I Will Resign
When Sunghyun opened his eyes, two round, pretty pupils were staring back at him.
"What are you doing?"
"Observing."
"Observing what?"
"The way you look with your eyes closed."
"Have you always been this bold?"
"I wonder. It's hard not to when someone keeps thinking about other people."
Caught, huh.
Sunghyun pulled Armin into his arms.
Sniff sniff. She smelled wonderful.
"Eek!"
"What, you came this close without being ready for even this much?"
Armin's face turned red as an apple. She pushed at him with her hands, but Sunghyun tensed his arms.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"Aaaah—"
In that moment, Armin seemed to give up and nestled into his embrace.
Stroke. Stroke.
Sunghyun stroked the head of the girl nestled against him.
"You could have left me behind. Thank you for protecting me."
Even after he had lost control of his body, Sunghyun's consciousness had remained intact. Thanks to that, he had been able to roughly observe the situation.
Armin.
If not for her, he would have forced himself upright even if it meant abandoning recovery. If he had done that, permanent scars might have remained.
Armin spoke with a prim expression.
"If you know, then treat me well…"
Thinking back on that situation still made his head boil. He had spared them because they had bowed their heads of their own accord. But the moment he collapsed, they had approached to finish him off. He had wanted to slaughter them right then and there. If Armin had not awakened, he would have.
Stroke, stroke.
"Please answer me."
"Haha… alright."
The air in the room had turned cold for a moment just now. Perhaps her shyness was gone, for Armin burrowed even deeper into his arms.
How did it end up like this?
Don't know. Just enjoy it for now.
As he smiled while breathing in the floral scent from Armin's hair, a knock sounded from outside the room.
"Sunghyun-nim. I heard you have awakened."
It was a calm, even voice without highs or lows.
It's been a while, our team leader.
"Yeah, come in. Armin, just a moment?"
The instant he tried to lift and move her, Armin's legs wrapped around Sunghyun's waist.
"I won't let go."
"If you don't let go now… no head pats for a week."
That seemed to work. Armin loosened her legs.
"Okay…"
She pouted her lips. He felt a twinge of regret at letting her go as well, but there was no choice. He could not face his subordinates looking like this. He was not that shameless.
"Come in."
Click.
A man in a familiar suit opened the door and entered.
"How'd you get a suit?"
"I deliberately saved it for this day. It's been a long time, Sunghyun-nim."
"Still so stiff. You could loosen up a bit like back then, haha."
"…Please forget about me from those days."
"Haha, no can do."
Seeing his subordinate after so long, Sunghyun's face bloomed with a full smile. Someone tugged at his collar from the side—it was Armin.
"Somehow it seems like you're welcoming him more than me?"
"Haha, no way. Armin's the best."
Sorry, Nakamoto. I have to survive too. But Armin really was the best. Look at her puffing her cheeks right now—how cute.
Sunghyun collected himself and turned his face. Nakamoto let out a deep, satisfied sigh of relief.
"I'm glad. I sometimes wondered if the CEO might prefer men. Now that you've found a suitable partner, I am truly moved beyond words."
What the hell is he saying right now.
Just as Sunghyun was about to open his mouth, a rumbling sound came from outside the door. The other lawyers excluding Nakamoto. Since they were his dedicated team, all familiar faces.
"CEO! It is truly an honor to see you again."
All wearing suits, they bowed to Sunghyun at precise angles.
"Yeah… Glad you all look healthy. Good, then shall we go tour the palace?"
"I will guide you."
The team leader spoke from the front. Team leader in the lead, Armin and Sunghyun in the middle, and three lawyers at the rear began touring the palace. The sight was quite peculiar and drew everyone's gazes. In the meantime, it seemed Armin's identity as a princess had been revealed, for everyone was talking about her.
Looking around, Sunghyun saw a typical Western-style castle. Since just walking was boring, he opened his mouth toward the legal team.
"What have you been doing here?"
It was a stiff, businesslike tone. Meaning the words from now on were business.
Nakamoto straightened his back and answered.
"First, we agreed to lend our labor to the king on the condition of finding Sunghyun-nim."
Labor. Probably their knowledge as lawyers and the experience accumulated while working with him.
"Stop that now. We have work to do."
To gather points now, he either had to find dragons hiding who knew where, or deal with the Demon King's army. Leave such troublesome work to the heroes. Now it was time for him to return to his main business. He also had plans for pipelines for fixed income.
"Understood."
They followed Sunghyun's words without any questions. Trust—maintaining the trust built between them even in this world.
"Good. Then I'll give you materials by today, so analyze them and bring the results."
Their analytical ability and judgment had been quite helpful to Sunghyun. The king must have been making good use of their abilities too.
The team leader turned and spoke politely to Sunghyun.
"CEO. The reason we came to your room is not only to see you, but there is another reason as well."
"Ah, something like the king wants to see me? That kind of talk?"
As if correct, the team leader opened his mouth.
"Your senses are as sharp as ever, CEO."
Sunghyun looked at Armin and said,
"Shall we go see Father-in-law?"
"Whaaat?"
At Sunghyun's direct words, Armin's face flushed red.
