He looks annoyed. Maybe I should go with him?

Seris glanced between Cal’s retreating back and the half-eaten cake before her. She let out a sigh and made an important decision.

Cal told me to stay at the table. Who am I to argue with the boss when he wants me to keep eating?

She made sure Cal was out of the restaurant before dropping the fork. He told her that a fork was the correct way to eat a cake, but she thought that was stupid. What was the point of doing that when spoons were far superior in every way?

Seris ate a spoonful of the citrus cake and happily closed her eyes. There was no need to worry about poking her tongue with pointy metal because she was a little too eager.

I bet Cal told me to use the fork because he’s still annoyed that I woke him up.

She hummed as she took bite after bite until the spoon struck the bottom of the plate. She opened her eyes with a frown at the unpleasant sound and saw that the cake was gone.

… Cal did say I could have two more.

Seris had no idea how she was eating so much. She wasn’t dumb, and it was apparent that this place wasn’t for people like her but more for people like Cal.

Something in the food made her feel awesome. After each bite, it was like she gained something she never knew she was missing. Unfortunately, that feeling immediately disappeared the moment she finished chewing.

Seris was motivated to keep eating to try and make it say. So far, it had been unsuccessful. Still, the next bite she took could be the change.

She waved her hand enthusiastically, getting the attention of everyone in the dining hall. The important part was that she also gained the attention of Karl the waiter. Besides, Cal didn’t seem afraid of anyone here, so there was no reason for her to be either.

“Could I get another citrus cake,” Seris’s mouth watered at the thought of another slice. When Karl didn’t respond, she remembered to be polite. “Please?”

“… Of course,” Karl still didn’t seem happy, though Seris didn’t care since he had already agreed.

She held her spoon in anticipation until her order was delivered. With a quick smile of thanks at a frowning Karl, she was ready to plunge her spoon into the cake and gobble it up.

Seris didn’t get the chance.

A bright flash of light startled Seris into missing the cake entirely. The sharp impact of the spoon hitting the stone table was deafening in the suddenly quiet restaurant.

Everyone inside was separated from the dull murmur of the crowd outside. However, it was still possible to see what was going on.

The crowd that passed by the restaurant had a chaotic order before that flash of light. After that, it was just chaos. They were trying to get out of the area, and the panic made it worse.

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Seris wasn’t sure what to do, but one thing kept repeating in her mind.

I should have left with Cal. I should have left with Cal. I should have—

She flinched when the restaurant door swung open and a wild-eyed group rushed in. The open door let in the screams of the escaping people, but even louder than that—almost drowning out the screams—were ear-splitting booms that sounded like thunder.

“Close the door!” Karl yelled with a tense expression. He stormed to the frightened group with shaky legs.

Seris was even more frightened at the sounds she could hear and thought it was over. That was until Karl pushed the newcomers aside to close the door. The clear doorway revealed a direct line to the cause of what caused the chaos.

“Boss?” Seris uttered in shock. She didn’t notice how everyone in the restaurant snapped their heads in her direction. She was too busy gaping at what she saw.

Seris looked at Cal as a mostly easy-going person. She saw instances where his attitude changed entirely into someone far more severe—like today when Nibbles woke him up—but it was so rare that it was easy for her to dismiss it.

Sometimes, she forgot that Cal was an Initiate and not just her boss/friend. What she saw now would imprint Cal’s actual status in her mind forever.

Cal stood shrouded in a soft, white glow, but the seething, pale yellow fury radiating from his right arm commanded all the attention. His hand was clamped like a vice around a man’s neck, whose frantic clawing showed how futile it was to try and escape.

He’s the one who yelled at Cal.

Each pulse of light from Cal's arm caused a thunderous boom to echo. It was followed by the man opening his mouth in a silent scream. The repeated pulses sapped the man's strength, each slowing his desperate attempts to break free. But it didn’t seem to damage him physically.

All of this was done despite three others trying to stop Cal. Seris could see that they were doing their best to make Cal’s arm drop their friend, but their efforts didn’t matter. It was ignored by Cal, who had an expression that she could have never imagined on him before.

There was an absence of any hint of softness or compassion in his features that Seris was familiar with. It made him appear as a merciless presence, and by what he was doing, that was precisely what he was.

Blissful silence fell back onto the dining hall when the doors were finally shut.

Is Cal doing all this just because of the argument?

Seris shook her head. That couldn’t be it.

Almost all the people who were dining swiftly got up from their tables to get a view of what was happening near the window.

“You said that was your boss?”

Seris wasn’t part of the group that wanted to see what was happening. She was still shocked at what she saw.

Karl’s question only got a dazed nod as a reply.

“Don’t worry. He spoke to me before he left. I’m sure he knows what he’s doing.”

Seris looked at Karl incredulously. She wasn’t sure what that even meant.

Karl was about to say something else that would probably be equally confusing, but the window watchers gasped in unison. Seris immediately got up in concern, thinking that Cal had gotten hurt.

The restaurant door opened again, this time softly. The sounds of thunder and screaming had stopped, leaving only eerie silence. A middle-aged man walked in, and the first thing he did was stare at Seris.

She thought she was in trouble until the man looked away.

“We’re clearing the ninth floor. You have one minute.”

Seris blinked when everyone else in the restaurant spoke in unison. “Understood, Master.”

The man had already left without waiting for an acknowledgment.

“Let’s go,” Karl motioned for Seris to follow. “I don’t want your boss to be angry with me if you get lost.” He shuddered. “Definitely don’t want him angry with me.”

Seris stayed close to Karl and saw the floor was almost empty. The only ones left—besides the people in the restaurant—were four older men who surrounded Cal.

These are all probably the ‘Masters.’ They’re the boss’s bosses.

She opened her mouth to say something, anything, to distract them so Cal could escape, but she made eye contact right when she was about to yell.

Cal shook his head slightly as if to say ‘no’—with the same frightening, blank expression. She pursed her lips before nodding and followed Karl without making a commotion.

Seris assumed Cal probably had a plan to get out of trouble. She hoped her assumption was right.