The Black Blueprint
Red Bulldog Saloon.
An old tavern on the outskirts of Garden Queens.
Today, I had rented the entire place out.
……creak!
Arriving thirty minutes early, I pushed open the wooden door and stepped inside.
At the sound of the door, a familiar face appeared from the kitchen.
Robert.
The former captain of the football team that used to rule Queens Public High.
Once the leader of the crowd that bullied me, but naturally, that was no longer the case.
Ever since we’d run into each other at the reunion, he’d become remarkably friendly toward me, and I saw no reason to push him away.
“Ah, Sanha! Welcome—no, please, come in……!”
Robert started to bring his hands together and bow from the waist.
I reached out and rested a hand on his shoulder.
“No need for that between friends.”
“Oh, come on! Friends? You’re the chairman of Lee Energy, the company that keeps all of Garden Queens fed and running! To me, you’re higher than the President of the United States!”
“You’re making me uncomfortable. Just relax around me.”
“R-really? I can do that……?”
I waved it off, but Robert still stood there in front of me with a stiff, nervous expression.
Then a burly middle-aged man came out from the kitchen.
It was Bill, Robert’s father.
Bill called out, “Oh! Well, look who it is! Isn’t this the most successful guy among all our Robert’s friends? Chairman Lee!”
Bill came striding over with a broad smile.
I gave a slight bow.
“Good evening, sir. It’s been a while.”
“Sir? What’s with the sir? Just call me Uncle, all right? Uncle. Hahaha!”
Bill laughed heartily.
“This place is doing so well these days, and it’s all thanks to our chairman. I really appreciate it.”
“I didn’t do much. Your cooking brought the customers in.”
“How can our chairman be this polite and kind? You must have had excellent upbringing. If Robert had even half your manners, I would’ve carried him around on my back and raised him right.”
After I sat down, Bill asked, “By the way, Robert told me you two were pretty close back in school. How did you end up becoming friends? My son says he can’t remember.”
……!
At Bill’s words, Robert’s face went pale.
If it ever came out that he hadn’t been close to me at all—that he’d actually been part of the group that isolated and tormented me—Robert would be beaten to death by Bill today.
Of course, I only let out a hearty laugh.
“I don’t really remember, either. Robert was good at sports and had tons of friends, so……”
“Well, that’s right. My boy was always good at athletics. Hahaha!”
“I was an Asian kid from an immigrant family, so it was a little hard for me to adjust. Robert made it easier for me. He introduced me to friends, ate with me at lunch…… that sort of thing.”
“Is that so! That’s my boy! I’m proud of you, Robert!”
At his father’s words, Robert couldn’t bring himself to say a single thing.
Soon after, Bill clapped his hands.
“I’ll bring out the food and drinks right away! Tonight, I’m bringing out the good stuff, so wait here!”
Bill hurried back to the kitchen.
Before long, only Robert and I were left at the table.
A quiet silence settled between us.
Robert spoke first.
“……Sanha.”
His voice was trembling.
“Thank you…… seriously, thank you…… and I’m sorry…….”
“Forget it. We already talked it all out at the reunion.”
“What I did to you back then…… I really regret it. I regret it every single day. And now you’re going this far for me…… I really…….”
“It’s all in the past. Ancient history. And to be honest, I wasn’t that hurt back then anyway. It wasn’t as big a deal as you think.”
What mattered now was not rehashing some childish grudge from a lifetime ago and trading apologies like souvenirs.
I asked Robert, “How’s the town these days? Anything interesting going on?”
“Ah, you’ve been the talk of the place lately. Especially Stephanie—she’s been going around talking about you everywhere.”
“Stephanie?”
“Yeah. The Stephanie who works at the diner.”
She had been a cheerleader from Prom Queen territory, and now she was working as a waitress in a restaurant.
Robert grinned.
“The way she talks, she’s basically your girlfriend…… no, actually, she’s beyond that. She’s like a fanatic. Like the president of some celebrity fan club.”
“What’s she been saying?”
“Something like, ‘Do you know how amazing Lee Sanha, the guy who was in my class back in school, is now? He went to Harvard and became a ridiculously wealthy tycoon! He’s the one keeping our whole town alive!’…… Stuff like that. She’s been bragging about you wherever she goes. Thanks to her, the reunion attendance shot through the roof. Best turnout since graduation, apparently. Everybody came to see you. Hoping maybe you’d show this time. The girls especially came in droves. They all showed up dressed to kill.”
Robert nudged my side lightly with his elbow.
“There’s a line of girls in Garden Queens who want to meet you. You could probably just point at the first pretty one walking by and call it a day. I’m jealous.”
“…….”
I was, honestly, quite satisfied with this situation as well.
Not because I was pleased to have so many women available to me, but because public sentiment in the community was leaning in my favor.
As Robert and I chatted idly, the saloon door opened.
……creeeak!
A man came in with the cold air from outside.
A middle-aged man in a gray wool coat.
He had sharp, intellectual features, but deep fatigue and unease clouded his eyes.
Ethan Locke.
The former VP of Strategy at Black Bog.
“Chairman.”
Ethan spotted me and came over.
“You got here before me.”
“Please, have a seat.”
I gestured to the chair across from me.
Robert quickly slipped into the kitchen, saying he’d bring the food.
As Ethan sat down, he looked around the place.
“So this is the bar where I first met the chairman.”
“You remember.”
