Chapter 575: Reactionary (1)
“I apologize for m-making you come… all the way here…”
“There’s no need for apologies. We’ll take care of the protesters, so stop the order of forced suppression. The rest of the personnel shall remain on standby, leaving only the minimum number of troops needed in the area.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And I would like you to deploy the priests and heal the injured immediately. Remove the wagons that are piled up like a wall as well. Sigh…”
“I’m sorry.”
“No. You don’t have to be sorry. All you did was listen to the orders and handle the situation according to the manual. I’ll check later to see if there’s anything you really have to be sorry for… More importantly, where is Mikhail?”
“When you arrived, I sent a message. He will probably come out soon.”
‘That son of a bitch.’
Leaving the crowd’s cheers behind, when I came down to the government building’s landing area, the captain of the guard greeted me right away. The way he trembled was indeed entertaining, but it was understandable as things had suddenly spiraled out of control.
Illegal protests took place, and he had to suppress them since he was the person in charge.
The suppression order issued from above caused it to become even more hectic.
Even if it were me, I would’ve had half of a mental breakdown.
He looked quite down to earth, being cautious, thinking that he might be punished or scolded.
I’d have to investigate if he really was related to it, but personally, it didn’t seem like there was a big connection with that guy.
“I heard that a lot happened here recently.”
“Yes.”
“I know that the protests also happened because of that.”
“I-I don’t know much about the details… I just followed orders.”
“I really hope so. For now, follow my instructions.”
“I will do my best, Chairman!”
In fact, the most important wasn’t the guard, but Mikhail, the traitor.
‘That son of a bitch won’t even greet me?’
I didn’t know what to think about the fact that he didn’t come out even though he was informed.
As I looked far away, I could see the protesters gathered together in one place, following the orders of the troops. Public opinion seemed to have formed around waiting quietly since the high-ranking officials’ conversation would probably begin.
Of course, Pak Sergei, Argirmo, and Yetni Kova would’ve seen me. It was probably the result of their doing.
I wanted to meet Park Deokgu right away and hit him in the back of his head, but it wasn’t easy to approach him and be friendly since he was the protesters’ center.
Perhaps he would come to me first once things had been roughly settled.
After waiting for about three minutes, someone entered my sights. It was a young-looking woman. That was my first time seeing her, but I could quickly identify her.
‘Natalie…’
“Nice to meet you, Chairman. And… I’m really sorry to make you come all the way here. I’m Mikhail’s wife.”
“Well, there’s no need to introduce yourself. More importantly… Where’s Mikhail?”
“Mikhail is preparing to meet you right now. He didn’t know you’d be coming so urgently…”
“…”
“…”
“I’m looking forward to hearing what excuses he has.”
“I have nothing to say to that.”
“He doesn’t have to prepare anything, but let’s listen to what he has to say anyway. I’m also curious… I will rather be disappointed if he doesn’t make any excuses even with this mess. Take the lead.”
“I will take you there myself.”
“No, you don’t have to. Stop there. If you come closer, I will cut you.”
I wasn’t the one who answered her when she said that she would take me there herself. It was my trustworthy bodyguard sticking next to me, Park Li-ahn, the twin blades user.
‘She works hard… She really does.’
Mikhail and Natalie had no combat capabilities. Considering that the other people in that building didn’t possess higher combat capabilities than Park Li-ahn either, I thought there was no need to do that.
However, since the purpose was important, it seemed that the minimum security measures were at least necessary. I wanted to say that she didn’t need to do that, but I thought it wasn’t bad to hold such a position just in case.
Wasn’t it too common a cliché to end up at the risk of death after shouting that it was safe?
Of course, I didn’t intend to fall victim to that kind of cliché.
‘Safer is better…’
Park Li-ahn probably had the same thought.
It was only after she gave the signal not to get close to me more than a few meters that she looked relieved. Although a rather strange situation was created thanks to her actions, there was no great difficulty communicating with each other.
One of the guards was Hyung-guk, quietly following Natalie… Maybe…
‘It must be a threat.’
They must be showing that they would take immediate action if she did anything unnecessary.
Contrary to me, who nodded satisfactorily, Natalie’s face was stiff.
“You can take the lead.”
“Yes, then, I will take you there in peace.”
“I’ve always thought I needed to meet you at least once, but I think I only had the chance to do so now. It would have been nice if we met in a better situation.”
“We can explain everything you know and what you are expecting.”
“You mean Mikhail or you? Gosh… It was fun. What happened here in a few days is so embarrassing that I can’t stand it. Even though I have clearly told him, things spiraled down up to this point… I wonder if he made it happen… Of course, there were variables that couldn’t be controlled, but if things had been properly fixed, we wouldn’t have been placed in this situation.”
