Chapter 159
Although he was smiling, I could tell he was panicking.
‘I’m sure the community has said that when his eyes flutter, he’s freaking out.’
Indeed, the corners of his eyes were twitching slightly now.
‘He has every right to be upset.’
The reason for this meeting was simple.
The reason for giving him this honor was simple: he had been practically branded so that the student council would not be able to ignore what he had done.
What if he were to withdraw the motion and announce that he would no longer support my proposed club?
That would be a death sentence for a guy who cares about his image in the public eye.
In other words, he can’t do anything.
“Okay, Ray Pendragon, I’m going to take your picture, and I want you to smile for me!”
The student council president turns his head and smiles brightly at the reporter.
His other hand, which isn’t clutching the award, is trembling, and the sight of him is reminiscent of the Holding Back Laughter series.
“Uh, boss, isn’t the student council president looking at you?”
True to Jin-woo’s words, I make eye contact with him.
He looks at me as if he knows I’ve been planning this all along.
I look at him and clap my hands with everyone else.
Mmmm──
The framed certificate he was holding crumpled.
“Ha, student council president?”
“Oh, sorry. The camera flash startled me, hahaha.”
“Ahahaha, the student council president is startled by the flash, what a reverse charm, hahaha!”
I would have taken a picture of it and had it stuffed…….
In the future, that photo will be used on the front page of the newspaper to honor the work of our wonderful student body president.
And with that, my new business is safe from the student council.
A good thing. A very good thing.
I’m sure next…….
* * *
After a tumultuous morning and back in the student council room, the members of the student council sat in their seats, silent as a mouse.
And then, as if they’d all agreed to do so, one person stood out from the crowd, head bowed.
Ray Pendragon was the one who was currently holding his forehead.
“……Seo Yeon.”
The club supervisor slowly raised her head as her mouth, which had been tightly closed until now, opened.
“Explain what you did, right now.”
Ray’s voice didn’t sound angry, nor did it sound disappointed, just a little colder than usual but even so, the chill in his voice was unbearable.
Never before had Ray Pendragon’s voice sounded so foreign.
“……I apologize.”
She immediately apologizes, but Ray waves it away.
“I don’t want an apology, I want you to explain what the hell you did that deserves the Academy’s recognition, and what the hell the dean was talking about earlier.”
Seo Yeon slowly begins to explain what happened yesterday and Ray’s shoulders slowly start to shake as he listens to the whole story.
“It’s more than…….”
Ray starts to go crazy as the story ends, then suddenly he stops laughing and looks at Seo-yeon.
“──You don’t even know what you’ve done, do you?”
“I decided that his proposal would be a great help to the current clubs and student council’s scarce finances, and since the president has given me discretion as long as it’s only for clubs, there shouldn’t be a problem──”
“Hey.”
The atmosphere of the student council freezing once again at the sound of his cold voice.
“I didn’t give you discretion to do as you please, I gave it to you because I thought you’d at least calculate how much it would cost the student council, but I didn’t expect you to throw it out there like this. Have you ever thought about why the student council gives money to clubs?”
“To keep clubs running smoothly…….”
“If that was the reason, we wouldn’t give them money!”
With a loud bang, the table they were gathered around rattles and the room vibrates.
As everyone looks on in bewilderment and fear because they’ve never seen the president so angry, Ray, who has swept back his messy hair, takes a deep breath and looks around.
“This is going to lead to a lot of clubs becoming independent of student government funding, because if they sell their stuff to the outside world, they’ll have no problem functioning. Do you understand? This is about breaking the leash we’ve been working so hard to tie!”
Ray trudges over to his seat and sits down.
“Julie.”
“Yes, president.”
“I’ll give you a day. Come up with an alternative.”
“I will, president.”
He leaned back in his chair as she replied.
“Sorry about today. Go away, everyone.”
Without looking back, he waves his hand, and one by one, the other members of the student council stand up and begin to leave.
Seo-yeon slowly walks away shocked that what she did for the student council has backfired.
“Club supervisor.”
The familiar voice behind her turned her head.
“Julie Rodman.
It was the vice president of the student council.
“……Vice President. I’m sorry.”
Seo Yeon, who thought he had come to scold her, bowed her head and spoke.
“You were good.”
Something soft wrapped around her head.
“Vice President……?”
“I know why the club supervisor passed this agenda, it was for the academy, right? And you were very upset that the president…… spoke only for the student council, not the academy, right?”
“Vice President…….”
“I’m so sorry, club supervisor.”
Julie spoke in a low voice while hugging her comfortingly.
Seo Yeon’s body in her arms began to tremble faintly.
* * *
“It’s just like you said, I followed Seo Yeon, comforted her and planted a seed. Once she shows a positive response……what should I do now?”
Julie really did what I said.
