An Ambitious Man (2)
“Ah! Would it be all right if I told you our demands first?”
“Of course.”
“First, we’d like you to make an official statement.”
“Such as?”
“Something saying you received a sincere apology from Jung Yura of the Black Swan and that the misunderstanding between you has been resolved. It would be really great if you could also say that you were never physically threatened… The rest, Oppa, you can probably figure out yourself, but… well, any words that calm this whole mess down will do.”
“Hmm… even so, that won’t be easy.”
“Also, we’d like you to mention the Black Swan’s changed appearance.”
“You want to use me as a promotional tool?”
“Well, naturally. Some people are already calling you Lee Kiyoung, the symbol of resistance… At this rate, you’ll probably even end up with a title before long. Since you have a certain image you’re trying to project, mentioning those extra details isn’t exactly mandatory, but… for my sake, I’d really appreciate it if you’d mention them at least once. You changed a major guild. You won. It wasn’t my victory alone! Something like that would be best.”
“Victory, my ass….”
Her little scheme was shameless enough to make me laugh.
The reason the Black Swan’s power structure had changed at all was because of a whole tangle of political relationships.
Of course, I couldn’t deny that the spark had been this incident, but if the Black Swan hadn’t already been riddled with internal problems, the structure probably wouldn’t have changed in the first place.
So it was only natural that I laughed at her insistence on framing this as a public victory.
“What the truth is doesn’t matter, does it? You know what matters is making the public think they won….”
“That’s why I’m laughing.”
“Well, we won’t just sit still either, so you don’t need to worry about our side. Just don’t pour more fuel on the fire like you’ve been doing until now. We’re hoping you’ll be careful with words like understanding us or condemning our wrongdoing and the like.”
“Understood. I’ll consider it.”
“And if you could do it for the sake of old times too. Okay?”
Her eyes curved sweetly, but I ignored it.
“Anything else?”
“Of course. This one may be a little beyond your authority, but… we’re in the middle of promoting a tri-power alliance between the Red Mercenaries, the Black Swan, and Blue. We’d like you to make that public as well. It won’t be a bad thing for you, either.”
“You mean I can expand my influence within the guilds?”
“Yes. Of course, I’m not asking you to announce it immediately. The situation’s a bit chaotic right now. Still, I’d like you to mention the friendly atmosphere. Something like, ‘We’re maintaining a good relationship with the changed Black Swan’ sounds about right.”
“You do seem to be asking for a lot… you’ve got the reward prepared properly, right?”
“Yes. For now, all the items, materials, and currency obtained from the Garden of Terror will go directly to you personally. The same goes for the dungeon shares and land documents from the cleared dungeon.”
“That doesn’t sound especially welcome if you think about public opinion.”
“Officially, it will all be listed as a donation.”
“Ah. I see.”
“No one will ever know what you received from our guild.”
Honestly, I couldn’t trust that completely.
If it was Lee Jihye standing in front of me, I figured she was more than capable of stabbing me in the back.
If word got out that I’d gained any sort of major benefit here, then the press would probably tear me apart for using the media to line my own pockets.
“Even if it does get out, I think we can handle it.”
She’s not wrong.
Several newspapers were already on my side.
Even if something like that happened, cleaning it up wouldn’t be a major problem.
By now, most of the media in Lindel had already decided to side with Blue and the Red Mercenaries.
Thinking about it that way, it was only natural that the Black Swan was sending out love calls to this side.
That is, if the Black Swan’s leadership—including Lee Jihye—knew about it.
“There’ll also be guild-level support for Kim Hyunsung’s party.”
“Isn’t that too generous?”
“Isn’t it because we want to leave a good impression on you?”
“This kind of attention isn’t exactly welcome….”
She didn’t say it, but I was sure she had inflated my image quite a bit inside the Black Swan.
For her own position to rise, my value had to rise as well, since she had ties to me.
In other words, it was a mutually beneficial relationship.
I wasn’t happy about it, but I wasn’t unhappy either.
In the end, it meant there was a great deal I could get out of this.
“And if there’s anything else you’d like, we can do our best to accommodate—”
“Leave that to you. The guild will have its own direction for how much to give, so whatever you do now, I don’t care anymore.”
“That’s a little pressure-inducing. It sounds like you’re testing me.”
“Not really. No, to be honest, I don’t understand why you’re going this far. The Black Swan’s actions aren’t exactly unjustified, but this is a little much. It’s not like I’m the only one who’s getting taken care of. You’d have to support the Red Mercenaries too, so it doesn’t exactly look like a profitable deal.”
“I’m embarrassed to say this out loud, but my influence wasn’t completely absent.”
“That only makes me more curious. You’re too rational to be doing this just because of some old attachment. I’d like you to tell me what it is you really want.”
Silence settled over the room.
Lee Jihye’s expression didn’t change. She didn’t look flustered in the slightest.
She simply continued speaking in the same calm tone.
And of course, what she said was nowhere near what I’d expected.
“Didn’t I tell you last time?”
“What.”
“I like ambitious men.”
