"So, what are your plans from now on?" Noah asked, as he scooped a spoonful of ice-cream an brough it to his mouth.
Al was eating her own, in silence, thinking about her future. Despite trying to ignore the storm inside her mind and relax, the thoughts wouldn't leave her alone. And almost as if shoving all of them away, Noah's voice pulled her back to reality, "Huh? Did you talk to me?" she asked, not understanding a single word of what he'd said.
"Yeah, I'm asking what are your plans from now on," he repeated himself, gazing her.
"Actually...I don't really know.Ineed to take care of this place but... I was not ready to move yet, and the old man was still arranging a place for me so—"
"Wait," Noah interrupted her, "What happened to your house? Didn't you live with your sister?" he asked, surprised.
"I... I'd rather not talk about that. Also," She threw a glance sideways toward the gaping hole in the wall, "I don't think the old man's place is still standing," she said, staring at the numerous blocks of rubble, in the old man's house's general direction.
"I mean, I'm going to be moving soon. Why don't you take care of my house while I'm at the capital?" he asked, leaving her dumbfounded.
"Really?!" She leaned against the table, coming very close to his place, until a snake slid up his arm and hissed.
"Lilith," Noah called the snake out aloud, who recoiled back onto his lap.
"What?! You ask her to live with you and she just jumps on you almost kissing! How am I suppose to feel?" Lilith protested, dropping her normal pet snake facade and revealing her voice.
"T—the snake can talk?!" Al's heart skipped a beat as she jumped backwards. Her surprise was plastered all across her face, while everyone else, I mean, Bel and Maggie, covered their giggling smiles with their hands.
"Yes, she can," Noah told her, sighing.
In an instant, her surprise was overtaken by curiosity, as she leaned once again, to gaze upon the talking snake, "Incredible! Such gorgeous scales and color! I've never heard of a monster that could speak, how can she? Is she a Monster that somehow received a blessing?"
Lilith hissed, but only half-annoyed, as she felt the woman's hands softly touching her. 'Noah, make her stop,' she warned him in thought, her voice coarse and short.
"Erm... Al, she doesn't like when people touch her," he akwardly called the young woman out, measuring her response.
"Oh," Al recoiled as soon as she heard him, "Sorry, Lilith, I should have asked you before touching."
"Good thing you know," she scoffed, before turning back and sliding onto her chair, licking the ice-cream in her cup.
"Um... So," Al became flushed, her hands onto her chest as she thought about what to say. "Were you serious when you asked me to live in your house?" she asked, half awkward, half ashamed.
"Of course I was. What good is an empty house when youcan have someone taking care of it properly?" Noah shrugged, while AL's eyes widened as she finally understood.
"Eh?" she locked up for a second, as she finally recalled he had already told her they were moving to the capital. The strange thought that was brooding inside being quickly disinfected by the reality. "Oh, you mean for me to care for it while you guys are away..." she muttered, disappointed.
"Yeah. But don't worry, we'll be coming back to visit all the time, so you can still hang around with us, especially the kids," Noah, as blunt and clueless as he always was, told her, which made her blush once again. Of course, Al only heard the parts of the sentece that fit her daydreaming. Lilith was more than just a little annoyed by his unnecessary remark, but chose to brood over it in silence.
"Thank you," she nodded, before going back to eating.
"Noah?" Then, interrupting the conversation, Carlos spoke after a good while just watching, making everyone look at him. "Did we check that the car we came in is still alright?" he asked, making Noah's eyes widen.
"Right... I think I should at least take a look," Noah responded, his brows furrowing, and he put both hands on the table, ready to leave.
However, as he did so, his phone rang.
[Noah, did you see that shit?!] as soon as he touched the screen, Marcel's voice came over startled, leaving Noah confused.
"What exactly?" he asked, furrowing his brows.
[The Red Lghtining Blessed! Did you not see the video?! It's all over tv! The mysterious S-Rank Blessed who downed the A-Rank boss in one shot!] he said, excitedly, making Noah's head turn to face Bel eating ice-cream like a cute child.
