WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Arsène
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◈ I Became the Convenience Store Clerk the Rankers Are Obsessed With ◈
Chapter 3: Elf Queen Friella
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This wasn't what I'd imagined elves would be like when I read fantasy novels.
Quick, graceful movements that sliced through the wind.
Fresh, delicate beauty, like a flower covered in morning dew.
A dependable companion who always had a place in the hero's party.
And a noble guardian who loved the peace of the forest.
That was the usual image of an elf, wasn't it?
But the self-proclaimed high elf queen before me was nothing like the elves I knew.
Blond hair flattened and greasy beneath a hard hat.
Grubby dirt covering a fluorescent green work vest.
This was...
Just a pretty construction worker.
Of course, even in this shabby state, she smelled lovely.
She carried the fresh scent of tree oils and flowers, as if she'd just stepped out of a forest.
'That sounds kind of perverted when I put it that way...'
Anyway, for an elf who supposedly guarded the World Tree, she seemed a little...
'Pathetic.'
“Look, I have no way of knowing whether this really is a branch from the World Tree. Please take it with you and go.”
“I'm telling you, it's genuine! This is really good stuff! I can personally guarantee its quality!”
Her face bright red, she shouted in desperation.
So this was why the manager had warned me to watch out for elves.
She wouldn't listen to a word I said.
'No wonder the convenience store gallery hates them.'
I looked at the supposed World Tree branch she'd placed on the counter.
It did sparkle.
There certainly seemed to be something different about it compared to an ordinary branch.
'But what would I know?'
Until yesterday, I'd been an ordinary employee.
It wasn't as if I had the ability to appraise things like this.
“Pleeease!!!”
Of all things, my very first customer had to be a troublesome knife-ear.
[Title: Those knife-eared bastards acting like shitty customers are so fucking disgusting.]
I was finally starting to understand the anger in the convenience store gallery's posts.
Now I knew why they got so furious.
There was no reasoning with her.
“You senile old granny!”
“Wh-Wh-Wh-What?! S-Senile? Granny? You little brat! Do you think you'll never get old?”
“Anyway, I'm just a part-timer. I'm not authorized to accept things like this, so talk to the manager.”
“The manager here is a vampire you can't reason with. Those bloodsuckers can't stand anything to do with the World Tree.”
So she'd known.
She'd seen that the manager was gone and decided this was her chance.
“Anyway, we only take cash or cards.”
So get going.
Shoo, shoo.
The elf's pointed ears drooped at my words.
“Waaaaah!”
She sank to the floor and suddenly began shedding huge tears.
“This city is heartless! I was a queen in the elven world, but now I spend all day hauling rocks at Hunter Tower and even get yelled at by the troll foreman! All I want is one bag of these Elven Chips (honey butter flavor, important) for a little taste of home, and you won't even trade with me!”
“...”
Now she was playing the sympathy card.
Oh, damn it.
I couldn't fall for this.
She'd said she was a queen.
What kind of queen worked as a day laborer at the tower?
“Don't you get some kind of royal allowance? If you're a queen, you should at least get that.”
“...N-No! Elves are a naturally dignified race! No matter what we look like, we are noble...”
What dignity? She was sniffling miserably and wiping her nose on the sleeve of her safety vest.
She looked so pathetic and pitiful that I felt an odd pang of sympathy.
“Tsk.”
This self-proclaimed elf queen was my first customer.
'Calling the police on my very first customer for disrupting business would be a bit much.'
The manager had practically begged me to let her rest during the day before leaving.
If I caused trouble with my very first customer, I might put this sweet, easy job paying 30,000 won an hour at risk.
'If only she weren't my first customer.'
If there were things I'd learned during my working life, they were these:
Earning a living off someone else's money was never easy.
And there was always a reason for a high hourly wage.
'Dealing with customers like this must be why the pay is so high.'
The manager had clearly told me.
There were quite a few problem customers.
Right.
This was only the beginning, wasn't it?
Be patient.
For 30,000 won an hour.
I let out a short sigh and scanned the barcode on the Elven Chips on the counter.
Beep!
That will be 1,500 won.
“I'll just pay for it myself. Eat it and get going.”
“Oh, really?! Clerk, you truly deserve the forest's blessing! I shall be sure to bless you...”
“Never mind that. Just make sure you bring money next time.”
“Of course! Next week is payday, so I shall certainly...”
“Here. Take it.”
I pressed the bag of chips into the elf's arms.
“Th-Thank you. I shall repay this kindness...”
She hurriedly tore open the bag, took out a chip, and put it in her mouth.
