Chapter 340: 340 - Noah's Idea

'I can always use it as a base and choose something else, I reckon," he thought to himself, deciding how much he wanted to spend in a house this time.

"So... My son," Carlos' father began, turning the attention on the table towards him son, "How the hell did you get a hold of someone able to tame so many of those Imp things? Those monsters are amazing for anything you throw at them."

Noah amiled at Carlos' father's words, realzing the two had done a good job covering up all the tracks and keeping themselves under the radar.

"Actually, I want to tell you but I can't just yet. Maybe that's a nice thing to debate during a trip to the capital," Carlos teased his father, making the middle-aged man smile while resting his chin on his hands.

"Interesting," he muttered, as he caressed his grey short beard. "I'm goona look forward your entering in the capital's market. If you have enough supply, I think you can revolutionize private security," his father was clearly proud, Noah could see the happy glint in Carlos' old man's eyes.

But, finishing her drink, Carlos' mother had a different say on it, "My son, be careful. You are doing large changes to an important industry. Especially in the capital, we don't know how the others will react. It would be best if you took a lot of care and always had a couple imps on you at least."

"Thank you, Dad, Mom." Carlos smiled a little as he thanked the. Noah and Lilith exchanged stares, before focusing back on him and whatever was happening on the table. It was not long before Maggie, that had started getting bored, took her leave with Bel to play their game.

"So, Noah, how exactly did you get yourself in this position to become an Elder so fast?" Carlos' father asked, his mother rolling her eyes.

"Excuse me kids, I'm feeling a little tired. Thank you for the family time," she said, standing up, before going inside.

"That woman is always like that... I wish she was a little more interested in these kinds of things," Carlos' father said while sighing. "She's always so happy to hear about the internals of a company, but hates having to deal with the rest of the world."

"Don't put that on her bill, Dad. You know we had a very hard time when starting because of other companies... Imports were a thriving market here," Carlos retorted back, since he too knew why his mother behaved like so. Noah watched as the two had wry smiles on their faces, proving someone had tried threatening them out of business.

"Noah, you probably know the motherfuckers who did that though," Carlos' father turned to him. "Ever heard of a so called Hiei Family?"

The name was one Noah had heard during the competition. It was one of the families they fought in the arena, but honestly, Noah hadn't given them any credit whatsoever. "Yeah, they had a team at the arena yesterday."

"Did you beat their ass?" Carlos' father asked excitedly, a smug smile on his face.

"That was indeed the case," Noah agreed nodding at him.

Carlos' father proceeded to down an entire glass of beer in one swig, before smalling it on the table, "I'd pay any price to see that asshole's face after haviing the floor wiped with his proud and mighty blessed," he said while still smiling. "And before I forget, don't buy whatever my wife tells you. She'll land you the second most expensive house in the neighborhood that would probably house at least two dozen people. Just use it as a measure of where we will be," he confirmed Noah's thoughts, before sighing loudly and slumping on his chair, "I wish she could be a little less expensive at times... We could've been a lot richer if she didn't splurge," he said, feeling a little dejected, probably thinking about his bank account and bills.

"Father," Carlos started laughing, covering his eyes with his fingers. "I know mom spends a lot of your money, but is it really that bad?"

"Bad?!" Carlos' father took a swig at another glass, emptying half a liter of beer in a single gulp. "If we compare how much you and I spend, together, we can barely make a dent in her bills." As he said so, his phone notified loudly, "Uhoh..." he said, biting his lip and checking the details. "As I though. Sorry kids, I need to keep your mother company..." He turned towards Carlos as he ended the sentence. After, he pushed his chair back, and slightly wobbly, turned to Noah, putting a hand on his shoulder before leaving, "I'll be taling my leave. Get some drinks in my stead," he told him before leaving, one of the household employees helping him towads the staircase.

Noah and Carlos stared at each other, holding their laughters, before exploding. "Did you see that shit?!" Carlos asked, cackling loudly as he drinked his beer.