“How could I forget? It was the meeting that changed my life.”
A bitter smile touched Ethan’s lips.
Before long, Robert brought the food himself.
A thick steak, baked potatoes, and two glasses of bourbon.
I said to Ethan, “I asked to meet you in person because I had good news.”
“……Good news?”
“Lee Energy has decided to acquire Black Bog.”
……!
“This morning, Black Diamond officially notified us. There were no other bidders, so the outcome was expected.”
“…….”
Ethan couldn’t speak for a long moment.
The corners of his eyes began to redden.
“Mr. Ethan.”
“…….”
“We’re going to rebuild the company Vanderbilt ruined. Into a real business with actual technology and vision.”
“…….”
“And, as promised, you’ll be fully reinstated. I’ll take responsibility for shielding you from every lawsuit. I can assure you there won’t be any disadvantage from whistleblowing.”
A brief silence followed.
Ethan lifted his bourbon and took a sip.
Then his voice grew steady with resolve.
“Thank you…… truly, thank you, Chairman.”
Setting the glass down, Ethan looked me straight in the eye.
“I’ll do whatever I can. I’ll stay with you to the end.”
He and I shook hands.
The acquisition of Black Bog, the EPA negotiations, and the development of the Garden Queens oil field.
The first two wouldn’t take all that long.
What mattered was the third—the actual development of the oil field.
Cutting into my steak, I said, “From here on, I intend to develop the Garden Queens oil field in earnest. Before that, I’d like the advice of an expert. You know the terrain well, don’t you? Where oil-field development gets stuck. Where the money leaks out. Which bastards try to trip you up.”
…….
Ethan cut into his own steak.
Four hefty chunks of meat sat on the plate.
“It can be divided broadly into four stages,” Ethan said in a solemn voice.
“First, full of the Mineral Rights. I’ve heard you’ve already acquired a substantial portion, but if the field expands, you’ll need to secure the mineral rights of neighboring parcels in advance as well. In the United States, surface ownership and subsurface mineral rights are often separated, so the landowner and the mineral-rights holder are not always the same person.”
“We’ll need a capable landman, then.”
“Exactly. You’ll need to hire mineral-rights negotiation specialists and lobbyists to sign leases with nearby landowners and negotiate with the county government.”
“What about the Environmental Protection Agency?”
“They’re the second hurdle. You’ll need to submit a mitigation plan for wastewater, air pollution, and soil contamination during drilling, and go through public hearings as well. Typically, that takes six months to a year.”
“We’re already working on the EPA negotiations behind the scenes. We’re bringing in personnel from Black Diamond. And we’ve already turned local public opinion in our favor.”
“Wise. If that’s handled, you’re already halfway done. The third stage is building the production facilities. Once exploratory drilling confirms the reserves, you have to move on to full-scale production wells. Drill rigs, pumpjacks, oil-water separators, storage tanks…… the initial capital expenditure is significant.”
“How much would you estimate?”
“At least five hundred thousand dollars per well. If you want to operate ten wells, you should budget over ten million dollars, including equipment and infrastructure.”
“I have that much money. Don’t worry about the budget.”
“Lastly, the fourth stage is transportation and sales. Even if you pump up the crude, it’s useless if you have no way to get it to a refinery. You’ll need to either lay your own pipeline or sign a transport contract with an existing pipeline company.”
“I happen to have a perfectly serviceable pipeline company. King Baboon Pipeline Services.”
“Hmm…… I can’t exactly recommend that company. The man running it has been crushing talented people and padding his own pockets. His name is Vernon Gruber…… I’ll stop there.”
“That’s true. Until recently, anyway. But not anymore. I personally cut out the rotten parts. Right now, the new president, Paul, is managing things properly.”
“Paul? Paul Hemsworth? He became president of King Baboon? Well, that’s surprising! Congratulations are in order. I know him well. He’s a capable man.”
Ethan and I fell into a deeper current of discussion.
“Drilling technology, refining facilities, transportation infrastructure, and now even Black Bog’s engineering know-how. Everything’s in the chairman’s hands. That sort of vertically integrated structure is rare in this industry. Pulling crude from the ground, refining it, and handing it over to consumers without having to rely on anyone else in the middle—that’s the structure I’ve always dreamed of.”
“You tried to make it happen at Black Bog and failed,” I said. “Because of those useless old-guard executives.”
“Ah! Then I really have nothing left to worry about.”
“Shouldn’t we bring in more experienced drillers?”
“Do you remember the three men who were with me before? They were experienced drillers. More precisely, they were practically the leaders of that drilling crew. Since you promised to transfer 100 percent of the Black Bog layoffs, that won’t be a problem either. The only thing I was worried about was public sentiment in the area…….”
“I’ve already planned for that. We’ll prioritize hiring local talent, and I’ll cover the full cost of repairing the old roads. I’m also planning to set up scholarship funds for the town school.”
“Forgive me, Chairman, but are you really a college freshman? You seem ten times—no, a hundred times more seasoned than Black Bog’s management team. Those people treated local residents like pigs and dogs. In the end, that was their undoing.”
At Ethan’s words, I nodded.
“All right. Now let’s seriously discuss the next step.”
“The next step? You mean what?”
Ethan tilted his head.
I answered, “The announcement and the press conference, of course.”
……Ah.
The development of the oil field and the revitalization of the local economy.
Those two things would begin with a great, brilliant burst of fireworks.