Accidental Villainy 17 (Patreon)

I wasn’t particularly worried about the safety of my bar as I left it. At this point, either the Slasher realized that his henchmen had been robbed, or they had managed to keep their unique misfortune hidden. 

If the latter was the problem, everything was alright. 

If the former was the case, there were three rough possibilities. Our resident villain would buy my bluff and leave me alone, which meant my location was not important. He wouldn’t buy it and decide to attack my bar, which I could watch from the cameras and decide whether to return or sacrifice the bar — which was an easier decision to make with the recent loot. 

Or, he might decide to attack me directly, and in that case, having Tara with me was the much better option. 

I left my bar easily, because currently, it was a nice bait with no value — a fact that won’t continue once I purchased all those bottles by spending a small fortune on it. 

Soon, we arrived at our destination. 

Valley Mall. 

“Isn’t that place a bit … expensive, sir,” she murmured. 

I thought about teasing her about questioning my ideas, but in this case, I decided against it. We were in public … and more importantly, she was right. Located between the city center and the rich suburbs of the northern hills, Valley Mall was the most expensive shopping center in the city … and every single product that was sold here was sold with a hefty markup. 

Unfortunately, it was one of the few places that truly expensive shops dared to settle, because it was under the full-time protection of the New Giant Force Guild, an offshoot of the famous Giant Force that had almost as much influence on the country during its heyday. 

Until it collapsed due to internal arguments. 

The New Giant Force Guild, casually referred to as giants, was one of the weaker groups that split, but still, it was enough to make them the premier guild of our city. They kept the city center safe, and in exchange, the city donated them a small piece of land. 

Which they built the Valley Mall on. As long as a luxury shop was willing to pay the hefty security premium, their security was assured. No casual destruction by a bored villain, and not even shoplifting. 

Not exactly my favorite hangout spot, but it was the only place that had the rare bottles I had wished to have. 

“Let’s go,” I said as I led her through the mall, but halfway in, I noticed a nice boutique that had a nice spread of outfits. Some outfits that were worthy of my secretary, and a couple pieces that we could use to cobble together a more distinctive hero outfit for her that could keep her identity secret. 

I doubted it would take long for them to realize Tara was the supposed bodyguard, but that didn’t matter. In about half of the cases, the so-called civilian identity of heroes and villains is just a polite fiction in any case. 

The other half was pretty careful hiding them. 

Luckily, Tara’s powerset was the kind that didn’t really care about their identity except for the polite fiction part. After all, she had super strength and super durability regardless of what she was wearing.

“Why don’t you go in and try a few dresses while I go and handle the boring part of shopping,” I said to her as I led her into the shop. I planned to leave her immediately, but I decided against it when I noticed the disdainful gaze of one of the saleswomen, clearly about to treat her as a nuisance due to the quality of our clothing. 

Technically, I could let it happen before swooping in to save her … but we were past the need for such a little trick in our beautifully complicated relationship. Instead, I looked at a younger, more hesitant woman, and gestured her to walk, my confident move enough to overwhelm their general distaste. 

“Now, I want you to help my pretty secretary here. Two sets of uniform that would brighten the look in my office, maybe a dress that she could wear to accompany me to business dinners,” I quickly explained even as I pulled a roll of money and passed a hundred dollars to her like it was nothing. “But, if I see her anything less than perfectly happy and pampered, I’ll leave without buying anything. Understood?” I said, then turned away without looking. 

After all, I was able to read her enough to know that, through a combination of crass displays of wealth, I had convinced her that I was a rich man. An upstart rich man, probably, but in such a shop, that was not exactly a problem. 

Though, ironically, my power allowed me to read that my rude attitude did more to sell that idea than the deliberate display of cash. 

Amusing. 

I left immediately — not without throwing a warning glare to the other saleswoman, sharp enough to show I knew exactly what she was thinking — to arrive at my next destination. As much as I treated my departure as a test, I didn’t want to risk it. 

There, things went much better. They were not unused to workers coming to make big purchases, and they were pointedly not curious about all-cash payment of thirty thousand once they realized the general delivery point.

They asked for a thousand extra for the delivery due to the neighborhood where they were dropping it off. Not exactly something that I wanted to pay…

But an officer of a high-ranking villain wouldn’t be hauling more than fifty bottles like a common worker, so, to maintain the illusion, I assented. 

With that delivery complete, I walked back to the boutique where I had left Tara, but a glance inside confirmed that she was being assisted by the saleswoman well and she was happy, so I decided to leave her to her shipping for a while more. 

It wouldn’t be amiss to do some shopping for me to reinforce the impression as well. 

Unfortunately, my challenge was a bit tougher than Tara. A woman, even one that suspected to be a superhero, had the luxury of wearing whatever they wanted as long as it looked good. 

For a man, especially one who was trying to give the impression of working toward a mysterious villain, things were a bit complicated. My supposed undercover role allowed me to be understated, but ultimately, there was a difference between understated and cheap.

Technically, there was a workaround. I could just purchase a nice watch and some nice leather shoes, and I could wear whatever I wanted. 

Unfortunately, nice leather shoes started in five figures … and the less it was said about truly nice watches that could be a statement, the better. 

Luckily, my power allowed me to cheat a bit. I stopped by some stores, and created a small wardrobe of jeans, t-shirts, and stylish but underrated sneakers, my power allowing me to build some combinations that would impress a true fashion expert. 

However, paying five hundred dollars for a simple black t-shirt was certainly annoying. I was going through the money I managed to take with a shocking speed, but I just forced myself to ignore that detail. 

Money wasn’t as important as my safety, and the illusion I was working hard to build was the only thing that could potentially keep us safe. I rather waste money on details that might end up unimportant than the alternative. 

With that, my shopping was complete … or, I thought so until I passed in front of an accessory store, one that was made in the form of the members of the New Gian Force. Various expensive toys and knick-knacks were being sold for a ridiculous markup, with the excuse of supporting the protectors of the city. 

What caught my interest was a little metal puzzle box. I had no idea what, but the tickling of my power was distinctive. 

Even more interestingly, there were fifty of those boxes, and only one tickled my attention. Curious, I walked inside, but I didn’t just grab it, afraid that it was some kind of trick. 

Luckily, that was not my only way of getting that. As I stood near, examining the stuff, one of of the salespeople rushed toward me immediately. “How can I help you, sir,” he said, the bags that filled my hands marking me as a likely buyer. 

“Just a gift to my niece. She’s a sharp little thing, and she’s a big fan of the Giants,” I said. “But she has all the figures, so I’m looking for something different.” 

As I said that, I took a ‘careless’ half a step back, and he followed, which meant when he reached, he grabbed the puzzle box that grabbed my attention in the first place. “How about something like this, sir. It’ll keep her mind sharp and —“ 

“That’ll do, wrap it up,” I said, doing my best to sound disinterested. 

I wanted to see just why it had managed to awaken my interest such intensely. 

But, that was for the future. 

First, I need to make sure her new clothes fit Tara perfectly… 

And could be removed just as easily.