Walking along the streets of Ashton city, in the area next to the Lock, with my hands inside of the pockets of my newly purchased black hoodie, I calmly looked at the stores around me.
As I observed the stores around me, glancing towards my right where a black cat was lazily resting on my shoulder, I helplessly shook my head.
...since I couldn't let her stay in the Lock by herself, I naturally could only bring her alongside with me on my little trip out.
Currently, there were quite a lot of people walking down the busy streets as shops with large signs and posters appeared everywhere. Moreover, large billboards with handsome and beautiful girls could be seen everywhere as every one hundred meters a new billboard could be seen.
"Waa, look at how cute that cat is?"
"Do you want to go pet it?"
"Look at its fur, it's so beautiful"
However, if there was one thing that was currently bothering me, it would be the continuous whispers coming from the people around me as everyone stared at the black cat who was quietly resting on my shoulder.
...the culprit for such commotion was obviously Angelica who was currently in disguise. Fortunately, the reason why they were looking at her wasn't because they had found out her true identity. No, rather, it was because she was too cute.
Despite currently being in the form of a cat, because of how naturally charming Angelica was, her charm was naturally preserved even in her cat form causing anyone that saw her to involuntarily want to pet her.
Fortunately, it looked like no one noticed that she was a demon else things could've gotten quite burdensome.
"Please don't touch her"
From time to time thought, I had to stop people from approaching her and touching her. This was for both my good and their good.
...considering the fact that Angelica was a bloodthirsty demon, there was a possibility of her suddenly killing anyone without notice. Moreover, if they suddenly injected mana inside of her body, there was a chance that her identity would be exposed. Thus, I stopped anyone that tried to approach her.
Lazily resting on my shoulder, gently licking one of her paws, Angelica asked
"Where are we going?"
Wearing my earbuds without playing any music, I calmly replied.
"Not sure, I'm just taking a casual look around"
...it's true.
Since I had nothing else to do, I decided to take a stroll in the city that was next to the Lock. Moreover, since I didn't trust Angelica being by herself in the Lock, I brought her with me.
...actually, I did have one goal in mind from this casual trip.
Buy a new sword.
Recalling my sword that was resting inside of my dorm, I couldn't help but sigh. Having spent a lot of time with me, I was naturally attached to it...however, now that I had gotten stronger, it was about time I switched weapons.
Hiding inside of my hoodie because of the constant pestering, Angelica softly said
"Casual look?"
"Yeah"
Honestly, this wasn't part of the original plan.
I had originally thought of visiting my family since my headquarters weren't too far from where they lived, but after a bit of thinking, I chose not to.
...I didn't want to alert Matthew of my appearance. If my appearance alerted him or altered his plans like before, there was a possibility of something unpleasant happening. Thus, after a bit of thinking, I decided to not interact with my family face-to-face until I returned from Immorra.
Of course, I would also make sure to voice call them from time to time, however, that wasn't really a problem as they would always make sure to call me at the end of each day. I guess this was the consequence of having a doting family...which was another reason as to why I had to get rid of the curse from their body.
...and on that note, I also needed to make preparations for the future after the curse that plagued my parents was dissolved.
Once I broke the curse, the first thing Matthew and his contracted demon would do would obviously be to try to attack my parents in hopes of taking revenge against me. This was obviously not ideal.
No, rather, this wasn't good at all.
Although my dad was a <D> ranked hero, the enemy he was facing at that time was unknown, I couldn't' afford to take any risk.
Therefore, I had to figure out what to do after I broke the curse. Feeling Angelica's small body hiding inside of the hood of my hoodie, I secretly thought to myself.
'Should I send her?'
If I sent her to protect them, perhaps Matthew wouldn't make a move...yeah, that idea sounded indeed quite plausible. Moreover, I was sure Nola was going to love Angelica in cat form.
Either way, that was something for another time.
Stopping in front of a pedestrian lane as I waited for the streetlight to turn green, looking ahead, I calmly spoke to the air.
"Angelica, are you sure they won't be able to spot you once we get in the Lock? You know that the Lock is filled with S ranked heroes right? I find it hard to believe that you can hide from their prying eyes"
This was the thing I was most worried about.
With the fact that the whole academy was filled with superhuman teachers who could crush buildings with just the flick of their fingers, my concerns were understandable.
After all, with how strong they were, they could probably discover her secret no?
With her body curled together and eyes closed, hearing my question Angelica lazily responded
"Do not worry human, as long as I retain my form and don't channel any of my energy, it is impossible for anyone to notice my presence unless they are touching me or are using an extremely special skill. I've already tested this before..."
Hearing this, I secretly sighed in relief.
...She was probably not lying, still, it was better to be safe rather than sorry. After I returned back to the Lock, it was better that I set some rules for Angelica.
Like for example never go out whenever I was not with her or other boring stuff like that. Though I sounded like a mom, this was in fact for my own benefit after all. Her actions directly reflected me, therefore, she had to be obedient.
As my thoughts paused there, I soon found myself in front of a large shop with the word [Remedy Bookstore] written on it.
"Might as well"
Staring at the sign for a couple of seconds, I decided to open the door and go in.
...I had suddenly recalled the fact that I needed to buy some books for some of the courses. The sword could wait for after this.
-Ding -Dong!
Entering the building, the bells at the front door lightly chimed indicating that a customer had come in. Thereafter, as soon as I stepped in, I instantly smelled the scent of books and paper enter the nostrils of my nose prompting me to savor the new smell.
"Welcome"
Greeting me at the front desk was an elegant young man that wore a brown apron. Pointing towards the different rows of bookshelves in the distance, he calmly explained.
"If you're looking for books, on your right you can find the fiction area, in the middle materials you can find the materials for academy studies. Lastly, on your left, there is the research materials section where different unproven hypotheses are posted. Everything that you desire you can find it here, so please take your time and enjoy reading the books till then"
"Thank you very much"
Nodding my head towards the clerk, I quickly headed towards the middle area. Taking out my phone I quickly scrolled down and checked which book I needed to buy and proceeded to pick them one by one.
"Principles of mana combustion, Law and integration of modern society, Decomposition of molecular..."
After a while, holding onto a stack of books whilst making sure I took everything that I needed, I directly headed back towards where the clerk was. However, abruptly stopping, my eyesight soon paused on a certain book that was being displayed in the open.
[48 laws of power]
Staring at the book for a couple of seconds, a frown appeared on my face as I softly mumbled
"48 laws of power? I think I've heard of this book back in my previous world..."
Out of curiosity, walking over to where the book was, putting the books in my hand down, I casually flipped through some of the pages of the book. However, after ten minutes, I soon found myself unable to stop reading. My mind was completely engrossed.
"Huuu..."
After a while, exhaling out loud, I couldn't help but look at the book in front of me with a bit of excitement.
...though it was a quick skim, my mind was currently blown away by the insights contained within the book. It was literally a walking cheat code for any transmigration protagonist...it was insane.
-Plack!
"I'm buying this"
Without hesitation, closing the book I quickly decide to buy this book. As I thought about all of the possibilities I could achieve after I read and referenced this book, a faint smile appeared on my lips.
"Ren?"
However, just as I was basking in my own delusions, snapping me out of my thoughts, was the sound of a soft and cold voice coming not so far from where I was.
Frowning and turning around, I soon found to my surprise, a beautiful young girl with glossy black hair staring in my direction.
"Who are you?"
Taking a better look at the young girl that had just called my name, at first I didn't recognize who it was as they were wearing a pair of sunglasses and a baseball hat, however, lowering her glasses, I was soon able to identify who it was resulting in my pupils constricting slightly.
"...Amanda?"
