Employment Ice Age of the Dead - Chapter 1

 Summoned to Another World, the Ice Age Middle-Aged Man Defeats the Demon Lord

" Even if I say 'I'm home,' not even a ghost is here to welcome me back. Maybe that's a bit lonely after all. Should I try acquiring spiritual vision?"

Savoring the joy of working a job where I can clock out on time, I got off at the bus stop near my home, bought half-priced side dishes at a nearby supermarket, and returned to my apartment on the second floor of an old building.

Drinking cheap low-malt beer on sale alongside the gyoza and salad I luckily managed to grab... Since my life as a lifelong bachelor is pretty much set, I have to take care of my health, so I make sure to eat my vegetables too.

It was a blunder that I forgot I ran out of the quick-pickled veggies I made in bulk a few days ago.

Despite how I look, I cook for myself quite often, but today I was able to get cheap half-priced prepared food, so for the first time in a while, I took it easy.

Although my salary is low, I save money properly. My routine consists of buying cheap ingredients in bulk on days off, making dinner side dishes or bento lunches to take to work, and freezing them.

I drink alcohol too, but right now I have low-malt beer that was on sale, so I drink one can of that each day.

Drinking too much at my age is bad for my health, so I limit serious evening drinking to a few times a month, and going out to drink only happens a few times a year.

Due to the impact of rising prices, eating out costs nearly twice as much for the exact same food and drink.

Above all, even when I invite friends with families, the frequency of them joining me has drastically decreased due to kids' tuition fees, parents' caregiving costs, and securing funds for their own retirement.

Another factor is that in "Shinmei Town," where I moved to take this job, I don't have a single family member or friend.

They say loneliness is bad for your health, but making new friends at my age is difficult.

That's probably why I end up letting Miss Shirai into the janitor's room.

"Phew, thanks for the food. Well then, time to sleep."

Maybe I'm on the luckier side just by being able to get by, but I feel like life is gradually losing its spark.

Still, I'm at an age where I can no longer push myself recklessly.

I'll just keep working as a janitor as long as possible, and after retirement, live off my pension and savings.

I don't have family to take care of me, so if I ever need caregiving, I'll need to prepare money to enter a facility too.

The "20 million yen retirement problem" was a big topic, but can I really save that much?

Maybe I should invest... No, thinking about the possibility of going negative makes it hard to decide.

But just keeping it as cash savings means its value shrinks due to inflation.

For non-regular workers of the Employment Ice Age generation, money worries are endless.

"It's all dark prospects, but since I'm making preparations, I just have to believe it'll work out somehow."

That said, it's not like I'm going to turn into a so-called "indiscriminate violent actor" (muteki no hito) and go wild; I think I've just given up on a lot of things in life.

No, maybe saying "given up" sounds strange...

At any rate, I don't have the slightest desire to act out in despair or commit suicide. I've simply given up on the "normal life" spoken of by society and am just working and living while finding my own small enjoyments.

That's probably the most accurate way to put it.

The half-priced gyoza I was lucky enough to get is usually popular and hard to come by, so I was fortunate.

The sale beer isn't as bad as people make it out to be, either.

And on days off, I take casual strolls around town for exercise.

I can find small pleasures anywhere, and I've come to enjoy loneliness.

Besides, when I commute to work, I can talk with Miss Shirai.

"Tomorrow, I've got to trim the tree branches in the courtyard. Good night."

Thanks to that, I still seem to be healthy, and I was able to fall asleep right away.

And the next morning, waking up without remembering any dreams, something was clearly wrong.

"Oh! Are you the hero from another world? I am terribly sorry for summoning you so suddenly. However, this world is on the brink of destruction by the Demon Lord, and only a hero summoned from another world can defeat him. We shall reward your achievement handsomely. So, will you please defeat the Demon Lord for us?"

"...Huh?"

"Oh! Will you accept?!"

"(No! That wasn't a 'yes' of acceptance!) Um, excuse me..."

"The hero from another world is born!"

"""Long live the hero from another world!"""

"Whaaat?!"

Looking around once more, instead of sleeping on a futon laid out in a room of a cheap apartment, I was lying on a red carpet spread over the floor inside a stone castle.

Furthermore, surrounding me were soldiers and nobles resembling fantasy worlds I had seen in manga and anime, and I even confirmed a figure who appeared to be a king sitting on a grand throne.

"Um... Where is this?"

I have to go to work today too, so I'm in no position to be defeating Demon Lords in another world, nor do I think a shabby middle-aged man from the Employment Ice Age generation can defeat a Demon Lord.

So, could you return me to my original world as quickly as possible so I can go to work?

And as for the hero from another world who will defeat the Demon Lord, please summon someone much younger instead.

I intended to appeal to them like that, but the king and others were rejoicing so loudly that it gradually became hard to speak up.

No, there's no way I can defeat a Demon Lord.

If I don't refuse right away, it'll be a repeat of when I couldn't quit my sweatshop job... Can I really say it?

"So it really wasn't a dream... What time and date is it now?!"

I was a meager, single Ice Age generation man working under non-regular conditions as a janitor at a private high school, right around the time summer vacation was starting.

While sleeping at home, I was suddenly summoned to another world.

It was an event like something out of a manga or anime, but unfortunately, it was reality, not a dream.

Asked by the king of another world to defeat the Demon Lord who was trying to destroy the world, I couldn't refuse, and I spent five whole years successfully defeating the Demon Lord.

At first, I thought asking an uncle approaching fifty was unreasonable, but defeating demons and monsters raised my level, making my body feel lighter, and I experienced consecutive moments of feeling as if I had rejuvenated.

