Chapter 126
"Then what should we do with this Bitcoin?"
Lee Baek-gon thought for a moment, then handed me the USB drive.
"Why are you giving this to me?"
"Please take it, Teacher."
"Me?"
"Yes. We wouldn't have obtained it if not for you, anyway."
He wasn't wrong.
But he was wrong, too.
"If it weren't for all of you, I wouldn't have obtained it either. 'We' are partners cooperating with one another."
It was thanks to intelligence agents from various countries and the help of the U.S. military that we had been able to catch those bastards so easily.
Lee Baek-gon and the other agents seemed moved by my words.
"So let's divide this equally among us."
The NIS's budget couldn't always be generous.
Since this was wealth we had obtained by chance, wouldn't it be right to use it together with them?
"...Thank you so much."
"Don't mention it. Oh, and if I may make one more suggestion..."
I looked toward the CIA.
"Those three—no, including the Moon of Allah assassin captured by the police, four in total. How about handing them over to the United States?"
Korea had not yet suffered any major losses at the hands of the Moon of Allah.
But the United States was different.
It had suffered from their terrorism for a long time.
"It would look better if America were seen as having arrested them, rather than us."
"Hmm... We'll have to discuss this with our superiors."
"Please do. But I think it will work out."
The NIS's higher-ups would also prefer receiving America's cooperation to keeping a few terrorists.
"I-I'll report to the director immediately!"
The CIA agent shouted urgently.
Then perhaps I should spend the remaining time drinking coffee.
.
.
[...]
The decision didn't take long.
After drinking a few cups of coffee and completely draining one character's fatigue on my laptop, Lee Baek-gon, Seetram, and Euler came to find me.
"We've finished the negotiations."
"We'll send the four people captured in Korea to the United States, and Korea will receive several diplomatic benefits in return."
It seemed like a deal that satisfied all three of them.
I smiled and held out a card to them.
"Uh... Why are you doing that?"
"Since we accomplished something major, we should check, shouldn't we?"
Lee Baek-gon, Seetram, and Euler flipped the cards over, puzzled.
There was nothing noteworthy about Lee Baek-gon or Euler.
This incident would help Lee Baek-gon solidify his position within the NIS, while also increasing the operating expenses for agents working domestically.
The same was true for Euler, who would be staying here.
But Seetram was different.
"Mr. Seetram."
"Yes?"
"How are you planning to transport those people?"
"Uh... We have an airline that cooperates with the CIA. We'll use them..."
"No."
"Pardon?"
"Get help from the U.S. military."
The aircraft's pilot would be threatened by the Moon of Allah, divert the aircraft to the middle of the Pacific, and crash it.
"......."
He stared at me with his mouth hanging open in shock, but only for a moment.
His eyes flashed.
"Is our airline going to betray us? No, more importantly, how did you know we were taking them...? Surely there isn't a traitor in the CIA?"
"Well, the future I know for you is that you'll die in the Pacific..."
The future changed the moment their agreement was concluded.
I was speaking based on that future, so what else could I say?
I was merely telling them what I could see.
"Sigh..."
"Who knows about this?"
"Most of the high-ranking officials within the CIA probably know."
It was that major a matter, and one that would bring considerable benefits.
But that would also lead to a major mistake.
"Could I meet all the high-ranking officials?"
"I'll ask Madam Seira."
Madam Seira, who had come when we formed the 'Our' alliance, was also a high-ranking CIA official.
If I went through her, identifying the traitor within the organization shouldn't be difficult.
"Yes. I'll leave that to you."
"If we use a military aircraft, there won't be a problem?"
"Yes."
The future changed.
From a future in which he died in despair aboard an aircraft crashing into the Pacific, to one in which he returned safely to the United States.
While he let out a sigh of relief, Lee Baek-gon carefully asked,
"Are there no traitors in the NIS?"
"Not as far as I've seen so far."
I hadn't actually met the director of the NIS, but I had met the first and second deputy directors.
Neither of them would be connected to the traitor or suffer as a result.
Lee Baek-gon sighed in relief.
"Will this put you in danger, Teacher?"
I glanced at the mirror.
No.
The Moon of Allah had shown no sign of making a move against me.
"Like attacking the people around you..."
"Nothing."
"They're surprisingly mild-mannered for a terrorist organization."
"But they won't remain idle forever."
I was already an enemy to them.
Their greatest enemy, at that.
They wouldn't be able to attack such an enemy with a few half-hearted swipes.
"...We'll have to increase the security around you, Teacher."
Lee Baek-gon said this cautiously, and the other agents around him nodded in agreement.
.
.
[...]
