Meeting Eleanor

Eleanor Mills was only mindlessly going about her day. She had gone out to take a stroll along the city when she realized she just wanted to make dinner for herself. Even with a shaking right hand, she held onto her shopping basket and picked out her ingredients.

However, even the list was messed up in her head that she kept on switching her dish, making her basket look like it was for three dishes instead.

When she walked to the check-out counter, she didn't realize she somewhat beat someone into the line. She didn't even bother looking as she was more focused on using her shaking hand to feel her pocket.

Oh, the wallet's not here? Did she lose it? Did someone pick it?

When she realized that she couldn't pay for her items, she turned around to leave. However, she couldn't because someone was already standing behind her. Her gaze met with his eyes, and she was shocked when she thought she had seen her missing nephew.

It didn't help that he whispered 'Auntie' under his breath.

"Next?" The cashier peeked out from her counter to see who was next in line. She could see someone standing there so she wondered why the next person hadn't moved just yet.

"I…" Eleanor stiffly turned to the cashier and was even paling up to the point of looking ghastly. "Wallet…"

"It's okay, I'll pay for it." Noah reached out to tap Eleanor by the shoulder. He didn't know why his rather stern and cold Auntie was acting very strangely like she was lost and confused. For a moment, he pitied her and just wanted to help her.

Whether he felt she was a good guardian or not, she still gave him a home while he was schooling.

…

After all the items were checked out, Noah walked Eleanor to a cafe. He had gotten her a cold drink while he was only drinking a cup of coffee. However, she was still staring blankly at her drink—even if her fingers were twitching from the cold mug.

"Auntie?"

"Monty…" Eleanor looked up, and her eyes were starting to redden. "You… you're really here? Aren't you scared?"

"No." Noah shook his head. "You looked disturbed. Is there anything I can do for you?"

Eleanor shook her head. She only looked straight into his eyes and repeated her question. "Aren't you scared?"

At that point, Noah paused and reached out to clear her pale face from the fringe stuck to her forehead. "Is there anything to be scared about, Auntie? If you're worried about the police—as long as you won't report, no one will know I'm here."

She then shook her head and held onto her face, the cold fingers seemingly calming her down. "You… attacked Connor. Why wouldn't you be scared?"

Noah twitched. Connor? Randy Connor? The witch frowned. "What about him?"

"What do you mean what about him?" Eleanor broke out in a ridiculing smile. "If you're not stirring trouble, then why would you do that?"

She then grabbed his hand on the table. "Monty, listen to me. Even if you surrender to the police now, the group wouldn't let you off. Connor is a powerful person you shouldn't have harmed…"

"Oh? Is that why you're shaken? You think they'd already gotten to me?" Noah only smiled, not minding the actions of his auntie.

"What?" Eleanor frowned at the eyes that didn't shine like an innocent child; it seemed that those were already the eyes of a killer. She only held onto his hand, but her lips pursed into a wriggling line.

Noah then reached out the hand she was holding, slipping off of her hold and then stroking at her head. "Auntie, don't worry. I won't get hurt. You should stop worrying about me."

Eleanor slipped through his hand and scooted to a chair closer to him before pulling him into an embrace. Even if Noah didn't understand what was happening, she continued to hold him very tightly. She even started making hushing noises as she rubbed her hand against his back.

For someone who suddenly threw him away, Eleanor was rather relieved to hold onto him again.

…

Meeting Eleanor and not even knowing what was happening to her made Noah worry about her mental state. She didn't talk much anymore after what she did in the cafe, and Noah could only walk her home.

However, he kept on telling her to have her shaking hand checked. Upon answering that she didn't have enough money, Noah decided to see her again tomorrow. By then, he would have withdrawn a significant amount from the card Mephisto had given him.

A witch of Belphegor never had low resources after all.

When he arrived in his shared unit with Luca, he was still confused and thinking about his auntie. She seemed to have seen better days before mentally breaking to that state.

It was either the 'group' she mentioned had come after her… or that she was driven insane by the news of Montana Mills becoming a terrorist.

"That smells so good!" Luca's voice suddenly echoed behind him, and Noah flung his ladle towards the person. It was good that Luca managed to evade it. "Whoa! I'm sorry! Did I startle you?"

"Hm? Oh…" Noah realized what happened and shook his head. He had no idea such a thing could be contagious. He then looked down at what he was cooking. "I made Beef Stroganoff. Should I add more sauce?"

"Yes, please." Luca flashed a smile as if he had received good news.

"You look happy. Did you meet someone?"

"Not really. Actually, it was a very rough day." Luca sighed. "Instead of seeing—ehem—Not-Randy, I looked into this demon possession cases regarding the families who had people working in Connor Holdings."

Luca walked to the couch and removed his coat and unbutton the first two buttons of his shirt to breathe. "Guess what? I already did six… not two or three… six exorcisms. Though they're not as bad as the first one we bagged.

"I'm just really happy I get to eat your cooking after all that." He slid down the couch. "I'm so tired."

Noah raised his brows. He's a housewife now? He only chuckled and adjusted his food according to Luca's tastes. "Why didn't you call me when you were exorcising demons?"

A hum came as an answer, but Luca still took a few seconds to answer decently. He pulled himself up from the couch and cleared his throat as if berating himself for such behavior. "Ahem, I tried, but your watch is dead. Your phone is with Rosanna as well.

"I only heard from Theresa after you answered her call in the afternoon. She said you met with your handler. Did they say anything about Beelzebub's demons?"

His serious expression started to bleed on his face, but his stomach suddenly growled and made him a little embarrassed. He cleared his throat. "Did you get anything about it?"

"They won't tell me anything, but they did say they would file a report about the demons forcibly affecting people's realities. There should be a result one of these days." Noah only laughed. "Stop talking now. You might faint from hunger."

After making sure that the dish was ready, he started to pour the contents into a bowl. Then, he also transferred the rice pilaf from a pot to another bowl. When he served these on the dining table, Luca raced to a seat. Given a few more seconds, the two started eating.

While they were eating, Noah was back to thinking about his auntie for the first half before deciding to think about the mission next. As opposed to Luca… who was only happily eating the food.

Exorcising demons would always take a huge toll on their bodies so they were not advised to do it more than five times a day. Luca went for seven, and so his body was drained. His brain didn't have enough juices to think anymore… unless he got his fill.

Even if the dishes were enough for four people, Noah couldn't believe there was nothing left anymore. Luca devoured mostly everything like it was directly being turned into energy the moment the food entered his mouth.

"Guess I won't have to worry about leftovers when you're around." Noah chuckled teasingly, pouring him a glass of water. "Here."

"Thanks." Luca only blushed and received the water. "I tend to eat too much after exorcising demons. The power ring really takes a lot from me. I hope you don't mind…"

"Won't you get a bloated belly from that?"

"I…"

"Forget I said anything." Noah covered his mouth and laughed into his hand. Luca's face was so red it had gotten hard to resist. He then dropped the laughter and cleared his throat. "Theresa had already given me a location. I'm heading there at ten tonight."

Luca twitched and checked his watch, seeing how they only had two hours more before the assignment. He then nodded. "Okay, I'll be surveying the area, too, so don't worry about calling for backup. I will be around."

Noah nodded before fiddling with his smartwatch, taking a look at the list of important names to take note of. He flipped the screen to get a holographic view of the file. "This guy is the target for the operation.

"He is a witch supply broker like Howard. However, his goods were not weapons but support items. He should have a factory. We need to find that and see the movement of his goods.

"That would lead us to the coven supporting him. If it was anything connected to Connor Holdings, we should shut it down. Like you said… seven families are already too many."

"I think so, too. Let's get it done."