CH 337

“Hm… ‘We have to go in at all costs’… It’s definitely meaningful.”

After leaving Park Byeong-seok’s house, we returned to the guild after giving up our plan to visit the homes of the victims in the documents Hyde handed over. Arriving at Requiem with Kim Woo-jin, I immediately went to meet Cheon Sa-yeon.

When I told the story I heard from Park Byeong-seok to the team members gathered in the representative office, Cheon Sa-yeon touched his mouth with complicated eyes.

“If the place they have to enter is the gate… it’s likely to match with the case we’re now investigating.”

“Right. But I can’t make a hasty decision right now.”

Cheon Sa-yeon’s words were right. It was clear that the Praus Cult was planning something, so we also had to move carefully. Because if you lowered your guard in a strange place with a wrong guess, irreversible problems might arise.

We had to accurately grasp the whereabouts of the Praus Cult and stop the plan. In order to do that, we needed ‘proof’ that the guys renting the gate were related to the Praus Cult.

Park Geon-ho, who was listening to Cheon Sa-yeon’s conversation with me, opened his mouth.

“Did you say Hyde? If that friend safely joins Roheon, I think he’ll look into the work we asked for.”

“Yes. Even if the situation is frustrating, I will have to wait until new information comes in.”

From now on, Roheon would be in charge of meeting the victims, including Park Byeong-seok, who was forced to become a member of the Praus Cult due to the mental control ability.

It became clear through Park Byung-seok that they were related to the Praus Cult, so Ha Tae-heon and I didn’t have to go around to meet them in person. There was room for our activity radius to be known to the Praus Cult.

Catching the tail of the Praus Cult was much harder than I thought. When I let out a small sigh, Cheon Sa-yeon said with a smile that he understood.

“Even if you are in a hurry, nothing will be resolved, so for now, we will have to wait and see. And there’s a guest coming tomorrow.”

“A guest?”

“A guest from Australia.”

“Australia? Are they the person involved in the back-of-the-gate money transaction that Edward mentioned before?”

“To some extent.”

Cheon Sa-yeon winked at me and Woo Seo-hyuk, who was standing next to me, pulled out a document he was holding and handed it to me.

“It’s an Australian guild called Leo.”

“Leo… the number of gates their own is quite large. Did they lend one of these to the money traders?”

“Yes. They said they have investigated all the people who borrowed the gate and the gate manager, so they must know the details of the case.”

“Um…”

Even so, if they came all the way to Korea and told him the contents, it seemed that they had been interacting with Requiem from the beginning. While reading the description of the Leo Guild in the document, I found a somewhat unique part.

“More than 80% of their guild members have the ability to transform? Is this for real?”

“It’s true that the world’s shapeshifters are all gathered there.”

Cheon Sa-yeon’s relaxed answer sent my eyes to Woo Seo-hyuk unknowingly. He calmly nodded his head as if he had expected it.

“That’s what Leo Guild released, but it’s probably around 90% if you count it properly. Excluding a few people in the world, including me, all transformation abilities belong to the Leo Guild.”

“Incredible. There’s a guild like this.”

“Because Leo is holding on tight. The treatment is good, so when they awaken with a transformation ability, they tend to start by looking at Leo Guild. Leo actively offers scouting to those with transformation abilities.”

Sitting on the sofa and listening to our conversation, Min Ah-rin asked her eyes with interest.

“Then, did Secretary Woo Seo-hyuk receive a scouting offer?”

“They’re always coming in.”

Cheon Sa-yeon crossed his arms and twisted his mouth in a bad mood.

“They have been crazy for a long time. They asked him incessantly to the point of annoyance. They also often contacted Secretary Woo Seo-hyuk personally. They’ve been busy lately and become a bit quiet.”

“Woo Seo-hyuk-ssi is already a member of Requiem, but you say that they contact him personally… Isn’t that a little rude?”

“They don’t care about things like that.”

Park Geon-ho continued Cheon Sa-yeon’s resolute words.

“Certainly, if it’s Leo… it’s understandable. There are a lot of furry guys there. And Secretary Woo Seo-hyuk is a precious S-rank transformation ability, so he will be scouted.”

It was the first time I knew of the guild called Leo, but it seemed that Park Geon-ho, Woo Seo-hyuk, and Cheon Sa-yeon knew them from before.

‘Come to think of it, S-rank transformers aren’t common.’

It had been quite a while since I became Han Yi-gyeol, so I had met quite a few talented people, but I had never seen anyone with the ability to transform, let alone S-rank, except Woo Seo-hyuk. I looked at Woo Seo-hyuk with a new feeling.

Woo Seo-hyuk, unlike usual, averted his gaze. He seemed to be burdened with being the center of the conversation.

“Anyway, the deputy master of the Leo Guild will arrive tomorrow, so gather in the conference room on time. Let’s start looking from abroad while the informant who is said to have entered Roheon is looking for domestic information.”

“All right.”

I agreed to Cheon Sa-yeon’s neat arrangement. It was the best thing to do right away.

* * *

The name of the Leo Guild deputy master who came to Korea was Alice (앨리스) and she was an S-rank transformation ability. Unlike Woo Seo-hyuk, who was a wolf, she was a swan.

