Not long after, soone ca hurrying out from the vice president’s residence.
“What? Is it really him?”
The person who erged was the butler who had served under the vice president for many years.
With a delighted expression, he approached Ma Seokdae.
“Black! What brings you here?”
A faint smile appeared on Ma Seokdae’s face.
“Katie. It’s been a long ti.”
“When did you get to Sierra Leone? Today? Are you here to see Solomon?”
Ma Seokdae shook his head.
“I ca because of another matter. I need Solomon’s help. I’ve co to collect the life debt he owes from long ago.”
At his words, Katie’s face turned serious.
“...I don’t know what this is about, but if it’s a life debt Solomon owes, then this must be sothing major.”
“It’s not difficult. Can I et Solomon?”
“Of course! If he hears Black is here, he’ll probably drop everything and co running. Co inside first.”
At Katie’s teasing, Ma Seokdae nodded and followed.
“Wait here for a mont. I’ll go inform the vice president.”
Leaving Ma Seokdae in the reception room, Katie hurried out.
The sofa in the reception room was soft and luxurious.
Left alone, Ma Seokdae sat down and drifted into old mories.
It was back when he had been hired by the Sierra Leone governnt as an EO rcenary and was fighting the rebels.
At the ti they had been driving the rebels out to the outskirts, the rebels suddenly stord into Freetown.
There were only a few EO rcenaries left in Freetown, and the governnt army was pushed back until even the presidential residence was occupied.
The president, having already heard the news, quickly fled Freetown, but the vice president—who at the ti had been the minister of defense—was stranded inside the city.
‘The others told us we should pull out too.’
In a full-scale battle, the EO rcenaries had the advantage.
No, it was beyond an advantage—they could practically massacre them.
After all, these were African rebels with diocre equipnt.
But EO was different. At Sierra Leone’s request, they had been ard with Apaches and the latest equipnt, and the effect had been enormous.
The rebels who had once controlled half of Sierra Leone were pushed back to the outer regions by the rcenaries.
There was only one option left for the rebels: seize the president and cut off the governnt’s contract with the rcenaries.
They believed that was their only path to survival, and they acted on it.
Ma Seokdae persuaded the rcenaries who wanted to evacuate first and instead chose to rescue the defense minister.
If the man fell into rebel hands, there was no telling how far the consequences would spread.
In the end, he safely rescued the defense minister and his family and escaped Freetown.
In return, EO was able to squeeze a great deal out of the Sierra Leone governnt.
They had even offered Ma Seokdae a personal reward, but he refused.
After that, Ma Seokdae and the man had beco quite close.
“Solomon says he’ll co in imdiately. He was genuinely delighted when he heard you were here, Black.”
Ma Seokdae answered with a faint smile.
“That’s good. Katie, sit down too. Keep company until the vice president arrives.”
“Gladly! So what have you been doing all this ti? I heard you quit rcenary work.”
Katie sat across from him willingly and asked.
“I’m serving soone else now.”
“Oh? So you do have soone you serve. What kind of person are they?”
“Hmm... the grandson of soone who was both my benefactor and my enemy.”
“Huh? What does that even an? How can soone be both?”
Looking at her bewildered face, Ma Seokdae slowly rubbed his chin.
It was a habit he had picked up from being around his boss for so long.
“There are things like that. Anyway, after quitting rcenary work, I ca to serve him. At first, I only intended to stay by his side for a while and then leave...”
Ma Seokdae ended up telling Katie quite a bit about what he had been up to.
When he finished, Katie let out an impressed sound.
“Oho. I’d love to et him soday. To think soone managed to win Black’s loyalty. How on earth did they capture the heart of the Black who rejected Solomon’s desperate courtship?”
The vice president had once tried hard to recruit Ma Seokdae.
But Ma Seokdae had repeatedly refused, saying he didn’t want to be subordinate to anyone.
In the end, it was the vice president who gave up first.
Just then, the door opened and a man entered.
“Black!”
Katie sprang to her feet in surprise.
Ma Seokdae also stood and dipped his head slightly.
“Vice President. It’s been a long ti.”
“Ha! Black, don’t be so formal. Be like before. Why make it awkward?”
