Ch.193193. The Robber, the Dog, and the Cat

There was so much I wanted to say.

Starting with how she knew about the first cycle.

How she had obtained the soul from the first cycle.

And even how she specifically referred to him as Shinwoo Kim rather than Deus Verdi.

I was curious about many things regarding this unidentified being in front of me, who they were and what powers they possessed.

But first.

“You’re selling this?”

When Aria cautiously asked, she somehow felt as if the entity in the darkness was smiling faintly.

“Yes, I’ve specially prepared something you would most desire.”

Something I would desire.

The choice of words was unsettling in every way, but nevertheless. Aria asked while feigning calmness as best she could.

“How much is it?”

She gently placed her money pouch on the counter. The resonant weight of money.

It was an amount that would catch any merchant’s eye, even momentarily, but the shop owner didn’t show the slightest movement as he tightened his grip on the first cycle Shinwoo Kim’s soul.

“You cannot pay with money. What I want from you, Aria, isn’t that.”

“……”

“I want just two things from you. If you pay one of them, I’ll give you this.”

One of two?

When Aria nodded, indicating she would listen, the figure, who had somehow transformed into a male, illuminated golden eyes from within the darkness.

“One is your destiny as a hero.”

“…!”

“Sell me your destiny to save the world.”

Is such a thing possible?

Various thoughts created confusion, but the man continued speaking.

“The other is memory.”

“Me-memory?”

“Give me your memories of a world different from this one.”

Memories of a world different from this one?

“Are you talking about the first cycle?”

When Aria cautiously asked, the man paused briefly before answering with exaggeration.

“That’s exactly right.”

Aria felt something odd in the momentary silence. But her gaze remained fixed on Shinwoo Kim’s soul held by the man.

What should I do with this?

The destiny as a hero and the memories of the first cycle.

If I had to give one of them, which should I hand over? She weighed them in her mind for a moment and.

“I’m not buying.”

The answer came out surprisingly quickly.

“Hmm.”

The man’s eyes, glowing alone in the darkness, showed a calm emotion.

With a low groan, as if quite surprised, he asked in the same tone as before.

“Are you sure you won’t buy it? It must be the item you need most.”

“I’ve already buried my memories in my heart.”

Of course, it hurts and aches every time I look at them. But that doesn’t mean I could sell what constitutes who I am now.

Also.

“And both things you demanded. Someone I know took them away.”

Shinwoo Kim of the second cycle, who accepted the memories of the first cycle without denying them.

And likewise, it was he who continued the destiny as a hero in her place.

In reality, Aria had no choice in the matter.

“……”

For the first time, the shop owner pressed his lips tightly. Seeing this, Aria turned toward the entrance without even picking up her money pouch.

“This is a first, someone leaving my shop without buying anything.”

The owner was about to applaud Aria as she left without any lingering attachment, but.

Click.

Upon reaching the entrance, Aria locked the door and turned her gaze back toward the owner.

“Sorry, but I’m no longer a customer.”

Flames illuminating the darkness.

“I’m a robber, you bastard.”

The mana flames rising from Aria’s entire body spread throughout the shop, consuming the space itself.

“How dare you.”

As the darkness of the shop lifted.

A man with long white hair sitting across the counter. Seeing his eyes transformed into vertical pupils, Aria realized he was a demon.

“You dare take the professor hostage in front of me?”

Aria extended her hand, attempting to summon Duatein, the greatsword she frequently used in the second cycle, but.

Nothing materialized in her palm. Only scattered mana passed futilely between her fingers.

The man smiled at Aria and answered.

“What a special place this is, isn’t it? Even a god couldn’t find us here.”

In other words, nothing could be summoned from outside the shop.

“Ah, I see.”

But Aria snorted, as if such a restriction was trivial, clenching her fists tightly and stepping forward.

The fierce mana flames spreading behind her back reflected her current emotions.

“Then I’ll beat you to death.”

* * *

“Woof.”

The sound of a dog barking in the laboratory.

It wasn’t an actual dog barking, but someone who had broken a promise and turned into a dog.

“Woof woof.”

“Stop barking so much.”

I expressed irritation at Findenai, who was wearing dog ears from somewhere and had been barking all day long beside me, but.

“Woof woof woof.”

“……”

Findenai just kept barking without giving any response.

I could tell him next time that if he drinks again, he’s faithfully fulfilling his claim of being a dog, but.

He wasn’t like this from the start today.

He made a fuss about wanting something spicy for his hangover, trying to cook a soup using the alcohol lamp in the laboratory.

Just take it easy, kid.

With just this one comment, he’s been like this ever since.

