Noah is a very patient man.

Having already lived long past what a normal human would consider a relatively normal life-span, he’s experienced many things that solidified his iron facade.

He was currently sitting on a busy street with his little mat nicely laid out and his money cup placed in front of him. Today’s task had been shoe polishing, and while it had only been a few hours since he began, his cup was already looking quite promising! A great portion of his benefactors have been well-off young women with no shoes that needed polishing, but alas, Noah wasn’t one to turn them away despite the sweet glances they were sending him. Money was money, afterall.

An older woman suddenly stopped to look over at him, her tow of attendants standing behind her. Noah smiles at her.

“Would my Lady be in need of any polishing?”

The person frowned. “Young man, are you a con artist? With a gem of a face like yours, you would’ve already landed many more opportunities than working on the streets.”

The smile didn’t slip off his face. “My Lady, you are truly too generous. A humble person like me couldn’t possibly dream of things out of my reach.”

His words only seemed to offend her even more.

“Do you think I’m lying, then?”

“I would never, my Lady.”

Seeing the unwavering expression on his face, she shook her head in defeat before leaving him with a few silver pieces. Noah eyed the valuable coins like a toddler eyeing candy from a candy shop.

He had only been receiving copper coins for the most part, so this new addition of silver really was like striking gold!

“Ah! My Lady, you should take this–!”

His momentary greed resulted in him forgetting to give her a protection charm, and when he once again searched for her, she and her attendants were already walking down the busy street. The words died in his mouth, and a small pout was already forming on his lips.

Silently, he clasped his hands together in a silent prayer, asking the Heavens to spare her from any incoming misfortune. With his eyes closed from praying, Noah completely missed how a thief snatched away that very lady’s coin purse.

To say the least, his prayers have once again been in vain.

He continued a few more hours doing the same mundane task. At one point, another beggar had come and stolen his overflowing coin cup, and Noah could only pick up the bits that had fallen out upon the person’s escape. Despite this unfortunate event, he proceeded to place down another cup and went about his business.

The townspeople who had watched the spectacle unravel had pitied him even more so than before, and it didn’t take long before his new cup was already at the half-way point.

To say the least, it was still a fruitful day’s worth of work.

Nearing sunset, Noah begins to fold his mat and return back to his abode before a set of heavy boots stop in front of him. When he looks up, there is a blonde man staring at him rather quizzically.

Noah blinks. “Can I help you… sir?”

The person was wearing a black button-up paired with a fancy white blazer with gold detailing. With his sand-blonde hair that was quite overgrown, and his ocean blue eyes that bored into Noah’s own black one’s, Noah figures this guy belonged to the upper nobility. Features like those were not so common amongst the lower class.

Glancing down, even this person’s shoes were glistening like gold, not a speck of dust tarnishing the expensive leather.

Not a few moments later, a man with red hair comes running in, stopping only next to the blonde man. This newcomer also wore a similar style of clothing, though still relatively simpler compared to the other person.

“Your Highness, you shouldn’t just go and leave like that after your absurd proposal!”

The red-haired man chastises the blonde, his worries only receiving an uninterested glance.

The blonde once again turns his attention to Noah.

“Noah?”

Surprise filters into Noah’s expression, to which he quickly schools into a shy smile.

“Ah, where are my manners?” Noah stands up to greet him properly. “It is nice to meet a fellow Governor. My name is Noah.”

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He doesn’t give out his name to humans, not really wanting to reveal his identity. So if this person just brought up his name with no indication, he must be someone that’s familiar with him or someone that knows him. And frankly, Noah was rather popular among his peers, to which was still a mystery to him.

“This is Noah?” the red-haired blurts out quickly, his tone indicating a hint of disbelief.

The blonde man in turn only regards Noah with raised eyebrows. “The Governor of Misfortune, Noah?”

It seems his popularity amongst his peers have steered into quite a weird direction.

Noah didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “It really is a ridiculous title. What could I possibly assist you with, Mr…?”

“Just Theon is fine,” Theon answers quickly, and the frown on the red-hair is even more apparent. “Starting today, I am under your guidance. I’d like to extend my gratitude to my Senior.”

Noah’s smile falters a little. Just a bit.

