A glance at the clock revealed that an hour had passed.
Yes, I had wasted a full hour cleaning up all over again.
The feeling of futility was fleeting, replaced by a sense of satisfaction as I gazed upon the tidy shop.
After all, this was the space where I would be living from now on.
“Shop.”
‘Why is it calling me?’
“Can I go outside the shop too?”
You and I are not bound as a single anomaly, so no such restriction exists.
However.
“However?”
It is currently business hours.
“What? We’re still open?”
I have not yet stated that we are closed.
“But there haven’t been any customers since that man earlier.”
Customers are not beings who arrive simply because you wish for them.
“No, I mean, how do customers even get in here in the first place?”
I link a door from an arbitrary location to the shop.
“Huh? Does that mean, conversely, that I can use this door to go anywhere?”
That is one way to interpret it.
Anomalies capable of spatial transference are not common.
It is a trait typically possessed by only a select few among high-risk anomalies.
In other words, it is not a characteristic one would expect a simple spatial anomaly like this to have.
It’s so rare that if the Anomaly Management Bureau were to hear of it, they would try to seize this shop by any means necessary.
But that aside.
“It’s a wonder anyone comes in at all.”
People are everywhere.
Hearing that made the arrival of the man from earlier feel like a miracle.
A customer is arriving now, as it happens.
There is more than one this time, so I suggest you brace yourself.
What in the world is happening?
I scanned my surroundings.
I was certain I had entered the police station with the child, yet I now found myself in a shop with a deeply unsettling atmosphere.
“Uh… Officer.”
A small mercy, perhaps, was that the child was still by my side.
The weight of responsibility for the boy sharpened my focus, and it didn’t take long to grasp the situation.
This was an anomaly—a shop-type, to be specific.
And it stood to reason that the person standing before me was not a ‘person’ at all.
“Welcome. What would you like to purchase?”
Judging by its words, the being I presumed to be the Merchant of this place grinned as if it were truly human.
I had never encountered an anomaly before, but it was a living creature nonetheless.
And it is a known trait of living creatures that they tend to die when shot.
Slowly, I moved my hand toward the pistol at my hip.
The Merchant seemed oblivious to my intentions.
Confidence surged through me as I touched the cool steel of the revolver’s distinctive chamber.
“Hoo—.”
The moment the Merchant began to move.
Bang! Bang—!
Two ear-splitting gunshots tore through the air, aimed squarely at the Merchant.
‘Did I get it?’
“Ugh, uh…”
That sound!
“I got it!”
I quickly checked on the child.
His eyes were wide, like a rabbit’s, staring straight ahead as if all hope had been stolen from the world.
And then a sound escaped his lips.
“Ugh…”
A horribly familiar sound echoed in my ears.
Slowly, I turned my head back toward the Merchant.
“Sir, I’m afraid threatening the Merchant is strictly forbidden within this establishment.”
The two bullets, which I had failed to track in my haste, were embedded in a massive tentacle that had appeared from nowhere.
“Ugh…”
This time, the sound came from my own throat.
‘It’s over.’
There was no way this Merchant would let me live.
A mere flick from that tentacle would surely obliterate me.
“Dammit!”
Bang— Ba-bang—!
I emptied my gun at the Merchant.
But every single bullet was deflected as the tentacle swept through the air in a graceful arc.
“Ha, haha…”
I watched the Merchant advance toward me.
My entire body froze, yet sweat poured from every pore as my skin grew slick with tension.
My legs trembled uncontrollably, as if afflicted by some violent tremor.
The strength drained from my knees.
My vision gradually lowered until my eye level was below the child’s, and just then, the Merchant stopped right in front of me.
“Therefore! This will end with a warning this time, but I would appreciate it if you kept in mind that any future incidents may result in sanctions.”
“Hah… huff, huff. Th-thank you.”
The words of gratitude were a pure spinal reflex.
To an outsider, I might have looked pathetic.
‘I’m alive.’
‘I’m alive…’
‘I’m alive!’
In my eight years as a police officer, I had apprehended my fair share of criminals, but had I ever truly faced the terror of death?
I’d had close calls, but back then, I was surrounded by trustworthy colleagues.
Now, there was only a small child shivering beside me.
“In any case, esteemed customer. Please purchase a product.”
The Merchant abruptly turned its head, muttered something to itself, and then looked back at me.
“Ah, since there are two of you, please purchase a total of two items.”
“What? Yes…”
I slowly pushed myself up, using the wall for support.
As I walked toward the shelves, I heard the pitter-patter of the child’s feet following me.
The shelves were lined with grotesque items that hardly seemed of this world.
“As for these products—”
The Merchant began explaining something about the items, but the words didn’t quite register.