“…”
“I can’t forgive you for diverting the funding, but what’s more unforgivable than that is your incompetence.”
“That’s…”
“Do you think that if the forward bases spread across the northern area are brushed off, there will be no dust? Where in the world is there a person with no dust? The center knows everything about that too. How can all humans be clean? No matter how much I manage things, I can’t stop all those who gained power from corruption. However, you guys went too far, and the fixing process was terrible. You were busier covering what you did. How nice would it have been if you had used that power elsewhere? Due to your actions, I was forced to think of useless situations like what if everything you did is on purpose to make me come here.”
“You seem to be misunderstanding something, Chairman Lee Kiyoung. First, listen to what he has to say…”
“When did I say I wouldn’t listen? I came all the way here to listen to him… Ms. Park Li-ahn.”
“Yes, Vice Guild Mas… I mean, Chairman.”
“Please tell them to mobilize troops from areas 4 and 6 to subdue all personnel in the building. I don’t like things getting too noisy, so you can work on it after I’m gone.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Oh, and… pick two people, and bring Mikhail to the conference room. I don’t think he’s coming out, so I think I’ll have to bring him myself…”
“Yes, sir.”
“Thank you.”
“You don’t have to express your gratitude, Chairman.”
‘I wonder what he’s going to say… I’m really curious.’
Looking at her pale, stiff face, I thought I’d burst out with laughter.
‘That’s why people shouldn’t commit crimes…’
Anyone that had something that they felt guilty about would always give them that expression.
As if only she understood what was going on, she had cold sweat flowing down.
‘This woman also has a good disposition and a unique characteristic.’
I couldn’t figure out how she got involved in such a mess. Regardless, I continued to move deeper into the government building.
The Goddess’ Hand Mirror rang, and I checked if it was Lee Jihye, but I ignored it because I saw Cho Hyejin’s name on it.
Since the last call ended with a provocation, I knew it would just be something useless.
At last, I entered a large conference room with Natalie. Mikhail stood out with a very tense face.
It didn’t take long, so I thought we would arrive first, but it seemed as if I thought wrong.
Seeing the guy looking at me with a pale face, the memories we shared come to mind.
‘Fuck… we had a good time.’
The thought that a person I considered a friend eventually betrayed me suddenly came up in my mind.
“It’s been a long time, Chairman. I’m sorry for the inconvenience. I am deeply ashamed of myself.”
“Everyone is saying that. It seems that you have been stuck in the central government for too long. Gosh… Didn’t I tell you, Mikhail? The return of trust in this way is heartbreaking.”
“I’ll… p-prepare some tea…”
“Do not move.”
“No, no, it’s okay. You don’t have to block her, Ms. Park Li-ahn. I wanted to have something to drink anyway… that would be good.”
When I glanced at Natalie as she left the conference room with an anxious face, I could see that one of the guards followed her. In addition to this, Mikhail’s face, looking at her back nervously, also caught my eyes.
As I turned around and made eye contact for a moment, he bowed his head in a hurry.
“I did a lot of research. Of course, it wasn’t that I couldn’t believe you, but it’s an inevitable part of the procedure. It was fun. It was also interesting. Funds for support were constantly leaking toward the Union… It’s not my business if you’re in debt or if you wanted to take it when you had the chance. However, it’s my business that you took quite a big amount.”
“…”
“Thanks to you, I had a lot of trouble. I thought that you also had some skills to take this amount of money and launder it. Damn it. I’m telling you that what all the people in the world are saying are lies. I don’t know if it makes sense to have the adjective of integrity and innocence attached to a person who is a symbol of corruption.”
“…”
“I understand that you have nothing to say. Still, I heard you have something prepared, so let’s listen to it. The result won’t change, but I want to see how you will try to get yourself out of this…”
“It’s a misunderstanding.”
“Are there any systematic excuses other than those words? If not, let me ask a question. Where did all that money go?”
“…”
“I know that it leaked toward the Union, but no matter how much I think about it, there were a lot of strange things…”
“…”
Mikhail was just beating around the bush.
Creak.
The door then opened.
Mikhail’s wife, who came with a teacup and refreshment, handed over the teacup with a trembling hand.
I thought she didn’t have time to do any tricks because one of the guards was still there, but I habitually turned on my Mind’s Eyes and checked the contents inside.
‘Sigh… fuck.’
“Oh, now I understand a bit.”
[Colorless, Odorless and Poisonous Tea (Legendary)]
[Elder Arachne’s poisonous tea, which is indistinguishable in ordinary ways.]
“These reactionary bastards.”
The sidewall bursting out with a ‘bang!’ sound was now reflected in my view.