Chapter 230: A new mission involving Stella and Hikari.

Noah was sleeping peacefully when a vibration began to sound beside his bed.

At first he ignored it, since it was still early and he had no intention of getting up before it was necessary, but the vibration continued.

Once, twice, three times, so Noah finally opened his eyes.

"..."

He looked at his phone on the nightstand and the screen was lit up.

’Who the hell is texting me at this hour?’

He reached out a hand and took the device.

It was seven in the morning, so Noah frowned.

’I hope it’s not Aria sending me pictures of houses again.’

Over the past few days, his fiancée had started showing him different properties she considered suitable for when they finished their studies.

Some had pools, others had enormous gardens, and one of them even had enough rooms to house all of his girlfriends.

’I don’t want to think about that before breakfast.’

He unlocked the phone and then saw the symbol, which was a small golden clover that appeared in the center of the screen.

Noah remained motionless.

’It can’t be.’

He recognized that application perfectly and also knew that it never appeared to announce anything pleasant, so he sighed.

"What do you want now?"

He touched the symbol and the screen changed immediately.

[SPECIAL MISSION]

[Objective: Strengthen bonds with Stella and Hikari.]

Noah looked at the message, then blinked and read it again.

’Strengthen bonds?’

He sat up slowly on the bed.

’With both of them?’

Noah had been hoping that, for once, that relationship would develop without him having to intervene too much.

’Wasn’t I supposed to have already done my part?’

He remembered all the trouble he had gone through to get closer to Hikari, along with the complications related to Stella and, of course, that strange visit he had received from the Great Mother.

Noah looked at the mission again.

"Strengthen bonds..."

He frowned.

"What does that mean exactly?"

The application did not respond, so Noah waited a few seconds, then touched the screen and nothing.

’Of course.’

He brought a hand to his forehead.

’Another mission with no explanations.’

But this time he did not plan to accept that so easily, so he tried to communicate with the goddess.

"I need an explanation."

He waited, but there was no response, so Noah spoke again.

"What does strengthen bonds mean?"

Silence was the only answer he received.

"Do I have to train them?"

Nothing.

"Make them spend time together?"

The application remained motionless and Noah began to get annoyed.

"Can you answer me?!"

His voice came out louder than he intended and then he heard knocks on the door.

"Noah."

It was Ava, so he immediately looked up.

"Yes?"

"Who are you talking to?"

Noah looked at his phone and then answered.

"No one."

There was a brief silence.

"I heard you yelling."

"I was looking at something on my phone."

"..."

Ava did not seem convinced.

"Talking to your girlfriends again?"

Noah sighed.

"No, Ava."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Well..."

She paused.

"Breakfast will be ready soon."

"I’ll be down."

"All right."

Noah listened as his sister walked away and then looked back at the application.

’Great, now I also have to worry about Ava thinking I’m arguing with someone.’

He decided to try one more time.

"Goddess, I know you can hear me."

He waited.

"I need to know what you want me to do."

Nothing, at which Noah pressed his lips together slightly.

"You could at least explain what the mission means."

The screen continued without changes and he finally sighed.

"Fine, don’t answer."

He was about to close the application when an additional notification appeared, at which Noah opened his eyes.

’Finally!’

He immediately touched the message and below the mission objective a new line had appeared.

[The signal is down, so please try later.]

"..."

Noah remained motionless, read those words, then read them again and finally slowly raised his head.

"What?"

He looked at the phone.

"The signal?"

He checked the coverage bars and he had connection, as well as internet, since he had even received messages from his classmates during the night.

’What kind of excuse is this?’

He checked the application again and the line was still there.

[The signal is down, so please try later.]

Noah closed his eyes.

"..."

’Damn goddess.’

He did not know if there really was some problem with the communication or if they simply did not want to answer him, and he also had no way to check.

The only thing he knew was that he had just received another mission and a mission related to two girls who, in theory, were already progressing in their lives as magical girls.

’And now what do I do?’

He left the phone on the bed and then brought both hands to his face.

’Well, at least it didn’t ask me to recruit five more.’

That was a small relief, though not much.

Noah knew the goddess’s usual behavior and when she asked him to strengthen his relationships with some girl, something generally ended up happening that complicated his love life even more.

