Connections Are a Merchant's Wealth - 7
"What... quiet?"
The atmosphere turned tense. She had started listening to me seriously. Well, more accurately, it wasn't so much considering my words earnestly as it was a glare that screamed she was dead set on crushing me.
"I do understand your feelings, ma'am."
Anyone who feels attacked will instinctively go on the defensive. They'll hunt for flaws in you, try to undermine your status, and question your motives. They'll think that's how they prove their own righteousness.
I couldn't let Lee Seoyeonn's thoughts reach that point. Having struck first, now it was time for me to side with her.
"Meeting some guy your daughter barely knows and having heart-to-hearts with him, or asking him to buy her a toy worth over ten million won... It must be bewildering. Worrying. You want to know what's going on with her. I get it."
"..."
After a moment to collect her thoughts, Seoyeonn nodded tightly, lips pressed thin.
"Should I say thank you?"
If she snapped back with something like 'What do you know?!', it'd be like denying her own defense. This room wasn't just us two. There was her daughter—the one she feared for, the one she loved. Shin Yuha was here.
With Yuha's eyes on her, she had no choice but to accept my desperate advocacy.
"I'm not hiding the recording because I said something I shouldn't have. It's just... Yuha opened up with her real feelings, and pulling it out without her permission feels... tough."
"Then why was Yuha telling you all that? What did you do to her?"
"It's not about what I did. Yuha was already in that state. The kind where she couldn't hold it together without spilling her heart to a total stranger."
"Why you and not me?!"
Every time Lee Seoyeonn's emotions surged, I could feel her mana waver. If I weren't an Awakener, I wouldn't have lasted this long.
"You should... ask her yourself, ma'am."
I forced the words out. Only then did her churning emotions cut off abruptly.
"Ah..."
The real heart of this wasn't me or Seoyeonn—it was Shin Yuha. But Seoyeonn had been ignoring her, trying to pry Yuha's inner thoughts through me instead.
After laying it out like this, even 'mother' Seoyeonn couldn't pretend not to know.
"Y-Yeah..."
Realizing how grave the mood had gotten, Yuha clamped her mouth shut, saying nothing.
Seoyeonn gazed at her with slightly misty eyes.
"I'm sorry... my girl."
"N-No, I'm the one who's sorry! I love you, Mom! Don't cry!"
"No, Mom's not crying, it's just..."
Did she need a scapegoat? Yuha turned the arrows my way.
"Oppa’s part of the problem too! If Mom went that far, you should've just shown it. Why make her cry?"
"You told me not to."
"Well, yeah, but..."
"Well, I got permission now, so..."
Instead, Seoyeonn tried to stop me.
"I-It's fine. I'll talk to Yuha, so you can keep it hidden—"
"No, Mom should listen too! She's freaking out over nothing and bullying my oppa! If you're gonna do that, just listen!"
I let out a hollow chuckle and opened the recording file. It held so many stories.
"Just... I'm embarrassed."
"Sometimes I wonder if someone like me can even be a Hunter..."
"I-I won't give up! I'll keep trying!"
How much she'd wavered, how much pain she'd felt, how vibrantly she could laugh once she found her courage again.
Lee Seoyeonn listened with a reverent expression, like a priest hearing a holy voice.
"...See? It's a bit embarrassing, but not so bad I couldn't show Mom."
"I see..."
"And I only met oppa because I lost the ribbon you gave me, and he found it—that's how it started."
"I'm sorry..."
"It's not something you need to apologize for..."
Their bond seemed a little tighter now. It was worth the risk.
Wiping her tears, Seoyeonn looked at me with calmer eyes.
"Was she... struggling that much?"
"Yes. If not, I wouldn't have bothered making time for her."
"Right. What to do... My girl troubling someone else. As her mom, I should've taken better care."
"You're running a whole guild. It can't be helped."
"Still, I learned a lot thanks to you. Truly... thank you."
The Yuha in my recording was clearly in a 'dangerous' state—teetering on collapse, as if ready to abandon everything.
Learning I'd supported her through that, Seoyeonn couldn't help but see me in a good light.
"Keep looking after my daughter from now on. I know it's my job, but... when I can't. Be her strength."
"Pardon?"
"Exactly what I said."
This might be bad.
I might've kicked away my chance to naturally dodge Yuha's calls.
