Erel was on a high alert as she received some attention. Then, an unexpected system notification appeared, and it floated in front of her.

[Beatrice’s favourability increased by eight. ]

Erel was puzzled by the sudden increase in favorability. At the same time, Beatrice lowered her eyes and apologised.

“I’m sorry for my earlier comment.”

“Huh?”

“The story about the Receiver. I’m sorry that I said that to you, you must have been worried.”

Beatrice’s apology was bewildering. But she did not hate it,

Erel readily nodded and replied, “It’s okay. You said it because I’m sure you’re worried as well.”

“But keep this in mind, it is true that Masakas do not treat the Receiver as a human being.”

Beatrice turned her head and looked out the window, and spat out dryly.

“What do you mean?”

Erel noticed an unusual tone from Beatrice and asked about it. Beatrice smiled and answered her question moderately.

“Well, not all Masakas are like that, but I’m sure some of them are nice, right?”

“…..What the hell are you trying to say here?”

Erel thought that Beatrice’s words and attitude, which had been running in a circle, were strange. She asked more directly and bluntly, but instead of answering those questions, Beatrice was in deep thoughts. Then, she unexpectedly brought up a person who was not involved in this situation at all.

“Rel, do you remember my little brother?”

“What?”

Why is she talking about her little brother all the sudden? She literally got a headache from the topic of conversation bouncing like a ping-pong ball.

She wanted to question Beatrice about what she was talking about. But right now, it was necessary for her to watch the language she used. If ‘Real Erel’ had a separate conversation with Beatrice the other day, it was clear that only she would be suspected.

“I guess you don’t remember. Well, after all I was the only one you saw when you were young back then.”

Fortunately, Beatrice misinterpreted Erel’s silence and shrugged her shoulders and that’s the end of her story about her brother.

“We’re almost there. It seems that the road is not blocked today.”

Beatrice looked out and spoke in a timely manner. As she said that, the carriage had arrived on the main street.

“Eeump.”

When the coachman opened the door, Beatrice jumped out of the carriage first. She then chuckled toward Erel.

“You said you had to get home early. So, let’s go.”

“……Yes.”

Erel somehow felt swayed by Beatrice, so she couldn’t help being embarrassed. In order to escape from Beatrice as soon as possible, she had to get off the wagon as quickly as she could.

Fortunately, the hat store is not that far away. As she turned around the corner a little off the main street, she saw a mint-coloured sign decorated with sparkling gold in front of her.

“What do you think? Pretty, huh?”

Beatrice ran to the show window at once and looked back at Erel triumphantly. Erel, who followed her unconsciously to the shop window, was in awe.

“Wow…”

The hats were literally close to art. Glittering jewels, feathers, laces, flowers, and ribbons were delicately mounted on wide brims of white, dark green, and light pink.

The beautiful and colourful colours and brilliant decorations brighten her eyes. Only then did Erel know why Beatrice wanted her to come here so much.

“Look, I told you you would like it. Isn’t it your cup of tea?”

After seeing Erel’s reaction, Beatrice laughed and gently patted her back.

“Let’s go inside, now.”

Is it because she felt bad? Beatrice’s hand on her shoulder and back seemed to have a special meaning. She thought it was strange, but she stepped into the hat store for now.

Ting-

A clear bell rang with the smell of an elegant scented candle touching the tip of the nose. But there weren’t any employees who were supposed to come out to greet the guests.

“Isn’t it closed?”

“No way. You even made a reservation.”

Beatrice denied it in a strong tone and strode inside. Erel accidentally sat on the sofa in the middle and twisted her ankle.

“Is anyone here?”

Despite Beatrice’s words, there was no sign of the staff.

“…This can’t be happening.”

Beatrice murmured as she looked around the store which was as quiet as a dead mouse. She then lifted herself up and looked around every corner of the store. She had to check with her own eyes now so that her guts would be relieved.

Either way, Erel had looked around enough and wanted to go back home. She took a leisurely look inside the store while waiting for Beatrice to give up. But after a long wait, Beatrice did not appear. She couldn’t help but step inside to look for Beatrice at this point.

“Beatrice?”

She did not receive an answer back. She was starting to worry a little bit. She walked deep inside the store along a narrow and long corridor.

