Chapter 27: Second Day of Mama’s Pastry
For the trip through the city, Elias removed his mask and pulled his black cloak forward to cover his distinctive uniform. He preferred to remain inconspicuous when not actively running the shop. Earlier, he had only worn the cloak when they neared their shop. This time, they were heading to the inner parts of the merchant district, where more people congregated, and he needed to ensure that no one recognized him.
Soon, the small group made their way to a modest clothing store in the merchant district.
The shopkeeper initially looked askance at the dirty slum children, but Elias’s confident demeanor and ready payment quickly changed his attitude. They purchased simple but clean outfits for both Nathan and Amanda. It was nothing too fancy, but certainly a vast improvement over their current rags.
"And for you as well. Get yourself some clothes."
Elias said to Selina, who looked surprised.
"But I already have clothes."
She said, recalling that Elias had purchased some regular clothes for her the last time they visited the market.
"You’re the face of our shop. You should have at least one nicer outfit for work."
Elias explained. Although he wanted to acquire quality clothes for her from his Mental Landscape using Mystic Crystals, he felt that wasn’t necessary for now. His current wealth could only purchase a cheap, low-level protective suit, and he wanted to save for a high-level protective suit that would guarantee her safety when he wasn’t around.
—He didn’t want the events that transpired in the negative branch of reality to occur in any form in this timeline.
Once they accumulated enough wealth, he could purchase the best protective suit for her. The current military-style uniform he wore was also a low-level protective suit that had cost him 100 Mystic Crystals, nearly half of the Mystic Crystrals he had taken from Drakas’s hidden chamber. This protective suit was made from materials that absorbed impact, hardening upon contact to provide defense. It provided useful general protection, but was still lacking compared to mid-level protective suits and above.