Since Ryan recovered a lot of mithril when he defeated Hephaestus, he hurried back to the portal they used two weeks ago by eating the mithril Nakine gave him like there was no tomorrow. Thanks to that, they made the trip that was supposed to take two weeks in a single day.

Things on the domain that once had been Belphegor's were the same as usual, so Ryan and the others quickly returned to the next portal and back to Earth. Now that he thought about it, why didn't Alissa use the same method as before?

​​

"Are you going to visit Fang Shi after this?" Ryan asked.

"Why do you care?" Alissa asked.

"Geez, I am just asking, since you didn't return using the same method that you used to go," Ryan shrugged.

"Don't return now!" Isis suddenly said.

Ryan frowned when they returned to Earth and then heard Isis's voice, but he didn't have much time to think about it because he began to feel light-headed even in his draconic form.

"This is…" Femradiel muttered and then fell unconscious on the ground.

After Femradiel, Alissa fell on the ground as well. Ryan even had time to cast Purification multiple times, but in the end, it was useless. Draconic Transformation was canceled, and Ryan fell to the ground.

When Ryan opened his eyes again, he felt strangely comfortable. That sensation seemed weird for some reason… in any case, after staring at the ceiling for a while, his eyes were focused enough to make him understand where he was. He spent the night sleeping on the couch of his parent's house.

"I can't believe that I am still falling asleep on the couch at my age," Ryan shook his head.

Since it was Sunday, Ryan didn't find any motivation to get up. He had some things to do in his apartment since he was going to start his work the next day, but he felt like he could do that anytime.

"Son, I thought that I taught the benefits of waking up early," Ryan's father said.

"It is 7: 30, Dad," Ryan frowned. "It is early enough."

"You already wasted two hours of sunlight, so it is not early enough," Ryan's father said. "You will need to correct your attitude a little bit, otherwise, you won't be respected by your students."

"I can always obtain respect by making them run around the school," Ryan said. "The perks of being a PE teacher, don't disrespect one, unless you want to practice for a marathon two times a week."

Ryan finally recalled why he slept in his previous home; he watched some soccer with his father on the previous day for old times' sake. He didn't have much time to spend with his parents while he was in college. Not because the classes were difficult, but because he had to work and make money whenever possible. His wedding was approaching, after all.

"Where is Mia, by the way?" Ryan's father asked.

When he heard that name, Ryan suddenly felt a headache. That was weird. The headache had been pretty strong but only lasted for a second… that never happened before with him. That was weird. Ryan was pretty sure that they didn't drink anything aside from soda on the previous day.

"She must be with her mom…" Ryan said. "If I remember well, she needed to discuss something with her."

"You are too young to forget things, son," Ryan's father said.

"Ryan, what are you going to have for breakfast? Pancakes or toast?" Ryan's mother asked.

"Pancakes with a lot of… with not so much honey," Ryan said but then corrected himself when he saw his father's eyes.

"Look after your body, Ryan," Ryan's father said. "You never know when you might need a fit body, and while you are not so bad, you could be better."

"Better than this?" Ryan asked while he showed his biceps.

"That doesn't show anything, wanna bet fifty bucks on an arm-wrestling match?" Ryan's father asked.

"Dad, I am not going to take fifty bucks from my father at my age?" Ryan shrugged.

"Are you that scared? Are you a man or a chicken?" Ryan's father smiled.

"... All right then, bring it on," Ryan said.

Ten minutes later, Ryan was eating his pancakes with a semi annoyed expression on his face since his father was grinning from ear to ear, not because he lost fifty dollars.

"Don't worry, son," Ryan's father said. "I am sure there are many young men like you out there who can't win against fifty years old men in an arm-wrestling match."

Ryan sighed. His father was usually a pretty serious man, but when he decides to play around, Ryan always ends up troubled. Despite that, Ryan stayed with his parents until noon and had lunch with them as well. After that, he returned to his apartment in order to check things for the next day. He couldn't mess up… as it turned out, everything was mostly ready, so Ryan found himself bored, and then he began to mess with his phone and talked with some friends. For some odd reason, the closest ones were busy.

When Ryan checked the calendar, his head began to hurt again… the very moment he saw the date that he would marry Mia. Something was off… he was supposed to feel happy, but the headache made him troubled.

"I feel like I am forgetting something important…" Ryan frowned.

It certainly wasn't something related to his job or marriage. Ryan double-checked everything, and nothing seemed out of place or weird.

"I guess I am just anxious…" Ryan said.

Things were going pretty well in Ryan's life, so it was no wonder that he couldn't help but feel a bit worried that things might disappear or that something might happen. Fortunately, he began to relax once he turned the TV on and began to watch a soccer game. There was no point in worrying about things beyond his control, and if something happens, Ryan could always work to solve the issue. Things worked that way until now, so there was no reason it wouldn't work anymore.