After Class Ends
After class ended, as I sat there, Sea-a, who had been spacing out in her seat, turned toward me with sparkling eyes.
“The Han Shin of Seoul Hero Academy……!”
“……What?”
“Zhuge Liang of Famiglia……!”
“Huh?”
What the hell was up with her all of a sudden?
“Zhuge Eugene……!”
“Cut it out.”
“……Yes, sir.”
She must've just been bored.
“By the way, are we doing club activities today?”
“A lot of the kids are out today, so probably not. No new requests have come in either, right?”
“……I had math class this afternoon and really didn't want to go. And if we skip club too, I'll get dragged to mentor training after school again!”
“Is mentor training that bad?”
At my question, Sea-a hugged her arms and shuddered.
“Lifting 2-ton rocks, calculating coordinates while running, real combat sparring…… Just thinking about it makes my body ache all over.”
……Looks like she's getting pushed pretty hard over there too.
Poor girl. Perfect timing—I pulled out a spiritual medicine I'd brought specifically to hand out to the kids in situations like this. It was a restorative for physical abilities: Briton White Deer Antler.
“Brew this and drink it when you get home.”
“Huh? Th-this! Isn't this that super expensive Mosigang antler?! How could I accept something like this?!”
Sea-a jumped back in surprise at the antler in my hand, waving her hands frantically.
“We've got tons at home, so just take it. Besides, spiritual medicines like this don't stack effects much no matter how many you take.”
“……Well, if that's the case.”
Our family had spiritual medicines overflowing like water anyway. Plus, after that executive celebration last time, I'd gotten a mountain of them. The ones I didn't need or that weren't that effective were better off going to the kids.
Their growth would be a huge boost for me—for all of Famiglia.
“Hehe. I'll enjoy it.”
Sea-a clutched the antler like a precious baby, beaming with joy.
Of course she'd be grateful…… Space mages were rare as hell, and I needed to keep her on board all the way.
That's when a message popped up through my Smart Lens.
“Hm?”
What could Inomiya Haru want?
I checked the message content with that thought in mind.
“Ha.”
What ghostly timing.
“Sea-a.”
“Yes?”
“We're doing club activities today.”
“Really?! Awesome!”
I fired off a reply telling everyone to head to the sub-room at club time, then sank into thought for a moment.
For Inomiya Haru of all people to directly ask me for help meant it was a situation even she couldn't handle on her own.
“Wonder what it's about…… Intriguing.”
Inomiya Haru arrived at the Famiglia sub-room looking colder than usual.
“So, what did you want to request?”
She slowly opened her mouth at my question.
“Lately, it seems there's a force interfering with the International Trade Club's activities.”
“……What? There aren't many clubs in the academy that could pull that off against you guys.”
The International Trade Club was on the verge of Gold status and the go-to spot in the academy for anyone needing rare items. Pretty much every student here felt the need for them.
So who the hell would mess with a club like that? It didn't make sense.
“I thought things would go smoothly too, but for some reason, our existing Asian contacts—especially the Chinese ones—are backing out one by one. I suspect interference from another club or students.”
“Someone pulling strings from behind the scenes?”
“That's my assessment.”
Seoul Hero Academy was Korea's top school for future heroes, so the students came from all levels of wealth and power. Having kids from influential families was par for the course.
“Didn't you check through the Inomiya Group?”
But Haru came from no slouch of a family either. With her background and influence, digging up dirt shouldn't be hard.
“The International Trade Club was created against my family's wishes, so I've been trying to resolve it with my own strength and connections rather than relying on them.”
She's requesting us so she can pay the proper fee and keep operations smooth? Her own brand of stubbornness, I guess.
Connections were power, after all—no harm in that.
“That's why you're requesting Famiglia in the International Trade Club's name?”
“Yes.”
I drummed my fingers on the desk, sorting my thoughts.
Why would some other faction suddenly target the International Trade Club? Rivalry? Nah, if it was real rivalry, they'd have backed the Fund Investment Club ages ago to block her.
This was recent. Right around when Famiglia allied with the International Trade Club.
Someone was trying to disrupt that alliance.
