Chapter 40 : Adventure Level 30 (2)

Yu Mina leaned back in the seat.
She wondered what intention this Chief Secretary grandfather had in approaching her.
She glanced over, and their eyes met.
The grandfather smiled gently.
“Where would you like to go?”
“Just… to the nearby library.”
She didn’t know if the library was closed or not, but she answered vaguely.
The grandfather nodded, and as if the driver confirmed it in the rearview mirror, the car started moving.

On the laptop screen, Cha Haneul and Do Yugeon were still arguing in the video.
Could he have come because of Do Yugeon?
Seeing that the Chief Secretary himself came, it seemed more like the grandfather’s intention than Cha Haneul’s father’s.
From the grandfather’s perspective, Do Yugeon hanging around Cha Haneul might have been bothersome.
But then why approach me? It would make more sense to go to Do Yugeon.

The grandfather closed the laptop.
The voices stopped, and silence fell.
“I have watched Young Lady Cha Haneul since she was young. A year has passed since she entered middle school, but I worry a lot. She isn’t exactly the outgoing type.”
The grandfather chuckled quietly.
“I would like to hear about her school life.”
Haneul’s school life?
Various negative aspects of Haneul’s school life flashed through Mina’s mind.
Then a thought occurred to her.
Doesn’t Haneul’s mother’s foundation own the school anyway? Wouldn’t they know all this?
It was also strange why he was asking now, a year after she started school, as he himself mentioned.
There could be complex reasons, but…

“Cha Haneul is, well, getting along comfortably.”
“In what way?”
Like taking walks during class time, or not showing up to the classroom on nice days, etc.
She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it.
Now that she thought about it, she felt reluctant to talk about someone behind their back.
Even though it was true, saying it felt like gossip, which made it worse.
“She just gets along comfortably.”
“Like skipping class, for instance?”
He definitely knows and is just asking.
“Yes, well, something like that.”
“How is she with friends?”
“…She gets along well with friends.”

Cha Haneul had one friend at school.
To put it bluntly, only Mina herself.
Because Haneul gave off strong “don’t approach me” vibes, making it difficult to make friends.
Many hopefuls at the beginning of the semester were driven away because of that. Even Mina, who could now declare herself Haneul’s friend in front of her, had initially approached with ulterior motives.
Usually, in such cases, Haneul would purposefully get irritated, but Mina being an exception was somewhat surprising.
“In what way does she get along well?”
If he asks “in what way,” should I admit the previous statement was a lie?
“Just… like Haneul?”
Saying it out loud, it sounded like a lame answer.

The grandfather looked at her for a moment and chuckled heartily.
Cold sweat formed.
“I’m glad to hear she’s getting along well.”
“Yes.”
Looking out the window, the library was still far away.
She thought they’d be close by now, but it was far.
The situation was extremely uncomfortable—she wished they would arrive sooner.
Wait, aren’t we taking a detour right now?
Observing the streets carefully, she confirmed they were indeed taking the long way around.
A chilling sensation crept up on her.

Turning to the grandfather, he was looking straight ahead, smiling gently.
It felt strangely discordant.
“It’s fortunate, but as I get older, I worry needlessly. What if she makes bad friends? What if she goes down the wrong path… I worry even more because the Young Lady is soft on her friends. Am I overdoing it?”
“No, well.”
What is he thinking, taking this detour?
He didn’t even tell the driver, so this route must have been planned beforehand.
Then he must have approached me with a different motive. What could it possibly be?
She leaned into the corner.
This whole situation was uncomfortable.

“This recent incident made it worse. Ignoring the guards and hanging out with a friend in a dangerous situation. My concerns became reality, hah.”
He seemed to be talking about Do Yugeon.
Cha Haneul did get dragged around by Do Yugeon sometimes.
Silence fell for a moment, and after hesitating, she spoke.
“But why are you telling me this?”
Their eyes met.
“Since you’re her friend, couldn’t you gently tell the Young Lady not to do that?”
“I suppose I could.”
But if that was the content, wouldn’t it be faster to persuade Do Yugeon instead?
Even if she told Cha Haneul, Haneul would just brush it off, saying she already knew.
“Then I’ll leave it to you.”
“Yes.”

She leaned back deeply into the seat.
It was a trivial reason, yet she had been needlessly tense.
The detour must have been an unavoidable measure since the preamble was long.
The library was close, after all.
“I’m glad the Young Lady made a good friend.”
Being openly called a good friend felt both embarrassing and pleasant.
“But I heard you wander around at night. Are you going through difficult times?”
“Excuse me?”
Suddenly, an uncomfortable topic.
Adults were often inconsiderate in this regard, but this was too abrupt.
“…No. I just like being outside.”
Even to herself, the answer sounded awkward.
“Is that so.”

The grandfather took a paper envelope out of his pocket and handed it to her.
Wondering what it was, she met his eyes, and he gestured for her to open it.
“It’s a small gift—please accept it.”
Glancing cautiously, she opened the envelope.
Inside were a bankbook, a card, and some kind of paper she didn’t recognize.
Glancing cautiously again, she checked the contents.
She could guess what it was.

Honestly, while spending time with Cha Haneul, it wasn’t like she hadn’t imagined small gains like this.
Her initial motive for approaching Haneul was also an attempt to reduce her reliance on allowance, and true to that intent, Haneul buying things for her had allowed her savings to remain even now that her allowance was cut off, enabling her to go out.
She opened the bankbook and checked the balance.
A 2 followed by seven zeros, with two commas in between.
Her thoughts stuttered for a moment before the value registered.
Twenty million.
Her mouth fell open.

