The man kept talking, not noticing that I had stopped paying attention to him a while back. But when he did notice, my inattentiveness must have irked his ego.

He strutted closer, gun raised, voice loud and sharp as he tried to assert control over the room. Threats spilled from his mouth, each one more exaggerated than the last but I was not afraid of any of them.

I felt detached from my surroundings as I watched the unnamed man come close to me.

The whole situation was dangerous and I knew I needed to feel scared. But all I felt was a sense of frustration and detachment as I saw what was going on in front of me.

'How ridiculous. This is what I should be afraid of?'

Dealing with the power-trip of one human felt insignificant to me. And if this man thought pointing a gun at me made him powerful, then he had a surprise waiting for him that hr was not going to like.

"-can't bother to even pay attention? I will kill you-"

"…You done?"

I asked calmly, my voice betraying my indifference.

The robber blinked.

"What? W-What did you say to me…?"

I tilted my head slightly, meeting his eyes.

"If you're trying to scare me, you're doing a poor job."

Murmurs rippled through the store at my words. People looked at me like I was a madman for standing up against the man in front of me.

The man's face flushed red.

"You think this is funny? Tsk, I'll put you down right here."

He snapped, finger tightening on the trigger.

I didn't move.

He pulled the trigger and the sound of the gunshot cracked through the air.

The bullet was fired with the intention of killing me, or at least harming me enough to make it fatal. But the bullet had completely missed.

The robber froze. His eyes widened as he looked at the wall behind me, then back at the gun in his hands.

"…What? I aimed at you. I definitely aimed at you! So why-?"

He muttered while looking down at his gun in his hand with a shocked expression. Then, he looked back at me and his expression turned from shock to anger.

He raised the gun again, more carefully this time. His form was testbook perfect and he was ready to shoot at me once more.

Bang.

Another shot.

Another miss.

This one should have hit my shoulder and made me clutch it in pain. But it brushed past me, almost as if it had always been aimed away from me. I remained unharmed through the whole assault.

Silence fell.

The man's breathing grew ragged.

"No-no, that's not possible."

He fired again.

And again.

Each shot missed me by inches. He was shooting perfectly and his aim was not ridiculous either. He knew he should have hit me, but he was not able to make sense of what was happening.

This continued until the gun clicked empty. The shooter stared at it, then at me in disbelief. And finally, fear finally set in.

"W-What are you?"

He whispered.

I exhaled slowly and took a step forward.

He stumbled back.

Another step.

He tripped over his own feet and fell hard onto his back, scrambling away as I loomed over him. His bravado was gone. All that remained was raw terror.

I looked down at him, feeling nothing but exhaustion.

"…This is pointless. Even if I explain to you what is going on, someone like you won't be able to handle it. It would be better for you to forget our encounter and live a better life."

I said quietly.

I knelt, placing one hand on his shoulder-not threatening, not forceful. Just there.

"You can't hurt me. And you're only making things worse for yourself. So stop and give up. You still have a chance to live an honest life."

I continued.

He stared at my hand like it was a brand and his whole body shook. He opened his mouth to complain, but his expression suddenly changed to one of horror and he quickly decided that he was not going to go against me.

Then he nodded.

"I-I give up. Please-please don't-"

He gasped and I stood and stepped back.

Security rushed in moments later, weapons drawn, shouting commands that no longer mattered. The man didn't resist. He just lay there, staring at the ceiling like it might swallow him whole.

That was when I noticed the silence.

People weren't screaming anymore.

They were staring…and they were recording what had happened as well. It would not take long before the news of what happened here spread across the whole world.

As flattering as this attention felt, it also annoyed me to no end and I felt a small headache coming.

'This is not good. I cannot allow my face to be known publicly. I need to erase this news from ever existing.'

"…Tch."

I muttered under my breath.

This wasn't supposed to follow me home.

I closed my eyes and reached inward.

"System."

[What can we help you with?]

"I want this erased. Every memory, every recording. Anyone who knows about me because of this incident-I want it gone./"

I said. "

There was a brief pause.

[To erase this incident from the memory of every affected citizen will require 10 Faith Points for each affected citizen. You will need to spend 50k faith points to erase the accident. Proceed?]

I didn't hesitate.

"Yes."

[Confirmed.]

The sensation hit immediately.

It felt like something vital was pulled from my core and I wanted to lean on something to steady myself.

For a second, I was afraid that I had caused my chance to head back to the shop to disappear. But when I looked at the phone, the gate of Enesis still counted down the cooldown.

I sucked in a breath, steadying myself.

Around me, people blinked and lowered their phones.

Confusion replaced awe.

"What… happened?"

Someone murmured.

Security looked around, disoriented. The shooter groaned, clutching his head, fear replaced with hazy panic he couldn't place.

They could not recall what had happened here and I felt thankful for it.

Fenrir nudged my leg, eyes sharp with concern.

"Shopkeeper…are you alright? You look a little paler than usual."

I opened my eyes and offered him a small smile.

"I'm fine. Just… hungry. We should head home now and get something nice to eat."

That was an understatement.

I felt far weaker than I had ever felt before. My legs threatened not to take my weight as I tried to walk. It was clear to me that the loss of my faith points was affecting me more than I expected.

Fenrir stayed close as we slipped away while attention scattered elsewhere. No one stopped us. No one recognized me.

As it should be.

Outside, the cool air hit my face, grounding me. I took a deep breath and started walking.

"Alright, what would you like to have for dinner?"

I said quietly and Fenrir launched into a detailed mess about what dinner should be and why I should buy fancy food.

I let Fenrir speak as much as he wanted as I relaxed.

We ended up buying far more food than necessary.

Fenrir insisted on trying everything that caught his eye-meat skewers from a roadside stall, fried snacks dripping with oil, sweet pastries dusted in sugar. I didn't have the energy to argue with him, so I let him fill the bags while I followed behind, my steps slow and heavy.

Back at the house, we ate in relative silence.

Fenrir devoured his portion with enthusiasm, tail swaying contentedly, occasionally pausing to comment on the texture or complain about how humans "overcooked perfectly good meat." I ate mechanically. The food tasted fine-good, even-but it didn't spark anything in me. The hunger dulled, but the hollowness stayed.

When the dishes were done, exhaustion finally caught up to me.

I lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling, Fenrir settling down near the foot of it. The room was quiet, too quiet. No distant hum of magic. No familiar pull of the shop tugging at my senses.

This world felt… empty.

I thought about the people back at the shop. About whether they were arguing over trivial things, or quietly working, or pretending not to worry about my absence.

A part of me longed to check on them.

Another part of me already knew I didn't belong here anymore.

I closed my eyes, expecting sleep to take me.

It didn't.

Minutes passed. Then hours. My body rested, but my mind refused to follow.

I lay there, caught in that strange in-between state, neither awake nor asleep, the same dull fatigue pressing down on me as it had the night before.

When morning came, it felt undeserved.

I sat up slowly, limbs heavy, as if I had spent the night working instead of resting. Fenrir noticed immediately, lifting his head and watching me with quiet concern.

But there was no need to be concerned about me. At least, I did not think so.

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