Far away on the Eastern Continent stood a small fortress. The fortress was built on the border of a deep gorge where the winds were fierce.

The fort was manned by a garrison of a hundred men who moved back and forth around the fort, going about their duties.

Each of the crew was equipped with armor made of what looked like tortoiseshell, their arms, legs, and torsos were covered, their heads were covered by a helmet, and their entire backs were protected by turtle shells. They looked like Ninja Turtles.

In the highest room of the fortress was an office that belonged to the commander of the unit.

A tall woman with strawberry-colored hair sat in a chair, tapping her pen on the edge of the desk with a frown. Her green eyes were focused on the message in front of her and her thin lips were pressed together. There was a sense of authority around the commander, the military bearing hadn't disappeared from her even in private, though the shell of her back that was part of her armor was now leaning against the wall.

There was a knock at the door.

"Enter!" she answered in a slightly hoarse voice.

The door opened and two more warriors in identical armor entered. They both removed their helmets and banged them on their chests in salute to the commander.

One of them was a man who had similar strawberry-colored hair to the commander, but his eyes were smoky gray. His face was young and handsome, but his chin was adorned with a small beard that would look better on someone a little older.

His figure was graceful and agile with narrow hips, clearly someone who relied on mobility rather than brute strength.

The other soldier was a short woman with brown skin and semi-long hair the color of dark chocolate. Her prominent eyebrows made her look like she was constantly frowning, but her bright hazel eyes didn't match it.

The round heart-shaped face and full lips were more reminiscent of someone's generous wife than a battle-hardened soldier. Her figure wasn't chubby even though she had a stocky build and could definitely spark someone's imagination.

"Commander, did you request our presence?" the soldier asked.

"Gren. A message came in from Shelter 22." The Commander said, holding up a piece of paper. The man named Gren frowned and his jaw hardened as he gritted his teeth.

"Something wrong, Stell?" The woman asked, looking concerned.

Captain Stell nodded. "Though I can't say yet if things are bad. See for yourself Mint." She stood up and walked over to them before handing the woman named Mint a message.

Mint began to read the message and Gren leaned over to read the message as well.

After a moment, Mint looked up. " Where is she now?"

Commander Stell shook her head. "She disappeared after the incident."

Gren let out a frustrated grunt. "So we're going to go get her? It's been too long anyway! We shouldn't have allowed her to do this in the first place!"

Commander Stell returned to her desk with the report. "Dai wanted it to be this way," she said in a stern voice.

Gren, however, was not satisfied with that. "She would be better with us!"

"Gren." Mint admonished him gently, but she didn't look like someone who disagreed with him.

The commander sighed. "I repeat. It's something she wanted herself. Were you trying to force her?"

"Yes!"

The Commander frowned at him in annoyance. "Stop acting like a little kid. Things just aren't always going to be the way we want them."

Mint patted Gren on the arm before looking at Commander Stell. "But what are we going to do then? You said she disappeared."

The Commander nodded and sat down. "We do nothing. We're too far away from Stelter 22. But I've let the others know. Brother Ito and Sister Moon are the closest, so they're headed there with their units."

Gren relaxed a little. "Then tell them not to mess with her and just take her with them."

Mint shook her head. "You want to traumatize her? She doesn't remember us anyway."

The three of them sighed at the reminder.

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Horn stared.

Dai stared.

The worm wiggled happily. *wiggle wiggle*

Dai groaned and covered her face with her hands. How could a tiny worm eat Teru? She's huge! Or was. Is it because it's a Space Worm?

In truth, she had quite forgotten about him. When she released it, she thought it would just burrow away somewhere and never be heard from again. It was just a worm after all!

Horn eyed the worm with interest. "Is it really a worm?" He asked.

Dai nodded and went to sit on the shop's doorstep. The worm slowly turned its head in her direction, still wiggling.

"Who did it eat?" Horn asked.

