Marcus was sitting at the dinner table with Nathasia, William, and Liana.
He still was only drinking juice using a straw so that he doesn't have to remove his scarf.
By now, not only Nathasia but even William and Liana had started treating Marcus as a friend even though they still didn't know his identity.
They felt that Marcus was a quiet and decent man who kept to himself for his own reasons. Still, they were very thankful to him for saving their daughter and teaching her for free.
They could see how much Nathasia had improved over the weeks and also realized that Marcus was more skilled than they thought.
They wondered why the military would let someone like him go on such a long leave. They knew the military wouldn't be so generous to let go of a man of such skills for such a long holiday.
After all, finding the Crimson Devil was still seen as a bleak hope, let alone defeating him.
So, they obviously would need all the help they need and more. Because of this, the concept of leaves wasn't really prevalent now for those working for the military.
Since William had left the army for a while, he didn't know if there were some changes in the rules or something that allowed Marcus to take a leave.
"So, Marcus, you said you are living alone. Do you really not have any girlfriend?" Nathasia asked offhandedly.
"Natty, don't ask such questions," Laina chided Nathasia, but she and William subtly looked at Marcus to know the answer.
"No, I don't have a girlfriend," Marcus replied in a low voice.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Nathasia didn't know why but inwardly, she felt happy hearing it and said, "Aww, you are such a good guy. I am surprised you don't have one already. I guess it's because of how bad our world has become. Don't worry. You will one day find the perfect girl as your girlfriend."
Marcus' eyes became glazed for a moment as he nodded, "I know…"
"By the way, do you plan to become a world-famous painter in the future?" Marcus asked Nathasia.
Nathasia asked gleefully, "Do you think I can?"
Marcus said with a soft chuckle, "Yes, you can. And one day, if I ask you to paint a portrait of someone, will you do it?"
Thinking that he was asking her to paint his portrait in the future, Nathasia answered ecstatically, "Of course! Leave it to me, hehe."
William and Liana slightly shook their heads with a smile seeing these two. They felt that this was proof that Marcus was opening up to them.
*Screeech!*
The sound of a jeep stopping near their house-made all four of them turn their heads towards the door, wondering who it was.
They never had any guests other than Marcus, and even he didn't expect someone else to come here after knowing how this family was living a secluded and quiet life, away from society.
The sound of men's voices and laughter only made William frown as he slowly got up and said, "Don't worry. Just stay put. And Liana, clear all this up and stay inside with Natty."
*KNOCK!* *KNOCK!*
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})They heard the door being loudly knocked, and William quickly rushed to the door to see which strangers were visiting his house.
When he looked through the hole, his eyes looked a bit shocked, and he gestured at the three to quickly hide.
Liana immediately put away all the dishes and asked Natty to go to her room.
"Marcus, you can also stay in her room, in case you don't want to be seen by anyone else," Liana said in an understanding tone, speculating that Marcus doesn't like to be before strangers. And for some reason, she felt that Natty would be perfectly safe when she was with Marcus.
"Thank you," Marcus sincerely said as he and Natty walked towards her room. But she suddenly turned around and asked, "Ma, what about you?"
Liana smiled, "Don't worry. I will stay in the kitchen in case your father needs me. Now go!"
Natty bit her lip and went inside before locking her door. She was feeling extremely uneasy after seeing the expressions on her parents.
For some reason, she felt that they were not having ordinary guests visiting them.
William didn't say anything since he realized if Liana hid too, then things could get worse. Liana seemed to have guessed who had visited based on William's worried expression.
*KNOCK! KNOCK!*
"Hey, open up the fucking door! William, we know you are in there!" A man shouted from the outside as he continued to loudly knock.
William stifled his expression, and with a smile, he opened the door, "Sorry. We were preoccupied."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})However, inwardly he was feeling apprehensive seeing four rough-looking men with huge rifles behind their backs. They were wearing puffy military coats.
But he was getting even more danger signals from the two men without any weapons standing behind these four men. One of the men looked strong, tall, and bulky, while the other one was lean but had a crooked face that could creep someone out.
However, none of these men looked friendly but indeed gave off an uneasy vibe.
And the clothes these two men were wearing differed from the ones the other four were wearing. Even the insignia on the clothes of these two men were different from the other four.
And upon seeing the insignia of a skull with horns being pierced with swords, William became even more anxious since this meant that these two men were part of the AWA Squad, the same squad Marcus was a part of, tasked with the mission of finding and killing the Crimson Devil.
Also, seeing four stars on the insignia of these two men was proof that these two were high-ranked Ascended Ones.
The other four only had ordinary insignia that showed that they were part of a normal squad in the military.
The man in the front with a large beard spoke with a smile, "William, to think that you were living in the middle of nowhere after disappearing for five years."
William dryly chuckled, "Well, Ray. I just found it more peaceful to live like this rather than getting involved in all the mess."
"Anyways, are you going to keep us all standing here? We have two special guests with us," Ray said as he briefly looked towards the direction of the two Ascended men behind him.
William forced a smile, "Of course, I forgot my manners. Please come in, all of you."
William was becoming more and more uneasy, but he decided to see how things play out. He wondered if he should call Marcus out in case he knew two of his colleagues here.
But his gut was telling him that things might not transpire as he expects it to, especially seeing how Marcus seemed to be in hiding.
William was no fool and had decades of experience. So, even though he didn't question Marcus, he didn't completely believe the fact that he was on military leave.
"So, how did you even find me?" William casually asked as five of them sat down on the sofas and began to take a look around while Ray was walking around while examining some objects kept around the house, including the family photos, which made William frown.
Ray answered as he kept looking at William's family photo, "Well, you were indeed hard to find, and I had to ask around a lot, including your 'old' friends, to finally know where you were staying."
William felt a bad feeling when Ray mentioned 'old friends,' but he still asked, "I see. But any reason for you to suddenly seek me out?"
Ray casually waved his hand, "Oh, nothing really. We were having a mission around here and decided to crash at your place since we are unfamiliar with this place."
William, however, didn't buy it since if Ray really had no purpose in visiting him, then why would he go around seeking out information about his whereabouts.
Ray continued as he kept the photo frame in his hand, "Oh, I forgot to introduce you to my comrades."
He pointed towards the three soldiers and said, "These three Rick, Jacob, and Toby are my brothers since we all serve together."
Then with a flattering smile, he gestured towards the two Ascended men and said, "And these two special gentlemen, Reinhard and Vitaly, are my newfound brothers. As you might have noticed, these two are quite well known even among other Ascended Ones. They are quite the bigshots, aren't they, haha."
William forced a laugh, "Haha, you are right. So I take it that these two gentlemen are here for a very important mission.
The tall and bulky man, Reinhard, said in a condescending tone, "That's something commoners need not know."
Vitaly said as he looked around, "Well, are you not going to offer us anything to eat or drink? I heard you have a lovely wife and daughter."
"That's right," Ray added and continued with a glint in his eyes. "Where did they go?"
