Time slowly passed, and soon, Petra returned to the first floor.
Coming down again, the shop was still empty.
She looked around.
Rose and Lira had returned, and Mell was currently lecturing them because they had brought back a beast that was far too big to fit through the front door.
Currently, Petra could see its huge silhouette just outside, clearly blocking the entrance.
Looking around, the four ant avatars were nowhere to be seen.
She stepped forward. Seeing Petra appear, Mell stopped scolding the two cats. "Little master, it looks like we'll have a large lunch tonight…"
Her face was filled with helplessness.
They didn't even have a cook, so what were they supposed to do!
She knew that this burden would fall on her…
Petra nodded. Her big black eyes looked at the huge creature outside. She stepped toward a window, then peered outside. The creature was at least twice the size of the store, and definitely had a cultivation higher than the golden core realm.
Her mind flickered as she swept it with her mental energy.
It was a magnificent Sky-Chasing Behemoth, its massive frame covered in thick, dark-grey hide-like armor with rows of glowing blue scales that shimmered like crystallized light. From its jaw hung long, catfish-like whiskers that drifted lazily in the air, used to sense the surrounding spiritual energy, while a pair of jagged, lightning-scarred horns grew from its thick skull.
Despite being thoroughly defeated, a faint, rhythmic hum of thunder still vibrated through its massive paws, rattling the shop's display glass.
This was the kind of creature that lived in the mountains, and every night, it would climb to the highest peak and roar to the sky, almost as if it were challenging the heavens.
…Thus the name, Sky-Chasing Behemoth!
"Where did you catch this big guy?" she turned and asked Rose with a look of amusement.
While placing her hands firmly on her hips and puffing out her large chest, Rose explained, "We followed the path toward the mountains. Lira and I looked around, and we discovered a few things. First, the beasts there are all a level stronger than those from the forest. Second, unlike the forest, you can enter and exit the mountain area freely. And third, there exists a large pillar at the peak of the mountains. I suspect that it is some kind of test, but we didn't approach because there were too many beasts!"
Petra nodded. It was fortunate that they could leave the mountains after entering, unlike the fog-filled forest, which wouldn't let them back in after leaving.
As for the pillar, it was just as she suspected. There should be three pillars, each corresponding to one of the destinations splitting off from this crossroads.
Since that was the case, she didn't believe that this crossroads wasn't important!
That was the reason she set up shop here…
Petra planned to take a day looking around and wanted to see if she could find anything.
Her eyes turned, and then she looked toward Lira, who looked entirely beat up. "You…?"
Lira shook her whole body, like a cat trying to dry itself. "This damn beast almost ate me! That's why we took it down!" Looking closer, she was actually covered in some kind of dry slime.
"Eh…"
Petra stepped back a bit.
Rose sneered, "What do you mean, almost ate you? You were already in its stomach! If not for me, the best big sister there is, you would have been digested already!"
Lira's ears drooped.
Petra looked at this duo. One cat was in high spirits, ears erect and tail swaying, while the other was hunched over with a depressed look. She didn't know what to say. It really sounded like they had one hell of an adventure.
Her eyes subtly turned to Mell, as if asking: 'Who's going to clean the cats?'
But Mell refused to meet her gaze…
-
After some time spent discussing what they were going to do, Petra had Rose pull the huge beast behind the building, then sent Lira to find Wind and told her to trick her into helping her take a bath.
As for Mell, Petra asked her to go find the quadruplets while she closed up for the night.
After everyone went their own way, Petra trotted over to the front door and looked at the signboard. Her little hands reached up, and she switched it to the 'Closed for Business' state, then locked the door.
After finishing for the night, Petra did a quick cleanup.
As she swept the floor and washed the windows, she could hear the earth-shaking rumbles of the big cat dismantling the big beast in the backyard. This lasted for over twenty minutes.
When Petra was finally done cleaning, she clapped her hands and walked upstairs.
After returning upstairs, she looked around. Discovering that Wind had left her room door open, she poked her head inside and looked around. To her surprise, one of the four little sisters was sneakily standing there, rummaging through all the papers on the desk, and methodically aligning them so that they were perfectly symmetrical. Of course, to do this, she first needed to flip them all on their backs so the text wouldn't be visible. Also, there seemed to be some patterns on the paper, a byproduct of the paper-making process, so the little girl had found a pail of white paint somewhere and was currently painting the backs of all the maps a pristine and pure white color. Of course, they also needed to dry, and because there wasn't enough room on the desk, the little girl had spread all the soaking wet, white-painted paper maps on the floor, facing down, covering the floor completely.
Petra looked at the utterly bizarre scene, then slowly retracted her head.
She felt as if this wasn't her problem, and she didn't want Wind to blame her later!
Moving on…
Petra checked each room one by one, but aside from the strange one in Wind's room, the other ant avatars couldn't be found.
Petra had started to suspect that they went outside.
Ah?
Oh!
It was only now that she remembered the whole purpose of the ant avatars!
