Chapter 570: Mikhail (2)

“May I come in?”

“Yes, come on in. Long time no see, Mikhail-nim. I apologize for not contacting you for so long. I’ve been quite busy with my work and…”

“No, I should have sought you out first… I’m so sorry.”

“Please take a seat.”

“Thank you.”

“What would you like for tea? There’s not a type we are missing, so you can ask for whatever you’d like.”

“Anything is fine. Well, since I have the chance to, I’d prefer the one the chairman would recommend.”

“Then… Oh, this will be great. It’s a tea made from strawberry that grows only in the North. It’s sweet, but not to the point that it’s too much. You may have tried it already, but… if you really want my recommendation, I’d like to choose this one since I’m into it these days… I’m sure you’ll like it.”

“I’ll thankfully drink whatever you give me.”

“It’s embarrassing if you thank me too much. So, how is it going? How have you been these days?”

“It’s the same every day. It’s probably not much different from yours. I wake up in the morning, drink tea or coffee to start my day, and read the newspapers or books when I have free time. Of course, that’s the only time to relax because the site’s scale is so large… It feels like I’m running a city. Even the number of workers we have exceeds the population of most small cities… It’s very impressive to see how quickly the place has become full of life and markets.”

“The same goes for other sites, Mikhail-nim. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd sites can even be called big cities at this point. And dare I say that the places where our technicians and workers go to enjoy, eat, and play are better than most places in small towns. I didn’t mean to build a city, but I feel great that they seemed to have formed naturally. If workers’ wages have been tight, it would have been harder than it is now. Isn’t that how the economy works? You make money, spend it, pay taxes, and do other things with that tax.”

“Yes, it is just as you say.”

“I’m actually ignorant in Economics like I am in many different topics. But I knew that a market would form. Isn’t it natural for people to gather where the money is? That’s why I’ve given control to people who I could really trust.”

“I see.”

“If I had simply wanted a construction manager, I wouldn’t have contacted you. This might sound like a discriminatory statement, but I would’ve just left the management to the Dwarves if that were the case. That’s why I had given the responsibility for the sites not to the architects but the administrators.”

“Yes, I understand what you’re saying.”

“I don’t want to be just briefed on the progress of the construction. I want to know everything about what’s going on there and how much is coming in and out. I want to know even the tiniest details. That’s why I called you.”

“Is that so…?”

“Because I thought, what if Mikhail-nim misunderstands?”

“…”

“I know what you do and what you can do. If I had doubted your ability, I wouldn’t have put you in such an important position. I left it up to you because I thought you would do the work I entrusted to you properly by yourself.”

“I have no excuses.”

“No, I don’t mean to scold or pressure you in any way. You can listen to my words like it’s a passing story. I think I got a bit carried away and feel embarrassed about it now. Well, do you have anything else you want to say concerning this?”

“I’m sorry, but I’m not sure exactly what you want to hear. The work at our site is indeed being delayed, but it’s still fast enough. Of course, it’s not like there are no internal problems at all, but I just didn’t report it because I thought I could handle it easily enough.”

“Well…”

“…”

“…”

Observing his face, I noticed an unusual expression.

‘Can I say that he’s being honest with me?’

It felt like he was telling me to wait because he could solve it by himself. Of course, it didn’t seem like there was a problem with Mikhail.

‘That’s true, though.’

Rather than speculating that he had not reported in worry that his power would be taken away, other explanations seemed more convincing.

Even among the administrators in the continent, he was the best.

If there was a small problem, he should be able to solve it, and if a protest had actually broken out and a kind of scandal broke out, it would have been right to report it, but didn’t it just happen?

I seemed to have over-reacted and began to regret that I had brought him for no reason.

It made me blush a little, considering that I looked like a boss, telling his subordinates to tell him everything from one to ten because he couldn’t trust them. He wasn’t one of my people, but he had been my pick… I should have shown as much faith in him as I had trusted him.

‘It was just a strike.’

Of course, I hadn’t completely erased the possibility.

But it seemed that I could back off for the time being.

And besides, I knew that Lee Jihye would bring the result no matter what happened.

If I just kept going on and on there, it would just look weird.

That would especially be the case if Mikhail weren’t the cause of the problem.

“Jihye-Nuna would hate this.”

If there was really a problem with workers, it was better to take care of Mikhail.

I stared at his face.

He had the same face when we first met: a cool-looking, grown beard, unwavering, straight eyes, and a somewhat tough demeanor. He looked like an intellectual, and that made people believe in him more.