The vice president was clearly and sincerely happy to see him.
“What have you even been doing? Not a word from you. I was hurt.”
“My apologies. It wasn’t easy.”
“Co on, I told you to relax. Tsk.”
Apparently displeased by the overly respectful attitude, the vice president clicked his tongue and narrowed his brows.
Unable to ignore the rebuke, Ma Seokdae decided to speak more casually.
“Alright, Solomon.”
“That’s better, that’s better. Sit.”
With a broad grin, the vice president sat down, and Ma Seokdae and Katie followed.
“When did you arrive in Freetown? You should’ve contacted in advance. I would’ve made things easier for you.”
“I arrived today.”
“What brings you here? Did you co to see ?”
Ma Seokdae slowly shook his head.
The vice president let out a small sigh of disappointnt and continued.
“Then what? Are you doing business now? Katie said you ca to collect the debt of my life. Go on, tell .”
“I hadn’t planned to contact you. I didn’t save you in order to ask for sothing in return.”
“Haha. If it weren’t for your help back then, there would be no today. Just say it. If it’s sothing I can do, I’ll do it.”
Only after repeated encouragent did Ma Seokdae finally get to the point.
“The person I serve requests a eting with the president.”
“What? You serve soone? After rejecting my offer so coldly? Who on earth is this lucky person who managed to win soone like you?”
“He runs a small business.”
“A small business...”
The vice president trailed off, studying Ma Seokdae.
“It won’t be a bad eting for either Solomon or the president.”
“Hm.”
“Give and take. That’s his creed. If he receives sothing, he repays it many tis over. He can definitely be of great help to Sierra Leone’s economy.”
“What is this about? If it’s sothing that can be handled through , then do it that way. There’s no need to involve the president.”
For a mont Ma Seokdae’s face darkened, thinking it was a refusal, but the vice president quickly continued.
“It’s just that arranging a eting with the president would place a significant political burden on as well. He’ll be stepping down in a few years. After that, I’ll have to run in the next presidential election.”
“Congratulations.”
“Haha, congratulations for what? If I win, just co to my inauguration ceremony.”
“If you invite , I’ll attend.”
“That’s enough for . Now then, tell . Why exactly does he want to et the president?”
Ma Seokdae explained the situation exactly as it was.
The vice president’s expression grew more serious several tis, but he never interrupted.
By the ti the explanation was over, the vice president looked genuinely shocked.
“...Black. The man you serve is the owner of Black Bear?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“Huh. That’s surprising. Our governnt has also signed contracts with Black Bear and received a lot of help. For a country that went through so much chaos because of rcenaries, it was a difficult decision. But they were nothing like EO. They stayed exactly within the agreed boundaries.”
At that, a faint smile touched Ma Seokdae’s face.
“That’s the boss’s order. rcenaries are a double-edged sword—if they let greed take over, they beco a catastrophe. Of course, we can’t control every individual’s behavior, but Black Bear tends to restrain them by paying extrely generous compensation.”
“I heard as much. Still, this is no small thing. Opening the border so they can enter Guinea, and helping bring in weapons and rcenaries...”
The vice president fell silent for quite a long ti.
Knowing how great a burden this was for him as well, Ma Seokdae simply waited.
When the vice president finally spoke again, he nodded.
“This doesn’t seem like sothing I can decide on alone. Tell him to co et the president with tonight.”
“That’s possible imdiately?”
“Fortunately, I already have dinner plans with him tonight. Let’s have him join us there.”
“Thank you.”
The vice president waved it off with a hearty laugh.
“No need for thanks. I can only do this because I trust you. Make sure you tell the one you serve in advance—I will not tolerate rude behavior.”
“Understood.”
“Go and let him know at once. Will you be coming too?”
“Wherever he goes, I am there.”
“Good. Then I’ll expect it.”
As soon as he left the residence, Ma Seokdae imdiately pulled out his phone.
“Boss. It’s settled.”
* * *
I left for the presidential residence with Chief Ma.
“I didn’t expect you’d secure the appointnt this quickly.”
When Chief Ma reported that he had secured a dinner appointnt with the president that very evening, both David and the Korean ambassador had been stunned.
