"It's been a while since I've been here."
Staring at the metropolis that was Ashton city, I felt a wave of nostalgia wash over me.
It had truly been a while since I had gone back to the human domain and everything felt weird from the skyscrapers that covered every inch of the city to the general vibe of the place.
Comapred to Henlour and Issanor, it just felt different.
After separating from Douglas, and altering my face with the mask, my first stop was my parent's house. Well, in a way it could also be argued that this was my house since I didn't really have my own house. Used to live in the Lock dormitories after all.
"This should be the place, no?"
Halting my steps in front of a large building and double-checking with my phone's GPS, I proceeded to walk into the building.
The building that I was currently walking into was owned by the Demon hunter guild and it was the place that Amanda had given to my parents in order to ensure their safety.
Walking into the building I could understand why Amanda had decided to bring them here. The moment I stepped into the building, blocking the door were several guards whose rank was in between <B> rank to <A> rank.
Not only that, but the moment they appeared, I felt the presence of a few lasers scanning my body from top to bottom.
Di—! Di—!
"Stop right there."
A booming voice echoed as several guards came to greet me at the entrance.
It was clear that whatever the laser beams were, they were able to alert the guards of my strength as they all came at me with solemn looks on their faces.
For a moment I didn't know how to react to the situation as I was slowly surrounded by the guards.
Taking a step forward a buff guard with a sharp look and serious disposition scanned me from top to bottom.
"State your name and the reason for entering this place."
Staring at the guard in front of me and feeling his aura, I secretly thought.
'She wasn't kidding when she said that security here was tight.'
In terms of size and strength, he was comparable to Kimor.
Putting on a polite smile, I tapped onto my face and handed him my ID.
"I'm here to meet my family."
At the exact moment, I tapped on my face, my face morphed to my normal face, with hair obviously, and surprise flashed across the guard's face as he hastily took my card. Checking the card, the guard lowered and raised his head multiple times.
This repeated for the next minute or so, and just as I was about to get annoyed, the guard's disposition crumbled apart as he weakly muttered.
"I...it's really you."
"Huh?"
Following his words, he, alongside the other guards quickly rushed toward me.
"I'm a huge fan of yours."
"That fight was amazing. I replayed it multiple times."
"The way that you made those arrogant bastards know their place..."
Overwhelmed by the looks that the guards were giving me, I became slightly flustered and took a step back.
'What in the world is going?'
The way they were looking at me felt as though they were looking at their favorite celebrity.
Although I had originally expected such a reaction after my performance at the conference, I didn't expect it to go as far as this.
I was typically used to being ignored and low-key, but this sudden change took me by surprise.
"...I knew that this was going to happen."
Before I could do anything about the situation, a crisp and tired voice sounded from behind me. I was able to instantly recognize who the voice belonged to as I turned my head with glee.
My savior had finally arrived.
"Amanda!"
"Yes."
Standing at the entrance of the building wearing simple blue shirts and a plain white shirt, Amanda's hair which was tied in a ponytail swayed from left to right as she walked up to me.
Looking at her coming in my direction, I had to say, although she was wearing simple clothing, it couldn't hide her stunning beauty as she quickly mesmerized all of the guards present.
Not minding the stares and stopping next to me, Amanda eyed the guards that were surrounding me with a displeased look on her face.
"I'm not paying tens of millions of U a month just to stand there and fanboy over him. Quickly go back to your post."
"Y...yes madam."
Listening to Amanda's words, all of the guards quickly lowered their heads and apologized.
Following this, heading my ID card back, they all returned to their regular posts.
Once the guards disappeared, Amanda sighed.
"You need to be more careful. After what you've done at the conference your name is no longer unknown, you are now one of the most famous people in the human domain. Your face is quite recognizable."
Touching my face, I softly muttered.
"That so..."
"Yes."
Amanda nodded her head before she started to walk towards the far end of the building. I naturally followed her from behind.
Stopping in front of the elevator, Amanda pressed the button and called for it. With a small chime, the button lit up.
Di—!
Taking her hand back, Amanda turned to look at me.
"When did you arrive?"
"Just now, you?"
"This morning."
"...I see."
This made sense.
Since I had to wait for Gervis to give me the elven tear, as well as wait for Douglas to finish with his tasks, I returned to the human domain at a much later hour than the others.
Glancing around the place, I asked.
"What about your mother?"
"...She's already settling herself at home."
Pausing, for I moment I saw her brows twitch. It was very subtle and almost unnoticeable. For a moment I thought that I saw wrong, but her next words made me understand that I had seen correctly as her face crumbled slightly.
"She also already met Nola."
"Huh?"
My eyes opened widely when I heard this.
"She already met Nola?"
"Yeah, we live on the same floor after all. Let's not talk about her reaction."
"That bad?"
"Yes, and I've also met her. She's very excited to see you."
A smile appeared on my face when she said this.
Di—! Di—!
With a loud chime the elevator doors opened up and we quickly got in. Pressing onto the top button, the elevator soon closed and I felt a pushing sensation coming from the bottom of my feet.
Unbothered by it, my brows suddenly furrowed as I thought.
"Wait, you already told her that I'm coming?"
"Yes."
Amanda tilted her head and gave me a 'what about it look?'. My mouth twitched when I saw this.
'...and here I was trying to surprise her.'
Well, in hindsight, this was for the best. After all, it had been quite a while since I had last seen Nola. A child's memory was short and she could've already forgotten about me. Hearing that she was excited about my arrival made me feel more relaxed.
*
There were a total of two hundred floors in the building, and it didn't even take half a minute for us to reach the top floor. Once the doors opened, I followed Amanda out of the elevator.
The walk wasn't long. As the top floor was reserved for the most premium guests, there were only a couple of rooms.
"Here we are."
