"Master, mistress, it's going to get late so…can I go home?" Charles asked hesitantly, requesting this of Rune.
Rune was shocked. Charles was rarely a man that would show such discomposure with someone he hated, in addition to that, she didn't expect he would go as far to do something he normally wouldn't - because he would stay with them until either Raul or Rune dismissed him from the duty. She was in a predicament.
If she let him stay here, they could break out into an argument. If she let him go, there's a chance Charles would request her to not let him meet Adrian again in exchange for a delicious reward. By now, Charles must have known that as much as she chased after anything that she was curious about, she could easily be shut down in her advances by a trustworthy bribe.
This was bad.
Before Rune could bring herself to decide anything, Adrian tugged his sleeve. "Can't you stay?" He whimpered like a lonely dog. "Being the only adult within children isn't exactly a comfortable situation. Pleaseee…?"
Charles couldn't agree to it because the thought of sitting with Adrian was…, besides, he couldn't disagree because trying to find the same topic conversation as the energetic kids was somewhat difficult.
"You should have prepared something before you came here." Looking over his shoulder, he could sense Raul was about to add fuel to the fire. Rune didn't stop him.
"Uncle Charles, do you hate brother Adrian?"
Charles tried to dodge the question by directing it to another topic. "Why do you call me uncle but him 'brother'?"
"Because you obviously look older to them," Adrian's gentle tone was gone. It was replaced by a cold voice that sounded slightly amused. "Answer his question. Do you hate me?"
Raul was reminded of his question earlier. "Are you….?"
"I don't."
"Ok, since he said no, let's move onto why you called me, little girl. I don't have much time today." It was a relief for Charles that Adrian dropped the subject at that.
Rune smirked enthusiastically, maintaining her inquisitor's role. "What is your job?"
"Government official." Adrian asked not out of curiosity but rather threading with caution now that there was a possibility she had lied to him. "I thought you already knew that."
"I do. I am just confirming with you some things face to face that all information I have about you is true." Rune bit the sliced apples off from the fork. "In case a werewolf attacks us."
He was impressed that a kid could think that far. "Why would they target you though?"
"My dad and uncle combined together have a large amount of potential enemies from their position and job's dispositions."
"Wow." He whistled, genuinely impressed, but it must have sounded like sarcasm to her.
"What?"
"I was just wondering when you had the time to learn about your dad and your surroundings."
Rune paused before giving her answer. "…Ever since I turned one."
"..." Adrian empathized with her situation. "Then, it must have been hard."
"Yeah…" They sounded like old men who were confiding in each other their difficulties. "Anyways, your kill count is..129, 654?"
Wait…..
"And that was within your 14 years of working as a hunter?! That means you killed 9261 race members each year. That's lower than I thought, but it's good to be careful."
Wait, wait, wait. Something was wrong. Adrian interjected. "The government promised me it was supposed to be top secret. How did you…?!" Rune pointed at Charles then herself.
Adrian frowned. "You are also a hacker?"
"What do you mean?" Rune played the fool.
"Stop lying. I know Charles specializes in hacking, however, with his timid personality, he would never take such high risks like these."
"Oh." Rune crossed her arms, switching to a meditation pose. "You found out."
"Besides, why are you leaking someone's personal info out in the open? What if someone is wiretapping the room." Charles didn't refute.
Rune uttered. "My dad has put up an illusion barrier in this room ever since you came in. So, it's all safe. I trust in my dad."
"Interesting. I didn't even sense it…" His grin was getting wider, amused by this skill.
"Don't get any ideas, you battle maniac." Charles punched him on the head to knock some senses into his brain. "The barrier is covered by Callisto. That was why you couldn't sense it."
"Are you okay with telling me this though?"
"Why not?" Charles smiled. "He probably predicted that I would tell you this information right now. You know how he is, don't you?"
"Tch!" Adrian brushed off the hair that was covering his sight. "His skills as a tactician still hadn't gotten rusty. Can't say whether I am happy or not to experience this firsthand."
"Hey!" Rune pouted. "Why are you leaving me out of the conversation? Remember I am the one asking questions."
