Join a Coven

After making an excuse of just telling Luca that he needed to go somewhere alone, Noah found himself checking into another motel for a few hours. He switched off his smartwatch to prevent Theresa from hacking into it and surveying the place.

Even if they could still probably find its location—at the very least, she wouldn't be able to see what he could.

He walked into the bedroom and looked around to find no one inside. His brows frowned before he decided to search another part of the unit. It's just that when he turned around, he bumped into the person he was looking for.

Mephisto caught Noah by the waist with one arm and laughed out at the witch's annoyed expression. "Hello, how are you?"

"My nose hurts." Noah consoled his nose, not knowing where he hit it against.

"Oh, does it?" Mephisto gently pulled down Noah's hand and pecked at his nose. "See, doesn't hurt anymore."

Noah, however, was confused. Seeing it written all over his face made Mephisto laugh out. Gosh, how neglected was this poor child?

The demon then released him so Noah could stand properly. He then started, "Why are you here in such a conspicuous place? Are you hiding from your boyfriend?"

Boyfriend? Luca? Noah then shook his head. "I just don't need Luca to hear this conversation yet. Besides, you don't want to show up in front of him."

"That's wise." Mephisto nodded. Soon, his smile fell as he regarded Noah with a serious face. "Are you here to ask about Beelzebub?"

"I heard he's messing with humans in Connor Holdings. I caught a demon of his terrorizing a family even if the father was the only one who made a deal. I don't even think he willingly made a deal." Noah frowned at the demon, hoping he could answer some things for him. "Wouldn't that be a breach to your truce with Heaven?"

"Indeed, but I can't wait what Beelzebub had to say about it this time. That prince would keep on finding loopholes in the truce more than anyone did.�� Mephisto shook his head. "I can forward this to the King if you like. Maybe he'd be willing to settle things with one of his brothers.

"As for that market you're looking for, it's pretty easy to find." The demon shrugged his shoulders before reviving his malicious smile. "What is harder to find is what the demons of Beelzebub trying to do to Connor Holdings.

"Don't you think this would be another problem you might need to solve?"

Noah knew that he would indeed investigate what was happening in their company. After killing Bomberman, he actually thought of investigating. Now that the opportunity presented itself, he might even be able to find out who managed to hire Bomberman… and why they chose Bomberman to do the job.

What did Randy Connor have that a normal assassin wouldn't suffice to kill him?

He eyed at the demon. "I think I really am on it already. If I get to the black market and see who peddled the magic stick, I could stop further transactions.

"After that, I should track down all problematic households, make Theresa go through them, and have her build me a hierarchy to see who's forcing these people to work for demons."

"That sounds like a good plan. I'll see if I could find out things to help you as well."

"Mephisto…" The demon turned when he called. "Visit Rosanna at SCC. She might want to have company."

"Don't worry much about her. The people in SCC actually think she's playing with an imaginary friend when she speaks to Mediis." Mephisto shrugged his shoulder. "I will see her in a few days, too.

"Make sure you could finish your task here in Manhattan quickly. You still haven't tracked down Bomberman again."

Noah then sighed. "I know. He probably hides now, knowing that someone like me is hunting him down. Right, do you know why they retreated that night?" He gazed at the demon's eyes.

"Do you know what happened to me?"

Mephisto actually didn't know. However, he didn't want to bother about it too much. Not only did Belphegor tell him to not ask around… but someone else also warned him about snooping. Even if he tried to find out, he wouldn't get far.

He could only shake his head and think that it shouldn't be much of a problem. "I don't, but if it doesn't happen, what's the use of worrying?"

"Okay." Noah nodded. He figured out that Mephisto wouldn't be telling him anything about it. It's just that… some voices spoke to him. He didn't like not knowing who they were, especially when they could affect his body freely.

Though he had reasons to believe that Satan was the first one he heard.

As for why he managed to hear him, Noah decided to leave it to the person who would tell him about it.

Since Mephisto was already here but had nothing much to offer, Noah only chatted with him for a while.

