There were so many things she wanted to say.

Starting with how he was aware of the first round’s existence.

How did he bring the soul of someone from the first round?

On top of that, he didn’t say it was Deus, but precisely Kim Shinwoo.

Who exactly was the mysterious presence in front of her, and what kind of power did he possess?

There were many parts she was curious about, but first...

"You are… selling this?"

When Aria cautiously asked, for some reason, it felt like the being in the darkness was subtly smiling at her.

"Yes, I specially prepared this item, as it is what you would most desire."

An item she would most desire.

Although his word choice, each and every single one of them, didn't sit well with Aria, she still asked him as calmly as possible.

"How much is it?"

She lightly placed her money pouch on the counter. The weighty feeling of the money resonated.

It was an amount that, if he were a merchant, would make his eyes briefly flicker. And yet the store owner remained unmoved, instead adding more force to the hand which was grasping the first round Kim Shinwoo's soul.

"You cannot pay with money. That is not what I want from you, Miss Aria."

"..."

"There are only two things I want from you. If you are able to pay using one of them, I'll give you this."

One of the two?

Aria gestured with her chin, saying she wanted to listen first to what he wanted. The store owner, who had now transformed into a man, gleamed with golden eyes in the darkness.

"One, is your destiny as a hero."

"...!"

"You can pay me with your destiny of saving the world."

Was such a thing possible?

Aria was bewildered as her head filled with countless thoughts, but the man continued speaking.

"The other is your memories."

"Me…mories?"

"Give me your memories. Those that belong from a world different from the one we are currently in."

Her memories from a world different from here?

"You mean the first round?"

When Aria asked cautiously, the man briefly paused before replying with excessive chatter.

"Exactly that."

In the momentary silence, Aria felt a sense of doubt. However, her gaze remained fixed on Kim Shinwoo's soul, which was still held by the man.

What should she do?

Her destiny as a hero or her memories of the first round.

If she were to give one, which should she hand over? She briefly weighed them in her mind.

"I won’t buy it."

The answer came out surprisingly easily.

"Hm."

Shining alone in the darkness, the man's eyes showed a calm emotion.

With a quite unexpected low groan, he asked her again in the same manner of speaking as before.

"Are you really not going to buy it? It should be the most necessary item for you."

"Those memories have already been buried in my heart."

Of course, her heart would still ache every time she reminisced about them. But even so, she couldn't sell off what made her her right now.

Also…

"And someone I know has already received both of the things you demanded."

Kim Shinwoo of the second round had already accepted the memories of her first round without denying them.

And similarly, he took over her destiny as a hero in her place.

In reality, this was a situation where Aria had no say in the matter.

"..."

For the first time, the store owner tightly sealed his lips. Upon seeing this, Aria didn't even bother to grab her money pouch before turning her body towards the exit.

"It's the first time someone hasn't bought anything from my store."

The store owner had intended to applaud Aria as she was leaving without any lingering attachments. However…

Click.

Once she reached the entrance, Aria suddenly locked the door and turned her gaze back towards the direction where the store owner was.

"I’m sorry, but from now on, I am no longer a customer."

A flame illuminated the darkness.

"But a robber, you damn bastard."

Mana flames emerging from Aria's entire body spread throughout the general store, engulfing space itself.

"How dare you…"

As the darkness of the general store dissipated, Aria saw a long white-haired man sitting opposite of the counter. Noticing that his eyes had changed to vertical pupils, Aria realized he was a demon.

"Taking Professor as a hostage in front of me?"

Aria stretched out her arm, intending to summon the Duathane she favored using in the second round.

However, her palm grasped nothing. Only mana fluttered vainly and passed between her fingers.

To Aria's surprise, the man smiled and responded.

"It’s quite a special place, isn't it? Indeed, even a god wouldn't be able to find us here."

In other words, it meant you couldn’t summon anything from outside the general store.

"Ah, I see."

However, Aria merely scoffed at such a minor restriction. She firmly clenched her fists and stepped forward.

The fierce flames of mana spreading behind her back represented Aria's current emotions.

"Then I'll just have to beat you down."

***"Woof."

The sound of barking echoed in the laboratory.

However, it wasn't a real dog barking; it was just someone who broke a promise and turned herself into one.

"Woof. Woof."

"That is enough."

I tried to express my annoyance to Findenai, who had somehow acquired dog ears from somewhere and was barking all day long at my side.

"Woof! Woof! Woof!"

"..."

Findenai continued to bark without giving any response.

You could say she was faithfully fulfilling her promise to become a mutt if she got drunk again. However…

It didn't start like this today.

In the beginning, after claiming she craved something spicy for her hangover, she went wild and made hangover soup using an alcohol burner in the lab.

Take it easy, Ai.

After I said that, she had been in this state ever since.

