My voices were fairly quiet for now, but the suggestion to leave the academy at night was a wonderful idea. I was fairly sure that there was nothing keeping me here, so as the sun set I got ready to head out.

The proper preparations were simple enough. I got a handful of the money that had been delivered to me as my compensation from the academy, and returned Shana's dress. That done I made my way out of the front gates of the academy and into the streets.

It was easy enough to figure out where I was in relation to my new school by the fact that it was massive. You could see some of the upper floors throughout most of the city. There was only one other building of comparable size, and it was quite far from where I was staying.

I moved along in the twilight shadows, carefully avoiding the few patches of brightness. It was easy enough to find the local market, since all you really had to do was smile nicely and ask a passer-by for directions. While I wasn't sure I did get the feeling that my Charisma was far above the norm, I was at the least certainly prettier than the average girl at my school. That could be a boon in the right circumstances, but it would also likely attract more attention as well, unfortunate.

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The market was sizable, and there were a number of stalls here and there. I finally found one that sold women's clothing, a rarity apparently, and began to browse. The options were limited, on all clothes, and the only outfit that seemed suitable was a slightly tight navy blue top with a few secondhand skirts to go with it.

Darkness fell over the city as I finished up and I noticed that most of the merchants were quickly concluding their business. I spent some time walking and discovered a number of things as the last bits of the sun's light faded.

First there was an area of the city that kept going into the night, it was near the market, and seemed to comprise mostly drinking establishments. They had some lights and what few people, almost only men, were still out headed in that direction. A few people even told me that a young girl like me had no business heading that way, which I promptly ignored.

Most of the rest of the city remained dark though. My guess was that lighting the homes and businesses into the night would be a big issue for people and so they didn't really bother, instead staying to themselves. That suited me just fine, as it meant that there were less people roaming about. Other than those headed to the active section of the city, only a few guards wandered here and there with lanterns, giving their own patches of light to fend off the night. I suspected that I'd need to avoid said guards, as they were well armed and traveled in groups of two.