Chapter 77 The Court Mage’s Furious Arrival A Staffing Crisis Saga
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”Excuse me, I’m here to discuss selling your products to the various convents…”
”Oh! Amelia, you’re finally here¹! I’ve been waiting for you! Come in, come in, right this way!”
”Huh? Y-yes, of course…”
That day, Sister Amelia visited my shop for a meeting regarding the sales of “Tremble-Ddo-Buddy” items to the convent. Normally, I’d insist on going through the Tasogaremerchant guild first, but today I had another agenda, so I gave her a particularly warm welcome.
”U-um, well, about the—”
”Please, please sit down. Would you like coffee? Or tea? I have lots of sweets, too!”
”Kento-san, you look utterly suspicious…”
I served her tea and snacks, arranged a floor cushion, and even massaged her shoulders as I settled her in. Yes, Amelia was one of the “personnel” Lily had mentioned.
Starting with the previous “audit,” she now serves as our pipeline to the Church of Demon-Subjugation. While she deals with the “Miracles of God” instead of ‘magic,’ I’ve always wanted to investigate the difference.
Even if that didn’t work out, any helping hands were a blessing right now. There’s endless work I could assign her: shop duties, inventory management, and assembly work for non-hardened magical items.
She clearly had no aversion to adult magical tools, belonged to the convent, and had a clear, trustworthy background. I couldn’t afford to let this opportunity slip by. Thinking this, I launched into a full-force recruitment drive, but…
”That is… Well, my official role is to investigate whether you and the others are making anything suspicious, so it would be difficult for me to be employed by you…”
”Don’t you think that’s a little late now? You’re already heavily using the audited product, and we’re even physically intimate…”
”P-physically intimate…”
Amelia’s cheeks flushed, a realization that was perhaps a little late in coming. Hmm, I could definitely push this. Regardless of her superior, Mother Marian, I figured the smirking Arch-Bishop Trantestar was a ‘reasonable’ type of guy.
I felt guilty for the hardship I’d put her through, but I really, really needed this. I promised her “all sorts” of compensation, and not just monetary.
”U-ummm… Okay, I’ll ask about it, I guess? I’m worried about how sickly everyone looks, too…”
Amelia said this and took the proposal home, and by the very next day, she was working for us. She was an immediate, complete convert. Furthermore, her ‘training’ had given her high tolerance for ‘death-march’ work schedules, making her an instant and immense asset.
However, a high tolerance doesn’t mean infinite stamina. After several days of daily overtime, Amelia’s eyes looked as dark as ours, and she began seeing things that weren’t there.
”Heehee, one ‘Ddo-Buddy,’ two ‘Ddo-Buddies’… Oh, my God, you were there all along…!”
”Hmm, I think this might be seriously bad…?”
”Yes, Mother Marian-sama might burn our shop down.”
Lily dropped that terrifying thought so casually. Yeah, this is bad. We must hire a second person immediately…
* * *
The next day, we were eagerly awaiting the arrival of a certain individual. It goes without saying that this was the candidate for our new sacrificial lamb—I mean, employee. Ding-a-ling-a-ling. The bell at our back entrance chimed.
”Coming, coming! I’ll be right there!”
Leaving Lily to mind the shop, I stood up and headed for the back door to greet her. When I opened the door, there stood a woman who definitely screamed ‘magic user’: she was clad in a hooded robe and held a staff.
”Uh, nice to meet you. Are you the Court Mage dispatched from the Royal Palace?”
Yes, the second ‘personnel’ Lily proposed was the Court Mage who had been sent to develop a heating magical item. I was also told she was the granddaughter of my Master, Granny Miranda.
A person who could use magic, had a clear background, and was trustworthy. We couldn’t let this opportunity get away. I didn’t know if she had an aversion to adult magical items, but since she was being dispatched to us, she’d just have to put up with it.
For the record, I did get permission from Her Majesty the Queen. When I told her I was too busy to handle the heating magical item development, she was happy to agree.
”Yes, my name is ‘Satsuki.’ And you must be Kento, the owner of the magical item shop ‘Harvest,’ correct…?”
”Ah, yeah. I’m Kento. Nice to meet you.”
Satsuki took off her hood and showed her face. She had long black hair and intensely dark eyes, giving her a familiar look I felt like I’d seen somewhere. There were some elements of this world’s people mixed in, making her look like a “half” or “quarter” from my previous world. Plus, that name, “Satsuki”…
”Um, that’s a rare name, isn’t it…?”
”It is. My grandfather, who traveled all the way from a distant island nation in the East, gave it to me. He’s passed away now, though… You have a rare name yourself, don’t you?”
Satsuki’s words made me freeze. A distant island nation in the East, a rare name, and the unusual black hair and dark eyes for this region. Was this what I thought it was? Was there someone else who had been teleported to this world besides me? Or was there merely a country in the East that just happened to be very similar?
”Well, shall we get on with it?”
”Huh? Oh, right, please come in…”
I wanted to ask something, but the words wouldn’t come out. I was about to follow her suggestion and lead her inside when…
”I’ve finally found you! This is where you meet your doom—²!!!”
”Ehhh!? W-wait just a sec!?!?”
Satsuki violently swung her staff overhead, bringing it straight down toward my head. I dodged sideways at the last second, and with a resounding CRACK!, the staff slammed into the ground.
