Although a Villain, My Wish is World Peace

After confirming that the two people had left the hospital room, I turned my gaze to Norman. Though I had many things I wanted to say, what popped out of my mouth first was…

[Um, you’ve worked hard.]

—If you work hard twice, you might not be of this world anymore.

‘That’s right.’

What on earth happened while I was away? His already tired-looking face had become so pale now that it wouldn’t be strange if he collapsed right away.

[Haha, I did work hard.]

Norman who said that let out a sigh and looked at me.

[To be honest, I was surprised. That you pushed those people away and said you wanted to talk with me…]

[Isn’t that natural? You’re my agency.]

Norman blinked in surprise at my words. Is this such a surprising thing?

[Besides, I’m not shameless enough to ignore someone who clearly suffered because of me.]

[Haha, that’s right. But in this industry, there are many people who treat loyalty like toilet paper.]

Certainly, waking up to see the world’s strongest Taika Cooper and his agency would be shocking for ordinary people… But I’m not such an ordinary person.

Not in the sense of being great, but well, I’m a villain after all. Yeah, it doesn’t feel right to lick the soles of the world’s strongest hunter… There’s a reason we wear coats even in the middle of winter. Of course, if he says to fight I’ll surrender right away…

Ahem, my thoughts wandered. I turned my gaze back to Norman.

[Even I feel like someone like me wouldn’t be noticed if Taika Cooper and that Mr. Oh were there.]

[But you’re the one who suffered because of me.]

[But, still…]

This person is softer inside than he looks. At first he seemed like a typical salaryman NPC 1 steeped in routine, but now he looks like an abandoned dog rejected by its owner.

His disheveled appearance further encouraged such thoughts.

[Anyway, the reason I said I wanted to talk with Mr. Norman is to hear about the situation outside.]

Normally I would have left such information gathering to Han Seo-hyeon, but Han Seo-hyeon without an English patch was completely incompetent, no, how could our child be incompetent! He showed somewhat inadequate information gathering abilities.

So for now, I have no choice but to rely on Norman’s help.

To my question, Norman carefully explained the situation outside. Hmm, after hearing all those stories, my thought was this:

‘We need to run away quickly…’

This isn’t just because Oh Seung-woo and Taika Cooper approached us.

[Scientists and reporters have swarmed in and are pestering me to spill information. But I don’t know anything either…]

Norman’s eyes became moist as he said that.

I patted the shoulder of Norman who was sniffling. I didn’t want to comfort a stubbly middle-aged man like this, but thinking about how he suffered on our behalf, compassion welled up in me without realizing.

Norman who had been sniffling looked at me and said:

[And even someone raging about having their car stolen by the mercenary group came to find me… Ah, I took care of the broken window with my own money for now.]

Stolen car? Ah, right. That did happen.

—That did happen? You really have no conscience.

‘There were a lot of things going on in many ways. It’s understandable to forget.’

A deep fatigue appeared on Norman’s face as he said he barely managed to calm down and send away the man who was raging and threatening to sue.

Hmm, he really did suffer a lot…

[How is my condition known to the outside?]

[Well, you were seriously injured when you came out of the Gate, and thanks to Taika Cooper making a big fuss while transferring you here, it’s known outside that your condition is serious. Actually, one person is still in a coma…]

[That means we still have time.]

Since it’s an incident where a C-grade Gate suddenly transformed into an S-grade Gate, people will need some kind of answer. The problem is that I have no intention of giving that answer.

‘Ah, that? There was a parasite-like monster inside the Gate that sucked up our A-grade mage’s magic power and the Gate changed to S-grade. Haha! So you all don’t need to worry. You’re incompetent after all.’

I can’t say something like this.

—Even a seven-year-old child wouldn’t say it like that. Isn’t there a better way to say it than this?

‘No matter how I package it, it’s useless. In the end, the focus will be on the fact that our forces weren’t a C-grade mercenary group.’

If that happens, they’ll say things like this. Why did you deliberately hide your identity as a C-grade mercenary group? Is it because you have something to hide!

A reasonable suspicion with an accurate guess. Clumsy instigation and fabrication won’t be enough for evasive maneuvers. So what’s the answer? To make it so that question doesn’t even come to me in the first place.

Delay the answer as much as possible and then run away with Cha Song-jin and Kim Jae-ho.

That’s my plan.

I looked at Norman who would have to deal with all the aftermath after I disappear.

‘I’m sorry, Mr. Norman…’

I sincerely patted Norman’s trembling shoulder.

[I ask that you delay answering until my mercenary group member regains consciousness.]

[By the way, will I really be okay? That agency Oh said he wanted to take charge of you…]

[Did you think I would be so ungrateful as to switch over to their side?]

I have absolutely no intention of contracting with Oh Seung-woo’s side. Well, if I incur their resentment, it seems I won’t even be able to collect my bones.

—So you’re going to use the ordinary citizen who’s easy to exploit. What a truly villainous thought.

Hmm, the state of my conscience is fine today too. Certainly, as Ray said, this is too cruel to Norman. So I should give him the maximum compensation I can.

[Do you think this Gate conquest can be recognized as S-grade?]

