Episode 621. The Culprit Was Lee Hoyeon.

Alice looked up at the sky and took a few steps back.

The dot visible in the sky grew larger and larger, becoming an airplane and approaching the open field.

Dudududu-

The airplane that descended to the ground landed smoothly.

The humming engine stopped, and the door slowly opened.

“What the- Mage Lee Hoyeon isn’t here…? Scarlet, this isn’t what we agreed… Ah, hello? Team Leader 1!”

The first one to disembark was Victor, a pilot affiliated with the Iris Guild.

He looked around, then saw Irene and Alice and bowed his head.

“Ugh, I’m so carsick… Gag. *Gag…. Scout. I’m gonna die….”

“Victor. There are three, no, five beauties here, so why are you looking for Hoyeon-nim?”

Descending right after were Scarlet and Liliana.

Scarlet helped Liliana, who was suffering from motion sickness, as she got off the plane.

“You worked hard, Liliana. I’ve contacted the Master to let him know we’ve arrived, so take a break for a bit.”

The last one to get off was Rebecca. She checked her smartwatch.

• Me: Master~. I’ve flown to France. Daeun-yang is guarding the house!

• Master: Please take care of things. Rebecca-ssi. I’ll leave Daeun with Professor Im Sol, so please focus on your task.

• Me: Every time you destroy a black pillar, add one more child!

The lack of a reply to the last message was a bit disappointing, but they must be busy too.

“In France, it’s been a while. Rebecca.”

“Irene. Long time no see!”

“It has been a while. Irene-nim.”

“Uh, um. Liliana, Scarlet. Hello.”

Irene greeted the women she hadn’t seen in a while, wearing a wry smile.

These women, whenever she saw them, made her feel a little uncomfortable.

They certainly weren’t bad people, but their first meeting was just too strange.

Especially seeing these people not in Korea, but even in her hometown of France, made her feel uneasy.

“Is everyone ready? Lee Hoyeon said that we don’t have much time.”

Irene had agreed at Lee Hoyeon’s request to destroy the black pillars in France, and they were the members assembled for that purpose.

“Yep. I received special training from the Master. I also learned how to destroy the black pillars, so don’t worry.”

“…Rebecca. Considering Lee Hoyeon’s reputation, perhaps you should refrain from using titles like ‘Master’?”

She didn’t even have a child, so why she used such a title was incomprehensible to Irene.

“Is it okay for the two sisters from the Iris Guild to like the same man?”

“….”

Irene, who had needlessly provoked Rebecca, turned her head away sullenly.

That red-haired woman strangely had such a strong aura that Irene couldn’t win against her.

“Irene-nim. Does the French government have any objections to destroying the black pillars?”

“I know, right? This country seems to be held captive by the Iris Guild. It’s like the relationship between Lee Hoyeon and me?”

Fortunately, Scarlet and Liliana started a conversation.

Irene cleared her throat with a ‘Ahem.’ and replied.

“It’s not that there are no complaints… but considering what we’ve done for them so far. They can’t just shut their mouths and pretend not to know.”

Although there was opposition even in France, it was different compared to other countries.

In France, the headquarters of the Iris Guild, other forces couldn’t control public opinion.

For this reason, unlike other countries, in France, there was almost no negative perception regarding the destruction of black pillars.

“As expected, the Iris Guild is quite amazing. Scarlet-yang. Why on earth were you fired from such a guild?”

“How many times have I told you, Rebecca-nim. I wasn’t fired; I submitted my resignation to the Guild Master and left of my own accord. Ask Irene-nim here.”

“Irene. Is what Scarlet-yang says true? Did you really leave for love with the Master….”

“Rebecca-nim!”

“Scout… Don’t yell. My head hurts from the motion sickness….”

“…Rebecca. Let me say this again. The title ‘Master’ isn’t good. Think carefully. Just because Alice and I like Lee Hoyeon, the world can’t just ruin his reputation. But….”

The four women were each just saying what they wanted to say, and Alice, quietly watching the scene, closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“Hoo….”

She had to lead these people to destroy the black pillars.

Moreover, the leader of this team, who was arguing with Irene, was the red-haired Rebecca.

‘This is a disaster….’

The mission’s difficulty was just too high.

She felt it was almost better if she just moved alone.

The pilot, Victor, had sensed the situation and fled long ago.

Those left in the open field were Liliana lying down due to motion sickness and Scarlet stroking her back.

Arguing over Lee Hoyeon were Irene and Rebecca.

And only Alice, suffering from a headache.

‘If I don’t end this, they’ll fight until tomorrow.’

Among them, the only sane person was herself.

That meant, the only one on par with Lee Hoyeon must be herself.

Hmm hmm.

Alice nodded and said to them.

“Everyone stop, and let’s get to work.”

*

Im Sol’s Laboratory.

Lee Hoyeon was blankly watching Im Sol finishing up the work on [Infinite Entropy].

As soon as Im Sol saw the [Infinite Entropy] that Lee Hoyeon took out, she examined the artifact back and forth.

Muttering, ‘So this is what the real thing feels like,’ she looked at the magic circle she had inscribed and asked a few questions.

“Hmm… I get the gist of it.”

Hearing his answer, Im Sol nodded and immediately proceeded with the work.

Lee Hoyeon, surprised, also participated in refining the magic circle.

────[ Infinite Entropy (Modified) ]────

▶ Top-tier Grade

▶ A miraculous chalice from which magic power endlessly springs forth.

