Tale of Greya Virus. The Oath of Two Worlds. Book 2. Followers of the Dark Goddess Greya

Excerpts from the book:
The young lady was distracted from her thoughts by the voice of Maia:
“Lycoris, let's go to that store over there! I forgot to buy some spices at the market, and here they are a huge selection!”
Ms. Teiwaz pointed to a building located along the road along which the girls returned to the mansion. ‘Spice Shop’, read a bright sign on the store, decorated with images of exotic plants.
“Go there? Have you been there before?” Farrell was momentarily taken aback.
For some reason, at the sight of the shop, the girl was overcome by bad forebodings. An inner voice stubbornly told her: “Don’t go there!”
But Maia smiled happily and answered:
“Of course, I have been there many times before! They have great prices! And the owner of the shop is a real handsome man!”
“Oh, I see,” Lycoris said skeptically, thinking to herself that the maid went to the Spice Shop in the first place for that very reason.
And her guess turned out to be correct. However, Maia did not want to admit it openly.
The girls entered the store. They were met by the melodic sound of a bell hanging over the door.
Inside the room there were rows with various dried spices in bright boxes, dried fruits and dried herbs. The aroma of spices hung in the air, mingled with the smell of some oil.
“Welcome Ms. Maia and her friend!” a young man of pleasant appearance immediately greeted the visitors. “We just got new spices delivered!”
“Good afternoon, Mr. Swartz!” Maia replied with a smile.
She introduced Lycoris, and after exchanging a number of formal courtesies, the girl began to choose spices.
Meanwhile, Lycoris felt dizzy. “Probably because of the strong smell of various spices, I'm not used to them,” she decided.
Farrell wanted to warn Maia that she would go outside for some fresh air and wait for her outside. Suddenly she heard the voice of her friend:
“Oh my head...” said Ms. Teiwaz, clutching at the wooden wall.
And suddenly, unconscious, she fell to the floor.
Lycoris wanted to bring Maia back to her senses, but realized that her consciousness was also slipping away. Literally in a moment, she was completely swallowed up by darkness, and the girl, like her companion, lost consciousness and fell to the floor.
Mr. Swartz chuckled contentedly.
“Serna, help me!” he called his subordinate. “We need to get them out of here quickly before anyone sees!”
From the door at the back of the room appeared a young boy of about seventeen or eighteen years old, with fox ears. He was a beast-human from the fox tribe of the Kai Empire, and once Swartz bought him as a slave. Since in Ferrum, unlike Kai, slavery was prohibited, Serna was formally a servant of Swartz.
Without further ado, the boy carried Lycoris deep into the shop while his master carried Maia.
When they finally finished, the shop owner said to his slave-servant:
“And blow out the incense with sleeping mixture, then ventilate the room. Although we have adapted to this smell, it is better not to inhale it too much. And other visitors should not suspect anything. I never expected that today would be such a good day! Two girls came here at once, in the service of Lady Landriano!”
Serna obediently blew out the incense burner hidden in the corner, which he imperceptibly lit when Maia and Lycoris appeared on the threshold, and opened the windows. Then he timidly asked:
“Sir, I know that you need to bring the girls to the Forbidden City to be sacrificed to the goddess Greya. But these two are maids of Countess Landriano. Wouldn't that arouse unnecessary suspicion? Maybe it's better to let them go and find someone else?”
Serna did not like doing what he had to do at all. And he really liked Maia — the girl was always kind to him, while most people treated the beast-humans negatively...