.. The Woman ..
A Wednesday afternoon. The sun is slowly crawling away from the peak of the sky, its beams reflecting against the softly sprinkled snow the was scattered across the city the night before. It's cold out, and a few stragglers from the lunch rush are lingering in a heated MgRonald's in order to snap up a few leftover sandwiches and fries the other customers left behind.
The employees are sighing in a relief, relieved that they now only have to deal with a short woman and a small gaggle of friends. They appreciate the pre-made sandwiches when they are quickly packed onto trays and given to those who pay, and they are glad they don't have to peer over a heated fryer for another hour in order to hand out the burger after burger that everyone orders.
There is a brief silence between the "Thank you"s and "Come again"s that echo around the restaurant. Another customer walks in.
"I have a few questions about your items..."
The questions are terribly in depth. No one knows the answer, except for one.
"Well, our beef is all free-range and grass fed."
Read out of a manual. He doesn't know if it's true. But Maou is the only one who can remember the manual, so no one matters if it's true or not. He's a lifesaver.
The woman continues to ask questions, most of which seem like they have little to nothing to do with the restaurant at all.
"Who grows the lettuce you use?"
"In order to ensure the best quality, we buy all of our vegetable stock weekly at a local provider."
Once again, no one knows for a fact if what he said is true.
The woman accepts it. She can tell the difference between an honest response and an employee's pitch, but she doesn't bother to point out the difference. For that, Maou is thankful.
She orders a small fry and a milkshake, and then leaves.
She comes back the next day, the same time. This time, the employees begin to take note of her appearance. The simple brown hair and semi-formal outfit makes it hard to pinpoint anything notable about her. She's just a normal citizen.
Maou is there again to answer her questions.
"What gluten-free products do you have here?"
"All of our bread and potato products here have gluten in them, but we do offer a large variety of salads that are just as good."
She doesn't order a salad. She leaves with a small fry and a milkshake.
The next day is all the same. After the lunch rush, just when the restaurant has emptied out, she comes again.
"Where do you get your vanilla for your shakes from?"
"We get it along with all other ingredients from our local food provider."
She orders a small fry and a milkshake before leaving.
The next day is Maou's day off. He stays home, but at three forty, he glances at his phone. He's received a text from Chiho. The woman came back again. This time, she asked if the employees cut the potatoes in the store or not.
Maou goes back the next day. He's just starting his shift when he sees the woman walk into the store. He doesn't answer her question that day. Apparently, it was about the origin of the cotton in their uniforms. She left with a small fry and a milkshake
At this point, everyone working at MgRonald's is forming an opinion on this woman. With the small staff of about eight in the MgRonald's everyone gets to have their own theory.
Satomi Takenaka believes the woman is just another customer who has decided to frequently visit for some reason or another.
Akemi Yamada thinks she may have been a frequent visitor before Ms. Sasaki was the manager.
Hiroko Sato thinks she's a ghost or something like from those American horror films.
Katsuo Nakano is a firm believer that she is a secret agent for the government come to spy on them for aa unknown reason.
Noa Fukui doesn't really care. She just wants to go home. She always does.
Yumi Kagome thinks the questions are really a code. She's started writing them down on spare napkins.
Ms. Kisaki isn't so sure that her appearance is a good thing, but at least she's contributing to the sales. However, she tells Maou to refrain from answering some of the more in-depth questions. They didn't want conspirators to come beating down their door about rats in the chicken.
Chiho Sasaki thinks she is just another woman. A bit stranger than most, but "You shouldn't judge others like that, Mr. Maou. You don't know what their life is like."
Sadao Maou believes she is odd. Annoying, too, but that's because he has to deal with her everyday. But clearing away the personal bias, Maou isn't sure what to think about this woman. He's curious, that's for sure, but beyond that, he doesn't have a good guess on what the woman's intentions are.
So he shrugs it off. He takes the register from Nakano and deals with the influx of early diners. He doesn't have time to bother with theories and conspiracies.