I Become a Mafia in the Academy - Chapter 279

~The front of the restaurant where I have an appointment with the ‘Director’~

Parnello, in the passenger seat, opens the door and gets out first, then opens the back door for me.

“At your service, sir.”

Parnello takes care of me first as I have a bandage wrapped around my arm.

I carefully step out of the car with his guidance, then turn to Han Seo-joon, who is still behind the wheel.

“Leave it at the valet and come right up.”

“Yes, sir.”

I brought a total of two people to this meeting.

Parnello, who can protect me in any situation, and Han Seo-joon, who is always by my side and is my secret weapon.

When I first asked Han Seo-joon to come with me, he was a little surprised.

‘I’m going to be there?’

The director of the National Intelligence Service, not anyone else. As an agent assigned to me, not anyone else, there was a high probability that the director and Han Seo-joon knew each other.

I realized that if Han Seo-joon was present, even the director would notice, and I would be able to show my vulnerability.

And then.

“Are you comfortable with the bandages?”

“Yeah, it’s better than I thought.”

This time, I used a bandage I got from Kwak Chun-sik Kwak and rolled it up as if my hand was injured.

This was also a device to gain an advantage during the conversation with the guys.

As I entered the restaurant, I was approached by men in black suits who had been waiting for me.

“Were you waiting for……huh?”

One of the guys looks at me and greets me, then freezes when he sees Parnello next to me.

“Show us around, we haven’t had dinner and we’re hungry.”

I give him a pat on the shoulder and we head straight into the restaurant building.

The inside of the restaurant was very noisy, indicating that it was dinner time.

There were mostly couples in their twenties and thirties.

From this perspective, it was an ordinary restaurant, but unfortunately, I knew their ways all too well.

“There are quite a few agents here today. Are you here for a group dinner or something?”

“What? What do you mean?”

The person on the other end of the line looked at me like I didn’t know what I was talking about, but I smirked and released my aura around me.

People flinched for a moment.

Meanwhile, the meal and conversation continued apace.

“There’s no way a normal person could feel this and still be eating like that, is there?”

“…….”

“Well, you guys have to eat too, so let’s keep going.”

“……Yes.”

We passed through the first floor full of agents and arrived at the second floor of the restaurant.

Unlike the first floor, the hallway was very quiet.

The man walking ahead of me looked nervous as he walked toward the end of the hallway. He was probably conscious of Parnello next to me.

By now the ones downstairs are eagerly reporting back upstairs, “Parnello’s here.”

“This is it.”

He says, standing in front of a door made of window screens.

I nod once, then open the door and step inside.

As if he’s been waiting for me, he turns his attention to the tea on the table.

His pomade is slicked back neatly, and he wears imposing black horn-rimmed glasses.

Seated around him is a man who appears to be an officer of the National Intelligence Agency.

“There you are, Mr. Corleone, Jr…….and Lord Parnello.”

The horn-rimmed man stood up, smiled at us, and introduced himself.

“I’m Mr. Kwon, Director of National Intelligence.”

With that, he offered me his hand.

I shrug it off. Once seated, I cross my legs and raise the glass of water in front of me.

“Master. Shouldn’t we check for poison first?”

“No way, the high and mighty of the country would pull such a stunt. And……if I die from eating this, won’t Parnello avenge me?”

“Of course.”

A blatant disregard and provocative remark.

To argue about whether or not something was poisonous in front of the person who made the meal was an insult to the other person but to me, it didn’t matter how they felt.

“No way, I didn’t think you were joking to begin with.”

I say, setting my cup down after quenching my thirst with lukewarm green tea.

He nods his head in understanding.

“I understand. I apologize if the agents downstairs made you feel uncomfortable, but we all have those ‘what ifs’, don’t we?”

Hmm? He’s been saying that since before.

“The agents downstairs are no big deal. If I asked Parnello right now, he’d have them cleared out in less than five minutes, right?”

“Yes, sir.”

Did he feel my words were strong? His temples twitched.

“Who the hell did you think you are messing around with──”

“You’re not the director. Why are you acting like him? You’re pissing people off.”

-Bang!

I slammed the teacup in my hand down hard and turned to look at the dark-eyed man sitting quietly next to him.

I slowly opened my mouth as I looked at the young-faced man who appeared to be only in his late 20s.

“Mr. Kwon. How long do you expect me to go along with your antics?”

My words left the man speechless and it was Kwon Dae-woon, the dark-eyed man sitting next to him, who finally spoke up.

“……I can’t believe you even recognize my face, Corleone Jr.”

“How could I not recognize you, even though I have your phone number? I’m getting more and more uncomfortable because I keep seeing things like this since I got here…….We didn’t meet to fight, did we?”

–or is that what you want?

I can feel his eyes on Parnello as he listens to my words.

I’m glad I brought him along as he is a tactical weapon that can intimidate opponents with its mere presence.

In response, Kwon Dae-woon bowed his head and spoke.

“I apologize for that. Please understand that since a meeting is a meeting, we had no choice but to be like this.”

