After kicking the problematic customer out of the store, I returned to see Skylar with her head down. She appeared to be restocking a shelf, although she kept picking up and moving the same DVD, so her mind was probably focused on something else. I didn’t have any reason to speak to her, so I headed into the back room. Looking across the disorganized room, I shook my head in disgust.

I wasn’t unaccustomed to filth, rot, and mold. At various points in my long life, I had to deal with all of them in excess. However, an unorganized workplace was unacceptable! This kind of environment led to a loss of productivity. Rolling up my sleeves, I got to work sorting boxes and reorganizing the structure. With some luck, I found a label maker and started sorting things according to genres and product names. The work progressed pretty well.

I heard the bell ding a few more times, but Skylar didn’t ask for my help, and it didn’t sound like the customers were anything more than the standard fare. At some point, while moving a box, I heard a light ding as something metallic landed on the concrete floor. My eyes scanned carefully, and there I found something shining in the corner of the room where it had rolled. Putting the box in my hands away, I lifted the ring and examined it.

It appeared to be made of gold and diamond. It was quite delicately made. Such items were pretty useless to me, but I knew they possessed some value to women. Was this perhaps the item that Skylar was looking for? I was still busy with my work, so I tossed it in my pocket and then continued to sift through everything.

I discovered a great deal of trash as well, and ended up with nearly five trash bags of discarded wrappers and abandoned food, some of it so old it had turned into a dried-up rock. As I tried to figure out what to do with the bags, I realized that this would be an appropriate time to ask my trainer. I peaked my head out the back door and scanned the room. Skylar was behind the counter, her head in her phone.

“Skylar,” I called out her name to gain her attention.

She jumped, nearly dropping her phone in the process. “Wh-what?”

“What do I do with the trash that must be discarded?” I asked.

“Oh… that.” She let out a breath. “There is a door in the back, it leads to a dumpster bin. You can just toss it all in there.”

“As you say.” I turned away, heading back into the back room.

“W-wait!” She called out.

I stopped and turned back to her. She had her hand out, which she quickly dropped, a blush forming on her cheeks.

“Y-you didn’t have to do that… what you did earlier, I mean.” When I continued to stare at her, her blush grew. “I mean about that guy. Kicking him out of the store, I mean. It’s not the first time s-someone has done that. You kind of get used to it… after a while.”

I looked her up and down. She looked extremely timid. While she said she got used to it, didn’t the boss named Bob hire me exactly because she wasn’t good at handling certain people? She must have complained to him at some point, and his solution was to hire another guy to take on the more problematic guests. This was part of the reason that I wasn’t afraid of the man’s retribution. Bob hired me for this express purpose.

“You do not need to accept anything that you don’t want,” I replied. “If you don’t put your foot down and stand up for yourself, men will walk over you your entire life.”

“Ah!” She straightened, her eyes widening. “Th-that’s not… true…”

She spoke those words, but they lost all strength by the end.

“It’s none of my business what you do,” I responded. “I’m just giving you my opinion.”

“I just meant… the guy you offended, Rick, he won’t be satisfied with how you embarrassed him. He will go to Bob, and Bob is a lug-head who listens to whatever Rick tells him.” She responded, her expression looking a bit uneasy. “If you lost your job because of me, I would feel regretful. I just wanted to warn you that he will retaliate, and Bob will almost certainly take his side.”

I frowned, shaking my head. This was certainly troublesome. After a few moments of thought, I glanced back at Skylar.

“Thank you. I will handle it from here. I’m not so easy to push aside, so if you have more issues, don’t hesitate to come to me.” I reached into my pocket and then pulled out the ring I had found. “I believe this is what you were looking for.”

I put it on the cabinet next to the door. Skylar’s eyes landed on it and she let out a gasp. She looked at me with her mouth partly open like she wanted to say more, but she eventually closed it and I returned to the backroom. I had only found it by accident, so it wasn’t like I expected or even wanted appreciation.

