Chapter 69
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: #2 Back Alley Business (Gyeol Ryeong - Service Fellatio Duty) (2)
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The back-alley business dragged on for quite a while longer.
Even after the manager headed back to the chairman, one customer after another kept showing up. Only after we'd secured firm commitments from about five or six of them were we finally permitted to straighten our clothes.
Despite the late hour, the raucous revelry echoing from below showed no signs of dying down.
Maybe they were still toying with the captured exorcists, never seeming to tire.
Given their enthusiastic reactions just moments ago, it was entirely plausible.
Exorcists had tough bodies, after all. They could probably go longer than ordinary women.
Or perhaps they were humiliating and abusing some other women.
Either way, it wasn't my concern right now.
'Hypnosis, huh...'
They'd researched the captured exorcists and evolved their hypnosis to work on exorcists too.
I'd heard that same story from the vice bishop on our first day in this district.
Setting aside whether it was even possible...
One other possibility I needed to consider: Mina, the one we'd met today, might already be under hypnosis herself.
Mina was a veteran exorcist with plenty of experience under her belt, but her skills only rated C-grade.
Could someone like her really resist a hypnosis that had taken down even A-grade exorcists?
She might not even realize it herself, but she could already be ensnared.
'...I doubt it, but...'
Still, better to keep that possibility in mind. Just in case.
"...This is bad."
Yang Mi-na of the Exorcist Association—real name Yang Seo-bong—crouched hidden in an alley, nervously twirling and fiddling with stray locks of hair around her finger as she muttered anxiously.
This was her tic when she got jittery, a surprising habit for someone who always projected a relaxed, sunny demeanor no matter the circumstances.
Right now, she was reeling from shock on multiple fronts.
It felt like bitter betrayal from something she'd pinned her hopes on.
Like plummeting from heaven straight into hell—a deep sense of betrayal and despair.
The root of that despair lay in her encounter with Gyeol Ryeong just moments earlier.
Gyeol Ryeong the exorcist. Even after being turned into a woman by the Succubus Curse, she remained a Special Grade exorcist.
When she'd sensed that familiar spiritual power in the mansion and recognized her face, it felt like spotting a god.
Sure, it was a trap, but she'd believed Gyeol Ryeong could handle the dire situation that had stumped even A-grades in this district.
In this hopelessly bleak mess, she'd trusted Gyeol Ryeong could do something—solve it somehow.
But as they left the mansion together and talked inside a stall in the restroom, Mina felt an odd dissonance.
That unease grew throughout their conversation, solidifying into certainty when she confirmed Gyeol Ryeong wore nothing beneath her raincoat.
Yang Mi-na was a C-grade exorcist.
Her power, techniques, and spiritual energy were nothing special, which kept her at C-grade.
But she possessed keen insight.
Part of why she'd stagnated at C-grade was her focus on accumulating experience and knowledge rather than honing raw personal strength.
And she was the only one from the dispatch team who'd survived without falling into the trap—thanks to that very insight.
She'd sensed something off about her comrades and slipped away from them in secret before the trap sprung.
Now, that insight was screaming at her.
Gyeol Ryeong was currently dominated by someone.
And she had no idea herself.
"This is dangerous."
"Insanely dangerous."
"Gyeol Ryeong of all people, turned like that...! No way...! This can't...!!"
Gyeol Ryeong had probably been dispatched by the Association as reinforcements to aid them on their mission.
A Special Grade exorcist made for perfect backup.
No number of A-grade-led teams could match a single Special Grade.
But that Special Grade had fallen into enemy hands.
There was no way out now. What could she even do?
She'd told Gyeol Ryeong she had some means, but that was a lie. Nothing of the sort.
A mere C-grade like her had only survived by hiding, holding her breath, staying undetected day by day.
Waiting for outside rescue while secretly researching ways to escape this fog alone.
She'd waited and waited for that external salvation.
And now she'd met a Special Grade exorcist.
But the would-be savior had already lost.
No more salvation—for me—
"Miss? You okay? You don't look well."
