I Became the Manager of the First Galactical Idols novel Chapter 3

I sat on the cold floor, troubled by how things were unraveling. Sanae and Risa sat in front of me. I reached for the glasses in my pocket but felt fragments instead. Oh no.

I took the glasses out followed by many pieces. The slim frame was intact, but the glass—actually bio-polycarbonate—was shredded. Only a few bits still hung from the frame.

Isn't this material supposed to not break?! This is what happens when you buy the cheapest brand…

"What's that?" Sanae asked.

"My glasses. I was going to use them to research idols and write my project's introduction…"

"Aren't they supposed to never break?"

"I bought cheap ones, okay?"

"Why? Are you struggling with money?"

"No. I just want to save the most I can."

"I was curious about that," Risa said. "Do you have another job?"

"I don't. The government gives you a salary whilst you study. You don't even know that?"

They shook their heads.

I sighed. "It's barely enough to survive, though. That's why I save. Anyway. I suppose you don't have any glasses I could borrow."

They shook their heads again.

"Anything else? A computer?"

"We have one," Sanae answered. "But it's so old that it can't even use the QNet."

"Then why do you have it for?"

"Classic games and decoration," she grinned.

Are you kidding me?

"Maybe Gorō has something," Risa suggested.

"I doubt it. He would've given it to us already," Sanae replied. "But asking won't hurt. Probably."

"Very funny," I deadpanned. I stood up. "Where can I find him?"

"Upstairs. Door on the right," Sanae responded.

"Okay."

As I approached the door leading to the hallway, Sanae and Risa giggled behind me.

"What are you giggling about?"

"Nothing!" Sanae answered. "Don't be shy, just go. We'll be waiting for you."

That's suspicious, to say the least.

I walked out of the room and stepped on the stairs. They would creak with the slightest movements. With the bad luck I had in the last hours, I didn't doubt the stairs to crumble and a splinter to kill me. Luckily, nothing happened and I made it safe and sound.

When I got close to the door, hard chops came from inside, followed by something being dragged. They repeated a few times before I knocked on the door.

"Come in," Butcher answered. His deep voice had returned.

I opened the door. "Hey, Butcher. I wondered if you—What the hell!"

The strongest of odors hit my nose like a blow. I immediately pinched it to stop smelling. Dozens of meat, animal corpses hung from a rail on the ceiling. It was the first time I had seen something that gore. There was no blood, but it still made me nauseous.

I can't even see Butcher!

Out of nowhere, he appeared from behind the corpses. He pushed them aside and walked through them as if they didn't exist.

"What's up, young man?" His voice had returned to normal.

I should be brief.

"M-My glasses broke and I need to finish homework for tomorrow. I was wondering if you had any device I could borrow. Glasses, a QPad, a computer…"

He thoughtfully stared at me. "Is it that important?"

"Critical," I replied.

He sighed and walked to the other side of the room. He opened a drawer and took a pair of glasses out. He walked back.

"Someone paid me with these a few weeks ago," he said. "I was waiting to surprise Sanae and Risa on their birthdays with them, but you can use them."

He held one of the most expensive models in the market, if not the most. He probably didn't know that, judging by the fact that he kept them in a drawer in such a room. I carefully grabbed them.

"Thank you very much, Butcher—"

Suddenly, the glass came off from the frame and fell to the ground. It didn't break, but it was impossible to glue them back without special tools. Butcher and I stared at them.

He let out a deep breath. "I'm sorry, young man. I don't have anything else you can use."

"It's fine. Thank you, anyway."

I gave him the frame back and he picked up the glass from the floor.

"I'll have to pay someone a visit later." He put the glasses back inside the drawer.

I pity that someone.

As I walked out of the room, I heard quick and heavy steps running downstairs. I returned to Sanae and Risa, who were dancing in front of the mirror.

"Were you spying on us?" I asked.

"What? Of course not," Sanae stuttered. "Don't you see we are—"

"I'm sorry! She made me do it!" Risa shouted and bowed.