’I don’t want another confession.’

He stayed motionless and remembered Ayane.

Their conversation in the library, the confession, and the disaster his girlfriends had caused by trying to spy on them.

Noah sighed.

’I still have to answer her.’

He had not forgotten Ayane’s words, but he also had not decided what to do.

He wanted to think carefully before answering her, especially because of her connection to the Great Mother’s organization, but now he had a new responsibility.

He looked at the phone again.

’Stella and Hikari...’

He began to consider his options.

He could organize a meeting, maybe invite them to eat or propose some joint training, but before deciding anything, he needed to know when they were available.

Hikari was usually busy studying and Stella had commitments related to her acting career.

’Getting both of them to have free time could be complicated.’

Noah got out of bed, stretched slightly and then took his clothes.

’First I’m going to have breakfast.’

He would think of some solution later, so during breakfast, Noah remained quite quiet.

Emma had prepared eggs, toast and fruit while Sarah was checking some news on her phone.

Meanwhile, Ava was discreetly watching her brother and finally decided to speak.

"Noah."

Noah raised his gaze.

"Yes?"

"Is something wrong?"

"No."

Ava narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"You’re distracted."

Noah looked at his plate and then took a piece of toast.

"I was just thinking about some high school matters."

Ava did not seem convinced.

"Problems?"

"Not exactly."

Emma raised her gaze.

"Do you need help with any subject?"

Noah shook his head.

"No, Mom, everything’s fine."

Sarah left her phone on the table.

"If you have too many activities, you should organize your schedules better."

Noah nodded.

"I know."

"Between high school, work and all your outings, you’ve been pretty busy lately."

Ava crossed her arms.

"Especially with his girlfriends."

Noah sighed.

"Ava..."

"What? It’s true."

Emma smiled slightly.

"Well, at least he’s spending time with people who care about him."

Ava looked away.

"..."

Noah decided to continue eating breakfast, since he had no intention of explaining to them that a goddess had just assigned him a mission related to two magical girls.

After finishing, he helped clear some plates and later returned to his room to prepare his things, which was when his phone vibrated again.

Noah took it.

’Another notification from the Clover?’

However, this time it was a normal message and the sender’s name appeared on the screen.

[Hikari Amatsuki.]

Noah blinked and looked at the message.

[Good morning, Noah. Sorry to bother you so early.]

Noah slowly raised his eyebrows.

’What a coincidence.’

He answered immediately.

[Good morning, Hikari. Don’t worry. Is something wrong?]

The reply arrived shortly after.

[I wanted to ask if you have free time today.]

Noah stayed motionless.

’Today?’

He checked his schedule mentally and he had no important obligations during the afternoon, so he answered.

[Yes, I can make some time.]

Hikari began typing and then another message appeared.

[Could we meet? There’s something I’d like to talk to you about.]

Noah looked at those words.

’Something she wants to talk to me about?’

The last time he had received a similar invitation he had ended up listening to a love confession, so he looked at Hikari’s message again.

’Wait.’

His expression changed.

’It can’t be.’

He read it again.

[There’s something I’d like to talk to you about.]

Noah brought a hand to his forehead.

’Again!?’

He immediately thought of the Golden Clover’s mission about strengthening bonds with Stella and Hikari.

Now, just a few minutes later, Hikari wanted to meet with him to talk about a private matter.

’This is too suspicious.’

However, it could also be a coincidence.

Hikari was a responsible student, so she might want to talk about training or about some problem related to her powers and it could even be an academic matter.

’I don’t have to jump to conclusions.’

He looked at the message again.

’But...’

He remembered how many times he had thought exactly the same thing before discovering that some girl was in love with him.

’Damn it.’

He finally answered.

[Sure. Where do you want us to meet?]

Hikari wrote immediately.

[Does the café near the high school work for you?]

Noah knew the place, since it was fairly quiet during the afternoons.

[That’s fine.]

[At three?]

[Perfect.]

[Thank you very much, Noah.]

He smiled slightly.

[You don’t have to thank me.]

The conversation ended, at which Noah remained looking at his phone and then sighed.

’This is going to be complicated.’