Returnee's S-Rank Management Guide

Chapter 137 : The One Who Summons Winter (1)

The One Who Summons Winter (1)

"Are you sure you can leave him here?"

"Of course. I'll take care of... well, I won't really take care of him, but I'll keep an eye on him. Oppa, you're busy, aren't you?"

"That's true, but..."

Park Jung-woo glanced at the demon hiding behind Shin Ah-yeon, trying to avoid his gaze, and then nodded.

There was no way an intermediate-rank demon could do anything here anyway.

After all, it wasn't just Shin Ah-yeon present in this place—Lee Soo-ah and Alencia were here as well.

Honestly, it was easier to keep the demon under observation here than to have him locked up in the family basement.

"Then I'll leave it to you. I've bound him with a contract, so he won't be able to do anything out of line."

"Okay, I understand."

After confirming once again that Hwang Yeon-ji was okay, Park Jung-woo said that and left Shin Ah-yeon-ssi's mansion.

As Shin Ah-yeon-ssi waved to Park Jung-woo's receding back, she suddenly stopped waving when he was completely out of sight.

"Hey."

"......"

"Aren't you going to answer?"

With a tilted, cocky posture, Shin Ah-yeon-ssi called out to the demon standing behind her.

The demon, who had barely started to relax after Park Jung-woo left, could do nothing but harden his expression at Shin Ah-yeon-ssi's attitude.

'Why does this tiny place have so many monsters?'

An intermediate-rank demon was strong enough to achieve the rank of viscount among demons.

However, he found it hard to hold his own here.

That was because the power possessed by the three people currently glaring at him was far, far above his own.

'Why are there so many S-ranks?'

Was it possible that in this world called Earth, S-ranks could be found like pebbles on the street?

Otherwise, this situation made no sense.

Perhaps they had chosen the wrong world to invade.

'No, considering that guy is here, we definitely picked the wrong one.'

But after coming all the way here, they had already invested too many resources to strike another world.

Besides, Damian would never agree to retreat.

"Unni, he's acting like he can't hear you right now."

"Really?"

Shin Ah-yeon-ssi's eyes narrowed at Lee Soo-ah's words.

At that, the demon hastily shook his head and opened his mouth.

"N-no, it's not that! I was just trying to get my thoughts straight...!"

"Hm."

At the demon's response, Shin Ah-yeon-ssi nonchalantly placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, what's your name?"

"R-Ronbil."

"Ronbil? There's a lot I want to ask you, you know."

"Ask... me?"

"Do you know anything about Jung-woo oppa?"

Although Park Jung-woo had told her about the Demon King's heart, she didn't believe that was the whole story.

This was something on which Shin Ah-yeon-ssi, Lee Soo-ah, and even Alencia all agreed.

It was certain Park Jung-woo's heart contained the Demon King's heart, but there was much about his strength that couldn't be explained by that alone.

"Oppa isn't an awakened. But he fought alongside the others until the fight with the Demon King, right? It doesn't make sense. If he was just an ordinary person, he would've died just by approaching."

When humans are exposed to excessive magic power or demonic energy, they die.

This is the very reason why, if this world turned into a 'Demon Realm', most of humanity would perish.

"That... I don't really know, either."

As he answered carefully, Shin Ah-yeon-ssi signaled with her eyes to the Lee Soo-ah and Alencia standing behind her.

Immediately, flames flared from Lee Soo-ah's body, and electricity crackled around Alencia's.

"Fire and lightning always know the answer..."

"......"

"Which do you prefer?"

Feeling the heat and electric tingle on his skin, ronbil swallowed hard.

'I really don't know who the villain is here.'

Alencia felt a bit sorry for the frightened Ronbil, but seeing Shin Ah-yeon-ssi and Lee Soo-ah acting so forcefully, she decided to remain silent.

Besides, no matter how scared he was acting now, the demon in front of her had once tried to open the "Gate of the Demon World" using the life force of countless humans.

