Chapter 360: Chapter 358: Hilia Changes Outfits
After leaving Elina, Hilia started strolling leisurely through the city.
As she wandered casually, she slowly shed her Elf disguise, returning to her original appearance.
She thought of one thing: other than a few diehard fans, most people would never pay attention to who was passing by on the street.
If she had to disguise herself every time she went out shopping, Hilia might as well stay disguised for life.
If someone recognized her, she’d deal with it then!
But just in case, she still used Disguise Skill to add a faint illusionary veil on herself, so unless someone looked closely, they wouldn’t connect her to who she really was.
With that, she just walked around aimlessly.
"It’s been so long since I could relax like this."
Hilia stepped into a clothing store, browsing through the racks, but in the end, didn’t buy a single thing.
"Ordinary clothes offer no Magic resistance, but stuff with resistance is way too expensive. Ugh, guess I’ll just stick with what I’ve got."
Rose said, "Didn’t Doris give you a set of clothes? Why not wear those?"
"I’m planning to add runes to them after I leave tomorrow, so I’ll wear them then."
"With your danger sense, you can just wear regular clothes most days. The Northern Alliance’s fashion is kind of unique anyway—you could buy a couple of outfits to try out a new style."
"That... actually sounds pretty nice."
Tempted, Hilia headed to another clothing store.
Not long after, she came out wearing a blue and white dress.
The dress was silver-white on top and blue on the bottom, with a red lining. Gold threads patterned like runes ran all over, adding a touch of mystery.
She wore thin black stockings on her legs, making them look endlessly long.
Hilia tapped the cobblestone road with her toes, taking a couple of swan-like steps forward, glancing at Rose’s spectral image nearby.
"Mr. Rose, how do I look?"
Rose nodded. "Pretty good, but take two more steps and you’ll be leaving the central district for the slums. This outfit might draw attention in the slums."
"The slums, huh..."
Hilia looked toward the end of the street, realizing it really wasn’t far from the slums.
"It’s daytime, and the Mage League just wrapped up. There probably won’t be any trouble in the slums now, right?"
Hilia walked toward the slum area.
"Since I’m about to leave, I might as well check out the slums too."
Leaving the spacious roads of the central district, Hilia stepped outside. The stone pavements turned to dirt roads. Thankfully, it hadn’t rained in the past few days, but trash was strewn everywhere, and there was a gutter on the side filled with filthy black water.
There were even a few children playing in the stinky ditch.
Even though it wasn’t her first visit, the smell was still overpowering enough to make Hilia frown. She had to use Purification Skill just to clear away the stench from the air around her.
These days, her Mage’s Hand had reached exquisite control—even purification spells could be wielded with pinpoint precision, working only within a few centimeters of her face.
Such a small range, and just purifying air, used almost no Magic Power at all. Once prepped, Hilia turned down a small side street off the main road, ready to see where the slum’s market was—when suddenly, she faintly heard shouting not far off.
Among the yelling, the words "heretic" caught her attention, making Hilia curious.
Following the noise, she soon saw, by the roadside of a side street, two people in Kost sheriff uniforms yelling at...
Two old people?
Hilia frowned and hurried over.
The sheriff’s words became clearer as she approached.
"You two old geezers, are you deaf? I said your son joined a heretic sect and got arrested. Now it takes Gold Coins to get him out. He asked me to tell you to go raise the money."
The two elders were a married couple, with the old grandpa trembling as he replied, "We... we have no money... Didn’t you say before our child... was dead?"
The two sheriffs exchanged glances. One instantly snapped, "Dead? What dead? That was just to fool you. He’s only arrested and needs money. Hurry and hand it over! Pay the fine first—ransom comes later."
"W-we don’t have any money... those 12 Silver Coins we gave you, that was our last bit..."
"12 Silver Coins? Nowhere near enough—the fine is 10 Gold Coins! Look around your house—got anything worth money? Especially Magic materials or something. Bring them out for us to see."
Hilia slowly walked up to them and suddenly spoke, "What are you two doing here?"
The two sheriffs obviously flinched, whirling around in a panic, only to see Hilia with a veil over her face. She wore a gorgeous dress only residents of the central district could afford; she did look vaguely familiar.
But they couldn’t quite place her.
Must not be anyone important.
Still, someone from the central district—better not mess with her.
One of them waved a hand, annoyed, "Step aside. We’re in the middle of law enforcement. Don’t interfere, or we’ll fine you too."
Hilia raised an eyebrow, "Oh? So bullying two elderly folks is what you call ’law enforcement’?"
The other snorted, "They’re not just any old people—their son is a heretic with the Polar Blood Alliance, and he took part in the Frozen Arena incident."
"Frozen Arena?" Hilia frowned. "Weren’t all the heretics from the Frozen Arena killed..."
"Killed, killed, killed... who said killed?" the first sheriff cut her off sharply. "You from the central district? Why are you even here? Get back home—delay this investigation and you’ll regret it!"
Hilia replied irritably, "What’s with the attitude? I just saw you two bullying old people and wanted to know what’s going on. Count yourselves lucky I didn’t beat you up on the spot."
"Oh, you wanna hit a sheriff? I think you—OW!"
As the sheriff rolled up his sleeves and stepped toward her, Hilia slammed him to the ground with one swift kick before he could finish talking.
Planting her foot on his back, Hilia snorted, "Use your words, not your fists."
The other one immediately tapped at his wristband. "Captain, we got a situation here—requesting backup."
Hilia: "..."
Soon, many footsteps echoed nearby.
Before long, a squad ran up—five of them in total.
The sheriff who had been pinned down crawled up and ran to them.
"Captain, it’s her. We were just checking on the heretic’s family, and she comes up and..."
Bang!
The captain gave him a hard punch, sending him crashing to the ground again.
As the guy stared in disbelief, the captain rushed to Hilia, excited. "Miss Xilia! I’m a huge fan!"
W-What?
Miss Xilia?
No way, right?
The two sheriffs on the ground and backup rubbed their eyes. That nagging sense of recognition finally clicked—the girl before them really was Hilia.
Holy shit, it really is Hilia?!
What the hell were we just doing?
"Hi." Now that she was recognized, Hilia gave them a nod without taking off her veil. "I just want to know what’s going on here; could you explain?"
The captain was thrilled.
"Of course! Ask me anything!"
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