Chapter 68: A New Disguise
The kid continued to point at me for a solid few seconds. He was wearing three different shirts as layers. The two inner layers were patterns of blue and black, while the outer jacket was a solid grey with lots of pockets.
His glasses glowed a soft warm blue. The light wasn’t anything strong, and I could still see his shaken-up green eyes.
He looked around twenty-two years old and had styled his hair by combing it into layers.
Besides the rude way he decided to point at me, he hadn’t caused me any irritation yet. If anything, he seemed terrified of me. I didn’t even do anything yet!
(" Are you going to erase him? ”)
What the fuck? No! Why would you even suggest that?
(" To see how you would react ”)
Go dig a hole.
(" I’m a planet. I can’t exactly ‘dig’ a hole, let alone one large enough for me ”)
I didn’t say for yourself, just that you should dig one, you can probably make one appear on your planet, right?
“Just sit down, kid. I’m not going to harm you.” I pointed to the ground next to me and said, “You understand, right, how busy and noisy every bloody place is? I just wanted a quiet spot.”
“Umm…” The kid mumbled in confusion.
I sighed. “What I’m saying is that you chose a good spot to relax in.”
Finally realising my laid back attitude, the kid calmed down.
“U-u-u-m-um, well, can you please leave then?” But apparently, he was still not calm enough.
“No, I’ve walked enough today.” I lied about my reason, but my motive was still not getting off my arse.
The kid finally decided to sit down. Then, after a little while longer, he got out his phone, stretched it, pulled out the back, and started playing some games with the device on the ground. His finger motions were read by the screen as he simulated button presses.
I asked, “Not going to use a physical controller, kid?”
“...No, easy to bring around this way.”
“True, but I find physically pressing the buttons more fun.”
I didn’t interrupt him again for a good while longer, and he did his best effort not to stare at me, but I did catch him glancing over a few times.
I enjoyed my moment of relaxation. I had a chance before, but being able to watch the stars made the difference. I don’t think I will ever know what my exact fascination with stars was. I could list a thousand reasons and millions of moments that made up my fondness, but no one exact instance or memory.
My Starlight was recovering well; I needed to be topped up at all times just in case I got into a fight or needed to use [Star Mapping] or [Disruptive Starlight].
I could’ve used the opportunity to make plans to reach the first segment or figure out a way to get to Metous or Earth once I was done here, but having this moment to empty my head was just the refresher I needed.
However, I couldn’t rest forever, so after a few hours, I asked the kid, “Hey kid, do you know any good cheap clothing stores around?”
The kid shook and froze for a second before turning to me. “Can you stop calling me kid… My name is Jack.”
"Well, now that I know it, Jack, are there any good clothing stores nearby?”
Still upset, he said, “You could’ve just looked at it with an appraisal skill.”
Confused, I asked, “What makes you think I have one of those?”
With shaky confidence, he said, “I thought all hunters had it.”
“That type of assumption will get you killed one day.”
He jumped back in a small fright. “What?”
I continued, "No, Jack, not only do not all hunters have appraisal skills, the vast majority don’t.”
“How would that get me killed…?”
Isn’t that obvious?
(" Not everyone has faced death nearly as many times as you have ”)
It’s just the basic idea of not making bad assumptions. I mean, death is an exaggeration, but the moral is the same.
“Jack, I’m making a comment about how making assumptions on evidence you don’t even know is true, can backfire greatly.”
“Yeah…” Jack nodded for a moment before he said, “What the hell are you on about?”
“You know what? Don’t worry, either you get what I’m saying or you don’t.” I just gave up with that. “Now, are you going to answer my question?”
“I know a few…” Jack finally decided to give me some answers.
After he told me a few names and directions, I left to do some shopping. I also made sure to check with Jack to see which ones accept my form of currency.
I examined the shops and found one to do my shopping. I looked through the selection, there was a wide range of different styles of clothes, even the colour range was lacking.
For the actual clothes I was going to choose, I didn't care much about how the combination looked, as I was mostly just worried about the price. I had enough to purchase everything I wanted, but I still wanted to keep some of my limited currency in case I needed it later.
After a little while, I was happy with my choice and paid the clerk; I went on my way to relax for the rest of the day.
What I purchased was a jacket that could go over my armour, some baggy pants for my lower half, and a mask that could attach to my helmet. I wasn’t completely concealing the amour, as I left the jacket open, but it did mix well with the design since I was wearing a helmet anyway. The mask was similar to Jack’s glasses from earlier, and it could glow. The device worked by setting a design and supplying some mana or energy to get it to glow. I poured some Starlight into it and created a star-shaped masked face with blackout spots for eyes.
It was a weird style, but it worked as actual clothing, at least. The simple fact that it no longer looked like I was walking around in full combat gear was the most important aspect for me.
Maybe I could’ve come out with an even less conspicuous look if I could remove my helmet, but with the horns growing out of it… that wasn’t an option.
After a couple of minutes, I quietly landed back in my relaxation spot and asked, “You’re still here?”
“Ah!” Jack jumped back. “Why are you back!?”
“Because I wanted to relax?”
I still had to recharge my Starlight after all, and I was determined to enjoy this one last day of relaxation.
Thanks for reading,
tftc
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