Trouble Walks Through the Door

Well, we barely managed to shake them off.

I let out a sigh and scanned our surroundings. Not a trace of anyone nearby.

Those three had no talent for concealment, nor the mystique that Seong Hanbyeol possessed, so it was safe to say we'd given them the slip.

Guys like that would butcher everyone around the target the moment an assassination contract landed on their desk, and then call it a job done — no witnesses, no murder.

What a pain, honestly.

Calling Kim Seohyun's rival simply "a pain in the neck" didn't quite cover it, though.

Confident to a fault in everything she did, and scrupulous about separating public duty from private matters. That was exactly why she'd earned such singular attention at the Baeksin War.

Which is precisely why I avoid her.

The majority of the gods of the Baeksin War had their eyes on her.

So if I got tangled up with her, the odds were high that I'd end up entangled with those gods as well.

I shook off the sigh, took another look around — and quickly realized I didn't recognize this street at all.

……Where on earth are we?

In our haste to shake off our tail, we'd come quite far, and it turned out to be a fairly deserted stretch of road. A single restaurant stood alone in the middle of it, with other buildings visible only at the far edge of sight. This was exactly why I loved Korea the most.

"Hey, girls. Any idea where this is?"

"……"

"……"

Seo Gayeon and Kim Seohyun said nothing.

Come to think of it, I was still holding their hands — Kim Seohyun's face had gone crimson, and Seo Gayeon was quietly fidgeting with my fingers.

"Girls?"

"Huh? Oh — um, wh-what is it?"

"Yeah. I'm listening."

You clearly were not.

"Never mind. It's almost dinnertime — should we grab an early dinner at that place and rest a bit?"

"Sure? The place has a real restaurant vibe to it. Looks pretty decent."

"Yeah, let's go."

I led the group into the restaurant.

"Not bad, huh?"

For somewhere we'd found on the fly, we'd done all right. We took a seat wherever and started browsing the menu.

"……Iced mealworm pasta? What is that even supposed to be?"

"There's plenty of normal stuff, but also a lot of weird stuff."

Iced mealworm pasta? Who on earth orders that? Muttering in disbelief as I paged through the menu, I ordered the safe route — a steak and a pizza.

Ding-a-ling.

"Welcome in!"

The front door swung open and more customers arrived.

Flame-red hair swept back, clad in a dress of mixed blue and black — there was Hong Yuhwa.

Behind her came Seong Hanbyeol, black hair tied to one side, in a plain white box tee and jeans.

"Ugh."

The reaction the instant she spotted me was… something else. I'm so hurt, you know.

"It's Yuhwa's group?"

"Yeah. You here for dinner? This place is pretty far out of the way, isn't it?"

Hong Yuhwa looked at me with a puzzled expression.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Yep. Want to push tables together and join us?"

"……I'd love to, but today's strictly business. Next time, let's eat together."

Hong Yuhwa said, sounding genuinely disappointed.

With that, she took a seat behind me. Hong Yuhwa and Seong Hanbyeol, on business together. Sponsorship-related stuff, probably.

The food didn't take long to arrive.

Steak, pasta, pizza, hamburgers, and the like landed on our table.

We were in the middle of eating when the door opened and someone walked in.

Ordinarily I wouldn't have given it a second thought, but for some reason, it grated on my nerves.

— Lord Seoha.

Yeongcheon called my name quietly.

I stared straight ahead.

Something felt ominous.

I closed my eyes and flicked the switch in my mental image.

Click.

A sound like something powering on, and I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠opened my eyes. The flow and colors of the world's mana blossomed into view.

……A demon.

And yet the demonic energy was being suppressed — smothered under some other force.

How? That was my first thought.

The drugs that suppress a demon's miasma aren't supposed to exist yet.

I had appraised this demon with Perusal before, and I hadn't seen any talent or trait that stood out.

"Seoha?"

Sensing something off about my behavior, Kim Seohyun called my name in a small voice.

Seo Gayeon sidled up beside me and murmured, casually.

"Seoha, that person……"

"Yeah. He's a demon."

"……That guy is?"

Kim Seohyun said, wearing a bewildered look. The fact that even she couldn't sense it meant the miasma had been veiled with remarkable cunning.

I stoked the senses of the Sword Demon. Sure enough, I picked up two more presences outside the door.

— It's a demon, my lord. He's veiled himself as slyly as that one. How does something as lowly as a demon manage that……

Tell me about it.

I agreed with Yeongcheon.

The man disguised as a demon came clomping straight toward me. I rose to my feet.

"Hm? What is it?"

