Ch.79Crown of Laurels 2

“…”

Time stopped.

Everyone’s attention focused on the silver badge in the Vice President’s hand.

My tear ducts trembled as I watched the scene unfold.

Red Snake was the first to move.

She hastily opened her mouth.

“V-Vice President… I’ll explain everything…”

It was the first time I’d ever seen Red Snake stutter.

Her red pupils had completely contracted.

“No need, Team Leader Han.”

Her expression said explanations were unnecessary.

The Vice President smiled faintly as she looked at her subordinates, Blue Snake and White Snake.

“Team Leader Blue, my longsword.”

“As you command.”

The middle-aged gentleman unfolded his crossed legs and stood up as if he’d been waiting for this moment.

He brought over the long sword that had been covered by the Vice President’s jacket.

“Vice President!!”

Red Snake immediately rose to her feet.

She came to the Vice President’s side and knelt down.

“I’ll explain everything! Please give me a chance…”

“Hmm~ It’s fine. You don’t need to explain anything.”

The Vice President didn’t even look at Red Snake.

She simply took the longsword handed to her by Blue Snake.

“Now, Miss Siho. Would you care to explain yourself?”

“I… I… I…”

My lips turned pale blue.

I needed to come up with some excuse… but my mind refused to work.

“Don’t be so afraid~. It’s not like I’m going to kill you or anything.”

She looked up at me with a broad smile.

Her half-closed green eyes flashed.

“I’m not the kind of cruel person who kills Association people indiscriminately.”

The Vice President slowly unsheathed the long sword.

The blade, sharp enough to hurt the eyes, gleamed like teeth.

“Let’s settle for just one arm. It’ll serve as an adequate warning to the Association.”

At last, the long blade was fully drawn.

The Vice President carefully wiped the blade with a wet towel from the table.

“Team Leader White, call an ambulance. It would be troublesome if she died from shock.”

White Snake responded by picking up his phone.

He turned his head and politely answered the call.

This is serious.

This is absolutely not a joke…

Soon my blood will be all over that sword, won’t it?

I clutched one arm and trembled uncontrollably.

After shaking perhaps two hundred times,

I finally managed to scrape my brain for one possible move.

The one move possible only because Red Snake was a capable subordinate.

That move was…

The woman raised the massive longsword with one hand.

And pointed it at my neck.

It looked sharp enough to split skin at the slightest touch.

Just before it touched my neck, my voice, which had been desperately trying to start, finally burst forth.

“A-a-actually, I’m a spy hired by Red Snake!”

Perhaps because I was trembling so much,

My voice was loud enough to make even the guards waiting outside the pavilion look up.

“…”

After my outburst, the pavilion fell silent as a grave for a moment.

So quiet that I could hear a guard clearing his throat in the distance.

The expressions of Blue Snake and White Snake explained the entire situation.

Blue Snake’s face turned vicious, as if he would tear me apart right then and there at my ridiculous excuse.

White Snake closed his eyes tightly, as if imagining the gruesome scene of me being split in half.

Red Snake was the same.

Her thighs, taut from kneeling, trembled slightly.

I’m screwed, aren’t I…?

My eyeballs rolled back as I stared into the distant void.

“…”

Fortunately, my neck wasn’t immediately sliced open.

Instead, the blade shook noisily, causing the flesh of my neck to tremble along with it.

The reason for the shaking blade was simple.

The Vice President had burst into hysterical laughter after hearing my words.

Her laughter continued unabated, as if she were on drugs.

“Ahahahaha… It’s been a while… since I’ve laughed this hard.”

She casually withdrew the longsword with one hand.

With the sword resting leisurely on her shoulder, the Vice President wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

Blue Snake respectfully handed her a handkerchief to wipe her tears.

The Vice President took the handkerchief and looked up at me intently.

“Miss Siho certainly seems to have a talent for amusing those around her. What was that… a spy…?”

Her shoulders shook as she chuckled again, apparently still finding it funny.

The longsword rattled as if it too found my words amusing.

“Ahaha…”

In response to her hearty reaction, my lips also twitched.

But it wasn’t because I genuinely found the situation funny.

I was just laughing along with the atmosphere… ugh…

“Are you joking right now?”

My smile instantly vanished.

The Vice President had stopped laughing and stabbed her sword into the floor.

The blade sank completely into the wooden floor.

Seeing that savage sight, my thighs began to tremble.

