"—and likely are responsible for the increase in earnings from fortresses. So I now declare them part of the Inner Circle of this family. And acknowledge their presence as one of the Elder Parties, since one in every five of their members is an elder of this Family"

  Noah and Michael looked at each others faces, expecting the imminent and unavoidable fallout. And feeling his unease, a massive snake coiled is way, around Noah's legs and up its torso, baring its fangs at the people approaching him too much.

  'Lilith! That's too much," he said in thought, worriedly turning around to see the terrified faces of his Fortress invasion mates, visibly shaken by the appearance of a massive snake, that until now was resting under the table, unnoticed by many of the present. But one person did not seem phased at all, a pink haired healer, that continued approaching the pair, and timidly touched the massive black snake.

  "Are you feeling better already?" she asked, warmly looking at the snake's eyes, who nodded their head.

  Noah watched the whole thing unfold with a blank expression, but very surprised at how things had taken place. '……Did you just let her touch you?' he asked, relaying it to Lilith, who calmly endured Sha's touch.

  'It's not like I enjoy being touched by anyone other than you…… But she helped heal me the other time, I owe her at least this much.' He quickly relaxed upon hearing Lilith's response, her raspiness confirming what he'd always thought about her feelings on being touched or addressed by others, and Noah could finally rest assured, as the girl let go of the snake, pulling on his sleeve lightly instead, and making him turn around half way.

  "Ahem," Michael cleared his throat loudly, not leaving any margin for the blessed to think he was not calling their attention. "Me and Noah have been earlier named as Elders of the Khan Family, following two unexpected vacancies. Together with our friend over here—" He put his arms around the bearded warrior's back, tapping his shoulder. "the three of us are enough." And Noah watched as the group's confusion quickly settled, becoming something more of an expectation, rather than anything else.

  "Noah," the healer spoke softly near him.

  "Hm?"

  "You have to tell me more about all the stuff you did today. How the hell do you go through all that by the time we wake up and come here?" Noah noticed the glint of incredulity in her voice, but just shrugged, thinking he had nothing to do with whatever she believed in.

  "Sure, It's not like I do any of this stuff on purpose," he said softly, trying not to disrupt the rest.

  "It's set then. The day after tomorrow, eight-o-clock. I'll send you the address later. You have to tell me everything then," the girl said energetically. Noah was conscious of making her sulk and whatnot, so he nodded to her, and watched her smile broaden. 'It's all set, then," she said, hopping back towards the rest of the group, at around the same time Marcel told them that they were done in the meeting. Noah watched the group retreat through the doors, silent, but filled with a newfound enthusiasm. They had gotten enough points that they could go a couple of weeks without worrying about buying anything from the Family's Contribution Store. Noah knew this didn't mean they would stop diving into fortresses, especially those who wanted the money more than anything, but it was a solid guess that they'd drive into another fortress after resting for a few days.

  'Maybe she already known how long they are taking as downtime and invited me in the middle of it," he thought, seeing the girl wave at him and rushing towards the rest of the group now leaving. 'Either way, she's probably just gonna ask about how I became an Elder. Guess she aspires to become one too," he thought to himself waiting for Lilith to finish dropping off of him before he walked to his chair.

  'To think me letting her be would get you a fucking date…… I should've bitten her,' Lilith snarked in his thoughts, complaining as slithered her way away from him.

  'What the hell are you talking about? She just asked me to explain the stuff that happened after the fight, it's not a date,' Noah shot back, confused, as he walked towards his place around the table, with the scout walking behind him.

  "Hey, Noah." He turned around as he heard the voice of his colleague, and waited for him to say something. "Congratulations on your nomination, you really deserve it. Especially seeing how far the Hyu have gotten in trying their hand against you," he said, while raising his hand forward, which Noah shook vigorously.

  "It would be for naught if I didn't have people like you covering my back during the Fortresses and fights," Noah told him, letting go of his hand and taking a seat. As he did so, he paid particular attention to where the scout was going. As in, behind whom he would stand. Noah was not particularly fond of this kind of event, but he knew how things worked in high profile situations from the parties in Carlos' mansion. From here on out, it was sheer politics and influence.

  "As you all are now seated, is time we start the meeting properly speaking," Marcel stood up, as a bunch of graphs showed behind him. In no time, he explained the sources of income of the family, their businesses, adn how each of them were going the last few weeks. Despite the massive dip after the previous head's death, everything seemed to have returned to normal, but Marcel wouldn't stop talking, "And with the current system, if we were to reinvest the money that will be returned from those fined by the family, we are expected to grow another 10 percent in the upcoming weeks. However, there is one business that is very profitable yet we cannot put our minds around," he stopped his momentum, sitting back on the chair and looking at Noah, which all present noticed. "An unknow company affiliated to the MacMire Automotive Group recently started leasing contracts for the use of a certain kind of red goblin. We have traced the origin of the contracts to this man," he turned his hand around, controlling the projector and showing a picture of Noah using the demon mask. "His identity is not yet known, and he used a mask that somehow changed even his voice. What we know is that the monsters he used to fight the monsters from the Fortress Spillage incident are the same that are being leased. The sole individual responsible for contacting us is a son of the heads of said industry, Carlos. This is the only business in all of Eyrin that is completely devoid of influence from the Nine Families."

  Noah just stared in contemplation as he said all those things, wondering what path he would take. If he were to propose something against Carlos, he wouldn't be able to watch idly, but he also didn't want to make the Khan Family his enemy, not after becoming one of their top people. "I presume you want to protect that business in exchange for benefits, isn't that so?" Noah raised his voice, making the table look at him in awe. All present knew that nobody was supposed to talk while the head made his speech.

  "Precisely," and to everyone's surprise, Marcel agreed. "Or rather, we would love to make use of the connections of a particular Elder of this Khan Family, in order to ensure the safety of not only Mr. Carlos, but all those involved in said entrerprise. After all, Mr. Stern, wasn't it you who came here today, after having slept in that precise mansion of the president of the Automotive Group, and warned me of the presence of the Hyu Family around them?" It was only now that Noah noticed he'd been reeled into a trap. And now, he was stuck between a rock and a hard place, as everyone in the table watched him in awe, wondering whether he was involved in the process and the family could make use of this power to themselves.

  "While yes, you should not expect me to undermine the profitability of my childhood friend's enterprise. But I will make sure to have the Khan Family's interests in mind when negotiating a more fitting price for the leases. After all, you must know that venue has profited greatly from the showoff of their monsters in yesterday's fight," Noah's brain started going to a thousand places, trying to understand how to make the best use of the situation.

  "Indeed. In which case, the Khan Family is even more indebted to you, for giving us a better situation when it comes to them. After all, I have been told that the rates for the leasing almost quadrupled overnight, and that their usual volume of monsters was booked for the entire month following the fight," Marcel said something even Noah did not know.

  'So that's why Carlos was so enthusiastic yesterday night…… If only I knew,' Noah thought as a small sense of regret washed over him for having dealt with that whole commemoration thing last night, now knowing it was mainly because Carlos had made a lot of money. "I do have some intel on the supply of monsters for lease having increased a few-fold. Considering they are equivalent in strenght to C Rank Blessed, and that they will fight each other without any issues, it wouldn't be strange to start seeing families use them as disposable forces." And the atmosphere of the entire room froze, as even Marcel stared at him dumbfounded.

  'Noah, I think you just said something really outrageous," Lilith's voice echoed in his mind.