"Miss Calista, welcome."
"Hello Wruert. Is this a bad time?" Calista carefully lowers her arms that were holding the pup form of Minyoung.
"Not at all, Miss. But I'm afraid that I don't have any tea of quality right now. Will coffee be alright?"
Wruert, a buff man on his late 20's, dressed up like the buff man that he is, rolled up his sleeves and started brewing coffee.
Minyoung on the other hand, sat on the island counter, and attempted to sleep.
"Of course." Calista placed herself on one of the high chairs and looked at Kaito to make him take a seat too.
The moment Kaito was about to sit down, a butter knife appeared on his neck, with both of his hands locked on his back.
Minyoung, awakened by the swift movements, only opens an eye to see the situation but immediately goes back to sleep again.
"I see that you don't have manners, McKinley." Wruert has Kaito's movements controlled with his big built, however being the joker once again, Kaito smiled on one side of his lips.
"Well, sorry about that, I grew up alone so I don't really know what I did wrong." Kaito said this with a tone that seemed like he was about to cry.
But his tone changed once more, to a sound that is authoritative.
"However, is it really so bad that my neck should be threatened like this?"
Calista hemmed and Wruert withdrew his knife. Minyoung stretched his wolf cub body and yawned.
"Call it truce for now, Wruert." Minyoung said and hopped on Wruert's shoulder.
"Where did you pick up the gentleman?" The sarcasm on him saying 'gentleman' was eminent. He went back on his bartending space and continued brewing drinks.
"Just somewhere, you need not to know the details. It's irrelevant." Calista took out a large roll of paper out of her storage and placed it on the table.
Wruert's left brow raised, but soon came down as if he figured out what Calista would ask.
"You don't need to open that, there's a dungeon just beside Houlte. Although a few only has knowledge about that place." Wruert placed the cup of coffee in front of Calista and a bowl of milk for Minyoung who is yet to transform.
"I think you mixed up our--" Minyoung showed a face of disgust and didn't come down from Wruert's shoulder.
"But dungeons don't exist near cities, much yet to say just beside it." Saying this, Calista also feels reluctant to drink the coffee.
"Exacty. Isn't it... Unusual?"
Calista raised her head while Minyoung looked back. It almost seems like there's immediately a mutual understanding between them.
That silence broke when they heard the door creak. They all looked at the door but no one was there.
Minyoung jumped downed and sniffed the area near the door.
"Looks like someone was eavesdropping."
Calista stood up and walked towards the door. She crouched and picked up a strand of hair.
"What a beautiful color. Black and a mixture of mint green and blue highlights."
Meanwhile, Kaito mixed the untouched milk and coffee and drank it himself.
"We should hurry, obviously she has plans on going to the dungeon." Minyoung jumped up to Calista's dream cloud and sat there.
"Kaito, let us depart." Calista, being restricted from using much magic is forced to walk. She gave the dream cloud to Minyoung to lessen the strain on her arms by carrying her around.
Wruert watched them leave through the front door, without saying a word, for he is sure that they'll come back before the dawn breaks.
...
"Let's go outside Houlte, I cannot pinpoint the possible location of the dungeon in this form."
As per Minyoung's order, they went out of Houlte and rested beside the city's gates.
Being finally out of the barrier, Minyoung immediately transformed as soon as they got out.
After that, she started typing mid-air. Probably doing something in her hacking system.
"Kaito."
"Cali?" Kaito escaped out of the depths of his thoughts and turned towards Calista's direction.
"You should use this opportunity to level up."
"This what? The dungeon?"
"Yes." Calista was expressionless, as if she's not expecting too much of Kaito.
"I guess I will."
Kaito was already walking towards Minyoung until Calista spoke again.
"Do you know what it takes... To be a 'ruler'?"
Kaito knows exactly what Calista means, but there's this voice behind his head to say something completely different yet somehow connected to what she was saying.
"I'm not that flexible, so I can't really be a plastic ruler." Kaito placed his hand on his chin, pretending to think.
"What are you---"
"Hmm, I'm not really that cold and hard either so I'm not a metal ruler." He chuckled and continued speaking.
"I don't think I'm a wooden ruler either."
Calista sighed and slowly walked towards Minyoung.
"But you know, if I was a ruler, I'd do my best to fulfill my purpose." Kaito started drawing nonsense on the ground with a stick he found.
"If a few broken bones is what it takes to be one, or maybe if i would snap in two, or if I need be a strong and indestructible one..."
Calista stopped on her tracks and listened to what Kaito has to say next.
"I'd be neither! Haha!"
Calista raised a brow, without looking back at Kaito, before approaching Minyoung once again.
"I mean, if I can just be myself, I think I can already call myself a ruler." Kaito mumbled to himself.
"If I can control and rule my own life, I can undoubtedly control theirs."
Kaito's necklace sparkled for a split second. But of course, he didn't notice it. He erased whatever he drew on the ground and stretched his body.
"It would really be cool though. Being on top of it all."
"What are you doing talking to yourself, mental hospital getaway? We're leaving." Minyoung started walking and that would only mean that she already found the dungeon's location.
Kaito shook his head and followed them. While Calista is in her usual quiet self just sitting on her cloud, her silence right now seems to be different for Kaito.
Her mind seems to be wandering...
And so is her cloud.
"Woah, where--" Kaito watched as Calista's cloud took a turn randomly. Minyoung just sighed and pulled her cloud.
"What's with her?" Kaito catched up and asked Minyoung.
"Overload. She must be having too many train thoughts."
"Oh?"
"What were you even discussing earlier?"
"Uhm... Rulers?"
"Rulers?"
"Yeah, she asked about it."
"Hmm..."
They stayed silent until they reached their destination.
"It doesn't seem like somebody entered yet."
Minyoung continuously typed mid-air.
Kaito wandered around the entrance.
The dungeon looked like a cave, and the only difference is that, it has a door.
"That's so weird..." Kaito tried to touch the door of the dungeon with his right hand.
"Don't... Touch it. You'll trigger the dungeon to start." He immediately withdrew his hand. He then moved to the corner of the door and leaned on the cave.
"OH SHIT--" Kaito fell to the ground as his arm passed through that what so seemed to be a cave.
"Stupid dog." Minyoung just glanced at him and continued what she was doing.
The cave was a hologram, thus why Kaito failed to lean on its walls. He attempted to stand up, biting his lips because of the pain he felt on his arm.
Until one of Kaito's fang came out.
"AWW DAMN--"
While he was in agonizing pain of his fang piercing the side of his lips slightly, the sound of a breaking twig alerted them, except for the floating Calista.
Kaito's ears appeared and so is his tail. He slowly got up and carefully approached the direction as to where the sound came from.
"Stop. Let them lurk." Minyoung typed something discretely on her screen. They can't let anyone find out about their technology. It may be the same to other players, but other special featured were added to theirs.
*Minyoung sent you a message!*
"They'll probably follow us inside. Let's corner them then."
Kaito nodded and licked the blood of his lips. He winced after feeling the stinging pain. But surprisingly, it healed a bit faster when he licked it.
Kaito ran to Calista and pushed her cloud from behind. They stood at the entrance and waited for a few minutes, making sure they're still being watched.
"Let's go."
***