A vast crowd was waiting for Ashton and the remaining mercenaries at the Kernel Tower. As soon as their spaceship docked at the VIP port, they could hear the loud cheers of everyone waiting for them.
It was a rare occurrence in the mercenary world. After all, there was no space for fans for the mercenaries. Everyone was usually making money for themselves, so much so that they often forgot about the accomplishments of others.
However, defeating the undefeated Phantom wasn't a feat anyone would ignore. It was the first time someone had not only managed to evade 'Silent Death' but also defeat him.
At the same time, people from the Galaxy Times wanted to interview the mercenaries. However, Mazton had made it clear they would not be allowed to do so.
It was because he knew these reporters only wanted one thing from them. The key to defeating Phantom and Mazton wasn't going to let them get their hands on such intel.
Vimur was immediately caught in the storm of attention he got. In contrast, Laihud kept staring at him from a distance.
The healer, too, had a fair share of people cheering for him, but it seemed the one whose cheers mattered the most was busy with someone else.
Ashton saw this and calmly approached Laihud. Since he wanted to use him as bait, he felt it was only suitable for him to try and encourage the man to pursue his heart rather than letting his feelings go unchecked.
"How long do you plan on staring at his back, huh?" Ashton playfully remarked before smacking Laihud's back.
"Ouch- W-What do you mean, Reaper-hael?" Laihud referred to Ashton with the suffix 'hael'.
In Laihud's culture, 'Hael' was used as a suffix towards those who are strong and worthy of one's respect. At the same time, the suffix was also used to acknowledge the superiority of one's skills.
At least, that's how Laihud had explained it to Ashton while they were making their journey back to the tower.
"Dude, please, everyone knows how you feel about him. Well, except for that idiot. But then again, I don't expect his two brain cells to take the obvious signs."
"Huhu-" Laihud chuckled, before turning a little bit serious, "How long have you known for?"
"Pretty much from the moment we left the tower. Well, it's not my place to tell you what to do and what not to. Sometimes, letting your heart go is better. I'm speaking from experience."
[Aww, look at the love guru I raised. I'm proud of you!]
Laihud didn't respond, and Ashton took it as his sign to leave. Just like Astaroth pushed him to confess his feeling for Anna, he wanted to act in that role for Laihud. Hopefully, he'll take his advice, and things will get better. Till then, Ashton had his own business to take care of.
"Asht- I mean Reaper!"
Ashton heard a familiar voice and turned with a broad smile. It had been a little over a month since he had last seen Anna. But much to his surprise, she had changed quite a bit.
Her succubi features had grown more prominent, and she had gained 13 levels from the last time he saw her.
As she came running toward him, Ashton couldn't help but notice everyone's gaze was on her. The men cheering him on just a moment ago now had daggers in their eyes, waiting to kill him.
[Their lust for your blood is much higher than Anna's lust for you, haha!]
'Shut it and try not to ruin the moment, will you?'
[Alright, alright, you have earned that much. See you later.]
Anna forced Ashton into quite an intimate hug, which he was more than happy to reciprocate. Behind her were the twins. They kept their distance but made sure to greet Ashton.
Ashton might not have seen the twins in a romantic light, but they were still friends, so it would have been rude of him not to acknowledge them.
"Woah, you're quite plump." Anna licked her lips.
"I could say the same for you." Ashton laughed, "Also, I know the meaning behind your gaze, but it'll have to wait. I need to take care of some business first."
"Of course," Anna replied before planting a kiss on his lips before letting him go, "That'll be enough to hold me off for a few hours."
"I knew this bastard was a playboy!" Vimur rushed to Ashton and swung his arm over his shoulder, "Look at him! He already had a girlfriend, haha! By the way, I'm Vimur, Reaper's trusty shield. You might have heard of me- Oi, Laihud let me speak!"
Ashton shook his head in disappointment as Laihud dragged Vimur away.
"Tsk, love will cause your brain to rust." Vulcan suddenly appeared behind them, with Aegis, who immediately jumped over to Ashton's shoulder.
"Kyuu~"
"Aw, he's so cute!" Anna and the twins simultaneously exclaimed.
Aegis wasn't in his authentic form, but he looked cute regardless. However, the surprises weren't over yet.
Even though Aegis did not like to be touched by anyone, much to Ashton's surprise, he immediately jumped from Ashton's shoulder to Anna's chest and warped his hands around her neck.
"This is new." Ashton looked at Vulcan, who was just as clueless as he was.
In the meantime, Mazton returned after safely escorting Eula to her room. However, Eula let Ashton know she wanted to talk to him in private before leaving.
"Here is the star-" Mazton warmly welcomed Ashton but immediately bowed when he saw Vulcan, "I-I never thought I'd be fortunate enough to stand in the presence of an Elder Dwarf here of all place!"
Vulcan looked annoyed by Mazton's words. However, he read the room and decided it was best to accept his greetings before leaving.
"He... is not a people person." Ashton clarified as he greeted Mazton.
"I see. I'll apologise to him at a later time. But for now, let us proceed to the meeting room. There's a lot to discuss and not much time."
Mazton said after regaining his composure, "The leader couldn't make it here tonight, but he has sent his congratulations to you and wished to meet you some other time."