If Shin Ah-yeon-ssi blew his head off here, probably no one would complain.

"I-I really don't know much. It was three hundred years ago anyway, and what happened back then is kept hush-hush even among the demons, so not much is known... but!"

As the blue flames approached his face, ronbil hurriedly added:

"I do have some information I know, since I have... a wide web of connections..."

The pride of an intermediate-rank demon had long since vanished.

Ronbil, with no loyalties left to protect anyway, began revealing the information he knew, keeping an eye on Shin Ah-yeon-ssi's mood.

***

The next day, the "World of Superhumans" premiere was held successfully.

After all the effort that'd gone into it, Shin Ah-yeon-ssi had worried about how people would respond, but thankfully the reaction wasn't bad.

'The movie really did turn out well.'

There was a reason Director Cha Jae-seok was respected.

The story could've seemed childish, but when seen on screen, it wasn't bad at all.

Maybe not a masterpiece, but if viewed as entertainment like the headlines suggested, it certainly passed.

"Hunter Shin Ah-yeon-nim! Please look this way!"

Reporters took photos of Shin Ah-yeon-ssi as she stood on stage for the after-premiere greetings.

In this movie, Shin Ah-yeon-ssi had definitely shown her presence.

Frankly, she stood out more than the actual leading lady, Jung Sun-hee.

'But Jung Sun-hee looks surprisingly pleased.'

Since Shin-Dream Entertainment—Jung Sun-hee's agency—had nearly 30% of its equity held by Javelin Guild master Kang Gi-hun, the guild's collapse must've surely affected her.

'Maybe it's because she doesn't have to be held back by the Javelin Guild anymore?'

I don't know the full story, but suspected it was something like that.

Jung Sun-hee, leading a clearly uncomfortable but oddly firm Shin Ah-yeon-ssi, posed for numerous photos in front of the reporters.

'So which side did the demons join after ditching Javelin Guild?'

Shin Ah-yeon-ssi doubted they'd sided with anyone weaker than Javelin Guild.

No way would they start over from scratch.

'If it's just Korea, that leaves the top three guilds and Grand Nova as options.'

But the fact that the demons had shown themselves so blatantly suggested they might be acting globally in secret.

'What a headache...'

For now, they could only wait for Chairman Song Hyun-seung and Enoch to bring good news.

"But you know, when Ah-yeon unni keeps her mouth shut like that, she's really beautiful."

Lee Soo-ah marveled as she watched Shin Ah-yeon-ssi being interviewed at the premiere.

Truly, if she didn't open her mouth, there wasn't a beauty like her anywhere.

Lee Soo-ah had come to this premiere too.

Perhaps she wanted to see for herself the result of the movie Shin Ah-yeon-ssi had prepared for so long.

"By the way, you said Alencia is watching the demon, right?"

"Yes, actually I could've left him alone thanks to the contract and all the curses Ah-yeon unni put on him, but I thought it'd be safer this way, just in case."

Curses, really.

What Shin Ah-yeon-ssi had learned from me was officially circle magic—not a curse like you'd find in dark magic. Maybe she'd invented her own?

'Well, she did always manage to create magic even from clumsy makeshift formulas; doing it with a circle formula probably wasn't any trouble for her.'

The circle magic formula was just like a textbook at heart.

How to apply it depended on the caster's skill.

"Um, didn't you say the demon called Ardan disappeared?"

"Oh, yes. But... who did you hear that from?"

"Superintendent Shim Hyuk-soo told me."

That man really was weak when it came to Lee Soo-ah.

Then again, Lee Soo-ah was the one who'd interacted with Ardan back then, and she was the only S-rank hunter so actively cooperating with the investigation.

"... I'm probably the one who'll have to face him anyway."

"I might end up fighting him."

"No."

Lee Soo-ah's answer was firm.

She seemed worried about the Demon King's heart.

"I mean, even though he has lost much of his power, he's still not something to be underestimated. Using the Demon King's heart too often isn't good."

