Episode 643. Extermination of the Demon Cult

Doodoo-doodoo-

A private jet landed in the spacious yard of a mansion.

Descending from the private jet were two blonde women.

It was Alice and Irene.

They stepped onto Korean soil for the first time in a while.

“Unnie will go hear the report from the Korean branch manager and come back. You rest at home.”

“Okay. Unnie.”

It would have been proper for Alice, the successor, to go see the Korean branch manager, but Irene didn’t pay attention to such things.

It was more important for her younger sister to rest comfortably.

After sending Irene to the Korean branch manager, Alice entered the mansion.

There were two main reasons for returning to Korea today.

It was because there was a report suggesting a high probability that an organization of demons was hiding in Korea.

Since it was a report received from the Korean branch manager, it was quite reliable information.

Therefore, she came to Korea personally for the investigation.

… This was the official reason.

While the demonic organization was an important matter, it wasn’t something that warranted both Alice and Irene coming to Korea.

The other reason was personal.

It was Lee Hoyeon.

“Seriously, who is this guy that makes the two daughters of the Iris Guild come all the way here personally?”

Alice and Irene had come all the way to Korea because of one man.

Anyone who knew the might of the Iris Guild would never believe this.

Alice entered the mansion, thinking such thoughts.

Her room was exactly the same as it was before she left for France.

The tidiness magic cast throughout the mansion ensured that dust wouldn’t accumulate in the house.

“Hoo…”

Alice felt the fatigue accumulated in her body and took off her coat.

Wine and glasses were set on the table in the room.

Seeing them reminded her of the memories of relaxing with wine while attending the academy.

Alice sat at the table and gazed blankly outside.

Warm sunlight and a blue sky.

It wasn’t a sky much different from France’s, but the sky viewed from the room somehow seemed more beautiful.

The Iris Guild’s residence had good facilities and was familiar from her long stay, but work there was too hectic.

She sometimes missed the leisure she had when she was in Korea.

“You came sooner than I thought?”

Ttiring-

Alice, who had been gazing at the sky without a care, got up.

An alarm rang, indicating someone had entered the mansion.

Since Unnie had gone to see the Korean branch manager, there was only one person who could have entered right now.

“Hmmph. Mmm-.”

Unconsciously humming, she went down the stairs.

As she reached the first-floor lobby, Lee Hoyeon was looking around as if searching for her.

Alice’s lips curved slightly upwards.

“You’re late. You’re tardy.”

“Alice?”

Lee Hoyeon looked up and spotted her.

He had thought it was something urgent since she suddenly told him to come over, but her expression seemed bright.

“I told you to come early. Why are you only arriving now?”

“…I came as soon as I saw your text message?”

“Oh, really? Good boy. Let’s go to my room.”

Alice turned, and Lee Hoyeon tilted his head slightly in confusion before following her.

The original appointment was for the evening, but Alice had told him to come right away, so he hurried over.

“I don’t know why, but she seems happy, so that’s a relief.”

“Irene isn’t here? You said she was coming along.”

It was Alice’s room, which he was entering for the first time in a while.

Lee Hoyeon spoke as he sat down at the table.

“Unnie went out for some business.”

“Then wouldn’t it be better to meet after Irene arrives, instead of now?”

“We can just meet together then.”

“Ah, so you’re not moving the appointment time up, you just want to see me now and then see us again later?”

“We haven’t seen each other in nearly two weeks, isn’t it natural? You should spend at least a day with us. Surely you weren’t just planning to show your face and leave?”

“…… No. No. I know. I was just asking.”

No wonder she’d wanted to meet so quickly; it seemed she just wanted to see him alone without Irene.

“So she got in a better mood because we’re meeting alone?”

“Thinking about it that way makes her kinda cute.”

“Want to have some wine since it’s been a while?”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

Alice poured Lee Hoyeon some wine and sat opposite him.

Since they were seeing each other after about two weeks due to their respective work, they had a lot to talk about.

“…Ahem.”

But what should he say?

There was definitely a lot to say.

“Are you okay after fighting Karkus?”

“Why did you only make time now?”

