Chapter 27 - CHAPTER 26

"Let's go there!"
"Look at this Eli! It looks interesting!"
"Hmmm, I think this one is more delicious than this one"
"Eli, Eli! Here! Here!"

Eleanor shook her head but the smile on her face remained due to how cute her companion is acting. They're currently going from place to place in Primor's market where a lot of shops are built.

Before leaving the guild, the 2 didn't wear their mask. Historia told them that since no one really knows Eli's real identity as a 'privileged person' in Primor (since the only people who knows her behind the mask are the people living in the main city where she lived before with Meridia), they'll be safe…or should she say, it'll be safe for Eli to not wear her mask.

But, when Ren still can't help but worry about Eli, Raul came into the scene and gave them potions instead. Hair and eye color-changing potions that are very hard to obtain since the ingredients to make it are hard to find.

At first, the two refused to accept this potion since it's super expensive and using it just for a mere stroll will be such a waste to them, but with Historia's great convincing skills, they accept it in the end.

And now, here they are enjoying themselves while strolling from one shop to another. "Eli, here…", the hyper Ren stopped in his tracks when he saw the girl just standing not so far from him, smiling at the view of him enjoying himself in every place they visited.

He ran back towards her and held her flushed face. His face frowned and his head hanged down.

"Hey, aren't you going to check that one store over there?", Eli asked him but then noticed that his hyperactive self changed into a sad one. Due to her being so small compared to him, she inched closer to Ren and looked up at his face from below.

"Hey, what's wrong? Did something happen?", she asked, concern lacing from her voice. Ren shook his head in silence, "Then tell me what's wrong. Hmm?"

Ren looked at her eye and sighed. He put both of his hands on both of the girl's cheeks and looked at her with solemn eyes. "I'm sorry", is what he said first.

"Sorry for what?", Eli asked wondering if something happened that caused her jolly friend to act like this. 'He's just enjoying himself earlier, then in a split second he's all down like this', worry became evident to the girl's face as she held both of the boy's hands that are on each of her cheeks.

"I enjoyed myself too much to the point of forgetting about looking out for you. We've been walking from store to store for hours now and I haven't even noticed how cold your face has become despite you fully clothed with a warm cloak on. I'm sorry, I was carried away since this is just the second time I came here and the very first time I enjoyed walking around in this place"

Eli looked at him questioningly, 'Second time that he came here? First time he enjoyed strolling here? So does that mean he came here before? Oh, maybe he came with his parents for a visit since they do have a property back at Orien'

The girl was busy thinking about what the young gentleman said while the latter was busy rubbing the girl's face in attempt to make it a bit warmer. "Let's go somewhere warm", Ren said as his eyes immediately tried to find a shop where they can stay to keep warm for a bit.

"How about the store where you wanted to go next?", Eli questioned. "Nevermind that, we can go there later. Let's warm you up first, or maybe, do you perhaps want to go back to the guild now?", the girl shook her head.

"No, the tour or should I say, the stroll is not over yet", she smiled at him warmly, holding onto his hands more tightly. "There! How about we go to that café? We can eat and fill our tummies and at the same time get you warmed up", Ren pointed at a café and the moment Eli saw it, her eyes widen, but before she can even protest, Ren was already dragging her towards that café.

The bell ranged as they felt warmth engulfed them the moment they entered the café. "Here, sit here", Ren said helping Eli sit on one of the seats open. Ren sat opposite from her but the moment he glanced at her face, he frowned.

"Are you still cold? This place is warm enough though", he asked. He stood up again and came close to her, placing his cloak on her hoping she'll get warmer after that, but the problem is, the temperature is not the one making Eleanor feel cold this time, it's the place they're in.

She closed her eyes as flashbacks came into her head. She opened her eyes again and sighed, she's back here….to the bakery where she once worked. The bakery where she used to live and work before right after Ren entered the academy for wizards is now a café. And that's where they are right now.

It might look bigger since it's a café now but the atmosphere, the cakes and breads they sell, and especially the one woman on the counter are all very familiar to her. The bakery where she and the crown prince were attacked causing her to use her unique ability accidentally is now a brand new café.

But, it's not just about the memory of her almost getting killed after being associated with the male lead. There is one more reason why she's getting nervous right now.

Back when the crown prince started looking for her, the one who gave him some of her information is the shop owner. That's why on the wanted list her name, age, and description were all written there.

Thankfully, through Historia and the guild's great efforts, that issue about her being wanted was buried to the ground faster than she expected. But, the fact that the owner sold her out still lingers on her mind. Though she know that there are 2 possibilities why the owner did that; one, they might've threatened or ordered her as the crown prince to make her talk or two, they might've paid her some money to make her talk.

And even though she's on a disguise right now, she can't help but feel nervous for some reason. Somewhere inside of her, she might be feeling a bit on edge like any minute that owner might look at her, figure out who she is, and report her to the crown prince just like before. Though that can't happen because of the disguise.

