72. Shopping
Hollowmist City was drenched in late-afternoon gold as Marcelline stepped out of her villa, Leo padding beside her in his sleek animal form, shadow-like and silent.
She wore simple, comfortable clothes:
dark jeans, black hoodie, hair tied back, face half-covered with a black mask.
Not to hide out of fear—
but to avoid unnecessary attention.
Because everywhere she went… she attracted too many eyes.
And also—
she wanted to be ready to fight at any second.
Her hoodie hid the dagger strapped to her thigh.
Her boots hid two more blades.
Her sleeves concealed sealing marks.
To everyone else, she looked like a normal university girl out to shop.
But her aura was anything but normal.
She blended into the crowd, but every demon within a kilometer radius silently knelt without understanding why.
Leo nudged her thigh lightly.
He sensed something off too—but still too faint.
Marcelline sighed.
She had spent a full week in Sparklight Country.
A full week of chasing shadows, false signals, weak entities, pathetic demons who scattered like insects the moment they sensed her.
Nothing worth her time.
Nothing strong.
Nothing that matched the presence she was hunting.
She walked into a busy shopping street, scanning with her golden eyes behind the mask.
People laughed.
Cars honked.
Students rushed in groups holding bubble tea.
Everything felt… irritatingly normal.
"Tch… useless."
She muttered under her breath, hands in her pockets.
She entered a clothing store—
not because she needed clothes,
but because she needed a distraction before she went insane searching.
She grabbed a pile of hoodies, tees, notebooks, bags—whatever her college life would require.
But her mind wasn't on any of it.
"Where are you hiding…?"
She murmured to herself.
"Why aren't you coming out?"
The more she tried to find the main source, the more it evaded her like it wanted to play.
A dangerous, irritating thought crept in—
What if the entity was somewhere so powerful…
so shielded…
so deeply connected to the land…
that even she couldn't sense it?
Leo made a low rumbling sound.
Marcelline's eyes narrowed behind her mask.
"I know… I feel it too."
The faintest ripple of dark energy… so distant she almost thought she imagined it.
She shoved it aside for now.
At the counter, the cashier blinked at her.
"Uh… student card?"
Marcelline blinked back.
She had completely forgotten about the human process.
She slid the temporary admission slip of St. Lumina University.
The cashier's eyes widened.
"W-Wow, Lumina? That's like… the top university in Hollowmist! Congrats!"
Marcelline only nodded, expression unreadable.
Outside again, she adjusted her mask and walked toward the next store.
Her brain was spinning.
"If I want that thing to show itself…"
"I need to expose myself more."
"Force it."
"Drag it out."
She smirked slightly under her mask.
"Fine. Let's play your game."
Her phone buzzed.
A new email notification.
From: St. Lumina University
Subject: Admission Confirmed — Report After 2 Days
She stared at it for a moment.
Then she tucked the phone into her hoodie pocket.
"Two days, Leo."
She whispered.
"Two days… and then the real hunt starts."
Leo growled in agreement, eyes glowing faint gold.
---