“Shouldn’t you be contacting me like, ten times a day?”

“Even if you were busy, shouldn’t you have made time to come to France?”

But seeing his face, it was hard to bring up those things.

‘…Have I become strange like Unnie?’

Alice always used a direct approach when having private conversations.

She was in a position where there was no need to beat around the bush.

“Shall we start with work talk first…?”

In the end, what Alice brought up was work talk.

Because she had brought plenty of information Lee Hoyeon would like, she thought she could easily start the conversation.

“Let’s talk about work later with Irene.”

“Huh?”

“As you said, we haven’t seen each other in a while. We can just talk about the things we haven’t been able to.”

He understood why Alice might be feeling disappointed.

He thought he had contacted her plenty, but it seemed she didn’t feel that way.

‘I should at least treat her well now that we’ve met.’

Lee Hoyeon picked up his wine glass and brought it to his lips.

And he looked at the wine in surprise.

It was much more delicious than he had expected.

“This wine has a great aroma. And the flavor is good too. It’s the one you like, right? Château d’Yquem.”

“…Yes. It’s a 20-year vintage. This level is exactly my preference.”

Since he knew Alice’s preferences inside and out, it was easy to get the conversation flowing.

“I like this too. But was it always this delicious?”

Sip-sip-

Lee Hoyeon emptied his wine glass in an instant.

This wine was the most delicious drink he’d had recently.

“What’s wrong with you after drinking it so many times? Did you eat something that ruined your taste buds?”

“…Could be.”

Maybe it was because he recently met Im Sol and Moon Surin.

Strangely, the wine tasted really good.

“Speaking of which, is your father doing well?”

“Dad’s always the same. He had a meeting with the Angela Guild Leader recently, but he got caught by me and Unnie while trying to seduce her.”

“…Mm.”

Lee Hoyeon quietly brought the wine glass to his lips.

He wasn’t used to hearing stories about other womanizers.

“Speaking of which, you’re close with the Angela Guild Leader, right? I heard she calls Lee Hoyeon the eternal ally of the Angela Guild?”

“We are close… but it doesn’t really feel like an alliance. I saved the Angela Guild Leader once, so she helps me out a lot.”

Since he had quickly freed her from Maestro’s brainwashing, it was practically the same as saving her.

Lee Hoyeon nodded and downed his wine.

“What about your stories, Alice? I want to hear those.”

After that, it was easy.

Alice quickly started pouring out her words.

“Are you okay? I know you don’t get hurt easily, but I was worried just in case.”

“I’ve been so busy with work lately that I haven’t even had time for cultural activities. What about you?”

“No, and I’m telling you, Unnie has become strange! You’ll feel it when you see her yourself.”

“How on earth is the Iris Guild supposed to protect world peace? Isn’t it absurd?”

Listening to Alice and chiming in appropriately, time passed quickly.

“I see.”

“Yeah. …But it feels like I’m the only one talking?”

Only after chatting for quite a while did Alice notice something strange.

Lee Hoyeon smiled.

“Because you seemed to have a lot you wanted to say. Are you feeling a bit relieved now?”

“…Yes. I feel relieved. I’ll let the lack of contact slide.”

Alice finished the remaining wine in her glass and checked her smartwatch.

It was almost time for Unnie to return.

Even though she was the one who summoned him, she could just say Lee Hoyeon arrived earlier than scheduled.

Ttiring-

Not long after the alarm magic sounded, the door opened.

Irene’s eyes widened, looking as if she had rushed up as soon as she saw the entrance.

“Alice?!”

“Unnie, you’re here? Lee Hoyeon said he had some free time, so he came a little while ago.”

“Hello, Irene-ssi.”

“Oh, uh. Hi. I didn’t expect you to be here already…. If I had known, I should have cut the branch manager short and come.”

Irene swallowed her disappointment and sat at the table.

Although she was a little late, there was still plenty of time.

“First, since we haven’t seen each other in a while, let’s start with what you did for the past two weeks…”

“Shall we start with work talk first? Unnie. Are you okay?”

“…Uh, huh? Yeah. There’s no reason we can’t.”

