"No," Noah's voice resounded bluntly as the rowdy hall went deathly silent, his squad members now wearing looks of dissatisfaction.
Balair was stunned.
Was the price for his near-death not an unlimited pass?
"I wanted to use my apology request to get this through, or was it too far?" Balair questioned, his rear still in the air.
"It is not the fact that I do not want a student, but the situation that makes it impossible to take you on as a student," Noah said, clarifying his previous rejection.
"You would not be too bad a student, but I just cannot accept students in my current position. But, I can make you a part of the squad immediately you finish up with your service." Noah added.
"And I will make sure you get all the perks of it without all the hassle. How does that sound?" Noah asked, stretching out a hand to Balair, who slowly raised his head.
Was he just being offered a job? His eyes widened as he envisioned a smooth path to the top of society that awaited him immediately after he finished his service. The group clad in white seemed to be important people. With the two Nobles and Sir Noah in the room, anything was possible. This was a commoner's life dream lying before him right then and there; all he needed to do was take that hand, and his life and that of his future generations would be set.
He ignored the helping hand, standing with only his strength. His previously aching body retaliated for the sudden stunt he had just pulled off, and a silent grunt escaped his lips as he stood.
He smiled weakly as he looked Noah in the eyes, a tinge of pain flashing through his weak smile.
"I am human, and as a human I must struggle. Comfort weakens the core concept of what it means to be human…" Balair said, his voice sounding as if he was recollecting a memory, his face contorting as he forced his words out of his brain in all seriousness.
"I think that's what my old man said," Balair added, scratching the back of his head.
"I am sorry, but I will not be accepting your counteroffer, and I am sorry for almost abusing your generosity." he paused, all eyes but Hansen's, who had long embraced sleep, now on him.
"...but I will be forfeiting my reward." He finally ended his tangent, and as if being released from a cage, Sabastin gasped, holding his gloved hands over his mouth.
"Oh no, you didn't–"
Gasp!
"Do you know what you just did!?" he asked, his brows arched to the limits his still-closed eyes could allow. This made Balair notice something odd: Sabastin had been making facial expressions with his eyes closed, better than most humans could with their eyes open. Just how he did that was a wonder to him, and he only got more confused the more he interacted with him.
Nilith had been against using her gift around Noah, but the impulse to use it on Balair was killing her. She just bit her tongue as the events unfolded before her, her mind still fresh on the events of that night.
Mouths were left agape as Balair renounced his reward, all but three people in the room: Noah, Nilith, and a man among the group of white-clad men, the shortest of the group who Noah had been talking to when they first entered. He had remained calm, only smiling when the rest of the group had previously been celebrating an addition to their ranks.
Noah smiled broadly, and so did the man, who also nodded in approval of Balair's choice.
"I like you!" Noah said, letting out a loud laugh as he pushed his hair back with his hands. His pristine white teeth showed in all their glory as he laughed. Hansen was not even disturbed from his sleep, only stirring slightly to a more comfortable position.
"Immediately you finish your service, I want you to come apply for a position in the Marshals' White Wing. It won't be easy, but you should get in no issue!" Noah said as he began to move to take his seat again, dismissing his squad with a simple wave. The sculpted men made their way out of the Mess Hall, shoulders slumped from the former highs they had entered with.
"Now we have more or less gotten over a majority of our probing. We have a request for you…" Noah said, pausing as he tilted his head towards Nilith, whose golden eyes suddenly dilated.
As if startled, she stumbled over her words before her expert control kicked in and her voice flowed like pristine honey.
"Oh, ye– ye-yes. With how things are currently, we would like you to keep this whole incident under wraps, even from your seniors in the base…" She paused, a smile finding its way on her face, only serving to remind Balair of just how stunning the woman before him was.
"And we, of course, have a fitting reward for you helping us with that. That's also a part of the reason we are currently in possession of your Aluwris." As she said that, Balair tilted his head slightly to face Sabastin. His odd smile was still on him, only this time his brows arched slightly in intervals, as if telling him,
'I told you so!'
Ugh, that smile…
Balair thought to himself, a slight shiver passing through his being, before he was brought back to the present by Nilith's soothing voice.
"Now, for the cover-up…"
The meeting lasted another hour and a few odd minutes, most of which were spent with Balair stopping it to confirm things.
Basically, the cover-up, according to what Nilith had explained to Balair, was to protect every party involved, especially Noah, who would be put in quite the predicament if the news of his failed mission were to reach the capital. So basically, whatever they were doing to his Aluwris was a bribe for him to keep quiet.
After the meeting was over, Balair could suddenly hear the silent hum of the temperature regulator and the slight ringing that had been in his ears suddenly disappeared.
"PHEW!" Sabastin let out a sigh, his lustrous hair falling forward as he stretched. Now, Balair took the time to further inspect the strange man. Unlike Noah, whose body seemed to be crafted by Lucifer himself as a representation of the peak of humanity—tall, sculpted, lean proportions highlighted by his tanned, light skin, a deep voice that flowed smoothly into one's ears, a laugh that screamed importance, and a presence that matched it—there was Sabastin. He was of a very average height, with a very lean body type. A majority of his skin was covered in his all-black suit, white gloves, black socks, and white shoes. The only skin revealed was the one on his face, which revealed a ghostly pale skin. His voice wasn't anywhere close to the deepness that Noah had; even Hansen excelled there.
The more he thought about it, Balair had nothing good to say about the man. His sense of fashion was good, though it only made him look lost when compared to the rest of the room. Overdressed?
"Well, that was a swell get-together, don't you think?" Sabastin asked as he stood to his feet, and then, in a blur, suddenly appeared behind Balair.
"It was swell meeting you, kid," he said as he lowered himself until he got to Balair's ear level. His creepy smile was now just meters away from Balair's face.
That damn smile…
"I'm blind, by the way," he whispered into Balair's ears. Balair's eyes widened as he processed the revelation.
BLIND!!??
He started to recall everything the very strange man had done up until just when he made the revelation, but it still did not make sense. Were his eyes glued? Or what? Because in his short life, of course, he had seen a few blind people, but those people opened their eyes just fine. Though they did not need to, they still did, because making facial expressions with your eyes closed just felt wrong.
Right? Or did he do it either way to throw me off?
Now Balair only had more questions for the strange man, many more that will most likely remain unanswered because he was already at the door of the Mess Hall, his hands in the air, waving at the group who were still sitting.
"Well, it was fun meeting up with all of you again. I really do hope we meet again, though hopefully next time without three injured people as the centre of our conversation?" he said as he finally left the hall.
"I guess that is all we have for you…" Noah said, not even paying attention to Sabastin as he left.
"You and your friend, the Mall should be receiving your Aluwris's by tomorrow or the next," he added, standing from his seat, walking around to meet Nilith, who had now been staring Balair down for a good part of a minute. Picking her up in his arms as he began walking out of the hall, he left Balair alone with his thoughts on what had just happened, him and his favourite Sergeant Hansen, who was still sleeping undisturbed.