328 Shopping Spree
"Pa! Dis one, dis one, and dis too!" Sera dashed around the shop, her hands landing on every dress that caught her eye, most of them had something shiny.
With a smile, I trailed behind her, picking up each dress that she touched. "Sera, you know you'll grow soon, and then these won't fit you anymore."
Sera pouted. "But me want dem!"
I tilted my head back slightly, chuckling at her adorable way of speaking, and nodded. "Alright, how about I buy the whole shop for you?"
"Pa can do that?!" Sera spun around to look at me, stars sparkling in her eyes. I chuckled again and shook my head.
"It was just a joke, silly. Anyway, let's head back. I think we've done enough shopping for today."
Before me, there was a shopping cart loaded with a tall mountain of dresses, all neatly packed in transparent boxes or sheets.
Each package had a chip implanted, connected to the shop's home network, which would trigger an alert if something suddenly disappeared.
This meant I couldn't simply slip anything into my smart bracelet and make it vanish, not that I had any intention to do so.
The return on my investments could easily be more than enough to buy a property as big as this shop within this city.
Although buying property in a more expensive city like Silveserine was still out of my reach.
While Wolfshire was expensive, it didn't quite reach the same heights of real estate pricing as Silveserine.
Yeah, even nobles cry when they have to pay a fortune to buy the expensive land in the City Of Elves.
I guess managing the economy of his territory was the one thing my father had been successful at – because he certainly failed at parenting for all his children.
"Aww, so soon?" Sera pouted, shaking me out of my ridiculing thoughts.
Seeing her disappointment, I smirked and patted her head, "You can have anything you want anytime, so don't be too sad."
"...Oki," Sera sighed, reluctantly nodding her pretty little head.
With that, we left the kids' clothing section and made our way to the checkout counter.
Since the place mostly catered to nobles and high-ranking upper class citizens, we didn't attract too much attention because of my identity ...emphasis on "too much."
—"Oh, look! Is that Lucas Morningstar?"
—"Nonsense, why would he come back here? And why would he come to this place?"
—"But he really looks like him!"
—"No, he doesn't! This guy... he looks… more handsome! Also, take a look at the child he's with. Morningstars don't have a daughter this young."
—"Ahh, I suppose you're right? Maybe I got confused because of the silver hair. But wow, they're both stunning! Especially the guy!"
—"Absolutely! And I can already tell his little sister will grow up to be a beauty. And then there's me and my ugly face... Ahh, life is so unfair! Tsk!"
—"I feel you, girl... I feel you."
—"Can you both please shut up and let me feast my eyes on that hottie in peace?"
Shaking my head, I fastened my pace. Sera held onto my pinky finger, doing her best to follow me with her chubby little legs.
That group of ladies back there thought Sera was my younger sister. Well, logically, she did look like my little sister since she held a striking resemblance to me.
Aside from a few strands of red mixed in with her lush silver hair, she appeared to be a miniature, gender-swapped version of me.
But what really caught my attention was how they discussed my appearance.
After noticing a significant increase in my charm stat, I looked into the uselessly big silver-plated mirror in my room.
Almost instantly, I found out that my appearance had indeed undergone a significant change.
Nothing about my physical features had changed – I still had crimson red eyes, silver hair, a perfectly symmetrical face, and a lean physique.
However, something subtle, yet incredibly profound, had shifted in my appearance.
My face held an otherworldly charm, akin to the temperament of a poet's verse.
My bright red eyes now had a great depth to them, like two crimson stars hidden in the depth of never-ending wells of scarlet desires.
And my silver hair now cascaded with an ethereal luster, much like the shimmering trails left behind by falling stars.
Heh, and just when I thought I couldn't get any more perfect-looking than I already was.
However, I didn't think I should walk around in my true appearance. For more than one reason.
When we arrived at this mall complex, it was the middle of the afternoon, and there weren't many people around. Plus, I had so much on my mind that changing my appearance hadn't even crossed my thoughts.
But now, as the noon hour was about to end and more and more people flooded the streets and the mall, I felt like I should alter my appearance.
With that in mind, I entered an elevator. There was no one inside apart from Sera and me, so I channeled mana throughout my body and activated my movement art.
Instantly, the air around me wavered and distorted, as if I were standing in the midst of a scorching desert on a sunny day.
Before the elevator landed and its doors parted, I had turned into a bronze-
skinned young adult man with a head full of black hair, and a pair of ocean-
blue eyes gracing my angular face.
Sera did not seem to mind my sudden shapeshifting and continued walking with me as if everything was perfectly normal.
After settling the bill at the cashier's checkpoint, I picked up the packages one by one and stored everything in the pocket space of my dimensional ring that I got from Reina.
Everything I picked up turned into a rain of ethereal white sparks and flooded into my ring.
The cashier lady gave me a surprised look. She was probably a mundane woman so seeing magic technology that was only available to cadets must not be an everyday occurence for her.
Once I was done, Sera and I exited the mall complex and made our way toward the Wolf's Den.
While walking, I checked my smart bracelet to see that Master had still not replied to my message.
I was not worried or anything, since I knew replying late was normal for him. He also used a lot of emojis while texting for someone his age. Heh.
Ohwell, I thought. I was planning to pack my things and leave the city today.
The only reason I stayed three extra days in this damned place was because of what suddenly happened with Sera.
I was confused and needed to safely check everything. I also needed to understand what and why it happened.
After all, I could not risk something even more bizzare happening during the journey where I wouldn't even be able to hide it.
All of my worries were out of the window now.
"Maybe I'll go back to the academy and see Leo personally—" Just as I was musing to myself, I accidentally bumped into someone.
Thud—
"Arghh! I'm so sorry! My focus was…"
"No, no, it was my fault! I should–"
"Wait, Amelia?" I quickly turned to look at the person I had collided with.
To my surprise, it turned out to be the familiar black-haired archeress. She was also looking at her smart bracelet, likely texting someone.
But when I mentioned her name, she looked at me with confusion and then shifted her gaze to Sera. After a moment, she turned her attention back to me and tilted her head, clearly puzzled.
Then, her eyes suddenly lit up with recognition, and she gasped in surprise. "Wait just a minute, Lucas?"
I reluctantly nodded, causing her jaw to drop even more. She once again jiggled her gaze between Sera and me before speaking in a whisper, "Are you kidnapping a child alone?"
My eyes suddenly widened as I lifted my free hand to wave in dismissal, "No, no… wait, what do you mean by 'alone?' Ahh, anyway, I can explain!"
