you, we would have lost all that stuff."

"No. Well… you're the one who defeated him, mister."

"Defeated?"

"Yeah. You were amazing. The wallet just exploded, like magic."

It seemed like the kid was quite fascinated by what she had seen.

She was waving his hands and trying to mimic the scene she had witnessed.

I was glad her mood had lightened, but I didn't really know how to respond to that.

It’s not like I could explain my peculiar ability to her.

Plus, I had another question on my mind.

I asked the kid softly.

"Hey, did you get a good look at the wallet before it exploded?"

"Yeah. When you started talking about the wallet?"

"What did the wallet look like at that time? Did it appear distorted or anything like that?"

"Uh... no?"

She said no.

Even the wildcat, who was holding the wallet, didn't seem to notice anything unusual, so it likely hadn't actually distorted.

It seemed like only I had seen it that way.

I picked up the tattered wallet and examined it, flipping it around.

It neither exploded nor appeared distorted anymore.

Shaking it only made a couple of 100-won coins clatter out.

I guess I'll need to ask the manager about this.

I tossed the wallet onto the counter and started picking up the scattered snacks and coffee boxes from the floor.

Looking down at the mess, there were easily dozens of items including sugar and ramen.

Was this some kind of subsistence theft?

As I was putting the items back on the shelves, the kid came over, carrying an armful of goods and handed them to me.

"Mister, here."

"I appreciate it, but you should just sit down, okay? I don't feel right making a customer work."

Even though I said that, the kid just shook her head adamantly.

By the time we finished tidying up, it would almost be time for her to go home anyway.

Still, she seemed determined to help as long as I was bustling about, so I decided not to overthink it.

I took the items from her, stocked the shelves, and even placed some things in the aisle across.

By then the manager had arrived.

It was 9:40 PM, just after I had taken the last item from the kid.

"Manager, you're here."

"Chan, what were you doing, oh my, there's a little friend here too?"

"Ah."

At the sound of the manager's voice, the kid shrank back, her body and tail tense, and then scurried to hide behind me.

I gently pushed him forward, and he awkwardly bowed his head.

"Hello…."

"Hey kiddo, I'm not a bad person. Really."

"Yeah..."

"Really."

The manager also looked a bit down.

Even from the first day, I noticed that the kid seemed particularly wary of the manager.

I suggested that the kid was less shy around me because I didn't see anything special.

But what did she see in the manager that made her so timid?

"Uh, Chan, was everything okay today?"

"Of course, it wasn’t just another ordinary day."

"Again?"

"What's so surprising about that? Oh, just a moment."

Before I could start my story, I decided to send the kid home.

I fetched her backpack and the half-drunk honey water from the counter, slinging the backpack over her shoulder and handing her the drink.

"Hey kiddo, it's 9:45 PM now. Can you get to your mom safely?"

"Um... I think so."

"Good. Don't worry about what we didn't finish; I'll keep it safe. Wait, what's this mark on your neck? Did you spill honey water?"

"Huh?"

"I'll give you a wet wipe. Clean it on your way home. Bring your crayons next time. Don't come too early, around 9 PM is perfect. If you come early, it's hard for me to take care of you, okay?"

"Uh... okay..."

"Alright then. Thanks for today. See you next time."

After saying that, I immediately took out a wet wipe from the counter and handed it to the kid.

She took it, waved goodbye once in the lobby, then again at the front door, and finally disappeared into the distance.

Watching her leave, the manager spoke up.

"Chan, you looked just like a dad just now, you know?"

"I've heard that four times since this morning, manager."

"Of course, it's worth mentioning... Huh? What's with this wallet?"

The manager, who was coming behind the counter, spotted the wallet and tilted her head in curiosity.

Where should I start explaining this...?

I decided to start from the beginning.

I told her a kobold came in, and the kid said he seemed like a thief.

So, I got suspicious and when I touched the wallet, all the stolen items popped out.

After explaining up to this point, I looked at the manager.

She had her hand to her mouth, wearing a serious expression.

I had never seen this look on her face since I started working here, which made me a bit uneasy.

There was an odd sense of authority in her demeanor.

"...So?"

"Yes?"

"What did you do with the kobold?"

"Oh. I just let him go. I kept the wallet and ID, and since the kid was watching, I didn't want to escalate things... Honestly, how could I fight a creature whose tusk is as big as my finger?"

"I'm not talking about that. Actually, you handled it well. If you had fought, it would have made things more complicated."

I thought she was going to talk about legal stuff like excessive self-defense or justified defense, but she wasn't.

She picked up the wallet and continued.

"According to what you said, this wallet is a magical artifact. It seems to have space magic, expansion magic, and even some security magic that was bypassed."

"I understand the rest, but what's space magic?"

"So... you said that even while you were watching, the kobold didn't actually steal any items directly, right?"

I nodded, confirming that.

The manager added that during that time, the kobold was probably using space magic to store items in the wallet.

It was like teleporting unseen items from the shelves into the wallet.

"Is that possible?"

"It's not impossible. It's extremely difficult and illegal, which is the issue... But how did that kobold get hold of something like this?"

"I’m more curious about why he used such a valuable item to steal daily necessities from a convenience store rather than where he got it. This magical tool could easily bankrupt a bank if used maliciously.”

...Or maybe he was just testing it out first.

I’m not sure, but one thing is certain: this is beyond the scope of what a mere convenience store worker like me should deal with.

"We should report this to the police."

"Yeah. I'll report it as soon as you finish your shift. Is there anything else that comes to mind?"

"There is something, although it’s a bit different."

I told her that the wallet looked distorted.

Only to my eyes.

After a brief explanation, the manager pondered for a long time, and then replied with twice the difficulty.

"So, what I am about to say is 100% speculation...but..."

"Yes?"

"Do you think your abilities are gradually developing?"

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