The duchess and I were escorted back to our rooms swiftly by our escort, and he gave a curious look before he went away.
I locked my door and tried to focus on my thoughts, but panic made it harder.
Once I had na-dropped the goddess, the vibe of the dinner had changed. The duchess looked proud of and seed to have no worry.
I could only look at her confidently as well, but I was a ss inside.
As we headed back, the duchess spoke to softly so that our escort wouldn’t hear her words.
"I am sure you are aware that the temple is not a good place. Shopkeeper, please be careful while you are here. Especially at night from now on."
The duchess told , and I took only one conclusion out of it — my life was in danger.
"Fuck! Just what did I get myself into? Why did I have to open my mouth and say all that?"
I asked myself, and I could not co up with a justified reason as to why I did it. So I could only attribute it to a montary lapse in judgnt on my part.
Coming up with a solution seed almost impossible, and I felt like the only one who could help now was the griffin. So I decided to head toward the forest before I could no longer physically do that.
"Master, are we going out? Wait, I will follow you."
Fenrir told as he exited the room as well.
I tried to recall the way to the forest once more, but it soon beca evident that I was lost. I must have taken a few wrong turns along the way, and the place I ended up in was not one I had seen before.
"Master, I sll a lot of power coming from here. I don’t think we should be here."
Fenrir told as he tensed up and growled at the air around us. He could feel sothing that I could not.
Moreover, Fenrir seed to be struggling to walk, so I picked him up.
"I see. Then, shall we head back now? I am starting to feel tired as well."
I told the pup in front of , and I picked him up. But I had not even taken a few steps before my phone buzzed.
"Huh? Why is my phone buzzing?"
I asked in a confused voice as I took out my phone to look at what happened.
[You have entered a special communication zone.]
[You have 4 new ssages. Would you like to check them?]
The system notice was clear as day for to see, and it was easy to understand what was happening as well.
’I just got a ssage... WAIT... I JUST GOT A SSAGE? HOW? WHY? FROM WHOM?... No, let’s calm down and open the ssage now to figure out what’s happening.’
I was beyond excited and afraid to see that ssage on my screen. Why? Because this single ssage changed my situation a lot.
Up until now, I had thought that I was the only one in this world with a phone, but if there were other people, that ant I had more people I could talk to.
Suddenly, the world did not feel as lonely as it did anymore.
I quickly opened the ssage, only to see complaints.
[Hey, old man, what do you think you are doing? This is my sanctuary! Stay away from my people...]
[Actually, now that you are here, can you help out? That bastard interfered with my prophecy and caused a ss. You are the only one I can ask for help...]
[Why are you so quiet? And why are you not here to et yet?]
[Are you... ignoring ? You fuck************... why am I getting censored here? *******]
[Wait... you did not die, right? You said you were about to die and have your successor take over. Are you... actually dead?]
The ssages ca one after another, but they did not feel like they were for . These ssages felt like they were for the previous owner of this phone.
’Does the old man refer to the... shopkeeper before ? Did he cause this whole ss for because he was going to die? But why ? Ugh... this just creates more questions for .’
I clutched my phone tightly, almost as if that would give so of the answers I sought.
But as expected, it did not help.
I wondered whether I should reply to these ssages or not. My hand hovered over the keyboard of my phone, but before I could send any ssage, I got another one back.
[You are not... the old man, right? Anyway, enter my chamber so that we can talk more properly. Since you are the storekeeper’s successor, I have a favor to ask of you. Once you are in the chamber, I will call you.]
The ssage told , and the hallway suddenly lit up.
Fenrir’s breath also got easier, and he relaxed in my arms. His body sagged, and I noticed that he was suddenly asleep.
I was not sure whether it was because he was too tired or because of another power, but I had a decision to make.
The safe thing to do here would be to turn back and pretend I did not notice what was happening.
But this was also my first and maybe only chance to know sothing about my condition. I could not afford to miss it.
So, despite my concerns about this situation, I decided to take a step forward and head toward the chamber.
The light showed the way, and the world had fallen silent around . Even my footsteps made no sound.
And then, I was standing in front of a door that could lead to the other side—and to all my answers.
’Do I want to do this? Do I want to go to the other side and know the truth? Or do I want to stay ignorant?’
Ignorance was bliss, after all. But it was not the kind of bliss I wanted.
So I entered the door, and a pure white room greeted .
There was a single altar in the middle and nothing else. There was not even any window in the room.
The only natural source of light was a small opening on the ceiling that landed directly on the altar in the middle, and I headed toward it.
It was my last chance to back off, but I put Fenrir down and stepped on the altar instead.
Ring
My phone buzzed, but there was no number or na on the screen. I did not know how to pick up this call either.
But I pressed on the phone anyway, and the ringing stopped.
Instead, a lodic and youthful voice spoke back to .
"Hello. Am I talking to the shopkeeper’s successor? I’m Helia, the Goddess of Prophecies. May I have your na?"
The feminine voice told , and it was sweet and soft enough to feel enchanting. It was the kind of voice that could seduce regardless of gender.
It had a strange power that made want to comply with it and tell it all it wanted from .
"Hmm, are you not going to answer ?"
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