It was already dark when Ace came back to his room with a satisfied smirk on his face.
After he left the life demon treasure pagoda, he led the group by the nose that was following him and when the time come to pick up his things from the lionheart shop, he easily got rid of them.
When he appeared to get his goods, Aliya didn't show up this time and someone else delivered him the storage ring. But Ace could 'see' in the live mapping that All-Knowing Parrot was still there, and Aliya was probably beside him as well.
As for why it took him this much time to get back; it was because he stopped by the royal demon council in the inner blade domain to subsume their library. Although he didn't get the chance to enter the restricted library, he still got interesting knowledge.