After finishing my business at the NIS, I returned home.
Just as I was thinking that I should finish draining the fatigue from the remaining characters, my phone rang.
-Noah!! We just arrived in France!
It was Hong Si-yeon.
With her sunglasses resting on top of her head, she was talking to me with Paris's splendid scenery behind her.
-Have you eaten?
"Yes. I ate before I came."
Lee Baek-gon had bought it for me.
I went to an al-tang restaurant that the NIS agents often visited, and it was delicious.
As expected, the best restaurants are the ones civil servants frequent!
"How's France?"
-It smells, it's crowded, and there are lots of pickpockets.
I remembered the person who had confidently recommended France earlier.
-When I got off the plane at the airport earlier, oh my. There was a man trying to take my suitcase so brazenly!
She grumbled softly that her bodyguard had caught him and immediately turned him over to the police.
-Europe really is China's twin.
"Hahaha..."
-Still, the city is beautiful.
It certainly looked that way.
The view of France on the video call was completely different from Korea.
Even the ordinary buildings in the neighborhood looked like works of art.
"Let's see..."
I turned over a card.
Sensing Hong Si-yeon's expectant gaze, I spoke.
"You're going to a high-end French restaurant tonight, right?"
-Yes! I'm going with Grandma!
"The waiter there is a racist."
-Eh.
"Get a good recording and sue him. Ah, no. I know a French official, so I'll ask him to help."
It would be better to tell Leo.
-But we have bodyguards.
"Your bodyguards are Korean and Russian, aren't they?"
Even Russians despised the racism openly practiced in France, the land of freedom and revolution.
So I should prepare a response.
-You don't have to go that far... We can just go to another restaurant.
"Your feelings will be hurt, but the food was delicious in the future I saw. It's a restaurant you were looking forward to that much, right?"
Since she was going anyway, wouldn't it be better to enjoy the meal?
It would be even better if the racism didn't ruin her mood.
"And it's only that waiter who's racist—the restaurant itself isn't like that, so don't hate the restaurant too much."
-Okay. Is there anything else you can tell me? Um, maybe a gift you want.
A gift... I didn't particularly want anything.
I didn't even know what France was famous for in the first place.
The only things I knew Paris for were Paris Baguette and the guillotine...
"Could you buy me a guillotine model if they have one?"
I couldn't ask her to bring me bread from Paris Baguette in Paris, so I might as well mention this.
-I don't know if they sell something like that, but if they do, I'll get you one.
Hong Si-yeon said this with a smile, looking flustered.
It seemed like she was about to leave.
"Then have fun, accomplish what you set out to do, and come back..."
-Noah?
"Ah. Grandma."
-Hohoho. Si-yeon told me. She said you were worried about me?
"Goodness. Who else would worry about you if not me?"
-Hahaha!! You're such a dear. Yes, thank you. Thanks to you, I won't suffer a serious injury. Hehe. Did you say a guillotine model? If you want one, I could even have a real guillotine made for you.
No, there was no need to go that far...
"By the way, Grandma."
-Hm?
"Let me read your fortune."
I turned over a card.
Madam Yang Chun-ja, visible on the other side of the video, looked puzzled but expectant.
"Doing business with Marmont SA will be difficult. The company needs your money, but Armin, the negotiator, wants to secure more profit for himself."
-Oh-ho... Is that so?
"Yes. So it would be better to talk to Mr. Oswald instead of Armin."
In the future I saw, Madam Yang Chun-ja regretted it.
I saw her muttering that she had wasted time talking to Armin for no reason.
I saw her say that the deal would have gone much more smoothly if she had done business with Oswald instead.
-Then I suppose I should. Thank you.
"Don't mention it."
The future changed in an instant.
Instead of a troublesome tug-of-war and struggle over interests, she concluded the deal cleanly and went with Hong Si-yeon to see the winery and vineyards she had received as collateral.
"The winery and vineyards you're receiving as collateral are excellent properties, so you can be satisfied with them."
-Hehe. Thank you. Oh, do you need wine?
"Even if it's expensive wine, it's ten to twelve times the price of ordinary wine...!!"
-Hm?
"It's just a joke. Anyway, have fun on your trip. There's no particular danger, so don't worry too much."
-Great! Thank you! Ah, I'll put Si-yeon on.
Hong Si-yeon appeared on the screen again.
She looked slightly displeased.
-Noah. It feels like you've gotten closer to Grandma than to me.
"Come on. Surely not? Hahaha. Ms. Si-yeon, are you jealous of your grandmother?"
A mischievous smile spread across Hong Si-yeon's lips.
-What if I am?
What a brazen young lady.