Halting in front of a large door, my heartbeat unknowingly sped up.
Closing my eyes, I quickly recomposed myself. There was no need for me to be nervous. I was just about to meet my parents. It wasn't anything life-threatening or anything like that.
Hell, I wasn't even nervous when I planned to infiltrate Inferno, an organization that was even bigger than the Monolith, why would I be nervous now and not then?
In the midst of me trying to convince myself that I wasn't nervous, extending her hand and placing it by the side of the door, with a subtle 'click' the door unlocked. Then, placing her hand on the handle of the door, Amanda opened the door.
With a smile on her face, she turned to look at me and said.
"There's no need to be nervous, the are already wai—"
"Wheee..."
But not even halfway through her sentence and her mouth froze. Following which, with a small 'swooosh' something flew past us as a soft and cheerful voice rang in the air.
"This..."
Staring at the scene presented before me after the door opened, my mouth twitched as I had trouble processing what was happening.
Standing in the middle of the room with a soft orange glow enveloping her body, Monica raised her hand in the air. Levitating in the air was Nola who wore a cute red one-piece dress with white dots all over.
Staring at Monica, Nola giggled uncontrollably.
"More, more."
Staring at Nola who was levitating in front of her, Monica's smile widened.
"Do you want to go faster Nola?"
"Um, Um."
Nola clenched her fists and nodded her head repeatedly.
"Faster!"
"Okay, here we go!"
With a satisfied smile on her face, the glow around Monica's body intensified and Nola's body shot away.
"Wheeeeee!"
Nola's voice rang throughout the whole house as her body flew all over the place.
Staring at the scene in front of me, I opened and closed my mouth repeatedly. For the first time in a while, I had become so speechless that I felt my mouth hanging all the way toward the bottom of my neck.
'What in the world is going on?'
To make things even more confusing, sitting by the other end of the room were my parents alongside a couple of familiar faces. Donna and Amanda's mother. They looked to be completely fine with the fact that Nola was currently flying all over the room.
"Wheeeeee...."
Nola's joyful voice once again rang throughout the room as her body zig-zagged through every corner of the room.
With a dull look on her face, Amanda shook her head and sympathetically said.
"...I was the same as you this morning."
"I'm try—"
"Oh, Ren, you're finally here."
Cutting me off mid-sentence was Monica's high-pitched voice. Following her words, everyone finally took notice of my presence and Nola's body halted mid-air.
"Brother!"
She joyfully shouted as she extended both of her hands. Before I could even react, Nola's body suddenly shot in my direction.
Swoooosh—!
Caught by surprise, my eyes opened widely and Nola's body came crashing down on my chest, knocking the air out of me.
"Ahhghh..."
Fortunately, I was able to safely catch Nola who snuggled up on my chest like a puppy that had not seen its owner for years.
"Brother! Brother! Brother!"
She repeatedly shouted as her body tightly clung to me. Lowering my head and staring at her, a soft smile appeared on my face. Extending my hand, I caressed her small head.
"I'm back, did you miss me?"
"Um, Um. I saw you on TV. So cool. My brother is the coolest."
"Is that so?"
Listening to her words of praise, unknowingly the smile on my face deepened. Not going to lie, it felt good being praised by her.
While Nola was still snuggling in my arms, I suddenly heard my mother's voice coming from the distance.
"Oh my, Nola, your brother is tired, don't cling onto him too much."
Standing up from her seat, she quickly approached us and grabbed Nola by the armpits, trying to get snatch her out of my arms.
"No!"
However, Nola's grip was strong. Latching onto my body like an octopus, she refused to let go of my body.
"Nola, let go right now."
"Noooo!"
Unfortunately, despite all of Nola's protests, my mother proved to be too much for Nola to handle as she quickly retrieved her from my body. Then, turning to face Amanda, she handed Nola to her.
"Amanda dear, would you do me a favor and hold her for a bit."
"...Okay."
Nodding her head, Amanda took Nola in her arms. Although Nola wanted to protest, under our mother's glare she could only obediently do as she was told.
Seeing that Nola had calmed down, clapping her hands with a satisfied look on her face, she turned to look at me.
"Okay, my turn."
The moment her words fell, my eyes opened widely.
'Shit.'
"Oumph!"
Unfortunately, I realized her intentions too late. Before I could even react, she already dashed in my direction and instantly brought me in her embrace.
"Oh, Ren, my dear son! Your mom was so worried about you!"
Pausing every few seconds, she would pinch my face all over and repeat the same words.
"Look at how much you've grown. Oh, my boy has grown up so much."
Under her constant hugs and kisses, a bitter smile appeared on her face. To add insult to injury, as my mother was clinging to me, giggles and laughter rang throughout the whole room as everyone looked at me with pity in their eyes.
Even Amanda who usually never laughed was giggling uncontrollably.
Never before in my life did I ever want to bury my body so deeply down under the ground.
"Okay, honey, you can calm down now."
Coming to my rescue was my father who quickly arrived and patted my mother on the shoulder.
"Hmmm, a little bit more."
My mother protested, however, my father shook his head.
"Didn't you say it before? Ren's tired, let him rest a bit."
"Ugh...fine."
Finally, after a couple of seconds, she finally let go of me. However, as she let go, I could see a look of deep reluctance on her face.
Free from my mother's grasp, I gratefully looked at my father.
"Thank you."
Smiling back, he nudged me with his head.
"Come, have a seat with us at the table."
Upon saying those words, he quickly brought my reluctant mother towards the table where everyone else sat. Amanda followed after him.
Raising my head and staring at everyone in the room, I lowered my head slightly and muttered.
"...Okay."
For the first time in a very long time...
I felt at peace.
***
A/N : End of Volume [3]. I will return to two update schedule after tomorrow.
