Tanimaki Works a Shift at a Haunted House (Part 2)

“Yaaah! It’s a monster, meow!”

Tanimaki was so startled that he toppled straight into the lake.

“Oh no!”

Mayutan hurriedly dove in after him. Tanimaki was panicking and thrashing wildly in the water, so Mayutan gently grabbed him from behind and pulled him to safety.

“I’m sorry… I was practicing how to scare people.”

With that, the troll transformed into an adorable Ezo red fox. His sleek, well-groomed coat gleamed golden in the sunlight. His large, round eyes were so endearing that anyone who met his gaze would have found themselves smiling.

“D-Don’t scare me like that, meow! My beautiful tiger-striped coat got soaked and went all wavy, meow!”

Tanimaki snapped at him, trying to hide his embarrassment over how badly the troll had frightened him.

“I’m really sorry. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?” the Ezo red fox asked apologetically.

“It’s quite all right… Oh! No, wait!”

Halfway through his reply, an idea struck Mayutan.

“Could you help us find some work? We’ve been running low on money lately.”

Mayutan immediately proposed a deal.

“It’s Tanimaki’s fault,” Debiru declared without hesitation, making it perfectly clear that they were short on money because of Tanimaki’s constant eating and drinking.

“In that case, why don’t you come work for us for a while? The pay isn’t great, but you’ll get free meals.”

The Ezo red fox happily accepted Mayutan’s proposal.

“Free meals?! You should’ve led with that, meow!”

Tanimaki instantly perked up.

“We’d be delighted,” Mayutan said.

“Great! My name is Kitaro. I run a haunted house with my friend Mon. By the way, Mon is a real ghost.”