Code Collector

It was another day and Allen felt relieved. There was something that was off his chest and that was the pressure of being the apparent suspect of the Roger Huntsman plot.

He wanted to sleep in because it was too cold but Gwen opened his door, slamming it to the wall. "It's winter season!"

"What?" Allen scrunched his face before he watched the window. His eyes widened after he saw the white snow pouring out from outside. "So, that's why it's cold."

Bark. Bark.

Allen looked down and saw Howl on the floor, running around and turning a couple of times. Its tongue was out and its eyes glimmered as it watched he snow fall.

"Outside is super cold," Allen said. "Let's just stay in."

Bark. Bark.

How growled and pulled the sheets off of Allen. The boy scoff and heard Gwen laugh loudly. "How dare you laugh at that? You see this? It's only been a week since we got him and look, he acts as if he's the boss."

"You're so loud when it's so early," Jeremy said from the door. He yawned while rubbing his eyes. "Come here, Howl. Let's go walk outside."

It has been a week since Turon's arrival and departure and everything had been silent since. There weren't many instances that Allen had to act and their weekly schedule had been wrecked by all the events that had happened.

It was still vivid for Allen how much everything had changed over the case of the few weeks that had happened. Two Bearers lost their Codes, there was a zombie attack, then Turon and his men. It was all a big blur that happened.

"You seem out of it," Gary sat beside Allen who was laying on his bed. "Let's go out to eat. It's Winter Festival and the Hunters are going to a firewood thing later tonight."

"You mean bonfire?" Allen smirked. "You meant bonfire didn't you?"

"Firewood thing, bonfire, the important thing is that you got it," Gary pulled Allen's hand to pull him up. "Let's go."

Allen had no other choice but to stand and follow his friend out of the building and into the cold outside. Everything was covered with a thin layer of snow and it was freezing cold there.

"You should go out more," Gary said. "I know I'm acting like an old man again, but you really should go out more. Let's enjoy this time where we don't have much things to do. We should do things like this from time to time, yeah?"

Gary continued his talk while Allen felt blank. He watched the snow fall slowly from the skies, the freezing cold air wafting all around his pale skin. Allen thought he should've worn thicker clothes.

Seasons in the Otherworlds have similarities in the ones in Earth. Since the higher the world, the closer it resembles Earth, the seasons would be much closer to the one on Earth as the Hunters ascend from one world to another.

Winter was the least favorite season for Allen. In the winter time, a lot of beasts would hibernate and even if there were still beasts outside, it was hard to hunt because it was cold.

When he was still in his previous body, Allen would curl up into a ball in the corner of his apartment in Earth. He would do this to quench his hunger by falling asleep.

That was until he remembered that his friends would knock on his door and would bring him food. He smiled as he remembered how much Alice gave him food and spoonfed him everything just so he would stay healthy.

"Oh, Dante! Gary!" a familiar voice called out, making Allen look up. "You're here!"

It was hard to believe but Kyle, Irene, and Selena were standing in front of them. "W-What are you doing here?"

"We ascended just a week ago," Kyle said. "We tried to find you in the second camp, but since you weren't there, we tried here. We just arrived yesterday."

"Thank god we arrived before the snow," Selena giggled. "It would be harder, or even impossible to travel in winter. You know how dangerous the beasts get."

It wasn't later that Jeremy and Gwen joined them. They all adored Howl before entering Sebastian's unit. The man allowed them to do so and said that it was no problem for him.

"So, this is where you currently stay?" Selena asked. "We got our placement test and we're all A ranks, but our units are not comparable to this."

"Oh, this is Sebastian Lincoln's unit," Allen casually said. "He's a friend of ours."

"Sebastian…" the three trailed off before screaming. "Lincoln?!"

"You know Sebastian?" Kyle ran up to Allen. "You should definitely introduce me to him."

"Me too!" Selena cheered. "Me too! Let me speak to him!"

"Same here," Irene said silently, almost under her breath.

All of them caught up with each other and Allen had to make up lies. He told them that they hunted a lot of beasts, but he didn't lie about being D rankers and how Barandilla wanted to get them.

Kyle and his friends felt sad for Allen, but they know that Allen could handle these things. Even when they know him as Dante, they saw how capable he was and how much his friends believed in him.

"So, do you think you could go to the Winter Festival?" Selena asked. "I heard a band is going to perform tonight and I want to watch it."

"I don't think I'll be able to go," Allen said. "I wanna stay here and be with Howl, cuddle with him until the sun comes up."

Bark. Bark.

"Howl said that he doesn't want that," Jeremy said. "He wants to be in the Winter Festival where he can be with other pets."

"How do pet Codes function anyway?" Allen found himself asking. "I saw a couple before, but I don't know how they are used."

"I don't know too," Jeremy pursed his lips and turned to the other which returned him a shrug. "Maybe we'll ask Sebastian when he comes back, but for now we just have to party all night."

"No," Allen tried to refuse, but it was too late.

Before he knew it, he was already standing in the middle of the crowd with the leash for Howl in his hand.

The boy sighed. He tried to look for the area where the pets are safe to be handled and then he saw a pet cafe. All pets were allowed inside, so he came in.

"Freezing cold," Allen muttered as he hung his coat on the rack. He took a number from a woman who guarded the rack and then entered the cafe. "Woah, this place is huge."

Allen walked around the large cafe were all sorts of pets were. There were runes on the side to suppress the urge of the pets to become angry, so all pets were happy and calm.

He sat on one of the wooden deck that served as the booth with a small coffee table in the center. There was a small railing on the side and Allen figured out that this was where they tie the leash.

"What would you like to order?" the waitress asked to which answered with what he wanted. A hot coffee and macaroons for him and dog macaroons for Howl. For some reason, the wolf liked macaroons made for dogs.

"What a cute dog!" a woman with a plump chest came and hugged Howl. Allen was waiting for the order and didn't want to entertain the woman, but he had to watch over Howl in case she does something to him. The members of Barandilla are everywhere, so he shouldn't let his guard down for one second.

"What's his name?" the woman who was wearing a very revealing clothing asked. She only wore straps of red silk, something that wouldn't make sense because it was cold. 

"Howl," Allen replied. "His name is Howl, and he's a pet Code."

This took the woman aback. She pursed her lips and nodded. "I see. He looks quite strong, huh?"

The woman leaned forward, causing her chest to almost pop out. Allen had to look away to avoid misunderstanding, but it seemed like he was too late.

A large man slammed his hands on his table and walked over to them. He pulled Howl away from the woman and was about to throw it but Allen immediately ran to them and gripped his arm. "Let my dog go."

The man nudged his arm out and growled. "How dare you look at my girlfriend like that."

"Like what?" Allen asked. 

"Like you want a piece of me!" the woman cried. "Everyone, he tried to feel me up and lured me using his dog!"

Her voice caught everyone's attention. The people around started whispering to themselves, looking at Allen with a weird look.

Then, a slap echoed around the room. The woman's eyes widened as felt her cheek pained. "W-What?"

"B*tch," Jake growled. "Know your place. This isn't your first victim."