09. 3,827th Class Enrollment
09. 3,827th Class Enrollment
"Went and came back quick. But we caused a whole ruckus there, and you still don't know about it? Aren't you a bit too uninterested?"
"Do I have to care about a place like that?"
She owned this entire massive city, plus she was the Academy Chief Instructor—no matter that she'd been fired, she was sticking around until this batch was done—so she wouldn't have time to worry about some random district, let alone the Slums.
No, it was probably more accurate to say she literally just didn't care.
Handing over such a huge district in the first place was partly because she coveted the shares, but also because the area itself was a hot potato she didn't want to deal with anyway.
"Still, we bulldozed every building there, and you not knowing is kinda serious. Show some interest from now on."
"...You bulldozed all the buildings? I heard the Ho-in Tribe lives there. Aren't they pretty fierce? Their deputy rep was there too, right?"
"Yeah. But what could they do? They just got bulldozed."
"..."
Such a brutally simple answer.
Even if it was a neglected area, it had its own order and forces, yet he just steamrolled right through—what an absurd, impressive, complicated mess of feelings.
'Bari must've done it anyway.'
Excluding Bari, Sihwan was just a guy with a weird personality, so there was no way he'd done it himself. She sent her admiration to the doll who wasn't even here.
"Good. Glad it went smoothly. So, you're gonna use them as slaves in the end? Just so you know, the deputy rep can't be treated like a slave. She's not an unregistered object."
"Bari mentioned that too. But it doesn't matter. The whole tribe's mine anyway."
"Fair enough. If she could just cut off her own tribe like that, she would've done it ages ago."
Rihana's tribe was nothing but dead weight.
Only a handful of able-bodied young men who could work, and the rest were all kids or old folks.
In short, it was a total liability that gave her zero benefits while dragging her down hard.
If she were normal, she probably would've cut ties or offed herself by now.
"That's why she can't cut them loose and keeps dragging them along."
She had talent, so if she went lone wolf, she could've made it big, but sadly, she couldn't ditch the tribe and had tanked her own life as a result.
Not just one or two straws sucking her dry—nearly a hundred of them.
No matter how amazing her talent, surviving with that many parasites was impressive in itself, right?
And yet, she still couldn't cut the tribe loose.
She donated almost all the money she scraped together through grit to the tribe and still couldn't break free.
That's how deep her attachment to the tribe ran.
Which was why she was doomed to follow Sihwan around.
Even if she wasn't officially a slave, it didn't matter. She was practically one already.
"Yep. She's got no choice but to follow me in the end."
"Sounds great for you. Getting another massive haul of women. A guy who straight-up declared to his wife he's gonna cheat~."
"More importantly, first I'm gonna take the slum dwellers and build a massive compound."
"You're gonna build another one of those Factory buildings?"
"Gotta move the one from the Academy here. And relocate some of the underground buildings too."
"Oh my. So you're finally ending the unauthorized occupation. As a member of the Ha Family, I'm thrilled."
"Who's leaving? We're just sourcing resources from underground. And we'll handle cigarette production, consumer goods, and Base development here. Division of labor and specialization, you know."
"...No, get out. I already gave you a huge chunk of land."
"It's underground, so what's the big deal? You hiding something? Like some weird novel?"
"Ha. What the hell."
They finally had one productive conversation, and he veers off into nonsense again. Complete with absurd bullshit.
Was it impossible to teach him basic manners and conversation etiquette?
"Anyway, the scenery's gonna change big time soon, so keep that in mind. Do I gotta pay taxes or something?"
"Of course. If you don't like it, buy the city."
"How much for the city?"
"Not for sale."
She snickers.
Clearly teasing him.
"...So, how much for taxes?"
"Base rate is 50% of monthly net profit or annual production."
"50%? Half? You gangsters."
"Oh? This is super generous."
"No, taking half? What'd you even do to deserve that."
"We did plenty. In this brutal Tower, we drove out the Angels and gods, built the city, formed an army, managed security, and gave you a home—50% is a steal. Without us, those things wouldn't even set foot in the Tower."
"...You're hopeless."
Taking 50%.
No rebellions or anything?
"But you collected taxes from the Slums too? They're all unregistered."
"They didn't pay income tax, sure, but they do odd jobs at shops, right? That creates added value, so we tax that."
"So the slum dwellers themselves didn't pay taxes. And it's still too damn expensive. Might as well build outside the city."
"The land around this city is all mine."
"..."
"Floor 1 is all Ha Family land."
Sihwan was struck dumb, and Yeonseo smiled.
Silencing that bulldozer of a man, even briefly, gave her a weird thrill.
"But don't worry too much. It's just the 'base rate.' Tax rates vary by person anyway."
"Oh? It won't go higher?"
"Hmm~ Depends on industry and scale, but cigarettes alone are high-value enough for an 8% reduction. Set up a corporation here, that's another 3% off, and if over half your production's in the city, more benefits. Plus, with what you've shown, you could get designated as a key city industry. And most importantly, you know the city owner—me. I'm even a shareholder already. Stack the clauses, and final rate's about 9%."
"Wow... impressive in all sorts of ways."
Base rate 50% was shocking enough, but corporate tax gets slashed with clauses—and even knowing the city owner helps.
Down to a whopping 9%.
A 41% drop.
"And,"
"There's more? You said final."
"Invest in this city or my lands, and that covers a chunk. Needs scale, of course. Plus, you're developing a rundown Slums area, right? Benefits the city, so if you do it right, tons of subsidies. Add it all up, and you're basically tax-free. Damn, saying it out loud hurts~."
"You're ruthless. Makes you poor folks wanna cry."
"Oh? Where's that 'I don't like it' attitude now?"
She shot Sihwan a side-eye and pulled out a fresh cigarette.
"Anyway, got it?"
"But this city has a mayor, right?"
"Yeah, but it's a meaningless position. Why, you wanna try?"
"O? Wasn't thinking about it, but now I kinda want to."
"No plans to let you. Dream on."
"Not elected by vote?"
"Why bother? If I say you do it, you do it."
"Gotcha."
She straight-up owned the city, appointed mayors at will, set taxes however, commanded the army—basically a queen.
New girlfriend's a queen. Kinda hot.
"If we're done talking, time to go. I'm busy, you know."
"Yeah?"
He nodded and stood up.
Just stopped by to confirm the relationship and pitch the business plan anyway.
But he didn't leave the room right away.
With the desk between him and Yeonseo, he circled around and sat beside her.
"?"
Her gaze followed.
Eyes screaming, What're you doing, not leaving?
"C'mon, gimme a kiss."
"What?"
She took the cigarette from her mouth and let out a baffled laugh.
"You're my girl now."
"...You're always full of surprises."
She had a mountain of things she wanted to say but gave up and brought her lips to his as requested.
Chok.
Not lips—her cheek.
Sihwan gave her a look, and she replied, I was smoking.
"Don't care."
"Whatever, get out. I've got work."
"Alright. Work hard."
No kiss was a bummer, but first day—he'd take it.
"Oh, next time, I'll do the forward one."
"?"
Before he left the room, she tilted her head at his parting words, then got it and chucked a small cushion at the back of his head.