I grabbed the trash bags and took them out back one at a time. Once I was finished cleaning, I sat down at the desk. At this point, I picked up the loose slips of paper that I had been piling here. I had practiced a bit with the computer at home as well as with my cellphone, and I was confident I could use the company’s PC. I turned it on. There was a password, but I was able to find it taped to the bottom of the keyboard.

Carefully, I started to use the keyboard to enter the numbers into the computer. The employee guidebook had a few pages about something known as data entry. They said it was important to log in all of the expenses and leave a paperwork trail for every transaction. Thus, I began to go through all of the company’s finances. I was hardly fast. I pecked each number deliberately before going to the next number. I also had to consult the help option to figure out this program called excel.

However, I wouldn’t have been a powerful magician that had discovered immortality and could bridge the gap between the living and dead if I couldn’t learn things quickly on my own. This was just another challenge. As I continued, I discovered there was something suspicious. What did he say that guy’s name was? Rick? How interesting…

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

I continued to run the numbers, but I also pulled up the security footage delivered by the camera. I was very good at multi-tasking, so I watched through all the footage that had yet to be deleted, while simultaneously completing the number crunching. Such a thing might have been exhausting for a normal person, but for someone like me, it was a simple task that I could do for days without sleep.

I spent the remainder of the four hours of my six-hour shift compiling and entering information while scrounging through every recording fast forward. I got a good understanding of the business as well as where things were leaving and entering the company. Just as I was finishing up, ready to end my shift and head home, I heard the front door slam, causing the bells to shake wildly.

“Where is that new guy?” A voice yelled out.

“Aiko? He-he’s in the back…” Skylar’s voice sounded slightly panicked.

They didn’t need to come to me though, as I walked out the backdoor to join them. Bob was standing in the middle of the store with a furious expression on his face, and immediately behind him with an insolent smile was Rick. When Bob’s eyes landed on me, they flashed with anger.

“What do you think you are doing?” He asked.

“I am fulfilling the duties asked of me under our employee/employer agreement,” I responded calmly. “If you don’t feel I am conducting those duties properly, then please educate me.”

“Don’t get smart with me! You kicked out one of my best customers. You even threw false accusations at him and embarrassed him!” He bellowed.

Behind him, Rick was nodding with his arms crossed, his expression only growing smugger.

“This customer was attempting to harass one of our employees. I merely acted per the provided employee manual.”

“That’s a lie!” Rick declared although he was still smiling even as he said it.

Bob held up his hand without looking back to silence his friend, instead, turning to Skylar. “Did you feel like you were being harassed by Rick at all?”

“Ah!” Skylar jumped up. “Um… I don’t… it’s just…”

“Did you see Rick do anything to harass you?” he demanded, a glare on his face.

Skylar flushed before giving me a guilty look. “I-I didn’t see…”

A sneer formed on Bob’s face. “I see what this is. Did you get jealous seeing some other guy with Skylar? I was wondering why you were looking for a job here. It’s because you were hoping to monopolize her for yourself, right?”

“J-jealous!” Skylar’s eyes widened.

“You’re job is to make me money.” Bob declared. “You can’t make me money kicking out my customers. I should just fire you right now. However, I’m a fair man, so I’ll give you one chance to apologize to him. If he forgives you, then you can remain here, for now.”

Rick’s eyes brightened, and there was a clear sense that him accepting an apology was unlikely. Rather, he wanted me to grovel on my hands and knees. I had seen demons with similar expressions. I glanced at the man casually before immediately dismissing him. Then, I lifted a folder I was holding and handed it to Bob.

He frowned. “What’s this?”

He opened it up. It was filled with receipts as well as a printed-out transaction roster. Getting the printer to spit out that sheet of paper had probably been the most challenging part of the work I had completed. Thankfully, I was able to locate the printer manual among the piles of trash and had the good sense not to discard it.

“These are a record of the pulls, credits, and rain checks that Rick has accumulated over the last two years. I took the opportunity to compile his current debt toward you. The number is located at the bottom.”