"Yeah, yeah." Adrian smiled gently. "Missus, ask away."
Rune glared at him. "Answer all questions honestly. I can see your reason for transfer is because you wanted to use your last years to be a spy. Why?"
"It earns me 2 times the amount of money I got as a hunter, especially if I successfully carry out some high ranking missions."
"Really?" Propping her chin on the palm of her hand, she glanced at him. "Are you really sure? Is there another reason like revenge on someone?"
"No." Adrian shook his head. "Why though?"
"Nothing…just precautions. Anyway, how long have you known my uncle?"
"25 years." Adrian thought it over. "Though I don't know if it counts when he left the organization in our eighth year of being friends. We haven't seen each other for 18 years, but we still have conversations from time to time."
"I don't have your personality jotted down anywhere in the data, but it would take too much time to analyze your behavior. Can you tell me some specific traits you have?"
"I don't want to."
"If a werewolf uses it to disguise themselves as you, we need to be able to distinguish the real you from them." Rune put her hands together. "Please."
"I don't think I am hot headed. If I had to describe my power level, I could duel with Duke Callisto and come out in a tie. But I can't beat Charles when it comes to conversations or that cold guy. And….I am good at cleaning?"
As he was in a struggle to state his other good points, Charles added on. "He is a battle maniac who's only interested in battling powerful people and winning against them. He is courageous, doesn't lose his resolve to achieve a goal. He does tasks efficiently, though he is a quite mischievous cat."
"A cat? Hmm….ok." Rune was satisfied with the results she had. "Thanks for answering questions. In turn you are free to ask me too!"
"Did you do this to Charles as well?"
"This…you mean the questionnaire?"
"Yeah."
"Of course." Rune snickered. "Did you think you were getting the special treatment?"
"Not quite. How did it go?"
"Hmmm…." It took Rune some time to reminisce upon the exact events. "So I asked him all the questions just now. But then, he only refused the last question. The one that you answered just now. So, I thought I'd take the long way and learn more about him."
"Has your first impression of him changed?"
"Yeah, very. After three months of us talking, I can see that he is a coward when it comes to certain things."
"Right. I saw that too plenty of times."
"Wait! Why have I become the target? It's unfair."
Raul delivered his thoughts. "Accept your fate. It was bound to happen sooner or later. I still find it amazing that my sister has managed not to spill out any of your weaknesses to other people. Despite three months."
"Then….how long does she usually hold out for? For me, since we could talk, two.."
"Two years?"
Raul shook his head.
"Two months?"
He shook his head again.
"Then…"
"Two days. Just two days."
Charles curled up on the floor. "Seriously? You were such a betrayer?"
"No!" Rune tried to clear up this misunderstanding. "I only did it because Raul's weaknesses wouldn't matter to anyone."
"But, missus, anyone's weakness counts as an opportunity for a surprise attack."
Rune knew what tricks Raul was trying to pull here. She would never do it. "I…I…am...so SORRY!" As she finished her apologies, she reached for Raul's ear, only to grab the air.
"Ha! I knew you were going to do that." Raul laughed, seeing her figure running slower and slower and panting heavily after him.
Rune gave up.
"You are sometimes like kids." Charles commented.
Raul stated the truth. "Because we are."
Rune took her place on the couch. "Take a guess? What other weaknesses do you think Charles has?"
Charles looked at her in surprise. "Are we resuming this discussion?!"
"He is soft hearted. He may say things very harshly to someone but that is mostly done out of concern, not to spite them. But sometimes, his nice actions may come back to stab him."
"Indeed." Rune nodded. "Then, what are the peculiar strengths Charles has?"
"He is good at cooking and budgeting. He has good eyes and doesn't take his surroundings into focus if he is too absorbed in doing what he wants."
"It is lovely that he tries to wear a different costume everyday because he thought we cared about such things like luxury. Next week, he will wear the same outfit anyways."
"Y..you noticed?" Charles stuttered in embarrassment.
"Of course. We have very efficient minds after all." Raul voiced his thoughts. "It was fun to see you going through your day like nothing was wrong."
"You little demons…." Charles muttered.