Its final sentence, however, contained a phrase I could not possibly ignore.
“—finally, the price for every item is one finger per piece.”
Had this been me from before the shooting, I might have readily stepped forward to pay.
But now, death felt terrifyingly real.
If two of my fingers were torn off, wouldn’t I surely bleed out?
‘How many liters of blood does a person have to lose before they die?’
But could I ask this little kid to do it?
My eyes darted around, unable to settle.
“I-I’ll! I’ll buy them. Two pieces of the Infinite Pig’s Flesh… please.”
The uncomfortable silence was broken by the boy who had come to the police station covered in bruises.
He was trembling, but his gaze remained fixed on the Merchant.
The bruises on his body hadn’t vanished.
“Hmm. Very well. In that case.”
“W-wait! I’ll buy them.”
I wasn’t even sure what I had just said.
The words had simply tumbled out, an instinct born from extreme tension.
“Hmm. Little friend, are you alright with that?”
“Huh? But I need that…”
“Don’t you worry. I-I’ll buy it and give it to you.”
My lips quivered ceaselessly, but I couldn’t stop.
“Thank you…”
“Then I will consider this an agreement from all parties.”
“Guaaaah!”
Before the Merchant could even finish its sentence, my left pinky and ring finger were gone.
“Guhk. Ha, haha. At least… it’s not bleeding.”
“That. It’s a service.”
The Merchant said, pointing toward its back.
“You may exit through that door. Thank you for your purchase. Oh, and little friend, could you come over here for a moment?”
“Ugh. That was exhausting.”
‘You certainly handled that more naturally than the first time.’
“Wow, I seriously thought I was going to die when that police officer started shooting.”
The memory of it still sent a shiver down my spine.
I was lucky the tentacles moved as I’d willed them to; if they hadn’t responded correctly, or if they had been softer than I’d anticipated, I would have been dead.
It would be a pathetic tale indeed, for an anomaly to become the protagonist of a story where it gets shot and dies.
‘Even if you had been shot, you would have recovered quickly.’
“You think so?”
‘You are contracted to me.’
Still, I’d learned from stubbing my toe while cleaning earlier that even if I healed, the pain remained just as real.
I should be more careful from now on.
‘Why did you not kill him?’
“What are you talking about?”
‘You could have killed the man when he fired his gun.’
“You can’t just talk about killing someone so easily, you know? Didn’t you see that officer? He was a man who was willing to sacrifice himself to protect that child, never once wavering from his conviction. A good person like that.”
‘Well, I understand.’
‘You will do as you see fit.’
‘Hmm.’
“What is it?”
‘In any case, the number of products has dwindled considerably.’
Just as the Shop had said, I could see that the already limited stock had decreased even further.
This was especially true for the Infinite Pig’s Flesh.
The customers had certainly only bought two pieces, so why were five missing?
“Uh, huh? You must be mistaken.”
‘As if.’
‘If you hadn’t secretly given the boy extra pieces of the Infinite Pig’s Flesh, our supply would have lasted a bit longer.’
“But did you see that kid’s body? And the fact he was with the police… he was clearly having a hard time. This was my way of helping.”
‘Hah. I was not aware our Merchant was such a humanitarian.’
‘But, fine.’
‘We were in need of other products anyway, so this is as good a time as any to go and acquire them.’
“You’re not as mad as I thought you’d be.”
‘The Shop cannot interfere in every decision the Merchant makes.’
‘Setting aside the Shop’s principles to acquire new products… I assume my thinking is correct?’
‘You have likely already anticipated this, but product procurement is conducted through other anomalies.’
‘Whether you trade for them or take them by force is of no concern to me, so do as you please.’
‘As for which anomaly to visit… well, I imagine you already have a place in mind.’
Just as it said, I did have a place in mind.
One that wasn’t overwhelmingly dangerous but offered a great return.
“Let’s go to 「The Pediatrician’s Dream」.”
‘Understood.’
‘The shop is now closed for business.’
‘When you open the door, your desired location will appear.’
“Hey, are you seriously going through with this?”
“What, scared? If you’re gonna chicken out, you might as well go home.”
“You son of a b*tch.”
The two students pushed open the door of the abandoned hospital, marked with a ‘No Entry’ sign.
Rumors of ghosts had long circulated about this place, and they had come to test their courage in celebration of starting high school.
Thud, thud—
Only the sound of their footsteps echoed down the long hallway.
“This is… the right place, right?”
“Looks like it.”
They stood before the door to the Director’s Office.
“We open it on the count of three.”
“Alright.”
“One.”
“Two.”
“Three!”
“Now, what seems to be the trouble, student?”
