And that's how the three of us came to the town.
"For what reason?!"
"What, are you unsatisfied with something?"
Allen tilted his head in confusion when Charlotte let out a high-pitched shriek.
This was a town not far from the mansion where Allen lived. The town was quite large and there were several reasonable underground labyrinths nearby, so there were a lot of people coming and going. The headquarters of the transportation company where Miaha worked was also located in this town.
It was a little past noon, and the main street was crowded.
In the corner of the street, Charlotte hid behind a building, trembling.
Her head was covered with a piece of cloth from the mansion, and she was behaving quite suspiciously.
Erika shrugged her shoulders and said, "That's because it's a match between me and brother, on who can please Charlotte. And there's only so much you can do in a gloomy house like that."
"Since we're out shopping, you should get some fresh air once in a while."
"But I'm the one... who is asking the questions!"
Charlotte looked around restlessly.
To make matters worse, there were a number of wanted postings plastered on the notice boards in the city.
One of them was brand new and... that one was definitely Charlotte's.
"If I go out, I'll get caught... I don't want to do that... I'll get Allen and Erika into trouble..."
"At the end of the day, you were just worried about others? Well, that's just like you."
Allen smiled at Charlotte sniffling her nose. He lent her a handkerchief and spoke to her in as gentle a voice as possible.
"Don't worry. It will be alright. I will take care of it."
He gently touched Charlotte's hair and snapped his fingers.
Shape Shift.
"Oh!"
A pale light enveloped Charlotte's hair and quickly disappeared.
When I handed her a hand mirror, Charlotte immediately widened her eyes.
"Oh, my hair is...! It's black!"
"Mm-hmm. It's a simple disguise spell."
Charlotte's beautiful golden hair was dyed jet black like the darkness of the night.
She stared intently into the mirror at her unusual appearance.
"Now that your hair is different, they won't be able to tell who you are. Don't worry, we'll be careful too."
"T-thank you so much..."
"Mm-hmm. Leave the arrangement to me!"
Erika jumped onto Charlotte and started playing with her long hair as she pleased.
"Yes, yes, it looks great on you! Now that you have dark hair, don't you and I look alike?"
"Yes. Allen too... err... well, half alike."
"Oh well."
Allen shrugged his shoulders at Charlotte who was beaming with embarrassment.
While doing so, he stared at her dark hair and felt he did a pretty good job. Her hair was glossy with no split ends. A beautiful black hair--
"But I'm going to break that spell as soon as we get home."
"Oh. Is that so..."
"What? Why! She looks great in black hair too!"
Erika protested.
Charlotte was also heartbroken.
But Allen was adamant and unyielding.
"Black isn't bad, but gold is the best color for Charlotte. I like that color the best."
"What..."
For some reason, Charlotte was stunned speechless. Erika merely rolled her eyes and said no more.
At the sight of this, Allen could not help but cocked his head in question.
"Why? Did I say something funny?"
".... No, no. It's nothing..."
"Come on, brother! Are you trying to score brownie points already?"
Charlotte's face turned red as she cast her eyes downward.
While squinting her eyes at him, Erika quickly put Charlotte's hair together. Then, she took Charlotte's hand and smiled.
"All right, your hair is now done. I can't lose to you either. I'm going to do my best to teach her the mischiefs that only a woman can teach!"
"Oh? And what are the mischiefs that only girls can do?"
"Hehehe. I guess you'll have to find out."
Erika grinned as she said it proudly.
"Of course, we'll start with fashion! I'll get you lots of clothes and accessories! Let's go!"
"H-hey! Hold on a second!"
"Hey, you'll fall if you run."
Allen followed after the two of them, holding hands as they ran off.