In the police station, the recovery department head let out a tear as she waved off people. She had never seen anyone recover from the yellow curse until now.
But for the first time in her life, she did not have to helplessly watch as someone died and feel helpless.
"Madam, are you alright? There are tears falling down your eyes."
Henry Beckerman asked the old lady he had worked his whole life with. As far as he could tell, the old lady in front of him was always rational and regal. She hardly ever let her emotions get the better of her.
This was the first and only time he had seen the older lady cry.
"I-I am fine. I just… never thought I would see the day this curse would be cured. I ought to go and give my gratitude to the one who came up with this potion. Won't you tell me where they live?"
The older lady asked and Henry tensed.
He trusted Madam a lot as she had been the one to take care of him when he was turned.
But despite his trust, he did not want to let anyone else know about the higher being he had discovered.
'If there is anyone who will spread the teachings of the shopkeeper, it needs to be me. That way, I will surely be rewarded when it is the right time.'
Henry turned toward the old Madam and gave her a slight smile.
"Madam, you do not need to worry about it. I will offer the official thanks to our benefactor on behalf of the police department."
The younger man was filled with passion and Madam was not able to refute. She had to leave it up to him at this point.
"Alright, if you say so. However, can you—"
"General, we have a problem. B-Big Bang and his gang were seen heading toward the harbour. They were in town a few hours back and caused mayhem. We need to go and catch them."
The old lady was not finished speaking when a younger officer burst through the door and huffed.
His wide eyes looked at the people around before landing on the general.
The older man sighed but inside he was happy because he would not be interrogated about the whereabouts of his benefactor.
"Looks like I need to leave now, Madam. Please take care of yourself. And do let me know if I can help you out any other way."
Henry left with those final words. He followed his people to the harbour, but the people he was chasing were no longer there.
"Search around for any clues you can find. Big Bang and his gang are well-known troublemakers. If we don't stop them now, then they will surely harm people."
The general barked and everyone ran to check up on what was happening.
But no matter how much they looked around, no sign of human activity could be found that looked suspicious.
Ultimately, they all gathered around with unhappy expressions on their faces.
"Tsk, in the end, we never found anything of value. Does anyone have anything else to add?"
General Henry asked and everyone flinched. At first, no one answered and the general looked even more annoyed.
But then, out of nowhere, someone spoke up.
"General, l-look, I found something… do you know what this is?"
A younger soldier brought forward a small wooden box and General Henry extended his hand toward it before his eyes widened in shock.
"This is… give it here. You all… look around and try to find any other clues. I will go back and return this treasure."
Everyone obeyed him quickly and went back to work. And Henry did not stick around for long either. He went back to return the treasure he had found near the harbour.
"I am sure this music box belongs to the shopkeeper. But what is it doing all the way near the harbour? Did Big Bang… somehow steal it? Hmm, since it was abandoned, something must have happened to Big Bang."
Henry truly believed that the music box had cursed Big Bang and done something to him.
Stealing an artefact never bodes well for anyone. Especially when it belonged to someone as great and resourceful as the shopkeeper.
"Looks like I would need to start searching for bodies soon enough."
Henry truly believed that the powerful artefact of the shopkeeper had ended Big Bang. And now, all that was left was to return this to its rightful owner before it was too late.
Outside, the first rays of sun were starting to touch the sky and the last day of the festival was about to start.
And it was time for the shopkeeper to wake up as well.
______
"Ugh-! Fuck me-! When did my bed get so comfortable. I almost don't want to get up."
I complained as I pulled the covers of my bedsheet over my head.
The sun was barely up in the sky and I wanted to sleep more. But sleep refused to greet me and my mind reminded me that I had a young life to feed.
So I got up and quickly prepared food for the young pup before I put water on the stove to boil it for some morning tea.
The water had barely started to boil when I heard the sound of my doorbell ring.
Someone had come to visit me at such an early hour and I felt startled. I quickly gave myself a quick glance over before I headed to open the door.
"Shopkeeper, you are already up? Huh-! Have you started to brew the tea already? Did you know I was coming?"
The police officer who had become an acquaintance at this point asked me with a cheerful look on his face.
I wanted to ask him to return, but then I thought about it again and decided to welcome him inside.
"Please come inside. I was not aware that you were going to pay me a visit, but since you are here, I might as well offer you some tea. Make yourself comfortable."
I told the man and he gave me a look that said he did not believe a word I said.
Honestly, I had no idea which part of my words he disagreed with, but I did not want to ask either.
As soon as the tea finished brewing, I took it off the stove and brought it out for us to drink.
The officer took one sip and handed me something very familiar.
"Shopkeeper, I found this when I was searching for a criminal. I was sure I saw this around your shop before, so I decided to bring it to you. Here, please take it."
The music box that had been stolen just a day before was suddenly in my arms once more and I did not know how to react.
After all, I had braced myself to no longer see the music box.
"Thank you for bringing it back to me. It must have been tough to get it back from a criminal. Let me know if I can do anything to thank you for it."
I told the officer sincerely.