Bab 40: Aren't You a Little too Accepting?

Footsteps echoed on his way to the office of the President. Noah was requested by Allan, and even idiots would know that it was about what happened in the Public Garden last night. Noah was currently unfit to fight, but that didn't mean that Allan wouldn't be asking him for details.

When he opened the door, he saw Howard and Allan chatting like that day he first came here. However, this time, he didn't have to barge inside the room disrespectfully.

He then sat at a seat before hearing Allan hum without even turning in his direction.

"What happened in the Public Garden is a clear breach of your duty in SCC, Noah. Would you like to defend yourself?" Allan still sounded like the normal way he talked, but Noah could catch the anger hidden underneath those words.

"I tried to keep things fast, but that woman was unlike most witches." Most witches? She's just the second witch he had to fight. He actually had no reference for this 'most witches', but he didn't want to receive the blame from what happened.

Well, not all of it.

"She's too strong, even for me, so I didn't want to put everyone else in danger. I didn't call for back-up.

"I also failed to keep the damages in check and to a minimum. She's a calamity-grade witch, and she had a clear advantage in our terrain. She could readily make things explode as well."

Allan then flicked his eyes at the witch before staring at him for a while. It was as if a thousand things were flashing across them, and yet he decided not to voice out any of them.

He only recalled his gaze and huffed lowly. "Tell me, Noah… did you underestimate your enemies? Clearly, you made a miscalculation."

Noah's eyes flickered. "I did. When I fought Bomberman that night, I was still gauging the heights of their power. What happened last night was proof that they were indeed more formidable than what I thought they would be."

"And you can say that so freely? What if civilians get caught up in your fight with her?"

"…"

"Do you not care about anyone else but Bomberman and that he dies?"

"…not quite. I didn't call for any back-up to save them from the trouble."

Allan shook his head. "Noah, I know that assuming that this is basic know-how for you is a mistake, and as a Shadow Hand, you're dependent on your own power.

"However, now that you accepted working with SCC, you should remember that the elite squad's priority is supporting you. Saving civilians is the assignment of other members."

Noah only stared at him before answering, "So you want me to risk the lives of your people instead? Even if you tell me that they will die for what they serve for, those deaths will still be on me. I refuse to carry that burden."

A grunt then came from Howard. "Don't be too ridiculous. You clearly haven't worked with a group yet. Don't forget that without Luca, your ass would've been busted."

He then angrily confronted Noah who was sitting next to him. "Look here, Noah. You may be third seat in the Shadow Hands, but that means squat to the witches of Satan.

"The girl you faced was known as Mariz. She's a level-six witch with the capability of being a superconductor. She doesn't control electricity; she attracts it and makes use of it to strengthen her body and even initiate an explosion through high voltage."

Howard frowned as Noah was listening to him wide-eyed. "I bet you tried to duke it out with her without knowing shit about other witches.

"Even if you don't want to trust us with staying alive, you should at least contact Theresa when you meet witches. A simple screenshot is enough to run an image through our database. One click, and you get an overview of your opponent."

Noah hesitated to answer and just only sighed, admitting his mistake.

However, he didn't want to openly say 'sorry' at the moment. It's nothing so light that a 'sorry' would matter. He could only nod in acknowledgment.

"Okay, I'll do better next time." Better in terms of assuming that SCC did have intelligence against these witches, that he didn't have to fight blindly.

"You should remember that your deployment to SCC is a failed attempt to keep me from suppressing other secret powers. You might find killing Bomberman personal, but please consider that this is a duty the people of SCC placed on their own shoulders." Allan hummed, pleased at Noah's reaction.

At least he didn't turn his nose up at them and made it look like it was their fault that he didn't remember their support. "Speaking of which, let's talk about Lawrence Altis. Does his name sound a bell?"

"Altis?" Noah only remembered a car, but he realized it was a person's name. "Should I know him?"

"Yes, he's the main person behind Arsene—your so-called secret, nameless organization. It only became nameless as most people didn't find out its name." Allan hummed, seeing Noah surprised at least.

"As much as I know, he was aware of my arms manufacturing and dealership; and he didn't like it. He finds it very alarming that SCC was about to take a big step from playing background character to something that could swallow syndicates wholly.

"For that, he kept on thinking that owning a witch was the best thing he could have." The President only smirked for a second. "He thought that owning a witch would one-up me in terms of firepower. He had no idea about witch tech… until recently."

"The news about witch tech and some of my designs had been spreading in the dark web," Howard explained, "Just that without significant funding, materials, and engineers with sufficient knowledge to build them; those blueprints will remain as blueprints."

Howard then shook his head. "However, I don't think I'm the only one who could decipher my blueprints.

"Aside from the witches of Satan, we are bound to see common people wielding witch tech that might or might not blow up upon use."

Noah nodded in response before speaking. "You want me to shift my attention from the witches to more chaotic things?"

Allan answered, "Yes. Can you do that?

"I am aware that the Shadow Hands were supposed to recruit Bomberman so I didn't let you in this when you first came here. Now that you proved yourself to be a real ally to us, I might have to ask you for more cooperation."

Noah nodded again.

Maybe he wasn't into playing defender of justice and order, but he had a life robbed from him by these things. If more and more of them continued to lose their chances of actually living, perhaps Noah should step in.

Besides, it was another reason why he wanted to destroy Satan's coven, right? For them to stop affecting the realities of those who didn't need to know about the witches and demons.

It was his sole decision to accept Caliga, but he didn't give Nadin consent to take away his changing life.

"You don't have to worry. My business with Bomberman might be personal, but I also swore an oath to keep the worlds separate. It is only acceptable for people's realities to be affected by demons if they wished for it.

"Otherwise, I will destroy them, too."

Allan and Howard were most likely surprised, but they didn't express shock. Anyone who wanted to come after Bomberman was always someone who lost something to his violence and inhumanity. Even if they didn't know what Noah lost, they knew it was enough to drive him.

Noah then twitched as he remembered something. "Do you have contact with this Lawrence Altis? I tried contacting my friend in the Shadow Hands, and she wasn't responsive. Even the others who I should be able to wouldn't respond to me.

"I was wondering if I was officially removed without them telling me."

"Hm, I can help you with that. However, I could also try to track your friend instead."

"No, let me have a confirmation with them. If he didn't want me anymore, I am willing to leave. It's not like I haven't taken much from them, only missions." Noah shook his head.

"My friend already tried to kill me last night under orders from them. If I'm kicked out, at least I should know for sure."

Howard frowned at the witch. "Aren't you a little too accepting? Can't you get angry about it even just a little? Your friends are turning against you."

"Yes, but I have long known that things in the Shadow Hands are never personal. Unless someone comes up to my face and tells me subjective things, it's not going to affect me that much." Noah only chuckled as if enjoying the unintended ridicule Howard was taking from him.

"Our profession is all about killing so if we started killing one another under orders, everyone understood the meaning of that.

"It's not personal to me, to my friend, and to the others whose bodies I broke that night."

Howard then growled aloud as he threw his arms up. "Argh! Take me back to my lab where I can get mad at every little thing! I don't understand why these assassins think that it's not personal when someone decides to fire a gun at them! Even hurt them so willingly!"

Noah only hummed with a mischievous smile curling his lips; however, it felt so ominous to the doctor. "Does that mean that I should take it personally? That you shut down the lights which could have killed me and Luca? Or that you tried to hit my niece?"

Howard sucked in air and slowly shook his head. No, no, he took it back.

The President then looked at his computer and saw multiple reports coming in. He then turned to the two, "Time to get to work. Please remember to make use of your comrades' help, Noah."

"I won't forget about it this time."