As few people were going shopping for clothes at that time, especially on a working day, when Kara and Ophelia entered the clothing store for wealthy adventurers, they saw no more than two customers wandering among the shelves, while at the counter, a young woman dressed as if for a ball was sleeping with her head on the table.
"It seems you were right. The atmosphere in this store is quite cozy..." Ophelia joked, nodding toward the young woman who was asleep.
"Well, she's not the one in charge of the store, it's her grandfather. She's more... like the store's mascot...", Kara felt compelled to defend the reputation of the shop she had chosen.
As a bell rang when the door opened, alerting the back room of the store, the owner, who was doing inventory on some newly arrived goods, peeked out to see what was happening in the shop.
Recognizing Kara, the old man immediately looked toward the counter, fearing that his granddaughter was about to get into another conflict with her, but to his relief, she was sound asleep. Normally, he would be furious when he caught her sleeping while she was supposed to watch the store, but at that moment, he felt like going over and patting her on the head.
Regardless, to ensure there would be no incident that might cost him money, he stopped what he was doing and came out to personally greet Kara, planning to accompany her until she left the store.
"Honorable customer, it's good to see you again. Tell me, did you have any issues with the clothes?", the old man said as he reached Kara and Ophelia, who were inspecting a pants rack.
"Oh, good day. No, I didn't find anything wrong with the clothes. On the contrary, since I was pleased with them, I decided to come and buy a few more, both for myself and for my girlfriend...", Kara replied, introducing Ophelia, who was standing to her right.
Since he had been too stressed about Kara's return, whom his intuition told him was extremely dangerous, the shopkeeper had paid no attention to Ophelia until then, so when he finally looked at her, he was shocked by her striking beauty and charm. In his long career as a merchant, during which tens of thousands of women had passed through his shop, he couldn't recall ever seeing a young woman more full of sensuality than her.
"Ahem!" Kara interrupted his contemplation, her sharp gaze making him feel as if he were submerged in a pool of freezing water, not alone, but surrounded by a hundred sharks.
"!!!!", the shopkeeper panicked, tearing his eyes away from Ophelia as quickly as possible, as not only was it inappropriate for someone of his age to be fascinated by a young woman the same age as his granddaughter, but she was also the girlfriend of the formidable demon he didn't want to upset. Nonetheless, he had to admit the situation was ironic: he had been trying to prevent his granddaughter from upsetting Kara, only to end up angering her himself.
"Sorry, I was just stunned by how well you two fit together. Honestly, I've always believed that a great beauty should be beside another great beauty...", the shopkeeper tried to smooth things over, saying what he thought Kara most wanted to hear.
In truth, the situation wasn't as serious as the shopkeeper believed, because Kara didn't treat those who admired her girlfriend's beauty the same way she treated those who tried to make advances on her, because Kara knew it was impossible for anyone not to find Ophelia extremely attractive. Yes, she couldn't go around punishing everyone for their natural reaction to such beauty as Ophelia's. Or maybe she could, but she realized she wouldn't have time for anything else if she did. Besides, there was a risk of making Ophelia feel suffocated.
"Well, I can't deny what you said...", Kara finally replied, letting the shopkeeper stress for a few seconds. "Anyway, we'll continue looking at clothes for a while. If we have any questions, we'll call you...", Kara continued, making it clear she didn't want the shopkeeper hovering over them.
"Alright. You'll find me at the counter..." the shopkeeper said kindly, then walked away from them with large strides, breathing a sigh of relief. While Kara had been eyeing him, he had feared that even if he gave her all the clothes in the store for free, it wouldn't be enough to appease her. Knowing that even an ordinary woman can be dangerous when in love, he now saw Kara as an even greater threat.
"It seems that entering the mating season is making you more and more territorial. Now you can't even stand old men looking at me...", Ophelia joked about Kara. Well, maybe she said it as a joke, but since she realized that Kara's class came with a significant amplification of animalistic instincts, she didn't rule out the possibility.
Kara neither confirmed nor denied this, but simply joined Ophelia in laughing. However, in her mind, she had to admit Ophelia was right because, after the passionate night they had spent together, her emotions had become somewhat harder to control. But she didn't believe that her exaggerated possessiveness was entirely due to her new class; she was convinced she would have behaved similarly even if she hadn't evolved her class, as she had always been a greedy person who didn't like to share anything she considered hers. Besides, many people were unwilling to take a relationship between two women seriously, so she had to be more proactive to make those who had thoughts about her girlfriend back off.