Ray Pendragon criticized Seo Yeon, just as I expected, and it was clear that she felt very disappointed.
Even if she was a student council henchman, she was still just a student, not one of Ray’s soldiers.
And I would take advantage of that to get her to join Julie’s side.
“We’ll have to wait, it’s basic common sense that once a seed is planted, it takes time for it to germinate, and thanks to today’s events, Seo Yeon is sure to be suspicious or dissatisfied with whatever the president does.”
And the other executives who witnessed the scene from the sidelines will gradually begin to suspect as well.
“Well, I’ll admit, he was a little off today, and I’ve never seen him so angry before.”
“Well, isn’t that the way it is with you? You can’t get over being angry when something that belongs to you is taken away… Oh, and the vice president is from a European aristocratic family, right?”
“I thought you were trying to……me, but I guess not.”
Giggling at my joke, Julie stood up from her seat.
“Well, I’ve had a long day, junior, and I’m going to get up now because I need to go do something else.”
“Okay. You’ve done a good job, Vice President. I have a mentor class this afternoon, too, so have a good day.”
With that, she turned into a bat and slipped out the small window as usual.
After closing the window behind her, I exited my office and saw the crowded room in front of me.
“Yes! There’s an application form over there, please fill it out and come in!”
“Don’t put it there, I’m looking at it!”
“Pilates club, you’re welcome.”
Before I knew it, applicants were flooding into the club room.
When I realized that all of them were people who hadn’t been able to do anything for financial reasons, I realized in real time that it was a blue ocean.
“Oh, the head of the Familia club is here?”
Just then, a familiar voice called out to me.
I turned around and saw the president of the board game club walking towards me with a big smile on his face.
“Ah, senior.”
It was the board game club under the umbrella of Familia that came up to us first and put in their application.
Apparently, they liked what happened this morning. The president said he’d never seen Ray Pendragon so angry before.
“What’s the matter?”
I asked politely, and he handed me the item he was holding as if it was nothing.
“Oh, it’s nothing, I have a board game that our board game club made this time. We want to sell it to the outside world, and I heard you take care of this kind of thing.”
As he said that, he handed me a box that felt quite heavy.
“Is this……?”
The name of the board game on the box was “Grassland”.
It was a board game with a man dressed in all black holding a glowing piece of grass.
“Alas, it’s called Grassland. It’s a fairly simple board game, collecting various herbs and collecting farmer cards──.”
“Let’s make a deal right away.”
“Huh?”
“I’ll prepare the contract right away, ah, would you like to go to my office for a while?”
The legendary game that would later dominate the board game market around the world, Grassland.
It was at this point that it was placed in my hands.
* * *
The sky above the Corleone mansion was clouded with clouds so thick that not even the moon could be seen.
Beneath it, two men were engaged in a fierce, sparking battle.
“There’s too much weight on your shoulders. If you had struck it with the back of your hand, you could have shaken it off.”
“If I miss, I’ll die……!”
“Isn’t that why we practice, so that I don’t kill you?”
Parnello coached, swinging his dagger in very short, concise movements.
“Your feet are playing.”
“I’m too busy dodging……!”
“That’s what happens when you dodge like that in real life, isn’t it?”
At the same time, he straddles my legs, and despite all the effort I put into my lower body, I fall backwards.
“Argh…… the real Parnello is too strong──?!”
At the same time, a giant killing blow swept through my entire body.
Even though I’ve already fallen to the ground, I roll to the side to avoid him as he raises his legs as if he’s going to crush me.
“That’s right, you can’t give up just because you’ve fallen to the ground. The enemy won’t stand still even if you’ve given up, they’ll come for your throat.”
“……I see. So, let’s continue the duel.”
“Of course……hmm?”
Parnello suddenly stops speaking and turns to look toward the mansion.
As he turns to follow, he sees the figure of a man running towards them.
“Master! Lord Parnello!”
“……?”
I’m puzzled by how hard he’s been running, and how his normally neat hair is completely disheveled.
“Consigliere has summoned the two of you, and you need to go to his office right now!”
“……Consigliere?”
I had heard that he was in charge of the organization’s affairs while my father was away, but what was going on?
I followed Parnello, who immediately grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet, and we headed straight for Consigliere’s office.
Unlike my father’s study, the frosted glass doors and the decorations inside have a very modern design.
As we enter the space, which is reminiscent of an executive’s office in a large corporation, Consigliere’s face turns toward us as he looks at a document behind his glasses.
“Ah, you’re both here, so I’ll get straight to the point.”
With that, he closes the papers he’s been looking at.
After removing his glasses and drying his face, he looked at us with a tired, haggard expression and opened his mouth.
“──A Class A Dungeon has been discovered in the Outer Area. Eugene, Parnello, I think you two should go and deal with it.”
“……Eh?”
Class A?
