Shopping (2)

It took the drones a little longer than I expected to clear the monsters along the route to the furniture store.

It wasn't because each individual monster was particularly strong, but simply because there were so many of them.

Apparently, so few people passed through this area that it barely had any pins on the map, creating an ideal environment for monsters to build nests and breed.

Besides, Ha-seon, Jiwoo, and Sua were all going outside with us today, so I had ordered the drones to sweep every nook and cranny much more thoroughly than usual.

Thanks to that, the street itself was thoroughly cleared.

"All right, let's go outside now."

""Yes!""

Hearing the siblings' booming reply, I opened the train door.

"Wow..."

Ha-seon and the children didn't show it much outwardly, but they seemed a little excited to be breathing the open air after leaving the cramped train for the first time in a while.

Thinking about it, was this the first time all of us had gone out together somewhere that wasn't a safe zone?

As soon as the train door opened, the three of them simultaneously puffed out their chests and inhaled as if to savor the refreshing breeze.

"Sssssip-!"

"Haa... Cough! Cough!"

"Ugh, it's spicy! Cough, cough!"

But the result of their deep breaths was a barrage of peppery coughs.

The drones had cleared the surroundings with a barrage of bullets and lasers, so instead of refreshing air, the acrid smell of gunpowder and something burning lingered faintly all around us.

"Uh... It'll get better once we walk a little farther."

Seeing the three of them coughing with tears trickling from their eyes, I told them we should head forward first.

We walked through the streets with light steps toward the first-floor entrance of our destination, the furniture store.

When we got closer, I noticed other large marts around the enormous blue furniture-store building.

The furniture store was so huge that it dominated the view, but a large mart stood right beside it.

"Looks like everyone who came here before headed for that mart."

The entrance to the nearby mart was a complete mess.

Shopping carts that survivors had abandoned after looting supplies were strewn about, jutting out onto the road, and every window had been shattered.

In contrast, the entrance to the furniture store had remained relatively clean and intact.

We passed through the furniture store's first-floor main entrance.

Large yellow shopping bags and shopping carts were lined up at the entrance.

Rattle.

I naturally pulled out a cart.

"Mew..."

"What's wrong?"

That was when it happened.

Nabi, who had been trailing along behind me, saw the neatly nested metal carts and stopped dead.

Nabi's two perked ears trembled faintly, then her tail began thumping against the floor.

I stared blankly at Nabi, wondering if she wanted to do something.

Tap-tap, clatter!

Nabi glanced at me to gauge my reaction and twitched her body a few times, but in the end, unable to resist her instincts, she leaped into an empty cart and curled up inside.

"Huh?"

Seeing Nabi curl up as though the inside of the cart were the most wonderful place in the world, I let out a hollow laugh.

A reasonably sized basket on wheels.

It seemed to have stirred her instinct to squeeze into a narrow, stable space.

"Hmm... Kids, do you want to ride too?"

"Yes!"

"I..."

I picked Jiwoo and Sua up by the waist and placed them side by side in the cart where Nabi was riding.

Nabi was so small and flexible, curled up in the corner, that there was still plenty of room for both siblings.

Once they were in the cart, Sua and even Jiwoo became excited and burst out laughing as they looked at each other.

"Huh? You want to try?"

At some point, the golem had approached my side and began gently pushing the shopping cart with its massive body.

Thanks to that, I could walk with both hands free.

Ha-seon also watched the siblings, Nabi, and the golem with a pleased expression.

"Let's go to the second floor. Pick anything you like if you see something you want."

Since I wasn't paying for any of it anyway, I said it boldly, like someone treating everyone to a shopping spree.

We headed up to the second floor via the escalator to begin our shopping in earnest.

When we reached the second floor, an unfamiliar sight unfolded before us.

Roughly half of the enormous floor had been divided into sections and perfectly arranged as showrooms with different themes.

A modern office, a cozy master bedroom, a painter's studio, and even a toy room for children.

Seeing how well everything had been decorated to fit its concept made me want to decorate the train that way too.

"Oh..."

"I've never actually been here before."

"I've only bought things online too, so this is my first time coming to a place like this."

Hearing Ha-seon, I realized that this was also my first time visiting a furniture store in person.

Before this, I had only ordered furniture online.

The siblings, Jiwoo and Sua, their eyes sparkling with wonder, carefully hopped out of the cart and began looking around.

To the children, this place was no different from a giant amusement park, so their steps gradually quickened until they began running around.

Since there were no other customers anyway, there was no need to stop them from running around.

I merely warned them to be careful not to fall, then slowly made my way around the showrooms, examining the furniture that might be useful.

I had planned to choose a bed first, but I didn't need to do anything at all.

Press, press.

