We took a detour from the MRT station and stopped by an electronics department store. The cool breeze of air-con caressed our faces as soon as we entered through the sliding doors; a friendly salesgirl bounced forth and greeted us with a jovial voice.
“Hihi, what are you two looking for? Do y’all need any assistance?”
“Yahallo!” Angelica replied, matching her energy effortlessly. “I’m looking for a new phone, but tbh I don’t really know what I should be buying. Do you have any recommendations?”
“Yahallo?” I gave her a weird glance. “Where did you learn that?”
“Hmm? I saw someone saying it on that musical note app, why do you ask?”
“I knew it...”
The salesgirl gestured at a phone display table next to the entrance. “Say, what’s your budget? If you don’t mind shelling out a bit of extra cash, I have a few mid-range Android phone models that are good and reasonably priced—”
“Oh, nahhh, I don’t really have a budget in mind,” Angelica said, glancing around at the store. “What’s the most expensive phone you can buy here?”
She gave a low whistle in response. “Sheesh, I’m tryna get like you, gurl. How does an iPhone Pro Max with 2 terabytes of storage sound?”
“I don’t understand what you just said, but yes please!” Angelica giggled and turned to face me. “What about you, Avery? Don’t you want to get something too?”
“Me?” I pursed my lips in thought. “Let’s see, I’d want to get a gaming console...but anything too big and bulky will raise Mum’s suspicions, so a new computer or PS5 is out. A Switch, maybe? But I probably don’t have time to play it...”
“We actually have a promotion for the Switch ongoing right now!” the salesgirl exclaimed. “If you buy our bundle, you can get the base console, two free games and a extra pair of controllers for only $699. It’s super super worth it, really!”
And so we stepped out of the store with two huge, bulging bags in each of our hands and a receipt detailing our outrageously extravagant $5000 purchase.
“Thank you, please come again!” The salesgirl, whose name we learnt was Shan, waved a little too energetically at us. “See ya~”
“Well, at least I won’t have to worry about what to give Liam for his birthday next week…” I mumbled, looking down at my bags full of N*ntendo games that I had never heard of.
Angelica stopped by the roadside and dropped her bags on the ground, panting like she had just completed a 2.4km run. “A-Avery, can you help to carry one more bag…pwease? My arm hurtsss!”
“...” I sighed and asked, “can’t you ask Aurora to help you out? My hands are full here too, you know.”
She opened her mouth, then clicked her tongue and muttered, “but that irritating demon will appear and beat me up again, no way.”
“Therese can help us out with her magic too,” I pointed out and gave her a thumbs-up. “Don’t worry, you can block her attack with your bags.”
“I-if you say so…” She hugged one bag in front of her chest, bracing herself, and squeezed her eyes shut while she summoned Aurora out; it was like watching a frightened kitten trying to look brave in front of an imagined threat, and I had to choke back my laughter to keep a straight face.
You are reading story The Hero died, now what? at novel35.com
“Hello Aurora, we meet again.” I flashed a smile at the glowing ball of light which materialised on Angelica’s palm. “Sorry for the trouble, but your master needs your help urgently.”
Aurora shook almost as if expressing dismay, then floated over to the other three bag Angelica discarded on the ground. To my amused surprise, she wrapped herself around the handles and slowly began dragging the bags forward.
“Eek!” Angelica let out a whimper when Therese appeared behind a nearby lamppost, approaching us with a half-bemused expression. “D-d-don’t come near me!”
“Give me a break, idiot.” Therese simply shot her an annoyed look before shifting her gaze to me. “Why are you carrying so many bags? Just returned from the supermarket? Let me see what’s inside...PFFT?!”
I only gave her a wry smile in response to her face of disbelief. “We may have splurged a little too much, I know.”
“A little??” Her jaw dropped as she noticed Aurora struggling to lug three more heavy bags all by herself behind me. “Where did you get so much money to buy all these stuff from?”
“They’re all sponsored by our dear Goddess,” I said happily. “I don’t know how she did it, but she found an infinite money glitch and we just exploited it.”
“Infinite money glitch?” Therese raised an eyebrow momentarily before laughing. “I see, that’s cool...anyways, it looks like you two want to borrow my pocket dimension to put your stuff in, am I right?”
“How do you know?” Angelica and I asked in unison.
“You guys are painfully bad at hiding your ulterior motives,” she muttered, giving Angelica a sideways glance. “Not that I mind, but next time, please just call me instead of using that vile magic of yours.”
“Y-you didn’t even tell me your phone number, how am I supposed to do that?”
“Why should I give you my number?” Therese made a face and threw herself by my side. “I texted you my number on WhatsApp, do drop me a message every morning, ‘kay?” She gave me a sweet innocent smile accompanied by expectant eyes. “Also, since you interrupted my study session at home, I’m going to have you help me do my homework!”