It seems like she really does not want to be called Ai.

So, this was some sort of protest against me.

It was an absurd threat that she would bother me if I ever called her Ai.

"Woof woof."

"Sigh."

Even if I kicked her out, she would just come back. She would unlock the door using the spare key and come back in, continuing to bark by my side.

"I get it now, so stop it."

It was a kind of declaration of surrender, but Findenai simply sneaked a glance at me and responded.

"Will a dog stop barking if you ask it not to?"

"..."

"Arf arf."

Should I just use magic to seal her mouth shut?

While I was contemplating this, Erica entered the room.

They had been together just a moment ago, but after she saw Findenai wearing the dog ears, she went outside.

After a while, she then hesitantly walked back inside with cat ears in her hands.

"..."

"No, um... they were in the warehouse since the festival."

I immediately warned her when she tried to subtly put them on her head.

"Do not do that."

"But Findenai said you like this sort of thing?"

Erica turned to glance at Findenai, asking for an explanation. She then got an immediate response.

"Illuania told me stories about how she did a lot of these plays."

"You should know by now that it was not me."

“Who cares? You share the same body, anyway. I once wondered why she had to lick your asshole. So it was because that bastard made her put on a puppy costume? Have you ever dressed up in a costume too, Master Bastard?”

As she was saying this, she placed the dog headband on my head.

[Pffft!]

[Oh, you look kind of cute.]

Whooosh.

I immediately burnt the headband with mana, then glared at the Dark Spiritualist and Stella while gritting my teeth.

[R-Run away!]

[Fufu, wait for me, Senior.]

They both quickly fled through the wall.

I quickly stood up, turned, and opened the window behind the chair.

"Well, indeed, since puppies like to clean each other's butts, if they were disguised as dogs..."

Findenai was muttering to herself, thinking about something she had suddenly understood. Hearing her murmuring like that, I used wind magic to throw her out the window.

Findenai flew out the window without even screaming. Although it was quite a few floors up, when I glanced down, almost annoyingly, I saw that she had landed cleanly.

"Huff."

While still frustrated, I felt relieved that it was finally quiet.

I refocused and began planning my trip to the general store by following the thread left for me by Ophelia’s daughter.

"..."

Just then, Erica approached quietly.

Owen had gone to perform on the street in the park, and Professor Fel was likely enjoying a rare day of uninterrupted sleep, so it was just the two of us alone in the room.

Slide.

Just like that, she immediately put on the cat ears headband and climbed onto my desk on all fours.

"Me-meow?"

"..."

"Can't you at least react?"

With a reddened face, Erica made an embarrassed expression. I realized that the cold and composed Erica had changed strangely in my presence lately.

"You are bothering me, get down."

"I-I just thought I’d try it once."

Just as she showed a tearful face and was about to get down without even looking at my face…

Creak!

The rough sound of a door opening echoed through the laboratory.

"...!"

When the thread suddenly reacted, I quickly jerked my head up, only to see a purple door wide open on the laboratory's ceiling.

It was the door to Clair's General Store, which I had seen many times in [Retry].

I couldn't understand why it was attached to the ceiling, but I immediately gathered mana and tried to jump.

However, a black-haired girl instantly burst out of it while spewing out curses.

"This motherfucker!"

Aria landed on the laboratory floor, surrounded by her own mana.

Her mana, which took the form of flames, cushioned her landing. She tried to use them as a springboard to rocket back up.

"Aria?"

At Erica's bewildered voice, Aria quickly turned her gaze.

And at that moment.

Creeeaaaak.

Thud!

The door closed and immediately disappeared.

Everything happened in just about a second.

The sudden situation left Erica and me flustered, and Aria, who had come out of the door, gritted her teeth and stared at the now-empty ceiling.

She slowly gathered her mana again before taking a deep breath, looking our way.

"…Are you two into plays like that?"

She made a subtle expression as she looked at the cat ear headband on Erica's head.

"Th-this is…!"

Erica hastily took off the headband and hid it behind her.

"Was it Clair's General Store?"

Ignoring Erica, I asked Aria and the latter immediately nodded and exclaimed.

"Yes, Professor! But something was off!"

Although I had already received a rough explanation from Ophelia, the more information I could gather, the more helpful it would be to me.

"What was he selling?"

I asked, feeling that he wouldn't have been selling the same things to Aria as he was to Ophelia.

With a serious yet slightly proud expression, Aria took something out of her pocket and whispered.

"He was selling your soul from the first round, Professor."

"…"

"But he was asking for something outrageous in return! So, I robbed him and took it back!"

Although she couldn’t kill the owner, Aria still proudly proclaimed that at least she could steal back the soul.

"Huh?"

However, what she pulled out was just a handful of wet mud, soaking her hand.