"...Anyway, with him around, I couldn't keep you updated on what those who are following us are doing, especially since the situation seems to be heading toward a climax...", Kara thought it best to warn Ophelia in advance that the two noblemen and their four guards were planning to attack them while they were in the store.
"Huh, they want to attack us while we're in this store?", Ophelia asked, knowing from Kara that the noblemen and the rest of their guards had joined the one who had been following them, and intended to kidnap them. However, she hadn't expected the two noblemen to make such a decision; she had thought they would likely attack when they entered a quieter street, where fewer people passed by.
"From what I gathered from their conversation, they figured that if they ambushed us in the middle of the street, there would be a higher chance of people talking about them kidnapping young women, compared to attacking us in a store, where they'd only have to bribe the owner to keep quiet. Besides, in a store, our chances of escaping would be much lower. Initially, they planned to attack us right after they reunited, while we were in the shop selling magically-enhanced clothing, but they thought that store might have some artifact ensuring security that could foil their plans, so they decided to wait until we entered another store...", Kara explained the reasons why she was certain they would storm into the store after making sure that everything is okay.
"But if they're worried about their reputation being tarnished, why don't they wait until we leave the city? Are they really so eager for revenge that they want to capture us today?", Ophelia was surprised by the lack of tact displayed by the two noblemen's sons. Had no one ever taught them that revenge is a dish best served cold?
"Well, the real reason they're in such a hurry is that they want to get their hands on us as soon as possible. Most of their conversations that I overheard were about how they planned to share us between themselves tonight...", Kara responded in a surprisingly calm tone as if the two noblemen's sons hadn't been talking about them. But why should she spoil her good mood over people who would soon be dead? Wouldn't it be better to continue enjoying her first date with Ophelia?
The fact that the two noblemen's sons were making such plans wasn't surprising to Ophelia, but that didn't stop her from feeling disgusted by them. At first, she had thought what Kara had done to them in the restaurant was a bit excessive, but now she felt they deserved to be treated even worse.
However, one thing was unclear to Ophelia: were the two really so foolish that they didn't know they should talk as little as possible when spying on someone they believed had a mentalist class?
"The two think you have the mentalist class, right? How come they're not at all hesitant to discuss us? Aren't they afraid you'll detect them?", Ophelia asked, not holding back her curiosity since she knew Kara didn't find her many questions annoying. On the contrary, Kara seemed to enjoy it whenever Ophelia asked something, as she did whenever she could be of help to her.
"Well, one of them is holding some kind of orb that protects them from a mentalist's skills, so they're convinced they can't be detected. But that's not a problem for me, since it seems that artifact isn't strong enough to counter me; even though I lack training in using mentalist-specific skills, my mental power is probably much greater than any mentalist's. Plus, as long as I know the direction they're in, I can just listen with my ears to what they're saying...", Kara explained why the two noblemen's sons weren't afraid of her abilities, taking the opportunity to boast a little.
"They have such an artifact on them? From what I know, only high-ranking nobles possess those, to ensure their private conversations aren't spied on. Since they're extremely rare, a single one costs almost 10,000 gold coins!", Ophelia marveled at the resources the two noblemen's sons had at their disposal, but she also began to worry slightly, as their background seemed far more powerful than she had estimated, which would likely cause a stir when they disappeared.
"Seriously? Doesn't that mean we're about to get our hands on a treasure?", Kara's anticipation of the noblemen's sons' arrival grew, as they most likely possessed other equally valuable items; such two-legged mini-dungeons were just the kind she wished would come after her in large numbers.
Ophelia didn't quite know what to make of Kara's perspective. It was true that Kara had nothing to fear from anyone's background, but the fact that she was excited that those who wanted to attack her had powerful backgrounds, simply because it meant she would gain more wealth after eliminating them, made her seem a bit like a thief.
'But there's indeed nothing wrong with her keeping the belongings of someone who attacks her; it could be considered a form of compensation for the moral damages suffered. And even if someone didn't agree with this situation, what could they do? As long as Kara is the most powerful, no one could hold her accountable...' Ophelia thought to herself, trying to reconcile the current situation with the notions of honor she had been taught as a child.
"...I suppose so...", Ophelia finally said, concluding that as long as Kara didn't get into a conflict with someone purely out of a desire to take their wealth, no one could say in the future, when Kara became famous, that she had used her power to rob those weaker than her.
***Author's Thoughts:
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