69. This Is the Rule on the Rooftop
69. This Is the Rule on the Rooftop
69. This Is the Rule on the Rooftop
The word "responsibility" isn't something you throw around lightly.
People lose their lives over it.
People suffer because of it.
And coming from Na Yu-na, it was even more out of place.
She was being groomed to lead the NAVI Family—
so she understood the weight of that word better than anyone.
I asked her, my voice sharp.
"What kind of responsibility do you expect us to take?"
Na Yu-na let out a deep sigh at my tone.
"Haa... Responsibility. I didn't want to do this either. But the company wants someone to answer for what happened. You two."
When an incident happens, there's obviously a process and a result.
The process was Black Dawn breaking into the building.
The result was the S-rank Magic Stone getting stolen.
So who takes the blame?
Normally it makes sense to hold Black Dawn responsible for stealing it.
But can you really get compensation by pointing fingers at the villain group that robbed you?
'Yeah, like that would ever happen...'
Obviously you can't hold them accountable.
So, I figured Na Yu-na's company had aimed at the softest targets—me and Ban Ha-na—and tried to pin the responsibility on us.
I laid out my suspicion and then asked right away.
"...Am I right?"
Na Yu-na nodded silently.
She didn't seem happy about them trying to squeeze us, the ones who got forcibly dragged into the theft, either.
Watching her, I thought to myself.
'Seriously, trying to make students pay? They're nothing but thugs.'
To be honest, NAVI Group was exactly that—a gang.
At first it was an outfit that made money selling gate byproducts.
But as the value of those byproducts rose and demand grew, NAVI's chairman made a call.
'Ah, if I swallow up this whole market, it'll turn into cash later.'
The chairman had power, and he also had the charisma to bend people.
As a group that started by rounding up thugs to handle byproducts, they gradually spread their influence.
Recruiting more thugs and threatening other companies.
Monopoly rights over Magic Stone distribution.
Monopoly over the security system.
Establishing a private guild.
NAVI Group grew by devouring other companies in all sorts of ways.
But there was a force that held them back.
The old thug crews they'd worked with from the start.
They lived cushy lives off the chairman's money, but as they say, you can't teach an old dog new tricks.
One violent incident after another dragged NAVI Group's reputation through the mud.
'...Once the hunt is over, you don't need the dog anymore, do you...?'
In the end, the chairman cleaned house. The old gang members were silenced—literally.
NAVI went through that entire process.
They cut off the rotten limbs, and thanks to the technology they'd absorbed while devouring other companies, they rose to become a global corporation.
'If I had my way, I'd smash it to pieces right now...'
But unfortunately, there were still two episodes left until NAVI truly fell.
Summer break and the second semester.
NAVI would inevitably collapse within that time.
I just had to save Na Yu-na from the wreckage.
"So how exactly am I supposed to take responsibility?"
"Take responsibility! Si-jun, take responsibility!"
Ignoring Ban Ha-na who was adding a chorus next to me, Na Yu-na spoke up.
"Money... The company demanded half the value of the S-rank Magic Stone."
"How much is an S-rank Magic Stone?"
"One hundred billion..."
"Are they insane...?"
"Insane" was the only word for it.
I mean, to students? One hundred billion?
And they want half of that—fifty billion?
It looked like they just saw two convenient punching bags to vent their anger on.
Na Yu-na looked at me with calm eyes and went on.
"And there's one more thing. Another way to take responsibility."
"...What?"
Fifty billion is completely impossible to pay.
No matter how much future knowledge I have, right now
I don't have any money to invest, and even buying Ban Ha-na a single fried chicken was a stretch.
'Should I just blow it off...?'
Just not take responsibility.
It wasn't our fault anyway, so there was no need to shoulder it.
Black Dawn should be held accountable.
While I was chewing over those unfair thoughts, Na Yu-na told me the other way.
"You have to be my bodyguard at school for three years."
"..."
Be a bodyguard.
That was a statement I couldn't process at all.
I blinked and asked Na Yu-na to explain.
"Do you think I like offering this...? So annoying..."
Sounding thoroughly annoyed, she started to explain.
"The school trip gate. I heard you cleared it. That's true, right?"
"Yu Ha-yeon, Lee Seol-ha, and I did it, yeah."
"Hmm... More modest than I expected. Without you, there might have been casualties in that gate. That's what I heard."
...Where did she hear that?
