BXBX NOVEL Chapter 317 - 317 My Treat
"Oh... one of those looks fancy," Lilith whispered next to his ear, her head slithering towards his hand. "What is it?" she asked.
"Like hell do I know..." Noah opened his hands, staring at the things in front of him. His mouth dropped as he took a closer look at the two things the woman had given him. One was a banking token, which clearly was money, but he still had no idea how much, since he would only be able to know it after checking it in at the bank. The other was... a pearl. It glowed with a golden shimmer, although still maintaining its white color. Something told Noah this was extremely valuable, but he had no way of measuring. So, he put it in his pocket, together with the token. "We better get going now," he said, as he pushed the cart across the doorway and into the hall. \'I don\'t have to tell you not to talk form now on, right?\' he asked Lilith mentally. And even though she said nothing back, he knew she had gotten the message.
Walking silently through the hall, Noah soon met one of the restaurant\'s employees, who was eager to help him. "Mr. Noah, let me help you push this!" the young man told him energically, eager to push Noah\'s cart. It was common for Blessed to leave soon after the event was over, even though courtesy told them to attend the ball. In fact, most had already left, but those who were just finishing the fight, and those who were going to attend in the first place.
"Sure," Noah answered coldly, following the boy who blabbered a lot.
"When I saw you in the arena, I was amazed! To think you are just a handful of years older than me... I hope I awaken a blessing as cool as yours," the boy started flattering Noah to the point he found nauseating, but there was little he could do in front of the boy\'s enthusiasm.
\'My, my... It seems you have gotten yourself a huge fan, Noah,\' Lilith was quick to tease him about it, even though she was not yet fully recovered from tonight\'s events.
\'Can you please shut up? One person annoying me is already enough.\' Noah shot back at her, rolling his closed eyes.
"It was amost like you were that Lucifer guy!" But a sentence from the boy made Noah open his eyes slightly, checking on the boy, as they boarded the elevator up towards the exit. "Even though your blessing is very different than his explosions and fire, the way you hopped around in a ball of fire was a lot like him! Do you know each other? Or are you from the same faith?" the boy asked, his eyes glowing.
"Perhaps. I don\'t know him, but it\'s safe to assume our blessings probably come from similar gods at least," Noah gave a half-baked answer that neither confirmed nor denied the boy\'s comment, but enough to say he was not his virtual persona.
"What god do you believe in? Is it some fancy fire god from the outer rings?" the boy asked with words Noah wasn\'t really sure what meant, but confirming it could\'ve been troublesome.
"Not really. My faith is in the gods of old, ones that are probably forgotten already," Noah gave the most inespecific answer possible that he thought would sate the boy\'s curiosity, and let him be at ease for the rest of the trip outside.
"I see... I\'ll search all the forgotten gods and choose a faith that fits me! That\'s probably the best way to make sure I get a great blessing!" Noah was pleasantly surprised at the boy. Yet, something made him feel depressed for him, knowing he would most likely never awaken as a blessed, or die very early in his career even if that was the case. After all, if a boy this young was working at such a place, he was probably the son of one of the workers here.
"We\'ll see, kid. However, if you ever do, you can look for me at the Khan Family. I\'ll get you a place to train, so make sure you don\'t die on your very first fortress. Never underestimate a fortress, even if your rank is a lot higher. Do your research," Noah gave the boy sound advice, as he typed a message to Carlos on his phone.
[Leaving. Should be there soon.]
Noah looked up to see that, in his talking, much of the way had already passed, and they were already at the end of the corridor leading outside. However, Noah realized this was not the same entrace he\'d taken to get to the venue in the first place.
"Excuse me, but this is a different way than the one I took on my way here," Noah told the boy, who turned around without stopping.
"Oh, of course. This is the path leading to the parking building. It should lead us to where you car is parked, sir." Noah was surprised by the boy\'s attentiveness, but also slightly troubled.
"Why do you... No, that\'s not the right question. Were you, perhaps, waiting for me to leave?" Noah asked the boy, in a leasurely tone, but full of concern on the inside.
"Of course, sir. We all were," the boy\'s answer made Noah\'s hairs stand on end, waiting for an ambush. Lilith, feeling his concern, was also ready to jump at whoever tried to attack him. The doors to the floor of the parking lot opened as the boy pushed the cart with his belongings, as Noah crossed the door ready to blast someone in flames.
But nothing happened.
Actually, something did happen, but nothing like what he\'d expected.
Noah left the corridor to see at least half a dozen people clapping and cheering, all wearing the uniform of workers of the restaurant. Yet, Noah recognized one of them. "You..." Noah muttered, seeing a familiar face in the small crowd.
"Congratulations, Master Noah. You fighting was a sight to behold." It was the valet he had charged with taking care of things so that nobody tried to mess with his car, or Sha\'s.
"You didn\'t let anyone fuck with my stuff, did you?" Noah asked, a smile on his face for the first time after leavign the room, surprising the young boy who brough him here.
"Haha... As if! I don\'t want to die, you know. Also, everyone here is very thankful for you teaching those bastards a leasson," the man told him, bowing.
"I still don\'t get it why you guys are cheering, though," Noah shrugged, returning to his usual poker face.
"Well... Not only are you a good patron who took care of very shitty patrons, you are also one of the few people around here who looks at us like actual people..." There was a very depressive cue at the man\'s face, but as he was trying his hardest to tuck his feelings away, Noah decided to respect it. "Also, how did you feel about my boy?" the man asked, leaving Noah confused for a second, before he pulled the youngster who led him here under his arm, messing up his hair.
"This boy is your kid? I could never have guessed. He\'s a great kid, probably learned it from his father," Noah joked, making a lot of the man laugh, but the man didn\'t laugh with them.
"No... He got all he has from his mother. She was a blessed, you know. He wants to follow her steps, no matter what I tell him," the man said, almost as if wanting Noah to back him up, and discourage the kid.
"I see... The life of a blessed is really dangerous. But if the kid wants to become one, so long as he has a blessing, I already promissed him to help him stay alive," Noah told him, making a glimmer of hope appear on the man\'s eyes.
"Thank you for teaching me all that, Mr. Noah. I\'ll make sure to be extra careful around fortresses." The teenage boy told Noah. Both him and his father knew he was very close from the age to awaken a blessing, and Noah\'s guidance was something both treasured quite a lot.
"It was nothing. Moreover," Noah paused, taking his wallet. Opening it, he found only a handful of bills. He would generally carry only this much money, after all, he wasn\'t that rich, nor he liked to splurge too much without reason. But these people reminded him of the hardships he\'d gone through as an F-rank blessed, struggling to keep his family afloat doing as many jobs as he could. "Here, this isn\'t much but... I hope you guys can celebrate for me tonight." Noah handed the man a handful of thousands of dollars. Making the man\'s eyes widen.
"M—Master Noah, this is..."
"Don\'t worry about it.. It\'s my treat," Noah said, tapping the man\'s shoulder, while walking past him towards his car, the man\'s son pushing the cart behind him, not understanding his father\'s reaction just yet.