Ray was absolutely right when he invited Tessa for a walk, because it was very useful for her to unwind, and the fact that the guy showed at least some attention to her besides the night one made her very happy. A girl with a satisfied face looked at the city, which, it is worth noting, was quite rich. True, this was not strange, given the fact that they wandered around its central part, which was located around the palace, and the capital itself was "fed" at the expense of resources collected from all over the country.

A couple, consisting of a guy dressed in strange armor, with flaming bright green hair and the same eyes, and a half-dressed beauty attracted quite a lot of attention. But the girl did not pay much attention to the views, looking at the architecture of the capital, and Ray could not understand why he felt so strange in the human body.

"It's too useless." - a thought flashed through the guy's head when he could not hear the conversation of the men standing nearby.

Thinking about it, he realized that it was not necessary to wait until noon, and he could look for something that could help him disguise himself now. Fortunately, each store had a sign, and with an almost absolute memory, reading and writing was child's play for him.

The languages of Rondal and Pharos were alphabetic, and since Rey could at any time recall the image of the letter he needed, even if he saw it only once. The whole process was reduced to practice. He read rather slowly, but the discomfort gradually receded and his eyes caught on a rather impressive-looking building, next to the entrance to which there were real knightly armor, and on a sign hanging next to them, in some slightly rough type, the words “Military shop".

Grabbing Tessa by the hand, who would have continued to go forward thoughtfully if the guy hadn’t stopped her, he dragged the girl towards the store without explaining anything.

The inside of the building was also quite impressive and, as Rei had hoped, provided a fairly large selection of goods. However, he wanted to buy only a mask and gloves, but after looking at the girl, he changed the plan a little.

- Good afternoon. a puny old man behind the counter greeted them. He glanced at the visitors and, since the store was empty, most likely due to the morning time, immediately spoke to them:

- Are you looking for something specific?

- Yes. A cloth mask is needed to cover the lower part of the face and strong, thin gloves. - throwing another glance in the direction of the girl, whose eyes were now examining the goods placed here and there, Ray added. - and light, non-restrictive armor. Fabric is also suitable, however, the lady will choose herself.

Hearing that the conversation was about her, Tessa paused in surprise from looking around the store and looked at Ray with incomprehension.

Why do I need armor? I have a few more sets. She said looking at the clothes she was wearing.

- She's too open. You're drawing unwanted attention.

The guy spoke as calmly as ever, but the girl's brain instantly found another possible reason.

"Don't you want other men to look at me?" A sly smile adorned her pretty face as the girl, bending her back slightly, looked up into Ray's eyes.

He took a moment to consider her words and concluded that she might be right.

- There is some truth in this. I am a very greedy person, so it is not surprising that I do not want to share.

The answer seemed to satisfy Tessa, for she nodded like a pleased cat and wandered off to the other corner of the shop. But after a moment, one idea came to her mind, which she hurried to immediately implement. Turning around, the girl again approached the guy.

- I'll buy other clothes if you promise you won't pay any more attention to that woman. Tessa was absolutely sure of her offer, but the guy's answer made her smile crack.

- It's your business. You can stay in this.

After that, the guy, ignoring Tessa frozen in place, approached the old man, who had already returned behind the counter, holding a lot of equipment in his hands.

Ray chose the mask right away. A thin fabric that actually glowed through the light, but nevertheless perfectly hid the face and did not make it difficult to breathe. The color was dark green. The guy thought that this would help create the appearance that the face seems greenish not because of the natural shade, but because of the color of the mask. He already had one, made back in the forest from a piece of armor, but it was not intended for camouflage, but for protection from coarse dust and some poisonous spores, so it was too dense and it was constantly uncomfortable to walk in it.

But Rey fiddled with the gloves for a while. The choice was quite large, from thin, pleasant to the touch fabric, to thick leather gloves, which could well protect against the sliding blow of the blade. Finally, his eyes landed on a pair of gray gloves, made of rather strong but not too thick leather. The guy was attracted to them by small metal tips, made in the form of small, but rather sharp claws.

Smiling at the irony of the purchase, he informed the seller of his choice and, after trying on new clothes, he purchased three sets of each. After that, Ray asked about another thing of interest to him, which he remembered only after going inside the shop. At the same time, he did not pay any attention to Tessa, who fixed her angry and slightly disappointed look on his back.

“Here are the best throwing knives available. – put the old man on the table a pair of identical blades. They were almost half the size of what the guy was used to, but they were somewhat more convenient to use. After tossing one of them in his hand, he was satisfied, so he bought three dozen more daggers, spending almost seven gold pieces in total. The lion's share of the sum was the price for the knives, which, indeed, were of high quality, which was clear even to Ray, who was not very experienced in this matter.

Thanking the salesman, he turned to Tessa and met her withering gaze.

- Let's go? Or have you changed your mind? - the guy nodded towards the sets of women's cloth armor still lying on the counter.

The girl stood still for a moment, after which she quickly left the shop. Ray just shook his head and, after saying goodbye to the salesman, followed her. As soon as the door closed with a soft knock, and the guy was on the street, a displeased voice of the girl was heard from the side:

"If you're not interested in me, then why did you drag me with you!?"

The guy was a little taken aback by this, but he did not show it.

You chose to follow me. I didn't force you to do anything. came the calm, confident reply.

Tessa did not answer, continuing to stare at the guy in a daze. The look was very unpleasant, so Ray decided to at least somehow clarify the situation.

- I just did not want to travel alone, but I liked the company of a lovely, albeit a little talkative girl. As you like now. - it was undoubtedly true, just not all ... The guy did not say that now, if Tessa decided to leave, he would still kill her, although with much more reluctance than before.

The girl, after listening to his words, only bit her lip, because the person standing in front of her clearly did not share her feelings and she could not do anything about it.

"Then I'll make you look only at me." Thoughts flashed through her head, instantly changing her depressed mood to the opposite.

Tessa's gaze changed. Now he has some confidence. Ray did not quite understand the reason, however, she did not particularly interest him. The character of the girl was very changeable, which he had already managed to get used to a little, so such a change did not surprise him much.

Taking out a mask and gloves from a small bag, he put them on, after which he immediately put on his hood. After a moment, small claws appeared under the gloves, and the guy's skin tone changed a little. But not one of the rare passers-by wandering along the street noticed this. Even Tessa standing right in front of him, judging by the fact that she did not react at all, could not tell whether Rey had turned or not. He even asked her again, and after confirming his guess, contentedly wandered down the street. Now he clearly heard even conversations inside some houses, and the body obeyed much better than a human, which could be seen from the slightly changed gait of the guy.

The girl, throwing another slightly strange, but quite confident look at his back, quickly caught up with Ray.