"What do you think of that girl? She seems nice, doesn't she?", Ophelia asked Kara after they left the restaurant, their destination being the street with shops dedicated to adventurers.
Seeing how kindly Kara had treated the waitress, Ophelia began to suspect that Kara might be somewhat interested in her.
"...Who, the waitress? I guess so...", Kara replied, a bit distracted, as she was busy listening to the conversation between the two guards of the young men she had thrown out the window who had returned to spy on them. Even though they were in a fairly large crowd of people, she had no difficulty understanding what they were saying thanks to the Teleperception skill she had learned along with the Advanced Telekinesis from the old man she met at the Adventurers' Guild.
Kara had been aware of their presence for a while but hadn't informed Ophelia that someone was following them because she didn't want her to be stressed while eating.
"And she's very beautiful too, am I right?", Ophelia asked again, becoming increasingly sure her intuition was not wrong seeing how Kara seemed to be daydreaming.
"Hmm... Yeah, she's quite beautiful. Anyway, in a restaurant like that, someone can't get hired as a waitress if they don't look really good...", Kara replied with more interest as she had stopped paying attention to the two men spying on them after figuring out their intentions.
"So you like her?", Ophelia finally asked the question that was on her mind, trying to seem as indifferent as possible. Maybe she had come to terms with the idea that Kara would have other girlfriends in the future, but she was a bit annoyed at the thought that it was happening so soon. Besides, this was their first date. Shouldn't all of Kara's thoughts be focused on her?
"Huh?", Kara was taken aback, not knowing what made Ophelia think she had any intentions toward the waitress. She didn't remember flirting with her or trying to become familiar with her.
Seeing the confusion on Kara's face, Ophelia began to realize she had been mistaken.
"Well, you were quite friendly with her... And I don't think you missed the way she looked at you...", Ophelia explained why she had started to think Kara was interested in the waitress, not realizing she sounded like a jealous wife.
Hearing Ophelia's words, Kara had a hard time not laughing. Is she the type to express her preference for someone in such a roundabout way? As for the way the waitress looked at her, it wasn't exactly as Ophelia thought.
"Maybe the waitress fell in love, but not with me as you thought, but rather with my powers...", Kara finally said, not wanting any misunderstandings between them. Maybe the thought of teasing Ophelia had crossed her mind because Ophelia looked very cute when she was jealous, but remembering how hard it was to calm her down, Kara decided to be honest. She didn't want to be a pillow princess forever.
"So you're saying she only wants you for your powers?", Ophelia still didn't believe she was wrong about the waitress. Thinking the fact that Kara is extremely powerful played an important role in her decision to enter into a relationship with her so quickly, Ophelia couldn't imagine that it was possible for the waitress not to be tempted by Kara.
'Besides, Kara is extremely seductive. As long as the waitress's eyes are working properly, there's no chance she wouldn't be attracted to Kara. If I didn't have so many problems on my mind, I'd probably be tempted to enter into a relationship with her even if she was weaker than me... Hmm, maybe that wouldn't have been a bad thing either. Then I would dictate who would be on top in bed...', Ophelia's imagination started running wild as she searched for arguments to support her opinion about the waitress.
Seeing that Ophelia didn't seem to understand, Kara felt the need to explain her opinion about the waitress more thoroughly.
"What I meant to say is that she fell in love with the idea of being powerful, not with me as a person. Or maybe she fell in love again; it's hard for me to tell as long as I don't know anything about her life. But what is clear to me is that she is not satisfied with the life she has now, with the fact that destiny is not in her hands... With the fact that she always has to hold back. Some people just can't live like that.
In this regard, she and I are the same, so it was easy for me to read in her eyes not just admiration, but also ambition and envy. This is also why I was friendly with her. It's like I saw in her a version of myself that wasn't strong enough to take her destiny into her own hands, who was almost domesticated. But no matter how domesticated a wolf is, it will still salivate at the smell of blood... Yes, it's harder to hold back your desires than to endure repeated injustices.
Maybe what happened today will be enough to ignite her desire to fight, or maybe by the time she finishes her work shift, the emotions I saw in her eyes will be buried under the reluctance to leave a comfortable life and self-doubt. Honestly, I have no idea what will happen. The only thing I can be sure of is that as long as she doesn't try to quench her thirst for power, she will always feel like a prisoner of life and will consider everything she does meaningless..."
"…It was… quite profound…," said Ophelia, who had not considered that the reason Kara and the waitress got along so well was that the two saw themselves in each other.
