Chapter 184. [Voiceless SOS]

<<Hello there!>>

A voice called out from the entrance of the convenience store, and I turned to look. “Finally, a store clerk is back!” I thought.

But I was mistaken.

The woman, just like when I entered the store, had her head tilted.

It seemed that she was also a customer.

<<Hi, young lady.>>

<<Um, thank you.>>

Our eyes met as I had been staring for a moment, and we exchanged a brief nod of greeting.

<<Are you here alone? Where are the store employees?>>

<<Oh, well, um, they might be slacking off?>>

<<What!? So, have you been waiting here all this time? Unbelievable, leaving a small girl like this waiting! Store clerk, come out now!>>

The female customer started shouting loudly as if she was taking my place in this situation.

Surprisingly, I was the one who got flustered.

<<Why make such a fuss?>>

I mean, even if she said she had been waiting, it had only been a few minutes.

Besides, honestly, I was planning to leave some cash on the counter and walk out if they didn’t show up soon.

I was keeping a female engineer waiting, and my hotdog was getting cold.

Above all, with such a waste of time, I’d rather hurry home and watch my stream!

<<That won’t do at all! These things need to be corrected properly!>>

But it seemed the female customer wouldn’t be appeased by that.

I think Americans have a much stronger sense of ‘justice’ than Japanese people.

<<Come out, come out, come out! Or else, I’ll sue you! Or the police, the police!”

<<Uh, well…>>

I was at a loss in the face of the woman’s powerful assertiveness.

It’s very American for the word “sue” to be the first to come up in this situation.

After all, it’s a country known for its litigious nature.

They’re really quick to file lawsuits.

In fact, one of the reasons they say ‘Americans never apologize’ is because as soon as they say ‘sorry’, they admit fault…and it’s almost a guaranteed loss when you get sued.

With that kind of risk, it’s hard to apologize.

Come to think of it, I always used different phrases to apologize instead.

<<Are you really going to report this? Is that okay with you? I’m serious! One, two, three…>>

<<I’m, I’m sorry! I’m sorry for the wait!>>

<<What took you so long to come out? What were you doing?>>

The door to the back room opened from the inside, and the male store clerk finally appeared.

It seemed like he was either regretting what he had done or just terrified, as his face was pale.

<<You, you, don’t you feel sorry for making this little girl wait? Geez!>>

<<Well, um…>>

<<Don’t worry about it so much! I’m fine>>

I tried to calm down the customer who was more heated up than me.

Honestly, I felt like I would have been less tired if I had just continued to wait for my order.

<<Anyway, hey, didn’t you come here to buy something too?>>

<<Oh, right. You should thank this girl. She’s so kind!>>

<<Oh…>>

After that, the female customer left to pick up her product.

I watched her go and finally let out a sigh of relief.

Once again, I placed the product on the counter and asked for the register.

The clerk tried to scan the barcode with a handheld scanner…

<<Oh, what’s this? Darn it, why?>>

His hands were trembling, and he seemed unable to do it properly.

No, there was no need to be so frightened.

The intimidating female customer had left, after all…

And just as I thought that I noticed something strange.

<<Ugh, ugh… darn it, darn it!>>

The clerk’s face remained as pale as when he get shouted at by the female customer.

Why is this person still so scared?

I hate to say it, but my appearance is equivalent to that of a young girl, and I’m not angry.

Is an adult male really so afraid of such a person?

<<……~>>

I wanted to look up at the sky.

I had a bad feeling about this.

But this would undoubtedly involve me in a lot of trouble, wouldn’t it?

On the other hand, ignoring it might not be the right choice either.

Alright, I’ve made up my mind.

Let’s check for now, and then we’ll think about it.

<<Oh, I’ve got a phone call!>>

I exclaimed dramatically and put my smartphone to my ear.

Then, I started a conversation in a certain language.

{Excuse me, do you have a problem, sir?}

The clerk reacted with a start and raised his head.

There was a look of astonishment in his eyes.

But he didn’t open his mouth.

No, that’s not it. Perhaps…

{If yes, please say, “Is cash okay for payment?”}

<<Oh, is cash payment alright?>>

Wow, seriously?

I continued to pretend to be on the phone, but my face almost twitched at my terrible luck.

But maybe it was just a coincidence that the timing of the question matched.

I’ll confirm one more time just to be sure.

{Is there a situation where you can’t talk right now? Are you being threatened by someone? Maybe…}

{…A robbery, is it?}

<<Oh, oh, is cash payment okay?>>

The clerk repeated in a voice that sounded like he was about to cry and affirmed.

This time, I really looked up at the sky.

The language I used to talk on the phone was his native language.

I tried calling out to him with that language because I’m not of American descent and use accented English, but… for better or worse, it worked perfectly.

I can’t just overlook this now… sigh.

It seems I’ve been caught up in quite a troublesome situation.