“Ah, welcome, Mr. Northmund. This way.”

    “Thank you for the guidance.”

    “Miss Yoon Shia, please come here too. Welcome your visit.”

    “Thank you.”

    Jang Yeon-ho guides Northmund and bows his head politely.

    Anyway, Jang Ah-hyun also bowed her head towards them, but a slightly dissatisfied expression still remained on her face.

    Her behavior was a bit emotional, which is unusual for her, who always maintains a deadpan poker face when it comes to internal matters within the group.

    In some ways, it could be said to be rude to react like that in front of someone else, but the person you were looking at didn’t seem to care at all.

    ‘Why on earth is this woman with the professor?’

    If you think about it at first glance, you may have some guesses.

    The professor must have been very concerned about the true meaning of his sudden invitation.

    And in the end, he judged that the reason was related to his father’s inauguration as chairman of the group, and brought in that woman who had external recognition.

    There wasn’t really anything to discuss about it.

    Of course, that is not Jang A-hyun’s true intention, but this invitation is also judged by people externally for that purpose.

    With that in mind, Jang Ah-hyun followed the group ahead and walked towards the celebration banquet hall.

    “Please sit this way, Mr. Northmund.”

    “No. I have a lot of plans today so I’m the type of person who will wake up later. So, you sit down. Isn’t that originally your place?”

    When Jang Yeon-ho offers Northmund the head of the table, Northmund simply refuses.

    Then he scratched his head in embarrassment and sat down, and Northmund and Yoon Sia took the seats next to him.

    ‘… To act.’

    Jang Ah-hyun frowned slightly when she saw that.

    I just said this as a greeting, expecting my dear professor to get upset.

    How on earth would anyone accept something so flattering as to be recommended in a public place like this?

    It was just to show the countless people gathered here that Northmund had for no reason declined the invitation and turned to himself.

    “Thank you, Northmund! Ugh, I thought my daughter was infected with the Corruptor and the lineage was truly lost, but thanks to Northmund’s efforts, I received a great blessing.”

    “You are, after all, a hero to the world. This is my first time seeing Northmund in person like this. Are you truly magnificent?”

    “If I had known this would happen, I would have brought my son with me. My son is a huge fan of Northmund. That guy binge-watches Northmund’s videos on his phone every day. Hahaha.”

    As soon as Northmund sits down, numerous people begin to pretend to know Northmund and do their best to stamp their faces on him.

    Her professor, who counters their stories without much thought and chides them appropriately.

    When Jang Ah-hyun saw that scene, she felt a little embarrassed and a small smile appeared on her lips.

    “Not really. Haven’t you also done a good job protecting this country in your positions? You are largely responsible for maintaining the economy without collapsing. You don’t always have the ball if you fight first.”

    “Wow, such humble words.”

    “Hehe, you put gold on this ugly person’s face. As expected, you can feel the presence of a hero.”

    Even if you say something casually, it varies depending on who says it.

    Those gathered here now are Taesung’s large affiliates, presidents, and executives.

    These are people who are located at the top of human society, and they have always been subjected to such flattery that it hurts their ears.

    However, such people are truly moved to the point of tears by Northmund’s kind words of gratitude.

    It may have been acting, but that level of emotion is definitely not acting. It was literally the reaction of someone overcome with emotion.

    “Not really. I don’t think I am the person with the most credit in this position.”

    “No! Who on earth is that?”

    “Which person is better than the world’s heroes? That can’t be possible.”

    At that moment, Northmund’s eyes turned to Jang A-hyeon. Her lips twitched nervously at the sudden focus of attention on her.

    Northmund appeared as a dragon rather than a human.

    Therefore, his facial muscles will be different from those of humans, but the corners of his torn mouth can be seen rising slightly to the sky.

    “The kid sitting right over there.”

    “… Yes?”

    She suddenly let out a funny, slightly snarky voice.

    He was somewhat nervous as Northmund looked at him, but he didn’t expect that he would be called by his name in this situation.

    My hands were so weak that I almost lost the wine glass I was holding. Fortunately, I came to my senses right away, so the tablecloth didn’t turn red.

    Northmund, seeing her surprised face, smiled even more.

    “… It’s my grandfather’s work.”

    “Aha, Chairman Jang. No, you are talking about former Chairman Jang.”

    “That’s right. It was Jang Tae-san who helped me when I was framed by the Circular Church group. If it weren’t for him, I would have been in some trouble too.”

    “Oh, that’s right. Circular bridge guys! How dare you frame such a hero? It was really absurd.”

    “I didn’t believe it from the beginning. It was so unexpected. Northmund is the devil? Haha, it’s not some kind of fantasy novel.”

    He is a mischievous person. The purpose may be to draw some attention, but it is still very heartbreaking for the person who is affected.

    Jang Ah-hyun sighed softly and looked at Northmund slightly poutingly.

    However, when Northmund heard that it was a fantasy novel, he made an uncomfortable expression for a moment, but immediately returned his facial expression to its original state.

    I had some doubts about it, but they quickly disappeared from my mind.

    It was because of the woman brought by Northmund who had been glancing at him from earlier.

    ‘Why on earth is that woman doing that? It’s annoying.’

    Until now, whenever I met Yoon Shia on the street, I would just look at her face and ignore her, but these days, as her popularity has increased, it seems like many people around me start talking to her.

    Every time that happened, he would just say a few simple words and then immediately walk away. In a way, he had an extremely cool personality.

    But something. This woman.

    Why do you keep talking to yourself like this?

    It would be much easier to just continue to ignore it like before.

    Jang Ah-hyeon faced Yun Si-ah’s gaze towards her, shrugged her shoulders, lifted the wine glass she was holding, and took a sip.