“Have you watched too many movies? Who uses spies these days? Do you think our Team Leader Han is that careless?”

The Vice President seemed to think I was trying to implicate Red Snake.

She shifted her gaze from me and looked at Red Snake, who had her head bowed low.

In response, Red Snake raised her head toward the Vice President.

The Vice President was surprised by what she saw.

Red Snake nodded with a completely serious expression, as if confirming my words were true.

“Team Leader Han… is this true?”

“Yes… she is a spy I hired. The supply train heist was also thanks to information provided by this bartender.”

“No, what is this…”

The Vice President snorted in disbelief.

“Even if Team Leader Han says it’s true… I need to be able to believe it…”

She licked her lips as she looked at me.

Fortunately, the Vice President still seemed uncertain whether I was an enemy or an ally.

I couldn’t miss this opportunity.

I needed to prove that I was on her side.

With determination, I immediately knelt down.

I knelt so hard that a thud echoed against the floor.

“It’s true!”

“How dare you raise your voice in front of—!”

Blue Snake rose angrily.

But before his feet could leave the ground, I shouted again in a loud voice.

“Hunter Association President, that bastard!”

“???”

The faces of everyone in Il-Shim, including the Vice President, froze.

The Vice President in particular blinked her green eyes, as if wondering if she had misheard.

“Lee Dae-eun, that bastard!”

I’m sorry, Jihu…

Let me throw your dad under the bus.

“Park Shin-ae, that bastard!”

I’m sorry, Assemblywoman.

I need to survive to come to work tomorrow.

Vice President Choi Na-hyun tilted her head at my chanting.

She asked Red Snake in a somewhat confused tone.

“Team Leader Han, who is Lee Dae-eun?”

“The Security Chief of the Association.”

“Then, who is Park Shin-ae?”

“An Upper House member of the Association. Also the Research Director.”

“Ha…!”

She placed her hands on her hips.

Then slowly looked at her subordinates.

The executives met her eyes with stunned expressions.

After gauging their reactions, the Vice President relaxed her posture.

She laughed heartily with her thighs spread wide like a carefree person.

Soon the executives also began to laugh awkwardly along with her.

The Vice President looked at Red Snake and asked.

“Team Leader Han, what exactly is this girl’s identity?”

“…”

Red Snake looked up at the Vice President with a serious expression while still kneeling.

As if the moment had finally come, she declared to the Vice President.

A frontal breakthrough.

“She’s… my girlfriend.”

At her statement, the executives’ laughter abruptly stopped.

Yellow Snake was so surprised she covered her mouth with her hand.

“Girlfriend…? Well, of course women can be friends?”

The Vice President was so shocked that her regional dialect slipped out.

I was equally shocked.

My face turned red as a ripe persimmon and froze.

My hair stood on end.

“My partner, I mean.”

Red Snake grabbed my shoulder firmly.

Then she gently wrapped her arm around my soft waist.

“Ahaha…”

Na-hyun laughed again.

But it wasn’t the hearty laugh from before.

It was a nervous laugh born of extreme embarrassment.

“I see…”

She picked up a water glass with trembling hands.

Then gulped it down her parched throat.

“Yes. So please believe me. If Siho truly turns out to be an Association puppet, I’ll offer my head in apology.”

Her voice was as serious as if she were asking a father-in-law for permission.

After saying this, Red Snake bowed deeply, so low that the top of her head was visible.

Her long hair cascaded onto the wooden floor.

“No… why should I care if you two are dating…”

The Vice President turned her head away, uncomfortable with Red Snake’s deep bow.

Il-Shim’s second-in-command sighed deeply and stared blankly at the full moon.

“If Team Leader Han says so, I have to believe it… I suppose…”

At the Vice President’s words, the executives finally relaxed their expressions.

Even the serious Blue Snake cleared his throat in embarrassment, and White Snake bowed his head low.

Only Yellow Snake snickered while watching us.

“Well… let’s get back to drinking. The personal talk went on too long.”

The Vice President cleared her throat and hastily picked up the menu.

Then she gestured to me, trying somehow to lighten the mood.

“Our… bride. No, Miss Siho, please choose for us. What kind of alcohol did you recommend?”

“Y-yes?”

Bride…?

This is driving me crazy!

But what choice do I have?

To get through this situation, I have to go along with it…

I carefully took the menu with my flushed face.

I needed to maintain the atmosphere that Red Snake had somehow salvaged.

“What kind of alcohol do you prefer, Vice President?”

