Night fell, and 14 Ronin Street did not finally go dark until half past ten.
Another two hours passed. When the campus had fallen completely silent, a group of people quietly made their way nearby.
They had not been staking out Iver's door.
These Demon Scholars had not even deliberately hidden themselves. They had simply entered a bar and kept drinking until now.
No one would have expected four dead-drunk men to pose any threat. Besides, this was not their first visit. They had been coming here to drink and play cards almost every day for over a week, and had even become familiar with some of the students.
But this time was different.
After leaving the bar, they found a small alley and used the hangover-curing ritual they had prepared halfway in advance to dispel the alcohol from their bodies.
"Get ready to move."
Their leader was a blond man with slicked-back hair, a white suit, and the appearance of a lawyer.
He said solemnly, "Jim, go set up the curse. Brayden, cut his telephone line. Pero and I will arrange the ritual and summon our two demons first. Then you two come over and summon your Demon Dogs."
"Are you sure we only need the Sleep Curse?"
Jim, the shortest and youngest of them, asked, "The Sleep Curse can be nested with the Weakness Curse... Didn't you say that cripple's swordsmanship was excellent? I still think we should nest the Weakness Curse with the Sleep Curse, then add a Suffocation Curse. That would kill him safely, and we could give our report to our superiors."
"I'm sure."
The leader replied firmly, "If that Moriarty's dormitory only contained him, that would be one thing... But he also has his maid and his sister. With three people, the curse's power