Sunlight rained down on the city as if rewarding the citizens for holding onto hope. The dark and sad Tokyo Area seemed slightly better with the sun's blessing.
On top of the balcony of the State Office, Noah looked down at all the reporters and high-ranking officers clamoring beneath. The reporters are trying to snap as many pictures of Noah as they can. His clear and deep black eyes are unfazed by all this commotion.
A soothing voice came from behind Noah.
"This celebration was held in the honor of the hero who defeated a Stage 5 Gastrea. For the hero who saved Tokyo Area from certain doom to hide here is not only unbecoming but I am certain it will disappoint a lot of people who want to see the hero."
A very beautiful lady in a white formal dress reminiscent of a bridal dress stopped beside Noah. She continued.
"To play hookey on a grand function like this, I think Guildmaster Noah is the only one in the whole wide world who would do this."
Noah didn't turn around, he already sensed her before she spoke up. He paused for a bit before he replied.
"I thought I made it very clear, I didn't do it because I felt some sort of justice-driven motivation. Naturally, I am no hero as well, I don't see why I should be worshipped for something I didn't do."
Noah glanced at Seitenshi.
"Plus, I don't think there's anyone who actually wishes to thank me from the bottom of their heads. To them, I am still the guardian of Cursed children."
"Did you truly felt nothing for Tokyo Area? Did you defeat the Stage 5 Gastrea on a whim?"
Seitenshi's voice sounded sad.
"Is Tokyo Area so irredeemable?"
"Yes."
Noah didn't care that he's speaking to the ruler of Tokyo Area, he spoke exactly as he thought.
"At the very least, I have seen nothing in this city that I would protect. The more I thought about it, the more Kagetani's voice rang in my head. This city should be destroyed for more reasons than it should be kept."
"Yet you took a stand when the Stage 5 Gastrea approached."
Seitenshi turned around, she looked him in the eyes. She sounded emotional, it's like she wants him to say sike.
"I heard it very clearly back in the forward operating base, you want to save this world."
"Saving this world is unequal to saving the human race."
He used a sarcastic tone on her even if it might elicit a response from Seitenshi that will ruin her beautiful face.
"Might Seitenshi-sama be one of the arrogant humans who thought they ruled the world until a harsh lesson happened 10 years ago? Did you assume that saving the world is equal to saving the human race? That humans equaled the world?"
Seitenshi noticed that she's very tense right now, she forced herself to calm down but her expression is still deadly serious.
"Guildmaster Noah, you hold great power, it's unfathomable but I know it's the key to save the human race!"
"Don't prop me up on a high pedestal."
Noah smiled in a self-deprecating manner.
"I said it before, I am not that great."
"But…"
Seitenshi still wants to continue but she could see that Noah is as unmoved as before she entered into this conversation with him.
Seitenshi and the other high-ranking officers saw the fight.
She saw how he ended one of the eleven strongest Gastrea with a mighty blow.
It shook everyone who saw the scene down to their very cores.
Only the ones at IP ranking 1 and 2 took down Stage 5 Gastreas before. Nobody else had achieved something like that.
He created history by killing that Gastrea.
Noah got away by claiming that the bullet is a really rare bullet he found by chance. According to him, he didn't know what effect it would have until he fired it. Noah became the lucky hero who saved Tokyo Area with his mystical bullet. Everyone wanted to know what the bullet that took down a zodiac Gastrea looked like. However, since he made it all up, nobody could find any leads on this no matter how hard they searched.
Seitenshi had tried and she too had failed.
Something tells her that Noah is holding back a lot of information. She must have missed something, what is it? What's the missing link here?
Seitenshi knew that to make any real progress, she needed to ask the only person in the world who knew about this: Noah.
Seeing Noah's behavior convinced her that he's playing dumb.
Noah is hiding the bullets, or rather the method he used to defeat Scorpio.
While she's still busy thinking about this, Noah interjected after looking at the rowdy scene below.
"I've received news that all those who were connected to the leak and slacks in security which allowed Hiruko to steal the Seven Stars Legacy have been arrested, is that true?"
"T-that is true…"
She's surprised he brought this topic up all of a sudden.
"All suspects have been detained."
"Then…"
Noah used a piercing gaze on her, it's like he can see through her thoughts.
"Where's the mastermind?"
Seitenshi became flustered and she avoided locking eyes with him.
"This is our job, you don't have to worry aobut it."
"Is that so?"
He grinned.
"Did you know, on the treaty, I spotted a lot of individuals that belonged to one or the other party, for a bunch of riff-raffs, they sure knew each other."
Seitenshi's expression turned sour.
"Looks like I'm right."
Noah smiled but he's certainly not amused by this.
"The mastermind, it's Tendo Kikunojo."
Thinking about it, a lot of stuff made sense.
Seitenshi worked very hard to propose a new bill of law.
The <Gastrea Act>, this act awarded cursed children with basic human rights.
Kikunojou who had a rough stick up his arse whenever anyone treated cursed children with a bit of dignity obviously wouldn't have any of this.
"I am guessing that to make this act die in the legislative assembly, he manipulated Kagetane Hiruko, secretly assisting him in stealing the legacy. That led to the Stage 5 Gastrea being summoned."
Noah conjectured.
"If Kagetane Hiruko and his cursed child Kagetane Kohina attempted to destroy Tokyo Area the media would swarm all over this news and turn the public opinion significantly towards opposing the bill. Are my guesses correct so far?"
Seitenshi went silent, she lowered her head.
"Why?"
Noah questioned her with an emotionless tone.
"You're smarter than this, you knew he was in on it, didn't you? Why didn't you take him down?"
Seitenshi groaned after breaking her silence.
"Without him, I wouldn't be able to administer Tokyo Area properly."
She honestly let her feelings out.
Noticing her anguished look, he compared her expression to her calm and pristine appearance in front of the press.
Even the great Seitenshi is not without imperfections.
She too, is just a girl, a teenager who is barely sixteen. Maybe, he's expecting too much from her? Maybe, he's being too strict with her?