Due to the recent press conference that had apparently been broadcast everywhere, the Jones family was forced to take their lunch to go. The moment they set foot inside of the Steak ‘n Shake, they were swarmed by people. Kailan even received several requests for party invites to dungeon raids, to which he politely declined, using the excuse that he is presently working with the Hunters Bureau.

The Jones family looked exhausted as they drove down the road. A lot had happened today and it was only noon. As they passed by the demarcation for downtown, Rebecca’s cell phone rang. At first she thought it was most likely her guild calling, requesting that she come in and report. But as she looked at her phone it had the name Cole in big bold letters.

Quickly accepting the call, she answered like a flowery school girl. Elias who was sitting to her left had a strange and questioning expression. Kailan, who was to her right, however wore a sly grin.

“Yes… Yeah, now’s fine. We’re driving home so give me about 40 minutes. Ok. See you then.” Rebecca spoke in short bursts, clearly responding to the other person on the call.

After she disconnected, a slight grin grew on her face as she stared at her phone.

“Who was that? You’re boyfriend?” Elias questioned from the side.

Rebecca jerked her head towards him and glared. “None of your business.” Her face flushed with embarrassment.

“It was her guild mate Cole. He was the one who led the raid party in the dungeon that Rebecca got stuck in. I heard they have gone on several raids together and seem a bit close.” Kailan explained as he faced forward with his cheek resting in his right hand. He still wore his sly grin.

“Kai!” Rebecca turned and pouted as she called him out.

“What? It’s the truth.” Kailan glanced towards Rebecca as his grin grew several times larger.

“Oh? That guy? I remember, he was heavily injured in that raid and Kai had to heal him. He looked pretty defeated when we left. So that’s the type of guy you’re into sis?” Elias recalled the young man that he had seen sitting on the ambulance tailgate, looking like he was about to cry. At least that’s the impression Elias had of him.

“You two! Hmph!” Rebecca crossed her arms as she faced forward pouting even harder.

“Alright, that’s enough of that. Becca, are you leaving when we get back?” Maria broke up the two brothers that were ganging up on their poor lovesick sister.

“Yes. I’m going to go meet Cole to discuss some guild business. I shouldn’t be gone for more than a couple of hours.” Rebecca replied as her expression recovered from talking about Cole.

“Alright. Just be safe. You never know where those jackals might pop out from.” Maria responded

“I understand.” Rebecca replied shortly, falling back into her reverie.

Elias and Kailan didn’t tease her any further. They were both actually quite happy for their sister. The rest of the drive was silent aside from the radio. Everything was calm, until they turned down their street.

Lining the road were news vehicles and police cars. It was like a major accident had happened. Dozens of people were standing around, clearly reporters as some held cameras while others held microphones and were talking into the cameras. Six police officers were walking the sidewalk in front of the Jones family house, monitoring the reporters.

There were more people arriving as they walked along the sidewalk. Clearly just spectators watching the show. They started to congregate behind the reporters.

Edward drove up and several of the reporters noticed their presence. Although they couldn’t see inside of the Ford Occult’s tinted windows, it was clearly a Hunters Bureau issued vehicle, so they suspected. Edward had to slow down as the reporters moved to swarm around the car.

Several of the police officers moved to clear them away allowing Edward to drive through the horde. Edward turned into the driveway and opened the garage door. As he did, the reporters moved with them, trying to enter, but the police officers blocked them and pushed them back, allowing the garage door to close.

“Persistent bastards.” Elias cursed.

“It’s going to be like this for a little while, but eventually they’ll take the hint. Don’t worry, the bureau will help out where it can.” Edward replied, half to placate Elias and half to reassure Kailan.

Elias groaned as he imagined the carnival camping out in their front lawn. He was actually used to it being in the branch of one of the nation's largest guilds. Still, he detested reporters with a passion.

Everyone got out and entered the house from the side door. Normally Edward would park outside, but seeing the commotion he decided it would be best not to exit the vehicle without layers of walls around them.

As soon as they entered the house, Rebecca went to her room and got ready. Elias sat down on the couch and turned on the news. He was curious about what they were reporting. Edward cringed at the sight of news on the television, but he didn’t say anything because Maria also sat down and seemed to be quite interested. Kailan decided against changing into his beloved one-piece pajamas and also sat down to watch the show.

Not long after, Rebecca darted out of her room and towards the front door.

“I’ll be back soon. Love you guys.” She blurted out in a hurry as she quickly opened and closed the door behind her.

“Uh… Bye.” Is what crossed everyone’s mind as they looked at the front door strangely. She didn’t even give anyone the chance to respond.

Elias and Kailan looked at each other knowingly as they grinned. Then they both refocused their attentions on the TV. It was mostly reiterating the press conference from earlier and a few notes about the reporters standing outside of their house. Eventually Maria got up.

“How about a snack and some tea?” She asked as she walked towards the kitchen.