It was said that when she used her ability, she grew new white wings on her back, so her fans called her ‘Angel’. Looking at the picture attached to the document, it really did look very much like angel wings.

After seeing a picture of her back with wings sprouting next to me, Min Ah-rin opened her eyes wide and said a word.

“Uwa, that’s very pretty. It’s like a real angel.”

“If Min Ah-rin-ssi heard about it for the first time yesterday, I think Leo is a guild that isn’t well known in Korea.”

“Maybe it’s because I’m a little unfamiliar with Australia… First of all, Australia’s first or second guild isn’t Leo.”

Indeed, it wasn’t easy to remember all the guilds in other countries.

“I’ve never heard of the Leo Guild, but Deputy Master Alice is quite famous.”

Kwon Jeong-han came out of the kitchen with cookies and put each one in Min Ah-rin’s hand and mine as he continued.

“Australia, like Korea, doesn’t have a culture that favours talented people like idols or actors, but it says they have a lot of fans.”

“That’s fascinating.”

“Well, I don’t know the details because this is the first time meeting someone who I’ve only listened to from others.”

Kwon Jeong-han didn’t seem like that, but he was surprisingly quick with this kind of information. I got up and put the cookie in my mouth.

Since we would be meeting each other anyway, it was meaningless for us to talk about this and that. If you met and talk to her in person, you would find out what kind of person she was.

I headed to the conference room with Kim Woo-jin, Min Ah-rin, and Kwon Jeong-han. When I arrived on time, Woo Seo-hyuk was already in the conference room.

“Woo Seo-hyuk-ssi, good morning.”

“Yes.”

When I saw Woo Seo-hyuk, who looked calm as always, I suddenly felt a little worried.

Woo Seo-hyuk has rejected numerous transfer requests from Leo Guild, so was it okay to meet like this? What if Leo Deputy Master putting pressure on him or bothering him again?

I knew that Woo Seo-hyuk wasn’t an easy person, but… it was true that I was a bit worried. Would it be okay to believe that Cheon Sa-yeon would be good at blocking it?

“Have you had breakfast?”

“I have. How about Woo Seo-hyuk-ssi?”

“…I did.”

Woo Seo-hyuk replied half a beat slowly. It was obvious that he didn’t eat just by looking at it. Why were you making Woo Seo-hyuk work without feeding him when he was so busy? Anyway, Cheon Sa-yeon is the problem.

Not long after we took our seats, Cheon Sa-yeon and Park Geon-ho also arrived at the conference room. When I asked why the two of them were coming together, he said that there was a special operations division meeting early in the morning.

“What am I supposed to do when I don’t have talent?”

“If you lower your eyes, they will be all around you, Team Leader Park Geon-ho.”

“No, if you lower your eyes, how is that a talent? There hasn’t been a single talent I like since Han Yi-gyeol.”

As soon as he sat down, Park Geon-ho grumbled as if he had waited and Cheon Sa-yeon turned his head to me.

“How is it, Han Yi-gyeol? How about becoming a member of the Requiem Special Operations Division?”

“I won’t.”

What are you talking about all of a sudden. When I firmly refused, Cheon Sa-yeon shrugged his shoulders, saying ‘see’. I let out a sigh at the sight of the conference room, which didn’t feel like a serious atmosphere at all.

“External guests have arrived.”

The attendant guarding the entrance of the conference room announced the arrival of the Leo Guild Deputy Master. After hitting Park Geon-ho on the arm, who was acting like a chattering student in class, I turned my eyes toward the entrance.

Soon after, the door to the conference room opened and two talented people entered.

The woman at the head of her had jet-black hair and was wearing a blouse and suit jacket. The slightly drooping corners of her eyes and the curled smile on her lips gave off a gentle feeling overall.

A man stood behind her. A man of similar height to Han Yi-gyeol had black bridge dyes in various places in his orange-coloured brown hair.

“Long time no see, Master Cheon Sa-yeon.”

“Welcome.”

Leo Guild Deputy Master Alice sent a greeting to Cheon Sa-yeon with a delicate and clear voice. Alice looked around the meeting room lightly and pointed to the man and introduced him.

“This is my personal bodyguard and secretary, Theo (테오).”

The gentle way of speaking and matching gestures were quiet and elegant. It said that if she used her ability, she would turn into a swan.

‘It’s a bit… different from what I imagined?’

I thought she was a more shameless type because she recklessly sent a scouting offer to Woo Seo-hyuk and said that there were many people with transformation ability.

This was the time when I thought that the meeting would be a little easier than expected.

“It’s been a while too, Secretary Woo Seo-hyuk. How have you been?”

“Yes.”

“I heard the news. It said that you’re still going through a lot of trouble beside Master Cheon Sa-yeon.”

“Please speak and let go my hand.”

Alice grabbed Woo Seo-hyuk’s hand and looked at him with a sad expression.

It didn’t stop there and Alice, who was handed a file folder by a man named Theo standing behind, forcibly held it to Woo Seo-hyeok.

“If you have time later, read it slowly. These are the benefits and contracts that Secretary Woo Seo-hyuk will receive if you come to our Leo Guild.”

“……”

I couldn’t believe my ears for a moment when I heard what Alice said.

…what? Did I hear wrong? What are you talking about right now?