“What is- $30,000! How?”

“He is a frequent visitor, but it would be hard-pressed to call him a customer. He has yet to pay once for a single item he has taken from the store.” I explained.

“That’s… what are you saying?” Rick frowned, the conversation not going in the way he expected.

“It’s true!” Skylar cried out. “He always tells me to put it on his store credit and he’ll pay it back.”

“Store credit!” Bob shot Rick a glare.

“We’re friends? Besides… th-that has nothing to do with this!” Rick protested.

“If that was it, perhaps I wouldn’t be bringing it up. However, come with me.” I turned around and headed to the back room.

Bob could only look at Skylar before the two followed, Rick trailing behind with a slightly worried look on his face. When they entered the back room, they both let out cries of amazement. The room that had been a trash heap before was now perfectly organized. Everything was easy to reach and labeled. This didn’t look like the back office they knew at all.

I went straight for the computer, where I brought up the clips I had managed to save. Getting those took me longer than I cared to admit, but after what Skylar said, I decided it prudent to compile evidence as well.

“I’ll show four pieces of recording from the cameras.”

“We have cameras?” Skylar blinked.

“They’ve been functional? I haven’t been able to see where they were recording too!” Bob added.

“Yes, well, they only keep the last week, although as luck would have it, I discovered the videos from your annual backup and was able to confirm with those as well.”

“Confirm what?” Bob asked cautiously.

I opened the first clip, and it revealed Skylar and Rick. It showed one case of him reaching and squeezing her butt. I played the next clip, showing a time when he pressed his groin against her until she fell into the case and almost knocked it over. It looked like he accused her of being clumsy after, although the video was silent. I ended it with the recording from earlier today. As luck would have it, his penis was in clear view before I stepped into the camera and blocked it.

“Th-that’s…” Rick stuttered. “Fake! He used video manipulation!”

Skylar had been uncomfortable around him, but perhaps she had tried to pretend it wasn’t happening and convinced herself all of those times were coincidence. Now seeing the truth, she had her hand over her mouth and tears in her eyes.

“This has been going on for some time. By this final video, I theorized that this behavior would have only grown worse.” I clicked on the last clip.

This one was older and involved a girl who wasn’t Skylar.

“Isn’t that the girl who worked right before I started?” Skylar asked.

Rick was pushing himself onto her, and she was resisting, but he acted forcefully and started feeling her up openly, even forcing her to touch him. She had a disgusted and tearful look on her face the whole time.

“Boss, I think-” I began.

“You’ve shown me enough. I’m convinced.” His voice was extremely dark, and it sounded extremely pissed.

He turned around; his eyes were leveled on Rick.

“Now, Bob, I can explain.” The man had his hands up and was slowly moving away.

“The girl in that image… is my niece! I had gotten her this job to help out, but she suddenly quit. She used to excitedly talk to me, but she went quiet and stopped speaking to me. I had never realized what happened.” Every ounce of Bob’s voice was filled with murder.

Rick had backed away to the door like he was being looked down on by a bull.

“Boss, I’m sorry to interrupt, but I also located your gun. I haven’t had time to figure out how to clean and load it, but I thought it might be useful.” I held the gun up, a sheet under it to keep my hands from leaving fingerprints.

I knew about guns from the various manga I had read, but I didn’t have time to watch online videos and perform some maintenance on them. It may not be up to specs for operation, but I had a feeling Bob didn’t care.

“That’ll do.” He grabbed the gun.

“Ahhhh!” Rick turned and ran as fast as he could.

With Bob holding the gun and murder in his eyes, he took a step forward. However, he stopped and looked back at me.

“You’re alright, kid.” He nodded and then continued to march out the front door.

He came back a bit later in tears, begging Skylar to stay and promising her a raise. By that point, my mother had come to pick me up. As she took off, we drove by the store where Skylar was closing up outside. Skylar glanced at me, her hand on her chest as I drove away. Overall, my first day of work went about as expected.