Clank—!
Closing the door behind me and entering the apartment, I was greeted by my mother's cheerful voice.
"Welcome back you two."
"We're back."
Lowering my body, Nola hopped down on the ground. In her mouth was a small lollipop.
"Mama!"
Like the traitor that she was, she immediately run in our mother's direction.
"Oh, my sweet Nola."
Grabbing her from the armpits, my mother picked Nola up from the ground and cuddled with her.
Rubbing her cheek against Nola's, I could hear Nola's heartful giggle come from the distance.
"Are you jealous, Ren?"
My mother teasingly asked.
"Jealous?"
I shook my head and scoffed.
"I'm not jealous."
The edges of my mom's lips curled upwards.
"Aww, that's cute."
Putting Nola down, she proceeded to extend her hands in my direction.
"Come here, mama will also give you attention."
"...I'm good."
Taking off my shoes, and ignoring my mother, I proceeded to head for the living room.
Although I had my back turned on my mother, I could practically hear the sound of her heart shattering as I left.
This was a necessary evil, however.
The number of hugs and kisses that she had given me the past few days were enough to make me want to once again leave the human domain.
"Huh?"
Upon stepping into the living room, I was surprised to find a familiar figure sitting down.
Tilting my head, I spoke.
"What are you doing here?"
Tap. Tap. Tapping onto the screen of the tablet in her hand, Natasha casually glanced in my direction.
"Oh, you're back."
"...You didn't answer my question."
Sitting down on the opposite end of the sofa, I looked at Natasha with a skeptical look on my face.
Once again she ignored me.
"Aigooo, the technology has advanced so much in the fifteen years that I was asleep."
A look of frustration appeared on Natasha's face as she repeatedly tapped on the tablet in her hands.
'Looks like she is too busy trying to figure things out then to answer my question.'
After observing her for the last minute, I could more or less guess what was happening.
Ever since coming back from Issanor, Amanda had given her mother the room next to ours.
Since my mother was now no longer as busy with guild matters and Natasha had nothing else to do, they had both grown closer together. Hence why she was here.
"Freshly baked cookies coming up."
Entering the room holding onto a tray of freshly baked cookies was my mother.
The moment she entered the room, a sweet buttery scent permeated the room.
Catching a whiff of the scent, Natasha turned to look at my mother and pointed at the tablet.
"Samantha, help me out over here. How do you turn on the holographic function?"
"Oh, dear."
Putting the tray down on the table, my mother proceeded to sit down next to her.
Following her from behind was Nola who sat down on her lap. Leaning closer to Natasha, she began to explain.
"If you want to turn on the holographic function you need to press this button over here."
"This one?"
"Ye—"
Smack—!
A low-smacking sound resounded across the room.
Pointing her finger at Nola's hand which was reaching for the cookie, my mother scolded.
"No, Nola, you already had a lollipop, no more sweets for you."
"B..but.."
Taking her hand back, tears started to gather by the side of Nola's eyes.
However, Nola's tricks were futile in front of my mother. Her protests only served at making her voice sterner.
"No means no."
"...Huah!"
Before Nola could protest, a startled shout suddenly rang through the air as holographic images sprung in the air.
The one responsible for this, Natasha, jumped back in shock, almost dropping the tablet in the process.
Fortunately for her, my mother was quick to react. Extending her hand, she caught the falling tablet.
"Careful now."
She then proceeded to hand it back to Natasha.
"You should've seen this coming."
"...Thank you."
With a quick thank you, Natasha took the tablet back. Turning her head, she tried to hide her embarrassment.
Smack—!
Once again a low smacking sound resounded across the room as my mother raised her voice.
"Nola!"
Caught once again caught in the act, tears finally started to stream down Nola's cheek as she turned to look at me.
"Huaa, brother!"
"Ren, stay put."
Opening my mouth, I quickly shut it back as I suddenly felt my mother's glare. Biting my lips, I turned my head to look away from Nola.
'...Sorry, Nola. This is not someone I can defeat.'
The only thing I could do at the moment was secretly apologize inside of my mind.
"Haizz, Ren, you spoil your sister too much."