"..."

"Mmm~"

Nabi had somehow climbed onto the wide king-size bed in the master-bedroom showroom and was carefully testing the cushioning by pressing down on the mattress with her paws one after another.

Then, whenever she found a bed she liked, she curled up and lay down on it for an additional test.

Her technique was strangely professional.

"We can leave the bed selection to her."

Honestly, she seemed likely to inspect them far more thoroughly than I would.

Smiling, I entrusted the choice of beds to Nabi.

When I turned my head, Ha-seon was lingering in the office-themed area, looking at the wide desks and chairs.

'Right, she'd been using her laptop on a shaking bed all this time.'

If she had said anything, I would have made a space like that for her, so seeing her now made me feel a little guilty.

I resolved to take some of that office furniture with us later as well.

We were in the middle of thoroughly looking over the showrooms when—

Tingle-

"Hmm?"

I felt a gaze, as though someone were secretly watching me from behind.

I reflexively whipped my head around and looked behind me.

But naturally, there was no one there besides us.

"...Am I imagining it?"

I tilted my head and resumed shopping.

Since the drones were guarding the surroundings like an iron fortress, I judged that it wasn't a monster or a hostile incarnation, at least.

If anything was wrong, the drones would have told me or subdued it already.

"The cart's empty anyway. Should we pick up some small things?"

I gestured to the golem and told it to pull the cart and follow me.

Then I began picking up the interior decorations and miscellaneous goods placed throughout the second floor and putting them into the cart.

We were also starting to need more tableware.

I picked out the prettier plates and cups among those on display.

Then I found some children's tableware among the dishes.

Spoons with fork tines and training chopsticks.

'Jiwoo and Sua use chopsticks perfectly... Should I give these to Nabi?'

For Nabi, who ate snacks with her hands, knowing how to use a spoon and chopsticks would probably help someday when she started eating proper meals.

Baby tableware seemed like the perfect fit for her.

I tossed a fork-tipped spoon and a set of training chopsticks into the cart.

I also swept up the imported snacks and drinks on display, focusing on those with plenty of time left before their expiration dates.

It was while I was really getting into the shopping that—

Tingle-

Another gaze skimmed over the back of my neck.

This time, I turned my head much faster and more sharply than before.

"Who's there?"

And this time, I clearly saw it.

The gap between the wardrobes in one of the showrooms.

Something hiding there and peeking at me flinched and froze as though it had been struck by lightning the instant our eyes met.

Its body had gone rigid before it even remembered to close the wardrobe door, so I could see inside.

"...Huh?"

My brow narrowed in puzzlement.

It wasn't human.

But it was hard to call it a monster, either.

"A rat? No, it's kind of big..."

To put it simply, it was a large rat standing on two legs.

And a very large rat at that.

Was it about the same height as Sua?

Should I consider it beastkin? Or—

It wasn't like Nabi, whose human appearance was accompanied by animal ears and other animal features.

It simply had the appearance of an ordinary large rat, but stood upright on two legs like a human.

It was even wearing something resembling leather clothing.

Under the full force of my gaze, it trembled all over, frozen like a water deer caught in the headlights of a car.

I felt no killing intent or hostility whatsoever.

It looked far too timid and docile to be a monster, yet it was far too much an ordinary, unadorned rat to be beastkin.

"..."

"..."

When I didn't look away, even its whiskers began to tremble.

Seeing the rat tremble like that, I began to feel sorry for it.

If I left it like this, it looked as though it might faint.

"..."

I deliberately turned my head away for a moment.

Once my gaze disappeared, I could sense the rat, which hadn't even been able to breathe, finally gasping for the breath it had been holding.

And as soon as that brief opening appeared, it threw itself forward to save its life.

Pat-pat-pat-!

The rat burst out from between the wardrobes and began waddling toward the opposite showroom at full speed on its short hind legs.

It fled frantically on two legs, but it wasn't very fast.

"...Uh, if you go that way—"

Unfortunately, the rat had unbelievably bad luck.

Because Nabi happened to be standing right in its escape path.

Perk-!

Nabi's cat ears, which had been standing perkily as she lay on the bed kneading the mattress, shot straight up like antennae when they caught the rat's footsteps and presence.

Nabi's pupils instantly dilated wide.

"Mew..."

The look that had been appraising furniture transformed into the gaze of a predator.

Fwoosh-!

Nabi sprang lightly into the air from the mattress, still in the same crouched position.

It was a sleek, flexible leap that made not even a sound.

By the time the fleeing rat looked up at the ominous shadow cast over its head, it was already too late.

Crash!

"Eek-!"

In midair, Nabi extended one hand and pinned the rat's back flat against the floor in a single swift motion, subduing it.