Chapter 85
Miser
***
***
The passenger car that had been flung away rcilessly only ca to a stop after rolling several tis.
Inside the vehicle, which had been flipped upside down.
The A-pillar that had collided head-on with the dump truck was crumpled like a piece of newspaper.
Ga-on, bracing himself against the shattered sunroof, looked down at Baek Seol pinned beneath him. Aside from her disheveled state, she seed fine.
It had been a situation where she could have been seriously injured if he had not protected her in ti.
Although Baek Seol had been born a reinforced human and would not die from sothing like this, that did not an it would not be painful.
Realizing that as well, Baek Seol expressed her gratitude belatedly.
“Th-thank you.”
“No need.”
The client had to remain intact for the request to proceed. If he missed this opportunity, who knew when he would get another like it.
“But where are you looking?”
Baek Seol muttered reproachfully as she hastily straightened her clothes.
Only then did Ga-on realize that their position was rather strange. It looked as though he was pinning her down.
But there was nothing he could do about it imdiately. The crushed car body left very little space.
“Being too attractive can be troubleso.”
“A hollow cart rattles loudly.”
“A hollow cart rattles loudly? If anything, a hollow cart is more on the quiet side—”
Baek Seol opened her mouth to say sothing, but Ga-on did not even pretend to listen and instead cast his gaze toward the driver’s seat.
“Hey, over there… tsk, did she pass out?”
Unfortunately, the only thing he saw there was Im Sol, unconscious.
Given that it had been the spot that took the greatest impact, it was not surprising.
Boom.
At that mont, a chilling crashing sound ca from outside.
Realizing that there was an elevated road directly above them, Ga-on instinctively spread both arms wide and braced his core.
He did not need to wait to see what his vague premonition would bring.
At the sa ti he prepared himself, sothing fell.
Bang!
In an instant, a second impact surged through the car body. An enormous weight pressed down as if it would crush the passenger car completely.
Only after seeing cargo pouring down through the crumpled window did Ga-on realize that what was pressing against his back was a trailer.
It was sothing difficult to support with sheer strength alone.
Before long, his body, unable to withstand the load, began to creak.
His joints and ligants tore and regenerated repeatedly, but Ga-on did not move from his spot and endured steadfastly. Beneath him was Baek Seol. If he moved now, she would have to bear the entire burden.
“Wait a mont, I’ll open the door.”
Baek Seol stretched both arms upward and pulled on the handle, but the crushed rear door did not budge.
“It’s no use.”
The probability of a trailer falling onto the scene of a traffic accident was infinitely close to zero.
It was clearly sothing soone had orchestrated.
Ga-on, who had been about to report to the Public Enforcent Corps on reflex, frowned at the device notification indicating that communication had been cut off.
‘Signal jamming?’
Like Ga-on, Baek Seol sensed sothing was off and hesitated for a mont, but soon relaxed her expression and spoke calmly.
“It’ll be fine. The dedicated security unit will co.”
A society where private sanctions were rampant.
In this era, high-ranking individuals had personnel assigned to rush to them imdiately in case of ergencies.
No matter how poorly Baek Seol was treated, she was still a mber of the royal family.
There was no way they would overlook sothing happening to her.
Sure enough, a siren sounded from afar. A signal that the dedicated security unit had arrived.
A powerful gust swept in, strong enough to be felt even inside the trapped car.
Though he could not see it directly due to the limited field of view, it was easy to guess that a large aircraft had appeared.
As if confirming that assumption, several personnel descended by rope. Heavy footsteps and the clanking of tal—just that alone painted a clear image in Ga-on’s mind.
‘Exoskeleton armor and the latest firearms. And a well-organized formation.’
The discipline that matched their equipnt hinted at their skill. But that impression did not last long. Just as they seed to be approaching quickly, they suddenly stopped.
“What’s going on?”
“Quiet.”
Almost at the sa ti Ga-on spoke, gunfire rang out.
The unit that should have been conducting a rescue suddenly engaged in combat, and Ga-on let out a low groan. He had no idea who they were fighting.
‘What is this?’
His thoughts did not last long. Before he could reach an answer, the noise stopped.
The area fell into a silence so intense it made his ears sting.
So, who had won?
The mont he twisted his head to sohow widen his field of view, he sensed a presence.
Right in front of him.
It took only an instant for a transparent veil to peel away like a shed skin. What was revealed through the gap in the window was a pair of boots.
‘Optical camouflage?’
Like the color-changing ability of a chaleon.
This technology, which blended into the surroundings to conceal one’s form, guaranteed operational capability equivalent to MUG—2.
In other words, it ant gaining the upper hand in urban warfare.
It was evident just from how easily the dedicated security unit had been taken down. Of course, such a feat required overwhelming capability to begin with.
Who could it be?
He wanted to at least see the face, but the opponent did not even give him that distance.
At most, all that entered his view was the lower half of the body.
Even so, Ga-on was able to accurately grasp the man’s distinguishing feature.
‘Severed finger?’
A little finger with two joints cut off.
The cross-section, as if sliced cleanly by a butcher’s knife, was striking. It was all the more so because it was not a common kind of mutilation.
It would not be an exaggeration to call it the man’s signature.
“15th month, 21 Sol. He told to make sure you don’t forget it.”
“Ah….”
The mont the man finished speaking, Baek Seol’s shoulders trembled violently, as if she had been struck by a harpoon. Her expression shifted through a range of emotions before turning deathly pale in an instant. The change was so drastic it was hard to believe she was the sa person who had been confidently holding her head high just monts ago.
“Miss Snow?”
He asked urgently, but Baek Seol only spat out incomprehensible noise like a broken radio before losing consciousness.
“That’s enough greetings. I only appeared to let you know reality.”
