Chapter 40: The Shopping Street Encounter

“Where’s the shopping street, Cecilia?”

“No way, Liya. You’ve been at the academy… no, you’ve been in this city for so long, and you still don’t know where the shopping street is? It’s the biggest and busiest place here…”

“Hmph.”

What could she do about it? Before she turned six, she’d never left the church. Spending every day sitting in front of the statue, training hard, was tough enough. She wanted to enjoy life too! But if there’s no way, there’s no way, right?! That’s why she came to learn now!

“Alright, alright, Liya, just follow us. But next time, remember the way,” Alice said with a smile.

“Oh, okay,” Liya replied grumpily, pulling down the brim of her hat.

Unlike usual, Liya had prepared a special prop for this outing. After all, she had made quite a name for herself in the academy, and even outside, people were interested in the new Twelve Knight. So she needed some disguise for shopping.

The disguise she chose was a sun hat, which perfectly obscured her face with shadow and also prevented sunburn—according to Cecilia, it killed two birds with one stone.

The three chatted as they headed toward the shopping street, but along the way, Cecilia’s attention was completely fixed on Alice. After all, the imaginary boyfriend of Alice still hadn’t appeared.

‘The location and time were all set by me, so if Alice wants to meet her boyfriend, she’ll definitely contact him secretly!’

This was Cecilia’s little trap. If Alice secretly contacted someone and then a guy showed up, that guy would definitely be her boyfriend! But if Alice didn’t do anything unusual, then her reasoning was wrong… If that were the case, she’d just have a good time with Liya and Alice.

Either way, today would be a happy day!

“Oh, right, I need to go to the restroom. Wait for me a moment, okay?”

It’s happening! It’s finally happening!

After entering the mall, Alice suddenly pointed to the restroom not far away and said that. Without waiting for Liya and Cecilia to respond, she ran straight toward it, looking quite urgent.

This is the moment!

“Liya, I need to go too. Wait for me and Alice here!”

Turning to say a word to Liya, Cecilia immediately followed. Left behind, Liya looked utterly bewildered.

‘What’s going on? Why are they both going to the restroom? Did they drink too much water this morning?’

For some reason, Liya felt this shopping trip with her friends was full of weirdness.

Inside the restroom, Alice found a stall and immediately took out the medium Yagesi had given her earlier. She used communication magic to send the location of the shopping street and the entire itinerary.

‘Whew… Finally done.’

At least the first step was complete. Yagesi would soon appear before her in a seemingly coincidental manner, and then she could smoothly continue with the next step… Go, Alice! You can do it!

And she had a reliable partner by her side—Cecilia, didn’t she?

Meanwhile, in the adjacent stall.

‘Indeed, indeed, indeed! A magical reaction! She definitely used communication magic! My intuition was right! Good! Alice, don’t worry! I’ll definitely help you screen him and create a romance for you!’

Cecilia clenched her fist tightly and said firmly in her heart.

Outside the restroom.

“I’m not lost, thank you very much for your kindness. I’m waiting for my friends.”

Maintaining surface politeness, Liya drove away the third concerned passerby. She was already getting impatient. Seriously, what was wrong with the people in this mall? A couple, a pair of sisters, and a pair of brothers had all approached her, asking if she was lost and offering to help her find her parents… Damn it! Did she really look like a lost child?

Was a ten-year-old kid standing outside the restroom looking around that much like a lost child?

…

‘Hmph! Why are they so slow!’

Though it was heartwarming that there were so many kind people, they all lacked insight! They should look past the surface and see the soul! See the essence! Didn’t they know?! Geez!

“Yo, isn’t this Liya? Fancy meeting you again!”

“Huh? Whaaaaaaaaat?!”

Turning around, Liya glanced casually behind her, thinking it was probably some student from the academy who recognized her and came to chat. Since it was a male voice, she started off with a bad attitude.

If it was purely for making friends, she’d be happy, but if it was a pervert who liked little girls, she’d rather decline.

But it turned out Liya’s imagination was too shallow.

“Why are you here?! No, what are you doing here?! Yagesi!!!”

Indeed, standing in front of Liya was Yagesi. Although for some reason he was emanating quite strong magical power and looked a bit tired, as if he had just gone through intense exercise, it didn’t matter. It didn’t affect Liya’s attitude toward him.

“Want me to send you to the hospital for a vacation, you beast?”

“Eh? That, that… um…”

Yagesi stammered a few times but couldn’t say anything, making Liya frown. What was going on? Was this guy here to provoke her? Another duel?

“Yo, Liya, sorry to keep you waiting… Eh?! And who is this…?!”

Cecilia’s voice came from behind. Bad timing!

“Hello, my name is Yagesi. Pleased to meet you.”

“Cecilia, get back! This guy kidnapped Alice! He’s a real beast!”

“Um…”

Cecilia stared wide-eyed at Yagesi, who was scratching his head with a troubled expression. The words echoing in her mind were Liya’s—Yagesi?! Wasn’t he the one who dueled Liya before… because he had kidnapped Alice?

No, it couldn’t be kidnapping—Cecilia quickly made her judgment.

If it were a real kidnapping, Yagesi wouldn’t be so relaxed. The academy strictly forbade students from harming each other. If Yagesi had really kidnapped Alice, he would have been expelled long ago. So kidnapping was impossible. But Liya’s abnormally hostile attitude…

It had to be a misunderstanding.

Regardless, the key wasn’t Liya’s attitude, but Alice’s attitude.

“Sorry, Cecilia, Liya. I took a bit longer. I’m here…?!?!”

Turning, Alice just came out of the restroom, staring wide-eyed at Liya and Yagesi… no, her gaze was mostly on Yagesi, and he was happily waving at her.

‘Bingo!’

Cecilia immediately concluded:

‘No other possibility. Yagesi is Alice’s boyfriend!’

Certain of that, Cecilia couldn’t help but have some stray thoughts, like:

‘Though it’s probably not kidnapping, something must have happened between Alice and Yagesi that made Liya mistake it for kidnapping. Tsk tsk tsk, did feelings develop from something like that? Alice has really heavy tastes.’

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