“Oh, I like all kinds of alcohol. But lately, that White Snake fellow won’t let me drink anything with high alcohol content, saying it’s bad for my health.”

Despite her clearly youthful appearance in her twenties, Na-hyun grumbled like an old man.

White Snake smiled gently at his superior.

“How about sake as an aperitif? It causes less of a hangover and has a clean aftertaste.”

“Sake sounds good!”

I pointed to a particular sake.

A sweet and clean aperitif is always needed in awkward situations.

The Vice President nodded, pleased with my answer.

She ordered the most expensive Course C meal and sake, then casually closed the menu.

Soon, an impressive array of dishes appeared as if prepared in advance.

The plump sake I had chosen also appeared with a tokkuri bottle.

<Laurel Crown Junmai Daiginjo>

Grade: ★★★☆

Effect: Courage +3 for 1 hour.

Information: A premium sake made from fermented rice. Known as the most popular sake due to its affordability and decent taste compared to other Junmai Daiginjo.

“Um… Vice President.”

“Yes~! Our bride.”

Sigh…

This is driving me crazy.

I hope she doesn’t call me that every time she sees me now?

I tried to maintain my composure as I handed her the tokkuri bottle.

“Would you like to try heated sake as well?”

“You can drink sake heated too?”

“Yes… if you take a deep breath after drinking it, the lingering aroma is quite wonderful.”

The Vice President nodded, impressed by my detailed explanation.

She immediately held out her cup to me.

“Well, if our daughter-in-law suggests it, I should try it!”

I clenched my molars as I slowly poured the alcohol.

Then I carefully poured drinks for the other executives as well.

“Thank you, new bride~.”

While the other executives silently accepted their cups, that damned Yellow Snake whispered suggestively.

I deliberately poured only half a cup for him.

Finally, I poured a drink for Red Snake.

Her face was as red as mine.

With her hair covering her face, she just nodded in thanks, seemingly embarrassed.

Thank goodness…

That I couldn’t see her face.

“Well then, shall we toast to our organization?”

The Vice President picked up her cup again with a cheerful voice.

She extended her cup forcefully, making the alcohol slosh.

“Cheers~!”

Following her lead, the executives also quietly said “Cheers.”

I too muttered in a small voice.

“Whew- You’re right. The lingering aroma after drinking is amazing! Don’t you all agree?”

She asked the executives with an awkward smile.

They simply responded with “Yes, indeed” to their superior’s question.

And so my first meeting with the Vice President passed safely.

The drinking session continued for over two hours.

Surprisingly, the Vice President was the first to pass out.

Despite her love for alcohol, she had a low tolerance and had already planted her face on the table after just two bottles.

White Snake, her physician, sighed deeply as he escorted her to the car.

In the end, only the four Snakes and I remained.

But even that awkward gathering didn’t last long.

Blue Snake, representing the older generation, clicked his tongue in shock and was the first to leave.

White Snake also departed, saying he couldn’t be away from the hospital for too long.

Yellow Snake followed him, trotting out of the pavilion to catch a ride in his car.

Eventually, only Red Snake and I remained at Gyeongwollu.

Still slightly tipsy, we quietly walked around Stone Lake before leaving.

“…”

Perhaps because of what happened earlier.

It was extremely awkward.

I swallowed deeply as I slowly followed Red Snake.

In Gyeongwollu, only the sound of our footsteps and crickets could be heard.

Soon she slowly stopped walking.

And looked down at me intently.

“You handled that well.”

Feeling awkward under her gaze, I deliberately turned my head away.

Red Snake also blushed, seemingly embarrassed about what had happened earlier.

“It was all thanks to you… You’re quite the actress, aren’t you?”

I tilted my head with my hands behind my back.

My side hair, which had grown longer, touched my shoulders.

“Acting…?”

Red Snake’s red eyes gradually came closer.

My heart pounded due to her close breath.

“I wasn’t acting.”

We were close enough that our noses almost touched.

The red-eyed woman spoke to me in a soft, low voice.

“Don’t tell me you thought I was acting…?”

At that moment, my breath caught.

Her sudden question made my head spin.

Seeing my flustered state, Red Snake smiled slightly.

Then she whispered secretly and seductively.

“Lips.”

“H-here…?”

My eyeballs darted wildly at the sudden command.

I rolled my eyes, checking if anyone was around.

“…”

I half-closed my eyes.

With my thighs pressed together, I docilely accepted her tongue.