Recomposing ourselves, Sieg-san and I stepped into the store. Almost immediately, a woman in a crisp uniform—evidently a clerk—approached us.
"Welcome! How may I assist you to—hm? Hmmm?"
"Pardon?"
"...I see, I see. Fascinating..."
"Um..."
Mid-sentence, a look of realization crossed her face. For some inexplicable reason, she began walking in circles around me, her eyes scanning me with a piercing, appraising stare.
While I stood there, utterly bewildered by her behavior, the clerk gave a firm, satisfied nod and spoke.
"This is our first time meeting, right?"
"Eh? Er, yes, that’s right."
"But I feel like I’ve met you somewhere before... This is it! That 'destined person' thing! After all, that’s exactly what it said in the book I read the other day!"
"............I'm sorry?"
"Someone I respect told me that when you meet your special someone, you’ll feel a spark the moment you see them... And here it is! Tens of thousands of years since I was born, and destiny has finally caught up to me!"
What was I even supposed to do with that? She had suddenly spiraled into total nonsense. Her train of thought had jumped tracks so violently that I couldn't even find an opening to interject, let alone keep up.
As I stood there in a state of confusion, the clerk flashed a dazzling smile and gave me a thumbs-up.
"Alright then! For starters, do you want to try falling in love with me?"
"No, I’ll pass."
"...Rejected the instant we met. How tragic."
At my blunt refusal, her shoulders slumped in an exaggerated display of grief. Her emotional state was fluctuating at a terrifying speed. However, her depression lasted only a heartbeat before she snapped her head back up.
"I see what happened. Our meeting was just poorly timed... Fine then! Next time, I’ll 'come running at you with a piece of toast in my mouth,' so you’d better watch out for 'corners on a moonless night'!"
No, you've mashed so many tropes together that it sounds like a declaration of a night ambush!
"Anyway, let's get back to business... What are you looking for today?"
You've got to be kidding. She switched back to a professional customer service persona that quickly? While I remained agape at the sheer speed of her mental gear-shift, Sieg-san, who had recovered from the shock a bit faster than me, spoke up.
"...Um, we came to look at teleportation magic tools."
"Understood. We have a dedicated section for teleportation magic tools on the second floor. Please, right this way."
"Ah, yes. Thank you."
I was left reeling by how normally she was acting now, making me wonder what that whole performance had been about. Sensing that interacting with her any further would only lead to more exhaustion, I offered a quick word of thanks and hurried toward the second floor with Sieg-san.
Once we reached the landing, we checked the floor map posted near the stairs and headed toward the teleportation section.
"...That was quite the clerk, wasn't she?"
"Yes, I was at a complete loss for words."
When I spoke to her with a wry smile, Sieg-san returned the expression. Then, a thought suddenly struck me.
"...Sieg-san."
"Yes?"
"That clerk just now... she was remarkably tall, wasn't she?"
"She was. She was clearly taller than me, so I’d guess she was around 180 centimeters..."
"...And she had deep purple hair in a ponytail, right?"
"...Now that you mention it, yes. A shade of purple that deep is somewhat rare."
The physical traits of that bizarre clerk seemed to match perfectly with the description I had heard just a few minutes ago.
"...Could it be that the person those two were searching for was actually...?"
"H-Hmm... surely it must be someone else? Those two had clearly just come out of this shop themselves. I find it hard to believe they would have missed someone standing right at the entrance."
I suspected she might be the one the twins, Cento and Sien, were hunting for, but as Sieg-san pointed out, that seemed unlikely. If the person they were looking for was that clerk, the situation would be far too much like a comedy routine.
"True... but it's still bothering me. Do you mind if we go back and check?"
"We aren't in a hurry, and I'm curious as well. Let's head back down."
With Sieg-san’s agreement, we returned to the first floor to find the clerk. I recalled the twins were looking for someone named Tre, so if I simply asked her name, we’d have our answer.
Or so I thought as we stepped back onto the main floor...
"...Wait."
"...She’s gone."
Only a few minutes had passed, yet the clerk was nowhere to be found. I scanned the area, but despite the floor being an open, well-lit space with excellent visibility, that distinctively tall woman had vanished.
"Perhaps she went into the back office. It’s curious, but I’d feel awkward asking another employee to call her out when we aren't even acquaintances... Shall we just go look at the magic tools?"
"You're right. Let's do that."
Feeling as though I’d been tricked by a fox, I headed back up to the second floor with Sieg-san.
Wait, come to think of it... I came to this store once before to buy magic crystals, but was there ever a greeting clerk at the entrance? If I remember correctly, there was a floor map right inside the door just like on the second floor, and I used that to find my way...
Serious-senpai: "A mysterious clerk who vanishes and two girls searching for her... written like that, it sounds like a mystery, but the reality is just a comedy."