Chapter 56
Chapter 56
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: The Paradise Plan
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How did it end up like this?
Sia glanced back at Seo-hyun, who had her sitting on his lap and was kneading her cheeks.
Having Seo-hyun right in front of her, looking a bit unstable, she had acted without thinking, and this was the result.
"Uncomfortable?"
By now, they were on casual terms. She looked a little more at ease than before as she smiled at Sia.
"No, I'm so used to it by now... but, uh, what did you want to talk about with the governor?"
"You said last time that once the World Tree is fully grown, you'd build a village for mutants, right?"
"Yes."
"What if we expanded it a bit?"
Sia tilted her head at Seo-hyun's words.
She was curious why he was suddenly bringing this up.
"Why expand it?"
"This whole incident happened because of mutant discrimination in the US, didn't it?"
"...You're right."
"But from what I can see, the conflict between mutants and regular people in America has already reached an irreversible point."
"You're right. It's too far gone now."
Sia recalled her first moments in America.
Korea wasn't an environment suited for growing a World Tree. There weren't even any trees suitable for it to begin with.
So, when she had no choice but to leave her homeland where she'd lived her whole life and arrived in this distant foreign land... she couldn't help but sense considerable hostility.
Even that was mild because of her striking appearance. If she'd been even slightly less attractive in form, she would have been exposed to all sorts of discrimination and enmity.
Later, when the California governor she'd made contact with asked why she'd come all this way, she revealed her vision and demonstrated her abilities, leading to where they were now.
If she hadn't had those abilities or a vision for the World Tree, the governor probably wouldn't have supported her either.
She might have faced some pretty rough treatment. That's what she thought.
America was a melting pot of cultures, but beneath it all, discrimination and hostility were bubbling up, and Sia had constantly pondered what she should do amid that animosity.
That's when she came up with the idea of a mutant village.
And now, Seo-hyun was bringing it up.
"So, here's the thing... You originally planned for some exchange with the outside, right?"
"Yes. We'd need at least enough money to keep the village running."
"What if we cut off contact completely?"
"Cut off? We'd all starve, wouldn't we?"
"That's why we make a deal with the governor. America is tearing its hair out over mutants right now—the security costs and all that money draining away. Redirect it all to the village you're building, and in return, mutants won't cause problems outside."
"...Well, that would be more comfortable for me, but do you think America would agree? They'd probably prefer to maintain the status quo."
"I'm going to apply some pressure. The part where I wiped out the lich and dullahan today—was that caught on drone footage?"
"Uh, probably...? San Diego has all sorts of US military facilities, so of course they'd deploy drones for a battle that big."
"We show them that. Then we make the deal. I'll handle the problems caused by mutants. So redirect the budget allocated for mutant-related issues to the mutant village. That budget has to be astronomical, no doubt."
Sia tilted her head at Seo-hyun's idea.
No matter how she thought about it, she couldn't imagine the higher-ups in America going along with it.
More than that, a group that couldn't sustain itself would just become a bigger problem later.
Human greed knows no bounds, and mutants are no different.
"Then how do we generate income? Managing mutants on that budget alone would run into all sorts of issues. No matter how massive the budget, there are limits. Mutants live with desires similar to humans, and satisfying those in the village alone would have its constraints."
"You mentioned World Tree premium products before, right? And not just that—other mutants could produce specialty goods too. Like tools made by dwarf-type mutants. Encourage production based on each race's traits. Then mutants skilled in combat could serve as guards for those production-focused ones."
"And distribute those worldwide? With mutants who need to go outside vetted through strict procedures."
"Exactly."
"...Not a bad idea."
Sia thought Seo-hyun's proposal had merit. It wasn't perfect, and who knew what problems might arise later... but at least it would minimize mutants rampaging against regular people.
What if mutants fought among themselves in the village?
That wasn't her concern. Let them duke it out.
As long as they didn't destroy facilities and sorted it among themselves.
Of course, she'd intervene in cases that could lead to murder, but she had no intention of suppressing every petty squabble.
The downside was implementing various rules, which would be a headache... but she'd have to discuss that with California.
Sia had a rough outline now. Though whether this worked out would depend on if the governor followed Seo-hyun's lead.
Still... a profit-minded governor might go along with it.
A village that housed mutants from across the US would justify requesting substantial federal funding.
Subsidies for mutant policy... the federal government would likely jump on that.
Mutant discrimination was fueling massive crimes across America right now.
She hoped things went according to Seo-hyun's will—and her own.
* * *
The talks with the state government went quite smoothly. The California governor respected Sia and Seo-hyun's intentions and agreed to support their mutant village plan, dubbed the Paradise Plan, to the fullest.
"Then we'll go with that. Thank you for your cooperation, Governor."
"Haha. We're getting our own benefits out of this, so no need to thank me."
The governor accepted their deal so readily because of the various gains it brought.
He was already well aware of the storm Seo Jin-ha was stirring in the fashion world.
Mutants were walking gold mines.
The world despised them, but it went wild for their unique traits.
Tools? Swords? Made by dwarves?
Their value as ornaments alone would be immense.
The premium on those would be no joke.
Tea brewed from World Tree leaves? What more needed to be said.
Tea masters from around the world might flock to California.
In other words, he had no intention of killing the goose that laid the golden eggs.
The budget for establishing the mutant village could simply be extracted from the federal government under mutant policy support and disaster recovery pretexts.
And they'd even personally crushed the horde of monsters that marched on San Diego this time... so as governor, there was no reason not to respect their views.
He'd also need to thank Korea's Mutant Crime Management Bureau for rushing to their aid.
If things had gone wrong, it could have swept not just California but the entire US.
* * *
The negotiations wrapped up smoothly. Just as I'd envisioned.
Ever since gaining power, I'd never lost the upper hand in deals like this.
Well, I'd also proposed terms they could understand.
They probably crunched the numbers hard.
Anyway... with things settled here, time to rest a bit.
Not physically tired, but mentally drained.
The deputy director would arrive soon, so once she does, maybe do some sightseeing in America.
With Sia in tow.
Dropping the formal speech was impulsive.
I'd done it with Ha-rin too, so it shouldn't be an issue with Sia.
Fortunately, she seemed understanding.
At the time, I was probably a bit emotionally unsteady.
Honestly, I was pretty angry—and sad—about it all.
I'm basically an idealist.
The kind who wishes everyone could just live happily ever after.
An ideal utterly impossible in reality.
So the more incidents like this I saw, the sadder I got.
I didn't want people fighting each other, harboring grudges, sparking conflicts that led to these horrific disasters.
Who am I to say? You might ask, but what's wrong with dreaming of ideals?
I was just an ordinary Korean literature major, and the poems and novels we studied were usually straightforward expressions of the authors' ideals.
Hard not to be influenced by that.
Sia must have picked up on my state, because she climbed onto my lap on her own and offered her cheek.
...No matter how you look at it, she instinctively knew how to get people to warm up to her and acted accordingly.
You'd think high elves would have this aloof image, but she came across as friendly and approachable to everyone.
She'd said it was because she believed that was the path for the World Tree.
No point in putting up weird walls of pride—it would just endanger the World Tree. Her survival strategy, basically.
Pinch pinch.
And now, even after the negotiations, I was still kneading her cheek.
It made perfect sense, really.