“Properly?”

Marcel only nodded in response.

Evan didn’t care expensive or cheap his clothes were. The most important thing for Evan was that he liked what he was wearing. Nevertheless, he understood that going to the auction in his outfit was not the best decision. Moreover, Marcel was doing him a great favor, so Evan agreed to such a simple request.

“All right, I agree. Only if perhaps I don’t want to look too pretentious.”

“Don’t worry. I know exactly how an aristocrat should be dressed. Flashy clothes are the lot of pompous ignoramuses who only try to appear to be powerful people. We’ll find you something refined and daring, I`m sure you`ll like it.”

Evan didn’t answer and just nodded. In his past life, Evan had worn both the most ordinary clothes and incredibly expensive ones. It was all purely a matter of taste and his desire.

“Okay.”

“Well, then, I expect you here at eleven p.m., don’t be late.” Marcel said calmly and opened the book again.

Evan nodded silently and just left.

…

Evan headed downtown, he wanted to go shopping. Originally, Evan was going to go back to his house and work out for a while. However, the conversation with Marcel about clothes made him want to buy something interesting for himself.

He did not mind to wear what Marcel would prepare for him, but in this clothes he would only go to the auction house and that was all. He had to find something that suited his style and preferences.

Evan’s favorite type of clothes were the coats. Of course, the rest of his clothes were also very important for the whole image, but he had a special feeling for coats.

<First, I woke up in tattered and dirty clothes in my cell. Then, I got armor and a plain shirt. It was time to change my style a bit, to get back to the canons, so to speak.>

Evan thought to himself and went into a clothing store called -the “Shadow of the Thread”. While Evan was choosing which store to go to he saw a lot of names with a talking prefix – “Paradise”.

Roughly, every third store had this word in its name, which once again confirmed Marcel’s enormous influence in Mossy Vulture. Marcel’s style was elegant and refined, but it wasn’t exactly Evan’s taste. So he knowingly bypassed all the stores that were Marcel’s.

The interior of the “Shadow of the Thread” was far inferior to Marcel’s stores. It was a private store that belonged to neither of the two main Families.

Nevertheless, Evan had chosen this store for a reason. He liked the clothes displayed in the windows. They were mostly long coats in dark colors. Also all the clothes were made in roughly the same daring style.

The interior of the store itself was rather simple, but the owner definitely had taste and his own vision. All in all Evan was happy with everything so far.

Whoosh.

<Huh, you definitely don’t see that in Marcel`s establishments. The first thing Evan saw when he walked into the store was the thick smoke of cigarettes that filled the room.

It came from the counter where a man was sitting with his feet high on it. The man’s name was Demien Onyx and he was the owner of the “Shadow of the Thread”. What’s more, he had personally designed every coat and the rest of the clothes in the store.

Demien’s appearance was appropriate: thick, black hair slicked back and eyes dark as night. His torso was covered in many tattoos and scars, and a stylish jacket was casually draped over his shoulders. Around his neck hung an amulet in the shape of the wing of a fallen angel.

Looking at Evan, Demien pulled a cigarette from behind his mouth, shook off the ash and said rudely: “What’s up, kid?”

Evan didn’t answer and just stepped closer.

“Just picking out a coat. I like the style of clothes you sell here. But I’d like something special.”

Evan did like the coats at the store, but they couldn’t compare to having a custom-made ones.

Demien measured Evan’s gaze and said dryly: “Your right. If you want it made to order, you owe me ten gold coins. Payment at once, if you don’t like the end result, no refund.”

Ten gold coins was a very impressive sum of money for almost anyone in Mossy Vulture. Even aristocratic clothes for balls didn’t cost that much. Of course, Evan had recently spent as much as 400 gold coins. But he spent that money on expensive and rare materials for forging weapons.

What’s more, out of the 400 gold coins, 150 went for the hammer, which was made of high quality materials. So it was a normal price for such things.

Demien was asking as much as 10 gold coins for the coat. The materials to be used would be the most common – what everyday clothes were made of. It was definitely overpriced.

Of course, there were more expensive things in the world. Magicians often had armor made of rare metals or robes made of the skin of unusual and powerful monsters. Such things, apart from their beauty and cool appearance, gave certain advantages to their owner, and they could cost fabulous sums of money.

Demien was well aware of that, but he still would not agree to a lesser sum. The fact was that, if anyone placed an order with the “Shadow of the Thread”, it was Demien himself, who carried it out. All other clothes, except of custom-made ones, were made by Demien`s tailors. He scrupulously supervised their work, giving instructions and making alterations.

Initially, Demien thought Evan would turn around and leave, because he couldn’t afford the prices. However, Evan smiled, pulled out a black card and held it out forward, “Ten gold pieces, right?”

Demien smiled broadly in response, sharply snatched the card from Evan’s hands, and said, “That’s right.”

He put the card on a special plaque and returned it to Evan.

“Well, now I’m ready to hear your order. I`m even interested in what has come to your mind.”

…

About two hours later, Evan walked out of the store in high spirits. He told Demien his idea, and he drew a sketch right on the spot pretty quickly. Despite his menacing appearance, Demien was a master of his craft.

On first impression, you might think Demien was a very rude man, but when it came to the work, he was serious and attentive to detail. The only thing that discouraged Evan was the turnaround time – a full ten days.

Sure, it wasn’t that long for quality work, but it still wouldn’t speed up the wait.

Evan looked at the setting sun and said slowly: “Okay, it`s done, now I can go home.”