95 Shopping in the First District 2

"We sneaked out of our dorms in the night every year to have strawberry shortcake on my birthday," Shelly refuted.

I started to sneak out of the dorms in elementary school.

I walked up to Luke's bed to check if he was sleeping.

Luke laid down on his bed as he didn't make a single movement. From my years of living with Luke, I knew if he didn't move while sleeping, he was deeply asleep.

I gently closed our dorm room as I ran to Ellen's room. Even though the doors were secured that only partners could enter, it was strange that I could enter Ellen's room by opening her window.

"Ellen!" I whispered into her ear.

Ellen pushed me away as she asked, "What is it Rika?"

"Let's go to the cafe together!" I observed Ellen half-asleep state as some strands of her bob stuck out in weird directions.

"Ok," Ellen cutely replied as she followed my lead as we exited the room by using the front door this time.

We walked to Shelly's room as Ellen leaned onto me for support.

I opened Shelly's window as I quietly snuck into the room. I was thankful that Shelly's bed was closer to the window as I wasn't confident that I wouldn't wake up Alex in the process if it wasn't.

I lightly shook Shelly as she blinked rapidly in confusion once she opened her eyes.

This time, I climbed onto Shelly's drawer under the window to exit the room. I pulled Shelly up as she mimicked my movements.

"And you spent the entire day with me every year on my birthday to pull pranks on Allan!" Ellen smiled as she recalled her fond memories.

I tiptoed as quietly as possible as I entered Ellen's room. Ellen stood at the other side of the Allan's bed as she signalled the target as she pointed to Allan's face.

I shot a line of freezing water on Allan's face with my mana as I observed Allan's sleeping face.

When Allan sat up as he was drenched from the sudden water sprayed onto his bed, I quickly ran out of the room with Ellen.

Success.

"It's you again, isn't it Rika!" Allan angrily screamed as he got out of his bed.

Ellen and I ran to the cafeteria to have our breakfast after high-fiving each other from our successful operation.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I pretended to be clueless while eating my breakfast with Ellen.

We sneaked out of our dorms every month to have strawberry shortcakes in the night and I pulled pranks on Allan every four months with Ellen.

I secretly promised to myself that I was definitely going to give Shelly and Ellen the best surprise ever on their birthdays!

"Which store should we go to next?" Shelly pulled my hand with excitement.

"How about the gaming store?" I suggested as I was greatly interested how the average person in the first district entertained themselves.

"Remember the games we played at Ben's house?" I asked Shelly if there were similar games in the first district.

"Right! I think I know the place," Shelly yelled with sudden realization.

We followed Shelly's lead as she searched for the store on the map of the place she recalled that had similar games to the ones we played in Ben's villa.

My eyes glittered when I was in the shop.

These were the ancient things I never knew to exist in the first district.

The chips made out of thinly sliced mana rocks sparkled as they were to be integrated into the marble as extensions.

I picked out some chips that caught my eye. One was described to take you to a world where war was happening with guns and swords.

Another one took place in a medieval setting where you could test your cooking skills.

"These were the things I was looking for!" I started to place almost all the chips in my shopping bag with pure joy.

"I've never seen you so happy," Ellen commented as I couldn't stop glibbering my past gaming knowledge with delight unconsciously.

Shelly agreed as she noticed my shopping bag to be almost full with most of the shop's merchandise.

"Luke doesn't have any of these things in his mansion," I revealed Luke's bare house.

"I don't think most of us do," Shelly admitted.

Right. The elites of the first district had to act accordingly to the fame of their family name. Even Ben's sister had a secret place to dump all her hobbies in.

Wait. What if Luke throws all these out like he did to my junk food and few of my light novels?

I needed a good hiding place where I could leave my goodies safely without the fear of Luke finding out.

"What do I do? I think Luke might throw these out if he finds out!" I confessed with panic arising from my realization of what would likely happen.

"That is a struggle," Ellen pitied me.

"I can buy you a small apartment unit," Shelly took out her card again as Ellen's eyes widened from surprise.

What! I couldn't ask that to Shelly.

"But isn't-"

"It's fine," Shelly smiled as she wouldn't take 'no' for a answer.

"It can also serve as a secret hangout. I'm also sick of staying in one place these days," Shelly admitted her hard life as she had to live with Alex as her partner.