Chapter 40

Worth Ten Tanks

When I arrived in front of Grandfather’s mansion, the towering gate loomed over me. I had seen it since I was little, but today it looked especially huge and tall.

“We got here faster than I expected.”

“Well, it’s the same neighborhood.”

“It’s because my legs have gotten stronger lately. I’ve been exercising hard.”

“...I’ll give you that.”

You might say it is ridiculous to brag when it is only a five-minute walk, but for the old weakling Shin Yua, even this distance would genuinely have been difficult, you know?

I really did nothing but shut myself in my room and go back and forth between the bathroom and dining room.

Anyway, now that I had reached my destination, it was time to do what I came for.

Ah, before that—.

“Whooooo, whooooo, whooooo.”

Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in again.

This is Lamaze breathing! Even though I am not pregnant. Nor do I ever want to be.

“...Miss?”

“Give me a moment. I’m mentally preparing myself.”

“Hehe, weren’t you saying earlier that you’d drive a tank over here?”

“I-It’s scary!”

“Only now?”

Honestly, there was no helping the fact that I was scared.

I saw online that three high school girls have the combat power of one tank, but I feel like Grandfather alone could take on around ten tanks. In other words, the combat power of thirty high school girls.

I am fourteen, so I am only a middle school girl, and I do not even attend school, so there is no way I can fight thirty to one.

Meaning even if I had brought a tank, I still would not have stood a chance.

Come to think of it, Grandfather can actually move Shinil Group’s defense-related affiliates with a single word. I could get blown to pieces by a suicide drone right now!

“Miss, why would the Chairman send a suicide drone after his granddaughter?”

“Huh? I only thought that.”

“You were muttering it out loud.”

“Eek.”

Oh my, I leaked my thoughts out loud.

“Uuugh...”

Anyway, I really was scared.

I had been so full of confidence when I left the house. But now that the excitement had faded and I was standing in front of this towering gate, my heart had started pounding.

Of course it had. I was about to do a boss raid.

And that boss was—.

Chairman of Shinil Group. Shin Ilseong.

A giant who still held the entire group in the palm of his hand at the age of eighty-seven. The legendary chairman who built an empire of money in South Korea after it had been devastated by the Korean War. A man who appeared in textbooks. And my, Shin Yua’s, grandfather.

“Uuugh...”

I could feel an enormous pressure, but I absolutely could not back down.

If I retreated because it was difficult and turned around because I was afraid, I would spend my entire life standing in place.

I did wonder why the first boss raid of my life had to be the final boss, but complaining would not change the hand I had been dealt.

Most people would probably say they wished they had been born as the grandchild of a chaebol family too, and tell me to stop whining from a position of privilege.

“...Let’s go, Ms. Sejin.”

I clenched my fists and crossed through the gate.

— — —

When I told the security guard why I was there, permission to enter came immediately. Almost as if he had been waiting for me.

“Uwaa...”

When the study door opened, a heavy atmosphere pressed down on my body. The peculiar smell of this room, old books mixed with the scent of ink. Wasn’t Grandfather’s hobby calligraphy? He really is an old-fashioned person.

“Come in.”

But no matter how heavy the atmosphere was, it could not possibly be heavier than that voice. Grandfather, you could be a voice actor. Maybe play a mafia boss or something.

The moment I stepped closer, I could feel those piercing eyes land on my face. Seriously, how can someone who is almost ninety have eyes like that? It makes no sense.

“G-Grandfather. I’m here.”

“Yua, this is the first time you have come to see me first.”

All right, this was where it really began.

I already had a plan. Naturally, I would not say a single word about streaming. I would keep completely silent about Lilith and everything else too. I would push forward with only the story about my riding instructor. A perfect plan.

“Um, Grandfather. I came because I have a favor to ask.”

“A favor.”

“Y-You know how I’ve been going horseback riding lately.”

“Yes. I thought gaining a hobby like that would get your body moving and be good for you.”

“R-Right. It’s fun too...”

L-Let’s get to the point.

“There’s an instructor named Lee Seorin. She’s the one who teaches me every week at the riding center.”

“Hmm.”

It is even scarier when he does not answer.

“Sh-She’s being sued by bad people right now! Totally unfairly!”

“A lawsuit?”

“Y-Yes. Weird people are harassing her. They were the ones who did something wrong, but instead they sued her and demanded damages. She didn’t do anything wrong at all. Really. I guarantee it.”

“Hoho. Is that so?”

“Yes! So could our legal team help her? I heard our company lawyers are really strong.”

After finishing, I carefully watched Grandfather’s expression.

...No, seriously, how does this man show absolutely no emotion on his face? Fucking terrifying. Seriously.

The way he silently looked at me was so deep that it felt like he could see straight through me. I had not even exercised, yet my back was becoming damp all on its own.

“...A riding instructor.”

“Yes.”

“How do you know so much about that person’s circumstances? Surely an employee did not discuss her private affairs with a customer?”

