"General, surely you are not thinking of visiting the storekeeper right now? Look at the time and… he's a suspect in our case. We need to keep our distance…"
The secretary stopped speaking once she noticed the cold look she got from her boss.
General Henry was an easy-going person — to the point that he had not even tried to stop his bride from running away right before their wedding.
He was also open about letting people speak what they wanted and hardly ever punished anyone.
So having such a person glare at her scared the secretary.
"Haven't I told you not to speak of the storekeeper like that already, Secretary Jun? Even my patience has a limit, and this will be the last warning I give you. Now, please head back and assist with the paperwork. I will take care of the situation myself."
General Henry told the female, and she gulped in fear.
The very next second, the general turned away from her, and her legs felt like they would give out.
No one else seemed to have noticed this exchange, which she was thankful for.
'T-That shopkeeper is surely using dark magic. I need to break his control over the general before it's too late. Yes—! I will plan to do just that. I just… need some time first…'
The female gathered herself before she pushed herself up on her shaky feet. She needed to return to the office and plan her next step carefully.
She had a feeling that if the general found out about her plans, then she wouldn't live to see another day.
________
"Hmm, it's getting late. Should I go shopping and also collect the faith points from the station… or maybe I can wait another day. The machine did not operate for long, and I do have some food left over."
I tried to reason with myself about what to do next, but I felt too lazy to head out at the moment.
The only necessity that forced me out of the house was food. But the leftover food was not something I could look over.
"I really miss the convenience of a fridge. It would make storing my goods so much easier."
But alas, the fridge that I wanted was too costly. I did not want to spend nearly 100 faith points on it.
Especially not at the moment when I barely had any.
And it was also not like I was in a hurry to go and gather the faith points from the machine. I doubted those faith points could be stolen… right…?
"Ugh, I am thinking too much. I need something to distract myself. Maybe a book would be a good idea…"
I told myself just as I felt a knock at my door for the third time.
Despite the door being open, the person who knocked did not walk in and simply tried to grab my attention.
It almost felt like a prank, so I wanted to ignore that person. But even I felt curious to know what was going on when I heard someone knocking at my door for the third time.
Looking out of the peeping hole told me nothing. The person on the other side seemed to have figured out my blind spot, so the only way to know who they were was to open the door.
"I don't want what you are selling. Please go back before I call the police."
My voice sounded cold, but the knocking did not stop. I felt irritated enough to open the door and yell at the person on the other side.
"What is your problem—"
A pale man tried to jump me with a crazy look in his eyes, and I had a feeling that this was the end for me.
The only people with such a crazy look I had seen before were serial killers. But they usually had a type they wanted to kill, right?
Who would want to kill someone like me?
"Y-Your blood—! Give it to me—"
The man yelled, only to be grabbed by a strong arm and then locked up by a pair of tight arms.
I was too frozen in shock to know what to do, so I could only blink and look at what just happened.
"Shopkeeper, I knew you were guiding me all along. You even stood still and pretended to be attacked so that I would have a chance to catch this criminal. You are so amazing."
Officer Henry praised me as he pushed the criminal down.
As soon as his words registered in my mind, I wanted to protest and tell him that it was not what happened.
But my mouth refused to open and make that statement, causing the misunderstanding to grow.
"U-Ugh, let go of me now—! Y-You don't know what you are doing—! That blood—! It's mine—!!!!!!"
The criminal spoke with certainty in his eyes. He was giving me a desperate look, almost as if he would die if he did not get my blood.
My survival instincts told me that I was in grave danger and should never allow my blood to be taken by someone else.
Officer Henry agreed with me and decided to push the serial killer's face harder into the ground.
"Tsk, you still have the face to speak of blood after all the trouble you caused us? You will face charges for what you have done, and you will also reveal the location of your allies. Now come, we have much work to do."
The officer grabbed the serial killer by the throat before he dragged him away. I also snapped out of the daze and recalled that I should at least ask the officer what he was here for.
"Shopkeeper, is there anything you want to ask me? You look… curious…"
Officer Henry asked me, and I replied in a voice so calm that it even scared me.
"Was there a reason you came here, Officer Henry? Is there anything else I can help you with?"
I asked, and the officer looked startled and delighted at the same time.
"Hmm, to get even more help from you would be an honor, Shopkeeper. But for now, you have helped me and the police department enough by helping us catch this criminal. Please, do let us know if there is anything we can do to help you out in the future."
The officer told me, and I sighed in relief.
"Ah—! It's fine. Rather, it's you who helped me out here. Who knows what could have happened if you had not been here."
I told the officer, and he just let out a laugh.
"Hmm, there is no need to be so humble, Shopkeeper. I am sure things would have been just fine even if I were not here today. But I will take your gratitude anyway."
The man told me before he left the scene. I watched him leave, my eyes looking around carefully to make sure there was no more trouble before I went back inside.
"S-So crazy—! This world is so crazy. I-I almost died and I had no idea why… there was no news of the serial killer anywhere. I wish they would invent social media quickly or something…."
I complained, not that anyone heard me.