Chapter 8: The Banshee (1)
“For a child, this really isn’t a safe place…”
The female employee’s words left Shelly utterly baffled. He had just opened his mouth to press her for an explanation when, out of nowhere, a gruff male voice cut in from the side: “Charlie, Charlie! Where are you? Get over here and give me a hand!”
“Coming!” The woman named Charlie rose onto her tiptoes and shouted back in the direction of the voice. After that, she turned to Shelly and made an apologetic gesture. “The manager needs me… Well then, see you next time.”
Without waiting for a reply, she hurried off between the shelves and disappeared from sight.
“……”
“Ridiculous—absolutely ridiculous! Figures for a backwater town. Not only is the selection pitiful, they even make up stories to scare customers!” Once the shop assistant was gone, Shelly pushed the cart through the shopping center, muttering curses under his breath as he went.
He was convinced Charlie had been lying.
“All that ‘this place isn’t suitable’ and ‘the town isn’t safe for children’—it was obviously fake. Definitely just some nonsense she made up to cover for the shopping center’s lack of products.” Shelly had heard people say that the more remote a place was, the stronger the locals’ pride and sense of collective honor tended to be. When outsiders pointed out flaws, this kind of defensive, exclusionary reaction was bound to happen.
And here he’d been, praising Pukati Town to the skies earlier, thinking it a place of simple folk and beautiful scenery. Now it seemed that while the scenery might indeed be lovely, the character of the people clearly deserved a big discount!