Chapter 204
Chapter 204
"Well, you see...."
I'd had things I wanted to say, but now I couldn't remember a single one of them. I kept thinking about what would happen after this moment, so I couldn't focus on speaking at all.
My face was burning. My heart was pounding violently. I felt like my mind had gone completely blank.
Still, I resolved to at least finish the business in front of me properly.
Because if I didn't, there'd genuinely be no end to it.
Before me stood a crowd of students dressed in red. Well, I only knew they were students because I was aware of it—otherwise I might've just thought they were young people.
They were people I had summoned.
I didn't know exactly how they regarded me, but they'd probably realize that this affair had brought them into my group. Of course, if it turned out some of them were throwing my name around to run wild, I'd have to cut them out as needed. But for this moment, right now, these kids were "on my side."
As teenagers, the most we could do was flex our influence inside the school. But if these kids kept their grades up and developed useful individual skills until they could be of use to me, then later on we could continue to be mutually beneficial to each other.
I cleared my throat a few times and let out a breath. Thinking through a few complicated things seemed to settle my heart a little.
"Everyone gathered here came because they received my invitation. However, I don't yet know all of your faces and names. Some of you may have received the invitation directly from me, but others likely received it from someone who had received an invitation."
I swept my gaze over them once, then continued.
"So, if possible, I hope you won't throw that invitation away. I'm not telling you to carry it around like an ID, but it'll serve as a means to prove you attended my party. Some of you might end up in awkward situations because your faces became known through this event. If you come to me with that invitation, I'll do my best to help."
At the very least, I could provide help that money could solve. As long as it didn't cross the line, I intended to give my support without holding back.
'Getting close to Ye Sa-ra will definitely be helpful. If you're someone who can be helpful to Ye Sa-ra, you'll receive even more help.'
That was the meaning I intended to attach to the name "Ye Sa-ra."
They'd all understood what I meant. They were all clever people, after all. A few nodded seriously with slightly stiff faces, and a few glanced around uneasily.
I couldn't memorize every name, but I looked over them again, trying to memorize as many faces as possible.
"Then, those of you who wish to go home may do so now. What you needed to do here is finished. Your own clothes are still in the place where you changed. Please return the clothes you wore, and then you may go home. I hope all the memories you made here tonight remain as long-lasting recollections."
Had anyone among them succeeded in building a connection to the higher-ups of Yujin Group? They were still only high-schoolers at best, so I wasn't expecting that much...
But who knows. Maybe those "red clothes" had some effect after all.
Though if anyone thought wearing that outfit meant they were close to me, that was still just a misunderstanding for now.
"Now, does anyone have any final remarks they'd like to make?"
Knowing there was a high probability that other grade levels were mixed in, I asked respectfully in formal speech all the way to the end.
Everyone looked around, but no one actually raised their hand.
Right, in this sort of atmosphere, it wouldn't be easy to fire random questions at me.
...Still, I would've liked a few questions.
I'd been thinking that because I was scared to go back to my room like this, but even up to that point, no one raised a hand.
I gave a little shrug, then—
"In that case, let's call this a dis—"
Just as I was about to say, let's call this a dismissal, someone hesitantly raised a hand.
When my gaze went to that hand, the people around me followed my eyes and turned to look at the kid.
It was a kid I didn't know. Probably someone who'd received an invitation passed along from someone else.
Next to them, a kid I had seen before was sweating bullets. They must have been the one who invited this person.
"You have a question?"
Since no one was in school uniform, I couldn't tell whether they were in the same grade as me or not, so I used formal speech for now.
"Ah, yes, I...."
As if they hadn't expected me to answer right away, the kid hesitated for a moment. As time passed, more and more people stared at them.
"It's, um, a bit of a personal question...."
...For an instant, I tensed up.
No, well, right. It was a kid I was seeing for the first time today. No matter what, I wasn't going to get confessed to again. Even in a harem web novel, unless the protagonist had a setting where they emitted pheromones, some random extra walking down the street wouldn't suddenly spring a confession on you.
But still, after getting confessed to three times in a row in a single day, and with almost no time between them, you do get a little scared.
Seeing that it was called a personal question, the kid standing next to them turned completely pale. They probably thought the question might strike a nerve with me.
"......Come this way."
At my words, the kid cautiously walked toward me. Seen up close, they looked even more timid. Their hair hung down long, and their bangs fell below their eyebrows. Judging by the slight curl at the ends, they might have had a different hairstyle during the party... but at least right now, they were the very picture of a gloomy character.
"What is it you wanted to say?"
Thinking we were far enough away now, I asked in a quiet voice.
"It's, um...."
But the kid still hesitated for a long time even after coming right up to me.
It was a little frustrating, but wasn't this kid helping me buy time? So I kept waiting, on edge.
"Um, if there are leftovers, would it be all right if I took a little with me?"
The kid said that, then immediately looked back over their shoulder as if afraid the words had been overheard. Fortunately, it didn't seem like anyone had heard.
"Leftovers...?"
"Yes, it's, um, embarrassing, but...."
The kid forced out each word as if barely enduring the shame.
"The food I tried today was so delicious... I wanted to share some with my younger siblings."
"......."
Hearing that, I felt like I'd been smacked in the back of the head.
Ah, right. Of course.
Right now, I was enormously wealthy—no, I had so much money that merely calling myself enormously wealthy couldn't fully express it. It hadn't even been a full year since I'd crossed over into this world, but I was gradually getting used to a life where money never ran out.
I ate delicious foods I normally couldn't have, without limit. Often I even couldn't finish and left the rest to be thrown away. Come to think of it, both So-hee and Ha-neul had looked just as surprised the first time they ate here.
So... thinking like that wasn't strange at all.
"......Ms. Yang Hye-in."
When I called for Yang Hye-in in a quiet voice, the kid seemed to think they'd somehow struck a nerve with me.
But what I meant to say was different.
"In a little while, when the guests are heading home, let's give each of them a gift. There are still plenty of dishes that haven't been served, right?"
"Yes, more than enough."
"......Put them in gift boxes and present them as gifts to those wearing red."
"Yes, understood."
Well, it would take a little time to package them. If people left without receiving one in the meantime, it couldn't be helped.
At least there'd be the justification that they could take one home without embarrassment.
"Would this be all right?"
"......Yes, yes, thank you...."
The kid bowed their head to me several times.
To think of this as nothing... that'd be rude of me, wouldn't it.
I should've been able to think of something like this in advance. If I had, I would've prepared a proper gift separately, not leftovers.
Or wait, is it a little odd for the guest of honor to be handing out gifts at a birthday party?
Well, it doesn't matter either way. My word is law here.
*
And now, when everything had truly been wrapped up and I was about to walk into the chaos—
"Sara!"
A voice called out to me.
The owner of the voice was Son A-reum.
Already changed back into her school uniform, Son A-reum was holding out a small box toward me.
"Here, a birthday present."
I reflexively accepted the box, glanced down at it in my hands, then looked back at Son A-reum's face.
"I couldn't find a good moment to give it to you earlier. It's nothing special, but I hope you'll accept it."
"......."
I stared at Son A-reum, who was grinning at me, for a long moment without a word.
Oh.
Maybe this.
"Wh-what, why are you staring at my face like that?"
Maybe she was a little scared by me silently staring at her face, because Son A-reum asked, slightly flustered.
"......A-reum."
"Huh?"
"I'm thinking of doing an after-party. You don't want to come?"
Yes, maybe this—
Maybe this was a chance to push back the chaos just a little longer!