The two dolls blocked Keith's path of going out. He was stuck between them and had to dodge their heavy attacks.

Dodging mindless dolls was not tricky, but their controller was crafty. The little girl had her eyes on Keith the whole time she commanded her dolls.

"Hmm, why don't you just give up? The life of a doll is not a dull one. I am sure I can take care of you at least."

Keith gritted his teeth as he stepped away once more. The more he tried to escape, the more he was forced into a corner. 

At this rate, he would be forced to use his powers and alert the authorities at the same time. 

'I miss my grandmaster persona. At least people did not mess with me when I was in that form.'

Keith longed for the security his grandmaster persona provided him with. He doubted that he would have been attacked had he been in his other form.

"Stop trying to step away from me. You are ruining my fun."

The kid pouted as she moved her dolls to block Keith's hard-earned escape. Once again, he was forced into a corner and had no way of escaping.

"Sorry kid, but I am not going to fall for your tricks again. You cannot stop me from leaving."

Keith yelled and the sudden rise in volume startled the child who was controlling the dolls.

The momentary loss of judgment gave Keith his chance and he ran toward the kid. He needed to take out the mastermind before he could deal with the dolls.

With that in mind, Keith almost reached the kid but she recovered and took out a small doll from her bag. She threw that doll down and it turned into another monster doll.

The only difference this time was that Keith was at a point-blank distance from the doll and he would not be able to dodge the attack. 

He had to improvise.

As much as Keith did not want to use his divine powers, he also stood no chance without them. Setting up a barrier around himself was an unconscious action on his part.

The doll collided with Keith's barrier and bounced away. Keith's momentum did not allow him to stop until he was standing in front of the child.

The child tried to take another doll out of her pocket and attack Keith. But he grabbed her hand so that she could not do anything.

"Hey, let me go. This is kidnapping. Someone, help me out…"

Keith looked at the child in mute horror. He did not want to get caught for being a pedo a second time in his life. The last time this had happened, Keith had suffered.

So, this time, he placed a hand on the babbling female's mouth to quieten her down.

Then, Keith quickly knocked her out and picked up her unconscious body.

Despite looking young and fragile, the child was quite heavy. Keith felt his arms being strained as he tried to pick up the child and take her somewhere. But he braved all this pain for the sake of his comfort. 

......….

Eyelids blinked slowly before the pair of childish eyes opened. Keith was paying attention to the kid so he noticed the second this happened.

Once the kid was aware, she pretended as if she was still asleep. But her truth had been caught by Keith.

"You can wake up now. I know you are awake. There is no need for you to pretend anymore."

The child opened her eyes with an annoyed expression on her face before sitting up.

"Tsk, I thought I had you fooled. Anyway, what are you going to do with me? Are you going to have me killed? Or would you have me tortured instead?"

The child asked with a blank face. She seemed to have too much expectation of Keith. 

"Calm down kid. I am not going to do anything to you. I just wanted to know why you attacked me like that. As far as I know, I did nothing to you."

Keith reminded the kid but she flinched once she heard those words. She suddenly looked down at her cup of tea with a blank expression.

"Hmm, you are asking me why I attacked you? Well, I have no reason or excuse to tell you. I just did that so that I could add you to my collection."

Somehow, Keith found it hard to believe. But he had no other evidence so he could not say that the child was lying.

"In any case, you caught me. So, what are you going to do with me? Are you going to hand me over to the authorities? Or have me killed off? Oh well, that had to happen one day."

The child sounded bitter. It made her sound far older than she was.

Somehow, Keith got a familiar feeling when he looked at this child. It was like looking at Sara a little bit. But a lot more mellow and dangerous.

"Hey kid, you…"

Keith started to speak when he felt the presence of unfamiliar people outside of his room. He tensed up and looked outside the window.

There was no one there but the nagging feeling did not go away.

"Looks like my companions are here to pick me up. Hey, it was nice to meet you but it is time for me to leave."

The kid forced herself to stand up. With the kind of injuries she had, she should not have done so. But the kid forced herself anyway.

"Hey wait! You should not be…"

Keith started to speak but the child seemed not to care. In the end, Keith was not able to stop her from leaving.

As soon as the kid was out of the door, the other presence Keith was feeling disappeared as well. It seemed like the kid was telling the truth.

"Ugh, what the hell am I getting myself into? I should stop poking my nose in other people's business if I do not want to cause them any problems."

Keith sighed as he looked outside. His one goal of staying out of trouble was being violated by himself. And it took Keith a long time before he realized the truth.

But from here on, Keith decided not to get involved with people. That was the fastest way to ensure he did not become a problem for anyone else.

Keith quickly packed his things up and left the room. The kid had left behind one of her dolls so Keith decided to pack it up as well.

He exited the alley and entered the room's main road system. He needed to book transport from here and go back to the guild.

"Aren't the streets too bare? There are not a lot of people outside right now."

Keith observed the town. This road was the main spine of the city so it should be hustling and bustling with people. But everyone who walked down the streets looked like a foreigner. 

And they all also looked tense and tried their best not to look at the local stores.

Keith was about to enter one of the stores when his hand was grabbed by a stranger. The new man looked at Keith with wide eyes and a terrified look.

"A-Are you new in this town? If so, then do not go inside this shop, or any of the shops if you know what is good for you. Also, do not spend a night in this town. I am telling you all this for your good."

The stranger his eyes fixed on the door behind Keith. His eyes seemed to be looking at unknown dangers Keith could not even think of.

Keith would have tried to calm the man down if he was not looking so terrified.

"Oh, ok. I am new in town and I was looking for a place that would let me hire a ride to the next city. But I did not know it was forbidden to enter shops in this town."

What a weird town this was to prohibit entry into the shops. How did the businesses survive in such a place?

"N-No, that is not why this place is sealed up. Look, do not ask questions, and come with me. If you need a ride to the next town, then I will give you one. Just forget you know anything about this town, alright?"

The more Keith saw of this town, the more he was interested in it. He wanted to know why this town was an enigma.

But Keith had just vowed not to let himself fall into trouble. And to do that, he needed to curb his curiosity.

"Alright, I understand what you are saying. In that case, why don't you take me back and I will pay you for your services?"

The man shook his head.

"Y-You do not have to even pay me. Just staying safe would be enough…. lookout."

Something black broke the door of the shop and attacked Keith.