Curse the Mainframe! 224 The Cookie Sec

The Cookie Sect – that was Alec's information gathering group that had eventually started evolving, and they had established themselves as a normal sect, to the bafflement of many others.

Unlike other established sects already that took up a political stance or power, the Cookie Sect was maintaining a neutral stance, away from the influence of any other sects.

Instead, it appeared just like a business rather than a sect, as they were not gathering any disciples, nor recruiting anyone from outside.

The appearance of this sect baffled many, but the sect remained indifferent to their curiosity.

To the outside, it appeared as if the Cookie Sect was just a gathering of foodies and dessert lovers who loved to bake, but it was anything but.

Of course, they did indeed enjoy their craft, but their true purpose was to gather information from far and wide discreetly.

At the head of operations was Hong Jun, whom Alec had taken in as a subordinate early on. Even before he ever entered the Heavenly Ascension Sect.

While they had started off as a little group that only took in orphans, it had slowly spread out, growing like wildfire across the continent.

They maintained a strict sense of neutrality, and their main skill was gathering information from the unlikeliest of places.

If Vincent allowed the Neil Clan members to enter, then Alec would be able to spread out his hands wider, for more information.

Strictly speaking, Alec wasn't the sect leader of this sect. Rather, he shared the position of power with Hong Jun, whom he shared a working relationship with. It would be more apt to say that they were co-sect leaders, as strange as it sounded.

Throughout the three years, Alec had been steadily growing this little group cultivating them with the help from the money he made from the sales of his seals throughout the continent, as well as the copyright fees that were paid to him yearly.

No one else from the Heavenly Ascension Sect knew about it, but Alec had allowed a bit of information to slip into his uncle's ears, which was why he wasn't surprised that his uncle brought up the information.

The Cookie Sect.

Just hearing about it made it sound more like it was an uninformed nobleman's pastime trying to create a branch that would attract people to its business, and that was exactly how it appeared to those that were uninformed.

Even when they knew, the sect didn't behave like a sect at all, and instead conducted themselves in a way that was like a café slash pastry business throughout the cities in the continent.

The Cookie Sect was a large-scale dessert shop that catered to both the high class and commoners with different styled shops, with the high class one being obviously more luxurious, and seeing a steep increase in price and quality.

They broke into the market two years ago, but their cakes and desserts tasted heavenly enough that no one was able to resist their allure for long.

With two different types of shops that catered to different customers, their service was what made them popular.

If you paid a little bit of extra, you could get a private room that was quiet and soundproof, suitable for discussions and negotiations on neutral grounds.

It was rapidly becoming a favourite wherever they were set up.

While Alec had been the one who founded the Sect, the truth was that he never did anything to expand it at all besides providing the necessary expanses. He left everything to Hong Jun's discretion.

In the first place, Alec wasn't going after power when he helped the Cookie Sect grow. He just took it as investing in a Main Character, but he also hadn't expected for it to grow so quickly or so rapidly.

Should he say, as expected of a Main Character? For Hong Jun to be able to do something like this with only orphans that were under his rule was miraculous in its own way.

It had only been two years since they started, but their reputation already preceded them.

Alec was more like the patron behind it, reaping the benefits from their cooperation.

He never expected this to happen, but Hong Jun started moving on such a scale that Alec found that it was more beneficial than not, so he carefully removed whatever hindrances that were in the way.

Like that, the Cookie Sect could help out the Spectres in the future as well.

Alec planned to secretly help the Heavenly Ascension Sect in the shadows.

Hong Jun insisted that Alec sit at the position of the sect leader, but Alec secretly suspected that it was more because Hong Jun didn't want to be annoyed with that position. In the end, both of them had to compromise and share it as co-leader.

The teen kept sending him reports even though he was in the Heavenly Ascension Sect when he'd been trying to avoid the position by holing up in the sect.

Alec had felt helpless at the time.

He didn't even know that they'd managed to infiltrate the sect, damn it! Hong Jun was a sneaky bastard that always pushed until he got his way. It was a miracle that Alec had been able to make him compromise.

After that, he sort of just wilfully ignored the newly founded sect.

And he'd been perfectly happy ignoring it, until Hong Jun sent a sect member to show him his bank statements and he got a shock at the combined profits from both his seal's sales and the Cookie Sect's sales.

…So, he invested back in the Cookie Sect, causing them to grow exponentially.

He knew it was a scheme by Hong Jun, making him feel responsible, but Alec felt like he was a bit funny, with how hard he was trying, so he gave him a bit of a hand in the end.

So, even though Alec was 'co-sect leader', he was only a figurehead that wasn't ever seen. The real leader was Hong Jun.

If Hong Jun knew about what Alec thought about the Cookie Sect, he would have tried his best to strangle him.

In the first place, Alec was the one who had sent him down the information gathering route! Plus, with how much Alec randomly gave him whenever he found him for a bit of information, what else was he going to do with the money!?

Bloody hell, Hong Jun hated being in someone's debt, so he left the sect leader position to Alec, but Alec had the nerve to complain about it?! He would *strangle* the idiot!

What had he been working so hard for?!

Alec left the clan compounds in the middle of the night with Thea. Even though Vincent asked them to leave tomorrow, there were too many things that needed to be prepared in order for a successful infiltration into the palace.

Thea was grudgingly impressed that Alec was able to keep up with her, and her initial good impression of him that had taken a bit of a hit because of his Societype and Magitype increased.

Thea quickly put down whatever preconceived notions she had of him.

She knew she was quick. As a thief, she had to be in case she was ever caught, but Alec easily matched her pace and speed without tiring one bit, making her wonder just how he'd been trained, and to what degree of mastery he was at.

Her speed was the only reason why she had escaped without losing her life unexpectedly. That, and the fact that she had been able to detect the faint killing intent that came at her, no matter how hidden it had been.

Thea was, however, still doubtful about how much he knew about infiltration.

"Hey, can you really do this?" Thea asked, her facial features hidden in the dark. Or so she thought.

Alec didn't answer, and Thea felt dissatisfied at him ignoring her.

"It's not like I want to question your abilities. It's just that this is something that concerns many lives in the clan's compound. I don't ever want to see something like the massacre become reality one day," she continued, feeling a need to explain herself.

"I have been trained," Alec said simply.

No matter how much he tried to convince her, she would always have doubts, so he wasn't going to waste his time on a pointless endeavour.

Rather, he was formulating a plan in his mind, so he wasn't giving his answers towards her much thought.

Thea scowled at his answer, unsatisfied, but what could she do when the clan head had already approved of this?

She had so many worries, but so little time.

The worst part of this entire fiasco was that it originated from inside the clan, so it had been difficult to guard against.

She'd been lucky to hear that conversation when she infiltrated the palace in order to liberate some things.

Alec broke her train of thought. "Do you really think that our clan is that weak?"

Thea frowned. "What do you mean?"

There was only silence that greeted her.

Alec shook his head, but it wasn't like she could see it in the dark. "It doesn't matter. You'll understand sooner or later."

Instead of pressing further for an answer, Thea fell silent as her mind started working in overdrive.

Chapter end

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