Under ordinary conditions, only a third or half of the Guard is on duty at any one time, and would stand watch over only those areas providing the most immediate means of access to the Chairman's person: the room or garden or hall where the Chairman happens to be, adjacent rooms and corridors, household entrances. It is the responsibility of the Security Defense Force to guard the actual estate, to patrol the property, to seize any intruders and repel all attacks. The SDF is responsible for this and other Nagato facilities. The Green Serpent Guard is responsible specifically for the Chairman's life. Whether the house and grounds of the estate are attacked and reduced to burning bits of vulcanized ash is of little significance to Machiko, so long as the Chairman himself is not injured.