The Dragoneer Manual

Chapter 1 - Ordinary World

Rory Rylanth sat behind the checkout desk on what she'd resigned herself to believe was just another mundane, gray day in her uneventful adult life. Although she was drowning in boredom, she took some comfort in the fact that she was at least surrounded by stacks of some of her favorite comics, holographic stickers, and anime figures.

Her thick, light brown hair cascaded downward like a waterfall as she bent her head over a graphic novel about a band of kids with supernatural powers. She paged through the book, her bright green eyes laser-focused on each panel.

Having worked at the shop for three years, she'd made it through just about every obscure graphic novel, manga, and comic in the store. It was the kind of place she used to love to visit, but now it had lost almost all of its exciting appeal.

She knew every piece of merchandise, sticker, shirt, and book that they carried. And she also knew, because her uncle owned the shop, that it didn't make much profit. He never hesitated to remind her of this fact whenever she brought up the topic of her salary.

The reason was obvious—it had absolutely the worst localization for this type of store. He'd decided to place it in the heart of an affluent financial district, and the streets were swarmed at lunchtime by men in suits, arguing on their phones. But her uncle was a rich man, who had opened many different types of stores in New York. He had too much pride and money to consider closing one, and accepting that he was wrong about the investment.

In a way, Rory felt happy that she could at least give the items in the store the appreciation they deserved, having educated herself in what she lovingly called nerd things throughout her life.

The front door opened; the bells at the top ringing loudly. Rory's uncle, a short balding man named Phil, stormed inside. He was wearing his usual business suit, which he bought for dirt cheap but insisted was high quality.

"Oh for the love of god," he sneered. "Once again, you CANNOT be reading on the clock. It looks bad for the customers."

Rory lifted her gaze to the completely empty store, and closed the graphic novel.

"My apologies," she said.

"Sorry is right. Honestly, I don't know why I employ you. The second I find a replacement, you're out!"

Rory was used to her uncle's little power trips. He liked to go into each of his stores around town and just yell at the employees. The funny thing was that he had nothing better to do all day.

Rory wanted to laugh at the thought of him taking the subway to commute to each store, just so he could get a few shouts off his chest.

"Anyway, I honestly don't have time for this. But I came to tell you that there's going to be a new shipment tomorrow, so you need to be here at 7am to receive it. 7am, and I cannot make that more clear."

"Okay." Rory said.

"You have to make sure the store is stocked within the hour. You know our customers don't like to see things sitting around in packaging. You have to make it available for purchase."

Rory nodded politely, knowing very well that 'our customers' consisted of two twelve year olds who frequented the store when their parents had to bring them to the office, and an elderly woman who came in by accident every now and then.

"We're going to make big sales with this new shipment. So I cannot stress enough the importance of you being on time."

"What is the new shipment?" Rory asked.

Her uncle seemed taken aback by the question.

"It's business. Very complicated. The distributor calls—makes the offer—I consider it, and decide if it will be profitable. You wouldn't follow, even if I had time to explain. You always were just like your mother when it comes to understanding business. That's why I'm in the position I'm in... and you've stayed behind the checkout counter, yeah?"

Rory dropped her gaze, knowing it wasn't worth it to argue. Phil sighed in frustration, looking at the time on his smartwatch.

"I'm late for a meeting. I don't want to come in here again and see you slacking off of work. This is your second strike already. Three strikes—you know what it means."

He turned on his heel and left the shop.

Rory was sure that he would never fire her, because no one would take the job at her salary level. And besides, Rory had been organizing, cataloging, and exploring their stock for years. She was very much the resident expert, although her uncle would never admit it.

As she cracked the book open again, she wondered what the shipment the next day could be. It had been a while since they'd gotten any new stock, on account of almost none of it selling. It was a slow rest of the day, and no one else came in. When the clock struck seven, Rory closed up the store, and made her way through the gray downtown district, and into the underground train station to go home.

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A/N:

Thank you so much for reading my first chapter!! <3 I am an artist as well as a writer. I hope you're enjoying this light novel!

What do you think of Rory so far? Can you relate to her?