The red-hair man whips his head to Theon. “You’re really serious?! Your Highness, you’ve only just been elected. Your position isn’t that solidified yet!”

“If my rank as a Governor is so weak that it’ll topple from just a single person, then I don’t deserve even being one to begin with.”

The red-haired man looked like he was a second away from insanity. “This is an extreme case!”

“The Council has already approved.”

“They did not!

Noah watched as the two argued about an unknown problem regarding him. It had already been a few centuries since his last visit to the Capitol, the main headquarters for Governors, and a few decades since his last encounter with a Governor from there.

With his outdated information, he could only wait until the two people stopped their display before he could inquire more about the situation.

“Absolutely not! I did not follow you for almost half a decade for you to throw it away like this!”

The red-haired bellowed before sending Noah a sharp look.

“Please excuse me, but my name is Caelun Ren, a cabinet member of His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince. Governor or not, I have a duty to maintain His Highness’s future.”

Seeing the burning determination in the person’s gaze, Noah couldn’t help but feel a little envious. Governors were infamous for being selfish individuals, stemming from the nature of wanting to become the very best in one’s field. In such a cut-throat environment, everyone knows to choose their own battles wisely, for a small mistake could simply cause their downfall.

On the other hand, cabinet members center around the power of their Governor. As such, they were individuals imbedded with qualities of selflessness and devotion, following their leader as if they were the ones that hung up the sky.

In all the years Noah has lived, there has never been an aid with the same amount of loyalty burning within this person’s eyes.

“No worries,” Noah regards him with a small smile. “I’m also quite confused. If the guidance system is still in place, I should not be on the list of available mentors, so there should be no reason for me to take you under my wing.”

He looks to Theon at the end of his sentence.

Caelun exclaims, “See? Let’s hurry back to the Capitol and say it was a mistake-!”

“It was on it.”

Noah and Caelun turn at the prince's interruption. Theon faces him with a steady gaze. “Your name was on it. There was no mistake.”

Noah stares, searching for any signs of dishonesty within the man’s eyes.

The blue orbs reflected only his silhouette.

Noah sighs. “An office mistake, then. I suppose I’ll have to pay the Capitol a visit to get it fixed. I’m sorry, but I’ve already relinquished my jurisdiction and titles. Even if we look past my reputation, a retired Governor would not be a good person to learn from.”

Caelun sighs in relief, and Noah couldn’t help but feel a little uncomfortable. Just how much has his reputation plummeted all these years?

“That settles it. Your Highness, let’s not waste anymore time–”

“Only you can be my mentor,” Theon suddenly says.

Noah notices the slight twitch on Caelun’s face after being interrupted for the second time, and he suddenly feels pity for the man.

Theon brought up the palm of his hand, and a spark of energy was released. Before long, this energy created a small barrier surrounding a good portion of the street, and any living beings inside this barrier were frozen in space, essentially separating this area from the rest of the world.

Spatial isolation?

Noah surveys the barrier, deeming it quite strong from the quality of energy being radiated, as well as the immense size of the thing. The aide had mentioned Theon had only been elected recently, and if that was true, Noah would actually be singing praises to the young man. Spatial isolation was a skill that was learned only after constant training. Even the most talented Governors Noah encountered in the past only got it done after a century.

Even so, Noah has no reason to pick on kids less than half this age.

“Isn’t this a little too forward, Your Highness?” he clocks his head sideways.

Almost every time a spatial isolation barrier was erected, a fight would commence. This can be attributed to the simple nature of these barriers. tWhile it wasn’t actually stopping time, it was more so creating a separate existence of the space. By doing so, anything that happens within the barrier doesn’t actually affect the real state of the area. Even if a whole building was destroyed, there would be no repercussions once the barrier was lifted.

Of course, this created the best possible place for brawls.

In front of him, Theon reaches out his hand and manifests a beautiful sword adorned in crimson and gold. A flaming red ruby is carved into the hilt, the sunlight reflecting it just perfectly to illuminate the fractals on the gem. Then, the prince points that very weapon to his neck.

Caelun chokes.

“Fight me,” Theon declares.

Noah smiles. “No.”

Like he said, Noah was a very patient man.

A second later, the sword comes swinging down toward him.