'So, the waitress saw in Kara her ideal image, while Kara saw in the waitress how she would have looked if her willpower hadn't been strong enough…', Ophelia mentally summarized Kara's words, finding nothing contradictory to what she had witnessed.
Thinking about how superficially she had analyzed the interaction between Kara and the waitress, Ophelia almost wanted to disappear out of shame, her intellectual capacity, in this case, seeming similar to that of the two middle-aged women they had met at the entrance to the bathroom.
'Maybe because of what I did in the bathroom before, my mind wasn't clear…', Ophelia tried to find an excuse for her lack of reasoning, though deep down she knew that the possessiveness she felt towards Kara was most likely to blame.
"Anyway, why were you so distracted after we left the restaurant? What were you thinking about?", Ophelia asked, wanting to divert Kara's attention from her so-called jealousy crisis. Although Kara didn't seem inclined to tease her about her mistake, Ophelia was sure that she found it quite amusing in her mind.
"Yes… I was going to tell you even if you hadn't asked… Do you remember the two young men I threw out the window? It seems they sent two of their guards to follow us…"
It seems that Ophelia's strategy to make Kara forget about the previous conversation had more of an effect on herself, as after hearing Kara's words, she could no longer think about such lovers' quarrels, this problem being much more serious. Although she was aware that as long as she was with Kara, she had nothing to fear, the possibility that the guards might discover her true identity worried her, as she didn't want there to be any chance for her uncle to find out that she had found a powerful ally.
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"Where are they? When did you discover them?", Ophelia asked in a whisper, barely restraining herself from looking back so that those spying on them wouldn't realize their presence had been detected.
"One guard is about a hundred meters behind us, while the other is heading towards the restaurant, so you can speak normally without any worry as they can't hear us. I discovered their presence while we were eating, but only now have I confirmed they are following us. While we were in the restaurant, they were watching the entrance from a flower stall about 50 meters away…", Kara answered Ophelia's questions without a hint of concern in her voice.
On the contrary, she seemed slightly excited, as for any predator, the fact that the prey intended to throw itself in front of them was a reason for joy.
Ophelia couldn't say that the fact that the two young men had started taking measures against them was a big surprise, as both seemed like the kind of people who were used to looking down on everyone and couldn't stand the thought of being humiliated. Well, maybe it was a bit unusual that they decided to act so cautiously, but thinking about the fear Kara had instilled in them, she could understand why they didn't come directly after them. Moreover, considering that the two were very attracted to them, there was also a chance that they wanted to capture them alive, a scenario that involved a more thorough knowledge of their fighting abilities and identities to know how risky such an operation would be and if there would be any consequences.
"And what will we do next? Do you plan to capture the guard following us to find out where the two young men are?", Ophelia asked after analyzing Kara's words, aware that there was no other solution than to eliminate both the two young men and their guards so that they wouldn't cause any problems in the future. Anyway, even if there was another solution, from what she had learned about Kara so far, Ophelia was sure that Kara would still choose the total annihilation of those who intended to harm them.
"I don't see why we should bother so much. I'm sure they'll appear in front of us by the end of the day…", Kara replied, already having thought about how to resolve the issue.
However, Ophelia couldn't be as calm as Kara, knowing someone was after her.
"But Kara, you said one of them went to the restaurant. What if he gets some information that helps them find out who we are? It would cause me problems if my identity were made public…"
"Don't worry, I made sure that if the two guards go to the restaurant manager to get more information about us, he will only tell them what I want them to know. You didn't think I proposed such an advantageous deal to him just to show off my wealth, did you?" Kara reassured Ophelia, her tone indicating she was quite proud of her plan.
Truth be told, Kara had begun to enjoy hunting people, finding it much more exciting to create traps for humans than for beasts, as it allowed her to be more creative. Moreover, the fact that humans were more unpredictable than beasts made success much more satisfying.
"Huh? So you anticipated that they would enter the restaurant to find out more about us after we left?", Ophelia marveled at Kara's deductive abilities. "So what will the manager tell them about us? I guess he'll say that we are not much of a threat; otherwise, you wouldn't be so sure they'll come after us…", she continued, eager to learn more details about Kara's plan.
"Since they didn't see me using any other skill except Advanced Telekinesis, I told the manager to tell them that I'm a C-rank adventurer with the Mentalist class. As for you, to not seem dangerous at all, I told him to say you're a famous belly dancer from the south."
"….", Ophelia didn't quite know what to say about this identity Kara had created for her. It might be true that she had the ideal body for such a profession, but she didn't believe the first thing people would think of when they saw her was that she was a belly dancer. Moreover, she felt a bit uncomfortable thinking that some might believe she had such a profession, as in the environment where she grew up, belly dancers were not very well regarded, many of them leading rather promiscuous lives.
