Chapter 18: My former co-worker at my old job complained and I rebelled.

Translator: Soafp

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“I thought something like this might happen.”

　Shion rummaged through her schoolbag and pulled out what looked like a wireless earphone terminal. The device looked like one of those small communication devices seen in detective dramas.

“A voice changer?”

“There’s a game center by the station that has a crane game machine every Thursday night that gives out rare prizes, right?　That’s where I won it!　I tried it out, and it works pretty well.”

　Sousuke looked stunned.

“Again, in the middle of the night at the arcade.”

　Shion shook her shoulders.

“No, it was just before nine o’clock.”

“I don’t care about that, but you want me to use a female voice?　Do you want me to do that much?”

“Hahaha. Really. Oh, sh*t.”

“You laugh too much, Harigaya.”

“It’s fine. No one is asking you to dress up as a woman. Izaki-san’s quick wit is amazing.”

“Ehehe. But Sou-chan is thin, so he can dress up as a woman, right?”

“I don’t think he’ll be able to do everything except for his body shape. All of it. Even with makeup, it’s impossible to manage.”

　”Hashirama, would you like to try burning up on the internet instead of Notake?”

Wakaba rubbed her forehead against the table.

“I’m sorry, Sugaya-sama!”

“So, ……, is that voice changer going to be able to do Notake-san’s voice?”

“Uh, only female, male, or machine voices are possible.”

“Well, of course.”

　But if it could do that, it would be enough.

“A female voice …… Well, that’s good.”

　Sousuke’s shoulders slumped.

　He took it from Shion and put it on his ear. The microphone is thin and extends to the mouth, and it is said that the voice is changed by passing it through the microphone.

“Sou-chan, please speak in a higher voice if possible. I heard that if you do so, you will sound like a natural girl.”

“High pitch…… Uhm”

Turning on the switch, he became aware of his voice.

“And? Has it changed?”

　It was a young woman’s voice, obvious even to his own ears.

　The four of them looked surprised.

“Amazing! How interesting!”

“Heh, well done!”

“The gap between your cute voice and your appearance is disgusting.”

“Tomorrow, your slippers are going to be soaked in milk, so get ready to wash them.”

“Wait, stop threatening me with your cute voice, you’re scaring me even more.”

Waiting for the next call, however, it didn’t come until after seven o’clock in the evening. I guess it was because of the way he had handled the two phone calls earlier.

She offered to treat them to dinner, but feeling sorry for her, they decided to go home.

　At the entrance.

“Nanaka, I’ll come back tomorrow.”

“Yes. Thank you all for coming all this way.”

And so they left ” Maka”.

Separating from Masaki and Wakaba, he and Shion headed for their apartment.

“It’s too bad, I went to the trouble of bringing a voice changer.”

“It’s okay, we’re going to use it tomorrow.”

“Ah, that reminds me, I’ve been asked to do the shopping. I’m going to the supermarket.”

There was nothing special to do, but it was dark. Feeling it would be unwise to let her go alone, he decided to go with her for the time being.

“Ah, I’m hungry!”

“What are you going to buy?　Antie has already made you dinner.”

“Frozen food. The kind you put in your lunch box.”

He tried to go inside the store with her, but on an empty stomach, she would likely buy something extra.

After telling Shion, he decided to wait outside.

While fiddling with his phone on a bench at the entrance to the supermarket, someone stood in front of Sousuke.

“Good evening.”

He looked up and saw a high school girl standing there. Her uniform is from another school.

“……”

Looking up silently for a moment, she tilted her head.

“Is it possible that you’ve forgotten about me?”

“No, It’s Kanase-san, isn’t it?

　Sousuke slowly stood up.

” Long time no see.”

“Yes, it’s been a long time.”

　It was Narumi Kanase, a former part-timer at the café in question.

　Incidentally, she pretended to turn a blind eye to the way they treated Sousuke, indirectly forcing him to work for them.

“So?”

“Hmm?　What do you mean by ‘so’?”

“Why did you call out to me?　What do you want?”

“Huh?　Aren’t you cold?”

She makes a curious face on purpose.

“Really?　I think it’s normal.”

“Well, it’s been a while, so why don’t we have tea together?”

“I don’t drink tea.”

　Narumi was stunned. The immediate answer surprised her.

“Is it possible that you are busy?”

“I’m not busy.”

“If that’s the case”

“I don’t want to have a cup of tea with Kanase-san just because I’m free. I don’t know Kanase-san well. Shouldn’t you invite a friend?”

　From her behavior, she probably intends to seduce otaku who are not used to girls. She looks quite cute, so it is likely that some boys will be fooled. The purpose of seducing him is a mystery, though.

“……Sugaya-san, you have a pretty clear-cut personality, don’t you? That’s surprising.”

“We worked together for about a month, but we barely talked. So, if you have something to tell me, I’m here to listen.”

“Hmm, well, talk or complain?　That’s what I call it. According to what I heard, Sugaya-san’s friend came to our restaurant and complained a lot to the head chef Nano and the manager Akae, right?　I heard that the response was recorded, and the head office was notified of the complaint along with the audio recording. And that’s why the two of them were transferred from the company to a new position. Isn’t that a bit harsh?”

“From whom did you hear that?”

“Of course, from the two of them.”

　If the source of the information was those two people, there was no point in making Sousuke the bad guy and talking about it. A bit relieved.

　Narumi raised her eyebrows.

“Is it really acceptable to make a complaint for no reason, and then record and expose the response? They were both doing their jobs properly, no?”

　A challenging look. She looks like she has an unwavering sense of justice.

“Before that, I wanted to say something to Kanase-san, may I?”

“…Heh?”

“You know how every day when you had a shift, you went home an hour or two early and had Nano-san, the kind and gentle head chef, cut off my salary, you know? That hour or two of work, I was doing that. I was paid 850 yen an hour, five times a week, so that was for 20 days. So at least 17,000 yen. I’m jealous that you get more than 10,000 yen for slacking off. But you know, do you think that’s socially acceptable?”

　Narumi shook her shoulders.

“Oh, but that was courtesy of Nano-san.”

“Heh, so he was stealing my paycheck out of the kindness of his heart?”

　Narumi was annoyed.

“Don’t talk nonsense to me”

“I’m not, it’s just a fact.”

“He said I could go home.”

“That is true. Certainly at my old part-time job, Senpai would sometimes tell me to go home early, but it’s not like I could just leave an hour or two every day and force the rest of the staff to do the rest of it’s work. “

“It’s because Nano-san is very kind.”

“If you’re just going to take your word for it, just cut your time card and go home.”

“Tsu…!”

“Maybe you don’t know what a time card is?　I think you’re too stupid if that’s the case.”

“O-Of course I know what a time card is.”

“Then you know what I’m talking about. What are you complaining about, you salary thief?”

　Narumi took a step back.

Sighing, Sousuke sat down on the bench.

“If this level of rebuttal is going to make you say nothing, can you please stop coming to me to complain?”

“……”

　Narumi bit her lip, spun around, turned her back, and ran off.

“Sou-chan. Thanks for waiting!　Let’s go home!　Was there anyone there just now?”

“Probably just your imagination.”

“Is that so?”

Apparently, the head chef and the manager have been transferred to a new position. Feeling good. His steps became a little lighter.