Penelope felt herself trembling as she saw the masked man chop at the priest who saved them. She felt her head spin and fear flood her body when a burst of light made her clutch onto her eyes.

Then the burst of light was gone. And the masked man stood up, tilting his head at Penelope. She felt herself step back. So did Jack. She could feel his arm touching hers.

At that second, she desperately wished—wished this was all false, all a dream, that she’d wake up and Amelia would be sleeping next to her, the matron would be smiling, the priest would be alive, and black mage were far, far away from her.

As the man stepped forward and swung his machete at her, Penelope found herself grasping onto Jack’s arm and tightly closing her eyes, wishing—wishing that she’d be back home.

Back at the orphanage.

Safe.

Happy.

—

Level three desperation has been detected by a soul whose fate has been swiftly rewritten multiple times and splintered mildly. The soul’s fate line has weakened, allowing distance to be ignored. Allow her to come to the shop, representative James?

Say: [Yes] or [No]

James blinked but saw no reason why he should say no.

“Yes.”

—

But there was no pain. No matter how long Penelope waited, there was no pain. No sensation of the machete sinking into her body. Now that she thought about it, there were none of the earlier screams either.

“W-where are we?” Jack’s mumble made Penelope open her eyes, hesitantly, feeling Jack’s hand shivering in her own.

They… weren’t in the cathedral. Nor were they back at the orphanage, as she’d desperately wished. Instead, they were standing in front of an odd building. She looked around and flinched when she turned around. They were standing on the edge of a mountain ledge.

“W-where are we?” Penelope was the one to ask the question this time.

Jack replied, “I don’t know.”

But then she felt an urge. An urge to enter the building. Enter it. Enter it since that would mean she’d be safe. She’d be happy. She stepped forward, only to stop, since Jack had held onto her arm tightly, staring at her with wide, desperate eyes.

“Where are you going?”

“I-into the building,” Penelope replied, her body still trembling.

“W-why?” he asked, and Penelope found it hard to give a proper answer.

In the end, she instead replied, pointing down the mountain, “C-can we go t-that way?”

Jack looked behind him and then looked back at Penelope. “Well, n-no…”

“T-then?”

Seeing that the boy didn’t reply, she walked towards the shop. This time, Jack followed her. She opened the door and froze upon seeing that a person was sitting there. A person that looked almost like a noble. Regal, rich. 

But also wrong.

Creepy.

Not evil, but wrong.

The person smiled at her, a warm, welcoming smile. “Please, do come in.”

Penelope looked back at Jack, perhaps for reassurance, and then stepped inside. The man gestured at the chair before pausing.

“Oh, right. There’s only one chair. Shop?”

Another chair appeared right next to the previous one, and she gasped. Jack, too, stared at the chair blankly, like it was not a chair but something from another universe entirely. It was understandable. They had never interacted with a mage before. A healer, they at least saw from afar, but a mage that could make things just… appear? Or at least teleport? That… was certainly new. Very new.

He gestured at the chairs once more, and they both took a few seconds before sitting down.

The man looked at them, a smile present on his face, alternating from Penelope to Jack and then to Penelope again. Then he said, “What brings you here, young madam?”

Penelope stuttered, “Y-young m-madam?”

The man tilted his head curiously. “Well, yes. You are young, and you are a madam, yes?” And then he looked at Jack. “And that there is a young sir, yes?”

He smiled widely after saying so, seemingly barely stopping himself from chuckling. He found himself very, very funny, clearly.

“I-I see.” Penelope nodded.

The man nodded too. “Now, do tell me, and please calm down first, what brings you here, Penelope? What do you seek so desperately that you found the shop itself?”

Penelope blinked. Seek so desperately? What had she seeked for—Right. She’d wished that all of this was a dream. That she could return to her orphanage and be safe and happy.

“I…” Penelope paused, struggling to formulate her thoughts. “I wished to be safe and happy.”

The man blinked. “What constitutes safe and happy for you, Penelope?”

Penelope looked at the desk, thoughts fluttering through her mind. Finally, she was able to classify just what she considered safe and happy. “A… place to live. Food to eat. If… If possible, to learn and educate myself, to learn skills, so that I have a good future. I… I think that’s all I need to be safe and happy.”

—

James blinked as he processed the girl’s words. This… was certainly new. He’d sort of expected that all his customers would have dreams of power or something grand like that after the prince, so Penelope’s words caught him fully off guard.

How much would it cost to provide her all that she wants, shop? he asked in his mind, and golden letters appeared in front of him.

There are three options.

Firstly, all of this can be provided outside, in the outer world. Naturally, her desires require money. The representative can give her a lump sum of money in exchange for one year of lifespan.

Since some people find taking a lump sum too risky, the customer can request that they instead be given money in monthly intervals. For five years of her lifespan, the shop can give her a comfortable amount of money every month for the rest of her life.

The second option would be to offer her residence within the shop, being provided with all the things she asked for by the shop. This would require one year of her lifespan for every month she resides in the shop. This option can naturally be uncomfortable for the representative, but the shop can guarantee that the representative cannot be harmed within the shop.

The representative can simply place them within the plot of land he has created, give them a hut, and leave them there. Of course, with deliveries of food and other required resources done by the shop, not allowing them to interact with the representative if he finds it uncomfortable to even feel their presence.