“Well, the more absurd a lie is, the harder it is to refute…”, Kara said, noticing the skeptical look on Ophelia’s face.
Thinking that all those pursuing them would soon be eliminated by Kara, Ophelia concluded that it didn't matter what they thought of her, so she didn't argue with Kara. However, she was a little curious as to why Kara chose this particular identity for her. Was Kara attracted to belly dancers? Or did Kara want to see her dressed as one? Ophelia thought it wouldn't be entirely impossible to dress like a belly dancer on a special occasion as long as only Kara would see her.
'Besides, I don't think it would be hard to learn a few moves…', Ophelia added in her mind, her ears starting to turn red.
"It seems the manager kept his word and began telling the guard who entered the restaurant exactly what I instructed him to say if anyone asked for information about us… Just a moment…," Kara interrupted Ophelia's thoughts, then started listening to the conversation taking place in the restaurant manager's office to see if the guard would believe the information he was given.
Ophelia knew Kara's senses were extremely developed, but she wouldn't have imagined that she could hear what was being discussed inside the restaurant, over 500 meters away, especially with the city being so noisy at that time of day. She was curious about how Kara was capable of this, but unfortunately, she couldn't ask Kara any questions at that moment so as not to disturb her while she was eavesdropping.
"From what I've heard, I don't think the guard has any doubts about the manager's words...", Kara said after about a minute, not bothering to listen to the parting words exchanged between the manager and the guard.
"That's good news. But how is it possible to hear what they are saying from such a distance? If we were in a forest, I could understand, but in the middle of the city, surrounded by so many people talking, it seems truly impossible…"
Hearing Ophelia's question, Kara realized she hadn’t yet mentioned the other skill she had learned from the old man, in addition to the one that allowed her to move objects with her mind.
"You probably didn't notice, but the old man we met in the payment hall had a skill permanently activated that allowed him to see and hear everything happening in the entire building where the Adventurers' Guild is located. As I told you, I have the ability to learn any skill I've seen in action, so now I can do the same thing as the old man. Of course, I can't use it as effortlessly as he does, nor can I monitor more than five or six people at once, and only if they are very close to each other, because this skill requires a lot of training. However, I have no problem hearing what two people are discussing even if they are over a kilometer away.
I also discovered the presence of the two guards who came back to surveil us with the help of this skill. After I used the Advanced Telekinesis skill to throw the two buffoons out the window, I concluded that mental skills are quite elegant and can help me solve many problems without getting my hands dirty. So while we were eating, I started testing the Teleperception skill, using it to see if the two wanted to return to the restaurant. Luckily for them, perhaps because they were cautious or because they are cowards, they kept a considerable distance from the restaurant, and I couldn't find them, as my plan was to send them flying again, but I came across two of their guards instead..."
Ophelia was very impressed by Kara's new ability, but after so many surprises from Kara, she had begun to build up immunity, so she didn't marvel for long upon hearing these words. Probably even if Kara told her she could freeze the sun, she wouldn't consider it unusual as in her mind, nothing was impossible for Kara.
So that's how it happened. I thought you found them by scent...", Ophelia said, her tone making it hard to tell if she was joking or serious. Truth be told, she hadn't stopped to think about how Kara had discovered the two guards following them, as when Kara informed her of their presence, she was too busy worrying that they might discover her identity, so she didn't even know what she would have thought Kara used to find out what was happening outside the restaurant before Kara told her about her new skill.
"I'd rather not use that method…", Kara dismissed that possibility, visibly disgusted by the idea of sniffing men. Well, if she had to track down a young woman, she might have wronged herself by using this method, but sniffing men, unless it was a life-and-death situation for someone she cared about, was totally unacceptable to her.
'Maybe I should give that old man a gift the next time I pass by the Adventurers' Guild to thank him for showing me this skill. In the forest, it might have been fine to use my sense of smell to identify prey, but in a city, this method is no longer acceptable. Honestly, I hadn't even thought about this problem… Anyway, fortunately, I acquired this skill before getting into a situation where I would have had to rely on my sense of smell to track someone through the city, especially if the target was a man…', Kara thought, relieved that now with the Teleperception skill, the chances of needing to use her sense of smell to locate a person were almost nonexistent.
Once all these things were clarified, Kara and Ophelia no longer paid attention to the fact that they were being followed and continued their date peacefully, looking forward to a long shopping session.