"... Did you just say—

" the man was flabbergasted. The Blessed wearing the Hannya mask had just told him somethin unbelievable.

"Granted, I'm not so sure I had damaged it for real or whether it was just the shock, but it took me a good minute to feel my limbs again,

" Noah kind of interrupted the man's rambling, although not intentionally. He escratched his head, before looking at the Blessed that were standing behind him, recognizing a few faces. 'Guess there really were people from my group... I'm sure those two recognize me,' he tought, upon seeing Michael and the scout among the blessed, both with strange side-grins. The rest of the Blessed all seemed to be at the peak of B-Rank, but he had no idea who they were. One thing he knew for sure; just feom their cocky behavior, the ones that aggravated Bel were probably from the Hyu Family. He didn't even need to ask.

"Um... anyhow, thank you for helping us deal with the monsters. We were having a hard time against that boss. Also, from what I heard, you guys dealt with the monsters that were raiding the city, so we will also arrange for the compensation,

" the man started speaking, Lilith making her way next to Noah.

"Just one curiosity, are those imps of yours the ones being loaned out? Like, are you the same guy from the last fortress spillage thing?

" he asked, although he already knew the answer.

"Yes, to both questions. However, these are my personal imps that I trained. They are more powerful than the ones generally available and have their individual skills that are similar to blessings,

" Noah said, putting in a bit of effort on his sales pitch.

"They are able to become stronger over time?! What kind of monster are they? Did you tame them?

" the Blessed's interest grew after every word he said, making Noah conscious of what he was telling him. However, this was a great opportunity.

"They are not monsters, per se. They are from a race called demons, under the rule of the God that blessed me. I have a way to contract them, and surrogate the contract to others, which allows you to order them, although with a lot of caveats. Since they don't come from Fortresses, unless you have a blessing from the same God as I do, it will be very hard to even find any of these around, let alone find a way to tame them,

" Noah said while shrugging. The man in the front just nodded, although Noah felt he didn't believe him.

"I guess,

" he said, turning his hands upwards.

"Can I have your contact? I need it for getting you paid,

" he said, to which Noah held himself from laughing.

"All my accounts and payments are handled by Carlos, who deals with the loaning of Imps. You probably already have his contact since it's public,

" Noah said, before turning to Bel behind.

"Also, Bel, are you good?

" he asked, as he could feel him shift from one foot to the other with pyakugan.

"Just a little angry, nothing serious,

" he answered, staring daggers at the guy from just before,which Noah gladly used as an excuse.

"Well, it seems my assistant is a little unpleased with what happened just before, so we will be taking our leave. Is there anything else you guys need?

" Noah asked, looking beyond them to see the monster finishing burning, only its scaly skin and bones left behind as proof of the battle. Noah was disappointed for not having found anything worth his time for now, but he also a bit self-conscious for having left Maggie and Carlos behind, as well as having to talk to Allie, after all, she was more than likelly still down for the loss of Youseff. And from what he saw, this group would not be the one appointed to dive the dungeon to investigate.

"Yes, No,

" he stuttered, surprised at Noah's sudden announcement of leaving. He didn't expect him to be angry at them from his words and behavior, but it seemed the small boy's opinion held a lot of influence over him, which made him nervous. I mean, I would like to discuss with you the matter of joining us on the investigation of this spill. Boss monsters are not supposed to come out even when things like this happen, and this dungeon was nowhere near old enough for this thing to be happening,

" he said, seemingly troubled. The blessed behind him, however, aside from those from his family, had annoyed expressions.

"You think they're gonna give you guys the right to do the check just because you were the only family that sent their entire team? Don't get to full of yoursef, Phelip,

" one of the blessed in the group stated making a vein pop in the guy's head.

"Also, stop trying to recruit the guy, can't you see he's having none of your bull**? I wanna go home!

"

Noah held himself back, as Lilith's laughter exploded inside his mind, and Bel bit his lip.

