It's a two-stories mixed-purpose building. A small restaurant at the ground floor, and residence on the second floor.

Red-brick walls. Glass walls at entrance. Inside, this place was decorated with a clean and modern feel.

Looking up, there were some neon-light signs.

[Alice's House of Wonders]

[Bistro Food]

[Sorry, We are Closed]

So yes... Turned out, sanctuary credits were pretty useful... As long it's not for buying top-notch equipments or hard-to-get information.

Jeff had the money. Alice had the skills. With a firm handshake, the two came up with this business.

Unlocking the glass door, a gust of warm air fled out.

The couple shook the snow off their jackets and scooted inside.

The tables and chairs were stacked by the walls. There was a long table sitting in the middle of this space now. In one corner, a Christmas tree was all decorated and blinking with lights. Decorations on the wall. A couch by the side. A shelf of board games.

Alice hurriedly took off her jacket, boots, and thick winter pants. With those on, it's getting way too warm in here.

Jeff threw his jacket onto the couch. Switching to slippers, Jeff flicked his brows at Alice. "So. Wanna see the second part of the magic trick?"

"Sure. Let's see it." Alice watched Jeff's hands closely.

Walking up to the Christmas tree, Jeff clapped. A wrapped gift box popped into existence. Jeff put that under the Christmas tree. Standing up, Jeff rolled up his sleeves. "Nothing in my hands."

"Hmmm..." Alice grabbed onto Jeff's wrists.

"Do it again." The girl slyly smiled.

"Alright~" A gift box popped into Jeff's hands.

"Whhhaattt." Alice widened her eyes in confusion.

"How!" Alice looked up at the ceiling. There was nothing there.

Knitting her brows, tilting her head, this girl seemed to be genuinely confused.

"Again?"

"Not today." The girl pointed two fingers at her eyes, then pointed at Jeff. "I'm watching you. I'll figure out your trick some day." The girl hurried off to the kitchen.

Looked like she still had more preparation to do for the party tonight.

In a quick moment, Jeff had all the presents nicely stacked. Walking into the kitchen, Jeff leaned onto a fridge.

"Sooo... Chef Finley... You don't want to become a maho-shoujo anymore?"

Alice rolled her eyes as she dumped flour into a large metal bowl. "Well. You see, Miiister Norman. Battle is not really for me. So I figured that changing directions might be a better idea."

Alice picked up a chicken egg and sighed. "Before this mist thing came, I wanted to become a gym owner."

"But now..." Alice looked at Jeff. "Becoming a restaurant owner is not so bad either."

Tap.

Crack.

The raw egg fell into the metal bowl.

"So you still haven't found the gangs?" Alice asked while working. "Now that we are alone, wanna talk about it?"

"Yeah..." Jeff shrugged. "After that strike on the sanctuary's scavenger team, these guys just disappeared."

"Usually, we hunters deal with these situations."

"But this time, there's no missions, no information... As if someone." Jeff squinted and pointed up. "Is trying to cover it up."

Ding~

Alice opened the oven. The scent of freshly made pie became denser in the air. Smelled delicious. Jeff gulped a little. Even though he'd just had some street food, Jeff felt like he still had room in his stomach.

"You are baking something? Want me to help?" Jeff offered.

Alice stared at Jeff with an alerted gaze.

"I can help with taste tests."

Alice's cheeks puffed up. "No."

"You sure about that?" Jeff looked at Alice with a confident gaze.

Jeff poured himself a cup of water and took a sip.

"Looks like this water is no good." Jeff squinted and shook his head.

With a raised brow, Alice snapped Jeff's cup out of his hand.

"It's dry... And just bland..." Jeff shook his head in disappointment. "Look, it's not even hot!"

Alice took a sip as well. "Mr. Norman. You got anything else to say?"

"I think it might be still raw..."

"Get out of my kitchen."

"Yes chef. Sorry chef."

...

Sitting on couch, Jeff stared at his phone with a serious face. Aiming a bit, Jeff let go. A red bird shot out of the big sling.

There's no wifi, no signals. But hey, Jeff still got downloaded games on his phone.

Time slipped by, until...

Ding Dong~

Someone had opened the door and walked in.

"Hi Jeff~" It's a high pitched girl's voice. The girl waved at Jeff as if she's super hyped.

"Hey Sophie. What's up." Jeff stood up.

"You can leave your coat on that couch." Jeff pointed at the couch by the door. "And feel free to choose your slippers."

Beside Sophie, there's a girl staring at Jeff with a cold face. Her blue-purple dyed hair was wearing off.

This nerdy girl pushed up her glasses, as if she'd solved a criminal case. Yep. It's Lillian.

"I knew you were up to no good. Your scheme may have worked on Alice for now..." Lillian's voice gradually got louder. "But we, the KMR organization, will certainly break your evil spell, and free Alice from your control! You can count on it!"

"Oh ho?" Jeff covered an eye and chuckled. "Looks like you've seen right through me. I accept your futile challenge, magister of the fifth law!"

"Humph. Don't underestimate our resolve!" Lillian walked past Jeff. "Never give up on my friends, that's my path of maho-shoujo!"

"I'll be waiting..." Jeff put on a malicious smile.

Turning to Sophie, Jeff pointed back with his thumb. "Anyways. Welcome to the party. Feel free with the snacks on the table. The drinks are behind the counter. We got board games on the shelf over there."

"Thanks Jeff." Sophie smiled. Then she let out a high-pitched excited scream. Extending her arms, she ran towards the kitchen.

Boooiiin...

This girl gave Alice a big bear hug. Almost looked like she was trying to wrestle with Alice.

Alice then gave Lillian a hug. But that nerdy girl just stood there like a tree.

"Jeff, help me take the food out."

"Can I take a test bite."

"No."

"Just a small bite?"

"No."

"Please?"

"Hmmm... No."