I wondered if Na Yu-na had intel on the students in the class even before entering the academy.
It seemed she had quite the information network, knowing about my performance in the gate.
Na Yu-na spoke to me with a displeased look.
"Anyway, it apparently reached the chairman's ears—I mean, not my grandfa... not Grandpa. That old man just pointlessly..."
Outsiders aren't allowed inside the academy.
Even less so if it's someone from Na Yu-na's company.
So even though Na Yu-na is the granddaughter of NAVI Group, at the academy she was effectively defenseless.
In that sense, they probably suggested I become her bodyguard because I cleared an A-rank Gate and they had a little leverage over me.
That was my guess.
'Fifty billion was a non-starter from the beginning...'
NAVI had left me with no choice but to pick bodyguard duty.
Under the name of a corporation, they used the word "responsibility" just to strong-arm me.
"Wait, then what about Ban Ha-na?"
"In case she might actually have fifty billion. They told me to bring her along."
"Huh? Si-jun, do I have fifty billion?"
"...You don't even have five hundred won, what are you talking about."
Ban Ha-na, who still couldn't grasp numbers in the billions.
As if she'd ever possess currency like fifty billion.
"Ha-na. Do you know how many fried chickens you could buy with fifty billion?"
"Umm... five hundred!"
Ban Ha-na spread her five fingers wide and said it with total confidence.
At that, I sighed and gave her the correct answer.
"Five hundred thousand, Ha-na."
"Fi...five hundred thousand...! Si... Si-jun. That's a huge number, right...?"
"...Yeah, it's pretty huge."
Does she still not understand hundred-thousands?
I reflected that maybe I'd been rushing her, and patted Ban Ha-na's head.
"...? Hehe..."
She looked baffled but seemed pleased by the head-pat.
'Well, maybe this is actually a good thing.'
The upside was that I'd now established a point of contact with Na Yu-na.
If I stick with her under the guise of being her bodyguard, I can prevent Na Yu-na's corruption,
and if I go further and kiss her, I could even solve my lifespan problem.
'If Yu Ha-yeon finds out, there'll be hell to pay.'
With those thoughts in mind, I told Na Yu-na.
"Fine. I'll be your bodyguard or whatever."
"...Got it. Getting you tangled up in company business... I'm—well, there was nothing else I could do..."
She was a person taught never to apologize, no matter what she did.
It seemed the word "sorry" just wouldn't leave her lips.
"The details will come from the company separately. For the little one next to you too."
"I'm... I'm not a little one...! I'm older...!"
"...See you later."
Na Yu-na lightly ignored Ban Ha-na's outburst.
Perhaps she had somewhere to be; she walked off quickly and disappeared from the rooftop.
Ban Ha-na kept staring after her until Na Yu-na was out of sight.
Once enough time had passed and there was no trace of her,
I took Ban Ha-na's small hand to head back to class.
"Shall we go down too, Ha-na?"
"Si... Si-jun. Wait a minute...!"
Ban Ha-na, telling me to stop.
When I tried to walk toward where Na Yu-na had gone, she held on so I couldn't move.
Ban Ha-na lowered her head for a moment, pondered, then looked up and asked me.
"Si... Si-jun...! I saw in a video...! There's something you're supposed to do when you go up to the rooftop...!"
"What, a fight?"
"Th-that's not it...! There's something else...! Si-jun...!"
Ban Ha-na blushed, trying to coax an answer out of me.
It felt like she was hoping for something.
"Ha-na."
"Huhh...?"
"You have to tell her properly when we go back down, okay?"
"...I'll try!"
Ban Ha-na clenched her hands tightly, steeling her resolve.
If we kiss, she absolutely has to tell Yu Ha-yeon.
Trusting that Ban Ha-na knew that condition,
I decided to grant her wish.
"Shi...ji-un... H-how is it...? I've gotten a lot better, right...? I p-practiced alone..."
Ban Ha-na twined her tongue with mine, her voice sweet.
She was clumsy compared to the first time, but she followed my movements eagerly.
"Ha-na. Do you like it?"
"L-love it Si-jun... I love you..."
Ban Ha-na held onto my clothes as if clutching me close.
It was a gesture that seemed to say, 'Don't ever let me go...'
"Just a little more... A little longer, please..."
All I could do for Ban Ha-na in that moment was give her affection.
It looked like it would take quite a long time to fill up her affection battery.