My mother's frustrated voice rang throughout the room. Hearing her words, I shook my head.
"....No, not so much."
"Oh really?"
"Yes."
Nodding my head, I gazed at her from the corner of my eyes.
"The spoiling only went as far as buying her candies. I never went overboard."
"Heh..."
My mother scoffed.
"Ren, don't think for a second that I'm a fool."
Lowering her head she pointed at the hairpin on Nola's head.
"I know just how much money you've spent on the hairpin on Nola's head."
Hearing her words, my face cringed and I turned to look at Nola.
The moment I did, I finally caught sight of Nola who was sitting on her lap with her hands and head hung low.
The look on her face reminded me of someone who had lost everything.
Their family, their friends, their homes, and everything that they held dear in their hearts. She looked like a husk of her former self.
'What a drama queen'
I thought.
Feigning ignorance to it, I tried to defend myself.
"That so-called hairpin is an automated artifact that will activate whenever Nola is in danger."
Although they were being protected 24/7 by Amanda's security, I took extra precautions to ensure Nola's safety.
The hairpin on Nola's head did in fact cost me a pretty penny, but it was a necessary purchase.
"Haaa...alright, what you said makes sense."
Letting out a sigh, my mother leaned back on the sofa. Caressing Nola's listless head, she proceeded to ask.
"By the way, do you have any plans for this week?"
"No, I'm on holiday."
"Oh? Then do you have any plans for what you're going to do on your holiday?"
Thinking for a bit, I shook my head.
"No, not yet."
Honestly, although I said that I was going on a holiday, I had zero ideas on how to do that.
For the past three years, I had been training and trying to survive every day that I had long forgotten how a holiday worked.
Kind of pathetic if I had to say.
At that moment, my mother suggested.
"Then how about you bring Nola to watch her favorite idol group? Kimbol?"
'Idol group? Kimbol?'
What in the world was that.
Before I could ask, Nola who had been listless the whole time sprang back into life as her body jerked up.
"Yeeeeaahh! Kimbol!"
Jumping down from our mother's lap, she ran up to me and clutched my leg.
Raising her head, she looked at me with a pleading look.
"...You will bring Nola, right?"
"Ugh."
Staring at Nola, My heart suddenly squeezed. Raising my head, I looked at my mother.
"Do you have any videos of this group?"
"Mhm, of course, I do."
Taking out her phone, and pressing onto the screen, my mother quickly loaded up a video of the idol group my sister loved.
"Have a look."
Pressing onto the screen of the phone, I saw five really beautiful girls dancing to the rhythm of a catchy song.
Staring at it for the next few seconds, I was left impressed by the girl's coordination and the song.
I could understand why Nola was so interested in it.
As I was watching, my mother started to speak.
"They're currently the most popular idol group out there and are quite the hot commodity around here. Going to be hard to find tickets, however, I don't think you will have a problem getting them if you pay a little extra."
I nodded at her words.
Money did speak more clearly than words.
"I don't kn—"
Just as I was about to push back the phone, my hand suddenly froze. That was because I suddenly saw Nola dancing to the rhythm of the music by the side of the table.
Lowering my head and staring at the video, I raised it again to see Nola matching the movements of the girls dancing in the video.
"We're going."
Handing the phone back to my mother, I quickly came to decision.
"Mother, you can count on me. I'm one hundred percent going there."
Even though I wasn't a big fan of idol groups, Nola's actions were enough to convince me to go.
"Will you really?"
I nodded.
Taking out my phone I proceeded to look at the prices for the show, and honestly, although they were quite expensive, they weren't something that could hurt my pockets.
"Hear that Nola? Brother will bring you to watch the concert!"
As she had been busy dancing to the music, Nola was only able to hear the news now. The moment she heard those words, her face instantly brightened.
"Waaaah!"
She quickly lunged in my direction and snuggled all over my legs.
"Thank you, brother!"
Patting her head, I replied with a smile.
"No worries. No worries."
"Mhh, now that we're at it, why don't you bring Amanda with you."
At that moment, Natasha suddenly suggested.
"Amanda?"
I tilted my head. That was quite the random suggestion.
