Catgirls And Dungeons (Yuri)

This time: a breathtaking beachfront estate!

It isn't an ocean, actually, but a massive freshwater lake, wide and shimmering, stretching almost endlessly toward the horizon. The waters are a deep, mirror-like blue, dotted with lily pads and home to schools of colorful fish, freshwater crabs, and shrimp. A natural bounty of marine protein, Alvero explains, perfect for a catgirl's diet!

The house itself is stunning: pale stone with pearlescent tile roofs that glint in the sunlight, wide verandas with sheer white curtains fluttering in the breeze, and long wooden docks stretching over the tranquil lake. The property includes a private boathouse, a greenhouse garden, and even a geothermal spring tucked behind a flowering cliffside.

A large boat is included for occasional trips on the lake, perhaps for fishing or diving.

Eris and I both lean forward, visibly impressed.

I can practically feel the warm wind against my skin, taste the saltless freshness of the lake, and imagine lazy afternoons napping by the water, bathed in sunlight.

"Hey, this one is… kind of perfect!" I murmur, eyes wide.

"Yeah, it's quite nice," Eris agrees, sounding almost surprised. "Very peaceful."

But then—

"There is… one problem, though," Alvero says hesitantly.

"What is it?" Eris asks.

"Veilglass Distortion…"

"Oh… that's unfortunate…" Eris sighs.

I turn to her. 'Eris, what is that?'

'Well, it's not scary, just a rare phenomenon sometimes found in dungeons. It interferes with certain spells, particularly space-attribute magic. Many believe Veilglass Distortion results from overlapping fragmented leyline veins.'

"Yes," Alvero adds. "It means space-attribute magic won't work within this dungeon."

"But we don't use space magic, do we?' I ask.

"Yeah, but it means we can't install teleportation gates there," Eris explains.

"Oh…"

Right.

One of Eris's requirements is having teleportation gates for easy travel. That way, we could move back and forth from our house to Mistvale or quickly reach other dungeons.

I look at the beautiful lakeside house.

The beach is so inviting and cool…

But, well…

No teleportation gates? That's a dealbreaker.

Eris shakes her head.

"Next, please."

"Alright," Alvero says, proceeding to show us another property.

We go through a few more properties after that.

First, a cliffside fortress carved directly into a floating boulder, drifting peacefully above a vast mana field. Gorgeous views, breathtaking architecture… but the gravity in the area was unstable. Every hour, objects would float for one minute. Chairs drifted upward, and Eris did not enjoy her teacup casually sliding off the table in the projection.

Next.

Then came the Rosewood Preserve: an enchanting manor surrounded by glowing redwood trees, their leaves shimmering with eternal twilight hues. Romantic, dreamy, and supposedly excellent for mana regeneration. But the entire place was under a soft, magical night effect twenty-two hours a day, with just two hours of daylight. I nearly dozed off just looking at it.

After all, as catgirls, we need our sunbaths.

Next.

Then there was Meadowhold: a lovely cottage nestled in a valley of rainbow-hued wildflowers, with a constant gentle breeze and butterflies literally everywhere.

I sneezed just watching it.

Eris didn't say anything that time. She just turned her head toward me, one brow raised, as I sniffled pitifully.

We said in unison: "Next."

The mist swirls again.

Another hour drifts by.

At this point, we've rejected nearly twenty luxurious properties in a row. Verdant hilltop villas, crystal-bastion towers overlooking floating valleys, even an obsidian dome suspended over an underground geothermal river. All of them extravagant. All of them beautiful.

And yet... none of them feel right.

Alvero, to his credit, remains impeccably composed. His voice never wavers, his posture stays perfect, and he doesn't complain. But still, there's a faint tension hanging in the room now—like a taut thread stretched just a little too far. I catch a flicker of it in the way he clears his throat more often. The way his fingers pause just briefly before guiding the next swirl of mist inside the orb.

He leans forward slightly, his brow furrows, ever so faintly.

"Hmmm... this next one is a little strange," he murmurs.

"Just show it," Eris says without missing a beat, her voice smooth, almost lazy, but her eyes fixed on the orb still.

"Very well."

Alvero traces a slow circle across the orb's surface. The swirling white fog begins to shift, darkening. Shadows bloom inside the globe. The light in the room seems to dim with it, as if the magic is drawing the warmth away from the air.

The scene emerges, quiet and haunting.

A vast forest shrouded in soft, eternal twilight stretches outward under a dusky sky, the colors washed in pale blue and velvet purple. The trees are tall, their trunks dark and gnarled, their silverleaf canopies glowing faintly.

Mist drifts lazily between the trunks, and glowing insects flit like embers in the air. At the center of this forest, nestled by the curve of a small lake, stands the mansion.

It's gothic in design, ornate and towering, built from dark gray stone veined with silver. Its spires reach up like claws toward the cloudy sky, and narrow arched windows glow softly with amber light. The main hall extends out toward the lake on an elegant causeway, and a wrought-iron gazebo sits at the shore, surrounded by some willow-like trees whose branches trail into the mirrorlike water.

But what truly takes my breath away… are the flowers.

Hundreds—no, thousands—of crimson blooms scatter across the grounds. Not just in neat garden rows, but everywhere. They glow softly, almost mystically, like scattered embers dancing in the dusk. Their petals curl outward in delicate spirals, each one moving subtly in the breeze… almost as if they're breathing.

The vivid red of them blazes against the estate's otherwise pale, shadowed palette. A single burst of life in a world painted in twilight.

I lean forward without realizing it, eyes wide.

"Holy crap…" I whisper.

Eris exhales, a slow, quiet breath. "Wow… now this is breathtaking."

Alvero nods. "This is the Noctis Sanctum, located deep within the Umbrafrost Expanse. It's always twilight there, never fully day, never truly night. A unique atmospheric phenomenon called the Moongloom Halo keeps the region suspended in an eternal dusk."

"I see, interesting." Eris murmurs.

"But… didn't you say you need sunlight?" Alvero then asks, glancing at Eris.

"Oh, right. Yeaah," Eris mutters, her voice dipping just slightly, a trace of disappointment slipping through.

"And that's not the only strange thing about this place," Alvero continues, "The flowers, those crimson ones you're seeing, they grow like wild grass, covering almost everything. No matter how hard we tried to thin their population down, they would just grow back fully in just a few days."

"Hm. Are they dangerous?" Eris asks, narrowing her eyes.

"Not exactly. But…" He hesitates, just briefly. "I've heard people say that walking through a field of them can make you feel lightheaded and disoriented. It's not harmful, as far as we know, but it is… unnerving."

"I see…" Eris sighs. "That's too bad. It's such a beautiful place. Felicia seemed to love it too."

"Shall I move on?" Alvero offers gently.

"Yup," Eris says, leaning back again.

However…

"Wait—hold up!" I blurt out, sitting upright, holding my hand out.

Both of them glance at me.

Because for some reason… there's this strange pull in my chest like a quiet, echoing weight.

When I look at those flowers… I feel like… I've seen them somewhere before.