Crumbs scattered.
I'd have to clean all those up.
Crunch!
At that moment, Friella's pupils widened like crazy.
“Ah... The taste of home...”
A spark began returning to her tearful eyes.
“These honey butter Elven Chips really deserve a peace prize. How can anything taste this comforting?”
Crrunch!
Her face brightened as she munched on the potato chips.
For some reason, she reminded me of a squirrel.
“I think I can go to work tomorrow. That urge to quit on the spot has completely disappeared...”
Friella even began to smile brightly.
I found myself looking away.
Her face was grubby, but that bright, carefree smile made my heart race.
'That elf beauty bonus is seriously powerful.'
They weren't called a race of beauties for nothing.
My heart was pounding even though I'd just watched Friella have a complete meltdown, crying and making a scene.
After eating a few more Elven Chips, she seemed to calm down a little and turned her gaze toward me.
“Ahem. I promise in the name of Friella, Queen of Elven Wood. I shall never forget what you did today, and I shall repay your kindness!”
I shrugged.
What could an elf who'd been cowering because she didn't even have 1,500 won possibly give me?
“Just don't cause any more trouble.”
“C-Cause trouble? I-It pained me terribly to bring that branch here, you know!”
“...”
“Hmm.”
Friella began looking me up and down.
“To think I'd see a human in this city. Humans used to be as hard to find as dragons...”
She stared at me with curious eyes.
“How did that vampire manage to hire a human? In a city as rough as Taepyeong City, humans are practically an endangered species...”
After muttering to herself for a moment, Friella smacked her lips.
First the manager, and now her.
Why did everyone here start drooling whenever they saw a human?
It was unsettling.
“Ahem. I owe you a favor. Here is a small token of my gratitude. I originally obtained it to buy Elven Chips, but I no longer need it, so you may have it.”
She held out the supposed World Tree branch she'd left on the counter.
“If a human eats this, they won't run short of sexual stamina for twenty-four hours!”
“Ah, um... I'll put it to good use.”
I wasn't entirely comfortable accepting a suspicious item when I didn't even know whether it was genuine.
But she looked likely to throw another tantrum if I refused, so I accepted the World Tree branch and carefully placed it beneath the counter.
“Ahem. Th-This may be rather sudden, but if you have time, I could offer you a good job...”
“...”
A grubby elf like her could offer me a better job than this?
No way.
She was lying.
Whose life was this elf trying to ruin...?
Just then...
Jingle.
“One Lesse Soo.”
A goblin in a suit entered and flicked their fingers, asking for cigarettes.
At the sight of the goblin, Friella backed toward the exit.
“I shall return soon with a formal offer! Farewell for now!”
With that awful problem customer gone, I handed the goblin a pack of cigarettes.
“Don't you have one with a less hideous picture? Preferably one with an orc or an undead on it.”
“Oh, sure.”
Apparently, customers here were picky about the warning pictures on cigarette packs too.
* * *
Friella.
The elegant queen of the elves.
She had once been queen of the elves who guarded the World Tree. Now she was merely a day laborer at Hunter Tower, struggling to get by from one day to the next.
Explaining how she'd ended up in this state would take forever, so let's skip that.
“That clerk was so kind...”
After leaving the convenience store, she was feeling touched by the first kindness anyone had shown her in a long time.
These days, elves in Taepyeong City were treated as nothing but troublesome old fogeys.
Unreasonable relics of the past, stuck in outdated ways of thinking.
'But people say the old ways are best...'
It wasn't fair.
How could elves be treated like this?
They were beautiful and noble.
A race more graceful than any other.
At least, they had been back when this city still had a forest.
“The world changes too quickly...”
Far too quickly for elves.
“Haah... Anyway, it's been so long since I last saw a human.”
Humans.
A race rarely seen in Taepyeong City.
She'd heard that the only humans in Taepyeong City were descendants of the Hero and the Saintess.
But he hadn't seemed to be one of their descendants.
She recalled the young male clerk smiling at her.
The way he'd stuck to the rules, telling her that bartering wasn't allowed.
And yet, perhaps because he'd felt sorry for her, he'd paid with his own money.
'Could he have feelings for me?'
Otherwise, why would he willingly spend such a large sum?
'I am rather pretty.'
She'd been too busy with work to dress herself up much lately, but elves were naturally beautiful.
A race of beauties whose skin remained flawless even without any care.
“I can still hold my own anywhere...”
Friella, queen of the elves.
She fell in love at the drop of a hat.
To seek advice, she opened the gallery.
It was a gallery that anyone living in Taepyeong City could use.
