"Who's there? Who's there..." A terrified voice came from inside the shop.
"Uh, sir, I'm the customer from earlier..." Yui explained to the figure behind the door.
Only after a long while did a voice come from the room again.
"Oh, it's you..."
With a piercing creak, the door opened.
"My lady, is there anything else you need?" The shopkeeper poked his head through the gap in the door.
"Ahem." Yui cleared her throat twice.
"Sir, do you know why there's nobody in the Small Town anymore?" Yui asked in confusion.
At her words, the shopkeeper froze.
After thinking for a moment, he sighed softly, then opened the door.
"My lady, please come in first!" He stepped aside slightly, leaving enough room for her to pass.
Seeing this, Yui nodded, then stepped inside.
"Sir, have all the residents of the Small Town moved away?" Yui asked again.
The whole room fell silent the moment she finished speaking.
After a long while, Yui heard a helpless sigh.
"Ah, as you can see, most of the residents here moved away a year ago!"
"All that's left is me and the merchandise in this shop!"
"Then why didn't you move away with them?" Yui was a little puzzled. If everyone in the Small Town had moved away, he shouldn't have stayed behind alone!
Unless he hadn't wanted to leave.
Sure enough, she heard the shopkeeper's answer a moment later.
"If it weren't for everything in this shop, I'd have moved away long ago!"
"I spent all my savings buying this merchandise. Not long after it arrived, the daimyo's office notified us that we had to relocate!"
"I don't know why they did it, either!" The shopkeeper was puzzled about that, too.
"We were living here just fine. There was no need to relocate!"