“Tch.”
Even if he wanted to chase after the man, it was impossible. The trailer was still crushing down on his back. He could ignore it, but then Baek Seol’s safety could not be guaranteed.
A true dilemma.
As the man was about to disappear, Ga-on shouted after him.
“I don’t know who you are, but we’ll et again soday.”
“Good luck.”
With his back turned, the man’s figure dissolved into the air.
***
A short while later, only after fire trucks and Public Enforcent Corps vehicles arrived was the chaotic scene finally brought under control.
The unconscious Baek Seol was imdiately transported to a nearby hospital. There were no visible external injuries, so the test results would likely co out fine.
However, Im Sol, sitting in front of the hospital room, remained motionless with her head lowered.
“I have no excuse. Even when the young lady was in danger, I fainted like a fool.”
“There’s no need to bla yourself. Your response was perfect.”
In that brief mont, she had turned the steering wheel to minimize the burden on the back seat. And she had done so in a way that made herself bear the full impact.
It was a level of self-sacrifice worthy of being an example to all.
“Are you alright, Ga-on? I heard you were pinned under a trailer.”
“No need to worry. I was wearing protect gear.”
“I see. So you really are a fixer after all.”
In truth, that was not the case.
Before the Third World War, such physical ability would have been close to miraculous, but in the modern era, with advanced technology, it could easily be concealed. There were countless alternatives—so many that listing them all would be exhausting.
In many ways, it made for a convenient excuse.
“I’m more concerned about Miss Snow than myself.”
“Co to think of it, what exactly happened that caused the young lady to lose consciousness?”
“15th month, 21 Sol.”
“15th month, 21 Sol?”
“That’s what he said. Told her not to forget the 15th month, 21 Sol.”
In that instant, Ga-on did not miss the way Im Sol’s shoulders stiffened.
“Looks like you have so idea?”
It was a precise observation.
Since it was such a sensitive matter, Im Sol had intended to feign ignorance, but she soon shook her head. It was not sothing to hide from the person who had saved them, and it was information that could easily be found with a simple search online.
“March 21 Sol is the young lady’s birthday.”
A year on Mars was equivalent to two years on Earth.
Naturally, birthdays were celebrated twice. However—
“Is there any reason to specifically call it the 15th month, 21 Sol?”
“They’re probably referring to that incident.”
“That incident?”
Recalling the past, Im Sol bit her lip.
“That day… was the day, 20 years ago, when the young lady was kidnapped by an unidentified assailant.”
It was as vivid as if it had happened yesterday. It had been the first ti Im Sol failed in her duty of protection. The mont she realized Baek Seol was missing, she mobilized every resource at her disposal to track her down, but she could not find even a trace.
As if soone had wiped everything clean.
It seed as though Baek Seol would be lost forever.
But strangely enough, exactly one sol later, Baek Seol returned safely without a single scratch.
No, strictly speaking, it was not that she was completely unhard.
“She developed claustrophobia, which she didn’t have before. I heard that during the ti she was abducted, she was locked in a dark room without being able to eat or sleep.”
At such a young age, that alone would have been enough to leave a deep trauma. It seed that even hearing the date had triggered a reaction.
“Was the culprit ever identified?”
“No. The Chairman halted the investigation. He said he would handle it personally.”
Every part of the situation was crystal clear.
If the head of a gacorp chose to overlook it, the target was obvious.
It was likely one of his own blood relatives.
The family line of gacorp Baekdu was not particularly complicated, so it was not difficult to guess.
“No way….”
“You’re probably correct.”
Letting out a low exclamation, Ga-on scratched his chin.
Twenty years ago, Baek Ryang would have been around sixteen.
No matter how ruthless he was, taking along his younger sister and—
“And he got away with that shit?”
“The Chairman believes competition is the best form of education. From his perspective, failing to anticipate an opponent’s move and falling victim to it is not kindness, but foolishness.”
“Even if the kid is only eight years old.”
Ga-on let out a faint scoff.
It was a type often seen among the nouveau riche—those who failed to reflect on their own childhood and instead placed burdens on their children.
“He likely regarded it as nothing more than a form of discipline an older brother imposes on a younger sibling. In the end, no one was physically hard.”
“Then the one who hired that guy might as well be confird.”
By bringing up sothing from the past, it was a warning.
It ant that from the very beginning, Baek Seol had been playing in the palm of Baek Ryang’s hand.
Then again, a fair competition was never possible. Her opponent was a giant who had already seized part of Baekdu since she was young.
No matter how capable she was, it would have been difficult to surpass the network he had built over the years.
She must have always lost.
As a result, even her life was no longer truly her own.
It also explained why she could throw around tens of billions so casually. To her, it was money that might as well not exist.
“Truly….”
“That’s right. The young lady is pitiable—”
“Neither the employer nor the employee can be taken lightly.”
The two, having expressed contrasting sentints, looked at each other for a mont.
To break the silence, it was Ga-on who changed the subject first.
“As a strategy to evoke sympathy, it was top-tier.”
“I’m not sure what you an. I rely provided aningful information so that you could make the right judgnt, Ga-on.”
“As if.”
Thinking about it, it was strange.
Im Sol, who had been cold to the extre, had openly revealed her own vulnerabilities and spoken at length like a chatterbox.
“Nothing stimulates a person’s conscience quite like an appeal to emotion.”
“I…”
“I’m not blaming you. It was an interesting story, after all. But even so, I can’t give you a single discount.”
“Cheapskate.”
“Let’s keep business and personal matters separate.”
Almost at the sa ti Ga-on shrugged, Im Sol stood up. When Ga-on tilted his head as if asking what was going on, Im Sol spoke.
“They say the young lady has regained consciousness.”
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