"…Eh?"
Hintleyya really hadn't expected the other party to make such a request.
After all, in her eyes, the person in front of her was the ultimate young lady.
Would she actually like to eat such high-fat, high-calorie food like herself?
"…It's not impossible, but that would have to be after work."
And her job was quite delicate.
For some reason, Hintleyya really didn't want to reveal her job in front of Noah.
After all, from her perspective, Noah shouldn't know that she was still doing the low-class work of an assassin.
Although this wasn't her original intention, she was indeed here to deceive this young lady.
However, this young lady was unexpectedly nice and unpretentious.
But then Hintleyya thought that since Roy had asked her to come scout, it meant Noah should have also entered the Shieldless League's sights, which was a very dangerous signal.
Although Noah had Manner and the mysterious Kuro by her side, and seemed safe, the Shieldless League was an assassin organization after all… If targeted by an assassin organization, then the other person's head could, in a sense, be said to be hanging by a thread.
It wasn't enough to be completely worry-free just because the bodyguards were powerful… Assassination was like that.
Poison, hidden arrows, sniping, there were simply too many ways to kill, and many could even be disguised as accidents.
Her current position actually shouldn't involve too much contact with the assassination target; this indeed violated the assassin's creed.
But Hintleyya still shook her head.
Perhaps she had been in this line of work for too long, and her way of thinking had been influenced.
She actually never intended to become an assassin… Once upon a time, her dream was also to become an idol knight who never had to worry about food or drink, wasn't it?
If she hadn't accidentally gotten on the wrong ship, who would want to be an assassin who couldn't see the light of day… Hintleyya looked at Noah's hopeful expression and silently sighed.
"Give me your terminal.
Let's exchange contact information first.
If I really have time, I'll call you out."
Noah didn't hesitate and directly handed her terminal to Hintleyya.
After leaving her contact information, Hintleyya looked deeply at Noah, then said, "Be careful with everything.
I hope we'll have a chance to eat together again in the future.
You still owe me a meal."
"Yes, definitely." Noah just smiled.
The assassin lady in front of her didn't seem like a bad person, at least in her perception, she hadn't lied from beginning to end, including that line about hoping to have a chance to eat together again.
Since the other person was sincere, Noah would respond with corresponding sincerity; this was her principle.
After exchanging contact information, Hintleyya gracefully waved goodbye and disappeared into the crowd.
Noah, holding her personal terminal, turned to Kuro beside her and said.
"Kuro."
"Hmm?"
"Do you think I'll still have a chance to eat with her?"
"…" Kuro was stunned for a moment, then saw a somewhat uneasy smile on Noah's face.
She rarely showed such an expression.
After a long pause, Kuro finally said, "You will, I promise."
"Okay." Noah nodded, hugging her personal terminal.
The reason she would go out with this assassin lady was partly because Kuro was by her side, so she wasn't worried about any threat from the other party.
On the other hand, she was inherently a person who feared loneliness.
Not being able to meet Maria and the others temporarily was also a very difficult thing for Noah herself.
She felt as if a part of her heart was empty, and for a long time, she had always had very few people around her.
Her situation was special; besides familiar people, the only ones who could get close to her were enemies—especially those who approached with ulterior motives.
Originally, Noah Guillerette just wanted to have some fun, but she found that this assassin lady named Hintleyya was unexpectedly a very nice person. Perhaps her initial intentions weren't pure, but probably because she saw Manner, after she gave up her target, she became quite friendly… Saying friendly might be an exaggeration, but Nuo Ya's emotional perception wouldn't lie; the other party had always treated her with a very sincere attitude.
Along the way, Nuo Ya gave up on the idea of teasing her…
If they weren't enemies and had met under normal circumstances, perhaps they could have become very good friends… At least, that's what Nuo Ya thought.
In front of Nuo Ya, who possessed emotional perception, sincerity was the best antidote. As long as one showed a sincere side in front of Nuo Ya, she was actually a very easy person to talk to.
Precisely because she had met too many people who approached her with ill intentions, Nuo Ya had an extraordinary fondness for those who treated her sincerely.
Just like now, she sincerely looked forward to finding another such humble eatery with Miss Hintleyya to share a meal again—
"Kuro, we should go. I still have some documents to handle tonight. I can't leave everything to Uncle Manner, can I?"
"Alright.", Kuro pushed the wheelchair, and he and Nuo Ya disappeared into the crowd. Not long after, a hooded man who had been following the two from a distance took off his hood. It was Roy, one of the two Azure Grandmasters who had assigned Platinum her task. He frowned and pondered for a long time before taking out his terminal and sending a message to Platinum.
—Mission changed.
Approach Noah Guillerette as closely as possible.
—
Nuo Ya naturally didn't know that Miss Platinum had been assigned a troublesome task again just because she had shared a meal with her. She was in a very good mood now, and even her work efficiency had doubled. Manner had originally thought he would get overtime pay tonight, but Nuo Ya returned just as work was ending and sent Manner straight home to accompany Maria. As a boss, Nuo Ya always did things herself if she could, trying her best not to make her subordinates work overtime.
Moreover, giving employees time to deal with family issues was what a good boss should do.
However, Nuo Ya's intentions were good, but Manner was in a predicament. Since becoming a middle-aged office worker, this was truly his first time leaving work on time. He felt as if his soul was still at the office, his mind filled with the work Nuo Ya had snatched away from him before he could finish it. After vaguely clocking out and returning home, he sat on the old, unsold sofa and suddenly realized that he hadn't planned what to do after leaving work on time…
Rather, it had been so long since he'd left work on time that he completely didn't know what to do…
How about… going to see Maria? He thought seriously.