At my question, Norman blinked as if surprised. Soon regaining his senses, Norman stammered:

[Since the scientists who were there said it was definitely an S-grade Gate, if we send a content-certified mail based on that, it should be recognized as S-grade.]

I wonder how much the reward for conquering an S-grade Gate is. I’m not sure, but it would clearly be more amazing than dozens of C-grade Gates combined.

[Our contract didn’t have any clauses about conquering S-grade Gates, right?]

[Yes, well…]

[We need to rewrite the contract.]

At my words, Norman said with a flustered face:

[Uh, I didn’t prepare a separate contract…]

I pulled out a tissue from the tissue box on the table, and grabbed the pen stuck in Norman’s suit pocket.

[We can write it here, can’t we?]

I’ve written plenty of these ‘temporary contracts’ following Seol Rok-jin around. It’s a bit tricky having to write in English, but well, as long as the meaning gets across it should be fine.

[Let’s make it so that all the profits from the Gates conquered so far belong to you, Norman Byron.]

[What?]

[Including the S-grade Gate.]

To run away with Cha Song-jin and Kim Jae-ho, there’s no time to wait for settlement. It’s right to give all that money we can’t receive anyway to Norman who has to deal with all the aftermath.

[A-all the profits? That would be a truly enormous amount of money…]

[It’s probably not much compared to the hardship Mr. Byron went through because of us. Besides, it seems you’ll have to suffer more because of me in the future.]

After saying that, I winked at Norman.

[For now, this is all I can do for Mr. Byron.]

[Huuk.]

I handed the tissue contract to Norman. Norman received the contract with trembling hands.

[Sign it.]

[I, I really don’t know how to accept this…]

[Think of it as compensation for your hardship.]

For what you’ve done so far, and what you’ll do in the future.

—Trying to bribe someone with money.

‘Isn’t it better to at least give money?’

—Right, you did well. Money is all you can give that guy anyway. Yeah, it’s better to at least receive a lot of money than to suffer terribly.

For once, Ray and my thoughts aligned. I smiled brightly at Norman who finished signing the tissue contract with trembling hands.

[You can’t run away after receiving a contract like this. You’re still Golden Day’s agency from now on.]

Yeah, so clean up the mess we make. Norman nodded his head with tears rolling down.

This should be enough.

[For now, get some rest. Don’t worry needlessly.]

—Don’t worry needlessly?

‘Isn’t it better to have peace of mind even for a moment? Besides, look at his state. I have to say something like this.’

[Thank you.]

Not knowing my dark intentions, Norman thanked me and closed the door as he left. Ugh, my conscience stings a bit. But I endured that pain stoically as befitting the leader of a villain organization.

Han Seo-hyeon who had been quietly watching me asked:

“What on earth did you do to make that person leave crying his eyes out?”

“I bought a person with money a bit.”

“Don’t talk like a slave trader.”

“I bribed him with money?”

“Hmm, that’s still a bit…”

“He’ll clean up our mess for us from now on.”

At my words, Han Seo-hyeon cautiously asked:

“Did you give him a lot of money?”

“Yeah…”

I wonder what he’d say if I told him I gave him all the money we’ve earned so far? As I glanced at him, Han Seo-hyeon said:

“I’m not planning to scold you. It’s just that hearing he’ll clean up our mess from now on makes me feel sorry for him…”

His reaction was milder than I expected. Still, I guess it’s fellow feeling.

By the way, he was ‘planning to scold’ me. I’ve already gotten used to being scolded by Han Seo-hyeon. Even though I’m supposed to be the boss…

Ahem, anyway, what I need to do as boss is clear.

‘Clean this up and run away quickly.’

From now on, time is money. The more we drag this out, the smaller our escape hole will become.

“Shall we go see Cha Song-jin first?”

We should check Cha Song-jin’s condition first.

* * *

Norman Byron came out of the hospital room with a dazed face. He still couldn’t believe what had happened in there.

The moment he looked at the tissue contract held in his hand, he realized this wasn’t a dream.

‘Ha.’

A contract written on tissue. But its value is unimaginably high. It even includes the profits from conquering an S-grade Gate.

‘He said he’d give all those profits to me.’

Honestly, when Oh Seung-woo and Taika Cooper moved Golden Day to the hospital room, he thought everything was over.

He insisted on going in together saying he had information to pass on, but honestly, he thought he would end up in a miserable state.

The event of having the mercenary group he contracted with snatched away before his eyes was happening to him too. Should I make it my lifelong boast that I was the agency for the mysterious mercenary group that conquered an S-grade Gate, even if just once…

He was thinking such thoughts while stuck in a corner when it happened.

He called for Norman.

-Isn’t it natural? You’re my agency.

Though he had been the agency for numerous mercenary groups, this was the first time he felt such emotions.

Norman pressed down on his pounding heart. To him who had seen all sorts of human scum for years in this place, Lee San-ho of Golden Day was a human type he had never seen before.

One thing was certain.

‘I’ll dedicate my life to this.’

That he absolutely didn’t want to let go of this mercenary group.

For the first time since becoming an agency, a mercenary group he didn’t want to let go of had appeared.