Capítulo 61: I Know He's Well

After mentioning the level ten, Alessa took a spoonful of her tiramisu. However, it had gone unpalatable as she continued to remember the fear Mephistopheles had brought her. She had not yet told her father about the level ten's identity… and yet he was making guesses as to which demon prince was involved.

Then again, he guessed it wrong. It's just that… why would he think it would be the King himself?

"No, Father. Belphegor." Alessa's eyes flickered before frowning in suspicion. "Asmodeus had never stepped out of the shadows to deal with us. Why would you think he'd be involved now?"

"…I forgot you were in Italy…"

"Father, what of me being in Italy?" Alessa twitched. She was indeed in Italy last year for the ceremony of the White Magi. However, she didn't hear that anything major had happened that would involve Asmodeus's name in the mix. "Did something happen when I was gone?"

"Nothing I couldn't handle." Orpheus only shook his head and sipped on his tea.

The eldest daughter could only give up now and find related information after. Her lips hugged the straw, and she slowly sipped on her milkshake.

Last year… last year…

Yes, last year was the first time Luca had gone to the USA to start his formal training as a junior member of the Order. He was supposed to work with the team tracking Bomberman. However, he was quickly deported back to the United Kingdom after a month.

She didn't know what exactly happened, but their father had gone aggressively hostile towards Luca back then.

Just weeks ago, the council had deployed Luca again. Their father had also assigned her, Winona, and Tabitha to openly keep an eye on Luca while two more sisters were spying on him.

Alessa had a feeling that this action had caused their mother to fight with their father, ultimately kicking him out of the house as long as Luca was not home.

Even if their father was a very authoritative man and a brute in the eyes of their other followers, he was very tolerant of his family.

That was why it shocked everyone that he treated Luca differently. Using the mold of being part of the council as an excuse, he continued to discipline Luca.

In the eyes of the other children, their father was actually a caring man. Something must have happened or that Luca must have done something wrong in his first deployment, and that caused their father to become Luca's enemy.

"Father, did you foresee that Luca would be bending the rules of the Order?" Alessa spoke again after a while.

She didn't receive any answer from their father, and yet she continued to speak, "I didn't know Luca was working with a witch until I saw him. I checked with Isla, and she only shrugged and said they'd been close since they came to SCC.

"The Order had always been strict when it came to our affairs with witches. We were always told to withdraw from any communication with them as they were corrupted and blinded by power and darkness."

Alessa remembered the look in Luca's eyes when he aimed his gun at her. "Could it be that you knew that Luca was… vulnerable?"

When her eyes lifted to meet the gaze of her father, Orpheus refused to look at her. His eyes had been downcast, and he didn't even bother clarifying things for Alessa. The daughter only huffed and continued attending to her desserts.

She spoke in a sulking tone, "Luca seemed to be corrupted already. Let's just pull him out and go back home. Dealing with SCC should be done by the clerks, not us."

She didn't really want to demean Luca, but she was trying to make her father react. It's just that… she failed to get an answer still.

Alessa gave up and continued to devour through the desserts with grace. She stopped paying attention to her father until his phone sounded from his pocket. Her gaze flicked at her father's face, and he didn't even bother answering the phone.

If it was any other ringtone, Alessa wouldn't comment.

"Father, Mother is calling."

��Hm?" Orpheus broke out of his trance and took out his phone. He quickly swiped the button to answer the call and brought the phone to his ear. "Sophie, did something happen?"

"I was hoping you can tell me. I haven't heard my son's voice yet."

Orpheus massaged his forehead. "I haven't met Luca yet. He said he'll come when his mission is done."

A hum came from the other end, and the sound made Orpheus feel begrudged. Sophia spoke again, "You've always been so overbearing to other people, but you can't drag your own son out of his team? Tell me, are you really planning to find him?"

The father brought his gaze at the eldest daughter before closing his eyes to sigh. "Alessa had seen him. He's well."

"I know he's well. I want to know about his situation. Is he eating properly? Is his home in a good neighborhood?" Sophia was keeping her normal tone without raising her voice, but every word was flicking against Orpheus's forehead. "Magnus called and said that Luca was deployed to New York to deal with the Connor Holdings case.

"That was the same one from last year, right?

"Do you need me to tell Sonia to come? Forget that terrorist. If that demon touched a strand of hair on my Luca's head again, I will shave your head."

Orpheus hissed before calming himself with his tea. This time, he drank to the last drop before leaning on his seat. "Sophie, what's the use of sending me here if you can keep an eye on him from there? You even know more than I do."

Silence turned out to be her answer.

The father massaged his forehead again. "I… misspoke. We're going to find him today."

"We all know what it takes for a demon to corrupt men. I need you to help me protect Luca. No matter how good he is or how guarded we are, as long as that hole exists, there's no telling how they'll take him away.

"The demon blatantly warned you face-to-face, and you're still not taking it seriously. Find me my Luca."

Sophia hung up, and Orpheus was in a slump deeper than earlier. When he tried to calm himself, he figured his cup was already empty. He then eyed Alessa, "Get Luca's location from Isla. Choke her if you have to."

…

It was noon when Luca decided to leave Noah for a while. He was going to buy something for them to eat. Since Noah had no record of gastric problems, he was allowed to eat soups at most.

The hunter was leaving the hospital when he saw a strange man seated at the reception hall. He was massaging his fingers while keeping his beanie too pulled down.

The strange man lifted his gaze and met Luca's eyes, and he quickly turned away as if he was afraid. Luca wanted to speak with him, but the man took his things and left for the elevator. Luca didn't follow him, and the man stood by the elevator for a while without even pressing a button.

A nurse then spoke to him as he seemed to be pale. He then began chatting with the nurse so Luca left him alone.

Luca strolled out of the hospital and eyed at the nearby places to buy food from. When he walked against the glass walls of the shops he passed by, he realized that something was following him.

He stopped and stared at his reflection… seeing Caseus behind him. His distinct brownish nose made him stand out from the siblings.

"Are you here to keep an eye on me?" Luca coughed into his collar. Even if Caseus wouldn't answer, the black dog continued to follow him. "You should head back to your master."

Since the dog wouldn't listen, Luca treated him like air. He ordered his lunch. Then, he walked back to the hospital like it was a regular day and he was a regular guy.

It's just that when he got to the hospital, a sudden blast wave came from inside and shattered all the glass on the first floor. Bang! The blast wave pushed off everyone and even sent things with unlocked wheels into disarray.

Luca fell down, but Caseus caught his collar to keep him from hitting his head against the ground. However, shards of glass rained at the people outside the hospital. Luca managed to shield himself, but the others were already hurt.

Screams suddenly echoed from inside and outside the hospital.

"What happened?!" Luca got to his feet and checked his smartwatch, but it wouldn't even turn on. The hunter looked around to help the people in his vicinity first. "Are you okay? Can you stand?"

Caseus frowned at a direction and wanted to charge in, but Luca was still attending to the people around him. He couldn't just leave them like that after all.

The hound released a low-frequency sound as if making contact with the rest of the hellhounds. His ears then folded before running to Luca and pulling on his arm.

Luca quickly concealed the action even if he couldn't see the hellhound. He then ran inside the hospital and tried to help, but Caseus kept on pulling him. Luca had no choice but to run with the hellhound… before Caseus stopped and lunged at Luca.

The hunter was sent to the ground, and an explosion shook the entire hospital!

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