"Welcome back, Young Lord," The guards at the mansion's gate bowed respectfully when they saw Ellis.
Ellis smiled at them before walking in with Grey and Void. The bandit's leader was still on his shoulder.
After they went in.
The guards looked at each other before sighing in pity. Everyone in the city knew what was going on in the O'Brien family. The guards in particular are aware of the hard tasks the Elders are sending Ellis out to accomplish.
Every time they see him head out, they would always pray for his safe return, and it looks like their prayer worked once again.
Grey walked into the compound, staring around curiously. Void was the same, only, the moment he sensed some terrifying auras, he hid his aura, making it seem as if he was a regular cat. The people he sensed were people who could kill him with a sneeze.
He was certain that even with his elemental mastery of the space element, he still wouldn't be able to escape before he died.
'Grey, be careful here, there are powerful people here,' Void warned.
'I know, this is one of the most powerful families in the entire Southern Continent, and in the Aurora Continent as well, you don't expect them to be weak, do you?' Grey already knew what he was getting himself into.
His only worry is how Ellis would be able to sneak him into his father's room without being noticed by the people around. From what is happening with Ellis in the family, it is easy to tell that he wasn't welcomed by the Elders since they're trying so hard to kill him.
They didn't get too far before a young man around the same age as Ellis walked out from the west wing of the mansion. When he saw Ellis, a look of surprise appeared on his face momentarily, before quickly changing to a smile.
"You're back, I knew you would make it back," The young man flashed a bright smile before walking towards Ellis.
"I survived by fluke," Ellis said, putting on a fake smile.
"It doesn't matter, the important thing is that you're back. Father would be proud," The young man said while approaching Ellis.
"Yeah, I bet he will," Ellis said sarcastically.
"Come on, don't be like that, you know Father is only doing this to test your strength, you were gone for so long that everyone thought you were dead. Even the Family Head as well," The young man smiled before staring at Grey and the bandit's leader curiously.
"I suppose this is the bandit leader, but who is he?" He asked while pointing at Grey.
"A friend," Ellis said before he continued moving.
"Oh, it's nice to meet you. I'm Keal, Ellis' cousin," Keal stretched out his hands.
"Grey," Grey shook his hand before following Ellis' lead.
"Where's Uncle?" Ellis stopped to ask.
"Father's in the hall, he's discussing some matters with the Elders and some guests," Keal replied.
Ellis continued moving once again.
Grey already sensed the hostility between the two, so he didn't even bother to ask. All that was important to him in the O'Brien family was Ellis, his friend, nothing else.
They walked into the main building, after going through the hallway, they stopped in front of a huge door.
"Wait here," Ellis said to Grey before pushing the door open and walking in.
After getting in, his facial expression changed when he saw the sitting position of the people gathered here.
There were around fifteen people here, three of them were not from his family, but he was familiar with them, while the other twelve were from his family. What he found annoying was that a certain middle-aged man was seated on the middle seat, which was reserved for only the Family Head.
"Uncle, my father is still alive," Ellis said coldly, trying to reign in his anger.
"Boy, speak with respect when talking to me. I'm the acting Family Head since that terrible illness happened to your father, I have every right to sit here," The middle-aged man said coolly.
He didn't raise his voice or scold Ellis even though Ellis sort of provoked him.
"I can see that you're back from your mission, good. If you want to take over from your father someday, then you have to be the very best of your generation," The middle-aged man said.
Everyone in the hall kept quiet, looking at Ellis and his uncle.
"Hmph!" Ellis snorted coldly but didn't say a word.
"Here's the bandit's leader who terrorized travelers in the Suyin Canyon," He dropped the man on his shoulder.
"I'm amazed by your strength since you were able to single-handedly deal with this powerful group. Tell me, how did you do it?" The middle-aged man asked.
"I was lucky," Ellis replied, not willing to speak any further.
"Hmm, and who's the young man standing outside?" The middle-aged man let the matter slide before asking about Grey who was standing outside.
"A friend," Ellis replied.
"And why would you bring a friend of yours into the mansion when you know how things are?" The middle-aged man squinted his eyes.
"It's none of your business," Ellis turned around and left decisively.
"Hmm, youths, so feisty," The middle-aged man laughed softly with a cold light flashing through his eyes. He turned to the people in the hall, "Alright, where were we?"
"What do you plan to do with me?" The bandit's leader suddenly spoke up.
Swoosh! Thud!
"Continue," The middle-aged man didn't even look at the bandit's leader.
On the head of the bandit's leader was a hole the size of a finger. He was dead.
The people in the hall didn't take him for much and continued their conversation. A guard was summoned to dispose of the body.
After Ellis came out of the hall, he took Grey towards the right-wing of the mansion.
"My father is kept in the main building, but my uncle ensured that the security around is very tight. It will be almost impossible to sneak you in. And the use of the space element would be difficult since there's a powerful Space Elementalist in the building, my third Uncle," Ellis explained the situation of the mansion to Grey.
Grey nodded attentively while taking a good note of everywhere in the mansion.