"And... you're in sales, right? Anything I can help with personally?"
"Well..."
"I want to repay the favor, even a little. For my daughter—and for me."
I bowed deeply in thanks, keeping the sly smile off my lips so she wouldn't notice.
Yes. That was the goal.
I'd won Lee Seoyeonn's favor. Goodwill a normal merchant couldn't dream of, even bribing monthly in the hundreds of millions.
Definitely worth betting my life on.
"Not right now, but if something comes up later that could help you and the guild, Lee Seoyeonn Hunter, I'll contact you immediately."
"Got it. I'll be waiting."
The mood finally eased. Yuha beamed and ran to Seoyeonn.
"D-Does that mean I can keep seeing oppa? Mom approves! Yay!"
For a split second, Seoyeonn's smile turned faintly menacing.
"...Mr. Jeong, you can go. I need to talk with my daughter."
"Yes, understood."
"And lastly... truly, thank you."
As I stood, opened the door, and left, the mother-daughter pair's warm voices echoed.
"Meeting him's fine. But besides that, you need a scolding from Mom."
"Whyy?!"
"Lucky it was a good guy like Mr. Jeong. What if it'd been some creep? Even if Mom's been neglectful..."
"But it wasn't a dangerous guy, so it's fine!"
"So you think you did great? Didn't that recording make you feel anything?"
"That oppa's voice is nice?"
"Ugh... where'd I get a daughter like you."
"From your belly!"
They bickered, but love shone through.
She cooled off a bit. Gotta sell tomorrow too... Oh, and restock the bottled water...
Despite quitting my job, I felt busier than ever. Still, satisfied with surviving the day, I left the luxury apartment and headed home.
Peaceful Academy. One teacher overseeing the expulsion exams tilted their head at the computer screen.
"Hey, Teacher Seon? Looks like a glitch here—"
"What's up?"
"Too many students picked 'shooting' for the expulsion exam. Even kids who never touch guns usually... Maybe check it?"
"Oh, that. It's fine. I thought it was weird too, so I double-checked verbally with all of them."
"Huh?"
It was baffling.
"Trying to drop out or something?"
"Teacher, you haven't heard?"
"Heard what?"
'Teacher Seon' smiled faintly.
"That gun Yuha brought last time? Lots of kids bought it after."
"Buying non-artifact guns in bulk for what..."
"They said it's an artifact?"
The situation grew complicated.
"Hold it and shoot, turn into sharpshooters. Guaranteed pass."
"Just rumors. Yuha had no choice but to switch to shooting—she's good at practicals anyway, practiced hard."
"Yeah, probably."
At that point, they still hadn't grasped the severity.
"Explain."
A cold-faced woman in a suit sat in the highest, best chair, looking down at the teachers. Arrogant, but none dared critique her. She was a living legend of Korea's hunter world, wielding fame and power dwarfing the others.
The Academy's principal, Wi Sunna, was there.
"It's not... that serious, right? Expelling students isn't good for us either—"
The 'expulsion exam' was already a headache. Without it, lazy students would slack off. But it had to exist.
Yet Academy students were mostly from jaw-dropping backgrounds of talent and influence. Teachers faced raging parents demanding 'Why my kid?!' They didn't want their students expelled.
"I know. But this ain't normal, right?"
The issue was that pistol. Some mystery artifact—if you practiced a bit, anyone could shoot like a pro. Insecure kids and confident ones alike used it. They passed with flying colors.
"Suggest countermeasures."
The teachers sighed heavily.
'I'll nitpick; you solve it.' Sunna's declaration.
"Raise the bar?"
"Shooting exam difficulty's already grumbled about. These are students. Can't overdo it—it's expulsion."
Shot down instantly. Sunna was right, as always. Worst case, first-years fresh in might face it. Demand pro-hunter marksmanship? Shooting majors would drop like flies.
"Ban artifacts outright..."
"Some can't shoot non-personal guns. Tough."
Rare, but real—hunters bound to personal artifacts, performing only with that weapon. Forcing academy-standard guns? Discrimination.
"Then ban just that pistol..."
Sunna bit her lip.
"...Not practical. But we can try."
One teacher shot up a hand.
"Just change the rules? Easy, right?"
Sunna sighed deeply.
"Logically, yeah. Our school, our rules."
Her weary eyes held the world's storms.
"But will they see it that way?"