novelraw Chapter 223 : Chapter 223
Chapter 223 : Chapter 223
Chapter 223: Relationship
After returning to the hideout, I convened the executives again and explained the series of events that happened today and their results.
First, the information obtained from the Battleground and the new collaborator.
Anyone with even a little interest in the Gate military logistics field would naturally know the cutting-edge military logistics company called [The Top], so they couldn't help but admire my new connection.
And after that, I also explained the twin kidnapping incident that occurred, and the relationship between Ye-jin and Smiley, which I could no longer hide.
Everyone gasped in astonishment.
Even Breaker and Assassin, who usually showed almost no emotional agitation, stupidly left their mouths wide open, revealing their feelings.
“So Smiley had a family. And that kid is the Boss's student.”
Greed lightly tapped the table with his fingertips.
Who knows how much they'd suffered at Smiley's hands in the old organization.
His left temple, which had been smashed by her exclusive weapon, the Peacemaker, throbbed needlessly.
“Isn't fate just so mysterious and profound.”
Ha-rin rolled her eyes left and right for a moment, then asked.
“So the kidnapping is just an expression, you're actually bringing her here to protect her, right?”
“That's right.”
I nodded.
Protection.
To be precise, to block contact from the fake Smiley, it was best for me to kidnap and keep Ye-jin.
Seeing Smiley's current state, she wasn't going to say anything good upon contacting Ye-jin.
Furthermore, I was anxious about what else she might do.
It was a good thing I'd already told Ye-jin herself about her relationship with Smiley.
If I hadn't even told her that, things would have become twice as complicated.
Vulture, who had been listening silently, presented a different opinion.
“Is it impossible for the Sword Demon to protect that student, Ye-jin?”
From his perspective, he honestly didn't like me focusing on babysitting more than being a villain.
Of course, he wasn't brave enough to say that to my face.
He only had one life.
Certainly, if the Sword Demon, of all people, managed her directly, it would provide some cover.
But in my view, that opinion was nothing but an empty shell.
“Would the Sword Demon even protect her properly? He's a guy who was half-negligent even with his own child.”
The Sword Demon's attitude was fundamentally insincere about everything except the sword and hero work, and it was doubtful he'd listen to my request now that I wasn't a professor.
And above all…….
“That guy can't be trusted either.”
I couldn't trust the Sword Demon.
―That was the biggest problem.
The Sword Demon also had the experience of losing someone precious.
Who knew when he might backstab everyone, saying he'd revive his deceased wife, and join the Society.
How could I entrust a precious student to such a person.
“Even so. First the professor last time, and now bringing a student for protection.”
“The picture does look strange.”
“It seems there's some misunderstanding……”
I scratched my cheek and said.
Just because I called them for a "meeting" often, they were mistaking this for a real meeting.
I had already made a decision.
This was a place to disseminate it.
They could ask questions, but.
“This is a notification. Don't argue, just do as you're told.”
They keep talking back.
My eyes, visible between my half-closed eyelids, glinted menacingly.
“Don't make my old personality come out.”
Lately, I'd been acting moderately, like I do with other people, and it created an atmosphere where they were trying to creep up.
Even in this world where only the strong are the truth, there's a limit to insolence.
How dare these villains.
Only then did the old executives shut their mouths, watching my expression.
And the only one among them who didn't need to watch my expression, Ha-rin, narrowed her eyes and asked.
“What are you talking about, calling it a meeting. Anyway, if it's that important, shouldn't you be doing the kidnapping yourself? If you use your subordinates, they might fail.”
“It's not that they might fail, I'm sending them to fail.”
I gave the order to kidnap her, but there was no way they would succeed.
Currently, Ye-jin was doing work experience at the Sword Demon's office.
Her surroundings would naturally be crawling with the Sword Demon's sidekicks.
Those weak and incompetent lackeys, forget kidnapping, they'd all be smashed to pieces before they even attempted it.
“It's right for me to move after building up the pretext and situation like that.”
I would mobilize my subordinates in the Sword Demon's territory to cause frequent clashes several times, and the subordinates would all be caught.
Retaliating by doing something rough to a sidekick wasn't that unusual in this world.
If I moved immediately and kidnapped Ye-jin, outside eyes might find the situation strange and suspect the relationship.
That's why tossing in the small-fry first to muddy the waters was the priority.
After clashing with the Sword Demon's people several times, it would look like I was forced to move.
And make it seem as if Ye-jin's kidnapping wasn't the goal, but part of the process.
At my explanation, Ha-rin was even more surprised than when she had heard about the relationship between Smiley and Ye-jin just now.
She realized the only reason I was sticking to such a troublesome and inconvenient method even for kidnapping one person was that harm could come to the student.
Where else would there be someone who thinks of others to that extent and acts for them.
At least, she had never seen one.
“Really.”
She let out a faint sigh and looked at me.
“What's the point of suffering with such a good heart. In the end, you take all the blame and stigma, and not a single person recognizes it.”
Having already stood up, I let out a chuckle.
“Why. At least you know. It's enough if only I know, but one more person knows, so it's more than enough.”
Watching me, Ha-rin shook her head.
That idiot would definitely die saving someone later, she must have thought.
But until that moment, the only thing she could do for me was just…….
“Then I guess I should start cleaning the guest room.”
That much was all.
***
Rustle rustle—
So-hee, who got out of bed, stared blankly at the ceiling and the wall.
The distinctive noise of a construction site, faintly audible in the distance, was now familiar.
She instinctively checked the cell phone she had placed beside her.
As expected, there were no new calls or texts from the night.
She frowned at the clean history.
He promised to keep in touch, but wasn't this too much.
Should I send a text?
She fiddled with her phone, contemplating, then finally put it down with a hollow laugh.