From here, there was a restricted area where customers could not enter. Since there were no shopkeepers to stop her, she continued to take steps.

“Where are you, Beatrice?”

As she passed through the large raw materials room and the employee’s changing room, she saw a warehouse at the end. She saw Beatrice’s back hardened as she stood straight in front of it.

“What’s the matter?”

Erel casually approached her and soon hardened as well. In front of Beatrice’s crimson shoes, a strange sound was heard from the gap of a slightly open warehouse’s door.

It was like stepping on a puddle of sticky water, and it sounded like it was coming out of a puddle of watery mud. It was no big deal, especially if you write it off as a noise of everyday life.

The problem was that a growling sound was heard mixed in between the sounds. Something rumbled wildly beyond the warehouse, and there was a gurgling sound in between. As if a wild beast is eating raw meat.

“Re..Rel..”

This time, Beatrice called her name in a scared tone. From where she stood, she could see the inside of the warehouse. For this reason, Beatrice shed tears when she saw a sight she shouldn’t have seen.

Khi, Tan.

The moment she understood the name that came out without sound, she got goosebumps. Erel unwittingly backed up and covered her mouth with one hand.

Oh, my God.

This is ridiculous. There’s a Khitan in here?

Only then Erel came to realize the situation. The fact she did not see any employees at Madame Deiki’s hat shop and now…. Inside the warehouse, that is exactly what the Khitan is chomping on as of right now.

Khitan.

Human flesh-eating monster, which exists only in ‘Salvation’.

According to mythology, the evil god Abihshan was jealous of the god Hashiba, widely loved by the creatures. Therefore, he created Khitan to destroy that God’s most beloved creature, mankind.

Its skin is as hard as cast iron, so neither swords nor arrows can penetrate it, and its sharp teeth and claws are capable of ripping even armor. Even with just one Khitan, a small town could disappear in one night.

The monster was now lurking inside with only one door in between. They ate the corpses, which were probably stored employees.

This is ridiculous.

Erel thought with a stiff head. This was a busy street, among them a very popular hat shop. How did the Khitan who was spotted out in the wild come all the way here?

It did not make any sense. However, the new stench and strong growl at the door were real.

“Kyric, kyric?”

That was when Erel froze in place. The chirping sound inside stopped. Then came the sound of heavy footsteps that approached the door and sniffed.

There was a moment of chilling silence but soon a thunderous roar tore through the silence, hitting her ears hard.

“Ahh!!”

The first to respond to the malice-filled howl was, unexpectedly, Beatrice. Frozen in place all this time, she threw herself at the door as quick as lightning. Then the slightly open door slammed, closed, and blocked Khitan out for a moment.

“Hurry, hurry!!”

Erel’s body was also moving without hesitationt. She quickly turned the handle of the door, locked it, and locked clasp above.

Beatrice fell on her ass at the same time the door was locked. Soon there was a loud deafening crash sound.

Kwang-

Erel reflexively covered her ears and she looked completely tired. This was not simply the sound of a beast coming through the door. She had thought a small vehicle crashed onto an iron door.

It was lucky that Beatrice fell from the door. If she didn’t, she would bounce out of the door and break and injure one of them.

She didn’t realize it when she looked at it from the game monitor, but when she faced Kitan through a door like this, she could feel it deeply, the reason it was called the catastrophe of mankind.

[Ting! Subquest: ‘I don’t want to die in a place like this!’ has commenced.]

[Subquest: ‘I don’t want to die in a place like this!’: Escape safely without dying from the Khitan who broke into the hat shop. A random reward will be paid if you succeed.]

At that time, the quest window opened in front of Erel as she stood idly.

What the hell is this?

Mission quests aren’t enough, so subquests are happening now. Who the hell is giving these quests and for what purpose?

However, it was not a time to be idle and worry like this. Khitan, who missed their prey right in front of their nose, began to gowl over the door.

“Kyric, kyric!!!”

At first, the Khitan did not know why the door was closed, but the more they thought about it, the angrier they seemed.

[T/N: they referred as the Khitan.]

Kwang, Kwa-!!

Every time the Khitan hit the door,, she could see the iron door becoming dented. It was clear that the door would not last long. If something like that popped up, the chances of Erel and Beatrice surviving were close to zero.