"Oh well, guess I'll get you guys debate,

" Noah said, raising his hand, before turning his back to the group, the man who was talking to him turning to see his back, as he left off, anger coloring him.

'Oh, I should've at least gotten his family name,' Noah thought, as he realized he only knew the guy's full name.

"Look what you did, you **ing bastard! What did you do that for?!

" But as Phelip's yell resounded from behind him Noah just felt he'd dodged a bullet.

'I can always ask Michael about it later on. There's no reason for me to stay and deal with all that people,' he told himself, as he, Lilith and Bel left in silence.

The walk was eventless, but Noah decided it was better to deal with his appearance before heading back.

"Bel, go ahead without us. It's best if me and Lilith hide for a second and head there in a minute,

" he said, making Bel turn with puppy eyes.

"Ehh? But I want to stay with you two,

" he said, pleading.

"I know, but I'll take the mask and the Devil Form off, and get Lilith to become smaller while hiding before we go. If the three of us are seen going together, my identity will definitely leak,

" Noah explained, to which Bel nodded, and headed off ahead of them in a run.

'Guess it's just you and me for now, then,' Lilith told him in thought, slithering closer, as Noah looked around, searching for somewhere to hide for a second, as he saw the TV Helicopters approaching from the distance.

'Just for a minute though. That building there looks like a good option,' he said, seeing a building where just a small portion remained in place, not enough for there to be anyone inside, since it was clearly leaning and about to collapse. And patting Lilith's head that leaned on his shoulder, he started walking towards the building, and hid into the shadows, allowing the mask and skill to disperse, and waiting a second for Lilith to become tiny and coil around his waist.

'Noah, about what he said, of the fortress being weird and all, do you think there's anything to it?' Lilith asked, as Noah stepped foot back under the sunlight, and headed towards the ice-cream store.

'Maybe, who knows. But I had never even heard of a boss monster outside a fortress. We should probably check whether this is really uncalled for, or just something unusual that never happened in this country, but had done so elsewhere,' he told her in thought, avoiding to speak as he heard the helicopters coming closer. Before not long, the two reached the store, now empty, where just his family, Al, and Youseff's body remained. All customers were long gone, taking the opportunity to take their families back home, and far away from the uncanny event.

"Noah! How was the fight?! We saw the burning monster from the TV, but not the fight itself. Was it strong?

" Maggie assaulted him with a barrage of questions, hugging him as soon as he came inside, but Noah only patted her head, not stopping and heading towards Al before talking to anyone. Maggie pouted a little, but seeing Carlos and Bel wait in silence, she understood the situation.

"Hey, are you okay?

" he asked, putting his hand behind her back, as he pulled a chair and sat by Al's side. The woman had both elbows on the table, her hands holding her face, and Noah could not see anything on her face, as her hair covered it all. He could, however, from as soon as he leaned closer, hear a soft sobbing, and he waited a second, before she turned towards him, her eyes red and swollen, a stream of tears running down her face, and hugged him, sobbing much louder.

"Everything is gonna be okay, the old man wouldn't want you to cry like this,

" he comforted her, as she cried upon his shoulder for anoter handful of minutes at least, even Maggie silently watching out of respect, since she could feel the woman's pain.

"Thank you, for protecting me, and for respecting what he wanted,

" she thanked him, leaning back, and holding herself from sobbing once again.

"It's okay, I just did what I had to, and I wish I could've been here before it happened,

" he said, drying her tears.

"It's all my fault. He wasn't even supposed to come to work today, I was the one who asked for him because I didn't feel well in the morning,

" she said, biting her lip in frustration.

"Don't. If anyone is to blame for what happened, it is me. I wasn't here to help and took a long time to arrive, and I was the one that could've saved him, but didn't,

" he said, making the girl pite her lip harder.

Noah wondered what to do, as he saw her bite the side of her lip and swallow dry, a thin line of blood streaming downwards, as she collected herself, and swallowed her pain.

"Thank you,

" she said, her eyes clearning up, and the face of a strong woman overpowering the feeling of helplessness from her swollen face.