"I'll order now, anything you want Eli?", Eleanor snapped back to reality and looked at Ren waiting for her to tell him what she wants to eat. She looked at the familiar menu, trying to calm herself during that time and said,

"I'll have 1 slice of mango cake and a hot chocolate milk", Ren nodded and walked towards the counter. It took him a few minutes and soon, he came back with a tray containing all of the foods he ordered and a box that looks like something they'll bring back to share to the guild members.

"You really are kinda unique Eli", Eleanor, who was about to eat the cake on her fork, stopped and looked at Ren questioningly. "Why?", she asked, the boy pointed his fork on her cake and said, "Some other girls I know love strawberry, blueberry, or even apple cakes and many more. But I noticed that you on the other hand love mangos rather than those. You either eat mango cakes, or even candies and drinks. As long as there's a mango on the menu, that's what you'll get"

Eli laughed at Ren's keen observation and took a bite at the cake on her fork. She then chewed properly before speaking.

"Well, it's just a habit", she said with a smile. "Hmm, must've been when you were still younger", and with that remark, Ren continued eating his chocolate cake again.

Eleanor glanced outside the window and smiled at herself, 'Actually, it was because it's my favorite fruit aside from lychee back on my first life. But, well…I can't say that, can I?'



















The 2 continued strolling and visiting other shops again after eating from the café. Eli was thankful that the owner didn't notice her at all due to a lot of people she has to serve.

Currently the 2 stopped at the next store. A store that sells antiques and many more different things. They are the only people in the store since it must've been not that popular to everyone.

"Just take a look all you want", the old man said with a smile. The two looked around; Ren was on the left side checking out some kind of compass while Eli on the right side was just glancing on the shelves when she noticed something.

"Umm, excuse me. May I ask what this is?", she asked as she took a shiny greyish/silverish ball out of the shelf to show it to the old man. But he just shook his head.

"I'm sorry young miss; even I don't know what that is. I don't recall that belonging to any of my things here", he said as Eli stared at the ball again. It's a bit heavy but she can still carry it in one hand. "I'll buy it", she said as she took out her pouch and put some coins in the counter making the old man's eyes widen.

"Oh no, no! This is not from my shop, you don't need to buy it from me", he said refusing to accept the money that she gave.

"But I found it here, so it's only right to pay for something that came from your shop. Besides, take this money as a help to your shop sir and as a thanks for letting me have it", she smiled at him, pushing the coins towards the old man again. This time, he sighed and accepted them with a genuine smile.

The 2 left the store with the both of them staring at the odd ball that Eli got. "You didn't get anything for yourself?", she asked, Ren shook his head and continued to stare at the ball.

"I can't find something I want to buy there, besides, I'm more curious about this ball. How do you play with it?", he said as he started inspecting the ball using his eyes.

They were interrupted though when a man passed by them before they heard a scream. "Thief! Thief! That's my bag!", the woman that looks like a noble shouted, she doesn't have any guards with her so she might be a lower class noble, and base on how she handled things, looks like she doesn't have any abilities.

Looks like the thief stole her bag right at the perfect moment where no guards on patrol are passing by. Eli looked at Ren who looked back at her and they soon took off. "You're a fast runner, go on!", Eli shouted as Ren nodded to her and went on ahead.

She panted and stopped for a bit to breathe a little in an alleyway. She was about to continue running after Ren when she felt a chill on her spine. She became alert and soon enough, she felt a heavy load fell on top of her, pinning her to the ground.

She opened her eyes and tried to look at what's going on and saw men in familiar black suit. 'Era Organization!', she started to struggle to get up when she notice that what landed on her is not a 'thing' but a person. A man in black suit similar to the ones who's surrounding her right now.

'I didn't expect this! Trouble really finds me anywhere!'

"The privileged person who can use Holy Objects", she stopped struggling after hearing one of them talk. 'How do they know that it's me? The potion is still working right?'

She looked at her hair beside her and saw that it was still in a different color, blue, meaning she's still in disguise. "W-what are you…what are y-you talking about?", she tried to play innocent but one of them, the one on top of her, bend down and said.

"Quit playing innocent. Master thinks you're a threat since you can use things that only they can use, besides that, you're also one of the people who ruined our plans. So we need to eliminate you before you pose more threat to our goal", he said. That's when Eli really starts to panic.

She started to struggle more, trying to free at least one of her hand. She doesn't have any time to think now, she needs her staff! She can't die here like this!

They caught both of her arms, and they made her stand up with both of her arms still on her back. She tried to struggle more and out of desperation, gave a high kick one of the men holding her hand. It hit his abdomen and he stumbled, freeing her from his grasp. That's when she tried to get her earring again but was stopped by a knife that grazed her wrist.

