NOVEL NEXT Chapter 96: Going Shopping
Luna looked at her watch as she stood outside the mansion, tapping her foot against the stone path.
'I wonder where Lucius went,' she thought.
He had just texted her that he'd be coming… but that was a little while ago now.
She really wanted to get those drone parts today.
It wasn't just a shopping trip, it was important for the stream.
Lucius had even been the one to suggest the idea since they could be entering higher ranked dungeons any time now.
She sighed, adjusting the strap on her satchel.
'I even managed to tweak the protective wear. All I had to do was re-route the mana channels to—'
Luna stopped herself and massaged her forehead.
'Lucius said I should stop overcomplicating things,' she reminded herself. He was probably right.
Still, she wanted to show him something solid, something that proved she could be useful in a raid.
The next stream was coming up, and she didn't want to just stand in the background and be protected even if she loved it.
Just as she let out a long breath, a shadow appeared in front of her.
Lucius stood there, casual as always, one hand outstretched toward her.
"Hey," he said simply. In his hand was a cup with a straw sticking out of it. "Smoothie?"
Her cheeks puffed up almost instantly.
"I've been waiting for you," she said, snatching the cup. "And you were out getting a smoothie?"
"Yes." He said it like it was the most natural answer in the world.
"You're very insensitive," Luna muttered, but her irritation melted as soon as the cool drink touched her lips.
She slurped it down in one long pull.
Lucius fought back a smirk.
He had just left the movie date with Esmeralda a little bit back, and that wasn't something he was going to say out loud.
He had a strong feeling that if Luna found out about that… he wouldn't be seeing daylight for a long time.
So he kept quiet and walked straight to the driver's seat of his car.
Luna followed, slipping into the passenger seat.
Lucius took the key from his pocket, inserted it into the ignition, and the engine came to life with a smooth rumble.
"What did you say the name of the shop was again?" he asked, stretching his shoulders.
"I texted it to you," Luna said, side-eyeing him.
"Come on…" Lucius leaned a little closer and gave her something that was dangerously close to puppy eyes.
She froze.
Then sighed.
"Alright, alright," she said, folding instantly. "It's called Bridgefort Nexus Supplies. Happy?"
"Very." Lucius tapped the name on the dashboard screen, syncing it with the car's system.
Then, with a flick, he enabled auto-drive and leaned back in his seat.
"Y-you put it on auto-drive?" Luna asked, wide-eyed.
"Yes."
"What happened to regular driving? You looked cool when you drove."
"Why bother when you have technology?" he asked, closing his eyes.
She stared at him for a moment, then sighed, sucking harder on her smoothie.
Nothing could kill his laziness.
…
The car slid smoothly through the streets and stopped right in front of the shop.
The building wasn't flashy — it looked like an average tech place, just wide enough with glass doors and a faint blue glow from the inside.
Lucius stepped out first, shutting his door, and looked at the place.
'Huh… this feels nostalgic,' he thought.
It reminded him of a shop from his old neighborhood back on Earth… well before he moved out to live in a mansion.
Before he could stare too long, Luna grabbed his hand and tugged.
"Come on," she said. "Many people don't come here, so it's perfect for laying low while getting good parts."
Lucius let himself be dragged toward the door.
Inside, the shop looked much cleaner and more professional than he expected.
Shelves were neatly arranged with different machine parts in them.
The temperature was cool, multiple air conditioners humming in the room.
But that professionalism ended as soon as they reached the counter. The guy behind it was leaning back in his chair, eyes locked on a game console in his hands.
His thumbs tapped furiously at the buttons, his focus completely elsewhere.
"Good morning," Luna greeted politely.
The man didn't even look up.
Lucius raised an eyebrow.
His fingers twitched slightly — he felt the sudden urge to lift the console into the air with space magic just to make the guy panic.
But Luna caught his sleeve lightly.
"I'm here to buy some machine parts," she said, keeping her voice calm.
The man grunted, still not looking away from his game. "Check the shelves. Bring it here. I'll appraise it."
Lucius smirked.
'Lazy recognizes lazy,' he thought.
Luna ignored the bad service and pulled Lucius deeper into the aisles.
"Alright," she said firmly. "I sent you a list of what we need. Pull it out."
"No room for excuses, huh?" Lucius muttered.
She shot him a look that silenced him instantly.
He took out his phone and opened her message, scanning the first line. His eyebrows furrowed.
"Hyperdelec—?!" He stopped, the word tripping in his mouth.
"Hyperdelegation Quantum Motherboard," Luna finished smoothly.
Lucius blinked. "Of course. That's what I was going to say."
She rolled her eyes but smiled.
They stopped in front of a row of glass cases, each holding different models of motherboards with labels on them.
"This one's the heart of the drone," she explained, crouching slightly to scan the shelves. "Everything else builds around it — the stabilizers, the mana converters, the directional wings. Without this, the whole thing falls apart."
Her fingers moved carefully, tracing along the edges of the glass until she spotted the one she wanted.
She reached forward, already explaining the next part.
"We'll connect it through a dual channel regulator so it can handle sudden mana spikes, and…"
Another hand slid forward at the same time, brushing against hers.
The two of them froze, both gripping the same motherboard.
The voice beside her finished her sentence without missing a beat: "—and reroute the overflow into a secondary capacitor."
Luna's head snapped up.
Lucius's eyes narrowed.
"Hey, that's mine!" they both said at the same time.
And just like that, the calm shopping trip was over.