Chosen By The Lover's Constellation-Chapter 192: Star Players, Part Twenty-One
The girls arrived at the designated meeting spot soon.
The car pulled up and quickly drove off, not wanting to potentially alert anyone scouting the area out.
Using {Reconnaisance}, Lianna made sure no one else was around as she and Enverna walked up to Mel and Caroline.
Zura had chosen to sit this one out, given that "sneaky" wasn’t exactly a word she could use to describe herself.
And, of course, they weren’t here to actually fight, regardless of how much Lianna wanted to.
[If they start some shit with us, though, I won’t hesitate,] she promised.
"Hey!" Lianna greeted the others. "Didn’t keep you waiting too long, I hope."
"Not at all," Mel replied, pushing herself off the wall she’d been leaning against. "Do you hear that?"
Lianna’s ears perked up. She took a few steps back so she could look over the wall in front of her. The abandoned building the guild supposedly was based in was lit up.
In the distance, she could hear lively chatter and laughter.
"Sounds like a party."
"Yeah," Mel replied with a nod. "Probably why we haven’t seen anyone come out."
"Good. Let’s get started."
Lianna retrieved four small vials from her bag, the glass glinting beneath the lamppost’s light.
"Miss Taylor sent these," she explained, holding up the potions for the others to see. "They’re supposed to disguise us until combat starts."
As she passed the vials around, each of them examined the contents with a mixture of curiosity and anticipation.
The liquid inside shimmered with a strange hue.
"Disguise us?"
"Yep," Lianna nodded. "Change our full appearances. Illusion magic in a bottle."
Without hesitation, Lianna raised her vial to her lips and downed the potion in one swift motion.
The others followed suit, the cool liquid sliding down their throats with a faint tingling sensation.
For a moment, nothing seemed to happen. Then, with a sudden rush of mana, their bodies began to shift and change, morphing into new forms before their eyes.
Lianna watched in amazement as her features blurred and shifted, her hair lengthening and changing color, becoming black. Her eyes took on a new brown hue.
Beside her, Mel, Enverna, and Caroline underwent similar transformations, their appearances shifting until they were unrecognizable.
Mel was a little less pale and blonde-haired now and Enverna looked like a young boy, her features becoming a bit sharper and her hair becoming brown.
As the effects of the potions took hold, they exchanged stunned glances, marveling at their newfound disguises.
"It’s like something out of a fairy tale," Mel remarked, her voice filled with wonder.
Lianna couldn’t help but agree.
"Let’s just hope it works," Enverna said, shifting a little uncomfortably.
Then, Lianna’s eyes fell on Caroline.
Out of everyone, she clearly had the biggest transformation. Her hair turned purple, her skin took on a sickly grey color, and her eyes matched her hair.
She looked...
[Holy shit, she looks like a Child of Mana.]
Caroline didn’t look too pleased about this, but she remained silent.
"Okay," Lianna clapped her hands together. "Let’s do this, shall we?"
And, with that being said and a shared nod, they walked out, eager to get started.
---
Lianna’s senses were as sharp as they’d ever been.
They had to be. This opponent she was taking on, presumably, could also see what others could do.
[Even though we’re disguised right now, all that girl has to do is take one look at me and she’ll probably realize who I am.]
As the girls squeezed in through the front entrance, someone stopped them.
A burly man with a greataxe on his back looked them over. He was about to ask them something but, once his eyes fell on Caroline who was now wearing the visage of a Child of Mana, he silently stepped to the side and let them through.
One by one, Lianna’s eyes ran over everyone. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚
[That guy’s not strong... she’s not strong... he’s not...]
She couldn’t remember the last time she scanned this many people in one place.
Most of them were around the same level of strength, which was odd to Lianna but did confirm the group’s suspicions from before.
These people were not combatants.
Well, most of them weren’t. The ones standing by the cement stairs and narrow doors certainly could be called fighters, but even then, none of them were strong enough to give the girls any trouble.
[Good,] Lianna thought. [If we see that Child of Mana here, maybe we can just take her out and walk away like nothing happened. Not like these people can stop us.]
Again, she had to remind herself, however, that fighting wasn’t the point, even if she did invite the circumstance.
Instead, they were here to chat. And so, Lianna turned her charm up to 100 and walked over to someone.
Lianna maintained her composed facade as she engaged in conversation with one of the guild members, her inquiries casual but calculated.
She steered the discussion toward their experiences with the guild, trying to probe for some useful info without raising suspicion.
The guild member, a young man with a nervous demeanor, fidgeted slightly as he responded.
"We’re pretty new here, actually. Just joined a couple of days ago."
Lianna nodded, masking her growing anticipation beneath a veneer of interest.
"And what have you all been up to during your time here?"
Before the man could answer, Lianna’s gaze flickered toward a figure in the distance, a sense of recognition sparking within her.
She knew it was her the instant her eyes landed in her general direction.
It was the girl. The enemy.
From this distance, even though a whole crowd of people were standing between them, they made eye contact.
The girl looked away, disregarding Lianna and moving up to a nearby staircase.
Every fiber of Lianna’s being made her want to stand and follow her.
But, again, this was a reconnaissance mission.
The time for combat would come soon enough.
"... but, yeah, I hope we can get started soon," the boy said.
Lianna blinked, turning her attention back to him.
"I’m sorry," she smiled wide, "could you repeat that?"
