Chapter 484: Juyoung Hong (11)
Even though I finished talking, he didn’t show any sign of opening his mouth.
But I didn’t press him because he must have a lot of thoughts in his mind.
He must have been regretting all the misfortune that fell to him.
About 10 minutes passed when he finally opened his mouth.
“Okay, I will give up, and accept all the initial demands you made of me.”
Of course, I fully expected he would accept my demands at the end of the day.
But I shook my head and said, “Well, you accepted my initial demands, but this is my second time seeing you here, right? I hope as a businessman you are not innocent enough to think my demands this time will be the same as before.”
Of course, I felt I was being a little unfair that I was making demands of him a second time.
But obviously, these guys were worse than me, and even worse than the rebels who killed and robbed people for nor reason, because they instigated the rebels while providing weapons for them behind the scenes. Nonetheless, I didn’t kill them like the rebels.
In other words, I was already being very merciful, even though Chairman Connenty might not be aware of my generosity.
At any rate, I continued, with his face blushing at my unexpected words.
“But don’t be too disappointed. I’m going to give you some good stuff. First, you should take your hands off the mines in Sierra Leone. I don’t care even if you make transactions with others at low prices, but you should make sure you buy the diamonds from my mines in Sierra Leone at full price. What I mean is you should not make me frown at your business practices as far as purchasing my diamonds are concerned. And let me take 50%. Even though I want to take all the diamonds you guys have obtained until now, you won’t like it. So let me take only 50% of them. Got it?”
“Oh no!”
Chairman Connenty opened his mouth suddenly, but I stopped him right away.
And I said with a poker face like before, “I told you already that I talked more than I planned. I didn’t ask the rebels, nor did I even attempt to converse with them. So choose your words carefully! Carefully!”
“…”
I didn’t press him, even though he was very slow to respond.
Why? Because I was supposed to still enjoy my vacation in Seoul, Korea, and I still had plenty of time.
***
In Cheongdam-dong, Seoul a few hours later.
“Son! I know you are on vacation right now, but it looks like you’re just out and about most of the time!”
My mom spoke to me as I walked in after opening the door.
As she said, it was true that I went out too often these days.
As soon as she said that, I heard somebody’s voice coming from the living room.
My sister said, “Mom, you told me that you felt good that he went out instead of being stuck at home! You even gave him pocket money.”
“It’s because..!”
The moment my mom was about to rebuke her, I hugged her first, and said, “Hehe! I’m going to refrain from going outside now because I have already done what I needed to do. And the start of school is just around the corner, so I have to prepare for it.”
I would not have dared to say that in the past, but I didn’t hesitate any longer.
Obviously, it’s something embarrassing for a high school freshman to do so, but I didn’t do it in the past. Anyway, I got away with it, then moved to my room on the second floor.
Shortly afterward, my sister knocked on my door.
Knock. Knock.
As soon as she came in, she said, “Hmm… If you’re an alien, reveal your identity quickly. Is my brother alive?”
“…”
I heard it often from her these days, so I didn’t respond, shaking my head.
I knew I would have to keep responding to her if I ever affirmed it.
She would be determined to find out everything about me, starting off with my past activities, by pinching my cheeks and ruffling my hair.
She would definitely try to prove I have nothing to do with Juyoung Hong.
Of course, she would do this to me half jokingly.
Anyway, I’ve changed completely.
At first, I thought I wanted to change slowly, but it was harder and more cumbersome than I thought. For example, I had to monitor her expressions while pretending not to, and I had to try to look indecisive even though I was not.
In other words, it really stressed me out trying to act like a stupid boy.
So I decided I would not care a damn about what I did.
Anyway, I asked her to get out by waving at her.
She said, “Gosh, you must be an alien. When you’re done, return my brother to me before you leave Earth.”
Having said that, she left my room.
After she went out, I reviewed what I had done in Sierra Leone.
“…”
Obviously, my actions were extreme.
Even though I decided to hold back, those I killed, including the rebels, were over 1000.
But I had no other choice but to do so.
In retrospect, I have been to a place where human lives were really worthless, where the rebels’ massive massacres dwarfed my killing of 1000 evil guys there.
‘Well, I don’t have to feel guilty…”
When I was lost in thought about it, I heard another knock on my door.
Of course, it wasn’t my sister, nor was it my mother.
It was none other than Taesok Oh, who Director Sok sent me when I asked him to introduce one of his trusted deputies to me.
He opened the door and came in.
“Did you call me?”
“Sure. Come this way.”
Although it was my room, it was quite spacious. There was a sofa on one side, so I led him there.
This was my second time seeing him, so I talked to him in an informal tone.
As soon as he sat down, I immediately opened my mouth.
“Go to Sierra Leone tomorrow. When you arrive at Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone via Europe, you will meet some people greeting you there. You have heard of Debius, right?”
“Of course, I have. Don’t they hold an almost monopoly when it comes to diamonds?”
“Right. They are going to meet you there. Even though I’ve secured diamond mines, I can’t do it alone, so I’ve told them about something in advance.”
“Are you sure you have secured diamond mines?” he asked, surprised.
“Yep. They’re very good because Debius has maintained them with great care. Since it’s not that safe there, I’ve already asked the PMC (Private Military Company) to procure me some mercenaries, so you will have no security problems there. Anyway, I’ve prepared everything, so just fly to Sierra Leone tomorrow. Of course, I’m not saying you should stay put out there. You are going to carry out lots of things on my behalf, so make sure things will go smoothly even without you in six months. It’s part of your duty to recruit and raise somebody you can trust. If you want to buy anything, use this card. It’s unlimited.”
“…”
He made a weird expression as if he could not believe what I just said.
But I didn’t tell him any more because he could understand my point when he got there.