30 Days [BuggyxShanks] - English Translation

Prologue Part 2 - Bet

<< I'm done for today, so I'm leaving >>

<< You're leaving? Who's going to be behind the counter in your place? >>

<< You are tedious, Alvida, Mohji will be there. And don't always talk to me with that irreverent tone. Remember that even though you're my boss, I'm older than you >>

<< I know that very well, thank you. Your wrinkles are enough of a reminder >>

<< Are you looking for trouble? >>

<< Look, I don't want to start a brawl - from which I would surely emerge victorious - so I'll let you go. But know that if that idiot of Mohji causes any trouble, it'll be your salary that gets cut >>

<< Is that a threat, old hag? >>

The woman, with thick and curly hair, bright red lipstick that stands out against her porcelain white skin, is about to retort something, her mind already quick to devise Machiavellian plans of retaliation against her lazy bartender.

She doesn't have time to open her mouth that the slacker has already slipped out the black door, swift and silent like a stray cat in the night.

On the other hand, Buggy is happy to have managed to escape so easily; he used to love working at the bar, and being a bartender seemed, at the time, the coolest job for someone like him, who dropped out of school at sixteen, and the best spot he could aspire for. But after a few months of grueling shifts and unfriendly customers, he realized that there was practically nothing cool about being a bartender, except for the discounted drinks at half price.

When it comes to drinks, Buggy has a particular aversion to those customers who boldly order Virgin Coladas at his counter; in his opinion, if you can't drink alcohol, ordering substitutes is not the solution. It's better to just get a Cola-Cola and be done with it, but no, they insist on ordering these colorful drinks full of sugar and fruit and little umbrellas. He doesn't even like cocktails umbrellas, he thinks they are stupid.

Approaching an intersection, he stops to look both ways before crossing, then uses an elegant cloth handkerchief to blow his big red nose.

However, thinking back on it, what he still loves about his workplace is undoubtedly the company of his colleagues and friends.

Kabaji is the cook of the establishment, a rather rude guy with a mouth worse than a dock worker's. With people he considers friends he always proves to be a loyal guy, always ready to lend a hand in times of need, even though his help often comes at a high price.

Mohji is Buggy's apprentice, a thirty-year-old with the mind of a fifteen-year-old boy who has the absurd desire to become a full-fledged bartender and sees Buggy as an infinite source of knowledge to draw from when the opportunity arises. One night, around two in the morning, Buggy noticed him taking notes on his bowel habits in a dark corner of the bar, which was pretty unsettling.

Galdino is supposed to be the waiter, but since no one inside uses the tables anymore, and the customers who still do have become an urban legend, he often finds himself without a real occupation, He's usually a calm guy, but he gets scared very easily, making him the perfect target for all kind of pranks.

And then there's Alvida, the woman at the top of it all, the one who rules with the severity and the iron fist of a tyrant, the one who hates even the slightest slip-ups, who won't hesitate to cut off your salary for every dissatisfied customer who leaves her establishment. Buggy has always considered her an old witch, sour and unpleasant, but he's still her employer, and he has to thank her for having the money he needs to get by every month.