Chapter 118
“Look at you……you must have been starving somewhere.”
An elderly man clicks his tongue as he watches Jiyun rush toward him with her arms wide open.
His pure white cotton suit, graying hair slicked back neatly, and sharp eyes seemed to describe his personality.
“You’re……grandfather?”
“A hug is a hug, what’s the big deal?”
He looked down with a very disapproving expression on his face, then picked Jiyun up and placed her on his lap.
“Hehe!”
“Heh, you’ve gotten heavier, so I guess you’ve grown up.”
“Jiyun is heavy?”
“I’m strong, so I’ll be fine.”
“Grandpa’s strong!”
The scene in front of me was unimaginable.
I couldn’t believe that Chairman Han Jin-wol, who is said to be an iron-blooded businessman, could be like that.
Whenever I met him in the game, he always had a cold expression on his face or a certain heavy aura, but now I could only see him as an old man who was not good at showing affection.
“Long time no see grandpa.”
“……Ho-oh?”
Han Jin-wol, who was holding Jiyun tightly to prevent her from falling, turned to me.
“……Yes, Eugene, your mood has changed quite a bit, hasn’t it?”
Perhaps it was because this was the first face-to-face meeting since entering this body, but he seemed to be puzzled by my greatly changed personality.
“Well, I’ve been accepted into the academy now, and I can’t just laze around forever.”
“Hmph. I’m glad you’ve come to your senses now. From what I hear, you’ve decided to follow in your father’s footsteps.”
He says, his eyes scanning my features.
“That’s right. It’s a family tradition, a rule.”
“Ha! I know your father wouldn’t be the kind of man to force his children to do anything.”
“I just decided this was my path.”
It was the best option for me to survive as Eugene Han Corleone in this world and it’s not all bad.
“If you believe your choice is the right one, that’s all that matters. And…….”
A sideways glance this time.
“Long time no see, child of the Inomiya clan.”
“It’s been a long time, Mr. Chairman. I’m glad to see you looking healthy.”
“All who look healthy are about to die of old age, but I’m not in a bad mood. Now, take a seat, everyone.”
The three of us sat down in Han Jin-wol’s study.
Naturally, Jiyun didn’t want to move at all, as if grandfather ‘s lap was her own.
“Grandpa, is Jiyun sitting somewhere else?”
“Don’t bother moving. Just sit here.”
“Yeah~”
Well, I guess it doesn’t matter since he seems to be satisfied.
I sat down and put the things I had put in the cube before getting out of the car on the table.
“Huh? Subspace artifact?”
I shake my head as two neatly wrapped boxes appear on the table.
“Yep. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you, so I’ve prepared these for you, and I hope you’ll accept them.”
“What’s the big deal about meeting……this old man, you could have come barehanded.”
Even as he said that, Han Jin-wol glanced over.
He was right, considering Eugene Han Corleone’s personality, he wouldn’t have brought any gifts, so it was actually his grandson bringing him his first gift.
It would have been even bigger for him, since he didn’t have any blood relatives.
“Still, I can’t come empty-handed. I didn’t know what grandpa would like, so I talked to Haru and we picked it out together.”
Haru’s eyes widened and she looked over.
I put my hand to my mouth to silence her as I continued the conversation with grandfather.
In fact, I had told Haru to prepare it, given my vague knowledge of his tastes, but it would be awkward to say so, so I’d better say it like this.
“Heh.
The gift was a box about the size of a bowling ball, but it weighed enough that a small child could easily lift it.
This made him even more curious about what was inside, so he immediately untied the top strap and opened the box.
“Is this……? Ha!”
He grinned in amusement.
What emerged from the box was a rolled-up scroll.
“Is that a picture?”
“Yes. Unfold it.”
He takes the scroll out of the box and opens it wide.
The scroll was an ink drawing with a strong vernacular feel.
There are exotic medieval fantasy cities, flying creatures, and skies that don’t look like Earth.
It was a mysterious mix of East and West that subverted common sense.
“I heard that you’ve been collecting paintings by new artists lately, so I thought I’d bring you something. I thought you might like it.”
I said, hiding my smile as best I could.
Han Jin-wol stared blankly into the frame, as if he was lost in the painting but I could see his eyes fluttering.
Yes, he can’t hate it.
He’ll love that man’s paintings in the future.
What I gave him was a painting by Kim Hwang-seo, who would later be called one of the best painters in the CS universe.
The name of the work is ‘Shin Tianji’.
Of course, he was still a rookie, so I was able to get it at a bargain price.
“Heh. Do you know how to look at paintings?”
“That’s why I asked Haru for help.”
“Then the other box is……?”
This time it was Haru who answered his question.
“That one also contains another work by the same artist.”
“Hehe……I used to search for a painting similar to this one in Jongno but no matter how much I searched the Korean market, I couldn’t find it, so I gave up.”
According to Han Jin-wol, it was virtually impossible to find his paintings in the beginning of Korea.
‘At that time, he was working just in Japan.’