"But isn't she busy with guild-related stuff?"
"It's exactly because of that that I am suggesting this."
Putting the tablet in her hand down, Natasha let out a tired sigh.
"Ever since coming back here, I rarely see my own daughter. All she does is work from morning till night. Just like you, she needs a break..."
Pausing, she looked at Nola.
"An while we're at it, I don't think Nola would mind, right Nola?"
Nola shook her head.
"No, Nola doesn't mind."
"Well, there you have it."
With a satisfied smile on her face, Natasha turned to look at me.
"Since Nola agreed, you won't have a problem with it, right?"
Lowering my head and staring at Nola, I nodded my head.
"...Yeah."
Actually, inviting Amanda was probably for the best. If an adult and a kid suddenly showed up for a pop show, it would just look weird.
Clapping her hands together, Natasha continued.
"That's great, the guild is nearby, how about you go visit Amanda and tell her in person. I already told her that you are on the way."
"...Alright."
Letting out a long sigh and pressing my hands on my tights, I slowly stood.
'Was planning on visiting her anyways, this works out for me.'
Mainly because Amanda was the one in charge of distributing the magic cards. Could use this chance to ask her about the progress of the situation.
As I stood up, I glanced toward Nola.
"Nola, will you come with me to see Amanda?"
"Y—"
Before she could reply, my mother quickly cut her off.
"No, Nola will stay here. It's already too late for her to go out. She needs to go to sleep."
"No!"
Nola protested. But it was all futile. Lifting her from the ground, my mother quickly restrained her.
"You're going to bed right now."
"Brother!"
"Sorry, Nola."
Once again, I could only apologize to Nola.
The mother had spoken, there was nothing else I could do about the situation.
Steeling my resolve, I turned around and left the house.
***
It was quite late in the evening and the entrance of the Demon Hunter guild was still flocking with people coming in and out of the building.
The distance between my apartment and the Demon Hunter's guild was only a ten minutes walk and thus, I was able to arrive at the entrance fairly quickly.
Entering the building through the front door, I headed for the main reception area.
The interior design of the place was fairly simple, however, it contained a strange elegance to it as the floor which was made out of marble perfectly reflected the lights coming from above.
The furniture was quite minimalistic in style, and there was a nice scent of lavender lingering in the air.
Arriving at the reception, I was greeted by a beautiful young lady.
"Hello, how may I help you?"
"Right, I've scheduled an appointment."
Tap. Tap.
The receptionist tapped on the keyboard of the computer.
"May I ask with whom?"
"Amanda Stern."
At the exact moment I said those words, the receptionist's finger paused.
After which, recollecting herself, she once again pressed on the keys of the keyboard.
"Give me a second."
Taking her hand away from the keyboard, she grabbed onto the phone that was beside her and quickly dialed a number.
The call went through in an instant.
"Yes, Miss Stern, there is someone here claiming to have made an appointment with you."
"Okay, yes, I will quickly ask."
Placing her hand over the phone, the receptionist turned to look at me.
"Sir, may I know your name?"
Casually glancing at the receptionist, a thought struck me as the edges of my lips curled upwards. I teasingly said.
"Tell her that I'm the most handsome guy she knows."
"Er..."
Caught off-guard by my sudden response, the receptionist froze on the spot.
I nudged her with my head.
"Don't worry, you won't get in trouble. Just tell her that."
"...Okay."
With a forced smile on her face, the receptionist took her hand away from the phone and did as I told her. I could read her thoughts from where I was standing. The reason she complied was because she was afraid of me being a bigshot that she couldn't offend.
"Ehmm...h-e claims to be the most ha-ndsome man you have ever seen."
Relaying the message, her voice trembled from time to time.
Just as she finished her sentence, the secretary's face squinted; clearly, she was scared of Amanda's answer.
However, contrary to her expectations she didn't get scolded as she turned to look at me with an astonished look.
"Yes, yes, okay, I will immediately bring him up."
Following this, she hung up the phone and looked at me with a look of shock.
It took her a bit to recollect herself, and when she did, she bowed her head.
"Miss Stern is waiting for you, Mr. Han Yufei."