The third option is only applicable in the case that the representative has sympathy for the customers. Do you, representative James, feel sympathy for them?

James hummed under his breath. Indeed, did he feel sympathy for these two kids? Frankly speaking, yeah. He did. They reminded him of his sister, and they were so… thin. And all they were asking for was safety. Happiness. They had no wishes for power, or even endless money… They simply wanted peace.

He did, in fact, feel sympathy for them.

In that case, the representative can simply take them in for however long he deems fit, feeding them and giving them resources using his reserve of soul energy. With the reserve of soul energy the representative currently has, sponsoring two more living beings will not make too large of an impact.

“I see.” James whispered under his breath.

—

Penelope felt there were needles on the chair as she looked at the desk. After she’d replied to the man, he simply stared at them. SIlently, peacefully, without any malice, but it still made her feel incredibly awkward.

After a solid minute passed, he finally said, “I see,” and leaned forward, his gaze kind and soft. “Would you two like to live here?”

Penelope blinked. “W-what?”

“Let me explain,” the man said. Then he began again, “You have three options. You see, this shop deals in soul energy—in lifespan. You currently can live for thirty-two more years,” he said, gesturing at Penelope, “and you can live for twenty-eight more,” he concluded, gesturing at Jack.

“Here’s the thing,” he continued, explaining to them the various options they had. They could simply ask for a lump sum of money, ask for installments, or stay at this place, the shop, while paying ‘rent’ or simply for free.

Penelope blinked. All the other options she understood, but why was the man offering them the option to live in the shop for free? That… made no sense. And then she paused, processing what the man had said once more.

The shop dealt with souls. Soul energy. Whatever was sitting in front of her was no human. It was… something else entirely. Why was it even offering them the chance to simply… live here? That was either too good to be true or had implications that she, as a mere human, could not process.

But what could such a being even gain from them, two orphans with no fat on their bodies?

“Why?” Jack asked, surprising Penelope. She turned to him, surprised, but Jack didn’t meet her gaze. He was looking at the being fully seriously, not backing away at all. “Why offer that to us? We’re…” He gestured at himself, what he was trying to say obvious.

The being smiled at Jack’s words, and then tilted his head. “I was once in a position somewhat similar to you two. And back then, no one helped me. I had to fight my way to survival, even in a world seemingly far kinder than yours. So…” He trailed off, his smile turning wistful. “I also have a sister somewhat older than you two. You two reminded me of her, that’s all.”

Sighing, he continued, “I can understand your apprehension. You won’t have to sign any contracts, anything. You can leave when you want. If you’d like, you can leave right now. It was just an offer. You don’t have to accept any of the options, really.” He paused for a few seconds, his eyes turning a bit cloudy. “Normally, it’d require one year of either of your life spans to teleport you somewhere, but I’ll do it for you guys for free. Tell me which kingdom or which place you guys want to go too, and the shop will send you there.”

Jack blinked, his earlier confidence vanishing as his shoulders slumped. “I… I see.”

—

“They… disappeared?” Neol asked, looking at the skull masked man in front of him with confusion. “What do you mean?”

“Exactly that.” The man repeated, “They just… disappeared. Poof. Instantly. No traces of them left. Just… like that. Right in front of me.”

Neol blinked and looked back into the room. Right, there was only the priest’s body here. The kids disappeared then? Unless his guild member was lying and had let go of them because he felt sympathetic—which, no chance. The room was enclosed fully, no windows. And Neol was sure he hadn’t spotted any kids running out of the church.

He turned towards the other members. They all nodded. They hadn’t spotted any kids either.

Neol grasped onto his head, genuinely confused. It… What the hell had happened? Divine intervention? But either way, there wasn’t anything they could do right now. “It’s… We can deal with that later. Leave the trinket, and let’s leave as soon as possible. The city guards have to come in soon.”

—

James smiled at the kids. They’d become his new roommates! Well, house mates? Shop mates? Close enough.

He showed the kids the plot of land and asked them whether they wanted a house there. Penelope seemed agreeable to that proposal, but Jack had shaken his head, so he just made a house for Penelope within the grasslands and a room for Jack in the corridor.

“Just ask the shop for anything you need, alright? As long as the demands aren’t too excessive. In which case, the shop will verify with me, then the shop will fulfill them.”

The kids nodded, and Penelope went back into her house. Jack walked into Penelope’s house too, which Penelope didn’t seem to mind.

James could guess why Jack had done so—teenage romance! Well, more seriously speaking, probably because they needed some time to talk and come to terms with the whole situation. They’d just changed residence into some mysterious shop where a world could exist within, after all.

It must be all very confusing and hard to come to terms with. Hell, even James was still shocked and surprised every time he woke up—shocked and surprised that the shop wasn’t a dream.

Humming lightly, James walked out of the grasslands. He hoped the shop would teleport to a more easy to explore location this time. The top of a rocky mountain was good in the sense that it gave a very pretty scenery to watch, but was bad in the sense that it was veryy hard to climb down from.

However, before he could leave, Penelope, who’d left the house and was standing in the grasslands, called out to him, “S-sir, I need your help!”