Using the Demon King's heart would accelerate the "demonization" process of this world.

As long as he didn't overuse it like he did in America, it wouldn't be obvious, but there was no downside to minimizing its use.

"Yes, that's part of it, but..."

"That's part of it?"

"N-no, never mind."

Lee Soo-ah hesitated, glancing at her.

Then, her lips parted, as if to say something.

"Um, manager-nim, you're not awakened, right?"

"That's right."

"Then how did you end up able to use magic power...?"

Seeing Lee Soo-ah start to ask hesitantly, Shin Ah-yeon-ssi shook her head.

"That's not something you need to know."

"..."

"And even if you did know, it wouldn't make you happy."

She could've told her most things, but she had no intention of explaining how she learned to use magic power.

Unlike with the Demon King's heart, there was really no need to say, and knowing the circumstances would only make others feel unpleasant.

"... Okay. If you say so, I won't ask."

"Um, just to check... Ah-yeon doesn't wonder about that too, does she?"

At that, Lee Soo-ah couldn't answer right away.

Apparently, the question had hit home.

'This is a hassle now.'

Until the Demon King's heart came up, no one had been very interested in his use of magic power, but since then everyone seemed oddly curious about it.

'I really don't want to tell Ah-yeon, even if I could explain to someone else.'

Especially, not after suspecting Ah-yeon's past life had been Estella.

She didn't seem to have her memories from her past life like Sarah Walker did, but who knew when something could trigger her memory.

The existence of a Saintess is itself a bundle of miracles.

So nothing would be surprising.

"Anyway, that's..."

She was just about to say not to worry too much, when her phone in her pocket buzzed.

'Disaster alert?'

Thinking it was a call, she checked the screen, only to see disaster alerts suddenly pouring in.

Maybe a gate had opened nearby? She looked more closely, but the message was totally unexpected.

"... A cold wave warning?"

Someone checked the alert and let out a hollow chuckle.

"What kind of cold wave warning is this in October? Is the Meteorological Agency even doing its job?"

"The weather's perfectly fine though."

Most people seemed to think it was a false alarm, not paying it much mind.

'A cold wave warning?'

But she thought differently.

In the past, supercomputers calculated the weather, but nowadays, the addition of magi-science meant the forecasts were much more precise.

Special gates could affect local climates, so computer calculations weren't enough anymore.

"It's not a gate... is it?"

"It shouldn't be. Gates ranked A or higher can affect the climate, but not enough to trigger a cold wave warning."

"Exactly. If it were an A-rank gate, we'd get a gate alert, not a cold wave warning."

Lee Soo-ah seemed to agree that this was definitely not a misfired warning.

'... This must be.'

Especially, Shin Ah-yeon-ssi had a hunch.

High-ranking demons could designate a certain area as their "territory" with their own power.

The region would then fall under their sphere of influence.

Of the demons currently in this world, only one could do something like that.

'The Great Duke of Winter.'

Ardan Bello.

Only the one who had suddenly disappeared.

***

"Isn't that a person over there?"

The Han River, Seoul.

Near Yeouido Han River Park, people strolling pointed their fingers at the river.

"It is! That's a person..."

"Isn't he an awakener or something? How's he standing on the water?"

He was too far to see clearly, but in the middle of the river, a man could be seen standing.

People watched in fascination—some even took photos.

They just thought he must be an awakened with a special ability.

That is, until the man suddenly drew a sword and plunged it into the Han River.

"Huh?"

At first, it just looked like a performance.

But when the river began to freeze and, with the man as its center, a towering pillar of ice rose over the Han River, it was clear something was terribly wrong.

A cold that had no place in October scraped across people's skin and snow began to fall in the area.

An impossible weather anomaly.

Moreover, the ice that froze the river soon began to creep onto the land of the park.

"R-run! Get out of here!!"

Only then did people realize something was terribly wrong and hurried to flee.

There was no way someone who could cause something so absurd was an ordinary awakener.

The one who rules over winter.

He had arrived on this land.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=

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