"Hahaha..demons….would be more like Mr. Adrian." Raul remarked. "To kill 9261 people on average each year. Can you tell me some of your experiences?"
Raul held definitely no intentions to mock him. Rune knew because she had known him for long, but phrased like this, it may have sounded like a deliberate insult to Adrian. Even Charles was thinking the same, flustered on how to resolve this situation.
He turned to Rune, who shook her head and told him to let the show play out for now. "Oh? You think I am a demon? But demons aren't beautiful."
"They certainly hold a charm that normal people can't understand. Here." He held up a picture he took of Adrian coming out from the shadows. "Isn't it captivating?"
"Oh, I thought you meant the ugly demons like this kind." Scrolling down the phone, he searched for an appropriate picture of goblins.
"Of course not. There are different kinds of demons, whether they are spiritually or physically existent. To the soldiers, at the moment you killed them, to them, you were the demon." Raul gave him an involuntary grin.
"I see. That makes sense." Adrian made an apology for misinterpreting what he said. Raul clumsily accepted it. "Do you like demons?"
"Beautiful ones like Uncle. Werewolves are ugly except for when they aren't in disguise."
"Pfft….." Rune, Adrian and Charles all held their stomach, wiping away their tears in laughter. "True…ahahahaha….." The reason for their abrupt laughter was because they all knew one of Callisto's friends was a werewolf and quite a high ranking one at that.
Rune was particularly entertained by the nature of their fights when they got to meet the third person she researched.
"Can you please come over to our house and be a model?" Raul implored him on his knees. "I absolutely need you as my model!"
"Why so desperate?"
"Because he wanted to beat someone in the photography contest our school is holding." Rune disclosed. "That 'someone' is so high in position that we can't bother to complain so we thought about defeating him with our skills instead."
"And that's where you come in, as our model." Raul finished her explanation.
Adrian immediately rejected him. "But I didn't agree."
"Why not?" Raul slammed the desk with both of his hands, weirdly agitated. "We need you!"
"But…" He glanced at Charles a few times when he wasn't looking. "I don't think I should, since Charles will be uncomfortable with me here."
"Please, Uncle Charles!" Raul shifted towards him. "Please persuade him. This is our only winning chance against that bully!"
"Why are you asking me?"
"Because he listens to you."
"Obviously….n..o…t….?" Charles found Adrian looking at him, asking him to make the decision. Either betray the kids or stick with him for 3 hours. Wait, he felt as if he was being pushed into the wide pitfall, never to climb back up again.
On the surface, Rune had a calm expression, on the other hand, she was smirking triumphantly. For once, Raul's assertiveness was useful, literally pushing two people towards each other. Observing that Charles was hesitant on accepting this, her inner mind was in turmoil between rooting for Adrian or for Charles' mental health.
"It's fine with me." Charles responded as if this uncomfortable feeling in his chest of seeing Adrian permanently was nothing. "It's okay. Just tell me ahead of time if you are coming."
If Rune hadn't seen for herself what their relationship was like when they were younger, she would have believed in Charles' lies. Even for herself, it was unsettling how she was too curious about the nature of their relationship, what the turning point of their relationship was to turn theirs into a love-hate relationship. She wondered if she opened a door to something new.
Adrian nonchalantly took his phone and conveyed his other contact details. Charles exchanged their contact info and stood up.
"Where are you going?" Adrian asked, also getting off his seat. He walked after Charles to the door hot on his heels.
Charles peeked at his watch. "I am going back since it's 7."
"Can't you stay for a little longer?" Adrian nagged at him.
"I can't. This is the maximum limit of the contract." Charles shook him off, heading outside after notifying the twins.
"I will walk him downstairs and go home! See you later!" Adrian waved the kids bye excitedly. Despite his strength, he was, in fact, a golden retriever.
"Do you think this relationship can be saved…?" Rune mumbled.
"What are you talking about?" Raul seemed back to his usual self unlike when he was talking avidly about demons with Adrian. "If they want to make the first move, they have to be willing to take a step from this standstill. Isn't that right?"
To Rune, the moment Raul said his quote and wore his headphones casually as if what he said weighed to nothing, he looked extremely cool.
But…wasn't he dense?