Sleep eluded me tonight. Something was going on outside and that feeling made me open my eyes and walk downstairs toward the bookstore.

No one was aware at this god-awful time, and my instincts told me to go back to sleep. But for some reason, I did not feel like going back to sleep. Something told me that I needed to be down here for something.

Knock.

Someone knocked at the door in the middle of the night, and I immediately headed toward the door to open it before realizing… just how late it was. No one was supposed to come to the bookstore this late at night.

"Shopkeeper, please open the door. I went home to get something and now I am locked out. I need to get inside."

Leo's voice called out to me from the other side, but I knew for a fact that it could not be Leo. He and his sister were currently asleep upstairs in one of the spare bedrooms. Whosoever this was, they were using Leo's voice to trick me.

So I refused to open the door, and the noise on the other side slowed down. It caused me to breathe out a sigh of relief.

But not even a minute passed before Leo's voice was replaced by Luna's.

"Shopkeeper, please help me out. I-I cannot take it anymore. I am…."

His voice sounded faint and in pain. But once again, it felt like I was being tricked as I held myself back from opening the door.

Seeing how I was not willing to open the door, the entity on the other side got agitated and started to knock on the door. It repeated for me to open the door in various voices I could recognize.

My phone was clutched tightly in my hand and I immediately aimed it toward my door to take a picture.

[New threat detected. Detecting the increasing presence of another divinity in the vicinity. Would the user like to use divine authority to drive the unknown force out? Price-500 faith points.]

There was no explanation other than that, and there was no telling how long I would be able to keep that other force out of the city for either.

But my instincts told me that this was the right thing to do, so I followed them and used my faith points.

"S-Shopkeeper, what are you doing? D-Don't do this to me…"

The voice called out before it fainted until I could no longer hear it.

"Finally, I have some peace and quiet once more."

I sighed before I headed to my room. I was still suspicious about that voice and wondered what would happen to it. But it was no longer a concern of mine… for now.

The next morning, when I opened the door to the shop, the outside looked way less foggy and people were out and about.

"Shopkeeper, you are awake. How are you feeling today?"

Madam Shelly asked, immediately heading toward me the first chance she got. She looked far more energetic than I saw her a few days ago.

More importantly, she was still in the towns after giving me the advice to leave? Something must be going around here for sure.

Before I could ask her what was going on, she decided to offer me news on her own.

"Do you know, shopkeeper? More and more people have started going missing in the town. All we know is that they hear a familiar voice before they go to check it out and boom—! The next thing anyone knows, the person is gone."

Madam Shelly's words reminded me of what almost happened to me. Thankfully, I was neither hurt nor taken advantage of by that voice. But it had been a near call.

"I… had an idea. Do you know why this is happening? Or who is behind it?"

I asked, and Madam Shelly gave me a confused look, almost as if she was asking me why I even asked this question in the first place.

Once she realized that I genuinely had no idea and that my curiosity was real, she decided to tell me all she knew.

"Shopkeeper, there is only one entity that could go against multiple forces stationed across this town and threaten it—a god. The one who is doing all this is God of Mischief Caesar Klein. Unfortunately, that is all we know about this entity."

That… did not seem to be the case. As always, I got a feeling from Madam Shelly that she knew more than she let on. But she was also not willing to share her secrets with me… for free at least.

"I see. If it is indeed a god that is causing all this, then isn't it a problem? How are we supposed to fight a god?"

I asked the older lady, and she shrugged.

"Well, I have no idea. I have only ever heard about one outcome for such a thing—the god's victory. No mortal is capable of winning against a god after all. However, I have a feeling we will be just fine this time as well."

The older lady spoke before she happily made her way toward some other place. I had a feeling she was telling me to find a solution.

'What a mess. So we are going up against another god? Is there even anything we can do about it?'

There did not seem to be a way out. But I was going to do my best to find a way out. For now, I decided to visit the claw machines to withdraw my faith points.

Due to the sudden threat and the kidnappings, my profit was significant.

[Current Faith points balance: 40156]

At this rate, it won't take me long to hit the 100k mark and I would be able to take a trip back home.

"Well, time to head back home."

I turned around but as I started to walk back home, I felt my shoulder touching something cold. It immediately made me shiver and I turned around, only to see a small body.

A teenager looked back at me with hollow eyes and an impassive face. There was something… familiar about that young youth.

"You are… the shopkeeper from the fey market… so you were still alive?"

The teenager asked in a monotonous voice, but somehow, I could read curiosity as well. Now that he told me this, I suddenly felt like I knew this child as well.

"Wait, you are… Grim… was it? You are from the fey market."

I asked the child, and he nodded. The air around us had gotten tense and cold, and I also noticed the people taking a few steps back in fear and discomfort. But no one outright stared at me.

'Oh, so this child was not normal either, huh? I should have guessed.'

But back then, I was too busy pretending this world was normal and I had accepted it.

"So, what are you doing here, kid?"

I asked, and the kid tilted his head as he looked at me and then at our surroundings. Whatever he was looking for, he did not find it, so he decided to turn his attention toward me.

"I have heard that something is going on in this town and the balance of the world has been disturbed. As our god's representative, it is my duty to check it and help restore balance to this place. Can you tell me what is happening here?"

The kid asked in a curious voice, and I sighed before telling him all I could. By the end of my explanation, the kid's eyes widened and he looked almost troubled.

"A god… is trying to interfere with this town? That is not good. According to the pact, no god should do that. It seems someone is trying to break the rules set in place."

Now there were rules to the gods and such?

Seeing my confusion, the kid quickly coughed in his hand to hide his embarrassment.

"Well, there are not exactly rules. It was more like an unspoken agreement between gods to not touch this place and keep it as a neutral ground. But someone is trying to break in here. It is concerning to say the least."

Grim told me, and I nodded, pretending as if I could understand what he was telling me.

Cough.

"Anyway, for now, I and the others will help around the town. To fight a god's influence is not easy, but it is also our duty to help out with the balance."

Grim's expression hardened as he looked toward the streets. He could likely see something I was not at the moment.

"You should stay alert, Shopkeeper. You are a figure that attracts a lot of attention. I am sure the other side wants to make use of you as well. You should not trust anyone or anything for now….not even your own self."

The kid told me, his voice sounding more mature than I had ever heard.

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