Chapter 626 – 626. Gates of Hell

“…How could this be?”

France’s Iris Guild.

Alice, who was spending time in the 1st team leader’s office, looked at her smartwatch and was lost in thought.
Something incomprehensible to her common sense had happened.

Like an information guild, the Iris Guild secretly collects information from high-ranking officials around the world.
If you gather and organize the information inside the guild, you can naturally identify suspicious movements.

Strangely, there is a lot of empty time in the alibi, or funds from unknown sources are deposited.
All suspicious people are managed by raising the alert level in the Iris Guild.
Even if he did something strange, the Iris Guild had to know about it first.

Of course, if the high-ranking officials knew about it, they would not stay silent, so they proceeded secretly.

Anyway.
The movements of the high-ranking officials who recently raised the alert level were strange.
In particular, all the people I met with Lee Ho-yeon were like that.

“High-ranking officials with a high alert level have become favorable to Lee Ho-yeon. What the hell did you do?”

It wasn’t strange that he was sympathetic to Lee Ho-yeon.
He was a genius wizard, and he only had days left to win.

However, people who were hostile to him turned favorable overnight.
Not only did he change favorably, but he praised Lee Ho-yeon through press conferences and interviews every day.
Such a phenomenon was very strange.

“That’s right. To make it like that just by meeting for a short time… You couldn’t even seduce the elderly, right?”

“… I’m not sure. I’m investigating the movement, but it seems that the suspicious movement has also disappeared.”

“Didn’t I threaten everyone with magic on their necks? I’ll kill them if they don’t listen to me from now on.”

“No matter how much Lee Ho-yeon is, there’s no way that could happen. Sister.”

Alice looked at Irene and shook her head.
It is true that Lee Ho-yeon is a bad guy, but he probably isn’t crazy enough to do such a thing.

“But you don’t believe that he recognized his sincerity, do you?”

“That’s true, but…”

This happened, but there was no need to think only inside the Iris Guild.

Last night, of course, I contacted Lee Ho-yeon first.
However, the answer that came back was ambiguous saying that he recognized his sincerity.

Apparently Lee Ho-yeon did something, but I don’t know what he did.
Was it a real threat?

Alice’s head hurt even more.

“Ellis. Put that down for a moment and look at this.”

At that time, Irene handed over her materials she had been looking through to Alice.
It was data about accidents occurring around the Pacific Ocean.

“… The number of disappearances around the Pacific has increased unbelievably over the past few days?”

“Yes. There have been a lot of cancellations of flights and boats lately. Of course, the cause is… The monsters of hell. It matches the characteristics Ho-yeon Lee mentioned.”

“Wouldn’t it be strange to go missing when there are no monsters on the route? It could be the tail-cutting of another crime.”

“I’ve investigated that side too, but there’s no noticeable results. I think it’s better to suspect the one we don’t have information about.”

“Okay. I’ll leave this to the Asian investigation team.”

The two sisters focused on their work while exchanging opinions.
Only the faint noise of computers and tapping on touchpads filled the office.

A few hours later

Widely-

Ellis, who had been fixing her eyes on the screen as she reviewed the report, heard a noise right next to her that broke her concentration.
When I turned my gaze to where the sound came from, I saw a coffee cup in the corner of the desk.
It was the coffee Irene brought.

“The sun has already set. Take a little break, Ellis.”

“Ah, sister. Thank you.”

The clock was already pointing to 8:00 PM.
Alice then sighed and stretched her arms over her head.

I never thought the time would be like this already.
She was so focused on her work that she didn’t even notice the time passing.

“Ellis, when will we go back today?”

“If your sister wants to go early, she’ll go early.”

“Then, would you like to have a glass of wine in your room after a long time?”

“… I’ll think about that.”

Elise passed her Irene’s gaze as she was trying to sneak her into her room.
She slept with me a few times, and whenever I had a chance, she came over like this.
It felt like being hunted down.

“Come to think of it, did Lee Ho-yeon contact you?”

Fortunately, Irene was a woman who knew how to give up.
She was well aware of her brother’s character.
As soon as she knew it wasn’t today, she quickly changed the subject.

“No. You look very busy.”

Sniffling-

Said Elise, bringing her coffee cup to her mouth.
She told the Korea branch manager that she was told she was still meeting with senior officials.
It’s the same in the US, so there must be something on your mind.

“He’s also very rude. He helped break her black pillar, but he doesn’t even show her face. I’ll have to go find him, right?”

“I’m sure he’s still walking around.”

Elise answered Irene, as she glanced at her smartwatch without much thought.
Certainly, it wasn’t a good feeling to wait to see when the next reply would come.
… Should I go back to Korea soon?

The moment I thought about it.
Breaking news streamed from the smartwatch.

– Breaking news. Unidentified monsters in the American West…

*

“Whoa…”

Returning to her house in the late afternoon, Lee Ho-yeon took off her coat and hung it on her magic hanger.
She put off her faded wrinkled shirt and headed to the kitchen tiredly.

Lee Ho-yeon, who naturally poured water into her cup with a water purifier, let out a drool.

“I should have met the head of the Hunter Association… Uhm.”

As in the United States, Lee Ho-yeon was also meeting with high-ranking officials in Korea.
However, it was not as easy to find a position as he thought.

“It’s not good to work too hard.”

Seeing that high-ranking officials avoid meeting, it seems that a false rumor has spread that everyone who meets Lee Ho-yeon becomes his follower.
Everyone would sympathize with his sincerity just by looking at his face.
Too bad.

Gulp.

Lee Ho-yeon tore off his medicine bag and poured it into his mouth.
Before the bitter taste spread in his mouth, he drank the water and passed the medicine down his throat.