What was she doing.
Her current state was quite ridiculous.
She had only known him for half a year.
To think his empty space would be felt this strongly.
They weren't even that close.
From a surveillance target to a somewhat decent person, a friend, the savior who had saved her life.
When she thought about it that way, they were extremely close.
Whatever Ho-cheol's true intentions were, he had officially backstabbed the Association and returned to being a villain.
Naturally, So-hee, his former surveillance officer, was also put in a very difficult position.
It was a crime severe enough to not just be fired from the Association, but to be imprisoned as his accomplice.
It was fortunate that her assignment had recently changed from monitoring Ho-cheol to monitoring Ji-an.
Of course, the dean's active defense and protection had a great effect here.
Without his help, it would have been impossible to live even as she was now.
She came out of her room and peeked through another door connected to the living room.
The bulging blanket on the bed.
Hearing the sound of breathing from inside, she quietly closed the door again.
For So-hee, it was just a feeling of disappointment that Ho-cheol was gone, but Ji-an's condition was more serious.
Not only was she lethargic, but she was also pining away.
When So-hee asked if she should go to the hospital, Ji-an said something about her body's immune system collapsing if she didn't ingest Ho-cheol periodically.
“You're not eating breakfast?”
“Ughueeeeeng.”
It was roughly an answer meaning she wouldn't eat.
In the end, she left Ji-an and came out of the dorm.
She looked at the scenery outside and marveled.
That building, it definitely wasn't there yesterday, but they'd been hammering away all night and built another one.
The restoration work for Clington Hero Academy was currently proceeding at a rapid pace.
Over 30% of the grounds had already regained their original appearance, and the area around the main gate had returned to normal.
It was a natural speed, since not only heavy equipment but also awakened ones were mobilized for the construction.
She ordered a cup of coffee at a nearby cafe and sat on the terrace.
The cafe she had often visited with Ho-cheol.
Although she was sad that Ho-cheol, who should have been across from her, was absent, she could at least recall her memories with him this way.
So-hee, who had half-emptied her cup, took out her phone and checked the news.
Although Ho-cheol's face or name wasn't clearly shown, there were headlines about a villain who had recently been expanding his influence with overwhelming momentum.
Even in the midst of large-scale villain battles, the damage to civilians was minimal.
In fact, in the areas Ho-cheol controlled, the villain occurrence and crime rates were dropping.
But the news had none of that good content, only sensational and disparaging content about Ho-cheol just because he was a villain.
She wasn't asking them to defend him.
But shouldn't they at least provide objective and clear information so that other people could make a proper judgment?
And the citizens, swept up by such biased information, didn't even think to find out properly, nor had a reason to, and were just focused on cursing Ho-cheol with all their might.
At that reaction, So-hee quietly ground her teeth.
Did Ho-cheol have to sacrifice and suffer so much for these people who knew nothing and cursed him?
Even if they didn't know how to be grateful, shouldn't they at least not curse him.
In the end, she couldn't hold back and muttered quietly.
“Trash-like bastards.”
And at that moment.
“I agree. Humans are truly vile.”
A cheerful voice came from behind.
So-hee looked back, puzzled, and froze in her half-turned position.
The one standing behind her was definitely…….
“Y-you are.”
Smiley.
She pointed to the pager in her hand and smiled faintly.
“Don't be so surprised. I just came as a customer. But it turns out, I saw a familiar face.”
Of course, that was a lie.
The reason she had come all this way was naturally to meet So-hee.
“Mind if I join you?”
Smiley, who said that, immediately sat down across from So-hee, as if she had no intention of hearing an answer.
It was the seat Ho-cheol always sat in.
“What on earth brings you……”
“Well, there are various reasons. At first, I thought about killing you……”
Smiley rested her chin on her hand and spun the round pager like a top with her other hand.
“Until two days ago, I thought about kidnapping you and locking you up on some island. But now…… hmm.”
The rapidly spinning pager came to a halt.
“To talk a bit, and get some help.”
So-hee could only stare at Smiley, still extremely tense.
The opponent was an enemy even Ho-cheol struggled with.
She could probably take her neck with just a flick of a finger.
She stammered.
“Help? From… me?”
“Yep. I've been investigating Hocheol surroundings lately, and it seems you're the closest.”
Even in a situation where she didn't know if she'd live or die, So-hee's lips twitched for a moment.
She had inwardly thought so too, but having it confirmed by someone else gave her a different kind of thrill.
Of course, because the situation was serious, that excited feeling quickly disappeared.
“S-so?”
“Actually, the original plan was completely different. I was going to completely isolate Hocheol, cut off all his other relationships, and make him stay with just me.”
The hand supporting her chin lost its strength, and her body slumped forward.
It was an infinitely defenseless and relaxed posture, but that wasn't a basis for So-hee to be at ease.
Rather, she had no choice but to become more tense at her words.
Completely isolating him meant she would do something to the people around him, including herself.
“Seeing him say he was disappointed in me last time, I realized. He's a completely different person from the Ho-cheol I remembered. So I'm trying to change my approach. But to do that, I need your help.”
A blatant statement that she would use her to improve her relationship with Ho-cheol.
So-hee didn't have the strength to resist those words.
However.
“……I refuse.”
She had the will, at least.
“What?”
“If you're planning on using me to set a trap and put Ho-cheol in a difficult position……”
Although her voice and body were trembling pitifully, her eyes held a resolute will.
“Ah, it's a misunderstanding. A misunderstanding. Really, untangling this twisted relationship is the priority. Because……”
Smiley, unlike before, muttered softly with a slightly sad smile.
“I. Am going to die soon.”
At the completely unexpected words, So-hee's eyes widened more than ever.