"Teru," Dai replied. Not that she felt sorry for her. In fact, it made things easier because she wasn't going to just forgive her murderous plan. The trouble was... what about Filn? Dai would like to say he's better off without her, but that's just not how things work with feelings.

"Hehe. Filn's wife? Hahahaha! You're fucked!" Horn began to guffaw.

Dai made a face. "Shut up! You better help me figure out what to do!"

"Why should I? Pay up first, sass." Horn replied immediately.

Dai rolled her eyes. Horn had become Horn again, she could almost think his heroism was an illusion.

System: Urgent task failed

Description: A mysterious being is looking for the shop owner and has no friendly intentions. Deal with the danger!

Reward: None

Result: It was evaluated that the task failure was not caused by the Shop Owner.

Note: This is a bit of an unfortunate outcome Boss.

Dai removed the window before her eyes. She didn't need reminding. The whole thing was a failure! The only thing that turned out well was that Filn survived. Now for him to somehow survive the news.

Dai got up again and trudged inside the shop. She bought the Pain Lord Suffering Balm and slowly made her way to her home.

"Hey? Where are you going?" called Horn.

"To heal," Dai replied.

"What do you want to do about the worm?" He asked.

"What am I supposed to do? Make him throw her corpse? Just leave him alone. Let him devour her first." Dai said rather disinterestedly.

Horn was silent for a moment. Dai could be quite heartless now and then.

He looked at the worm, who watched his master leave. His head dropped sadly. *wiggle...*

Dai shut herself up in her home. First of all, she wanted to get rid of the pain. She looked at her status window.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

Name: Keeper4

Alias: Dai

Profession: Shop Owner

Cultivation: Low Realm

Life Providence: None

Power: 10/ -3

Vitality: 10/ -4

Intelligence: 12 -1

Speed: 14/ -7

Endurance: 10/ -3

Luck: 3

Injuries: Broken ribs, minor vitreous damage, blood clot, bruised spine, dislocated pinky

Abilities:

Appraisal: E->E+

System Management: A+

Dai blinked at the list of injuries. That much? She was surprised she'd even managed to crawl home. Everything hurt, but she didn't feel like she had that many injuries.

She undressed and applied some ointment before she hid under the blankets, wishing that when she woke up, all those problems would be gone.

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Filn paced back and forth around the old perfumer's shop. A few hours had passed, but still no news. Dai had not appeared, nor had the strange door. Leonid, by contrast, seemed perfectly calm, swinging in his chair like some sort of teenager.

He watched Filn with a blank expression, unable to remain still for a moment.

"Haaaaaaa..." He let out a long sigh. "Calm down kiddo."

Filn looked at the older man. "How can I? My wife and Dai are both in danger. What about us? We're men! How can we just sit here?" he complained.

"We are men who keep our promises. The Boss wanted us to wait here, so that's what we're doing."

But Filn still exuded nervous energy. "But what if...."

"Stop whining, dammit! You say you're a man, but you're whining like some weak chick!" Leonid's already pissed. He wasn't happy about the whole thing himself, but Dai certainly wasn't someone who would mindlessly go around saving lives. That didn't suit her at all. His best guess was that if she didn't have a certain amount of confidence that things would go well, she really wouldn't bother. Not even for her friend.

But it was true that it had gone on long enough. It should be quick action. But Dai didn't show up to let them back into her shop. Filn had been quite calm at first, so Leonid kept him entertained by telling him about his encounter with Dai and her strange shop. Kiddo took it well enough as if he wasn't surprised that his friend was somehow special. He didn't think much of it. It was only natural that someone as weird as Dai would have weird friends.

Filn obeyed the older man, sitting down and trying to remain calm. His foot tapping suggested otherwise.

Time continued to pass, Leonid even took a moment to snooze and only woke up again when it was beginning to dawn outside.

He frowned. If things still weren't settled, Dai was in trouble. Her resilience had dropped and would soon disappear altogether. And if weak Dai got hit by a monster like that, she'd end up completely disemboweled.

Leonid stood up. "Okay, kiddo. Let's go."