He is the medicine that Baek Ah-yeong took care of after returning to Korea.
Eating this brings peace of mind.

‘I should take good care of this.’

Lee Ho-yeon swallowed the medicine and sat down at the table.
It wasn’t unusual to be tired from walking around every day these days.
Leaving myself in the chair, I stared at the wall blankly, and the calendar caught my eye.

“… Today is just one week.”

The darkness from the Gates of Hell is growing in size over the Pacific Ocean.
The moment the darkness reaches the continent, the monster’s attack begins.
The estimated duration was one week.

In fact, the darkness emanating from the gates of hell has reached the continent, so you never know when a monster attack will come.

‘Even if the monsters attack… It’s better to wait until there is some damage.’

Although Lee Ho-yeon managed to convince the high-ranking officials quite a bit, they were all in the US and Korea.
Even though the Iris Guild said that, it didn’t change.
As long as there was no visible damage, it was difficult to convince humans around the world.

‘Still, is there any way to reduce the number of victims as much as possible?’

Swoop-

Just when he was in deep trouble, something cold touched Lee Ho-yeon’s cheek.
Surprised, she turned her head to find Nam Da-eun holding out a glass with a light smile.

“Sorry. Did I disturb you…?”

Seeing her shy and cute smile, Lee Ho-yeon naturally laughed.
Lee Ho-yeon asked while accepting the drink Nam Da-eun offered.

“No. It wasn’t an important concern. What is this?”

“It’s a Claire Rose latte. The student president gave me a tea bag saying Hoyeon likes it too.”

“… Ah. It’s Surin-noona.”

Somehow the smell was familiar.
Lee Ho-yeon took a bite of her latte and made her shoulders tremble.
I’m used to it now and it’s edible, but the first bite after a long time was still difficult.

“I have cookies from Lucy and Rumi. Do you want to eat them together?”

“Yeah. I was just about to take a break.”

Nam Da-eun brought a bunch of cookies from the kitchen, and Lee Ho-yeon picked up a cookie that was cutely wrapped.
Well, this is all you can eat.

‘The kids’ cooking skills have improved a lot.’

Cookies made by Lucy.
I couldn’t eat it before, but now it’s worth eating with my eyes closed.

With her shoulders drooping, she was putting her cookies and Claire Rose latte into her mouth when Nam Da-eun looked at her with worried eyes.

“Hoyeon-ah, I’m worried because you look very busy. As soon as you got back from America, you went around for two days.”

“Thank you. But don’t worry, I’ve met almost all the important people.”

“… Yes. Don’t push yourself too hard. Oh, I’ll help you with anything I can.”

Swoop.

I feel the warmth of her body on the back of her hand.
Lee Ho-yeon stroked Nam Da-eun’s hand on the back of her hand.
When the warm body temperature touches the cold body, you feel a sense of stability.

“Thank you. Da-eun.”

“Are you really trying to get into politics? I hear Mr. Scarlett and Ms. Liliana talk about that.”

“… It can’t be. No, but what are they talking about whenever I’m not there?”

“Well, Hoyeon has too many weaknesses to go into politics.”

“Hmm…”

Hearing this from Da-eun hurts my heart even more.
It’s a word that comes from the heart.

At that time, the heroines entered the kitchen.

“What is this? Can I eat it?”

“I think Da-eun’s friend gave it to me. Wouldn’t it be okay to eat it?”

“Umm! It looks cute. Yeom yum yum. What the heck… Isn’t it delicious?”

“Scarlett, Liliana. You’re welcome. Come and sit down, both of us. I’ll have to listen to what you’re talking about when I’m gone.”

“Still, didn’t you gain strength thanks to us? You seemed worried until you went to America, but I’m glad you did.”

Scarlett sat down in her seat and smiled as she spoke to Lee Ho-yeon.
As she said, it is true that she was worried about going to America.
I didn’t know that Arthur wanted [Infinite Entropy] So much.
Still, since she had done so much for that man, she was able to get over it better than she thought.

No, that’s not what’s important in the first place.
I need to hear what you say when you’re not confident.

“Scarlett. Don’t talk like that and sit down. You caught me today.”

“Sheesh.”

Lee Ho-yeon laughed at Scarlett.
As if nothing had happened, she opened one of her cookies and put it in her mouth.

“…”

Scarlett twitched her eyebrows and quietly put the cookie down.
Lee Ho-yeon saw her and opened her mouth.

“Scarlett. You don’t know about Liliana, but you should know my true feelings, don’t you?”

“What are you talking about? I know enough.”

“It’s worse if someone you know.”

Lee Ho-yeon shook her head and brought her Claire Rose latte to her mouth.

Okay.
If you’ve heard me say it, it’s not Scarlett and Liliana.

“Baby daddy. Don’t say too much. Miss Scarlett was so worried.”

“… Rebecca.”

Rebecca sat down at the table and raised an eyebrow.
It seems that she also added her amusement to teasing her Scarlett.

“You don’t know how cute you’ve become these days. Always watching the baby’s father’s schedule…”

“Miss Rebecca!”

“Why are the cookies so tasteless? Ugh.”

Still, everyone seems to get along well.
These days, the atmosphere is grim, but it was very fortunate that this atmosphere was maintained even in the house.
Lee Ho-yeon looked at the smart watch in the middle of the noisy table.

– Cow, breaking news. Australia, Russia, Japan, West America, etc. A raid on the continent adjacent to the Pacific Ocean…

“… It’s like this when you’re in a good mood.”

Lee Ho-yeon clicked her tongue and stood up from her seat.