Chapter 132
"I can't stay at a place like this... It's too, too unpleasant!!"
Joo Min-seok and Master Jeon Gwang, who had concealed their fear behind anger, tried to leave.
But the NIS agents who had slipped into the party smoothly blocked their path.
"What the hell!! Move!!"
"Haha. If there's really no problem, then please enjoy the party before you leave. Ah, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Kim In-su, president of Myeongho Industries. Here's my business card."
"What?! What the hell do you do?! Myeongho Industries?! I've never even heard of a company like that!!"
Of course he hadn't...
Anyway, he and the other agents smiled as they blocked the door, while the CIA agents who had infiltrated alongside them also began taking up positions by the entrance.
The other agents must have been blocking the exits outside, too.
"You bastards!! Move right now?! Do you all want to die?! Should I bring down your entire company?! Huh?!"
Rowen Group was a major conglomerate, but those companies were too large for a thug who had lost his backing to bring down.
After all, their backers were none other than South Korea and the United States.
"Hahaha. Please, don't do that."
"Damn it!! Do you think I'll just sit here?! I'll sue every last one of you!!"
"Hahaha. Sue us? What a frightening thing to say."
Joo Min-seok began to run wild.
But the agents kept blocking the door to buy time, and I looked outside.
They had arrived.
I could see police cars stopping beneath the building.
A moment later, police officers and a man in a suit came rushing in.
"Mr. Joo Min-seok, Mr. Kim Bok-chul. You'll have to come with us."
"Let go! Let go! You, you bastard! Do you know who I am?! You'd better have a warrant..."
"Here it is."
It was an arrest warrant related to a murder case.
They had gotten it issued quickly.
"You made enemies of the judges when you appeared in court before, didn't you?"
After the case ended in an acquittal, he had even posted things on social media mocking the judges.
He had recklessly lashed out, thinking that because he was from a chaebol family, no one could touch him.
The judge who had issued this warrant was apparently one of the judges who had held a grudge against him since then.
Tsk, tsk.
Why had he gone out of his way to make more enemies?
Anyway, the prosecutor and police officers who had brought the warrant, issued at lightning speed, dragged Joo Min-seok and Master Jeon Gwang away.
The prosecutor who had shown them the warrant bowed politely to me.
"It's nice to meet you, Teacher Kang. I'm Jo In-sik, Prosecutor Gu's junior."
"Hello, Prosecutor Jo."
"We had been investigating the disappearance of Joo Seon-min. And now we've found her."
"Oh. Is that so?"
"Yes. The man at the reservoir near Cheonan right now is my colleague, too. We were working on the same investigation, but he was transferred to the Cheonan District Prosecutors' Office last week."
It was a case he had regretted being unable to bring to a proper conclusion.
But since I had told him the outcome, he had moved immediately instead of holding back.
And because he dug exactly where I had told him to, he found the body, allowing every procedure to be handled quickly.
We Koreans really do live up to our reputation for doing everything at lightning speed.
"Do you happen to know the locations of any other pieces of evidence?"
"Of course. Master Jeon Gwang recorded his phone conversations with Joo Min-seok."
"Oh... Are they orders to commit murder?"
"Yes. If you go to Master Jeon Gwang's secret villa, the one I told you about, there will be a car there. There's a cellphone inside the dashboard."
Prosecutor Jo In-sik's eyes flashed.
It was probably because he was delighted that he could add solicitation of murder to the charges.
"The password is 013781. All the calls he had with Joo Min-seok are recorded there."
Although Master Jeon Gwang was a subordinate who took Joo Min-seok's money, he never completely trusted him.
They were on the same side, but they had no faith in each other, which had created such excellent evidence.
"...Good."
When I also told him about the embezzlement ledgers and the location of the secret villa he had been using, Prosecutor Jo In-sik looked extremely satisfied.
"I hope we can meet again sometime."
"Haha. Come see me anytime."
He smiled broadly at me before leaving.
The inside of the event hall was quiet, as if a storm had just blown through it.
I smiled and raised my glass to the people staring intently at me.
"Haha. Don't be so tense. Isn't this supposed to be a fun party? Let's enjoy ourselves."
"......"
Unfortunately, no one seemed to be enjoying themselves.
.
.
.
"Wow. I've never seen a party atmosphere like this before."
Han Yu-na, who had been sipping wine beside me, spoke quietly.
She seemed to be enjoying the party's desolate atmosphere quite a bit.
"It's like watching an anime with a famous detective in it."
"Really?"
"Yes. Wasn't there an episode like this, too? A murder at a party, and a sleeping detective who uncovers it..."
Though there was a real detective behind it.
That wasn't important, though.
"The truth uncovered by Noah's renowned fortune-telling...! There is only one truth!"
Was "renowned fortune-telling" even a phrase?
Anyway, unable to hide her excitement, she held out her wineglass to me.
"Now, if a glass of wine containing cyanide turned up among these, and someone died..."
Flinch, flinch.
I could see the people nearby growing tense.
"Nothing like that is going to happen. How can you say something so terrifying with that pretty mouth?"
"P-Pretty..."
Her lips were full and coated in light pink lipstick.
It was true that they were pretty.
That was when Han Yu-na, who had been so excited just moments ago, froze stiff.
"Hello."
I heard a familiar voice.
It was Do Won-il of Cheonmyeong Steel.
"Oh. So we meet here."
"Haha. Indeed we do."
The man in his mid-thirties shook my hand with an impassive expression.
