TMSWJ 1

In my previous life, there was a saying: “Luck accounts for seventy percent, while skill accounts for thirty.”

It meant that luck played a decisive role in determining the success or failure of any undertaking.

And now…

As I watched the signboard of my failed shop being taken down, I was experiencing the truth of that saying in my very bones.

One of the workers approached me and asked,

“What should we do with the signboard? Are you taking it with you, ma’am?”

“…Just dispose of it however you see fit.”

“Are you sure we can take it? You won’t ask us to return it later, will you?”

Even if I asked them to return it, what use would it be?

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 you were giving away items for free because your shop was closing down. Where is it?”

With tears in my eyes, I pointed toward my shop.

“You can go in there…”

“Oh! Thank you!”

The woman rushed inside and soon came back out with a chair, smiling happily.

That’s right… At least you people should smile…

Because I wouldn’t be smiling for quite some time…

What am I supposed to do now?

I had started this business to make money, but all I had left was debt. A hundred million, at that.

A job… Somewhere I could get hired…

This isn’t going to be easy.

My first job had been at a trading company. And not just any company, but one of the biggest and most prestigious trading companies in the capital, easily ranking among the top five.

However, as a modern person from my previous life, there was absolutely no way I could tolerate sexual harassment from my superior.

I tried to find another job, but perhaps my former boss had spread some nasty rumors about me, because every opportunity seemed to be blocked.

So I scraped together every last penny I had and opened this magic potion shop.

I had been confident, too. After all, the world I had been reincarnated into was the setting of a novel I had 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 make a decent living using the knowledge I had about the novel…

Then one day, a thief broke into my shop…

Strange rumors about my magic potions suddenly began spreading.

Out of nowhere, the ceiling collapsed. After I worked so hard to repair it, they started road construction and put up barriers right in front of my shop for several months…

And then, last month, a massive store opened directly across the street, established by one of the major trading companies.

The moment I saw it, I knew.

Then what the hell am I supposed to live on?!

Just as I was drowning in despair…

Quite literally, a single sheet of paper came fluttering through the wind and landed right between my foot and the ground.

It felt like a divine revelation, so I stared intently at the paper.

What was this?

[Lumiere Dessert & Tea Salon — Hiring New Staff]

Lumiere Dessert & Tea Salon, filled with sweet fragrances, is looking for new members to join our family!

Eligibility: Anyone in good physical health is welcome!

Job Description: Serving beverages and desserts.

Working Environment: A stable atmosphere with colleagues who feel like family.

Salary and Conditions: 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…

A job that was practically made for me?!

The next day, I headed to the location listed on the flyer.

It wasn’t as though I had any other options at the moment.

If it doesn’t work out, then so be it. It doesn’t cost anything to apply, so I might as well give it a shot.

I was practically ready to give up on life, but that didn’t mean I had come completely unprepared.

I had done some market research by visiting dessert shops in the surrounding area, and I had dressed myself in the prettiest outfit I owned.

Since the shop’s exterior was pink and covered in lace, I had assumed they were hiring café maids. So I had even put together a simple customer service manual, just in case.

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 a group of intimidating-looking people.

One of them was a giant nearly two meters tall. 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 place feel like the opening scene of a hunter examination?

“Hey, you. I’ve never seen you around before.”

While I was looking around in confusion, the muscle-bound man in the sleeveless shirt spoke to me.

“What’s with that outfit? Do you think this exam is a joke?”

I really didn’t want to hear that from someone wearing a sleeveless shirt in January.

“Listen, this is already my third year here. Do you really think a greenhorn like you belongs in a place like this?”

Why would someone spend three years trying to become a maid?

Were they trying to recruit the world’s greatest maid or something?

Just then, another person standing nearby approached us.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about. People like that are usually the veterans.”

“What? Y-You think so?”

“Wouldn’t someone who dresses like that be confident enough to beat people like us without breaking a sweat?”

“Hmm, you have a point.”

And just like that, I had somehow become a leading contender for the title of the world’s greatest maid.

…But seriously, this was a maid recruitment exam, right?

“The guy who got selected last year looked exactly like that one. Don’t you remember? That guy who…”

Those burly middle-aged men were going to serve customers at a dessert café?

No. Don’t be prejudiced.

I had to be understanding. When I was little, I had once written “police car” as my dream occupation, too.

You shouldn’t judge someone’s dreams.

“Hmph. Don’t go crying about how weak you are later.”

That was exactly what I should have been saying to them.

I had come here fully prepared to sing “Make it delicious!” in Japanese and even perform a third verse in Chinese.

It hadn’t been an easy decision for me. Do you have any idea how timid I am?

And how could someone as timid as me have ever thought about running a business?

…Do you really have to poke at my deepest wounds?

“Thank you all for making it here safely. Now, let us begin the examination.”

At the words of a young man who looked like the café manager, an air of tension spread throughout the room.

“Before we officially begin, please put down any weapons you may be carrying.”

“What?!”

“If even a single weapon is discovered during the examination, you will be disqualified.”

And sure enough, one by one, people began placing weapons they had hidden in their clothing onto the floor.

Soon, several 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?

Then why were things like daggers coming out?

Were they planning to use something like “Please behave in a civilized manner, dear customer!”—with physical force?

“Next, please check the piece of paper you received when you entered. You must examine it privately, without allowing anyone else to see it.”

I did as instructed.

There was nothing special about the palm-sized piece of paper. It simply had a small blue circle printed on it.

“Most of you will probably have a mark made with blue ink. Those of you holding blue-marked papers should consider yourselves allies.”

“If we have allies, does that mean we have enemies, too?”

“That is correct. There are a few people who have marks made with red ink instead.”

The manager flashed a meaningful smile.

“From this moment onward, your task is to identify those carrying the red marks.”

A murmur spread through the crowd as everyone began to grow restless.

“As I mentioned earlier, weapons are prohibited. Violence is also forbidden. Furthermore, you are not allowed to 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?”

This wasn’t what I had expected at all. One after another, people began grumbling.

I was just as bewildered as everyone else.

This was…

A game of Mafia?!

Did being a maid these days require skills like this, too?