I quickly walked back toward my shop and tried my best to ignore the gloomy atmosphere of the town around me.

But the mere lack of people on the street felt depressing and annoying at the same time. And no! It was not because I could not find a carriage to take me back to my shop.

The light exercise helped me clear my mind, and I finally reached the street my shop was in. And once again, I saw no one outside.

But as I got close to my shop, I saw a silhouette trying to look inside my shop but failing. They walked closer, clutched their heart, and took a step back.

There was something fishy going on here, so I decided to get near the person to ask them what they were doing.

"Excuse me, but do you have any business with me? If you do, then speak up—"

I reached to touch the man's shoulder, but the person flinched and looked back at me with an alarmed face. His body shook even as I drew closer to him, and genuine anger and repulsion could be seen in the eyes in front of me.

"D-Don't come close to me, you demon—! T-That smell—! Ugh, what is that smell? It burns—!"

The man yelled as he stepped back. It was then I noticed that a part of his face was burned off in a painful way.

A part of me reminded me that this man could be a potential criminal who could be trying to kill me. But as a doctor, it was unethical of me to ignore someone injured as well.

So I approached the man, but there was something wrong about him that made me hesitate.

"N-No—! All my plans—! R-Rats, hurry and attack the man. Buy me time to run."

The man yelled, and before I realized it, a dozen or more rats circled me. They never approached me, but their obedience to the command made me certain that the person in front of me was the mastermind here.

"Y-You all—! Just hurry or else—!"

The man yelled, and it spooked one of the street dogs that barked loudly. The sudden noise caused me to drop my phone that I still clutched in my hand, and a rat dragged it down into the sewage system.

"Shit—! Not the phone—!"

I complained as I watched the phone go down with a heavy heart. The rats and the man took that time to make a run for it, and I felt annoyed.

"Tsk, it looks like I have no choice but to head down myself and grab my phone. That is my only way back home."

It was annoying how the only feature the phone was missing was to return to me. So what I needed to do was buy a strap to keep it safe next time.

Luckily for me, there was a manhole not too far away from where I was, and I decided to head down to look for my phone.

I only hoped that the rats had not decided to drag it into the dirty water.

My luck decided to strike once more as I noticed my phone lying not too far away from where I was, and I picked it up.

There was not a single scratch on the solid phone that was built like a brick. I felt so glad that it was not one of the touch-screen smartphones of the future because those things were far too fragile.

"Alright, time to go back… well, shit—! That's a problem now."

I looked up at the stairs I had used to get down here. They were a little too high for me to grab onto.

Even jumping did not help because I could not get a solid grip on the side to pull myself up.

So the only option left to me was simple—to head forward and look for another way out.

I was sure that there was some way to get out of this place. Maintenance workers would do that all the time.

"Ugh, the smell is so revolting. I better take my mask and my cloak off. It would only hold me back."

I put those two back in my inventory, and I was left in my T-shirt and jeans. My clothes were modern, but some kind of magic prevented people from asking about them.

Not that I ever looked into it because I felt like there was no need to. There was also an online store for clothes on the system shop, and thankfully, it did not require faith points to operate.

"Right, I am getting distracted now. I need to get out of here first. Where are my rodent repellent packets… ah, found them."

I quickly took a packet and tore it open. It was not safe down here, as the place was likely packed with rats of all shapes and sizes.

One bite and I was likely going to find myself in a lot of pain.

"I don't want to be subjected to RBF or any other disease. Besides, I am sure these rats are magical in some way. I might as well not put myself in danger here."

The reminder made me start walking to try and find my way out, but there was not much I found down here.

I was lucky that the system phone never seemed to run out of battery and had a torch feature. The sharp light allowed me to see around the quickly darkening tunnel.

But nothing could be worse than the sharp stench of the waste around me. I would likely need a thorough bath as well as a few bottles of deodorant to get the smell out of my body.

As I kept walking around, I finally reached what I thought was the end of the tunnel. There seemed to be no more way to go as a wall covered the space in front of me.

I had no option but to turn around… but my senses told me that something was wrong here.

"How weird… the water looks like it is still flowing outside. From what I know, this sewage system should open near a river or something. Is this… not the end?"

I asked myself as I tapped at the wall in front of me using my sting-gun stick.

As I tapped the wall, I suddenly felt the space around me move, and the wall in front of me opened up to allow me to go to the other side.

I hesitated to take that step, not wanting to fall into a trap. But then I braced myself and took a step forward, and then another.

"Ugh, I am not doing this because I want to. I just… have no other choice. I need to return home soon because Fenrir is waiting for me."

Having someone to return to was an incredibly strong feeling… and my lack of fear might also be contributing to me walking in the dark space without any fear.

Yellow glowing eyes looked at me as I walked, but the rats dared not come near me. And finally, after all my hard work, I saw it—the way out.

And also the giant rat guarding the space for me to get out.

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