Chapter 82
Several days after Lee Baek-gon came to see me, Mr. Cheolhon said with a serious expression,
"There have been more eyes around the officetel since this morning."
Since this morning?
I hadn't wanted to go out today, so I'd stayed home the whole time.
Mr. Cheolhon seemed to know the situation outside well, so he must have gone out and returned at some point.
"You don't mean NIS agents?"
"No. They seem to be American."
Americans, huh.
Ever since the NIS agents had taken up positions, no ordinary people had even been able to approach me...
Then they must be something out of the ordinary.
"I'd like to meet them. Could you arrange a meeting?"
"Understood."
After he left, I was busy beating up Dunsa when I received a call from Mr. Cheolhon.
He said the conversation was over and that he was waiting at the café.
Then let's go.
[BeoseotkeoneunBeoseotBeoseot : I'm logging off, gg]
[Meleujujjupalgosipda : Where are you going? Aren't you going to use up your fatigue?]
Seo Yu-rim, who had been hunting with me, scolded me for leaving in the middle of a heated hunt.
Isn't she busy?
She's playing games in the middle of the day.
She'd said she was being called here and there after her latest album became a huge hit, but her login rate was about the same as mine.
[BeoseotkeoneunBeoseotBeoseot : I have a guest who came to meet me.]
[Meleujujjupalgosipda : Why? Is someone else asking you to find a person?]
[BeoseotkeoneunBeoseotBeoseot : I don't know. I'll find out when I meet them.]
[Meleujujjupalgosipda : Is it going to take long?]
[BeoseotkeoneunBeoseotBeoseot : I don't know. I'll find out when I meet them.]
[Meleujujjupalgosipda : ...You're messing with me right now, aren't you? I'll be waiting?! You know our guild is doomed without you, right??]
As if our guild was going to be doomed.
There wasn't a single useful buffer in the guild who could satisfy her, so forming a party was difficult. That's why she was saying things like that.
Tsk, tsk.
If there was no party, couldn't she just solo?
What a weakling.
[Meleujujjupalgosipda : Argh, my gear never drops in raids T_T]
Seo Yu-rim was cursed so that her gear never dropped whenever she went on a raid, and even when something did drop, it was always the lowest grade, so she began to whimper.
What could she do? That was simply her lot in life.
I sent her a screenshot of my exclusive equipment, which I'd obtained in a raid a few days earlier—a bound raid item with a 0.08% drop rate and top-tier options—then logged off.
Well, shall we go meet them?
.
.
.
When I entered the café, a man was sitting in my usual seat in the corner.
He was a middle-aged blond man.
"Oh... Mr. Kang. It's a pleasure to meet you."
His Korean was a little awkward.
But at least he was trying.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Kang Noah."
"My name is Rowan Angler. I'm with the FBI."
With a light handshake, he introduced himself.
Then he calmly sat down and took a sip of the coffee he'd ordered beforehand.
"Could we start by turning over a card?"
I turned over a card.
In other words, he was saying that he would show me his past and future.
He was deliberately showing me proof that he bore me no hostility.
"Sure."
I held out a card, and he lightly turned it over.
The Queen of Hearts.
A queen named Judith appeared on the card.
"This should tell you that I have nothing to hide from you, Mr. Kang."
"Haha. Yes."
In fact, I had known that even before he turned over the card.
Unaware of that, he smiled faintly and took a sip of his espresso.
"We received your cooperation before, Mr. Kang."
"Yes."
"You also helped us deal with an enemy of the FBI."
"That's right."
"I believe the FBI and Mr. Kang have maintained a good relationship."
"I feel the same way."
Perhaps he was very pleased with my answer, because his smile deepened.
"With that in mind, I have a request to make. Ah, of course, I'm not asking for your help for free. We intend to provide appropriate compensation, just as we did last time."
"You want me to come to America again?"
"Yes."
He spoke with a serious expression.
"We arrested Diego Lobita, one of the cartel leaders in Mexico."
"Excellent work."
"Thank you. That brings me to my request. We'd like you to investigate him."
"That can't be all."
"No. It isn't."
The smile vanished from his face, leaving it serious.
"Diego Lobita is working with one of the members of the United States Congress."
"You believe that congressman is Roberto Anthony, a Mexican-American member of the California State Assembly. You think he's working with Diego to distribute drugs throughout the United States."
The FBI seemed almost certain that he was the congressman allied with Diego.
The problem was that they had no evidence.
"As expected of you, Mr. Kang. You're incredible. Yes, we'd like to catch him as well."
"Hmm... You want me to meet him and find evidence that he's working with Diego, as well as discover who he's been passing the drugs he bought to. And you'd also like me to see whether he's connected to any other Mexican cartels."