Gasp.

R-Right. That riding center belongs to our group...

That would mean an employee spilled every detail of her personal troubles to a customer!

At this rate Instructor Seorin is going to get fired!

“W-We got close while I was learning horseback riding! I see her twice every week! She looked gloomy lately, so I kept pestering her about it. Then she reluctantly told me what was going on.”

“Hmm... I see. You asked her.”

“Yes, yes.”

It was not a lie. I merely omitted the order of events and some details.

“But lawsuits are not such simple matters. There is another party, and there are circumstances involved. One cannot act after hearing only one side.”

“She really is being treated unfairly! It’s all on the internet too! Those people harassed someone with lies first and then got exposed. There’s evidence for everything too. If you look it up, you’ll know immediately.”

“The internet? You mean this has already become a public issue?”

“Gasp.”

Shin Yua, you idiot moron. Why did you mention the internet? At this rate he is going to discover everything!

“Whoooo.”

Stay calm. There is no way an eighty-seven-year-old grandfather is going to dig through internet streaming communities.

At times like this, you keep your momentum and bulldoze straight ahead!!!

“G-Grandfather! That riding center is run by Shinil, right? Then Instructor Lee Seorin is part of our company family too, so if one of our people is suffering something unfair, shouldn’t the company help them?!”

“Hoho. Hohoho.”

Grandfather only laughed without saying anything.

...D-Did that work? Or did I completely screw this up?

One second. Two seconds. Three seconds.

The longer the silence stretched, the more my heart shriveled. Is it impossible after all? Was that too much of a stretch?

Asking him to mobilize the group legal team just to help one riding instructor. Thinking about it, it really was an unreasonable request.

S-Still, I cannot back down here. Should I say something more? Or maybe even dogeza. I saw online that kneeling and begging is the final resort. Is this that final moment?

While I was running every possible simulation through my head.

“All right.”

“...Yes?”

“I will assign the legal team.”

I doubted my ears.

“R-Really?”

“Yes. You are right. We should help our own.”

Oh my god, what is happening? That actually worked?

“I will tell Chief Kang the details. Leave that instructor’s contact information before you go.”

“Yes! Yes!”

“And Yua.”

“Yes, Grandfather!”

Grandfather looked steadily at me.

“...I am glad you came.”

“...What?”

“If anything happens in the future, come see me.”

“Ah... yes.”

What was that just now?

I was slightly bewildered, but for the moment, I bowed and left the study.

“Whoooo...”

Only after the door closed did the breath I had been holding finally burst out. Walking down the corridor on trembling legs, I clenched my fist in victory.

“Are you all right?”

“Of course I am. Hehehe. Please call me the King of Negotiation from now on.”

I did it. This body did it.

Ms. Seorin. Just wait a little longer. Our company’s tank division will be arriving soon.

— — —

Left alone in the study, Shin Ilseong stared for a long time at the study door—no, at the space in front of it.

Until moments ago, his granddaughter had been standing there.

Not some other granddaughter, but Shin Yua herself.

That child had come to this study of her own accord and asked him for something.

Shin Ilseong slowly closed his eyes.

What kind of child had Yua been?

Yua had feared people ever since she was young.

A child who could rarely meet anyone’s eyes and could barely speak to them.

The hospital had attached various diagnostic names to her, and the family members had whispered all sorts of things as well.

And yet that child had walked here on her own today and boldly knocked on the door of this room.

Not for herself, but for someone else.

She had said she wanted to help someone who was being treated unfairly.

Clumsy though she had been, she had clearly said everything she wanted to say before leaving.

Of course, Shin Ilseong could see straight through her.

Yua’s story was full of holes. It was a clumsy explanation that would collapse quickly if he pressed her. She was obviously hiding something.

But Shin Ilseong deliberately did not ask.

Whatever Yua was hiding did not matter.

Only one thing mattered.

That child had come this far on her own and asked for help.

A child who had built walls between herself and the world had become angry at someone else’s pain and crossed over her own fear to come here because she wanted to protect that person.

“...”

When he turned his gaze toward the window, he could see a small figure crossing the mansion courtyard on her way home. Han Sejin followed behind her in quick little steps.

For ten years, Shin Ilseong had wished for this.

That the tightly closed door of that child’s heart might open just a little more.

That even a little more of the world’s light might enter through the gap.

Today, that door had opened.

From the inside.

By that child’s own small hand.

Shin Ilseong picked up the phone. The voice that had softened endlessly in front of his granddaughter had already regained its usual dignity.

“Chief Kang.”

“Yes, Chairman.”

“Put together the very best of the legal team. I have a lawsuit for them.”

Shin Ilseong knew better than anyone that assigning the group’s top legal talent to the lawsuit of a single riding instructor was excessive.

But it did not matter.

It was the first favor his granddaughter had ever asked of him.

If he was going to do it, he might as well do it properly.

After hanging up, the faintest smile appeared at the corners of Shin Ilseong’s mouth.