"Two days ago, I assumed my father's position as president of Cheonmyeong Steel."
"I see."
"You're not surprised. Do you think I devoured my father?"
"Well, rather than devouring him, I think it would be more accurate to say that you took him into your care to protect him."
"...You understand me."
A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
It was such a chilling smile that anyone unfamiliar with him would have taken it for the smile of a murderer.
But that was simply Do Won-il.
He was taciturn and showed little expression, so people mistook him for a psychopath.
"The attacks against my father, my mother, and my useless younger brother have been increasing. I needed power to protect them."
But he was a man who was genuinely devoted to protecting his own people.
That was why he had calmly taken the position of president.
And as the heir to the Cheonmyeong Group, he had made his name known.
"There will be a lot of troublesome matters to deal with."
"What can I do? It is my duty and responsibility."
He was resolute.
The future I saw for Do Won-il remained unchanged: he would become chairman of the Cheonmyeong Group.
"However, I heard something interesting happened before I arrived."
"It wasn't particularly interesting. It was just an ordinary incident."
"They don't seem to see it that way..."
He glanced around.
Many people were watching us and gauging our reactions.
But no one approached.
The bold young president of Cheonmyeong Steel.
The heir to Saseong Group.
And me, Kang Noah.
The reason no one approached despite the presence of three influential people was probably that they felt afraid.
"I intend to do more business with President Hong this time."
"Oh. Really?"
"Yes. Her abilities are remarkable. I had a slight problem with funding, and Madam Yang Chun-ja provided support."
In return, he intended to purchase the supplies needed by the steelworks through Hong Si-yeon.
"Is that all you're after?"
"Well. To be honest, it's because your relationship with President Hong seems very good."
A friend of a friend is a friend.
Since I maintained a good relationship with Hong Si-yeon, he intended to win my favor by giving her an advantage.
It wasn't a bad thing.
In fact, neither of us would suffer any loss.
Hong Si-yeon's abilities were excellent, after all.
"...By President Hong, do you mean Hong Si-yeon?"
"Yes. You know her too, don't you, Yu-na?"
"...Yes."
Han Yu-na's expression darkened slightly.
She must have been thinking of Hong Si-yeon.
"I hear you're very close to Noah."
"Yes. We're friends."
"....Is that so."
A friend of a friend is a friend.
That's what I thought, but I wondered whether Han Yu-na felt the same way.
Still, it shouldn't be a problem.
I hadn't seen any future in which they grabbed each other by the collars and fought in front of me.
Of course, they would have a little battle of wills.
But wasn't that only natural among women?
Compared to the power struggles the older girls used to have at the orphanage, this was nothing.
"Well, well! It seems all the important people have gathered here."
Another familiar voice reached my ears.
It was Han Jun-ho, the chairman of Saseong Group and Han Yu-na's father.
He approached with a relaxed smile and naturally put an arm around my shoulders.
"Hahaha. How have you been, Teacher Kang?"
"I'm always doing well. How about you, Chairman?"
"Come now. That stiff way of speaking between us doesn't feel right. I hear you're close with our Yu-na?"
"Ah, Father."
"Were you not?"
"No, we're close friends. Then may I call you Father?"
"I hereby permit you to call me hyung."
"All right, hyung."
"...How about just calling me Father instead of hyung?"
Even as he said this, Chairman Han Jun-ho chuckled.
"But I heard something interesting happened earlier?"
I told him what had happened, and Chairman Han Jun-ho listened silently before shaking his head.
"How disgraceful."
"People become utterly heartless when money is involved, after all. Especially someone like Joo Min-seok, who wasn't a decent man to begin with."
That's why he had craved money and power all the more, eventually joining forces with Master Jeon Gwang.
"This is why dealing with children is such a headache. Chairman Joo of Rowen Group, honestly..."
As he said this, he placed a hand on Han Yu-na's shoulder.
"In that respect, our family is perfectly clean."
Your son went to prison for skimming rebar, though.
I imagine quite a few parasites are waiting to latch on when he returns...
"Don't worry about our son. Yu-na will be chairwoman before then."
"Is control of the construction sector going well?"
"Yes."
I looked at Han Yu-na.
She seemed to have something she wanted to say, but since things really were going well, there was no problem.
Even if her brother got out of prison, there wouldn't be much he could take with him.
"It's wonderful to see Saseong Group doing so well."
"It is, isn't it? And I have a powerful ally in Teacher Kang, too."
"Hahaha. Dad, don't say it like that. It's embarrassing."
"Pwahahahaha!! All right, son!"
Since he wanted to flaunt his friendship with me, I treated him more familiarly, and as expected, he liked it quite a bit.
In fact, the people around us were watching closely as Chairman Han Jun-ho and I joked around.
Han Yu-na was the only one who was so embarrassed that she didn't know what to do.
"Ah, but there's one thing I'd like to ask you..."
"Why don't you turn this one over first?"
He turned it over without hesitation.
The card was the Tower reversed.
"What is it?"
"It'll go well."
"Is that really true?!"
"Yes. You'll win the bid for the Saudi construction project... And the construction itself will go smoothly."
However, there would be some friction with the local officials.
I thought I could take care of that problem.
"I know someone in Saudi Arabia. Shall I introduce you?"
"You certainly have connections. Who do you know?"
"He's a fan of mine. He's a member of the Saudi royal family. He'll be able to help with the construction."
"...Who?"
"The son of Saudi Arabia's crown prince."