With a turn of her mind, she felt their locations through their connection, something that Mell could not do, and soon discovered that the remaining three, erm… two were outside and helping with the butchering of the big beast.
Not long after, Petra returned downstairs and swaggered out the back door.
She looked around, and aside from their family, there were also a few idle people hanging around the grassy field setting up camp in the distance. They should be adventurers who just escaped the fog.
Shaking her head and not wanting to be late, she went around the house and arrived at the backyard.
This was a bloodstained butcher's field with large monster parts everywhere! There were already bones bigger than herself, masses of meat diced and cubed, stacked up neatly, and countless other things, such as organs, scales, claws, and teeth, all sorted and stored.
Aside from the unreasonable amount of blood, there were also two massive horns that were crackling with electricity. As Petra walked over, she looked up at these two horns and felt as if they could be used.
Soon, she stood before Rose, who was dressed in an almost comical butcher's apron, holding a cleaver half her size and completely covered in blood. Mell was also there, with the green-haired lolitas to her left and right. Petra looked around, but she could not find the third little girl.
With a shrug, she gave up looking, because she understood that every person had their own difficulties—what could she do about the ant who was scared of ants.
Taking a step forward, it was time to help finish up for the night.
-
By the time they finished, the sky had darkened.
Lira and Wind had joined in the fun, and all five young girls were skillfully moving the butchered beast into the building, then storing it using magic.
Because none of them knew how to cook, just as she suspected, Mell was left to prepare the meal.
Wind brought the four ant avatars upstairs to clean up, helping by hosting the second bath of the night, while Petra tried to assist in the temporary kitchen, only to be scared away by a pan-swinging Mell, who had personally experienced the terror of Petra's cooking.
As for Rose and Lira, these two feline sisters were completely exhausted, because most of the butchering had fallen on their energetic shoulders.
After finally thinking about ways she could help, Petra skipped away to go and retrieve some of the beast meat from the back, before joyfully returning and adding it to Mell's list of ingredients. As for the other components of tonight's meal, they were either hunted from the surroundings or stolen from the surroundings, courtesy of a certain kleptomaniac who had found a way to achieve twice the work with half the effort under the shroud of night.
When everything was done, the five girls and four avatars all sat together to eat a large meal on the first floor. After eating, Petra was tired, so she returned to her room. Not long after, Rose and Lira also checked in for the night, leaving only Mell and Wind.
The two young girls looked at each other, tiredly dividing the remaining work.
Mell sent the quadruplet lolis to the spare room upstairs, while Wind cleaned up the aftermath of dinner. After they both finished, Mell turned in for the night, leaving Wind alone in the silence.
She sighed, her ears twitching as she looked through the window and scanned the dark field.
There were dozens of tents, many of which still had an active campfire. There were stars in the sky, but they didn't seem real. The cold night chill was refreshing, yet a bit hollow. Turning her head, she too decided that it was time to turn in for the night.
A few minutes later…
Just like that, following a shrill scream from a certain silver elf who had just discovered the changes in her room, the day slowly came to a close.
* * *
The next day.
Morning, first floor.
Behind the front desk, three little girls were pushing back and forth, competing for who got to stand in the front. Two of them fought furiously, while at the same time watching the third closely from the corner of their eyes. Unlike these two, the third little girl seemed more indifferent, but if one looked closely, they would likely discover a greedy little glint in the depths of her gaze.
The first floor was lively, and as the trio pushed back and forth, Rose and Lira stood off to the side, once again receiving Mell's lecture about their conduct when exploring the secret realm without Petra.
Both cats nodded vigorously, but Wind, standing to the side, could tell that they weren't listening at all.
Mell could only sigh, then sent them off to explore the highlands and hills.
Rose rubbed her hands. "Hehehe, do you think there'll be any more big beasts like yesterday?"
"Hehehe, I hope so! That was so delicious! Even without Luna, it was so delicious! Hehehe!"
Rose nodded in agreement.
They left through the front door…
As they walked into the distance, just outside the front door, they passed Petra, who was reclining on a small chair that had been built some time after waking up. The sun was high, and the breeze was fresh. The sky was spotted with clouds while the surrounding camps all began to awaken.
As Rose and Lira left, Petra didn't even notice them. She was too distracted by the small ring in her hands. She fiddled with it, moving it back and forth while rotating it occasionally with her fingers.
This was the most common ring, but it was also forged from a special material that could theoretically be used as the base for a spatial ring.
Little Petra frowned as she injected a black light into the ring, only for nothing to happen. She didn't believe that she couldn't do it! Where there's a will, there's a way!
Thirty minutes later…
She gave up!
Petra slumped back on her chair with a frustrated expression. Her mind turned, and a dark green book, not much different in appearance from a regular book, manifested in the air and plopped down on her head, shielding her eyes from the sun.
The book had not come from a spatial ring, no, it was pulled from her inner library.
The title? 'The Basics of Spatial Magic: The Book of Dimensions for Dummies!'
The author? Levy Lunabell!
Petra groaned! If not for the footsteps that seemed to be approaching, she would undoubtedly fall asleep right here and now.