She posted a request for relationship advice.
[Title: [Relationship Advice] Fellow members, a young man at a convenience store paid for my food.]
Author: IAmTheQueen
I usually only lurk here, but I thought I would write a post to ask for some advice. Haha.
Earlier, I was so tired after finishing my night shift... I stopped by the convenience store in front of the tower, still wearing my work vest.
But the young man working there was terribly cold at first, going on about the rules and shutting me out.
So I let him see a few tears in my eyes, and wouldn't you know it? He suddenly got flustered, took out his own personal card, and paid for me! OMG.
I suppose even all that dirt couldn't hide an elf queen's natural beauty. T_T (How embarrassing.)
I mean, if someone willingly spends their own hard-earned money on a complete stranger, surely that means they're interested?
[24 Comments]
RomanceElf: Oooh... Where do you find a young man willing to whip out his card for a total stranger these days? That's a 100% green light, my fellow member! I do envy the young. Wishing you two a lovely romance, haha.
FactBomber: Dear knife-ears, you were whining in front of the display and stinking like an old rag, so he just figured he'd stepped in shit and gave you a handout. Your delusions seem pretty severe. ^^;
IAmTheQueen: └ Gasp... Watch your tongue! How dare you call the high elf queen an old lady! And elves always smell lovely, I'll have you know! T_T
TowerZoneAForeman: Friella, you old girl!!! Turn off your phone and get your ass to bed!! We've got concrete to pour in Zone A by 7 tomorrow morning, so if you're late, I'm docking your day's pay!!!
IAmTheQueen: └ Oh, Foreman! I'm sorry! I absolutely won't be late tomorrow!! T_T
DadJokeMaster: That change in attitude up there was incredible lolololol. Says she's a queen, but in real life she's a meek little lamb in front of the construction foreman lolololol. Biggest laugh I've had all day. Haha.
“Oh, damn it... B-But I'm sure I'm right...”
She'd come away worse off than she'd started.
* * *
Before I knew it, it was seven in the evening, time to clock out.
The convenience store door opened, and the manager, the True Progenitor, walked in.
“You worked hard.”
It had been quite an eventful first day.
Maybe that was why just knowing I'd made it safely to the shift change made all the tension drain out of me, and sleepiness came flooding in.
“Oh, Manager. You're here. I've balanced the register.”
“Mm. Well done. You stayed until the end without running away.”
The manager smiled in satisfaction and patted my shoulder.
All that remained was for her to show me the accommodation she'd promised.
Exhaustion washed over me. I wanted nothing more than to shower and collapse into bed.
My body wasn't tired, but I was at my mental limit.
“Where should I go for my room? I'd like you to show me right away.”
“Ah, your room. I've prepared one upstairs in this building, so you can go up in a little while. Now, on another matter...”
Cutting me off, the True Progenitor glided closer.
“Yes?”
I turned my head and couldn't help flinching.
The manager was looking up at me, her eyes glowing more intensely than before.
Her pale skin was slightly pink, as if she were flushed.
“Haah, haah.”
The breaths escaping her lips sounded strangely ragged.
I felt her gaze move past my face and linger on my neck.
She looked dangerously close to losing control and leaping at me.
'Right. This woman really is a vampire.'
I swallowed and was just about to step back when she carefully spoke, as though holding something back with all her might.
“Would you be willing to donate blood?”
“...Sorry?”
“It has been quite some time since I last tasted human blood. If you were willing...”
The manager licked her lips, showing a hint of fang.
I might have been a modern man thoroughly corrupted by capitalism, but offering my blood to a vampire wasn't in the contract.
Besides, what if she actually bit me and I became a vampire too? Or caught some disease?
I drew a firm line.
“No.”
“Ahem! Y-Yes, I thought as much. Blood is life itself to a human, after all...”
Her shoulders visibly slumped at my refusal.
But judging by the way she kept smacking her lips, she was still disappointed.
You can look at me like that all you want. The answer is no.
“I was going to give you an extra performance bonus every time I fed, but I suppose it can't be helped.”
“A performance bonus?”
“Indeed. I had intended to pay you 100,000 won per donation.”
After saying that, she glanced at me.
It was a trap.
This was Kongming's trap.
I knew it.
But 100,000 won.
Ah, I couldn't resist that.
“O-Okay.”
I'd taken the bait.
I was a modern man thoroughly corrupted by capitalism.
Footnotes:
“Kongming's trap” refers to a Three Kingdoms meme about recognizing a clever trap and still falling for it. Kongming is another name for the strategist Zhuge Liang.
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