Wooly and the Black Beasts Spin-off #Bocha's Shop

I've been curious about this for a while, but isn't that a character from a pharmaceutical company?

The health department official points at the smiling baby elephant (an oversized store display figure) with one hand (or is it a foot?) raised and asks Bocha.

Isn't it cute? One of my regulars gave it to me.

Rabuko, who is always close with them like family, found it while out peddling Bananna fruit in the Shonan Kingdom and brought it back to Bocha as a souvenir.

A gift? If you display that in front of the store, people will mistake you for selling medicine, you know?

The official glances at Bocha, then enters the store and starts sniffing the air.

Well, I get headaches, so sometimes I might say, 'Here's a Nosin,' and hand one out, but that's about it.

Huh? You can't do that! You can't sell them!

The official, who had been sniffing the air, changes expression and glares at Bocha.

I'm not selling them. I'm just sharing a bit of my own with them.

There are many retail stores in the Tarikii Kingdom, but the Beshari-ya is about the only one that gets targeted by the health department and inspected multiple times a year.

There are several reasons for this, one of which is that 'what they are selling is opaque and potentially illegal'.

The Beshari-ya's business category is 'retail,' and the products handled are 'miscellaneous goods and daily necessities.' Yet, inside the store, there are several chairs and tables clearly being used, and half-used bottles of tabletop soy sauce and ponzu are always kept there.

And today, too, the savory scent of sauce is drifting throughout the store.

I've told you many times that if you're going to serve cooked food, you need to obtain a manufacturing permit and apply for a restaurant license, haven't I?

The health department official, who has become quite familiar with the place, says with a sigh.

In the first place, the reason they were targeted by the health department was because Rabuko's eldest daughter, Yukky, was spotted happily walking out of Bocha's shop with steaming hot takoyaki.

When the official called out to her, 'What is that?', Yukky just gave her usual 'Yahoo~♪' with a beaming smile and ignored her.

No, no, that's a misunderstanding, I tell you!

Bocha, the landlady of the chatterbox shop, waves her hands broadly and laughs.

Then what is this sauce smell? This savory aroma that smells like something piping hot that was just topped with plenty of bonito flakes!

I just happened to bake some for lunch and gave a little away to a customer to take home! I didn't even charge them for it!

You say the same thing every time I come here! You can't call that 'just happened to'!

Oh, geez, you're so annoying.

What do you mean, annoying!

Seeing the official get worked up and raise their voice, Bocha bursts into laughter.

Well, well, have something to drink. You must be thirsty after raising your voice like that.

Bocha opens the refrigerated display case (side-opening type) that is slightly higher than her waist, which she had been leaning her body against with her elbows.

What would you like? If you want Fanta, I have grape or orange, and I also have Calpis and soda.

She points to the glass bottles lined up in the refrigerator and picks up a bottle opener hanging from the display case.

See! That! That right there!

Bocha stops her hand, looking bewildered, as the official narrows their eyes in anger.

Look, this is a retail business, so you're not allowed to let people open bottles and drink them inside the shop!

Then why don't you just go outside the shop and drink it?

Do you even understand what I mean by inside and outside the shop!?

Should I try throwing some beans and saying 'Fortune in, demons out'? Wait, is it Setsubun? Hahahaha!

Bocha laughs, holding her stomach at her own joke.

In this way, the official is always swept up in Bocha's pace, time passes in vain, and today the health department official's visit ends in futility.

Customers come here with various needs.
However, what they all have in common is generally that they have some free time and want to chat a little.

"I just want to meet the needs of my customers."

So, if a customer says they are a little hungry, he brings out takoyaki from the kitchen in the back, and he also opens the bottles of Fanta he sells.

Since it's originally a general store, he also stocks work gloves and elastic bands for pants, and lines up cheap snacks that come with a lottery.
He even uses his own unique distribution channels to order rare items like a cuckoo clock that chirps "Seiso~" (neat and tidy).

However, because he talks non-stop from start to finish, customers often forget what they came to buy.
And Bocha himself often forgets to collect the payment.

"Bocha's shop is just a place to shoot the breeze."

It is true that there are some who mock him with that saying.

"It's fine, it's fine. As long as the customer is satisfied and I have fun, that's all that matters," Bocha laughs.

The shop is perpetually in the red, but Bocha's shop is not in any trouble at all.

The plot is here ↓

The trigger for the chatterbox shopkeeper to be targeted by the health department ↓