"Oh, the guy who attacked the monster," Noah responded, half-heartedly.
[You don't sound surprised. Do you know who that guy is?! Bring him over! Before the other families get a hold of him!] Marcel's voice became a little desperate, which in turn made Noah calm. If it is everywhere yet he was this nervous, it meant the cameras did not pick their faces well amidst the whole confusion.
"I don't think he will become affiliated ever. He is already bound to the Masked Blessed who loans out the monsters. I can try to talk through my contacts though," Noah said, giving a effortless excuse.
[It's fine! So long as that kind of power doesn't join the families against us. We can also hire him as a mercenary if it comes to that, please relay my message.] Marcel's nervousness subsided a bit, allowing him to speak normally, and catch a break to breathe before continuing, [But... Where exactly are you right now?] he asked, making Noah take a second to think before telling the truth, sorta.
"I'm at an ice-cream parlor a little ways away from where the battle happened. We could see it from here, but were busy fighting the monsters that spilled out from the fortress. While we are at it, a person died here," he said, making Marcel shift gears again.
[Oh, right. I'll call the Blessed Company and start the insurance process for you. It's the parlor closest to where the car is, right?] he asked, catching Noah off guard.
"Yeah, it—wait, how did you..." Noah stuttered, before rolling his eyes. "Nevermind, just send the people, the person who died was an acquaintance of mine, so I want to wrap it properly."
[I see, I'm sorry for your loss. Also, Michael called saying they needed you to forward the rewards to the person who dealt with the whole thing. Can I just transfer it over to your account?] he asked, telling a lot about what was happening while they rested.
"No, send it over to the account we use for leasing the imps. Carlos will deal with the payment later on," he told, before seeing everyone was almost finished eating. "I have to go now, I'm exhausted. I'll call you over later when I finish dealing with stuff here."
[Sure, don't sweat it too much. People will arrive in 10 or so minutes,] Marcel told him, before hanging the line, leaving Noah to hear the tone.
'Welp, it seems we managed to keep ourselves under the radar at least for now,' he thought, promting Lilith's response.
'Only because those people kept their mouths shut for now. It's only a matter of time, you already know it,' she told him in thought, not stopping eating for a single second. The image of a snake taking nibbles off of a cup of ice-cream were extremely amusing, which was why Noah had no interest in teasing her in the slightest.
'I know. But I need to stay a little under the radar until I am at least capable of beating an A-Rank Blessed. I don't know what kind of enemies will show up,' he told her, as he started eating once again, trying to finish his own ice-cream before everyone got tired of waiting.
After a minute, as he finished, he turned to Al. "Wanna help us carry the rest of this stuff to the car? I'll leave it at Carlos' place so it doesn't spoil. I can also drop you off at my place," he said, feeling Lilith's tail grip around his waist and tighten a little, all while she still pretended to be eating the remainder of her melted down ice-cream as if she was unphased.
"Sure! But, what is going to happen to this place?" she asked, her eyes watering.
"Didn't I say it already? I'm going to keep the old man's dream alive. We'll make this the largest and most successful place around. After all, now there's a lot of free lots around to expand," he said, making her leak out a faint giggle. Before standing, as the sound of sirens approaced where they were. "The people arrived. We should wrap things up with them and leave." Noah stood up, with everyone following suit, as a group of six men dressed in the same outfits as those of the people he gave details of fortresses after leaving entered through the broken fron door, seeing the monster carcasses outside.
"Afternoon. Are you guys responsible for defending this perimeter?" the one ahead of them asked, making Noah and Carlos furrow their brows.
"Yes, is there any problems?" Carlos asked, antagonizing the questionable man.
"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to sound like I doubt you. It's just that, with the size and power of those monsters, I expected some very well known faces around here, but I don't remember you guys," he said, raising both hands as if in suspicion, before a man behind approached and wispered into his ear, making the man go pale. "Sorry, I didn't recognize you, Elder Stern!" he bowed, making Al stiffen.
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