"Oh well... Your mom is your mom," Noah responded. Lilith's tongue was extended into a glass of beer, of which she would occasionally take a sip by dipping herself in.

"By the way, since when does Lilith drink with us?" Carlos asked, realizing the strange sight of a snake dipping her head into a glass of beer was not something he was used to seeing before.

"And why do you mind? Is it so weird to see a snake drinking?"

"YES!" the two stated in unison, the snake turning to Noah with angry eyes and a pouting expression Noah found cute.

"Why is it?" she asked, her voice sounding a little different to usual.

"Well, it's not every day you see a snake literally dunking herself in beer," Noah said while sneering, Lilith stratching herself over to him.

"You can say that again, to my face," she said, annoyed, her face an inch away from him, their eyes locked.

"I'll leave the couple there and take my leave," Carlos said while standing up, makingthe two instantly turn towards him. Noah with a blank expression, and Lilith... Well, at least to Carlos, with a snakey one. "Wow, wow, calm down. It was a joke, a joke." he said, laughing. "But I'll be going now. I think I drank a couple glasses too much," he said, holding his head, and leaving the two at the table, staring at each other in silince.

"So... what do we do?" Noah asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence, as Lilith coiled herself around him.

"I'll crush you to death for embarassing me," she said, squeezing him.

"Stop, that tickles," Noah taunted, as the snake tightened her grip around him, but nowhere near enough to hurt.

"Humpf," she turned her face away, before lowering it on his lap. "Maggie and Bel are still playing that game to this time?" she asked, her head rested under Noah's hand.

"Yeah, I think so. Wanna get around there and see what they are doing?" Noah asked, prompting the snake to stretch herself down from him and onto the floor.

"Sure."

The two stood from the table, and silently made their way to the living room, where Bel and Maggie were silently staring at the screen without looking back. Noah stared in awe at the image of himself on the screen, the two watching with all attention in the world as he put someone on fire. "Ahem," Noah cleared his throat aloud, making the two turn around like scared pups, caught doing something wrong. "Care to explain what I'm seeing here?" he asked, mostly joking, to see Maggie look down while touching her fingers.

"It's all her fault! She was the one that insisted on us seeing you burning people up!" Bel, on the other hand, quickly panicked.

"Hey! Don't throw me under the bus like that?!" Maggie protested, making both Noah and Lilith laugh.

"I see you still have that love for seing people and things burn," Noah told Maggie, before looking up to the ceiling as speaking with his hand pointed upwards. "Oh heavens, what do I do with this arsonistic child that loves to put things on fire?"

"Hey, I'm not an arsonist! I haven't put anything on fire just yet!" Maggie protested his joke, which only make him want to tease her more.

"Yet, is the keyword in that whole sentence," Noah looked down towards her, laughing still. "By the way, Maggie. Wanna go out tomorrow? I wanna buy something nice for you," he said, relaxing his demeanor and showing it was only a joke so far.

"Eh?! A gift?! Another?! Of course I want! Let's go!" she skipped happily, full of energy, which filled Noah with joy.

"Yeah. I haven't talked to Carlos about this yet, but I think if you want, we can start playing Valorwatch together. They seem to have lowered minimum age to play to 15, and I also want to by myself a station so I can stop playing with the tiara. Also, we can set your phone up so you can start playing with us," he said, turning towards Bel, "Wanna give it a try too?" he asked.

"Valorwatch? You mean the game you play as Lucifer that mimics reality?" Bel asked, his eyes glowing.

"Yeah, that one, you don't need to talk like an old person, though," Noah responded with a smile, thinking a little more. "I wish there was a—wait a second. Lilith, can you make your head larger to something close to the size of Maggie's?" Noah asked, looking down towards the snake.

"I mean, I can, but my body would become immense. I'd need a large room to be in so that I could do it," she said, which gave Noah a great idea. "So, how about I make myself a new character? That way we can all play together without people realizing I'm myself."

"You mean, play together like a family?" Bel asked, still looking up to Noah and Lilith as something akin to his parents.

"Sure, why not?"