“You sure this place is safe? I feel like it would give me twenty kinds of diseases by just being near it” Maria had not wanted to complain about Nao’s choice but the building made her want to gag.

Surely there were better places than a run-down toilet complex that had not been cleaned for years?

And the worst part about this experience was – they were not even alone. There were a few more people inside the common room waiting in line to use the small mirror in front of the sink.

“This place is the only place we have so please bear with it. Also, plug your nose and brace yourself for the smell” Maria only got a warning before she felt Nao pull her into one of the side stands.

Giggled erupted around them at the action. Maria also heard a few catcalls and teasing remarks in the mix which made her flush.

And then she almost gagged at the smell reaching her nose. It was foul and made her want to empty her stomach. Maris pushed herself into Nao as much as she could to avoid touching anything else in the stall.

She also politely ignored the pointy thing poking her into her leg.

“Well, get to it and fast. I don’t think this palace agrees with me” Maria forced it out and felt her face being taken into a pair of gentle hands.

And then she felt hands on her face, rubbing something on it before rubbing another thing. It made her skin feel wet and slippery, an uncomfortable combination.

Her face felt stiff and unable to move by the time Nao finished with her and led her back outside. Then she left Maria there with a warning of ‘ Do not touch it till I say so. It needs to settle down’ and started on her own face.

Maria’s make-up made her look downright indecent and her revealing clothes did not help her case.

The short bikini top made her breasts look like they would pop out any moment and her skirt barely existed. Maria had never shown this much skin in her life before and now she was practically naked.

Nao looked much better in her leather outfit but even that seemed suggestive. The whip on her hip made her look like a certain stereotypical ‘alpha bitch’.

“Time to rock this” Maria took a small step to check her body’s balance before she took another. The giggle of her breast was not something she could control and she had a few close calls with it.

But she did make it to the guards in the end with a nervous step.

Not that they paid much to her. Their attention was fixed more on a certain part of her body and Maira felt unnerved by the attention.

One of the guards even tried to touch her before he was caught by Nao with a warning of ‘Lady Mei would not like it. She requested this one specifically.’

Maria had no idea who this ‘Lady Mei’ was. She had not been in her file or any other conversation this far but it did allow them both an easy entry.

“Who’s this Lady Mei?” Maria asked once they were both insides. Their identity check had gone without a hitch due to the newspapers and the use of some strategic tricks on their side.

“Lady Mei is a collector of sorts but she is also a famous personality in ‘our’ kind of work. She is also someone we will meet shortly” Nao did not sound worried so it likely meant that it was not a big deal.

Maria tried to ignore the looks she was receding as she walked through the city. Most people were either staring at her exposed skin, boobs, or her bunny ears on top of her head.

She was not sure which one she liked less.

“Can we hurry up and get out of here? I am not that comfortable with this crowd” Maria hid behind Nao and the other just sighed at the behavior she had been forced to endure.

“Sure. We have one more place to go before we can change” Nao replied before she changed directions.

Maria just followed behind her with careful steps.

They arrived in front of a hotel which was fart for their current economic crisis. Maria watched as Nao approached the alley at the hotel’s side and disappeared in there.

Maria decided to follow behind her as well. Staying out here would not be ideal under the given circumstances. Not that following someone into a shady alley was a much better alternative.

The alley was small and dark but it was not abandoned. It was far from abandoned and Maria felt her body tense as she sensed danger.

The alley looked as if it had no one but Maria and Nao but Maria could feel so many presences in her vicinity. There was some kind of cloaking device at work here.

“Nao?” Maira asked and then chided herself. Unlike Maria, Nao was using a fake name to blend in the metropolis. As such, Maria should have called her with her fake name and not her real name.

“I mean, Nova! What is going on?” Maria tried to rectify her mistake but Nao did not give any indication of having heard her.

Maria approached her friend, only for her to pass through Nao’s body instead. Her friend was as solid as smoke but she looked as if she was there.

“Nao?” Maria tried again but got no response again. Her friend just looked ahead with a closed-off look in her eyes that made her look dead to the world. The mist in the alley matched the misty look in Nao’s eyes.

It made Marai pause.

Did the alley always have this mist? Maria did not remember seeing it when she had first entered the alley but she had not paid much attention to it the first time around.

Maria tried to feel for her magic but felt nothing. She tried to fire it out but felt nothing respond inside her. There was a small explosion that told her that her magic had worked as intended.

She had just not felt the magic flow through her which was concerning.

And that was not all she could not feel. Maria could not feel her body, her legs, or even her hands. She was touching her but her brain decided not to categorize those sensations inside her.

The mist around her thickened and Maria thought she was a shadow in it but she was not sure.

However, it was more than clear that things were not as safe as Marai had believed them to be and she needed a physical weapon to save herself and Nao. Nao was still unresponsive to her actions and Maria’s hand passed through her fiend again.

What should she do now?