Ch. 43 Twins

When morning came, Ana washed her face, got dressed, and went straight outside. As always, her friend was slouching on the roof.

'Would he be sleeping here if I still had my rooster?' she wondered.

Unfortunately, when George's gang ransacked her house, they also killed her pet. Feeling her mood going down, the girl slapped her cheeks and took a deep breath.

"Ethan… Wake up!!"

"Huh, whaaaaat?" The boy fell like a barrel yet landed on his feet. He had repeated this drill so many times he could now do it with his eyes closed. After rubbing them thoroughly, Ethan finally looked at his friend.

"You look… nice." He said honestly. The girl was wearing a blue fluttery blouse with matching trousers and shoes. There was even a beautiful red bracelet on her right arm which seemed to be a small dimensional pocket.

"After you left yesterday, I went shopping with Oliver. Do you like it?" she gave a twirl while giggling.

'Ohh yea… I cut our training short yesterday to prepare for the raid.'

"So?" the girl asked expectantly.

"You look beautiful. If you're still up for shopping, let's go today too."

Ethan grabbed her hand and went looking for Oliver. Unbeknownst to him, Ana was blushing hard. She wasn't used to compliments, especially not from him.

When they reached the main house, Oliver was already rushing out.

"Hey, did you hear!? 2 of the Wilson family's farms blew up last night. We have to buy more grains and vegetables. Their prices are going to skyrocket!"

While saying all of this, he was looking only at Ethan. At the end of it, the mage could've sworn he saw a wink.

Oliver dashed towards the gate, and the teens followed. All morning, they scoured the city buying all the grains they could find.

Unfortunately, the whole city found out about the attack, and prices rose at record speed. In less than 2 hours, grains became more expensive than meat.

"I think we should stop." said Oliver while handing the last bag to a servant. "By now, even the commoners know what's up. And besides, I've had my men stock up for winter all of last week, so we're good."

Once again, Ethan thought he saw a wink.

"Anyway, since we're out together, how about I show you our Alchemist shop?"

The teens were planning on shopping anyway, so they went with the flow.

The Hunt family's largest store was a huge 4 story building with a large entrance and numerous customers even on this unusual day. Oliver took them to the front counter straight past a long row of people that were waiting for their turn. However, six steps away from their goal, a large man left the line and blocked the trio's path.

"If you want to buy something, then get. in. line." he grunted. Due to all the people in the shop and the scorching sun of early summer, the man was sweating profusely.

"Actually…" began Oliver.

"Excuuuse me!" A tiny girl from behind the counter interrupted. "Customer, my dear, I'll have to ask you to get the f**k out of their way."

"What!?" the man was wide eyed and Oliver face-palmed in embarrassment.

"Unless you want to get banned from our stores?" asked the girl while flashing her manager badge.

The burly man reluctantly got back in line. The Alchemist association sold all their products through the Hunt family, so no mage could afford to offend them.

"Oliver!" When they reached the counter, the girl jumped over with surprising agility and hugged him.

"This is my little sister, Olivia." He explained with a sigh.

"We're twins!" cried the girl.

Oliver shrugged and picked her up. Olivia was a head shorter than her brother with soft features and an adorable smile. Compared to the chiseled cheeks of her brother, she was the complete opposite.

"Take us to the 3rd floor." said Oliver after putting her down. 'I'll have to tell dad about this...'

With a skip in her step and still holding her brother's hand, Olivia led the way. Right after, an attendant practically jumped behind the counter to serve the more than 20 people she had unceremoniously abandoned.