49

Onari and Yu Wu continued to bicker playfully about the veracity of tropes in real life as they followed after the young devil girl. The devil unknowingly led them through the streets of Seoul with obvious familiarity. The streets got darker and darker as they trailed after this girl.

Suddenly, the girl turned a corner and ducked into a small walking tunnel. When Onari and Yu Wu followed and turned the same corner, they were struck by a blinding amount of light. Up until this point, the streets leading up to this place had only been lit by street lamps sparsely placed along the side of the road.

The light streamed through the tunnel, silhouetting the girl as she walked out the tunnel's other side. Onari turned to Yu Wu and shot her a look with a raised eyebrow. Yu Wu looked more curious than ever, walking forward and motioning for him to follow her.

As they breached the other side of the tunnel, they were greeted with an interesting sight. The tunnel was apparently some kind of service tunnel or entrance for an abandoned facility. The facility itself was spacious enough to hold hundreds of people. Which was appropriate because that's exactly what it was doing at this moment.

The old factory had been cleared out and a whole shanty town had been built in its place. Scrap metal, wood, and leftover components from the factory formed makeshift houses and tents that decorated the facility's floor.

Surprisingly, the inhabitants of this factory shanty town didn't look like typical homeless people. Some wore their hair spiked or gelled back like delinquents. Some wore suits that, while worn, were definitely not cheap. Others just looked like normal people who had been displaced from their lives by something disruptive.

People greeted and bowed to the devil girl as she walked through the shanty town. She was obviously well-known and well-liked here. She greeted everyone back equally with a genuine smile on her face. Even the delinquent guards patrolling the shanty town stopped their routes and waved to the devil girl.

Thankful for how well Onari's illusions concealed them, Onari and Yu Wu slipped into the shanty town. They ghosted after the devil girl from a closer distance while still keeping their eyes open and observing the rest of their surroundings. What they saw was both concerning and heartwarming.

This small town seemed to be the result of a community banding together. They all looked to have gone through some tough times, but they stuck together and managed to build something unconventionally beautiful here. The devil girl seemed to be part of the glue that held this community together.

The girl walked to the center of the shanty town. The makeshift building there was slightly better crafted and bigger than the buildings surrounding it. She stepped into the obvious headquarters. Onari and Yu Wu slipped in behind her.

Once inside, the devil girl was greeted by a mousy-looking young man who couldn't seem to stay still for a single second. He was constantly twitching and seemed to have been awaiting the devil's return. He jumped slightly when he saw her, clutching his clipboard to his chest in a way that indicated more surprise than fear.

"C-Cho Soo-Yun!" he squeaked. "Y-You're back…"

"Sure am, lil' secretary buddy!" Cho Soo-Yun said, half acting and half genuine. "What'dya got for me tonight? Oh, also, we have to send the boys to take care of some bodies. Some of those Japanese assholes got uppity again."

"... Noted, boss," the mousy man said, scrambling to follow after Cho Soo-Yun as she walked further into the building.

They finally made their way into a private room and Cho Soo-Yun was able to drop her cutesy facade. She was still cute without the over-the-top cuteness act, but the difference was very noticeable for people who had seen her with the act and without.

Soo-Yun sighed, "The Yakuza are only getting more and more bold, Ryu Young. I don't know how much longer we can resist their advances…"

The mousy man, Ryu Young, winced, "Uh, about that, boss… Some of our boys have been telling me that they've started seeing demons working with the Yakuza."

"What kind of demons?" Soo-Yun hesitantly asked.

"Uhm... The Japanese kind, boss?"

Soo-Yun facepalmed, "Helpful… Just… Just leave your notes here and go do something useful."

"Yes, boss. Right away, boss," Ryu Young squeaked before dropping his clipboard on the desk in the room and scampering out.

Sitting down at the shabby table in the room, Soo-Yun sighed and began to read the notes. As she read, she became more and more distressed. When she finished, her head dropped into her hands.

"What am I gonna do?" she asked herself. "Things were bad enough when it was just human thugs coming in and wrecking shit. But now, the Yakuza have allied themselves with Hells-damned Youkai?! How are we supposed to survive this shit?..."

Soo-Yun fell into a stressed and almost hopeless silence. Yu Wu glanced at Onari and nudged him with her elbow.

'See?' Yu Wu expressed over the bond. 'It pays to be nosy as a cultivator.'

'I mean… yeah, we should probably do something about the rogue Youkai. I don't see how that's a reward though. It's kinda just my job to keep strays from making the whole faction look bad,' Onari replied.

'Not just that,' Yu Wu rolled her eyes. 'We get to help a cute girl protect the homeless. And we can get proof that some Youkai are working with the Yakuza. If they're working together here, then they're definitely working together back home.

Yu Wu continued, walking Onari through the political implications step by step, 'Cracking down on Youkai-Yakuza relations will get you a lot of goodwill and political influence. Even Tsukuyomi will like you more since you'll be fighting the impure and criminal aspects of society. It might even be enough to make him stop backing Nurarihyon's play to put his son in your place.'

'... So the unexpected rewards are mostly political?'

'Don't forget the karma from helping a cute girl defend the homeless! But honestly, yeah. Breaking up a Youkai-Yakuza crime ring will do wonders to secure and strengthen your position within the faction.'

'It's a good thing I have you to help explain this kind of stuff. I still don't get how you're so fluent in politics…'

'Once again, thank the sacred texts! Now go offer the cute girl our help before she starts crying!'

Onari rolled his eyes as he allowed the illusion around them to fade. Soo-Yun did seem to be worryingly close to tears. Clearing his throat, he spoke.