67 Celebrities in the Greyrat House

"Father, why don't you let Mother and everyone else know we've returned. I don't want to cause too much of a shock with such a large group appearing in our basement."

"Yeah, you're right. That's a good idea."

Paul ran up the stairs ahead of us while I tried to gather everyone's attention. Everyone seemed marveled by their sudden change in surroundings. Even Randolph was curiously studying the huge magic circle I had engraved into the stone slab on the basement floor.

"Everyone, could I please have your attention?"

That worked surprisingly well. Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and turned their heads my way.

"As I said before we teleported, this is the basement of my home. My family is living upstairs and I don't want you all causing a huge commotion."

Ariel maintained the solemn look on her face while Luke and Derrick both stood behind her. Randolph gave a nod of understanding.

"Ariel."

"Yes", she replied in a serious tone. Luke once again narrowed his eyes at me after I called his master's name.

"There are too many people here and just too much going on right now for us to conduct the rest of our meeting in earnest. Would you mind if we worked out the details of our arrangement at a later date?"

"I agree completely. Once things have calmed down I will send Luke to schedule a meeting with you."

"Sounds good", I replied. "If it is alright with you, I will have my father escort you to the Academy. I trust you can handle everything from there."

"Of course", Ariel answered. "You've already done so much though. We can find our way to the Academy on our own. You said it's nearby, correct?"

"Yes, our home is very near the school. It is perhaps a five minute walk from here."

"Randolph.", I said as I turned my attention towards him. "Please don't take offense to this, but after all that Aleksander has done, I don't feel comfortable leaving him unrestrained in my house."

"I'll keep watch over him."

"I'm sure you will. But my family lives here. It's not that I don't trust you, it's just that... I'm not willing to take even the slightest risk when it comes to the safety of my loved ones."

As I said this, I had walked up to Aleksander's still regenerating body and hogtied his arm and legs together and proceeded to lock them together with stone cuffs I conjured with magic. I made sure the cuffs were incredibly dense and strong. Strong enough that even he couldn't break out of them.

"In the meantime, why don't I introduce you to my family? I'm sure they would love to meet such exciting celebrities as the two of you."

I guided Randolph and Ariel upstairs while carrying Phillip and Hilda along with me using gravity magic. Luke and Derrick Followed behind.

First thing I did was head upstairs to our guest room and lay Phillip and Hilda down in our guest bed. Hopefully if they wake up with nobody around they won't be too distressed.

"Is that them?", a young voice could be heard behind a closed door down the hall.

"I wanna see!"

"Norn, wait!"

As I came back out into the hall with our group, the door on the opposite end of the hallway flung open and Norn came running out.

"Rudy! Welcome back!"

She came running my way for a hug.

'Such a far departure from how I remember Norn used to shy away from me when she was little.'

"Who is this little one?", Ariel asked me while leaning down towards Norn with a welcoming smile on her face.

"That's my little sister Norn."

"Nice to meet you Norn. I'm Ariel."

"Ariel?"

"That's Ariel Anemoi Asura. She's the Second Princess of Asura, so make sure you're polite", I added.

"Oh, no need to be so formal", Ariel chided. "Please miss Norn, feel free to just call me Ariel."

"Another princess?", Norn asked.

Ariel looked surprised when Norn referred to her as 'Another' princess.

"Is she in love with you too?", Norn continued.

"EH?", Ariel stepped back in surprise.

"What!?", Luke yelled in shock.

"Looks like Rudy hasn't quite finished seducing her yet", Aisha said with a smirk. It would seem she had followed behind Norn at some point without me noticing.

"He won't be seducing her at ALL!", Luke said as he glared at me.

"Are you sure? That's quite a shame...", Ariel said with a forlorn look on her face as she ran her index finger down the robe covering my chest.

Luke's face turned red with anger as he continued to glare at me until Ariel, Aisha, and I all burst out laughing.

"Be mindful of your position, your majesty!", Derrick chided.

"It's fine. We're among friends", she said as she waved him off.

'I'm going to have to have a talk with Lilia', I thought. 'Just what is she teaching Aisha at such a young age...'

At this point, Lilia and Paul had also stepped out of the room. Zenith, Hope, Laws, and Sylphiette didn't seem to be home. It made sense since it was early afternoon. They were probably all out at work or school while Lilia was home watching Norn and Aisha.

When Lilia stepped out, however, Ariel had a surprising reaction.

"You... I remember you."

Lilia bowed in respect. "It's an honor to see you again, your highness."

"You're the guard who saved my life? Aren't you?"

"I'm honored that you remember me", Lilia answered while keeping her head bowed.

"Raise your head. I hope you are doing well. Are you being treated properly?"

"Yes. Despite my shortcomings, the Greyrat family has welcomed me with open arms."

"I see. That's good to know."

"This here is my friend Randolph. He's an exceptional swordsman and a dedicated chef."

"It's an honor to meet you all", Randolph said with his typical creepy looking smile.

Aisha and Norn both shrunk back, with Norn hiding behind my leg. Lilia, not wanting to seem rude to our guest, smiled and welcomed him to our house.

Everyone walked down to the lounge while Lilia went to the kitchen to prepare some snacks and tea. Randolph wanted to help her, but she insisted that he is a guest and that he should just sit and enjoy himself. Thankfully, he seemed to understand.

While everyone sat and chatted in the lounge, I decided to head back down to the basement to check on Alek, Suzanne, Timothy, and Patris.

"Hmph! You're still alive, I see", Aleksander said as he spit on the floor in my direction. It would seem he's woken up. His attempt at being intimidating was actually kind of amusing considering his position of laying on his stomach with his arm and two legs cuffed together up above his back.

"Once I get out of these bindings, you're-"

*ZAP*

"I don't have time to deal with you right now", I said as I fired an electric spell, knocking him back out.

Afterward, I ran back upstairs and looked at Paul with alarm written on my face.

"What's wrong, Rudy!?"

"It's the other members of Counter Arrow!"

"What happened?"

"They're not in the basement! They've disappeared!"