A calm part of my mind noted, ‘It’s a sturdy staff, didn’t even break…’ but there was no time for that! This woman was seriously trying to kill me! No, wait, maybe she wasn’t completely serious since she wasn’t using magic? Either way, I protested to Satsuki, who was already raising her staff for another swing.
”Wait, wait, WAIT! I think this is the first time we’ve met!?”
”You think so? Well, I’ve been dying to meet you. Thanks to you, I’ve been analyzing, analyzing, analyzing lewd magical items every single day! I didn’t become a Court Mage to do this—I did not—!!!”
”W-WOOOOOAAAAAHHHH!!!??”
Something was wrong! The black-haired beauty who reminded me of a classic Japanese woman³ said she was ‘dying to meet me,’ yet I felt zero happiness! The sound of the repeated impacts echoed through the residential neighborhood, even past the back alleys. I desperately dodged her relentless attacks.
Fortunately, all she was doing was bringing the staff straight down from above, so using the footwork I’d honed fighting monsters and beasts during my adventurer days made it easy enough to evade. But still…
”You’re going to bother the neighbors!!!”
Our shop was already eyed suspiciously for selling questionable magical items. The goodwill we’d barely managed to establish with our neighbors—mostly thanks to Lily attending their well-side gossip sessions—was about to be ruined.
”I don’t care! Do you have any idea how I felt when you suddenly handed me those obscene magical items and told me to reproduce them?! Everyone else is researching magical weaponry, strategic magic, or improving crop yields, and I’m the only one stuck researching some moronic-sounding magical item—DO YOU KNOW HOW I FEEL?!?”
”Okay, I’m seriously sorry about that!!!”
Satsuki let out a tragic scream. Dodging her, I started to feel genuinely sorry for her plight. But I couldn’t just let her hit me with that rock-hard staff, so I was at a loss for what to do. Just then, Laika, who had heard the commotion, stepped out of the house.
”Um, should I stop them?”
”Please!!!”
”Got it! Heave-ho!”
With a slightly goofy shout, Laika headbutted Satsuki right in the stomach, and Satsuki crumpled, bending into a ‘V’ shape. The solution to our shop’s labor shortage was turning out to be an uphill battle…
—
Summary:
Kento’s staff shortage plan spirals into chaos. First, he successfully recruits the reluctant Sister Amelia, who immediately burns out, descending into a state of counting lewd items. Next, his plan to hire a Court Mage backfires when the mage, Satsuki—who is his master’s granddaughter and potentially from his home country—arrives and immediately tries to beat him to death with her staff over the trauma of researching adult magical items. Laika resolves the situation by delivering a swift, casual headbutt to the furious mage.
—
Character Insight:
Kento is so focused on finding staff that he ignores the obvious psychological toll his products are having on the very people he needs. Satsuki’s furious reaction is a direct, albeit violent, consequence of his single-minded focus on business. Amelia’s immediate burnout highlights the unsustainable work environment at the shop.
—
Behind the Scene:
The introduction of Satsuki and the mention of her ‘distant island nation in the East’ is a major narrative hook, strongly implying she has a connection to Kento’s original world, or perhaps is a second reincarnated person. This heightens the stakes beyond just the shop’s daily life.
—
T/L:
¹ Amelia: A reference to the Christian name popular in the Western world, fitting her role as a Sister. ↩
² “I’ve finally found you! This is where you meet your doom—”: A translation of a highly dramatic, almost theatrical Japanese idiom (ここで会ったが百年目), used to express the culmination of a long-awaited confrontation or revenge. Satsuki is treating this like a major boss fight.↩
³ Japanese woman (Yamato Nadeshiko): The term refers to the idealized image of a traditional Japanese woman, embodying purity, grace, and demureness. Kento is being ironic, as Satsuki is the exact opposite right now.↩
Notes:
• Amelia – The Sister of the Church of Demon-Subjugating, who usually buys from Kento, has light blue hair.
• Kento – The owner of the magic tool shop ‘Harvest,’ which discretely sells adult goods. He’s a former overworked, ordinary salaryman from modern Japan who was suddenly transported (isekai’d) to this fantasy world. He has dark hair and an unremarkable appearance, typically wearing a plain, slightly suspicious-looking shop owner’s clothes looks like Kazuma Satou from certain series. He has a minimal amount of magic power, enough to craft his specialty items.
• Lily – the sl*ve and primary experiment subject for the magic shop, ‘Harvest.’ She has striking pink hair, Blue eyes, medium breasts, which the Protagonist associates with being ‘wanton’. She has a working knowledge of magic, which she kept hidden from the slave trader.
• Trantestar – The middle-aged man Archbishop of Canarias and the initiator of the current trial. He is an alleged ally of Kento but remains suspiciously neutral.
• Marian – A ‘Mother’ and supervisor from the Church of Demon-Subjugation. Her appearance and demeanor defy the Church’s purported ‘chastity,’ instead she has wavy purple long hair, busty, black nun, tear mole under eye, and monroe walk. She has arrived with a clear purpose: to confront Kento about the ‘Devil’s Stick.
• Satsuki – A talented Court Mage who was forced to analyze the shop’s adult magic tools. Miranda’s granddaughter. Now she’s the new worker at Harvest, a development she finds both humiliating and surprisingly fulfilling due to the rapid progress in her research under Kento’s guidance. Has long black hair, palace mage robe, and staff.
• Laika – The beastwoman dog.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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