Fitting room.
Cassandra walked out after changing her clothes completely. Her expression seemed a bit awkward, with a slight blush on her cheeks.
It's unclear whether it was because she had never been to a place like this before and was feeling uncomfortable, or if it was simply shyness.
Dean, who had been waiting at the door, naturally positioned little Cassandra in front of the mirror and examined her with a scrutinizing look.
The reflection in the mirror showed a beautiful young girl; apart from the gloomy expression on her face, she didn't seem any different from other girls her age.
At least now, she no longer looked like a little beggar in shabby clothes all the time or a midnight female thief in all-black clothes.
Cassandra was wearing a white fitted shirt inside, a blue jacket on top, and she had on a pair of jeans.
Cassandra didn't look very fashionable in it, but it made her feel comfortable.
"Not bad at all. You look pretty, though a little less attractive than I do, and the design and proportions are ideal."
Dean nodded in satisfaction as he looked at Cassandra in her new clothes, then went to the counter.
"I'll take these, including those few sets over there and some underwear. Pack them all."
Dean pointed towards some rather sexy dresses, some with open backs and some with off-shoulder styles, but none with deep V-necklines.
These clothes were clearly made for adults and weren't meant for Cassandra.
In fact, these outfits were for Dean himself, or more precisely, for Phantom Thief.
During Phantom Thief's missions, it was inevitable that he would need to disguise himself as a woman.
If it was part of the plan, that was fine. But if an unexpected situation forced him to pretend to be a woman, he would need some clothes to prepare for that situation.
It wouldn't be suitable for Dean to always coincidentally find a woman whom he could knock out and borrow clothes from.
That might work once or twice, but it wasn't a sustainable approach.
So, Dean would come out every once in a while in disguise to buy a set of women's clothing, just in case.
After leaving the clothing store, Dean brought Cassandra to a residential building.
It wasn't the Thurston Manor but a normal house located at the border of the Diamond District and the Old Town District.
This is a property that Dean bought a few years ago using a fake name. It's basically Phantom Thief's safe place, but he hasn't used it much.
"Thurston Manor is not currently convenient for you to stay, so you'll temporarily stay here, Cassandra."
Dean said this and looked at Cassandra.
Cassandra looked at Dean, somewhat bewildered.
"Don't misunderstand; I'm not planning to let you stay here for free. Since you've agreed to work with me for a while, you're now my temporary assistant. There is no way you can be a liability in future operations."
Dean shook his finger as he spoke.
"Why did you choose me as your assistant?"
Cassandra suddenly raised her head and gestured.
"Because I need a trustworthy assistant,"
Dean replied.
"Think about it: Batman has Robin and Batgirl, Superman has Supergirl, the Flash has Kid Flash, Aquaman has Aqualad and Aquagirl, Wonder Woman has Wonder Girl, and even Martian Manhunter has Martian Girl. Of course, I need an assistant too."
"I didn't mean that. What I want to know is why me? Why do you trust me so much?"
"I can determine whether you're lying to me, so I'm willing to trust you. But what about you? Aren't you worried that I might disclose your information to others?"
"You won't."
Dean said it with great confidence.
"Because I also have evidence of your killings. You're also worried that I might expose your secrets, even though you know I wouldn't do that."
"Why do I trust you so much? If you really need a reason, it's because we both hold our respective secrets, and we both need to keep them. Instead of being suspicious of each other, why not cooperate for mutual benefit? How about that reason?"
Dean's expression revealed a selfish expression when he stated this pretty realistically.
"I know this isn't your real reason."
Cassandra calmly shook her head.
"Whether it's my real reason or not doesn't matter; the truth is that it is true."
Dean lightly chuckled.
"Look at it from another angle. What can you do if I don't trust you? You can always tell who I am, even when I'm far away, and would I be able to stop you if you really wanted to expose me? No, I couldn't."
'No, you could.'
It's strange, but Cassandra felt that Dean was very confident in himself.
Dean seemed to be confident in himself in a way that she didn't understand, as if he always knew how to handle tough situations.
Even though Cassandra didn't know the source of Dean's confidence, she could tell that it wasn't blind arrogance.
Dean definitely had something to rely on.
The conversation suddenly stopped.
Dean remained calm and pulled Cassandra into the house without hesitation while closing the doors and windows securely.
Even with Cassandra by his side, Dean didn't abandon his cautious habits.
He carefully checked the surroundings, both inside and outside the house, before relaxing.
Then, Dean led Cassandra to the basement.
Unlike the Thurston Manor, this basement didn't have secret passages or secret rooms. Additionally, there was no room for the Phantom Thief's equipment.
Instead, there were rows of magic props, as well as some very strange targets and props that couldn't be described for their use.
It looked like a practice room for magic.
"Cassandra, I know you're strong at fighting, but brute force alone is meaningless in our line of work. We don't need to defeat villains or heroes. There will be times when we have to fight, but that's not our main area of expertise."
As soon as they entered the practice room, Dean's expression changed instantly, and he mentioned this point to Cassandra without any expression on his face.
"So...you need to learn some skills beyond combat. Things like magic, lock-picking, pickpocketing, cryptography, disguise... With your talent, I believe you can learn the essence of all these skills in just a few days."
Cassandra listened attentively to Dean's words.
There were only two times in her life when she was this serious: when her father, David Cain, trained her as a child and when Barbara taught her to read.
"Let's start with the basics. Try picking a lock with a safety pin, and make sure there are no signs of tampering."
...
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