After that, the girls nibbled little cookies like tiny moons, and their chatter streamed to Kaka like a bright brook.

They spoke of their journeys across the New Land, like wind skimming wide grasslands.

They shared funny tales of Ailuna and the elves, like bells chiming under green leaves.

They praised steadfast friends like Dawn Goose and Maria, like pillars holding up a quiet temple.

“Though they can’t come for now, once there’s a chance, everyone will come to Dreamwood Star!” The promise rose like a lantern on a distant shore.

“Woof—woof, woof—woof~~~~~~~~~~” The bark hopped like sparrows in morning light.

Kaka wagged her little tail like a metronome, her eager heart drumming like rain on a window.

“Woof? Do Master and the silver-haired sister have more stories? Kaka wants to hear…” Her yearning fluttered like a moth drawn to a flame.

“Mm… there are still a few fun bits, but let’s save them for next time; it’s late.” The night pressed in like a heavy cloak.

Yue Liuyi checked her phone; midnight glowed like cold fireflies, and tomorrow’s work felt as brittle as thin glass.

“Woof~ (Okay~)” The sound curled like steam from a cup.

“Mm… then I’ll get some hot water ready?” Her voice rose like mist over a quiet lake.

“Hehe… we’re counting on Little Yue tonight! But don’t use the chance to do anything weird to Sis!” The tease flicked like a willow twig in spring wind.

“L-Last time was an accident!!!” Her blush flared like a paper lantern lit too fast.

Thinking of the silver-haired girl’s tempting figure, Yue Liuyi’s cheeks burned like sunrise; she headed to the bathroom, steam already blooming like warm clouds.

A good wipe-down, and the day’s fatigue would wash away like dust in rain, leaving sleep as steady as a sheltered harbor.

But… The pause held like a trapped breath.

Thump, thump, thump! The sound jabbed the night like knuckles on wood.

From nowhere, a hit sounded, sudden as a pebble thrown at a drum.

It wasn’t loud; the sky-sweeping rain swallowed it like a curtain, making it small as a moth against stormlight.

“Huh? That sound—am I hearing things?” Her doubt drifted like fog inside the ear.

“No, Little Yue, there’s definitely a sound.” The certainty set like a stone in a stream.

“Woof?” Kaka’s ears lifted like quick leaves, trembling like grass. “Woof! Kaka heard it—it’s at the downstairs door!”

“Downstairs? At the Moon Post Bookstore’s door?” The threshold loomed like a shadow line.

“Woof! That’s right!” The answer snapped like a twig.

“Then someone’s knocking! But in rain this heavy…” The downpour fell like knife-blades from a slate sky.

Yue Liuyi sank into thought like a pebble into deep water; outside, rain hammered down like a thousand drums.

The torrent sealed the roads like drowned ropes; worse, the rain carried acid that bit like tiny ants on skin.

So who would visit the Moon Post Bookstore in weather this foul? The question swung like a lantern on a stormy porch.

“Um, I should still open the door, right?” Her resolve flickered like a small flame cupped by hands.

“Wait, Little Yue! The visitor might not be kind.” The warning blew like a gust against a candle.

“Eh?” The breath feathered like a sparrow’s wing.

“Anyone traveling in this weather isn’t ordinary… could be robbers, so be careful.” Danger showed teeth like a wolf in the rain.

“Then Kaka will go with Master!” Loyalty pulled tight like a tethered rope.

“Mm… Kaka, protect Little Yue. If it’s someone we don’t know, don’t open the door.” The rule locked in place like a bolt on wood.

“Woof! (Roger!)” The reply clapped like a small drum.

“Then… Kaka, stay behind me.” Their shapes lined up like paired shadows on a wall.

Yue Liuyi nodded and, with Kaka, stepped out of the cozy bedroom like leaving a warm nest for a cool cave.

The corridor lights were off; lightning clawed through old glass, painting the dark floor like a white scar.

The two girls’ small shadows flickered one behind the other, like moths passing a lantern.

“It’s a bit cold…” The chill pricked like needles out of the air.

The air hit their faces, colder and raw; though she wore a warm dress and socks, cold ink seeped up Yue Liuyi’s sleeves like creeping snakes.

“Woof? The… the light?” Her hope blinked like a timid firefly.

“Seems… it’s broken.” The bulb faltered like a dying star.

Yue Liuyi pressed the pendant-lamp switch; even on, the glow pulsed like a sick heartbeat, too dim to lift the hall’s dusk.

“Wh-Why is it so dim?” The gloom lay thick like fog on riverbanks.

“Ugh… maybe the storehouse backup power’s almost gone.” The reserves felt like a drained well.

“Woof?” The sound tapped like a pebble.

“Maybe… Kaka, go back to the bedroom? I’ll go down and check.” Her concern knotted like a taut cord.

Yue Liuyi stood in the hall, worry thin as frost, and looked at Kaka.

She recalled Bernadette saying Kaka feared ghosts, the memory whispering like cold smoke.

And the Moon Post Bookstore right now felt like a haunted house, a shell hollowed by years like moss-eaten wood.

Only the bedroom had been redone; the rest sagged with age. The floorboards creaked like mice in walls, chilling to the bone.

“Woof? I-It’s fine! Kaka will protect Master; even if the enemy’s a ghost, Kaka will eat it!” Her bravado sparked like flint.

“Eh? But…” Doubt pattered like soft rain on leaves.

“Master, stay here. Kaka will open the door!” Her resolve flashed like a naked blade.

The golden-haired little girl gathered courage like lantern-light and went downstairs first, her steps falling like leaves.

“W-Wait for me!” Her voice fluttered like a sparrow shaken from a branch.

Yue Liuyi hurried after her, her skirt brushing air like wind through reeds.

…

Like the upstairs corridor, the first floor starved for power; the whole level drowned in dimness like steep water, the night’s storm soaking cold into the heart like a blade.

“Woof? What’s going on…? Why did the knocking stop?” The silence folded shut like a fan.

Kaka looked around, tense as a strung bow; as they reached the first floor, the knocking faded. Only the downpour drummed, water rushing like snakes.

“Strange. Did the visitor leave? Still… we should check.” Caution tugged like a hemp rope.

“Mm… woof!” The assent popped like a seed.

The golden-haired girl nodded; her ears stood like spears, and her tail flagged high under her skirt, alert as a sentry.

“Kaka, don’t be so tense! Maybe it’s Bernadette or Sis Kiki dropping by. Don’t pounce when you open.” Her comfort smoothed like warm silk over rippling worry.

But to Yue Liuyi’s surprise, Kaka tightened further, fear winding like wire.

“Woof… woof! Master, fall back!!!!” Her shout cracked like a bell in frost.

Kaka sprang forward like a coiled spring, dropped to hands and feet, and glared at the door with knife-bright eyes.

“K-Kaka? What’s wrong so suddenly?” Her concern shook like a reed in wind.

“Master, careful! I… I smell something bad!” The scent crawled like sour smoke under a door.

“A b-bad scent?” The words shivered like a chill down the spine.

“Mm, right at the door! Just outside! Woof!” Danger pressed like a black shadow against the wood.

KRAK-BOOM! A bolt of lightning split near the Moon Post Bookstore like a silver blade.

It lit the girls’ astonished faces like porcelain shocked awake.

It also lit the blood seeping through the crack beneath the door, a red thread crawling like a worm.