"Ahh!", she screamed as blood flowed from her wrist. It's a good thing she's still not dead after that. The shock made her stuck in her place with pale face. "Don't move, I'm not good at aiming you see", the man who threw the knife said. Her hands started to turn cold as they dragged her towards another man who took out a dagger. "Let's just do it in one go so you won't feel a thing okay?", he said like a psychopath.

They dragged her again for the last time to get closer to that psycho man but then due to the force, the ball she'd hidden on her pocket rolled out and fell to the ground.

"What the hell is this thing?", one of the men in black suit said as he inched closer to inspect the ball but then, Eli's eyes widen when she heard a click sound coming from that ball.

'BOMB?! Is that a bomb?! Oh my goddess! We're gonna die! I'm gonna die!', she closed her eyes and waited for an explosion but heard and felt nothing. She slowly opened her eyes and in front of them, the simple ball that looks like it's made of steel turned into a….dog?!

'The heck is this?! A freakin tr*nsf*rm*r?! No wait, those are cars though! But wait…that's a freakin robot!', her mind went into a turmoil for a split second but then came back to reality after the dog looked at her, trying to recognize her. Then,

"Analyzing. Analyzation complete. Identity: The owner", a robot like voice spoke; it doesn't sound like a girl robot but a boy. The dog continued to look all over Eli. Seems like it's still analyzing some things.

"What the f*ck is that?! Get rid of it!", one of the men shouted, 2 of the men started getting closer to the dog but then, the moment that dog looked at Eli's bounded hands, it's normal blue eyes turned gold and in an instant, his small size (the size of a puppy) turned into a 6 ft robot dog monster.

All of them looked at it with shock, and mostly fear. "Owner in danger", it said. The men in black suits all started backing down when suddenly, out of the golden eyes of the dog, a laser, much to Eli's shock, cutting the man's arm holding her.

'What the heck?!!!!!'

She can't believe what she's now seeing. In front of her, men in black suits tried to destroy that robot. One of them even poured a potion on it but, "It's waterproof", the girl watching them said as the dog's laser either cut their weapon or their limbs.

And soon, dead bodies surrounded her. She just stood there, still in shock; her mind seems to be lagging. She just came back to her senses when she saw the dog making its way towards her. She stepped back a little and was about to touch her earring when it spoke.

"Scanning…owner.is.afraid", looks like it just scanned her emotional state. Slowly, the 6 ft robot dog turned back into a small puppy with blue eyes. "Owner.is.calming.down", it said as it settled down and plopped down itself on her feet.

"W-what are…I mean who…I mean, why are you here…how did you get in here? In this world?", Eli tried to ask. The robot just stared at her but soon, "Name.is….Riku", the robot, Riku, said.

"You, you're not just a normal robot back in my previous world, you…you seem to be a some kind of weapon invented, for wars maybe?", Eli continued to inspect the dog that just looked at her with its cute blue puppy eyes when they heard someone.

"What the heck is this?!", they turned towards where the voice came from and found Ren there. He's holding the bag that was stolen on one of his hands and the thief on the other. His wide eyes stared at the girl with corpses surrounding her together with an odd white dog with black ears and blue eyes.

"Don't ask me for now, I….I'm still dumbfounded as you can see", Eleanor said as she looked back at the robot blankly. "Okay umm, come here", Ren held his hand out to help Eli step out from the circle of corpses.

She held his hand and carefully stepped out from the disgusting circle. The two then stopped when Riku started to growl at Ren. "D-don't hurt him! He's my friend!", Eli immediately shouted making the robot stop and sit down again like an obedient dog.

"Now, is that thing safe?", Eli nodded. Still hesitating,

"Okay, so umm, stay here and wait for me, I'll just deliver this back. We'll talk after that", and with that, he left her on the corner, look at her one more time and ran out of the alley.

Minutes later, he came back and slowly came up to where Eli is with Riku staring at him cautiously. "O-okay. What happen here?", he asked as he looked at Eli and then at the dead men.

"These people, they're wearing black suits…wait, are they from ERA?!", he panicked after noticing who those dead people are. "Are you hurt?! What did they do to you?", he frantically searched for any wounds on her and his face paled when he saw her bleeding wrist.

"Shoot! Why didn't you tell me?!", he took out a handkerchief then slowly and gently wrapped it around her bleeding wrist, trying to stop the bleeding. Eli looked at it blankly, looks like her brain is still not processing a few more things, that's why she can't seem to feel anything on her injured wrist.

"Owner.is.hurt", the robot said again, it sounded like he's disappointed that he just realized now.

The dog hanged his head low as the two whispered to each other.

"Did they do that to you?"
"Well, umm yeah"

Eli didn't noticed but Ren's facial expression turned cold in a split second before it came back to normal.

"How did this happen to them?"
"It was that dog that killed them"
"…Where did that dog came from?"

Eleanor scratched her head with her unharmed hand and said, "That's previously my ball"