The next day, their house receives a surprise visitor.
"Sophia, come in," Ryker invited the older woman, who was followed by 4 other women, one Ryker knew intimately well, namely, their bodies and weak spots.
"So, this is where you have been living?" she raised her brows, eying the place.
"It's not like it will affect us much changing, and there is no mansion for rent in this instance," at that moment, he could have thought he heard something from the older woman.
"I would like to ask," he focused back to Sophia, "if you want to stay at my house?" the rest of the women in the room nearly have their eyes bulged by the sudden offer.
"Will it not cause you trouble? After all, we have some little ones here and most of them are energetic," as he spoke, the sound of a door opening could be heard before a horde of children chased after one another, giggling happily while a very tired Rina was chasing after them, in her arms is Ariana, who laughed as she wanted to join the chase as well.
"As I was saying, the children will cause rumors around the place," he pointed out. It is a valid point but he did not know Sophia wanted to have him close and would not stop to achieve her goal.
"Maybe so, but there are a lot of formations from the upper rooms to the working space underneath. It would not cause any trouble even if the children play around," she insisted.
Ryker weighs the pros and cons. Pros, better security, as Sophia is a Noble expert, plus, better accommodation, and finally, well, Sophia and the four women will be there, so it would be more exciting nights are in store for him.
Cons, none whatsoever, aside from gossip if they were seen alone.
"Sure, I don't mind," Ryker said before looking at his official lovers.
"No,"
"It is probably better,"
"Maybe we can see something interesting than being stuck inside our home,"
Hearing no disagreement, Ryker looked at Sophia and nodded, "In that case, when should we move out?"
-x-
Apparently, the answer is today. Considering they did not have much luggage, most of it inside their storage rings, moving out is a simple affair.
Not to mention, the carriage she used is a spatial artifact, allowing multiple people to be in it at once without overcrowding.
The children, naturally, were awed by the inside. Thankfully, the carriage is not that big to the point they can play around, or it will shake a lot. So, they did not try it. Instead, they just rapidly fired questions at the new women.
"Are you together with Big Brother?" Sheena, one of the four, but have the intelligence of the eight, asked enthusiastically.
"Yes, we are," Sophia, blessed with her patience, answered without missing a beat. Though she was busy head patting Ariana who was happy to receive the attention.
"How strong are you?" Ezekiel, the third oldest but sometimes act like the third youngest, asked.
"I am stronger than your brother for now. But with how he can fight people above his cultivation realm, he will likely be a lot stronger the moment he enters the Genesis Realm," Sophia told Ezekiel, who seemed to brighten up at the mention of his older brother being so strong.
"Actually, how strong are you?" Sonet asked, curious. After all, her manager had said he is strong, but how strong is something she did not mention.
Both Ryker and Sophia exchanged glances. "Do you remember when I was injured?" she asked Sonet, who nodded. She knew there were a lot of people more powerful than her manager but in the city, such people could be counted with both hands.
"I injure the person, a Noble expert but was injured badly in the process," she continued. "The person possessed strength equal to a 6th, maybe even 7th Stage Genesis Sea expert with all the injuries he had. Ryker fought and defeated him with ease, using only his Soul and Body Cultivation,"
At that moment, silence reigned inside the carriage as Sonet looked at Ryker with a horrified look. Ryker gave her a toothy smile which sent shivers down her spine. Even the other three women looked at him in shock.
However, for the others, this is what they called a normal day, as Ryker had been doing the impossible for the entire time they had known him.
-x-
Arriving at the auction house, the carriage parked inside one of the secret passages under the auction house. There, everyone exited with the children looking the most excited of them all.
-x-
"As expected. This place is huge," Hylla complimented, observing the place where they will be staying in the near future.
"Yes, this is my place, specifically, this entire floor can be considered my area," Sophia told them before motioning them to the several empty rooms.
"This will be where the children sleep. I already ordered some of my servants to buy extra beds," she told them, eliciting excited squeals from the eight.
Sophia smiled, before pinching the cheek of Ariana's pinchable cheeks, the little girl merely laughing and cooing.
"How about the adults? Will we be staying in one room?" Ina asked, as while she is one of the weakest, she is the unofficial leader of the harem on account of being with Ryker the longest.
"Yes, you will be staying in my room," Sophia said before leading them to the room. The other women hold their breath. The sheer size of the room, if they were not mistaken, should take about a quarter of the floor.
"The bed likely needs more mattresses to accommodate more people but it should be easy enough," she told them before leading them away.
"And there is the kitchen. Thankfully, Irni and Arna are the ones that help prepare my food when I don't eat outside so there is no need to force them into secrecy," both servants bowed before heading towards the kitchen.
Both Era and Ina head towards the kitchen as well, intending to help the two. "Maybe Ilun should grab some extra groceries, just to make sure they have enough to feed the entire group," Ryker suggested to Sophia, who nodded before sending a message to the servant.
"Actually, are there any places to practice and cultivate?" Mashia asked.
"There is, but is downstairs. Thankfully, this room has a secret path to my private training ground so you will not be spotted by anyone else," Mashia thanked the older woman, eager to practice the next day.
-x-
Soon, they all have lunch, to which thankfully, they have enough ingredients to make enough food for their entire group and Ilun bought enough to last them for a week, at least.
After lunch, Sophia stopped Ryker.
"I think we should have a talk regarding the future,"