“Yes please.” The three boys responded without taking their eyes off of the television.

After a few moments Maria called out. “Kai, would you come help me please?”

“Sure mom.” He responded as he got up and walked into the kitchen with her.

Although Edward hated watching the news, perhaps due to the fact that it was about one of his sons, or perhaps because his house kept showing up on the screen in the background, he was single mindedly paying attention. Elias was also sucked in. Suddenly a knock came from the door, or it would be more like someone pounding on it. This sudden and loud noise startled the both of them as their heads jerked to the front door.

“Phew. That almost gave me a heart attack.” Edward let out a breath of relief.

“Yeah, no kidding. I’ll see who it is.” Elias mirrored his father’s reaction and got up to check the door.

He half wanted to make sure there wasn’t a large crack where the pounding had come from. Looking through the peephole he couldn’t see anything outside. It was apparently covered by something so he had no choice but to open the door to see who it was.

“Such a blatant trick.” Elias thought.

He knew there were only two parties that would knock on their door at this time. Either Eva and Douglas or the reporters. Eva and Douglas were busy at the bureau so it was obvious who was out there. Not to mention covering the peephole to force him to have to open the door. It was way too obvious. He just couldn’t figure out how they were able to get past the police that should be keeping them off of their doorstep.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Elias took a deep breath before opening the door. As the door slid past the seal, it suddenly swung back as the force of several people pushing against it surpassed the amount of strength Elias was putting into holding it steady. Countless questions flew out from the dozen or so reporters as they leaned to the sides to allow the cameramen to take up the middle space for a better view.

“We are not giving any interviews or answering any questions at this time. Please step back to the sidewalk and off of our property or I will have you arrested for trespassing.” Elias spat out as he put more force into pushing the door back.

This didn’t deter the reporters and it turned into a tug of war for the door. Elias was afraid of putting too much strength into it as he might actually break the door. Edward got up and was watching this scene exasperatedly.

Unbeknownst to the people involved in the war for the Jones’ front door, a certain female reporter was standing at the back with her cameraman on her tiptoes trying to find an avenue to also get in on the action. Not seeing a way, she decided to take this opportunity to scout out a different angle of the house. Walking around the side she made her way to a large bay window, through it she could see into the kitchen where Kailan and Maria were making snacks and drinks.

“Good enough.” Dana turned around so that her back was to the window and stepped slightly to the side, signaling the cameraman to start rolling.

Being a professional that had worked with Dana Warshank for years, he knew what she intended and he lined the camera up perfectly so that Dana was on the left and the view through the window was on the right. The red light came on and the cameraman counted down from three.

“I’m Dana Warshank with WRTV News. We are presently standing outside of the home of recent returnee Kailan Jones. Who has also recently been revealed to be the world's first and only Demon rank Hunter.” She started off detailing the subject and location.

“As you can see behind me, Mr. Jones and his mother, Maria Jones, are presently in the kitchen making what appears to be sandwiches. Earlier today Mr. Jones was questioned on his activities outside of providing valuable and potentially life saving information to the bureau in regards to the dungeons and Gaia. His response to this line of questioning was to shirk it as mere assumptions, but from what we can see he is in fact utilizing his time wastefully without regard to the countless number of people who rely on him. Begging the question again, are we reliant on waiting for Mr. Jones to decide when said information will be provided. And how many lives must we lose until he accepts his responsibilities.”

As Dana started her smear campaign, Elias was finally able to get the door closed. Locking it tightly he let out a loud sigh. Edward had already turned around and was gawking at the TV. Elias walked over curious as to what he was looking at, only to see the inside of his kitchen. Realizing this was a live broadcast, he rushed into the dining room and quickly closed the curtains over the bay window, after taking a short glance at Dana and her cameraman who were standing outside.

Kailan and Maria turned and looked at him strangely. “What’s going on?” Kailan asked as he carried a plate of sandwich triangles he had cut.

“Dana Warshank. She was set up outside the window recording you two while making rude remarks in regards to you ‘shirking responsibility’.” Elias replied in a fed up manner.

“What responsibility?” Maria asked as her face crumpled in displeasure. Who the hell had the right to tell her son what his responsibilities are, she wanted to ask.

“Same thing as her questioning from the interview today. What Kailan knows about the dungeons and Gaia.” Elias replied, clearly agreeing with his mother’s train of thought.

“Hah! How arrogant. That little twit.” Maria had a somewhat scary grin as she walked with the tray of drinks into the living room.

Edward had already sat back down and was watching the news intently. His previous attitude about changing things to cartoons was nowhere to be seen. Kailan set the tray of sandwiches down and sat back down to watch as well. Maria and Elias also sat back down after distributing the cups.

The news was replaying Dana’s broadcast and discussing the merits of her commentary.

“Ignore it Kai. She’s just trying to upset you.” Edward looked over at Kailan sympathetically.