A sudden voice from the mouth of the alley where she hid.
Mina's head snapped up from her brooding reverie.
A man stood at the alley entrance, staring at her intently.
She'd seen him at the mansion before. The sociable college-kid type who favored baseball caps.
And he was...
'The vice bishop.'
She'd already investigated the cult's core members: the vice bishops.
Men with special powers, blessed with potent "grace."
"...It's nothing. Just had too much to drink, tummy's upset~☆"
Hiding her tension, Mina flashed her usual bubbly smile and replied.
The baseball cap guy didn't buy it and started approaching.
Praying he'd stay back did no good.
'If he gets any closer...'
Out of his sight, she worked her hands behind her back.
Threads of spiritual power extended from her fingers.
Her primary weapon: mind threads.
She could bind foes with them and, depending on technique, even manipulate their bodies and minds.
If worst came to worst, she'd touch his head and erase his memories of her before sending him off.
That was the plan.
"Just as Dom said. You really are an exorcist."
"...?!"
Mina thrust her hands forward.
Ten strands shot from her ten fingers, invisible threads flying to bind the man.
But they failed. Instead of reaching him, they bounced off an unseen barrier.
"Ngh...! You...!"
"Whoa, hold on. Calm down. I'm not a bad guy."
She redirected the rebounding threads, twisting multiple into one thick cord.
It hardened into an arrow or spear and shot toward him.
Bounced off again.
His dismissive tch, tch attitude, treating it like pointless effort, grated on her.
'I'll exploit that carelessness!'
She manipulated them once more. This time forming fists to pummel him wildly.
Again, not a scratch. Blocked by that invisible force.
But one single thread pierced his guard, slipping inside.
Her insight had spotted the gap in his defense and threaded it through.
One thread couldn't do much against him.
But—
Shiiik—!
"Oh...?"
It yanked off the necklace around his neck—the blinking gem of "grace."
And it flew straight into her hand.
That was it. Without hesitation, Mina spun on her heel, kicked off the wall, and vaulted over the alley's rear fence.
"You got careless, Vice Bishop! I'll be taking your 'grace'!"
Her body floated lightly. Two leaps cleared ten meters effortlessly.
They were strong as yokai, especially the vice bishops.
A C-grade like her had no chance head-on.
But pure escape? That was her advantage.
They were ordinary folk empowered by yokai. They might handle a bit of yokai power, but they lacked spell knowledge.
No way they could catch her with her arsenal of spells.
Just running, not fighting—that she could manage.
So she thought.
She cleared the fence and descended like a feather, landing lightly.
As she dashed forward, she glanced up—and froze in shock.
She'd vaulted a tall wall for sure.
Yet the man who should have been on the other side was still right in front of her.
'What? Did I misjudge in the dark? No, impossible!'
Panicking but undeterred, Mina leaped again, scaling the wall behind her.
She landed. And there he still stood ahead.
Not twins. Not a clone.
The alley itself hadn't changed. Despite clearing the wall, she was back in the exact same spot.
'Not an illusion or hypnosis.'
'This is... a barrier?!'
Mina's eyes widened in horror.
Not just how he'd set it up without her noticing.
But that this supposed ordinary man wielded exorcist spells.
As he closed in, Mina tried to backpedal—but suddenly realized her arms and legs wouldn't move.
Something long and snakelike had coiled around her limbs.
Snakes—no, chains. They'd morphed the instant she noticed.
Heavy chains that wouldn't snap no matter how hard she pulled with her exorcist strength.
Another spell, clearly.
"Sorry about this. Can't have you running off."
"Ngh...! What are you...! An ordinary guy...!!"
"Yeah, yeah. Natural to wonder. I could keep it secret, but I'm a nice guy. So I'll tell you special."
He grinned and doffed his baseball cap.
His form shifted, morphing into someone else's face and build.
Mina didn't recognize him.
But Gyeol Ryeong and Dom would.
Intimately well.
"Bit awkward giving my real name... so just call me Chairman, please. Your Special Grade exorcist does."
He placed the cap over his heart and bowed gentlemanly.