“Am I some kind of criminal? I came here as a victim, but the way you’re treating me makes it seem like……I’m the perpetrator. What, am I supposed to be the real perpetrator this time?”

“What…….?”

“──Parnello.”

“Yes, Master.”

“What do you want me to do in such a case?”

“Just give me the order. I’ll take care of it.”

“You say……what do you want me to do?”

I don’t even give him a chance to speak up, I just keep talking nonstop.

It’s a kind of dominance battle to make sure you’re in control.

However, the other guy isn’t about to give up so easily.

“You’re the one who’s been trying to get me to sit down with you, Corleone Junior. You’re the one who threatened to tell me you know about my family, and if you start off like this, I don’t even feel the need to talk to you.”

Ooh, that’s how you’re going to come off?

It’s a way to give up space……I think I used my brain a bit. Then, this side also has its own method.

Eugene Han Corleone is an asshole character in the first place.

“But why are you being an asshole? Do you think you’re the boss because I keep treating you with respect? What makes you think you’re so proud of planting a mole in someone else’s house?”

As I shouted at him, Kwon Dae-woo’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“You, what are you saying…….?”

“What? Is there anything wrong with what I said? Kwak Jung-woo, you guys sent him, right? He said he came because you sent him, but why do you say no? Do you throw away agents who fail their original mission as if you were throwing away disposable items?”

As if he couldn’t stand what I was saying, he jumped to his feet.

“How dare you talk to the director right now──”

“──Please sit down. He’s not talking to you, is he?”

But at Parnello’s words, he immediately closed his mouth.

He sighs and glares at me.

“I’ll say it again, he didn’t come from us…….”

You’re going to use respectful language again now?

“Really? Then…….”

-Master, I’m here.

My secret weapon.

“Oh, didn’t I tell you, I have one more companion, so……I’ll call him right inside. Uh, come on in.”

After hearing my answer, Han Seo-joon walked inside.

He glanced at us and the director for a moment, then back at me and bowed.

“I came right up after I parked, where do you want me to sit?”

“Ah, take the seat next to Parnello. Now, let’s continue talking, Director. The job of our National Intelligence Service is to abandon people without mercy if they are exposed during a mission and not care whether they die or not. Is this it?”

I asked him, continuing the question I was about to ask.

His brow twitched for a moment at the sudden entrance of Han Seo-joon but he quickly turned his attention back to me and stuck to the same opinion he had just expressed.

“Not only have we not sent spies against Corleone, but we are operating under an agreement.”

“Agreement?”

Parnello opened his mouth at this.

“An agreement between Don and the Director. A sort of inviolability pact……where we agreed not to touch, as long as we didn’t violate each other’s sovereignty.”

“Oh-an inviolability pact?”

That’s what Corleone and the Director of National Intelligence had.

Come to think of it, it was one of the few things that directly broke in both stories.

I guess that’s how it was.

“So what happens in a case like this?”

I said, holding up my bandaged hand.

“What if an agent of the National Intelligence Agency had injured me?”

“Wouldn’t that convention fall apart right away, unless the wronged party made amends or apologized?”

“That’s right.”

In a case like this, the one who admitted fault first would lose.

Besides, the director had been watching Han Seo-joon’s eyes the whole time.

In front of Han Seo-joon, he would not dare to say ‘I don’t know’ like he did just now.

That’s how human psychology works.

It’s also a problem that Han Seo-joon might change his mind if he answers as he did before. Even if he doesn’t answer, it’s a problem. The repercussions if Han Seo-joon’s identity is discovered later will be enormous.

But of course, they don’t have a choice.

“I speak to you as the official Director of National Intelligence. We have no relationship with the person in the photo sent by Corleone Jr. We have nothing to do with Corleone Jr.’s injury.”

Whatever. For him, it was more important to maintain the ‘agreement’ now.

“On the contrary, I would like to ask you something. Corleone Jr.”

And then, as if to counterattack, the director looks at me and shoots me a look.

“May I ask where you got the information about me?”

He’s not going to let me off the hook for contacting him first.

I finally got it…….

Didn’t I prepare for that by coming all this way?

“I asked my dad.”

“……?”

“My dad has your number. You exchanged numbers last time you met.”

I asked my dad. What do you say?

“But, surely you didn’t tell Don Corleone and Consigliere about what happened yesterday…….”

“Of course I didn’t tell them what happened, I just asked them to give me the phone number because I had an errand to run.”

“He gave you my number?”

“Because I am very much loved by my father.”

He just gave it to me.

“Oh, by the way, I forgot, I need to get something on the record.”

I said, pulling out my phone and turning on the recording feature.

“So, why don’t you say it right here in front of me?”

──That the mole found inside Corleone has nothing to do with the ‘National Intelligence Agency’, and that you will never have a problem with whatever they get themselves into.

“You never know, something like this might happen again.”

I smirked and looked at the director.

Now, say it with your own mouth in front of him.

Han Seo-joon is a pawn that can be discarded at any time.

We have abandoned him. Say it.