04. Uncomfortable Cohabitation (17)

After the Gunblade test, we sat around in the living room of the mansion.

It’s a long story to talk about while standing, so Yuna offered to serve her car.

Soon, a servant brought a cart and carefully placed a tray with all sorts of refreshments and black tea on top.

“Eat. These are carefully selected items brought from overseas.”

“Thank you. I will drink well.”

The scent of black tea, as deep as her grandfather’s green tea, calms the mind.

Yuna started talking with a more sincere appearance than before.

“The gunblade’s lack of perfection… I actually knew it. Of course, I only realized it after hearing the expert’s opinion that it was this serious.”

To say that he is an expert is an overstatement. I’m just pointing out what I can see.

However, I felt it made no sense that Klaproth’s technicians overlooked a problem that even my level could tell.

I said, setting the teacup down on the table.

“Didn’t you say that the engineer was taken away by your uncle? Can I ask you more about that?”

“… There would be no point in hiding it. Because those who already know it know it.”

Yuna let out a deep sigh and opened her mouth.

“Fritz Klaproth, Vice Chairman of Klaprot, that is to say, my uncle. He currently holds the real power of the Klaproth Group.”

“What about your father?”

“My father….”

Yuna took a long pause with a melancholy face as she touched the handle of her teacup.

“My father was diagnosed with severe dementia. You’re insane for more than half of the day.”

“What?”

The chairman of a conglomerate that controls the world’s steel industry and arms manufacturing is said to have severe dementia. If that’s true, that’s great news.

But I didn’t know that? Yuna said with a wry smile as if she had read my expression full of doubt.

“The official announcement is yet to be made. But everyone in the know knows. That my father hadn’t been outside for a long time. And that the president’s health condition is being covered up with money so that the public does not know about it.”

“… ….”

“After the decision was made that the chairman was not in good health to continue working, the executives of the group and the presidents of each affiliate turned their backs on their father and went to their uncle. I understand their position too. My uncle is already the vice-president of the group and even my father’s only younger brother, so it wasn’t really betrayal or anything to them.”

Yuna distorted her expression in anger. The school uniform skirt crumpled mercilessly in her clenched fists.

“But I am the rightful successor to my father. Even if you’re my uncle, you can’t run my father’s company as you please… !”

“The rightful successor?”

The group is not a throne, but an heir.

I heard a strange word that I don’t normally hear, and asked in a slightly bewildered voice.

“… I have a will. It says that I will inherit all of my father’s shares and property in the group.”

“All? That, all of that?”

“Yes. Everything.”

I swallowed in vain in amazement. Yoon Seo-hee asked in a curious voice from the side.

“Why? Is Yuna’s father that rich?”

“Chairman Claprot’s personal assets… It’s enough to buy a country with a little bit of exaggeration.”

“Oops! Real?”

Yoon Seo-hee opened her big, round eyes even wider than usual and shut her mouth.

Even in this situation, he looked a little cute.

“Then what’s wrong? He said that the chairman’s shares are all yours. Inheritance tax will have to be paid a little, no, but a lot… Aren’t you worried about losing the group though?”

Yuna lowered her gaze and shook her head.

“My uncle insists that a will in a state of dementia is invalid. His father wrote that will when he was healthy… ! But by then, the doctor, the lawyer, and everyone in the group had already passed on to my uncle.”

“Ah….”

I swallowed my saliva at the story beyond my common sense.

To be honest, I’m not sure how to react because it’s a story from another world.

“I was going to stay in my country and watch my father’s company… They made all sorts of excuses because I was underage, even because I was a woman, and they wouldn’t allow me to touch the group’s work, so there was nothing I could do anymore.”

“What?! No, what kind of bullshit is that?”

Yoon Seo-hee, who had been quietly listening to her story, jumped up from her seat in anger as if it were her own.

“In these days, what is the relationship between age and gender? This is why they are really old people!”

“Seohee, calm down.”

I gently patted her on the shoulder to calm her excitement. Yoon Seo-hee exhaled a long breath as if to get rid of her anger and sat down again.

“Oh.”

And then she realized what she was saying. She looked at me with her shoulders twitching as if she realized belatedly.

“Lee, Lee Jinah? There is just….”

I already know that Yoon Seo-hee has a rough mouth. And for some reason, he tries to be careful about what he says in front of me.

It would be right to ignore it here.

“What did you say? I couldn’t hear you because I was thinking about something else for a while.”

“That… so? I hope you haven’t heard! Ahahahaha….”

Yuna was watching the two of us with her eyes thinly open. She put what she was thinking in her cautious manner into her mouth.

“As expected, the two of them must be very close.”

“Huh? Jin and I… Do you look very friendly? Really?”

“Yes. It’s to the point that anyone can think of it as a lover.”

“Hey, hey, hey, lover!? Oh no! Not quite that yet! I don’t know what will happen later, but for now, let’s say we’re friends, or something similar… !”

Yoon Seo-hee blushed shyly and quickly shook her hand. The corners of her mouth hung over her ears, giving a haggard look.

What’s the point of not knowing what will happen later?

For some reason, instead of Yoon Seo-hee, who was so excited and didn’t know what she was talking about, I simply explained the relationship between the two of us.

“Me and Seohee are just friends. We became close because we happened to make Seohee’s sword.”

“They made me a sword… ?”

At that moment, a bright flash flashed through Yuna’s eyes.

“Just in case, I’m asking, is it correct to say the sword that was used during the terrorism at the fair?”

“What about gold? That’s right. It was made by Lee Jin-yi.”

The real Yoon Seo-hee said, fanning her face with her hand. There was still redness on both cheeks.

“That golden long sword myself… Also….”

Yuna nodded her head alone to see what she had understood.

She got up suddenly and bowed her head deeply towards us, towards me to be exact.

“What, what? Why so suddenly?”

“Binary. I’m begging you. Please be my technical advisor.”

“Technical advisor?”

Yuna continued with her head bowed politely and her gaze fixed on her floor.

“I know this is an unreasonable request. But now that there are no technicians willing to work for me, I have no one to turn to except you. For me, this gunblade is my last chance. I am… I must make this business a success and prove to the people of the group and to the investors that I am the true successor to Klaproth.”

“But that’s right, there’s no need to go this far-“

“If it’s for my father’s group, I can bow my head as much as I like. Because I see that much value in you. If there’s anything you want, I’ll arrange it somehow. If the adviser position is too much for you, you can help me just this once. So, please.”

I swallowed dry saliva.

I couldn’t even see her face, but I felt tremendous power from her.

It must have been the other side that lowered his head and asked for a favor, but the overwhelming force made me feel restless.

“First, raise your head.”

“No. It can’t-“

“If you do, I won’t say anything.”

Only then did Yuna slowly raise her head as if she couldn’t help it. Her lower lip must have been bitten hard, but her red lips were pale and bloodless.

Yuna’s attitude was very serious. Then I should answer seriously.

“… I appreciate the suggestion, but it’s too heavy a question to answer right here.”

“Then….”

“Give me time to think. I will seriously think about it.”

Her casual stop in just to test a product became too much for her.

Even completely revising the Gunblade’s structure is unexpected, but being her technical advisor means that I’m actively participating in the competition for Klaproth’s successor.

It was Kertatus and the end of the world, so in a situation full of unresolved headaches, I didn’t know what variables this would play. At least it was necessary to consult with Baek Ji-soo, the regressor.

Sorry for my sincere answer, Yuna’s expression briefly passed by.

“… I’m just glad I didn’t say no right here. Thank you for thinking seriously, Lee Jin.”

After the conversation was over, Yuna calmly sat down. Then, she sipped black tea and brightened up the atmosphere with a smile.

“Apart from the advisor offer, I have to reward you for today’s test. When the tea is finished, I will guide you to my private storage room.”

“Are you okay? I haven’t done anything.”

“What do you mean? You told me that my gunblade has no commercial value. That alone is enough to give you the reward you promised.”

Yuna looked at me and winked one of her eyes.

“Claprot’s eldest daughter always keeps her promise.”

–

‘That shouldn’t be the case, lady….’

The servant, who had been overhearing the conversation of the three people from afar, shook her head alone.

He is a loyal servant who has served Yuna since her childhood, and a retired hunter hired directly from his home country by President Claprot to protect her.

The attendant didn’t like the current situation very much.

‘The heir to lead the company showed all his cards to the opponent from the beginning.’

The Lady of Claprot directly bowed her head to the lowly common people.

It felt like a noble angel lost its wings and fell to the ground.

If you weren’t greedy and satisfied with what you had, you wouldn’t have to look so pitiful.

‘That’s why the young lady can’t stand up to her uncle.’

As the three of them got up and were about to leave the living room, the servant also left and took out his cell phone.

As soon as the signal was received, the call was connected as if waiting without a notification ringing a few times.

The servant opened his mouth cautiously, showing a far more hospitable example than treating his master.

“I have something to tell you. Vice President.”

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Jumping. The door closed and the attendant left.

“… ….”

Yoon Seo-hee’s golden eyes were quietly watching her back.