Instead of looking for a luxurious dress, Thyra opted for everyday comfy male clothing. She dumped out her old dress and was about to move out.
However, as she looked down from the second floor of the shop, she paused. She could still see a couple of people waiting at the front of the shop for her to come out.
At first, Thyra wanted to catch them, hoping to find some clues about the whereabouts of Jullia. However, after she received the note from Jullia, she did not need to do so.
Jullia had notified her to return to the viscounty and warned her not to meet or look for the viscount.
'I can use that. Thyra couldn't feel a little more excited. After receiving the first evaluation for Rika, she tried to perfect her [shapeshifing] skill. Although it was nowhere near perfect, she could hold the physical form for half a day.
There was still some room for improvement in this skill. She had to concentrate when she activated the skill. During the moment of intense emotion, some parts of her body changed back to normal. And she still couldn't perfectly replicate the inner mana.
However, she knew she didn't need to replicate the mana, nor would she show any strong emotion. Alas! She didn't know how much she had underestimated her sins.
She called the shop staff and asked for a robe. And the agent of the store was happy to show her. After all, unlike formal men's clothing, women's clothing was expensive. And he could earn more selling them.
Thyra chose a long robe that could cover her entire body. It ended up costing her three times more than the casual outfit.
"No matter which world it is, the dress is still costly." Thyra sighed and left the shop while covering her dress. Expectedly, they continued to follow her.
"Now I need to find someone whom not a lot of people will care about." Thyra continued to check her surroundings to look for someone she could copy. It didn't take her long to realise the truth.
'The only people they didn't care about were the poor.' Although the poorer district was far from this place, Thyra knew there would be some beggars in the back alley.
As soon as she entered the back alley, she increased her speed. The sudden change of pace and the twisting and turning of the alleyway increased the distance between her and her pursuer.
"This one will do." Sensing the pursuers were several alleys away, Thyra found the target. A young man with a nearly identical body size. He was sleeping against the back wall of some unknown building.
"Sleep a little more." Thyra touched him and absorbed mana from him, and her body continued to change under the robe.
When Rika told her about mana, she tried to do two different things while activating it. The first was to hold her physical form and transform the mana.
However, she soon realised one important point. She didn't consciously need to change her look; as long as she could manipulate the mana, her body would change by itself to look like the owner of the mana.
When she asked Rika, she said, "One could have two types of mana. One was innate mana, and the other was acquired mana. The acquired mana changes and can be absorbed from the surroundings, but the innate mana will remain the same throughout life."
However, the skill of the mutated slime essence gave her the skill to detect the difference in all types of mana and manipulate it. So as she tried to control her innate mana to transform, the skill activated, and her body started to change.
Thyra didn't dare wait for long. She didn't need to copy him perfectly. It would be enough if her body shape-shifted into a male body. She increased her speed, discarded her new robe, and joined in the rush of the market district.
Thyra gained enough distance and stopped to look at them. Soon, about four people came out of the alley. They tried hard to locate Thyra in the crowd.
At first, Thyra thought to track them back secretly. However, she had decided against it. For now, she didn't want to attract any more unnecessary trouble.
Alas! Fate had another plan.
{The form Thyra had taken was that of a male. So, from now on, I will denote Thyra as 'he'. I will revert to 'she' after Thyra undoes the skill.}
A hand grabbed him as soon as she was about to walk away. It was a young woman, someone he hadn't seen before.
"Verlan!?" The girl wasn't sure if she had found the correct person.
"Sorry, you got the wrong person." Thyra quickly freed his hand from hers and started walking away.
But the girl moved quickly and blocked her path as she took another look at his face, "No, you are Verlan. Where have you been? Everyone was looking for you."
And if things weren't worse, he could see those people approaching him. She was thinking about whether to use her thunder ability and escape.
"What are you waiting for? Come back. Everyone is worried sick about you. Mother…" The girl continued to talk, trying to convince Thyra.
Thyra decided to go with her. Thyra felt he could at least act like a good son, spend the night, and let them know about the place where this 'Verlan' actually is. Most importantly, he wanted to leave the place.
"Let's go," Thyra said.
At his word, the girl gave him a surprised look. She didn't expect him to agree so quickly. She jumped in happiness and called for a carriage.
'It looks like this boy is rich enough to ride the carriage,' Thyra thought. The girl gave the driver some directions before climbing into the carriage.
"Why did you leave without saying anything?" The girl was a chattering type. However, her constant talking lets Thyra know about a lot of things.
"Listen to me, Velran," She held his hand, saying, "Mother was angry, but you must understand you can't be with that girl. She is a…" She paused before continuing, "You need to make Mother happy first. You have to perform well. If you do, she might listen to you."
Thyra couldn't help but laugh in his heart. It is just a family problem. He wasn't sure about the body's age, but he couldn't be more than early twenty.
Thyra felt this boy must have fallen in love but ran away from home because his mother didn't agree to his marriage. He couldn't help but feel that this guy was the pampered son of a wealthy family.
The carriage soon reached its destination. Thyra noticed the building was much bigger than he had expected. It was even bigger than the real Viscount Manor.
As he looked closely, he realised the building had a unique design and was dyed red. The design was such that it would attract all the attention to itself.
When he read the name, he understood it wasn't a mansion.
The name was 'Sun and moon pleasure pavilion.'