After Justine and I went to the cellar, we met up with Ronan. When we saw the object on the wall, we immediately understood why Ronan summoned us.

"Uh...Ronan? What the hell is this?" I said.

In front of us, mounted on the wall and covered in magic chains, was a black and purple scythe. It was an enormous weapon, whose very presence could be seen as a threat. It was a demonic weapon of some sort, as darkness emanated from the weapon. It piqued my interest.

"Hm. It seems to be a perplexing item. A large Scythe. Maybe it's just a large artifact," Ronan said.

"I'm not so sure about that, Ronan. This seems to be more than a regular artifact. I'm sensing multi-layered sealing magic on this weapon. Interesting... You know, this might be a lost treasure of some sort. I don't know what's sealed inside the weapon, but it has to be an S rank entity. The complex sealing magic makes it hard to do a proper appraisal, but it's probably in that range. The most obvious question is why it's in Mayor Ross' old shop," Justine said.

"Artifact or not, is it supposed to be pulsating like that?" I said worriedly.

"Either way, I have completed the scan of the shop. The debriefing is ready!" Ronan said proudly.

"I think we have bigger problems than that, Ronan. What do you think we should do, Justine?" I said.

"Honestly, I think we should leave it alone for now. We can deal with it once we clean the shop. Let's listen to Ronan's debriefing in the meantime," Justine said.

I nodded as the three of us sat on the stools in the cellar. We sat in a triangle formation, with Justine on my left and Ronan on my right. Despite knowing this, Justine still sat cross-legged as we listened to Ronan. This wouldn't be a problem if Justine wasn't wearing a mini-skirt. Honestly, it was hard to pay attention. Her body was godly, (pun intended), and I was 18. Even a young Merchant isn't immune to raging hormones.

"I'll keep it short. Structural integrity is not optimal, so this place needs some serious repairs. The abandoned items need to be discarded or sold. The place needs a serious deep clean. And it needs significant renovations. The easiest thing we can do is rename the store," Ronan joked.

"Have you stopped speaking in Haiku? You haven't said one in a while," I said.

"You said it yourself. You designed my AI to be Organic. I'm supposed to change over time," Ronan said.

"That's a good point. Anyway, the day is still young so we should try to get as much work done as possible. Let's start by assigning the tasks. Ronan will conduct structural repairs and suggest renovations, I'll handle the removal of the abandoned items, and Justine will start cleaning the entire place," I said.

"Sounds good!" Ronan said.

As Ronan walked up the steps, Justine began speaking to me.

"Do I really have to clean the entire place by myself? Feels somewhat...herculean," Justine said sighing.

"You'll be fine. Sweeping, mopping, and similar tasks aren't too complicated. We'll help you when we finish our tasks, so try to get as much done as possible," I said.

"If you had to guess, how many days do you think if would take to clean this place?" Justine asked.

I scratched my chin as I thought about the condition of the shop.

"Including today? Hm...I would say three days of hard work if we want to have it presentable. After that, we can gradually add improvements to the store. The location of the shop is so perfect that it's worth the effort," I said confidently.

"I suppose you're right. Despite the horrid condition of the shop, it's in a wonderful location. The proximity of the Guard Station makes it even better," Justine said.

"Welp. Let's start our tasks. Hopefully, he didn't leave too many things behind," I said.

"One last thing, Owen. Were you...stealing glances at my thighs?" Justine said embarrassed.

"What? I'm...not sure what you're talking about," I said nervously.

"Are you really going to lie to the Goddess Of Justice?" Justine pouted.

"Considering my pride is on the line...yes. I think I will," I joked.

Justine sighed at my response. "Jeez. What am I going to do with you?" Justine said.

"Aren't you the person who crossed their legs when they're wearing a miniskirt??" I argued.

"Ah! So you admit it then!" Justine said triumphantly.

"Admit what? That I find you attractive? I'm sure that you already know the answer to that question," I said.

"Fine! I have ways of getting the truth out of you...," Justine said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"Nothing at all! We'll talk later!" Justine said.

Before I got Justine to explain herself, she bolted out of the room. I would be lying if I said I wasn't worried about her claim to 'get the truth out of me'. Regardless, we had a shop we needed to run. Even if Justine was secretly planning something behind the scenes.

Before I left the cellar to begin my tasks, I walked towards the scythe. I noticed that the closer I got to the weapon, the more it pulsated. It felt like the weapon was calling out to me, daring me to grab it. However, inches away from touching the blade, I retracted my hand. I picked up one of the empty wooden barrels and carried it up the stairs. If I didn't know any better, I would say that I faintly heard a woman's voice from the weapon.

----------

Three days passed before we finally finished cleaning the store.

Justine and I didn't talk much since we were preoccupied with our tasks. To make the cleaning more exciting, Ronan played some calming music from his built-in speaker. It was nice to have that considering the amount of junk Mayor Ross left behind. Good thing I could make my own gloves with 'Creation'. Many of the things he left were covered in dust or rust.

However, when we finally finished, we happily took down the old sign that hung over the shop. In its place, we put up the name of our new store. Since we finished late into the evening, we decided to eat dinner at The Dusty Palm. As we casually walked over to the tavern, the sign was prominently displayed over the shop.

The sign read: