127 Fugitive

I wore a pair of jeans for the first time in years. I covered myself with a big pair of sunglasses and a casual white baseball cap. I was truly lucky that a shopping mall was close to the other end of the border. This was something to take note of in the future.

I was finally free from the grasp of the first district! I could now plan my future to a certain extent in the third district. My plan was to not stand out as much as possible. The minute I did was probably a doomed flag where I would be dragged back.

I also needed a part-time job since the money I currently possessed would only last me several weeks at most. But most places hired high school students and middle school students only worked to help support their families in the third district. I studied my appearance in front of the glass wall.

'If I lowered my voice and acted more mature, I might pass for a high school student,' I concluded.

I tried to book a cheap motel room in the area after taking a brief glance at the map inside the marble. However, the manager looked at me suspiciously, clearly exposing her thoughts of how a young child had so much money. I ducked down when I spotted dashing blond hair right behind me after being denied by the manager.

It was hard to remind myself that not everyone with light blond hair came from the first district. The most common hair colours in the first district were neutral shades such as blond, silver, black and dark brown. The other districts were more colourful like the colours from the rainbow like my stunning red hair.

I continued to visit other hotels where they all asked for proof of my identity like my passport. But I knew I would be done if I gave them real proofs. Jules or Alex could use their family power to influence the authorities to find me before Luke figured out my escape.

I was almost considering going home, to spend more time with my family instead of struggling outside alone. At this rate, no one was going to let me stay in any place without reporting a runaway child to the police. Would I have to sleep outside?

I shuddered at the thought of sleeping in the streets. After putting everything I bought into my inventory, I decided to go to the nearby library to read some manga while I had the luxury. If I spent my time worrying about what would happen next, there was no point in this escape in the first place.

I picked up several piles of books from the shelf that I read at a rapid pace. Since I was focused on the books, I had no idea I was grabbing the attention of the passersby who were astonished by how I consumed each book.

"Rika?" Someone called my name from a distance.

What horrible luck! After escaping from Jules and Alex lied another obstacle in front of me. I wondered if I was really that recognizable. After resting at the library, I had enough mana to teleport someplace else.

I immediately thought of teleporting to anywhere in the third district from where I was now. Unfortunately, not visualizing specifically where I wanted to go led to facing the entrance of my family house. This was the worst place where I could have been out of all the places in my mind.

In front of me was Jules and Alex who waited at the front steps of the porch. When I turned to peek at the owner of the faint footsteps behind me, I found Lucius had traced my teleportation path. Tracing a teleportation path was an easy feat for a high school student if the person who teleported was careless enough to not hide her tracks. Like me who panicked and didn't think of the consequences.

'I should've stayed at the library,' I sighed when both Jules and Alex spotted me.

I knew using mana in the first place was a mistake if I wanted to stay low. With no other choice, I used my mana to enter the house instead of ringing the doorbell as usual. I had to meet my parents before I was teleported away from here.

"Sorry for entering without any notice," I yelled into the house.

My twin brother dropped his mug that thankfully landed on the mat. I grabbed the mug and passed it to him before remembering to slam the door on unwanted guests. I threw off my cap and sunglasses to show I was his twin sister who visited a few months ago.

"Where are our parents?" I immediately got to business.

"…Not here," He gulped as if he was frightened.

Well that ruined most of my plans. My shield from the people who stood outside my house disappeared when the door opened at the mention of the absence of my parents. This had to be the worst timing for it to happen.