"Isn't it strange how he isn't back after so long?" Laura asked as she packed the vibrator into a paper bag. "Thanks for purchasing," she handed the bag to a woman who looked to be in her mid thirties. The customer muttered "Thanks" and left.

"He's probably at home right now," Denka grumbled as he tried pulled more mana from his master. "Gimme a sec."

For an entity whose life is based on the owner's mana, tracking the owner's probable location was as simple as breathing. It was the same principle as a mana beast feasting marking and tracking its prey.

"Yep, he's home alright." A sigh came out.

"Son of a bitch, he dare leave us here and head home?" Laura complained as she slammed the counter with one of her fist, cracking the plank covering the top. "I'm gonna murder him once we get back."

It was afternoon. The street was full of people walking around and carriages passingby, including the occasional buzz of motors powered by electrical runes. Even so, the business wasn't receiving much attention. Laura assumed it was her troll appearance that scared off any potential shoppers. But as she sat around doing nothing other than make sure their products weren't stolen, one thing was becoming clearer: she wasn't the problem.

"Damn, they're not entering at all," Laura spat out a sigh and crossed her arms. "If only Tenur was here to give up the idea of running a sex shop..."

"I don't think it's the business that's unprofitable. Look," Denka focused some of his mana at a group of window shopping pedestrians who seemed to be comparing their products with the neighbouring store's. "I think we've got competition."

Laura's eyes were drawn to where the mana gathered. Once she noticed the phenomenon, her head was fuming. "What the!?" She slammed her fist in disbelief, only for the counter to collapse upon itself. As a heap of rubble and dust settled at her feet, the surrounding customers stared silently, wary of the enraged troll. Most of the customers in the shop left the shop silently, even the ones who seemed interested in buying threw the notion away and walked out.

"Agh! Fuck..." She fell onto the chair behind the counter, but even that crumbled to dust considering her weight and she fell onto the floor. "Tch."

"Great, now you've messed up the store." Denka said aloud. Laura could feel a penetrating gaze on her as she stared at where her father is. "Get me outta here!"

Laura who was sitting there throwing a tantrum turned towards the rubble and dug him out. "Sorry dad." There was a tinge of guilt in her voice as she brushed off the dust on Denka's cover. It glowed a moment before Denka sighed.

"Considering how you already wrecked the store, might as well close it a little earlier." Denka muttered as Laura stepped over the pile and headed out. "I'm sure Tenur would understand why we're heading back so soon."

As Laura finished locking up the store and got ready to leave with her father, Denka suddenly yelled out. "Stop."

"Why?" Laura looked at her father. She looked at the sky again. "It's almost evening." True to her words, the street was relatively emptier than before a moment ago.

"Reconnaisance. Now."

Hearing her father's words, Laura understood. She hid behind the slight protrusion from the wall separating their store from the neighbour's and peeked inside. Considering how she was getting a few stares from those passingby, she was going to tell her father nothing unusual is happening in the store when she caught sight of the store owners.

"Wow, the store's run by children." She kept her voice low, but she couldn't hide her surprise. "It's kind of amazing." She continued staring.

"Hmm... Kids." Denka muttered as if he was thinking. "In any case, how're they pulling in sales?"

Although he could "see" the people within the store and gain a rough measure of their physical characteristics through his normal perceptive abilities, he couldn't hear what they were saying. The only way for him to perceive sound was if he was in direct contact with the sound.

"I can't make out what they're saying, but it seems like they're... bargaining?" Laura focused on the interaction between the female owner and a customer.

The act of bargaining wasn't unknown in the human kingdom. It was just that most store owners prefer setting a fixed price since that would fix the profit margin and make it easier to predict monthly revenue. The fact that the competing store's owner was using the bargaining system meant that they were confident with persuading the customers and earning enough to cover the operating cost of everything else.

As she was spying on the owners and customers, Denka spoke quickly. "Laura, time to go. There're guards coming." Indeed, when she looked back, she could see three patrolling guards walking towards her, their eyes scanning the area before landing on her. She could see one of them spoke to the other two and pointed at her.