Irene felt a little disappointed, but she followed Alice’s lead.

It would be more convenient to handle the official matters first.

“Hmm. Want to see this? Alice and I investigated this ourselves, digging through the documents.”

“Really? Alice said it was information you found luckily.”

“Unnie…”

“…Sorry. Alice.”

While Irene bowed her head deeply, Lee Hoyeon examined the documents.

Information about anomalous phenomena was written there.

“Anomalous phenomena? They say the strange occurrences have gotten worse since the Gate of the Underworld appeared.”

“Yeah. The anomalous phenomena are much more serious than expected.”

Alice answered instead of the dejected Irene.

Lee Hoyeon nodded as he looked at the documents.

Animals and fish imbued with magic power were transforming into new monsters, and trees never seen before were growing.

It was evidence that the assimilation rate between Earth and the Underworld had increased.

The Underworld’s magic power was mixing heavily with the existing magic power, causing the Underworld’s ecosystem to manifest.

“And these… are newly discovered entities around the Gate of the Underworld?”

“Yeah. It’s not photos of all of them, but I don’t know if the beasts in the pictures are demons.”

“…These all look like demons. It’s safe to assume any beast that hasn’t attacked yet is a demon.”

“Really? I’ll have to pass this on to the wizards.”

Lee Hoyeon clicked his tongue and passed the documents along.

The demons were found not at the center of the Gate of the Underworld, but in the outer darkness.

A demonic invasion was truly imminent.

“A demonic organization? What’s this?”

“That’s information the Korean branch manager sent. They said an unidentified group of demons was discovered in Korea… and that investigators keep going missing. Was its name the Demon Cult?”

“The Demon Cult?”

It was a name he’d heard from Moon Surin.

The Iris Guild was investigating them too, so it didn’t seem like a small operation.

“Investigators disappearing… that’s rather suspicious.”

Lee Hoyeon examined the information about the demonic organization.

‘These guys must surely be an organization Maestro created.’

“Alice.”

“Yeah?”

“Can you investigate those guys, the Demon Cult, properly?”

‘The seeds of unrest must be dealt with before they sprout.’

*

The day after meeting Alice.

He entrusted the investigation of the Demon Cult to the Iris Guild and spent the entire day yesterday with the Alice and Irene sisters.

Fortunately, the reason Alice and Irene came to Korea was also due to the demonic organization.

Ideally, he wanted to deal with Maestro before the demonic invasion occurred.

The next day.

Today, he met the Lucy-Lumi twins, who had gone monster hunting all the way to Japan.

He knew Lucy and Lumi wouldn’t get hurt, but he was still worried nonetheless. Fortunately, they apparently earned a lot of points.

“Hoyeon-ssi. I heard the cake here is incredibly delicious…!”

“But since you were just discharged from the hospital, is it okay to eat sweets?”

“I think it’ll be fine?”

He was currently on his way to a cafe with Lucy and Lumi.

He didn’t know what the connection was between being discharged and eating cake, but he didn’t pay much attention to the flow of conversation.

Walking with beautiful women on either side was fun, even without any particular reason.

“Please listen for a moment. We are sharing good words.”

“Ah, yes…”

Today especially, he’d received solicitations from cults multiple times.

If they approached him or Lucy, they could be sharply rejected, but Lumi was too kind-hearted to refuse.

Lumi, having taken a flyer from the cultist, gloomily put it in her pocket.

“…Lumi. Even if they talk to you, you can just ignore them.”

“But they’re much older than me… Ugh. I’m sorry.”

“Give it here. Let me at least see what’s written on it.”

“What’s so interesting about that? Let’s just toss it aside and go eat cake!”

I held Lucy’s hand and checked the flyer.

Just as I thought, it was filled with useless content.

Things like ‘The end of the world is coming, so you must prepare.’

Or ‘You’ll gain salvation if you join the assembly.’

Just reading the text didn’t inspire any trust…

“Huh?”

Just then, I sensed a faint magic power from the flyer I was holding.

It was a very familiar magic power from the Underworld.

‘…No way.’

‘Are they operating so openly?’