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Chapter 101 - TKT Chapter 101 — Grinding Works Both Ways

Kazuma knew that Nanjo had only recently earned her new rank at the Akutagawa dojo. If rank accurately reflected actual strength, then she must have only just leveled up.

That fast?

She's already caught up to me!

Wait a second… is Nanjo-san actually the protagonist of this world?

But then another thought suddenly popped into Kazuma's head.

—When I fight stronger opponents, I gain a lot of experience points. So maybe, from Nanjo's perspective, I'm already a high-level enemy far above her?

If she spars with me—even if she loses—wouldn't she still rack up a ton of experience?

In that case… all I have to do to train students is level up myself, and then let them grind EXP off me?

Being a teacher is easier than I thought!

"Bro!" Chiyoko's voice yanked Kazuma back to reality. "You spaced out again! You've been doing that a lot lately."

Kazuma laughed and teased, "I'm just at that sentimental age, you know. Nothing strange about it."

"Ew, goosebumps! Gross." Chiyoko lightly smacked him.

Kazuma was about to joke some more when he noticed Tamago watching him. Behind those thick black-rimmed glasses, her gaze was deep and unreadable.

But it only lasted a moment. Tamago stood up and asked, "Fujii-san brought a bento today too, right?"

"I don't get it! Why is it always me bringing bentos? You all just eat mine every time!" Fujii Mikako complained as she pulled a bento box from her bag. "Ah, and today's dishes are better warm, so I brought a thermal container."

Chiyoko snarked, "Fujii-senpai's complaining, but she sure looked pleased showing off her mom's cooking."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm just a food courier, that's my fate," Mikako said, half-joking as she opened the container. A mouthwatering aroma immediately wafted out.

"Perfect. Thanks to you, we're saving a ton on groceries again." Kazuma was blunt as ever. "Thanks, Mikako!"

"Wait—you guys are that strapped for cash?" Mikako asked, looking skeptically at the Kiryu siblings. "That bad?"

"Not gonna lie—after you guys paid tuition, we had meat for the first time in ages," Kazuma replied, reaching straight for the container.

"No way! What were you eating before—grass?" Mikako teased.

Chiyoko chimed in, "We still had fish, and rice is affordable."

Nanjo, overhearing this, rummaged through her small schoolbag and pulled out a chocolate bar, handing it to Chiyoko. "This'll fill you up."

Kazuma chuckled. "Don't worry, we're not that desperate. Just a little tight on money. You're making us feel bad bringing us snacks like that."

Even as he said it, Tamago calmly took out an elegant box from her bag and set it beside Mikako's container. Inside were beautifully prepared mizu shingen mochi.

"I'll start bringing more sweets from now on," Tamago said.

Kazuma suddenly felt like he was being… fed.

Being "fed" by three pretty girls… this sounds so wrong somehow. Almost like something out of a risqué story.

Oh well. Saving money is saving money.

Meanwhile, as Kazuma was happily eating with the girls…

Former delinquent Ikeda Shigeru was standing behind a convenience store counter for the very first time—now officially a store clerk.

This was his first actual job. Before, if he needed money, he'd just extort it from underclassmen.

He'd picked out a few easy targets—"money trees," so to speak. Whenever he was short on cash, he'd go "have a friendly chat" with them, and the bills would flow into his pocket.

It was easier than shaking a literal tree—at least that took effort. Those wimps would nearly wet themselves the moment Ikeda's gang showed up, scrambling to hand over cash.

With easy money like that, Ikeda never imagined he'd ever work a real job.

But here he was, bowing and greeting customers, imitating senior clerk Nakagawa-san.

"Welcome. Would you like your bento heated? All set? That'll be 1,410 yen."

"Hey! Are you kidding me?!" The customer, a young man in a fresh company suit—clearly just out of university and full of ambition—suddenly shouted at him. "That bento's obviously leftover from yesterday! It should be half-price!"

"Uh, the half-price discount starts in the evening…" Ikeda began to explain.

But the customer cut him off. "Look at this bento—it's clearly from yesterday! See this spot here? You can tell there used to be a half-price sticker. You guys tore it off and are trying to resell it today! Don't think I can't tell!"

Ikeda frowned slightly. He knew for a fact that this morning's delivery had been fresh. He'd shelved it himself.

"This was definitely made today—"

"Today's bento would never look like that!" The customer interrupted again.

Just then, Nakagawa-san stepped in. "I'm very sorry. The bento's appearance isn't ideal—I'll ring it up at half price for you."

Ikeda scowled. He couldn't understand why Nakagawa was giving in when the customer was clearly being unreasonable.

Nakagawa pulled out a half-price sticker—normally used in the evening—and placed it on the bento. Then he rang it up accordingly.

The young man grabbed the discounted bento, shot Ikeda a smug look, and said to Nakagawa, "You'd better train your junior! With that attitude, he wouldn't last a day in our company!"

Nakagawa subtly stepped on Ikeda's foot, keeping him from reacting, and bowed to the customer. "He's new. We'll be sure to coach him better. Apologies for the trouble."

The customer snorted and left.

Once the door closed, Ikeda immediately asked, "Why did we have to give in? That guy was clearly picking a fight! And that bento looked fine to me!"

"It was fine," Nakagawa said, giving Ikeda a pointed look. "But if he kicked up a fuss, do you think headquarters would take our side? The higher-ups would just call us incompetent for not handling it smoothly."

He continued, "Selling it at half price and recording it at full price keeps things quiet. Got it?"

"And the difference?" Ikeda asked, puzzled.

"You cover it, of course. That way, even if the auditors find out you had a dispute, they'll see you made up the difference yourself and won't escalate it."

Ikeda's mouth hung open. He'd never dealt with anything like this.

Back in the day, I'd have punched that guy without a second thought.

"How is this fair? I didn't do anything wrong!" he protested.

"That's society, kid," Nakagawa said flatly. "Whether you're a full-timer like me or a part-timer like you, we're all here to be squeezed. The customer is king. Who do you think the company will back?"

He went on, "It's because we take this crap that the big shots at HQ can live so comfortably."

Ikeda honestly didn't get the connection between some small fry like him taking abuse and the cushy lives of corporate execs.

He wasn't great at this kind of complex thinking.

Nakagawa added, "And don't hold too much of a grudge against that guy. Maybe he's having a rough day too. It's the last day of Golden Week. He's all dressed up in a suit—probably got chewed out by his boss. For all you know, he's sitting on a park bench right now, eating that discounted bento and crying into it."

Ikeda was about to reply when Nakagawa held out his hand. "Come on—pay up for the difference."

"Eh? Right now?"

"Of course. We reconcile the register at shift change. If the numbers are off, it'll be reported."

Ikeda grimaced and dug through his pockets, finally pulling together 1,000 yen.

Nakagawa took the bills, counted out the exact amount to cover the discount, put it in the register, and handed the change back.

Ikeda accepted the coins, his heart a jumble of emotions.

"What if we get a bunch of customers like that in one day?" he couldn't help asking. "We're supposed to pay out of pocket for all of them?"

"Of course not. If that ever happened, I'd quit on the spot. Let someone else deal with it. And if it really came to that—well, anyone can play the bad guy if they have to."

Nakagawa said it with a helpless tone, despite the grim words.

Ikeda felt even more conflicted.

Yeah… anyone can be a bad guy. That's easy.

Being a good guy—that's hard, Ikeda thought sincerely.

(End of Chapter)

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