No matter how small the country, this was still the supre authority of a nation.
This was not the kind of eting one secured in a single day.
“Solomon went out of his way to help.”
“You saved the vice president’s life?”
“Yes.”
“And I suppose you won’t be telling the details of what happened?”
Chief Ma quietly closed his mouth.
Honestly, he was nothing if not consistent.
“Still, thanks to your past record, things should proceed much more smoothly.”
“Solomon said the most he can help with is the eting with the president. After that, it depends on your ability, Boss.”
“Don’t worry about that. That’s why I brought plenty of gifts in advance.”
When I ca to Sierra Leone, I had already prepared gifts for influential figures.
Most African countries were corrupt, so I figured it never hurt to co prepared.
Would Sierra Leone be any different?
“First, I need to know more about the president. How much longer until we arrive at the residence?”
“About thirty minutes.”
I nodded and picked up the file beside to review the president’s background.
His na was Ahmad Tejan Kabbah.
He had been an elite since childhood, having studied abroad in Britain.
After finishing his studies, he returned to his holand and served in various positions, such as vice minister of foreign affairs and minister of finance, before first being elected president in 1996.
When President Kabbah was elected, the civil war had already been in full swing.
Naturally, the rebels refused to recognize him, and a military coup drove him from office.
But he appealed to the international community and eventually returned to the presidency in 1998.
“He’s got flowers in his head.”
He had tried repeatedly to end the civil war through peaceful ans.
He negotiated with them again and again, even reaching ceasefire agreents several tis.
But the rebels broke every promise, and the civil war dragged on endlessly.
Eventually Britain, no longer able to watch, dispatched troops under the pretext of protecting its citizens and ended the war by capturing the rebel leader.
That was why Sierra Leone now found itself dragged along by Britain.
“The British bastards really stick their noses everywhere.”
People often said that in Africa—no, in the entire world—most seeds of conflict could be traced back to Britain, so nurous were the evils they had committed.
I decided to focus on Kabbah’s more positive side as much as possible.
Like any African president, he was corrupt, but that didn’t affect in the slightest.
In fact, the greedier a man was, the easier he was for to manipulate.
“Boss. We’re almost there.”
At Chief Ma’s voice, I set the file down and looked ahead.
The presidential residence was finally coming into view, but the surrounding area was under tight military control.
It took a total of three checkpoints just to reach the residence.
Thanks to the prior arrangent, we passed through easily enough.
Before entering the building where the president was, we were subjected to a belongings inspection and a physical search.
“I’m sorry, Boss.”
“It’s fine. This much is nothing.”
There was no reason for Chief Ma to apologize.
A man who had once been ousted by a coup couldn’t be expected to trust others easily.
After completing every procedure, we finally stopped in front of the president’s office.
A man presud to be the chief of staff greeted us.
“Good evening. I am Al Haji, the president’s chief secretary.”
“Kim Muhyuk.”
“There are just a few things you must observe in front of the president.”
He explained what actions and words were forbidden.
I let his advice go in one ear and out the other.
It was just another way of saying they intended to handle us however they pleased.
Only after enduring his long-winded lecture were we allowed into the office.
Two n were already conversing inside.
As soon as we entered, both of them studied Chief Ma and carefully.
“Good evening. I’m Kim Muhyuk.”
I dipped my head slightly in greeting.
“Mm.”
The two rely humd without saying much.
“Co over here first. I heard you wanted to et ?”
The first to speak was the man seated in the place of honor.
At the president’s gesture, we walked toward the seats.
Before the real conversation began, I took out the gift I had brought.
“It’s only a small token, but I brought it because I thought it would suit you.”
The president stared at for a mont before expressionlessly opening the gift.
“It’s a 1941 Patek Philippe watch. Only four of this model were ever made, and two were lost during the war. But one was recently discovered in Hungary. I purchased it. Only three exist in the world.”
The gift I had prepared was none other than the watch of watches: a Patek Philippe.
A smile touched the president’s lips as he examined it.
At the sa ti, greed flickered openly in the eyes of the vice president seated across from us.
‘Both of them are exactly the sa kind of bastard.’
I sneered inwardly.
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