Unfortunately, the white hairs starting to mix into my head didn't disappear, though...

Furthermore, my muscles increased, my protruding belly shrank, and my skin became clearer.

"When your level rises, your physical abilities and vitality increase, so it becomes equivalent to being rejuvenated."

"So that's why even an upper-forties uncle has no problem..."

Told that defeating the Demon Lord would allow me to return to my original world, I worked hard to raise my level, learned weapon handling and magic, defeated monsters and demons under the Demon Lord's army one after another, and finally succeeded in defeating the Demon Lord himself.

"I am truly sorry. As the hero who defeated the Demon Lord, we would like you to stay in this world, but individuals summoned from another world have a limit on how long they can remain here."

"No, please don't worry about it."

At first, I thought that with the Demon Lord gone, a hero stronger than the Demon Lord remaining in this world would threaten the position of the king and nobles, which is why I was being sent back. However, it turned out that people from another world genuinely cannot live in this world for extended periods.

The king and nobles also held truly regretful expressions on their faces.

"In exchange, though it may not be enough, we shall grant you ample rewards. Even with the Demon Lord fallen, this world remains in chaos. Having you here would have been reassuring, but..."

"Your Majesty, your words alone are more than enough."

With a look of genuine regret, the king explained the details of the rewards he would give me.

If I were to stay in this world, I might have been made a noble and granted territory, but if it were land devastated by the Demon Lord and his forces, rebuilding it would take immense effort.

In that case, gold, silver, treasures, and other valuable items that could be quickly converted into cash were much preferable.

"(If I just live modestly by selling off gold and jewels bit by bit, I can spend the rest of my life living in leisure, which is great.)"

I would never again be looked down on by rich brats, and I could live out my days comfortably.

"(I'll quit being a janitor right away, and what should I do after that? Maybe I'll take over my late grandfather's house and farm that my parents don't know what to do with, and live a self-sufficient life there. Or buy a condo in the city center and spend every day playing... I'll have all the time in the world to think about it.)"

"Hero Kozo, you have truly done so much for us. Before you return to your original world, let us host a grand victory banquet. And we shall ensure your deeds are passed down to future generations."

"I am honored."

Compared to the terrible places I worked at in the past, this kingdom ruled by the king was top-tier in fairness.

Fighting the Demon Lord was life-threatening, but the support was flawless, and accomplishing it meant receiving a massive reward.

Compared to the sweatshop companies I worked at in my youth—where unpaid overtime was standard and passion was exploited—it would be an insult to even compare them.

As promised, on the day before returning to my original world, a grand victory celebration was held, and I received many rewards on the spot.

And the next day.

The time finally came for me to return to my original world.

"Hero Kozo, it pains us to part, but the time you can exist in this world is running out."

"By the way, what happens if I remain here past the limit?"

"When the limit arrives, you will naturally be blown back to your original world, but the location will be random. In other words..."

"It would be dangerous if I were sent to a strange place, right?"

"Indeed. That is why we needed to prepare to send you to a reasonably safe location."

Indeed, being suddenly sent to the middle of a busy roadway, onto a bullet train track, or into a volcanic crater or nuclear reactor would be unbearable.

As expected, the king was a great boss.

"Strictly specifying the exact location is difficult, but to ensure you are sent to a safe place, I have given strict orders to the mages. May good fortune be with you in your life ahead, Hero Kozo."

"Thank you for everything."

"Stay well."

After the final farewells, I stepped onto the magic circle drawn by the court mage.

By returning to the original world through special magic mediated by this circle, unfortunate accidents during summoning could be prevented, apparently.

While it couldn't be called one hundred percent safe, I was told the probability of encountering an accident immediately after summoning was one in three quadrillion.

It was practically zero, so if I were hit by an unfortunate accident right after returning, I'd just have to give up and accept it as bad luck.

"(I wish the king could have been my boss forever...)"

As a janitor, I do technically have a boss, but that person was the foolish son of the corporate owner running the school.

I heard he graduated from a low-tier university, couldn't make himself useful anywhere, and spent his time playing around without working.

The owner made him my boss just to secure a social title and salary for his beloved son, but I've never seen him actually work.

He rarely comes to work anyway, and even when he does, he just looks down on me, so it wasn't a problem if he wasn't around.

I'm from the Employment Ice Age generation, but I graduated from a fairly well-known university.

To him, having taken extra years and repeated grades to graduate from a school whose name I hadn't even heard of, looking down on me was how he maintained his self-esteem.

"(Still, I've been fighting in this world for five years.)"

I've undoubtedly been fired long ago.

Even so, it doesn't bother me at all; in fact, thinking that I won't have to work as a janitor at that school anymore is a relief.

The only thing on my mind is Miss Shirai.

Then again, after five years, she should have already graduated from university.

"(I wonder if she worried about me suddenly disappearing? Probably not. At any rate, starting tomorrow, it's a carefree unemployed life.)"

And an unemployed life without money troubles, at that.

In the past, I would have worried about public appearance, but either way, I'm a loser of the Employment Ice Age generation.

Thanks to the massive increase in physical strength and vitality, my body is light, so I won't have to worry about health or aging for a while.

"(Everyone dies eventually; it's just a matter of sooner or later. That's why being able to live at your own pace is such a wonderful thing.)"

Most people have to live while being worked to the bone by companies and bosses.

As I was thinking about these things, the mage chanted words I had never heard before, and immediately after, I lost consciousness.

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