In my previous life, there was a saying: “Luck accounts for seven-tenths of success, while skill accounts for the remaining three-tenths.”
It meant that luck played the decisive role in determining whether something succeeded or failed.
And now, in the present.
As I watched the signboard of my failed shop being taken down, I was painfully realizing just how true that saying was.
A worker approached and asked, “What should we do with the signboard? Will you be taking it with you, boss?”
“…Just dispose of it however you see fit.”
“Are you sure we can take it? You can’t ask us to return it later, you know.”
Even if I asked for it back, what would I do with it?
I didn’t have enough money to open a second shop.
“Excuse meee… I’m sorry to bother you when you’re busy…”
“Yes? What is it?”
“I saw a notice in the plaza saying that the items from a closing shop were being given away for free. Where is it?”
Holding back my tears, I pointed toward the inside of my shop.
“You can go in there…”
“Oh! Thank you so much!”
The woman rushed inside and soon came back out, smiling as she carried a chair.
That’s right… At least you can smile…
Because I wouldn’t be able to smile for a while…
What should I do now?
I’d started this business to make money, but all I had left was debt. A hundred million, to be exact.
A job… Somewhere I could find new employment…
This won’t be easy.
My first job was at a merchant company. And not just any company, but a huge, prestigious one that ranked among the top five in the capital.
However, as a modern person reincarnated into this world, I simply couldn’t tolerate my superior’s sexual harassment.
I tried to find another job, but perhaps my former boss had spread some nasty rumors about me, because every opportunity for employment seemed to be blocked.
So I scraped together every last bit of money I had and opened this magic potion shop.
I was confident, too. After all, the world I’d been reincarnated into was the setting of a novel I’d read in my previous life, Holding the Leash of Your Arrogance.
Although I hadn’t even appeared in the original story, I thought I could do well by using the knowledge I had of the original plot…
Then one day, a thief broke in… and suddenly, strange rumors about my magic potions began spreading.
First, the shop’s ceiling suddenly collapsed, and after I went to all the trouble of repairing it, they started road construction and put up barricades right in front of my shop for months…
And then, last month, a large merchant company opened a shop directly across from mine. The moment I saw it, I knew.
Then how the hell am I supposed to make a living?!
Just as I was sinking into despair,
quite literally, a single sheet of paper came fluttering through the air before landing right between my feet and the ground.
It felt like a divine revelation, so I stared intently at the paper.
What was this?
[Lumiere Dessert & Tea Salon is Hiring New Staff!
Lumiere Dessert & Tea Salon, filled with sweet aromas, is looking for new members to join our family!
Qualifications: Anyone in good physical health is welcome!
Job Description: Serving drinks and desserts.
Work Environment: A stable atmosphere with colleagues who feel like family.
Salary & Benefits: Satisfactory pay guaranteed for those who work diligently! Hazard pay can be negotiated separately.]
Anyone in good physical health was welcome.
And hazard pay could be negotiated separately?
Could this possibly be…
The perfect job for me?!
***
The next day, I headed to the location listed on the flyer.
I didn’t have any other options at the moment.
If it doesn’t work out, then so be it. It won’t cost me anything to apply, so I might as well give it a shot.
I was practically resigned to my fate, but that didn’t mean I’d come completely unprepared.
I’d done some market research by visiting dessert shops in the area, and I’d even dressed in the prettiest clothes I owned.
Since the shop’s exterior was pink and covered in lace, I assumed they were hiring café maids. So I’d even put together a simple customer service manual.
But why was this happening?
When I arrived at the shop at the appointed time, I was directed somewhere other than the shop’s interior.
“Please wait here.”
Inside the shabby, gloomy building stood several intimidating-looking people.
One was a giant nearly two meters tall, while another had a face covered in scars.
Someone else was wearing a sleeveless shirt despite the fact that it wasn’t even cold, proudly showing off the muscles in his arms.
What was this?
Why did this feel like the opening scene of a Hunter examination?
“Hey, you. I haven’t seen your face around here before.”
While I was looking around in confusion, the muscular man in the sleeveless shirt spoke to me.
“What the hell are you wearing? Do you think this test is a joke?”
Coming from someone wearing a sleeveless shirt in January, that wasn’t something I wanted to hear.
“Listen here. This is already my third year taking this test. Do you really think a rookie like you belongs here?”
Why would someone spend three years trying to become a maid?
Were they recruiting the world’s number one maid or something?
Just then, someone standing nearby approached us.
“You clearly don’t know what you’re talking about. People like him are usually the veterans.”
“What? Y-You think so?”
“Don’t you think he wears clothes like that because he’s confident he can easily beat people like you, even dressed that way?”
“Hmm, that makes sense.”
And just like that, I had suddenly become a formidable contender for the title of the world’s number one maid.
…But they really were hiring maids, right?
“Last year’s successful candidate was exactly like that guy. Don’t you remember? That one who…”
Those burly men were going to serve desserts in a café?
No. Don’t be prejudiced.
I had to be understanding. After all, when I was little, I’d once written “police car” as my dream career.
I shouldn’t judge someone’s dreams so carelessly.
“Hmph. Don’t go whining about how weak you are later.”
Those were exactly the words I should have been saying.
I’d come here prepared to sing the Japanese version of “Make it delicious!” and even continue it for three verses in Chinese.
It hadn’t been an easy decision for me. Just how timid did they think I was?
Wondering how someone as timid as me had ever thought of running a business?
…Do you really want to poke at my painful wounds?
“Thank you all for making it here today. We’ll now begin the examination.”
At the words of a young man who looked like a café manager, tension filled the room.
“Before we officially begin, please put down any weapons you may be carrying.”
“What?!”
“If even one weapon is found during the examination, you’ll be disqualified.”
And sure enough, people began taking weapons they’d hidden in their clothing and setting them down.
Soon, people who appeared to be staff members came around and collected all the weapons.
Weren’t a maid’s weapons supposed to be kindness and encouragement?
Why were things like daggers coming out?
Were they planning to use something like, ‘Dear customer, please behave with dignity (by force)’?
“Next, please check the papers you received when you entered. You must look at yours alone, without letting anyone else see it.”
I did as instructed.
There was nothing special about the palm-sized piece of paper. It simply had a small blue circle stamped on it.
“Most of you probably have blue ink stamped on your papers. Those of you with blue papers should consider yourselves allies.”
“If we’re allies, does that mean there are enemies among us?”
“That’s right. A very small number of you have red ink marks instead.”
The manager flashed a sly smile.
“From this moment on, your task is to identify everyone with red ink.”
Murmurs spread through the crowd as people began to grow uneasy.
“As I mentioned, weapons are prohibited. Violence is also forbidden. Furthermore, you may not show your papers to one another.”
“Then how are we supposed to find them?”
“That is the challenge of this examination.”
“Damn it, so we’re supposed to use our brains.”
I hadn’t expected something like this. One by one, people began grumbling.
I was just as bewildered as everyone else.
This was…
Isn’t this just a game of Mafia?!
Did maids need to possess skills like these nowadays, too?
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