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–––Ciel’s viewpoint

The shopkeeper held multiple sets of clothing, similar to those usually worn by the young girls in the city. There were also robes common amongst adventurers, slightly dusty leather hats and a triangle bandage. This was not a specialized shop so I did not expect much from their hat assortment, but somehow this was perfect.

“These clothes should fit your measurements perfectly I believe. Also the robes might look cheap, but they’re really sturdy and can even work as blankets when camping outside. Now these hats are pretty big, so I’m sure you could even cover half your face just by pulling on them a little, and they’re really resistant so it will boost your defenses too. This triangle bandage is pretty big too, so if you wear it like a bandana it should cover your head too. I’d usually charge one gold and three silver coins for all of this, but I’ll give you a deal and take only the gold coin.”
“…Thank you.”

I almost snorted in ridicule hearing his fake humble voice. All of that for more than a gold coin? Usually items like that would be far more cheaper. I would expect it to cost at most eight silver coins. But haggling would be annoying to deal with, considering I was pressed for time. I gave the shopkeeper the gold coin, and turned to look at Karin.

“I think this is everything, let’s go, Karin.”
“Alright.”

We divided the items between the two of us and left the store, retracing our steps back into the alleys. We had obtained the clothes, now we just had to get back safely to the others. I looked forward, and noticed a strange crowd approaching us.

They were all rather well dressed, but had a rowdy appearance too. There were around six of them walking together, going down the street acting like they owned it. Anyone who made eye contact with them would look away, stepping out of the way to not disturb them. It was easy to conclude they were the nobles that had come to the city…or their underlings.

“…Karin, you know what to do, right?”
“Of course. Considering their behavior I doubt they’re really all that strong. I can take all of them down in less than a minute.”
“No! We’re not supposed to raise any alarms!”

I jerked Karin’s shoulder as she vigorously shook her fist. This was giving me a headache. She had never been the sharpest tool in the shed, but I was starting to think she had gotten even more aggressive after our training. I really had to hold her hand through everything if I wanted things to go smoothly…

“We’d already be fighting if that was an option. We have to learn more about our opponents first, and make sure Maria and Sepia are safe. Grom probably needs help too, so try to restrain yourself.”
“I see… Well, I guess you’re right.”
“Hey, you there! What are you babbling about?!”

It seems our discussion caught their attention, and one of the men raised his voice and approached us with long strides. Yeah…he clearly was no big deal. Even I would be able to overpower him. He seemed to be the leader of their group, as the other men followed closely behind him.

“Nothing really, just discussing where to spend the night tonight.”
“The night..? Hmm.”

He muttered as he turned a sleazy look at me, examining my body up and down. I felt chills down my spine and my hairs stood up. Unlike the shopkeeper earlier, he made no effort at all to conceal his lust. He was likely imagining nasty things already.

“Are you two adventurers?”
“Yes, we are. What about it?”
“Are you really adventurers? What’s your names?”
“I’m…Mary, and she’s Sherry.”

I almost blurted my real name, so it took me a while to actually reply. But he noticed my hesitation, narrowing his eyes with suspicion.

“Mary and Sherry, huh… What’s your rank?”
“Silver, both of us.”
“Oh, that’s quite a high level.”

He sounded impressed. But he was not done questioning us yet.

“Take your plates out then, I’ll check them.”
“Huh?”

Our plates…we were not that prepared! We were only carrying our gold plates. If we showed those, they would instantly know we were lying.

“What’s wrong? You can’t show me?”
“Umm…where did I put it? I’d swear I had left it in my pocket…”

I pretended to search through my pockets to buy time and think of something, but I was under so much stress nothing came to mind. This was bad, there was a chance they had caught us.

“That’s suspicious. Losing a plate means an expensive fine from the guild, I don’t think anyone would be so careless. Are you really adventurers? I hope you don’t happen to be spies from another country.”
“Of course not…we would never do something like that.”
“It’s still suspicious. We’ll investigate this properly, let’s go to the guard station.”

He placed his arm on my shoulder as I kept sweating. This was bad…at this rate…but then he was sent flying away.

“Wha-?!”
“What do you think you’re doing!”

Karin stood next to me, her fist stretched out defiantly. She looked at me with a grin and said something unimaginable.

“Mary, our cover is blown now, they know we’re spies now. Let’s knock them down and run away.”

She called me Mary and a spy…I was speechless, unable to comprehend. Was she trying to adopt the man’s suspicion? It was a bit far-fetched, but doing that would avoid forming any connection to Luvias or Grom, it was quite a good plan for such a desperate measure!

“…Yeah, you’re right. There’s no turning back now, let’s go, Sherry!”

I unsheathed the sword, a weapon I was not used to brandishing, and we ran towards the other men.