After Work, I Brought Home a Devilish Beauty - Chapter 67

Alice was locked inside a dark, damp cell.

She lay silently on the cold floor, tears welling up in her eyes.

She had spent her entire life fighting demons.

Yet now, the very people she had fought to protect had turned against her.

The reason was painfully simple.

Alice had become too famous.

Her achievements had gradually overshadowed the Church of Assis itself. The church’s leaders believed that its declining influence over the years was because Alice had taken all the glory for herself.

But Alice knew nothing about any of this.

All she had ever wanted was revenge for her parents.

Was that really her fault?

Of course not.

Unfortunately, no one was willing to hear Alice’s side of the story.

All she had now were the cold walls of her cell and the occasional rats scurrying through the darkness.

Within a few days, the followers of the Church of Assis had spread a shocking accusation throughout Anstertantin.

Alice had supposedly colluded with demons and was plotting a rebellion.

The church therefore announced that she would be executed by hanging.

The execution was scheduled for one month later.

The news immediately caused an uproar.

Some people believed the accusations.

Others remained skeptical.

But most strongly opposed the decision.

Alice’s influence among the people was simply too great.

Unfortunately, public opinion meant little.

The Church of Assis might never have enjoyed an entirely spotless reputation, but it remained the most powerful and authoritative religious organization in Anstertantin.

Once the church had made its decision, it seemed that nothing could stop what was coming.

Inside the headquarters of the Church of Assis, the High Priest summoned Jebecarred.

There was something he wanted to discuss with him privately.

“Jebecarred, why didn’t you do it sooner?”

The High Priest’s expression was calm.

“If you had acted earlier, you could have saved yourself a great deal of trouble.”

Jebecarred remained silent.

Before Alice had returned to Anstertantin, he had promised that he would kill her.

Yet when the moment actually came, he hesitated.

That hesitation had ultimately led to everything that followed.

Even Jebecarred himself couldn’t explain what he had been thinking.

The High Priest didn’t press the matter.

“Never mind. What’s done is done.”

He changed the subject.

“Congratulations on completing your mission. Is there any reward you’d like?”

A reward.

That was only natural.

When Anstertantin had secretly offered a bounty for Alice’s elimination, Jebecarred had been the only person brave enough to accept the mission.

The instructions had been simple:

Find a suitable reason and eliminate Alice.

It sounded easy enough.

But everyone who understood Alice’s strength knew how dangerous the task actually was.

Alice was incredibly powerful, and she was naturally wary of strangers. Getting close enough to kill her was already difficult.

Yet Jebecarred had still volunteered.

Did he hate Alice?

No.

What had motivated him was simply his unwavering faith in the Church of Assis.

Whatever the church decided must be right.

At least, that’s what he had always believed.

But after what had happened to Alice, that belief had begun to crumble.

“I don’t want any reward.”

Jebecarred finally spoke.

“If possible, I’d like permission to return to my hometown and reunite with my family.”

The High Priest was slightly surprised.

On the surface, it sounded like an ordinary request.

In reality, it meant something much more significant.

Jebecarred intended to leave the Church of Assis.

This would be his final mission as one of its apostles.

He had finally seen the truth behind the organization he had devoted his life to.

“That’s certainly not a problem.”

The High Priest readily agreed.

“Thank you. Then I’ll take my leave.”

Jebecarred bowed before turning around and walking out of the church.

He never looked back.

Some time later, Lucifer was patrolling a village when he noticed several villagers gathered together, discussing something.

It was nothing unusual.

He would normally have ignored them.

But then he heard a familiar name.

“Alice…”

Lucifer immediately stopped.

“Evil… a demon!”

The villagers suddenly noticed him approaching.

Their faces turned pale, and several of them trembled in fear.

Although humans and demons had reached a peace agreement, their fear of demons clearly hadn’t disappeared.

Lucifer had no intention of harming them.

He simply wanted information.

“If you don’t want to die, tell me everything you know about Alice.”

The villagers immediately nodded.

They then eagerly told Lucifer everything they knew.

After hearing the entire story, Lucifer turned and left without causing them any trouble.

Lucifer returned to Chiba’s room and immediately told her what he had learned.

“Master, Alice returned to Anstertantin recently.”

Chiba, who had been in a gloomy mood for the past few days, raised her head in surprise.

“Alice? Why did she come here?”

“I don’t know.”

Lucifer shook his head.

“But it appears they’ve mistaken Alice for an ally of the demons and are treating her as a traitor.”

Chiba’s expression darkened.

“What a ridiculous bunch of bastards.”

A cold laugh escaped her lips.

“Rather than calling Alice a traitor, I think those despicable people are far more deserving of that title.”

Lucifer hesitated before asking:

“Master, what should we do?”

“Should we simply stay out of it?”

Chiba fell silent for a moment.

Then she shook her head.

“No.”

“We still need to return to the human world eventually.”

“Alice can’t just die for no reason.”

Chiba’s expression became serious.

“I also need to give Yuichi a proper explanation.”

She turned toward Lucifer.

“Lucifer… I’m going to need your help with this.”

Lucifer nodded without hesitation.

“Understood, Master.”