As expected, her reactions are fun. I can't stop doing this.
After confirming Armin's feelings, Sunghyun had gotten addicted to continuously flustering her.
Looking at that reaction, how am I supposed to stop.
Can't stop.
"Guide us. Let's go right away."
Sunghyun firmly grasped Armin's hand. The lawyers pretended not to notice that sight. They just smiled at the corners of their mouths.
Finally, spring has come to our CEO!
They arrived in front of the king's audience chamber.
"We have arrived. Then, we shall take our leave."
"No, come in together. You are currently employees of SH Group—we need to make that clear."
Nakamoto recalled the sight of the king pulverizing dragons.
"Um… CEO. Are you perhaps aware that the king of this country is not human?"
"Hm? Of course I know. Who do you think I'm holding hands with?"
Only then did Nakamoto's gaze linger on Armin.
I see. Sunghyun-nim already knows everything. Then it should be fine.
"Understood. It is an honor to accompany you."
When Nakamoto bowed his head, the other lawyers all bowed toward Sunghyun as well. Sunghyun approached and patted their shoulders.
"Thanks for helping without complaints. Let's go—it's the start of the new SH Group."
The lawyers all straightened their backs and adjusted their ties. It was their routine before starting work.
The moment Sunghyun nodded, the door to the audience chamber opened.
"Welcome. Sunghyun-nim, please come in quickly. It is cold outside."
A heavy male voice came from inside the audience chamber.
Thud. Thud.
The footsteps of six people in total filled the audience chamber. Euclid's expression twisted ever so slightly. Because he saw Armin holding Sunghyun's hand.
At that sight, Sunghyun said to the king,
"Is something the matter?"
The king forcibly corrected his expression.
"N-nothing at all. I am 'Euclid Rom Gold,' father of Armin over there and the leader of the Gold Dragons."
"Kim Sunghyun. Please take care of me."
Sunghyun and Euclid clasped hands.
"By any chance… what is your relationship with my daughter…"
Strength gradually entered Euclid's grip. At that, Sunghyun smirked and put strength into his own grip.
"We're meeting as a good relationship."
At the ambiguous words and directly receiving Sunghyun's strength, Euclid's face grew increasingly pale.
"I… understand. Please forgive my rudeness. I wanted to know what kind of person my daughter risked her life to protect was."
Not particularly wanting to make an enemy of Euclid, Sunghyun released the hand he was holding.
"Yes, please take care of me going forward."
After clasping hands once, Euclid rotated his wrist and bowed his head.
"On behalf of all dragons, I apologize for the incident that occurred there. I am truly sorry."
Strictly speaking, the Forest of Demonic Beasts was a zone managed by the Rom Kingdom, so Euclid also bore responsibility. Euclid knew that fact well, and sincerely offered an apology to Sunghyun. That sincerity was enough to be conveyed even to Sunghyun.
"Please rise. It's already over, and while there were injured people, no one was in the wrong, right? Then that's enough."
Strictly speaking, thanks to that he had been able to obtain a large amount of points in a short time. In the end, it was a success.
"And receiving such greetings from Father-in-law doesn't make me feel very good. Everything's fine, so let's end this matter here."
At Sunghyun's bombshell statement, Armin flinched, and Euclid's eyes trembled violently.
"Fa… Father-in-law? What do you mean…? Daughter…?"
Euclid's gaze landed on Armin. Armin nodded as if embarrassed.
He had known Armin was somewhat dependent on Sunghyun and had some feelings, but it had already gone that far…
Euclid felt his mind go blank.
"Ah… uh… I understand."
Euclid broke.
Sunghyun had deliberately uttered the word father-in-law for this. From the looks of it, King Euclid's love for his daughter was tremendous. Therefore, now when Euclid was broken was the most advantageous situation for Sunghyun.
"Well then, let's establish a new relationship. Us."
Sunghyun smiled wickedly toward Euclid.
"You made a deal with our lawyers, right? That they'd help with work until they found me?"
"Surely not?"
From Euclid's position, who had been making good use of the lawyers' knowledge, Sunghyun's next words were like a disaster.
"I'll be taking them back. They were people who originally worked for me, after all."
Euclid felt a throbbing in the back of his neck.
On top of Armin, even those precious personnel… Just how much do you intend to take from me, you devil!
Sunghyun said to Euclid with his usual smile.
"Do you acknowledge it?"
He did not want to acknowledge it. But how could he suppress with force the disciple of Hermes, the husband of his daughter, the one who deals with death.
Euclid nodded weakly.
"Yes… please do so."
"The friends here will draft the documents and submit them. Please confirm."
At those words, Nakamoto took out some document paper and handed it to the king.
"Resignation documents."
Euclid forced a smile.
"Haha… yes, I'll sign them. Please give them here."
Sunghyun thought of a certain boy.
"By the way, where is the hero? I'd like to go take a look once."
Apparently the boy who had been bullied was the hero, they said. Shall I go take a look.
Sunghyun raised his face from the king who was signing the documents with tears in his eyes.
"If it's the hero, he's probably at the training grounds. Besides the hero, all the summoned people except for a few will be there."
Shall I go in power-concealing mode.
Sounds fun.