How much do you value the term “peace”? Do you want a tranquil life with little to no exciting moments and to enjoy life with your beloved? Or do you want a life full of danger, schemes, and rising tension, just like those action movies? Some people will prefer a risky life yes; but for a retired hitman like Sakamoto, who was once the best at what he did, he wants none of that. Peace for the tired soul like him is worth more than anything. Especially now, when he has things to care about, and he will do anything to protect them. It is the same with everyone under the roof of the convenience store; even if he is an Esper, someone who can read other’s minds; or the last child of the leader of an infamous Chinese mafia gang.

The more they dive deep into the world of blood and guns on the other side of the world, the more they cherish the little tranquil moments they can have in life beside the ones they considered family (well most of the time, as our “peaceful” manager still thinking of killing the other two when they are too noisy). That is the reason why I love the idea of the price for “peace” in this series. There are fights, great ones, but our trio always wants to keep it under the surface as most as possible, especially when the manager’s family gets involved, to carefully preserve the little oasis that they can always return to. In this article, I will guide you through each person’s story, and how they end up protecting the small beacon of life in their small corner of the world.

Okay, let us start with our protagonist: the chubby manager/ex-hitman of the small convenience store. He used to be the terror among the killers with unrivaled technique and inhuman capacity to suppress a group of hitmen, well until he met Mrs. Sakamoto. The sudden strike of love at the usual convenience store made the legend threw away all the glory and relationships without a second thought while still on the top and enjoy the peaceful family life with his wife and daughter until an anonymous person rewarded every hitman in the world who can get his head for a huge sum and drag him back to the world of assassins. Sound familiar right? Just like a certain dog-loving hitman that we know and love on the silver screen. However, Sakamoto is more fortunate than John Wick, as he still has a family to return to, and he is still trying his best to protect it.

But you know, how can you live a peaceful life when there is one million yen is hanging on your head? Well, Sakamoto just kinda… goes on with his life; between the countless assassins targeting him for the bounty, and the disappointment of his small family of not being able to go to the amusement park, he chooses to go to the park anyways (and stuff happened, but I will let you find out for yourself). That doesn’t mean he is too careless with the small spark of peace he has, but he is confident in his ability and has enough trust in the other members that he can make sure his family can have a good time without worrying about his problems. Level-headed, responsive, and careful; all the abilities he used to take the lives of others in the path are now utilized for protecting others. What will await him at the end of the road, we don’t know yet, but I will keep following his journey to see how it will turn out. Will the small oasis of peace slip out of his hand in a careless moment, or will it turn to a huge island where the tiring soul can finally rest?

Now to the second one: first employee under Sakamoto/ex-hitman, Shin the Esper. Shin was once the partner of Sakamoto, but after Sakamoto followed the call of love, he was ordered to go kill the retired legend. A young man who has a painful childhood because of his mind-reading ability, he finally got a “taste” of a family while having dinner with Sakamoto’s family for the first time. After a sequence of events, he finally worked at the convenience store and cut all ties with the hitman world.

Having almost no one that he saw as family in the past, the household of Sakamoto is the first place he feels that he truly belongs to after all those years engulfed in the dark society. So he cherishes it and does his best to be a bodyguard of the small family, as he now knows the value of the place you can return to. As the old comrade of Sakamoto and being able to read people’s minds, he and Sakamoto are a dangerous duo who can pull many interesting stunts throughout the series, especially while fighting in the dark. His background and the other “family” he had in the past will be revealed in later chapters, and I will also let you, readers, find and read it yourself. I can assure you that will be a great story, it will be worth your time.

And finally, the latest employee of the store, and the final member of the trio: Li – ex-hitman and daughter of a late Chinese mafia family. The duo met her when she was running from the force who wanted to take the key to her family vault. Fights happened, words were said, and she became the employee of the convenience store who made Chinese meat buns and helps the store with selling (while also safeguarding it with Shin on some occasions).

Unlike Shin, she had a family and knew the warmth of it, but it all ended the moment her parents got killed for the keys. Alone in a distant land where she didn’t have anyone to rely on, the dynamic duo was the first to help her. After a long time, she finally found people to rely on and to protect her again. The moment they shared the wine left by Li’s father for her 18th birthday, was the moment she had accepted them as her new family, and so were they. As for Li’s background, we don’t know much about her yet until the latest chapter published (yes, it is still an ongoing story), we only know that she values her newfound family above all else, and even refuses to step back as the leader of the old gang when being asked to. I am looking forward to seeing how her story will go on in the future, as she is the only one who still has her problems in the past not being sorted out (well beside our protagonist) and what will she have to sacrifice to secure that small lit of warmth in the future.

Three people, each with different backgrounds and reasons to fight, all gather around under the roof of a small convenience store and try to protect their small land of hope and peace, and in the process, their fates become entangled. Being lost in the dark for such a long time, they value their “peace” enough to risk their lives for the ones they love. I can’t wait to see what challenges they’ll face next!