“Don’t joke a—”
The moment I looked into her eyes, I couldn’t finish the sentence.
The expression staring straight at me didn’t look like a lie.
It wasn’t her usual grin, her usual sweet, sly smile.
“Do I look like I’m joking?”
“…….”
“Let me tell you something interesting.”
I slowly nodded. For some reason, it felt like I should.
“Have you ever heard the anecdote about the Clintons? It’s fiction, but kind of an interesting story….”
“No.”
She let out a short breath and went on. It was a strangely out-of-nowhere story, but an interesting one all the same.
“During his time as president, Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton once went to a gas station to refuel. At that station, Hillary supposedly gave a passionate hug to a stranger.”
“That is kind of funny.”
“Turns out the man at the gas station was Hillary’s ex-boyfriend… and while they were talking about it on the drive back, Bill Clinton supposedly teased her a little. He said that if she’d still been dating that man, she’d have been working with him at the gas station.”
“…….”
“What do you think Hillary said to that?”
“…….”
“No. It’d be that man, not you, who would be President of the United States.”
It was a funny story.
It really was.
If I applied the anecdote about Bill and Hillary Clinton to the two of us, then she was basically saying she could make me president.
“It’s not a story I can’t relate to. But personally, I’d like to add one more condition to it.”
“And that is?”
“How much ambition the man actually has.”
Hah….
“A man is an animal that changes depending on what a woman does, but a man with no ambition to act isn’t all that attractive.”
“You do understand the situation I’m in right now, don’t you?”
“Of course. You’re the consort of the Mercenary Queen, after all… and that’s not all, is it? You’re also raising a bomb named Jung Hayan like precious treasure at your side. But a woman’s appeal isn’t decided by looks or strength alone.”
“Ha….”
“I’m not clinging to you and begging to meet right this second, Oppa. I already know that kind of woman isn’t popular. Whether you’re rolling around, licking and fucking some blood-mad mercenary or some crazy wizard with a screw loose in her head, I don’t care at all. If that’s all just part of the process of climbing higher, then I’d actually welcome it. I know that in the end, the one chosen last is a woman like me.”
“…….”
“A woman who can make a man like you into a king.”
Hah….
I was so thrown off I couldn’t even get words out properly.
Ever since I’d seen her tendency to be a selfish striver, and ever since the tutorial, I’d thought I understood her well enough, but I hadn’t imagined it was to this degree.
I wasn’t surprised because she said she was interested in me. I was surprised by the strange confidence she carried.
Lee Jihye’s stats were definitely pathetic. Her talent wasn’t much better.
Of course, she probably didn’t know the limits of her own talent, but she was likely starting to notice them little by little.
The fact that she’d chosen the commander class was proof enough that she was aware of her own limitations.
And yet this woman, who resembled me, still had confidence.
Confidence that, aside from raw stats or the combat power that mattered in this world, she could make the man she chose into a king.
Well….
There was no way for me to know when exactly she’d started thinking like this.
Given her nature, it was probably from the very beginning.
I had no idea how I was supposed to respond.
Even while I was sorting through my thoughts, I caught sight of Lee Jihye slowly rising to her feet.
Her hand, moving carefully to stroke my face, also came into view.
“Why me?”
“Who knows. If I had to find a reason….”
“…….”
“Because you told me we’d see each other again back then?”
I didn’t bother dodging the soft kiss she pressed to my lips.
She was more than useful enough to justify the effort.
“That’s the end of our conversation. Please think carefully about not just what the guild is giving you, but what I’m telling you personally too, Oppa.”
“I’ll think about it, noona.”
Everything she’d said was good to hear.
She wore a faintly wrinkled expression, but the smile lingering at the corners of her mouth suggested she was pleased with the conversation today.
Then she stood, opened the door, and was just about to leave the reception room when—
Ah.
Jung Hayan came into view beyond the door, waiting outside.
Unlike me, who’d flinched for a second, Lee Jihye didn’t look surprised at all. She simply looked at Jung Hayan and spoke.
“It’s been a while, Hayan.”
“Y-yes… it’s b-been a w-while… Jihye.”
Shit.
“I heard you and Kiyoung Oppa are dating? Hyunsung and Deokgu are doing well too, right?”
“Y-yes….”
“Oh, how lovely. Seeing a sweet love like that makes me happy too. I imagine we’ll be seeing each other often from now on… so I hope we get along.”
“Y-yes….”
“Well then.”
Maybe I was imagining it, but Jung Hayan’s condition seemed strangely different.
Of course, there was no way she’d know what had been said inside.
This place had been warded with magic so no one else could interrupt us.
And yet, perhaps because she’d sensed the odd atmosphere, I could tell she was looking at Lee Jihye with the same eyes she’d once used on Park Hye-young.
I could say it with confidence.
Right now, Jung Hayan looked like her eyes had gone bad.
Damn it.
She was even staring at me with a look that seemed to be questioning me.
Lee Jihye’s lips curled higher and she sent me a smile.
The world was wide, and there were plenty of women in it.
And yet—
I couldn’t understand why the only women who kept getting tangled around me were the ones who’d lost their minds.