    Of course, in your heart, are you feeling harsh towards me these days? The urge to ask directly was rising in my heart, but anyway, this is the place I am now.

    And since it was his dear dean who was there, it was a bit difficult to express the feelings in his heart.

    ‘what. Are you keeping me in check? I have no relationship with the professor. It’s the same.’

    Professor Northmund may seem a bit blunt and cold on the outside, but when you look at his true intentions, he is a truly warm person.

    I think he’s deluded himself into thinking that he’s someone who was with that person during the Corruptor incident. It was truly absurd.

    It’s hard to believe that such an indifferent woman would end up attached to such a kind person who, instead of being offended even if he was treated a little rudely, actually tried to accommodate her. It’s almost like I’m laughing out loud.

    Perhaps that woman was the first to request that she be allowed to visit as today’s guest.

    “… Haha, that’s too much praise.”

    Jang Ah-hyeon’s heart became more and more uncomfortable as she saw her father talking and laughing with Northmund.

    *

    After a very emotionally long time had passed, the banquet finally came to an end.

    It was a very good thing for Jang Ah-hyeon, who was waiting for this event to end quickly.

    “… In the future, Jang Yeon-ho will become a person who can serve as a bridge to make our Taesung more global and advance to the world. Thank you all for listening to this long story.”

    “Wow!”

    Clap clap clap.

    As the representative of the president’s inauguration ceremony, Jang Yeon-ho gives a speech and receives a courtesy applause.

    A banquet could be said to be a very bright and celebratory place, but it didn’t feel like it at all to her.

    Rather, it was an uncomfortable place with only stuffy and stuffy air hanging around.

    Of course, this does not mean in the dictionary that the air in this place is not well-ventilated.

    It would be correct to say that the atmosphere that made me feel that way was weighing down the entire space.

    “Take a picture. Look here. One, two three!”

    And then photo time follows. Of course, standing in the center was a red dragon and a foolish woman with dragon horns.

    ‘It’s an opportunity.’

    People tend to be curious about things that look different from themselves.

    Accordingly, the person receiving the most attention would naturally be Dean Northmund.

    However, now that it has started to a certain extent, people’s attention has gradually shifted away from Northmund, perhaps because too much attention was paid to Northmund from the beginning.

    And the next target that the attention shifted to was, of course, a woman with horns that were different from humans.

    “Oh, Mr. Yoon Sia. Looking at you like this, you really are a beauty. The horns are really cool too. The shape of the horn is a little different from Northmund’s, isn’t it?”

    “Ah, haha… It’s still not enough. Thank you for looking at me favorably.”

    “It’s definitely worth joining Northmund. Are you of the same dragon clan?”

    “Well, I don’t know… I wonder if the professor would think so… .”

    It was an opportunity.

    I think I just heard a conversation that was quite disturbing, but it wasn’t the time when I was paying attention to such things.

    That annoying woman is being held captive by countless people and is unable to escape.

    No matter how much she does, she can’t throw insults or hit people for bothering her like she did in LA in a public place like this.

    That would be like pouring black paint over the professor’s face.

    Strangely enough, he seemed to be trying to pretend that he was a normal person, but he was answering people sincerely in every conversation, so it seemed like there were not many people around Northmund.

    At that moment, I saw that the conversation between the professor and a handsome middle-aged man who appeared to be the president of an affiliate company was almost over.

    “Oh, I see. It really seems like the more I talk to heroes of the world, the more my knowledge broadens.”

    “No, I had fun too. Business has its share of hardships. It helped me a lot too.”

    “Haha, Northmund, if you want to start your own business, please let me know at any time. Of course, I will do my best to help you.”

    “Yes. If that day comes, I will contact you.”

    “… professor. Do you have a moment?”

    Jang Ah-hyun quickly walked up to the two people who were talking on the wall near the corner of the banquet hall and asked a small question.

    At her appearance, the middle-aged man nods, saying, “Oh, aren’t you a young lady?” and then disappears. Professor Northmund lifts his back from the wall and looks at her.

    “This is Jang A-hyeon. Do you have anything to do?”

    “Oh, it’s nothing special, Professor. I just invited you here, but I felt like I couldn’t talk to you, so I came to see you.”

    “Ah, that’s true too.”

    She answered with a bright smile, but Northmund responded in a tone that showed no particular sentiment.

    She may be saying this without much intention, but being able to lead this position properly also depends on her ability.

    Therefore, after controlling her expression for a moment, she smiled even more brightly and made a request.

    “… But isn’t it a little hot here somewhere? It’s a little frustrating, perhaps because it’s so crowded. Wouldn’t you like to talk out there?”

    “Thank you for your consideration. Because I am also very sensitive to temperature changes. I guess I’m a reptile too.”

    “Is that so? Well then, that’s a good thing. Come this way. Professor.”

    done! She thought to herself and smiled as she looked at her dear professor.

    “… Ah.”

    A small voice came from behind her.

    When she saw the two of them trying to go outside, she looked at them with a somewhat sad expression.

    “No, it’s okay. I’ll be back soon so take your time.”

    “… Yes, professor.”

    Dargyeop stops her from coming this way, and Professor Northmund blocks her.

    Seeing him like that, Yun Shia looked somewhat downcast and nodded slightly.

    It was a very funny and somewhat cute face, like a puppy that had been rejected by its owner, but this was probably a serious face in its own way.

    Well, it was obvious that she didn’t know that it didn’t seem serious to other people, and that she wouldn’t care much if she found out.

    And seeing Yoon Si-ah like that, Jang A-hyeon felt a sense of triumph welling up in her heart.

    “Hehe, let’s go then, Professor.”

    Pulling Northmund along, Jang Ah-hyun threw a sneer at the girl who was left behind and headed out of the banquet hall.

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