“I know. She’s the one who should be concerned. As a celebrity she should really learn to watch what she says, it might come back to bite her.” Kailan replied with a slight grin.

This had fallen well within his expectations of her. In fact he was a little disappointed that she followed his expectations like they were a script detailing her life. Kailan pulled out his cell phone and called Eva.

“Have you seen the news recently?” He asked.

“Yes. Don’t worry, we’ll do something about it. How is it over there?” Eva replied. She was paying attention to everything that was going on from her office.

“How reliable. Just a bunch of flies. Nothing too serious. But it is curious how a swarm of reporters were able to get past the police and made it all the way to our doorstep.” Kailan was actually a little curious about this point.

“I’ll look into it. In the meantime stay inside and don’t interact with them. They’ll quiet down in the evening when they start getting hungry and sleepy.”

“Understood. If you can release it to the press the time and location of my dungeon raid for tomorrow. That should help.” Kailan thought of a way to help lessen their burden with this.

“You’re going to let them swarm us at the dungeon?” Eva asked dumbfoundedly.

“I’m going to let them have a brief interview for ten minutes before we enter the dungeon. Also, stop by later if you’re in the area.” Kailan responded unconcernedly.

“Oh? Will do. Talk to you soon.” Eva hung up and quickly went to work. What Kailan had proposed was actually a really good idea and would help her out a lot.

Kailan put his phone away and grabbed one of the sandwich triangles, biting into it. It was a simple sandwich with ham, lettuce, cheese and mayo.

“What did Eva have to say?” Elias asked curiously.

“They’re going to take care of everything. So we can just sit back and enjoy the show.” Kailan replied after swallowing a bite.

Everyone listened to Kailan’s response and then turned back to the television. If the bureau was going to handle it then they didn’t need to do anything. They could just ‘watch the show’ as Kailan put it.

Around 30 minutes later, several black cars pulled up near the Jones house and bureau personnel stepped out. Gathering the police they created a blockade and pushed the reporters back beyond the sidewalk and towards their vehicles.

“Everyone please step back.” One of the bureau personnel spoke out with a loudspeaker.

This immediately drew the ire of the reporters and the pedestrians there to observe. An outpour of condemnation followed and it seemed like the crowd would be up in arms soon. The bureau personnel didn’t expect things to turn out like this.

Dana had taken up a position on top of the hood of a car along with her cameraman towards the center of the crowd. The cameraman was panning around the area trying to take in the entire event.

“As you can see, the press as well as locals are being pushed back by the police and Hunters Bureau personnel. Clearly showing a complete disregard for the freedom of the press and the rights of the people. I’ll try to get a statement from the bureau.” Dana spoke into her microphone, condemning the police and the bureau.

“Excuse me! The press have the right to interview the party in question and the people have the right to know. Are you trying to suppress the people and the press?” She yelled out towards the blockade, to no one specific.

Just as she finished her questioning, a beautiful auburn haired young woman walked out and stepped on top of one of the police cruisers, taking the loudspeaker from the bureau personnel that had spoken earlier.

“Everyone please calm down.” She spoke out gently, but with enough volume that her voice carried across the crowd of people.

“For those of you who don’t know me, I am Eva Miller, one of Kailan Jones’ Watchers.” Eva stood up tall and peered down at the reporters, which made them feel uncomfortable.

“Ms. Miller, why are you, the bureau, and the police suppressing the press and the people’s rights?” Dana called out quickly, taking the opportunity to jab at Eva.

Eva glanced at Dana for only a moment before looking back at the rest of the crowd of people.

“Please do not misunderstand. We are not suppressing anyone. We are only asking that you move back from a private residence. As you all know, private property is protected by law. Meaning that trespassing can land you in jail if the residence owner wished it. We are only protecting your right to stay here and report. If you were to be carted off to jail, you wouldn’t be able to report anything.” Eva shot back with a splendid turn around.

“Also, as Kailan is a new Returnee, he has certain rights to avoid the press which we as his watchers have the right to implement. This is also a law that you as reporters should understand. He is presently spending time with his family after being separated for over a decade, so we ask that you respect this. The Jones family also has a right to their own privacy, which the press does not have the right to intrude upon.”

“However, if you’re not satisfied, Mr. Jones has informed me that he will conduct a short interview tomorrow just before he enters his next dungeon raid. The interview will take place at 9:45 am at the dungeon off 34th St and Shadeland Ave. His raid starts at 10. We hope to see you all there.” Eva began to hand the loudspeaker back to the agent she had received it from, when Dana called out once more.

“It seems that Mr. Jones has a lot of free time on his hands. When will he be heading back to the bureau to continue providing information about the dungeons and Gaia? We would be very interested in also participating in this discussion.” Dana once again played the ‘information’ card.

Eva looked at Dana for a moment, before handing the loudspeaker to the agent and stepping down from the hood of the car she was standing on. She then proceeded to the front door of the Jones house. Dana tried calling out several more times but was met with no response each time. She was completely ignored.