‘Yeah, let’s stop here.’

It was better to save the discussion about the information missing in his report for a later time.

“I might have worried over nothing.”

“…”

“It seems out of order, but I think you should have a meal before you go. I’m sorry to keep you busy, but… I really want to treat you.”

“Yes, I would like that.”

“How do you like the work? It has been a year, so I think you must have gotten a little used to it…”

“I’m actually still adjusting. I’m a little embarrassed to say this, but it certainly isn’t easy. I think I’ve encountered a lot of situations that I didn’t know what to do with because it didn’t follow the usual formation of a city.”

“But haven’t you been a great leader so far?”

“I still lack in many ways. It’s not like there are no problems.”

“Well, I’m not going to go into detail because you said that you could handle it alone, but it’s not easy to deal with people. Even while working for the same goal, everyone can have different ideas. I don’t know what you’re thinking about when leading your site… but I think that’s an important aspect of it.”

“Sorry? But what…”

“I’m saying that it’s important to make sure you and I think the same way.”

“Yes… I see.”

“That’s the nature of human beings. Humans want to be included in the majority. I think it’s the same even for humans who think they’re the minority and that they’re different from the others. Humans only feel secure when they are included in the majority, especially when it comes to problems they face or situations they can’t control. For example, in such an extreme situation like this, I think there won’t be a person who would want to be in the minority.”

“…”

“I think it’s a human tendency. If the internal problem at your site doesn’t get solved properly, It wouldn’t be bad to keep this in mind.”

“I shall do my best to remember that.”

“Well, I know you’ll be able to handle it yourself. I feel embarrassed since I feel like I’m repeating myself, but I’m not saying this because I don’t trust you. I’m just the type of person who gets a little stressed… If I don’t solve the problem myself… I keep telling myself to fix this part of myself over and over again, but it doesn’t seem to get fixed properly.”

“…”

“Let’s have a meal first. I want to talk about things other than work.”

“Yes.”

After sitting down at the table, we started to eat right away.

If I were alone, I would have finished the meal in an instant, but because I wanted to show that I was treating him, I put a little bit more effort than that.

It was also a way to apologize for a useless misunderstanding, but he probably didn’t notice that- since he probably didn’t know what I was thinking.

“How’s your wife doing?”

“She’s… doing just fine.”

“I wondered if she was feeling uncomfortable with her life there, but it sounds like she’s doing better than I thought.”

“…”

‘Why isn’t he responding?’

His face looked slightly uncomfortable, and I began to ascertain that something bad had recently happened to his family members. It wasn’t good to keep mentioning topics that he disliked. Hence, I tried to lead the conversation elsewhere, but I soon ran out of content.

Maybe because he had many thoughts in his head, he was serious and unfunny. Whenever I made a joke, the most he would do was smirk…

‘It’s hard to get friendly with him…’

However, he was also the type of person I wanted.

“When are the people from the joint training camp coming?”

“In about a month, the troops will begin to deploy.”

“I see…”

“I know I look crazy. A normal person wouldn’t suddenly go north of the continent and build a forward base with huge funds. It’s natural to think that there must be something else.”

“That is not true, sir.”

“Haha, it’s alright. Although it is Benignore’s prophecy, it must not have touched the people living on this continent yet. I think you probably feel the same way.”

“No, I’m….”

“You don’t have to deny it. Even if you understand it in words, you’ll still have doubts in the back of your mind. If I were you, I would have felt the same way. The same will be true of the workers who are at the sites now. It’s still a threat so far away… I’m sure most of them think of it like that. It’s not easy to prepare against an enemy who you can’t even see.”

“…”

“The threat exists. I’ll put my life on the line to tell you… This is the truth.”

“…”

“Everything you’re doing right now will not be in vain. So please cheer up a little more. When it’s really over, I’m sure you’ll be treated well.”

“Thank you.”

We talked about everything, but there was still a bit of awkwardness left.

I kept trying to find something to do or talk about since he had come all the way to where I was, but it was still definitely awkward. I wondered if I had called him over too recklessly.

We were in a situation where it was difficult to say, ‘since you’re done eating, you should leave.’ The meal and the conversation were over, but time was passing by so slowly…

I thought Mikhail was thinking the same thing. The atmosphere was hard to understand. It seemed like he didn’t like it either since he tried to do something to change it.

“If you don’t mind, can we spend some time playing chess?”

‘People who played games with me never had good endings…’

However, his suggestion seemed pretty good.