Feeling a bit foolish, she looked at the grandfather, but he was looking straight ahead.
She closed the bankbook and examined the card.
It seemed linked to the bankbook.
Putting the card aside, she unfolded the unfamiliar paper.
A simple map and an address were written on it, with a password below.
It took a moment to understand what it was.
“It’s not a fancy house, but it’s sufficient for a temporary stay. You can change the password, so change it to whatever you like.”

A wave of complex emotions washed over her, and she held her breath for a moment.
“…Thank you.”
The Chief Secretary grandfather smiled quietly for a moment, then spoke to the driver.
“We’re done talking, so stop circling and head to the library.”
The car headed toward the library.
Buildings and trees flashed past the window.
It was the usual street, but it felt different.
Somehow, the world seemed a little more beautiful.

She occasionally saw news reports about Cha Haneul’s grandfather’s pharmaceutical company drastically raising drug prices, causing some patients to face death, so she thought Haneul’s family were cold-blooded people, but they weren’t.
She felt needlessly sorry.
Twenty million wasn’t enough money to do many things.
But it was enough money to do things she couldn’t before.
It would be enough funds to rent a room and live alone for at least a few months.
Moreover, since she now had a place to stay, perhaps this money alone could allow her to be financially independent until she graduated middle school.
After that, if she went to a high school with dormitories, she could minimize going home until she became an adult.
Her heart felt lighter, and her mood soared.
She could feel the corners of her mouth lifting into a silly grin but felt no desire to stop it.

The car continued and arrived in front of the library.
She carefully put the bankbook back into the paper envelope, along with the card and the paper with the house address.
Before getting out, she looked at the grandfather to thank him, but remembering her initial wariness felt slightly embarrassing.
“Um, thank you.”
The grandfather just smiled quietly.
He didn’t seem to offer any particular farewell, so she reached for the door handle.
Just then, the grandfather spoke as if suddenly remembering something.
“Ah, dear me.”
“Yes?”
“Haha, it seems my age is catching up—I forget things often. Besides the request earlier, may I ask a few more favors?”
“Yes, please tell me.”
She released the door handle and straightened her posture.

“The Young Lady isn’t the type to reveal her inner thoughts, is she?”
“That’s true.”
“It’s just so impenetrable that I find myself wanting to know just once. So, I’d like you to ask as a friend.”
“Ask what?”
“Whether she likes Do Yugeon. The Young Lady says no, but it’s quite suspicious…”
She had asked occasionally before when bored, so it wasn’t impossible to ask again.
But was it okay to relay the answer she heard without Haneul’s permission?
“I’ll ask Cha Haneul first if it’s okay to tell you.”
The grandfather shook his head.
“No. That would defeat the purpose. You must tell me secretly, without the Young Lady knowing.”
“That’s…”
The paper envelope rustled.

“And one more thing. Whenever you meet Do Yugeon separately, I’d like you to relay the various things the Young Lady has said about him.”
“…What kind of things?”
“The gossip the Young Lady spreads.”
Cha Haneul didn’t say terrible things about Do Yugeon, but they weren’t exactly things nice to relay either.
“That’s… sowing discord, isn’t it?”
“You understand quickly.”
Her heart pounded hard, and her stomach churned.
“Similarly, you can relay Do Yugeon’s gossip to the Young Lady.”
“That… Cha Haneul won’t let me get away with it.”
“True enough. Then it’s possible to relay things to Do Yugeon, correct?”
Her breathing hitched along with her heartbeat.
The rustling of the paper envelope sounded unusually loud.

Even if I get caught, maybe it’ll be okay if I apologize? Do Yugeon seems like he’d let it go if I apologize properly, and Cha Haneul…
Hadn’t their relationship reached a point where she might overlook a mistake like this just once?
The grandfather looked at his wristwatch and spoke.
“My next appointment is pressing, so I’d appreciate a quick answer. Time passes even if you just sit still.”
This money means I can live without allowance, and this house means I can sleep somewhere even after leaving home. A lighter heart, imagining more, achieving a higher future, something like that.

“Grandfather.”
“You may call me Chief Secretary.”
“You’re like Cha Haneul.”
“What do you mean…?”
She took a deep breath.
“Rude, unpleasant, and annoying!”
She threw the envelope in his face, opened the car door, and got out.
She ran quickly toward the library’s main entrance, and soon heard the sound of the car moving.
Looking back, the car was leaving the library premises.
He didn’t seem intent on chasing her.

She watched it for a moment, then turned and trudged back toward the library entrance.
All the strength drained from her body, and she felt exhausted.
Why am I so incapable that I end up in situations like this?
She couldn’t get her parents’ consent for a part-time job, had no other means of income, and lacked the confidence to run away completely and live well.
Can’t do this, can’t do that, neither here nor there…
She banged her head against the library’s glass door.
“Ouch!”
Rubbing her forehead, she looked at the glass door and saw a sign saying “Closed.”
“Why are you closed too!”
She tried shaking the door, but it didn’t open.
Why was this happening?

She pounded on the door a few times until her hand hurt, then stopped.
She crouched down and took out her smartphone.
After tapping a few times, the call connected to Cha Haneul.
“What?”
Her voice was calm.
“You’re annoying.”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“Rude, unpleasant, and annoying.”
“I know that too.”
“You know and you’re not fixing it? That’s even more annoying.”
“So what.”
A wave of emotions washed over her.
“Y-you…!”
Words failed her, so she just hung up the phone.
“Uwaaah…!”