Due to the economic crisis, he went to Japan, where the reconstruction project was in full swing, in search of work, and somehow managed to save money to buy materials……but was unable to produce new works.
Even my grandfather, who is the head of a large company, could not have checked all those factors.
‘Thanks to Haru having a route in Japan, I was able to contact him easily.’
All of this was made possible by dabbling in international trade.
I was able to buy the paintings I already had at a good price and also invest in him so that he could focus on painting.
It was an excellent low-price buy, considering he was a goose that would lay the golden eggs.
“Yes, I’ll cherish these gifts. Thank you so much.”
Han Jin-wol’s expression, which had seemed stiff at first, seemed to relax a little.
Yes, these are the paintings I took in the game, and I have a few treasures, but I should give him this much…….
In the first place, the paintings I prepared for this time were paintings by undiscovered rookie artists, so it wasn’t a big deal to get them.
As for the location of ‘Kim Hwang-seo’, I knew about it through various quests.
Perhaps, with the money I gave him, he would try to start over and paint new paintings.
“Gifts? Grandpa, Jiyun has gifts too!”
“Hmm? Jiyun, you mean you too?”
Jiyun looked up and bounced her legs as if she was worried about grandfather’s reaction to her gift.
Grandpa looks at Jiyun in his arms as if this is another surprise.
Jiyun opens the rabbit bag, pulls out a beautifully coated piece of paper, and hands it to grandfather.
“Voila!”
“Is this ……?”
“It’s a coupon for five minutes of Jiyun’s massage!”
“Huh?”
“Five minutes when my shoulder hurts~?”
No matter what───
“Hah! Khhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Hahahahahahaha!”
I can’t beat that…….
Han Jin-wol’s iron mask, which even my gift couldn’t bring down, was crushed by Jiyun’s coupon.
* * *
After exchanging brief pleasantries we followed him to the dining room inside.
Korean side dishes and dishes filled the entire table, as if they had started cooking in time for our arrival.
“I’ll eat!”
In response, Jiyun, who looked very hungry, naturally ran to the chair with the most meat and sat down.
The height of the chairs was adjusted separately, so it was obvious that the food was arranged in such a way that Jiyun thought it was her reserved seat.
I ended up sitting between Haru and Jiyun and across from Grandpa.
The meal started as soon as Han Jin-wol picked up his cutlery.
As we ate, he began to ask me about my latest news, as he hadn’t seen me that often.
“So, you’re taking the second seat at the academy?”
“I’m not good enough, but yes.”
“I’ve heard a lot of amazing things about you lately. I hear you broke an Academy record and stopped a terrorist attack, so how can I not be surprised?”
With that, he drank the tea on the table to quench his thirst, then looked at me once more.
“At first, when you said you were coming and didn’t say anything, I thought I’d take the initiative, but after listening to your story, I couldn’t.”
Apparently, I’ve sold the name of the Hanwol Group a lot so far.
It wasn’t that I couldn’t understand his feelings. I would have been very……disappointed if my few family members didn’t come to visit me.
“……I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize, I’ve been having a hard time lately and I couldn’t join your welcome party, so let’s call it a draw.”
It was obvious that he was trying to be considerate, but his expression remained blunt.
……Maybe he just can’t express it.
I decided to ask him the question that his story had sparked.
“By the way, Grandpa, may I ask what happened to you?”
“Hmm? Alas, I did not make it to your celebration, but that is not a big deal, so don’t worry about it.”
“You mean, like, were you robbed or something?”
“How could……that?”
I brought it up as a possibility, and it turns out I was right.
“Maybe it’s the behavior of the employees I’ve seen since I’ve been here, or the fact that the security at the mansion is so tight. It’s almost as if……they’re watching each other.”
The old man’s eyes widened in surprise.
“You mean……you noticed that?”
“Yes.”
How could I tell by that?
Actually, I was just poking around.
In the game, it was almost a daily occurrence to be asked to catch a thief in the village area.
Of course, Han Jin-wol was one of the richest people in this area so I thought it would be a good time to ask, but I couldn’t believe it was true.
“…… Apparently, they didn’t catch the culprit.”
“Yes, the treasures stored in the mansion are separately enchanted with tracking magic, so their location is known as soon as they leave the mansion, and even if they are disarmed, the last trace should remain, but…… for some reason, even the experts couldn’t find them.”
After saying that, Han Jin-wol looks at me, Haru, and Jiyun and smirks.
“Well, the experts said it’s somewhere in the mansion, so I decided to hand it over, thinking that it’s not stolen and that they can’t find it. They weren’t that expensive anyway.”
He’s certainly right.
Considering the wealth of the Hanwol Group, most of the items would be no big deal.
It also seemed unlikely that it was anything really expensive, as it didn’t seem like the deepest warehouse had been ransacked.
But
“Do you mind if you tell me what the missing item is?”
“Huh? Apparently it was some kind of artifact from the Wild West, I guess?”
“Huh?”
……They touched what I was trying to get?
These assholes searched everywhere.