"Yes."
All right. It wasn't particularly difficult.
The flood of requests to find people had begun to subside, too...
The only problem was that I had to go to America, and I couldn't ask Hong Si-yeon to come with me again.
She was in China right now.
Hmm...
Should I try doing it through a video call instead of going in person?
"Do I really have to go there myself?"
"If possible, we'd appreciate it if you did."
The FBI probably wanted to show off its connection with me by making this offer.
They hadn't said so, but the FBI had been feeling uneasy about China, and Russia as well, contacting me recently.
I had no particular reason to refuse a trip to America... so I decided to go.
I could just think of it as another trip.
"If you need an interpreter, I can do it. Or... do you need someone else?"
"Let me think about it."
That alone seemed to satisfy him.
In any case, my going was practically a foregone conclusion.
"And it seems Russia has taken an interest in you as well..."
"That's because I've worked with them too. Mr. Ivan and Mr. Kalinin came to see me."
"Huh. Those bastards..."
Rowan knew exactly who I was talking about.
Well, there was no way the FBI wouldn't know.
"Well, that's fine. I know Mr. Kang won't defect to Russia."
That's right.
For now, I had no intention of leaving Korea.
.
.
.
It was a business trip for the first time in a while.
I didn't particularly mind going on business trips.
I'd been there before, after all.
Besides, it was first class again, so the twelve-hour journey wouldn't exactly be grueling...
The problem was who I would go with.
Should I just go with Mr. Cheolhon...?
-Brrring!!
My phone rang.
It was Han Yu-na.
-Mr. Noah. Have you been well?
"I'm always well. How about you, Ms. Yu-na?"
-I've been incredibly busy lately...
She muttered dejectedly in a small voice.
But that lasted only a moment.
-Still, things have calmed down a little now.
"Oh. Really?"
-Yes. So, I was wondering... Would you like to go somewhere with me again? Maybe Gyeongju World...
"How about LA instead of Gyeongju?"
-What?
To her bewilderment, I told her about the FBI's invitation.
Diego was currently being held at the LA branch, so we could finish the work there and visit Dazney Land afterward.
She fell silent at my suggestion.
"If you're busy, forget it..."
-I'm not busy! Oh my gosh! Dazney Land!! The land of dreams and hope!
It didn't seem quite so much like a land of dreams and hope these days.
In any case, the mention of Dazney Land had her thoroughly excited.
-I can go! How many days are we staying? They say you need three nights and four days to properly enjoy Dazney Land!
What did she intend to enjoy so thoroughly that she needed to schedule three nights and four days?
-There happens to be a hotel there affiliated with our company.
"Oh. That's great."
-We can stay there, and then...
She confidently began laying out an itinerary as if we were leaving right away.
I had only just suggested it, so how had she already come up with such a detailed schedule...?
-I actually wanted to visit Dazney Land with you, Mr. Noah.
She had said she couldn't bring herself to mention it because America was so far away, and perhaps unwilling to let this opportunity slip away, she spoke rapidly.
-What about the flights? When are we leaving? Should I book them now?
"But the FBI is providing the flights..."
-Hmm... I understand. Then I'll wait for you.
Her voice was brimming with excitement and anticipation.
"Don't get so excited that you can't sleep, like a child with a field trip coming up. Get a good night's rest."
-Okay!
She probably wouldn't be able to sleep.
After ending the call with her, I informed Rowan.
Me, Mr. Cheolhon, and Han Yu-na.
That settled the trip to America.
A few days later, we headed to the airport, where I spotted Han Yu-na waiting for us.
"Mr. Noah~!"
The beautiful woman spotted me, smiled brightly, and ran over.
"Have you been waiting long?"
"No. I just got here too."
If she had a tail, it would probably have been wagging furiously.
After greeting her bright smile, I introduced her to the person behind me.
"This is Mr. Rowan, and this is Ms. Han Yu-na. She's my friend."
"Oh~! Nice to meet you, Ms. Han. I hear you're the heiress to Saseong Corporation?"
"Yes. Nice to meet you. I'm Han Yu-na."
The bright demeanor she'd shown me moments earlier vanished in an instant.
Is this what it meant to be a chaebol...?
"Shall we go?"
"Yes."
We received our tickets and headed straight to the boarding gate.
Since it was first class, which I'd experienced before, there was nothing particularly special about it.
We waited a little while, then took off.
After some time had passed, Han Yu-na took out a tablet.
"Mr. Noah. I downloaded a movie. Would you like to watch it with me?"
"Oh. What did you download?"
"A movie where Americans smash everything."
"As expected, American movies where Americans smash everything are the best."
The American in the seat in front of us flinched, but honestly, that wasn't something I needed to worry about.