Pretending she was just another window shopping passerby, Laura acted like she was no longer interested and headed back to Tenur's home. However, the patrol guards seemed to have determined her presence was suspicious, since they started following her. No matter which corner she took to try to shake them off, they seemed to be able to follow. By the time she arrived, the sun was already setting, dyeing the sky a mix of red and orange, and yet they were still on her tail.

Turning around, she pretended to look at them in surprise. "Oh hello there, is there a problem?" She didn't miss a guard scanning her before secretly sneering.

One of the guards, not including the one who sneered, walked over. "Miss, can you follow us back to the station? We have a few questions to ask." His eyes locked onto hers, traces of hostility present.

Laura stiffened slightly. "Ah, if there's any question, why don't you just ask me here." She took her hand off the door knob and faced them.

"Right, then may I know why you were spying on that shop owner?" The other two guards stood still and watched her every move.

"Spying?" She pretended to be surprised. "I don't know what you're talking about."

The guard's eyes narrowed as he drew out his spear. "By the authority of the sovereign, we ask you to please step away from the door and cooperate with us."

Sensing that the guard was trying to arrest her, she reached for the door knob without looking. The guard, seeing this, pointed his spear at her. "Don't make me repeat again. Step away from the door and come with us." The other two drew their weapons out as well, surrounding her in a semi circle. The guard who sneered now had an ugly smirk on his face.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about, but I appreciate all of you being the responsible law enforcers you are." As soon as she heard the opening of the front door, she immediately backed into the house. The guards rushed in, attempting to stab her before she could run away, but they were a step too late as Laura managed to slam the door shut before their spears could poke holes in her.

"Thank you very much and have a nice day!" She yelled out while leaning on the door, preventing the guards from pushing it open. There was a few bangs as the guards tried to ram the door open, but to no avail. After a couple more seconds, she slid down against the door, releasing the air she held in her chest.

"You did well, Laura." Denka said as the mana around him got denser. "I'll deal with them now."

The book suddeny flipped open, the pages turning until it reached the centre. Perhaps there were spell runes on the page, because the next thing she knew, the book glowed blue before turning white, before losing all of its glow altogether. Denka had cast a sleep spell on the pondering three guards just behind the door. With his ability to sense through walls, it was easy to target the three men. She heard three thuds confirming the spell had worked.

"Now what?" Laura opened the door and checked the street. There wasn't a lot of people around and she quickly dragged the three unconscious men inside before anyone could see. "Do we bury them? Do we kill them?"

"No." Denka said before Laura took their lives. "We just need to throw them at a place where they wouldn't see us the moment they wake up. I've already casted a concussion spell that removes the memory they got fromt he past hour."

"Uh, then any suggestions?" The three men on the floor did not move at all, and fearing they were dead even though her father did not kill them, she checked their pulses. "They're still alive. Good."

Denka was silent as he thought. They could try dumping the unconscious guards in an alley, but that would require them to go through the streets. They could also try dumping them in the forest nearby, and since there wasn't a lot of beast around, he decided that to be the best option.

"Tenur honey, is that you?" Daryl's voice came from the kitchen. Laura stiffened as she realised Tenur's mother was home. She quickly carried the three unconscious guards on her shoulder and brought them upstairs. In any case, Laura searched for an exit before spotting a window.

"Fuck this..." Sensing her intention, Denka yelled out. "Laura! No!" Even though she was a troll, falling from the first floor could potentially break her legs.

"Ahhhhh!" Laura ran towards the window while shielding her face with one arm. She subconsciously dropped Denka before breaking through the window.

"Laura!" Denka yelled, but nobody responded. He heard a heavy 'thud' originating from the ground floor that was able to affect even the first floor. Perhaps the stairs leading up was at the end of its life span since it collapsed following the sound.

"Oh my god! What was that?" Denka could hear Daryl's voice yelling out from downstairs. There was the sound of a door opening and closing following that.

As Denka tried guessing if his daughter is alright, he sighed in relief when the presence she presumed to be Laura headed towards the forest.