Though Luca was the topic of their conversations, it didn't have much substance. The only things he spoke of were the things Luca had seen and experienced outside the country… and how Noah wanted to know if they were all true.

Mephisto was a demon, and he shouldn't be bound by the sea. Of course, he knew about a lot more than Luca, but he couldn't quantify much about the experiences. Luca was a human; he was not. He probably didn't feel the same things the person felt.

However, seeing how enthusiastic Noah was about those things, he could only play along and hope that Luca wasn't poking fun at the poor child.

…

"Sleepydog, why did you turn off your watch?" Theresa's voice echoed in his ears as Noah took a call from her. Today, he just bought Bluetooth earphones to listen to her conveniently without letting someone else hear her.

"I was in a meeting with my handler." The cold-blooded assassin was actually in a grocery, hoping to cook a healthy dinner instead of getting takeaway again.

"Oh." Theresa found it strange. Most witches would make excuses, but Noah here took advantage of everyone knowing that he was a witch. He would be honest and say 'I met my handler' right off the bat.

She then chuckled. "You should at least leave a message. If something came up, we wouldn't know if something else happened to you."

Noah only hummed as he checked the two brands of fish flakes. "Okay. Right, did you find anything about it?"

Since Noah was out in public, Theresa figured he wouldn't say more specific things like magic sticks.

She only relayed what she found out. "After Luca sent me a feed about the magic stick, I tracked down the black markets in Manhattan. Only one of them had the license to sell magic sticks. I will send information to you so you can review everything later.

"It's a membership strip club called 'Seclusion', and it tended to a lot of concerns without actually dragging demons into the spotlight." Theresa went over the important details. "A person didn't have to be a witch to avail their items. They sell more items to witches, though.

"The items are bought by human currency so there's a chance that a human could be running the business, only in partnership with whichever coven is behind it."

Something then hit Noah, making him interrupt her with an almost inaudible whisper. "Humans can engage in businesses in partnership with a coven?"

Theresa confirmed it. "Yes, that's how covens get more and more people to join them. Normal humans get to experience what it feels like to be a witch. Then, they would be summoning handlers and recruiting them into their ranks."

She then twitched. "Why, Sleepydog? Do you not belong to a coven? You're so powerful not to have one though. I thought you're some kind of a higher-up in one."

"I do not…" Noah's eyes flickered. No one told him—even Belphegor—to join a coven. "Is it needed?"

"I'm not sure. All I know was that witches with no covens tend to be notorious among the witch community. About the reasons for it, I have no idea."

"When I signed up with my handler, wouldn't it be automatic?" Noah had to make himself not sound like having a sensitive conversation while walking around the grocery. He couldn't have himself whispering again and again.

"I doubt it. Not all witches whose handlers were demons of wrath belonged to Satan's coven. Only those who are very powerful may join them."

Theresa then pulled out a list of covens that were making contact with SCC. "Normally, covens inherit the names of the Supreme. Like if I would have a coven of my own, it will be Theresa's coven."

Noah held in his laughter, and Theresa sighed over the communicator. "I know it sounds weird, but do you know?

"Names are very powerful to the witch community. The more powerful the Supreme is, the more people would know their names. It would send people trembling if they heard your Supreme's name.

"That's why they would rather use their names than cool things like Nightfall Coven or something." She actually shrugged her shoulders like Noah would see it. "Of course, using code names would suffice as well…

"As long as you go by that name in the witch community. Like Sleepydog—everyone knows how dangerous you are. If you use Noah, they'd probably wonder first."

Noah nodded before giving a verbal 'okay'. He then glanced at the time and saw that it was already past four. He should go home now and start cooking if he wanted to eat dinner before preparing for the next mission.

He then spoke to Theresa again, "I'll catch up with you again later. I'm checking out my groceries."

Theresa was caught off-guard before smiling through the microphone. "Alright. I'll keep you posted. Good luck."

Noah hung up and went straight to the check-out counter before running into someone he never thought he'd see again.

"Auntie…"