Fluent English. The man smirked and replied.

"Hey, Oriental. You picking a fight? You ugly, mopey-looking bastard. Want me to snap your arms and legs?"

I ran it through Perusal's quick interpretation, then answered at a leisurely pace.

"Oh, I see. A demon — one who sold his soul to an entity from beyond."

"What? Wh-what are you talking about?"

At my words, I heard the sound of weapons being drawn behind him.

"Tch, what — you already saw through us? I paid a premium because they said it could hide my miasma. What a total scam."

"No, not a scam. The faithful never noticed it, so 'scam' doesn't cover it. That guy is just strange."

Through the kicked-open door came two adult men. Two demons, still in their half-transformed state, miasma rippling off them as their muscled bodies swelled grotesquely.

"We're made, so shall we clean up? Ah — apologies to the owner here."

The demon snickered.

"P-please spare me!"

"If we spare you, you'll go running to the gods, won't you? America hates that. If we don't smash the local barrier station, a report goes straight up to the gods the instant something happens. And then a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠few hundred of those priest bastards come swarming in. No hard feelings — just die."

The demon stretched out his hand. A hand steeped in killing intent reached for the chef.

Shwaak!

Faster than that. The black wing bursting from my right shoulder sheared the demon's arm clean off.

The demons went on guard. As if being on guard would solve anything.

"Gayeon. How do you want to do this?"

"……Am I allowed to step up?"

"Yeah. I think you're ready now."

I swept my gaze over Seo Gayeon with the Starseer's Eye. Her realm was Middle-Tier.

I looked at her and appraised her talents with Perusal (−).

A status window spread out before me, still riddled with empty slots.

Starlight Mana was the mana of affirmation. Song of the Stars was the talent that took that mana and gave it form through her own mental image.

A Smitten Girl's Heart was a talent of the physical side — the talent of growing ever more beautiful. Don't dismiss it just because it makes her prettier. Her legs and arms lengthen, her figure shifts into perfect harmony. There had been a passage in the novel saying that her looks would one day rank alongside Erciel's.

Presence Detection and Covert Movement, come to think of it, she probably picked up while stalking me.

— ……My lord, how can you look at something like that and not bat an eye?

Hm, I'm holding up fine for now.

Compared to my ex and my ex-ex, anyway.

"Then I'll do it."

While I was chatting with Yeongcheon, Seo Gayeon spoke up.

"……You're leaving Seo Gayeon to fight on her own?"

"Yep."

Hong Yuhwa asked from beside me. Seong Hanbyeol's face flared with alarm.

"Seo Gayeon has outstanding potential, but she's nowhere near ready to take on three demons!"

"She is, though."

I shook my head at Seong Hanbyeol's words. Even from her, this much I had to say.

"She'd be the best fighter here, actually. When it comes to demon-hunting in particular, I'd lose to Gayeon by an overwhelming margin."

"You, Seoha?"

Hong Yuhwa's eyebrows rose.

I genuinely believed it. At Gayeon's current realm, she could kill even a top-tier demon in a single strike.

Granted, a number of conditions had to line up — but even so, that outcome was nothing short of abnormal.

A Middle-Tier demon killing Seo Gayeon? They'd need a hundred or so swarming her at once for that to be possible. Maybe a one percent chance.

"There's really that much potential?"

"Yes. She has the strongest latent talent of anyone here. Far beyond even mine."

"……I see."

"So that's how you lure them in, huh."

Seong Hanbyeol muttered under her breath. How is that luring anyone?

"Hans. That man is the most dangerous one."

"Looks like it. The way he made that wing a moment ago — on par with me, the one they call Swift. Maybe better."

"Then we use this."

The Villain drew something from his coat — a pair of handcuffs, or something like them.

Why does he have that of all things? I stared at the cuffs, thrown.

"Already? No — right, the pressure from that man is anything but ordinary. Better to burn the trump card than risk being found out."

An old pair of restraints.

Shaped like binding shackles, yet they looked sturdier than they had any right to be — sturdy enough that a hero with limited mana couldn't break them.

And sealed inside them was a power I knew all too intimately.

"You'd use that artifact? As you well know, it holds a monstrous power of negation. A strange force that even the outer gods themselves recoil from."

"There's only the one anyway — might as well put it to use as a binding tool. Grab that man first."

— ……So this is what they mean by a pumpkin rolling right ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in, vine and all, isn't it?

Tell me about it.

At Yeongcheon's remark, I couldn't help but snort a laugh.

"Well, well. This really has turned into a disaster."

Of all things, the demon had to be carrying the Heavenly Demon's legacy.