Miles returned to Earth after waiting for two days and sold the artifact to Quinn. When he returned to the stronghold, he stored the spoils he gained in the cave into the Marooner’s room, and started to wait, after two days he met with Quinn at the Umbra Forest once again after taking the battleaxe artifact he hid in The Lonely Cave to exchange goods.

It went without any problems, and Quinn sent three coupons to his account via showing her wristwatch. With that, the exchange was over. Quinn offered to buy the orb once again, but Miles rejected it firmly, lest she would pester him any further.

After that, Miles returned to Earth. As soon as he returned, Coin reported tens of missing calls and messages.

“Mostly from the mansion and Carl. Also many from the family.” Miles looked at the message that came from his family, and read it. “Oh, they want me to visit.”

Miles ignored Carl’s messages for the time being and looked at messages sent by his father, mother, Uncle Kenway, and surprisingly, from Merlin.

"Oh, that guy returned?” Miles looked at the message and hopped onto the train. On the train, he ran into someone he saw very recently.

“What a coincidence!” She said and looked at Miles. She just returned from Portal World and rushed to the train to go somewhere, and he ran into Miles. Quinn looked at Miles, and an idea popped into her mind before it was dismissed as quickly as it appeared. “It can’t be.”

“Hello, how have you been?” Miles asked. He just saw her with his alter identity and now he saw her again. He didn’t know what to say.

“How the hell have you been? I haven’t seen you for more than a month!” Quinn quipped. She was looking all over for Miles, but couldn’t find him anywhere. They had to go another hunt without Miles, and Lucy was furious because Miles ignored the monthly hunt, again!

Lately, Merlin would call her every day to pester her to find Miles too. After a while, she succumbed to the devil's call and went to see if he could somehow run into Miles. After all, she was always a lucky person. Coincidentally she ran into the Marooner instead.

“You missed a hunting trip. We even acquired a juicy orb.” Quinn reported.

"We hunted an avian monster, and the orb was a strong arrow. It would be yours as you had the first pick after the last hunting trip, but because you were absent, Lucy took the orb."

"Damn it! I was looking for an arrow for a long time." Miles lamented.

“I went hunting somewhere far away, and it took me some time to return. I informed Lucy before I left, didn’t she tell you?” Miles asked.

“She did, but it still took you a month to come back. You know who shall remain nameless is in the city, and pestered me to death because you weren't answering their calls.” Quinn sighed helplessly as she looked at Miles.

“Yeah, I saw his messages and missing calls.” Miles chuckled. He didn’t know why Merlin was so protective. He used to bully him when they were small, then changed when he got a little older. Miles wondered what caused the change. After that, he was protective of Miles, and wouldn’t let anyone bully him.

Even Cruel Heart got shouted at by Merlin when he was harsh to Miles. The worst was after his ‘bodyguard’ left, people would bully him even more, so Miles, at first, hated Merlin for it. Later, he realized he was really doing it for Miles, so Miles let it go.

“Where are you going?” Miles asked. He didn’t know where Quinn lived, but the direction they were going was where Cross Family lived.

“To your house,” Quinn answered with a smile.

“Oh, you will see your mother-in-law?” Miles asked with a smile. Blood rushed to Quinn’s ebony cheeks and made sunset appear on her face.

“You will meet your mother-in-law, you bastard!” She quipped angrily.

“Oh, I thought you and Merlin had a thing. So, you are into me instead and want me to meet with my mother-in-law?” Miles asked cheekily.

Quinn looked at him with her eyes twitching. She didn’t know how to refute this guy. Should she be ashamed because she and Merlin got exposed or should she answer how shameless this brother-in-law acted? She looked at Miles plainly as the other party was chuckling.

“Where were you hunting? How come you haven’t returned for a month?” Quinn changed the subject. This time it was Miles's turn to sweat and beat around the bush. He couldn’t say a random spot. The military had a great area of control and there were soldiers exploring and scouting around strongholds.

As the stronghold commander, Quinn could ask other strongholds about Miles too, which would expose him if he were to lie somewhere under the military’s surveillance. He also couldn’t say the cave.

“I was near the stronghold under disguise for a long time to catch Tian Ling. I didn’t want to communicate with anyone lest I let them catch me.” Miles lied.

“I wanted to bust Tian Ling and his men red-handed and expose their wrongdoings, but so far I couldn’t do anything. That is why I didn’t leave Portal World for a month.”

“Oh, that makes sense,” Quinn answered as she thought about it. After all, there were many people in the stronghold and some of them liked to hide their identities and walked around in hoods or masks. It wouldn’t be too hard for Miles to spy on Tian Ling and others, and Quinn wouldn’t be any wiser.

“Phew.” Miles heaved a sigh of relief.

“What was that?” Quinn looked at him.

“So, Merlin, eh? How far have you guys progressed?” Miles asked, and soon Quinn forgot what she asked.