‘He must really hate being called a kid.’

A kind of protest directed at me.

A ridiculous threat that if I call him “kid,” he’ll be annoying like this.

“Woof woof.”

“Haah.”

Even if I kick him out, he comes back. If I lock the door, he opens it with a spare key and stays beside me like this.

“I get it now, so stop it.”

It was a declaration of surrender in my own way, but Findenai glanced at me and replied.

“Does a dog stop barking just because you ask it to?”

“……”

“Bow wow.”

Maybe I should just seal his mouth with magic.

While contemplating this, Erika entered through the door.

She had been with us until just now but went outside when she saw Findenai wearing dog ears.

In her hesitant hands were cat ears.

“……”

“Well, um… the kids had these in storage from the festival.”

As she tentatively tried to put them on her head, I warned her.

“Don’t.”

“Findenai said you like these things?”

Erika looked at Findenai, asking for an explanation. Findenai immediately responded.

“Illuania told me all about how she did this kind of play with you a lot.”

“You should know by now that wasn’t me.”

“What does it matter? It’s the same body. I was wondering why I had to lick an asshole. So that’s why you dressed up as a dog? Did the master dress up too?”

Then he promptly stuck the dog headband on my head.

[Pfft!]

[Oh my, you look a bit cuter now.]

Whoosh.

I immediately burned the headband on my forehead with mana. Gritting my teeth while looking toward the Dark Spiritmaster and Stella.

[L-let’s run away!]

[Hehe, let’s go together, senior.]

The two escaped through the wall, and.

I stood up abruptly and turned to open the window behind the chair.

“Well, dogs lick each other’s assholes, so if you dressed up as a dog, naturally…”

I threw Findenai, who was muttering as if he had figured something out himself, out the window with wind magic.

Findenai flew out without even screaming. Though it was quite a few floors up, looking down, I saw he had landed cleanly enough to dust himself off.

“Phew.”

I wasn’t completely satisfied, but I appreciated the relative quiet. I began to focus again, planning to go to the shop through the thread left by Ophelia’s daughter.

“……”

At that moment, Erika approached quietly.

Owen had gone to the park for a street performance, and Professor Per was having a rare day of deep sleep, so she confirmed we were alone and.

Swish.

She put on the cat ears and climbed onto my desk on all fours.

“Hey, meow?”

“……”

“Can’t you at least react?”

Erika’s face reddened with embarrassment. I realized it wasn’t just my imagination that the cold and composed Erika had been changing strangely in front of me lately.

“You’re bothering me, get down.”

“I-I just thought I’d try.”

As she was about to get down from the desk, whimpering and avoiding my gaze.

Creeeeak!

The harsh sound of a door opening tore through the air of the laboratory.

“…!”

I instinctively raised my head at the thread’s sudden reaction, and a purple door was wide open on the laboratory ceiling.

The door to Clere’s Shop that I had seen many times in the game.

I couldn’t understand why it was attached to the ceiling, but I immediately gathered mana to jump, however.

A black-haired girl jumped out from inside, cursing.

“This bastard!”

Surrounded by her own mana, Aria landed on the laboratory floor.

Her mana took the form of flames, acting as a cushion, and she tried to use them as a foothold to rocket back up, but.

“Aria?”

At Erika’s bewildered voice, Aria’s gaze quickly turned.

And at that moment.

Creeeeak.

Thud!

The door closed and immediately disappeared.

In just about a second.

Faced with the sudden situation, Erika and I could only be taken aback, and Aria, who had come out through the door, gritted her teeth, staring intently at the ceiling where the door had vanished, gathering her mana again.

Slowly withdrawing her mana, Aria took a deep breath and looked at us.

“…Do you two do that kind of play too?”

She made a subtle expression upon seeing the cat ear headband on Erika’s head.

“Th-this is…!”

Erika hastily removed the headband and hid it behind her back.

“Was that Clere’s Shop?”

Passing by Erika, I asked, and Aria immediately nodded and exclaimed.

“Yes, Professor! But something was strange!”

“What were they selling?”

I had already heard a general explanation from Ophelia, but more information is always helpful.

I asked Aria, sensing they wouldn’t have sold her the same thing they sold to Ophelia, and.

Aria, with a serious yet somewhat proud expression, took something out from her chest and whispered.

“They were selling the soul of the first cycle professor.”

“……”

“But you know how they ask for something outrageous as payment? So I robbed them and took it!”

What Aria proudly presented, claiming she couldn’t kill the owner but had stolen the soul, was.

“Huh?”

Just a handful of mud that was wetting her hand.