Ning's grandmother asked many different questions to Ely about who she was, where she was from, and many other things.
She and Ning had planned this for a literal hundred years, so there was no question out there that could stump them.
Except one did come up.
"When will I get to see my Great-grandchildren?" the old woman asked.
Ning coughed suddenly, and Ely found it hard to hold in her chuckle. "Grandma, that's not something you should be asking so suddenly," he said.
"That's right, mother. Don't go asking the kids something like that. They are still very young," the Uncle said.
"Young? What young? I had you when I was only 22, and they are way older than that," the old woman said.
"Don't compare the old times to today. Let the kids decide what they want for themselves," the Uncle said. "Don't listen to her. Do what you want."
Ning gave a wry smile and said nothing else. Just then, Hi-Ah nudged him to get his attention, which was something he absolutely wanted from this situation.
"What?" Ning asked as she turned around.
"Something is happening there," she pointed towards the other corner of the room where the only two blue-haired and blue-eyed people were having a staring contest at each other.
One was tall and buff, while the other was small and a child. However, that didn't stop the two from glaring at each other.
"Oh, of course, that would happen." Dragons were proud creatures after all.
"Sorlus, don't try to pick a fight with Blue. You'll lose," Ning said.
"Hehe, listen to master, little brat. You are weaker than me. Call me big brother from now on," Blue said.
"Tsk!" Sorlus clicked his tongue and turned away to leave.
"Wait, I said call me big brother. Don't just leave like that," Blue said before following behind Sorlus.
Ning sighed. "Can you check on them? Make sure they don't fight because of their ego?" he asked Saphandra.
Saphandra sighed. "Sure," she said and flew away.
Night sat on the couch, curiously watching the flashing images on the screen which was the cartoon that the spirit and dragon had left playing.
He had no idea what he was looking at, but he was absolutely entranced by it.
Hi-Ah nudged Ning again. "Cousin, our rooms are full. We don't have any more place for all these people," she said.
"Oh, it's fine," Ning said. "The other two don't sleep at all."
"Oh," Hi-Ah was surprised. She looked towards Night and got suspicious. "Wait, are they… similar to Sorlus?"
Ning smiled and nodded. "Not exactly, but in a way."
She couldn't believe it at all. "Where do you find these people?" she asked.
"I found them long ago, and I only just went back to get them," Ning said. "Speaking of which, I've been away for nearly 2 months, so why are you still living here? I would've thought that at least you or your brother would be living in a new house."
"We've tried looking for one, but the housing market is insanely pricey. You can't get a piece of land to build a house on without having to sell your soul to get it," she said with a sigh. "We've been fine here anyway, so I didn't bother looking for any after the first few days."
Ning sighed when he heard that. "Fine, I will go look for a good one soon. It won't really matter what it costs anyway," he said.
He reached into his storage space and pulled out two mana stones before handing it over to the two of them. "I'm sure you were waiting for this, so have them.
Hi-Ah's eyes shined when she finally saw it again. "Thank you," she said, but her eyes weren't even looking at Ning anymore. Her entire focus was on the mana stone.
Jung-Hee was the same. He was completely entranced by the mana stone and didn't even say anything.
The last stone, along with the technique that Ning had provided them with had helped the two brothers and sisters go beyond what they could've reached in the next 5 years had they taken the normal trajectory in life.
However, now, Hi-Ah was an S-ranked Mage, and her brother was also on the very of becoming an S-ranked Mage.
Going from D-rank to S-rank in just 2 months was something Jung-Hee could have never thought of in his entire life.
"Well, I will have to go and make more for dinner now, so just sit around and—"
"Let's just order some takeout for today, father," Jung-Hee said. "It's too late to make anything anyway."
"It's alright," Ning said. "We ate before we came."
"But you have to eat something," Uncle said. "We can't let a daughter who has come home for the first time go to sleep without feeding her anything."
"Well," Ning didn't know what to say.
"Alright, Jung-Hee. Order some takeouts," the Uncle said.
"Okay," Jung-Hee said and pulled out his phone.
"But only for you and your sister. We will feed Ning and daughter-in-law today," the uncle said.
Jung-Hee shrugged. Takeouts were tastier anyway to him.
"I will go put on dinner," the Uncle said and stood up to leave.
"Let me help you, Uncle," Ely said.
"No, no, sit. You don't have to do anything," the Uncle said.
"Why not? Am I not a daughter of this home?" she asked.
The uncle had no retort. "Alright, fine. Come help me in the kitchen," he said and continued. Ely went after him.
"Well, I've already eaten, so I'm going to sleep," his grandmother said and left as well.
After they were gone, Ning turned to Hi-Ah and called her closer. "Tell me, what has happened in the time I was gone?" he asked.
"Well… many things have happened, but I suppose you want the biggest news first," she said.
"Which is?" Ning asked.
"Another SS-ranked dungeon has formed in Germany a month ago," she said. "Until now, many have entered, but none have managed to leave."