“It's because of us.”
Haru nodded at my mutter.
“I figured as much.”
“No other way to see it. They were cruising fine until we teamed up, and now this? It's a blatant move against us.”
In truth, I'd funded it with my pocket money, but from the outside, Famiglia's sub-room had gone from nothing to luxury thanks to International Trade Club shipments. They'd think International Trade Club controlled our finances.
Maybe even see them as our parent org……
In that case, with them targeting International Trade Club now, we just hit back from the shadows.
“We'll make a move too.”
“……Right now? It takes time to identify suspects and gather evidence.”
If they were a normal club or academy students, maybe.
“Forgot who I am? First, tell me which trade partners got blocked.”
I flashed a grin, and Haru tilted her head.
“Shanghai, Hong Kong, Macau, and Nanjing for starters.”
“……Hold on a sec.”
I pulled out my phone and called Parnello.
I've answered the call, Young Master.
“Parnello. That Triad group trying to sneak in recently—do I still have authority over them?”
Yes. Now that you've become an executive, China operations will be fully under you going forward.
“Thanks.”
At the mention of Triads, Parnello, illegal entry, and negotiation rights, confusion started creeping into Haru's expression.
“Young Master, this seems way bigger scale than I imagined……”
“This is nothing. Don't worry about it.”
Next, I called the Triad contact.
Hello?
“Executive of Calione, Eugene Han Calione speaking. Calling with business.”
I stated my identity in Korean, and after some murmuring on the other end, familiar Korean came through.
Ah, yes. Mr. Eugene of Calione. What can we do for you?
“Shanghai, Hong Kong, Macau, Nanjing. Merchants there are refusing deals with a company called ‘International Trade Club.’ Find out who ordered it within two days. Can you?”
A brief silence.
Those areas? We can handle it by end of day. We'll report back after.
“Good. Handle it clean, and I'll make it worth your while. Call when done.”
Yes, Mr. Eugene. Thank you for the opportunity.
I hung up and turned back to Haru.
“They say it'll be handled soon. Have some tea while you wait.”
I poured her some of the black tea Sea-a had brought earlier.
“……I'd forgotten you rose to executive recently. Never dreamed one call would sort it.”
“Just lucky. Happened to have ties with the guys running China lately. Oh, how's the Gold Club promotion going?”
Haru wet her throat with the tea and replied.
“Basically just waiting on review. The holdup was recent unfulfilled requests, but with your help, that should be cleared.”
“Good to hear.”
As we chatted about other updates──♬──♬──♬
Sudden short alarms buzzed repeatedly from Haru's inner pocket.
She glanced at me.
“Go ahead and check.”
“Thank you.”
She pulled out her phone, checked, and smirked.
“The Chinese contacts. They're apologizing profusely for the recent issue and offering two months fee-free as gesture.”
Already done? And right on cue, my phone rang too. I answered with a pleased smile.
Young Master, it's resolved.
“Just confirmed. Did you ID the force blocking the trades?”
We're on it, but they're just repeating it was an 'academy club' paying big. A bit more time, and we'll have it.
“……Good work. Bring more intel, and I'll pay info fees accordingly. Report soon.”
Yes. Call anytime for future orders.
“Will do. Rewards as fitting then.”
Thank you.
As expected, another academy club was behind messing with Haru's group.
Meaning not just her—someone was targeting me too.
We needed to uncover who.
“Hm? What's wrong?”
I turned after the call to see her looking a bit down.
“I felt guilty thinking you'd spent a fortune on this because of me. How should I even apologize……”
Typical serious her when it came to deals.
But.
“No need for apologies. It happened because you're tied to me, so it's my responsibility anyway.”
“But……”
“Enough.”
Sure, it'd cost a pretty penny to settle this. But pocket change compared to mission earnings.
Plus……
“Don't sweat it. That money was theirs anyway.”
“Pardon?”
“They screwed up this time, so I took hefty compensation. Just skimmed a bit off that—no need to feel bad.”
“How much exactly……”
“Enough to survive showing teeth at Calione.”
Her eyes widened as it sank in.
Time for another reminder of just how loaded I was.