Chapter 145: [145] Unwelcomed Visitors (2)

"The animal shelter is down the street. You must have missed it."

Isabella gave her a deadpan stare.

"Huh?"

For the first few seconds, she was confused by what the little girl had said, but when she made the connection in her head, she went paler than was humanly possible.

"You little...! How could you say such a thing?" Isabella stared at her in complete shock, but the girl did not look even a little bit remorseful, if anything, she looked irritated.

"We are players, didn’t they teach you what players are in school?"

"Pfft. You guys have to jump into a hole in the air just to be able to turn into different shades of animals. What is so special about that?"

Isabella took a step forward.

"Hey, we are your elders. You should be more respectful to us." She placed a hand on Cracker’s shoulder.

Cracker glanced at the hand before turning her attention back to Isabella.

"You can’t be more than two years older than me, madam, don’t act like you are my mother."

She grabbed Isabella’s hand and was about to pull it off her shoulder, when Isabella applied more pressure...

"M-madam?"

But even with the additional effort, the girl was still lifting her hand off her.

’How is this possible?’ Isabella thought. ’The force she was applying was enough to overpower a grown man...

"How... how are you doing this?"

Isabella was interrupted by the sound of Soo-jin’s laughter.

"What an interesting child. Now I know I am definitely at the right address." She leaned forwards until she was face to face with the girl.

"You have Ark’s tongue."

’Ark?’ Cracker’s eyes darkened. ’I was right, they came for Ark.’

"Cracker? Who is at the door?" Bronya’s voice came from within the house.

"Nobody!"

"Oh, so your name is Cracker?" Soo-jin smiled warmly, her tail swaying behind her. "My name is Soo-jin, and this is Isabella."

"I don’t care."

"..."

Bronya was silent for a bit. She was definitely sure someone was at the door, but she was too invested in her movie to stop.

"Are you sure? Don’t mess with the mailman again, last time we had to pay his hospital bills!"

"Yeah, yeah!" Cracker’s face blushed pink. "Stop bringing that up!"

Isabella stared at the child in disbelief. "What did you do to the mailman?"

"Bad things."

There was a short pause.

"Like the type of things I am going to do to you."

"Heh? Such a cocky brat." Isabella was just a little taller than her, so they met eye to eye.

"You realize we are players don’t you? Do you really think you can harm us?"

Tick!

Both Isabella and Soo-jin stared in shock as Cracker’s hair suddenly burst out into orange flames, just before the fire swallowed her entire body.

Soo-jin immediately pulled Isabella back, as a pillar of fire exploded at the point she had been barely a second earlier, scorching the ground.

When they looked back at where Cracker had been, the girl was gone, replaced by a chubby, orange bird.

"..."

"..."

"What are you doing?" A voice came from behind Cracker.

Everyone immediately turned their attention to the door frame, only to see Ark leaning on it, staring at the bird.

He had a towel hanging on his neck, and judging by his moist skin, bare chest, and the fact that he was only in shorts, he was just fresh out of the shower.

Cracker seemed to deflate like a balloon.

"E... ehh... nothing... burglars, these two are burglars!"

"Burglars?" Isabella huffed tiredly.

Ark sighed and glanced at the home invaders, only to pause.

"Soo-jin? Isabella?" His eyes widened slightly. "What are you guys doing here?"

Soo-jin smiled warmly and waved at him. "Now, is that how you greet an old friend after being apart for so long?"

"I never gave you my address..." Ark said in a flat tone. She was not even trying to hide the fact that she was spying on him.

Still, Ark stared at the mischievous smile he had grown fond of during their time in hell, it felt good to see her after such

After the trial, she had told him it would be a while before they met, but he didn’t expect it to be so long.

’After all this time, how strong would she have grown?’ The thought of it caused a small, almost unnoticeable smile to appear on his lips.

Naturally, Soo-jin caught it, and her tail swayed gently behind her as she mirrored the smile.

"Come in."

"Huh? Nooo!" Cracker complained with teary eyes as Isabella walked past her without so much as sparing her a glance.

"Good evening Ark, it’s been a while."

Ark smiled. "Good evening to you as well. How have you been? I hope Soo-jin has been behaving?"

Isabella laughed nervously. "She has been great!"

"Of course she has..."

Soo-jin on the other hand stopped at the door frame, and glanced at his chiselled body for a little longer than was necessary.

Her ears twitched, and then she smiled. "I see you have been taking good care of your body. Good."

She said it as if he was loaning the body from her...

Cracker was boiling by the side. It took all her self restraint, which mind you she had very little off, to stop herself from pecking out the woman’s eyes.

Who was she to act so casually with her brother?!

Ark turned to stare at her.

Cracker swallowed.

The little fire bird began whistling as she tried to slip past him, but Ark blocked her with his hand.

"What did Bronya say about harassing guests?"

Cracker transformed back into her human form and began nervously tapping her index fingers together.

Then she looked up and said in one breath, "Please don’t tell big sis!"

"Fine..."

<•••>

Once they got into the room, Cracker stuck to Ark like glue, marking out her territory.

Ark was seated on a single person couch, and yet she managed to snuggle her way in and rest her head on his shoulders, while glaring at their visitors.

Of course, he had to explain why his thirteen year old sister could not only transform but use magic.

But Ark had bigger concerns at the moment...

’What is wrong with her?’

The moment she laid eyes on the girls, Bronya had begun to act... strangely.

She served them drinks and snacks, before seating down, and now, she had an odd look on her face as her eyes darted between Soo-jin and Isabella, before settling on Ark.

"Arky..."

’Arky?’

"Aren’t you going to introduce your pretty friends?" Bronya smiled. "Actually, never mind, they are already here...

To think her antisocial brother would not just manage to bag a female friend, but two!

He always seemed so interested in games that Bronya thought his romance life would end up just as terribly as hers.

But now, her heart was blooming with joy!

"So, who are you to Ark?"

Soo-jin took a sip from her tea cup and smiled. The moment Ark saw the look on her face, he knew she was going to say something stupid.

And she did not disappoint.

"I am Soo-jin Fable." She paused. "As for my relationship with Ark... well I can’t say we are friends, our relationship is much deeper than that."

Bronya’s eyes glistened, while Cracker’s dimmed.

"Aha!" Soo-jin smiled and raised a finger. "If anything, I am more like his girlfriend—"

Swoosh!

A fireball was sent flying at her face, but Soo-jin simply tilted her head to the side, leaving it to explode against the wall behind her.

Then she picked up her tea cup and took another sip, as though she had not just let a bomb loose in his apartment...