Filn stood up immediately. "Yes? Yes!"

Leonid rushed out before grabbing Filn and shooting forward with him. He definitely had no intention of walking normally. And while he would much rather carry women, he would have to accept this setup for a while.

About half an hour later they reached the outer circle, where Leonid let the young man go and they walked the rest of the way. The place seemed more alive, Leonid no longer felt the tension in the air as before. Nor did he feel the presence of the mutant woman as they approached.

"She seems to be gone." He revealed it to Filn.

Filn breathed a sigh of relief. "That sounds quite promising."

"It does, but Dai hasn't returned. That doesn't sound so good anymore."

Filn remained silent in agreement.

They reached Dai's house, which was... on the point of collapse. There was a big hole in the wall, the whole thing stood askew, and if it hadn't been leaning against the outer wall, it probably would have collapsed by now.

Leonid clicked his tongue. "What a shithole."

Filn would normally defend Dai's house, it was her home. But he had to agree. This was no longer livable.

The two of them made their way into the house, Leonid holding Filn back before checking the situation through the hole in the wall, but seeing no one.

Cautiously, they entered one by one. They saw signs of a struggle and Filn flinched when he saw the blood stains. He was already dreading the thought of finding two unrecognizably deformed corpses here.

"Hey! Dragon door!" Leonid called out when he spotted them, and they both rushed towards them. The fact that the door was here was a good sign, right?

They both looked at each other before Leonid opened them and saw that the door showed nothing but grass in view.

He grabbed the door frame before sticking his head through and looking around the area. The door hung in the sky but everywhere was quiet. No screaming, fighting, or streams of blood.

"You'll have to jump." He said to Filn before jumping through the door and landing in the grass below. He moved immediately to the side and waited for the young man to follow him.

Leonid soon saw an unfamiliar figure at the shop. He frowned, activated his spiritual energy, and within moments was standing next to the unknown man, looking menacing. White gold energy blazed from his body and he was releasing a suppressive pressure on the unknown man.

Horn nearly fell on his ass when a ghostly man with flowing green hair and a mustache suddenly appeared.

"Whoa!" He exclaimed in surprise, backing up in front of him, cold sweat pouring down his face. He didn't even need to see the energy around his body to feel the pressure. He was a cultivator and quite powerful!

"Who are you? What are you doing here? Where is the Shop Owner?" Leonid fired one question after another, clenching his fist in a threat of violence.

Horn opened his parched mouth and forced his softened knees not to shake.

"Horn?" came a familiar voice.

Horn twisted his gaze to see someone he knew approaching them.

"Filn! Hey, bro! Can you... give this old friend here a little help?" He demanded immediately.

Filn had to pause at his sudden friendliness, but seeing the sinister look on Leonid's face, he could understand.

"Mr. Leonid. It's all right. I know him." He said at last.

"Just because you know him doesn't mean it's okay. This is private property where someone can't come in as they please!" Leonid replied harshly, and Horn broke into another cold sweat.

"Hey, hey, hey! I didn't trespass! Dai brought me here after I saved her skin from that monster woman!" Horn defended himself.

Both Leonid and Filn looked at him intensely.

"Dai? Is she okay?" Filn asked.

"She's alive, but she took quite a beating. She went upstairs for healing, she said." He replied.

Both men breathed a sigh of relief.

"And my wife? Where is she?" asked Filn.

Horn twisted his face. He wasn't entirely without feeling, but he was rather uncomfortable that he had to tell him this.

"Hmmm...." He grumbled hesitantly.

Filn tensed. "What, where is she?"

Horn glanced to the side, then the other way, before moving to the side and pointing at the worm. The worm had already shrunk a bit and appeared to be sleeping at the moment, but it was hard to tell if he didn't have eyes.

"He ate her."

Filn looked at the worm, his face going blank after a moment.

"What? My wife was eaten by a worm?" He repeated. He staggered as the meaning of the words hit him.

Both Leonid and Horn were silent, not knowing what to say.