The woman before him was fairly tall, only a little shorter than Selina. She wore a linen shirt washed almost white, its sleeves rolled halfway up her forearms to reveal firm muscle definition. Below it was a leather skirt, with a fringe of narrow leather strips that swayed gently as she turned.
Her hair was combed neatly back into a tight bun, with a hair covering holding every stray strand firmly in place.
Under her illusion, Shahualin looked like an ordinary, somewhat thin middle-aged woman. She had an unremarkable face, a dark complexion, slightly high cheekbones, and two shallow creases beside her mouth. Her lips were pressed into a line, and her skin bore dark red marks from years of exposure to the sea wind.
With such a plain appearance, an ordinary observer would probably have taken her for an island tailor who had grown up by the sea.
Renato could easily detect the flaws in that face formed from magical energy. Under his Dragonkind Senses, the surface details of the illusion blurred like writing soaked in water. The shadows around her cheekbones were also too smooth, and from certain angles, the fine lines at the corners of her eyes suddenly dissolved into a blur...
Even without knowing beforehand that she was a Sea Elf in disguise, Renato could have sensed that she was concealing her true appearance with a spell.
"You're the tailor here, aren't you? I just heard from the vendors next door that you're quite skilled."
"Y-yes... Sir, what would you like...?"
Shahualin spoke Common with a slight local accent, clipping her words short as though she habitually bit off their endings. Her tone was cautious, her hands folded before her and her shoulders drawn inward, making her seem smaller than she really was.
Renato detected no