Kaiser narrowed his eyes, studying the strange white object in his hands. It was a broken slab that looked, smelled, and felt like wood, yet something about it didn’t quite make sense. For one, it was impossibly light, almost as if it was made of air rather than solid material.

He sighed and rubbed his temples in mild frustration.

'It’s another world, Realm, dimension, or whatever. What do I expect?' he thought, trying to convince himself that weird things like this should be the norm here.

A soft, annoyed huff from Ariella drew his attention. She stood nearby with her arms crossed, her lips forming a pout. She had found the slab first, and her grey eyes clearly expressed her displeasure that Kaiser had swiped it away so easily and demanding it back.

He couldn't help but chuckle at her adorable expression. With a hint of guilt, Kaiser reached out and ruffled her hair. "I'm still not done with it; who knows if this thing might be dangerous," he said, his grin tinged with mischief.

Ariella’s cheeks puffed out in frustration, and she reached up, trying to snatch the slab back from him. But Kaiser, ever the shameless guardian, held it just out of her reach, his smile turning into a playful smirk.

They were like two kids squabbling over a toy.

Helpless, she can only glare at him.

"Don't give me that look, Ariel. I'm your guardian, you know everything I do is for your own good." Its amazing how he can say that with a straight face, not even a hint of shame in his voice.

Ariella’s glare only intensified, her mesmerizing grey eyes locking onto his with defiant determination. But when she realized she wasn’t going to win, she turned around and latched onto Cia, like a child running to her mother for support. Which is a bit comical, really.

If only she could speak, she would state how mean the bully is. That said... Cia is blind, unable to know what's happening without words. Of course, Kai won't speak his sin to help the poor goddess, making the her plead utterly futile. Well, at least she got a gentle pat on the head from the confused Cia, comforting her from crying.

Kai’s grin grew even wider. 'Heh, even a god can't beat the almighty, me.' he complemented his wickedness, taking an inordinate amount of pride in his petty victory over the goddess he was supposed to be caring, not abusing.

Just as he was about to bask in his moment of triumph and examine his relatively childish prize - the broken slab of white wood. The door to the shop swung open with a chime, and a familiar face steeped in. Kai’s eyes gleamed with delight as he saw who it was.

"Looking good, aren't we. I like that new style of yours; it makes you look sick," Kai said, flashing a grin at the newcomer. He didn’t usually greet people, but seeing the very hunter responsible for last night’s brawl —who was the main cause that led Kai to swallow obligation over two night patrols—was too perfect an opportunity to pass up. The bastard simply begged for it.

Spiky orange hair and a face twisted into a scowl, now sporting a bandage running across his nose—Brick’s expression soured even more upon hearing Kai’s sarcastic words. His jaw clenched tightly as he glared daggers at him.

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"And who's fault is that, insane bastard? Do you have any idea what hell we went through last night? Oh, and don't get too proud of yourself, you only won because I wasn't sober back then. If we were to fight again in equal terms, let's see who'll win," Brick snapped back.

He really wanted to laugh at Brick's spouting about fighting in equal grounds even though he outright called for multiple supports last night. But restrained himself, because that would be too much for the poor loser. Still...

"Losers, whiners," Kai said dismissively, his tone as nonchalant as ever.

"You..!" Brick’s fist tightened around the leash of a large hound-like beast by his side. Similar to the ones he spotted, accompanying the Hunters at their arrival. The hound was like a wolf, but had distinct qualities. The creature had brown fur, a small horn on its head, and eyes that were far calmer than its handlers. Though it looked vicious, its demeanor was surprisingly tame, tamer than its own handler, which made Kai doubt who was truly the master between the two.

Before the situation could escalate, the blacksmith emerged from the back of the shop. Probably attracted by the noise they made. A knowing grin spreading across his face as he looked between the two rivals. "Oh, ho. So this is what the commotion is about—what a nice coincidence we have here. How about putting grudges aside and saving my store the trouble? Hey, Brick, I suppose Sir Alfred sent you to get the sharpened weapons. Come over here," he said, signaling Brick to follow him inside.

Brick shot one last glare at Kaiser before smirking and tying his hound’s leash to a stand by the door, as if to scare Kaiser from leaving through the door.

However, the blacksmith paused to add, "By the way, care to wait a little more while, Kai? The vambrace is kinda buried deep. Don't worry, though, It won't be long; I'll get it soon."

Brick clicked his tongue in disappointment, while Kai simply gave a mockingly cheerful smile in return. "Take your time, you're doing a good job." he said, his sarcasm unmistakably aimed at Brick.

With the two hunters out of sight, Kaiser, Ariella, and Cia were left alone to wait. But Kai wasn’t bored—his attention was drawn to the hound left behind by Brick. It sat quietly on the floor, breathing calmly as it stare back at him...

'Weird.'

He suddenly shivered, somehow, the creature gave him a strange felling of amiss. Which is understandable considering it was an eerie creature of this world, odd and new to his vision.

Ariella, her earlier pout completely forgotten, leaned closer to the creature, her face lighting up with curious excitement as if she was staring at a big toy. However, he stopped her by the shoulder before she could come close.

"Careful, it might bite. Trust me, I was bitten by a big, bad dog before and I almost died in hunger."

Cia tilted her head, hearing that.

"I'm confused, from what I know. Dog bites don't cause anything close to starvation. Or did the textbook I listened to wrong?"

He shrugged.

"No, those sh*ts are right. It's just that, because of that damned dog, I have to spend money for anti rabies injection. The money I'm supposed to use for food. So I ended up almost starving myself to death."

Cia was more confused. "How can that be, why didn't you ask for help from your parents or guardians."

"Let's just say my life sucks." Kai said, trying to be nonchalant as he could. However, the haste and slight tremor in his tone suggest his unwillingness to press on the matter.

He shifted the topic to the hound.

"By the way, there's a big, alien dog here. Wanna touch the dog, too. Cia?"

She shook her head quietly then came back to his usual, invisible self. Blending in the background as if she didn't exist... Kai dislikes that tendency of her because the Cia back in the university was a bit charismatic. In fact, her presence is brighter than his, for she is considered as the embodiment of inspiration in school. Yet, he can't do anything about it for he doesn't know how to bend a persons personality, let alone uplift it.

'She'll bee back once she acquired her ability... I hope.'

Shaking off sad thoughts, Kai assisted Ariella to get close to the Hound. He wanted to touch that thing, too. Perhaps even pet it, if possible.

Kai walks closer with Ariella behind, wary of the creature's reaction. Fortunately, the hound remains eerily calm as they approach, soon giving him courage to reach out to its head that reach the height of his chest when sitting.

However, his hands stopped midway.

"GRRRrr..."

The Hound revealed its sharp teeth, showing hostility.

Kai scoffed, retreating his hands in dejection.

'Whatever, I didn't want to touch your dirty fur that much, anyway. There's lots of dogs out there.'

Ariella was eager to try, too. Which he reluctantly allowed under his watch, secretly praying for her to meet the same rejection.

Smiling, she reached out hesitantly to pat the hound on its head, her fingers trembling slightly before they made contact. To his surprise, the hound didn’t growl or snap. Instead, it simply blinked at her, tilting its head as if confused by the sudden affection. Then joy crawled into its face as it tried to pounce on the goddess in seek for more affection, sticking its tongue, intending to lick her.

Before it did, however, a blade got in its way. It once again growls, sharp teeth gritted in hostility as it traces the blade holder, looking up. Only to meet Kaiser's chilling, dark gaze.

"Who said you could touch my girl?"