▶ The magic power springing from the chalice is stored in the artifact.

It can store nearly infinite magic power, and the user can draw upon the magic power at will.

• Modification: Mixes the magic power of the spellcaster with the endlessly springing magic power.

────────────

About an hour later, the result was ready.

It was exactly the same result as Lee Hoyeon had envisioned.

“This should be enough to make it work.”

Im Sol stretched and worked out the kinks in her body.

Having had something to concentrate on for the first time in a while, she had used her brain, and fatigue washed over her.

‘If I hadn’t come here, it would have been a disaster.’

Lee Hoyeon looked at the result and nodded.

As expected, when it comes to magic, asking Im Sol is the best.

If I had made this alone, it would have taken more than half a day.

“I’m glad I brought it to you, Professor. There’s no one quite like you when it comes to magic.”

“Stop stating the obvious and take it. Thanks to you, I had fun for the first time in a while.”

Im Sol handed the finished [Infinite Entropy] to Lee Hoyeon.

As Lee Hoyeon took the artifact, he thought.

It was strange that even though [Infinite Entropy] was in his possession, there were no objections, which was truly surprising.

‘Come to think of it, when I caught Aiden, Sol also gave me a red magic orb.’

Back then too, Im Sol had discreetly received an item from Aiden’s house.

In the first place, there was no need to worry about Im Sol.

Im Sol wasn’t without morals.

Perhaps, because she had suffered so much from Chairman Arthur, she seemed to think she needed to secure her own share when working with the Chairman.

“Now, please take care of the black pillar task. Professor Im Sol.”

“I’ll try my best. But I don’t like taking the lead.”

“It’s because there’s no one as skilled in magic as you, Professor. Please help just a little.”

“Hmm… If that’s the case, I suppose I have no choice.”

Seeing Im Sol’s lips curve upwards, Lee Hoyeon put the [Infinite Entropy] into his subspace pocket.

Our Professor was easy to handle.

“The magic power is ready, so when will you start making the magic tools?”

“I plan to visit the Wizard Association once. I’ve already figured out how to make the magic tools, so I’ll entrust mass production to the Chairman.”

“Shall I go with you?”

“No. Professor, please destroy the black pillars.”

Earlier, I received word that Rebecca had arrived in France.

Although Lee Hoyeon had destroyed many black pillars in France, France is vast, so there are more pillars than in Korea.

The work in Korea and France will likely finish around the same time.

“In that case, I’ll just send the contact information.”

“Yes. One contact to the Chairman… No. I’ll do it myself.”

Lee Hoyeon turned on his smartwatch and sent a message to the Chairman.

Although he rarely contacted him directly, they weren’t on awkward terms, so it should be fine.

*

Alice was suffering from a throbbing headache.

It wasn’t because of the women from Korea.

The cause of the headache was the magic of the Underworld.

Although she had learned how to handle the Underworld’s magic, being close to the black pillars wasn’t comfortable for Alice either.

At least starting the work was fortunate, perhaps?

Even those troublemakers seemed to listen well to Lee Hoyeon’s words.

Since there wasn’t much time, Alice’s suggestion to get to work quickly was taken to heart.

The group headed towards the nearest black pillar, and now stood before it.

“You need to channel the Underworld’s magic into your mana circuit. I’ll show you how it’s done. Like this!”

Scarlet, placing her hand on the black pillar, was explaining the Underworld’s magic to Irene and Alice.

Unlike Rebecca and Scarlet, who had learned from Lee Hoyeon, they were not yet perfect.

Scarlet, having contained the Underworld’s magic flowing into her body, thought.

Lee Hoyeon was right.

She had talent too.

It was only difficult to learn the Underworld’s magic at first; using it wasn’t hard.

Perhaps due to her long career as an assassin, Scarlet’s natural assimilation into the Underworld’s magic emanating from the black pillar surpassed even Rebecca’s.

“Scarlet… You’re amazing?”

Irene looked at Scarlet with genuine admiration.

She herself was among the best at handling the Underworld’s magic within the Iris Guild.

Yet, she was far behind Scarlet.

“I agree. She seems superior to Rebecca-ssi.”

Alice felt the same way.

While she knew Rebecca and Liliana’s skills were different from their foolish actions, Alice was inwardly amazed by Scarlet’s ability.

It was completely different from how she appeared in the Iris Guild.

“Were you always this good? You weren’t this skilled in the Iris Guild? Being with Lee Hoyeon, did you gain some enlightenment?”

“…Effort.”

“Huh?”

“Effort. Effort is everything. Irene-nim. There is no power in this world that can be easily obtained.”

“Oh, uh, yeah. Okay.

Scarlet replied with a frown.

Seeing that expression, it seemed her training must have been quite arduous.

‘…I asked something I shouldn’t have.’

Irene felt apologetic.

To become the Iris Guild’s Team Leader 1, the memory of her difficult training came back to her.

Irene didn’t want to recall those memories. Scarlet must have similar memories.

“Scarlet. A drop of sweat shed during training is like a drop of blood in battle, as they say. I think your hard work is amazing..”

“A drop of sweat… a drop of blood….”

Hearing Irene’s words of comfort, Scarlet recalled unpleasant memories.

To be precise, they were pleasant memories, but the more she thought about them, her face seemed to turn redder.

‘If I saved as much blood as the sweat shed in training….’

Would I become invincible?

No, that’s too stupid a thought.

To be thinking like this, had she herself become assimilated by those around her?

Scarlet shook her head vigorously, and erased the memories of that night.