Chapter 83 – Chaos (3)

After sending back the injured summoner by the arriving helicopter, Sun-woo and the party set off again.

The accident was entrusted to the Association people who flew in by helicopter, and Sun-woo used sorcery to barely make a road where cars could pass through the road destroyed by explosives.

30 minutes later, the car could arrive in front of a hanok built in the middle of a scenic mountain.

After leaving the national highway and climbing for a while on a paved two-lane road, the antique hanok surrounded by a wide lawn looked like a picture.

This place was a Korean restaurant quite famous among high-level people, and the competitiveness of this Korean restaurant was that it was suitable for meeting away from people’s eyes rather than the taste of the food.

The surroundings of the house were strictly guarded by surveillance cameras, and though not visible to the eye, Sun-woo could feel people hiding here and there.

The appointment itself seemed fine. In the spacious parking lot, a luxury sedan that appeared to be the contract partner’s car was parked.

Seeing the meeting place was fine, Caroline tilted her head.

“Could the attack be a third party’s doing?”

“We’ll know when we meet.”

The branch manager answered Caroline’s question. Hearing the calm branch manager’s voice, he certainly seemed like a person befitting the position.

“What do you think, Sun-woo-ssi?”

After getting out of the car, Caroline asked Sun-woo. The branch manager also looked back at Sun-woo. He seemed to trust Sun-woo regarding surveillance of the surroundings.

“I sense several people who appear to be bodyguards, but it doesn’t seem like a trap.”

At Sun-woo’s words, the branch manager nodded, and the party left only the driver in the car and entered inside the hanok’s gate.

No other customers seemed to be present. Probably they had rented out this entire place for this meeting.

From the entrance, a middle-aged woman dressed neatly in hanbok guided the party.

While the woman guided the party, no staff of this place were visible either.

“Was it originally like this?”

At the unfamiliar sight, Sun-woo asked Caroline, and she also tilted her head.

“I’m not sure either. This is my first time meeting directly too.”

Naturally the branch manager must not have met before either. Not knowing the previous meeting situation, they would need to be more careful.

While Sun-woo and Caroline whispered quietly, Sun-woo’s party was guided to the innermost private room of the restaurant.

In front of the hallway leading to the private room, two sturdy men in suits stood. Probably bodyguards.

“Except for the two at the entrance, there are no separately hiding people.”

Sun-woo, who confirmed the surroundings with sorcery and martial arts, told the two people in a not-so-quiet voice.

At Sun-woo’s words, the branch manager and Caroline nodded, and the two people left Sun-woo standing outside, took off their shoes, and climbed onto the hallway.

Sun-woo stood at a place slightly apart from the bodyguards and began expanding internal energy to monitor the surroundings.

Shortly after, along with the sound of the door closing, the sound of exchanging greetings from inside the hallway was heard faintly, too quietly for ordinary people to hear.

“Please come in.”

***

Inside the room where the branch manager and Caroline entered, a man in his 60s with a half-collapsed face worn by the vicissitudes of life and a man in his 40s with a firm face were sitting.

The man sitting in the center was the CEO of Geumyang TechOne they agreed to meet this time.

“Pleased to meet you for the first time. Chairman Kang.”

“Haha, it’s always amazing. Everyone working at Cleaners speaks Korean like a native language.”

“Thank you.”

At the words with a strange nuance, the branch manager answered plainly.

After exchanging a few more greetings, the two people began talking about the contract again. The other side looked like they didn’t know about what happened on the way here, and the branch manager also proceeded with the conversation as if nothing had happened.

“Are you certain about the decision to cancel the existing contract and make a new contract? It’s a situation difficult for our company to understand.”

“The contract with the former branch manager was not a normal contract. The people in charge of the contract at that time are all in situations of dismissal and legal complaints, and the contract can be sufficiently canceled.”

At the other side’s words, the branch manager frowned.

He was right. Contracts using bribes, backroom deals, and even abilities were bound to be flawed.

Of course, if taken to court, they might win, but then they would have no choice but to give up doing business in Korea.

“So, what kind of new contract do you want?”

“Let’s cut the amount in half and have control of personnel on our side.”

At the opponent’s words, the branch manager and Caroline frowned.

“Are you saying to end the conversation? We cannot accept.”

At the branch manager’s words, Chairman Kang grinned.

“Then let’s end by canceling the contract. Probably you’ll have difficulty working with any company in Korea.”

The branch manager’s expression became even darker. The opponent didn’t come just as one company’s representative. He came to this place with the government and other companies backing him.

But the branch manager couldn’t understand why the opponent was coming on so strongly.

Even if the bribery case was revealed and people were separated, the other side had sufficiently profited from the work until now.

There was no reason to do this kind of killing the goose that lays golden eggs.

Then Caroline, who had been quietly watching the conversation from the side, opened her mouth.

“By any chance, do you personally dislike Cleaners?”

While speaking, she subtly leaned her body forward. Instantly, Chairman Kang pulled back his body and grimaced.

“Th-this is official business. Your subordinate is very rude.”

Chairman Kang’s retorting expression was stiffly hardened.

“You do hate us. So much that your body automatically reacts.”

At Caroline’s words, the branch manager seemed to have realized something. He stood up from his seat and extended his arm toward Chairman Kang.

“What is this!”

Along with Chairman Kang’s surprised voice, a pistol jumped out from the bosom of the man sitting beside him.

But at the same time the pistol jumped out, Caroline’s hand quickly grabbed the gun barrel, and the pistol disappeared emitting light.

Caroline’s hand blade swung toward the neck of the man wide-eyed at the disappearing gun, and the man collapsed forward clutching his neck.

“As expected, you bastards are enemies of the state! You may have survived here like cockroaches, but don’t think you’ll return safely!”

Before the face of Chairman Kang shouting at the top of his lungs, the branch manager’s hand was spread.

“As expected, this person was also an accomplice.”

“Still, things will resolve easily instead. Now that we know the cause.”

Along with that, the branch manager’s hand began glowing faintly, and Chairman Kang began screaming.

“Kyaaaah!”

But neither person was surprised, and the branch manager didn’t lower his hand either.

“It’s definitely brainwashing.”

The faint light flowing from the branch manager’s hand was light that flowed out when using the ability to readjust memories.

When different psychic abilities collided inside the target’s head, the target would feel extreme headaches.

If the ability to readjust memories remained in his head, they could have covered over memories anew without any pain.

But a brain dominated by a different psychic ability (brainwashing) had no choice but to feel tremendous pain like now due to collision between different abilities.

The branch manager looked back at Caroline while recalling the path here with his hand raised.

“We’re receiving much help from Summoner Sun-woo.”

“Yes, both the Association side and us refugees.”

At Caroline’s words, the branch manager nodded. Tobias Schmidt, who became the Korean branch manager of Cleaners this time, was a superpower user who came to this world with Caroline and was Caroline’s senior officer.

“I insisted quite stubbornly to become Korean branch manager, but it seems a not-bad result will come.”

Him becoming Korean branch manager was because after receiving Caroline’s contact, he strongly requested the Association board.

Colleagues worried about him, the representative figure of summoners who came over from the Empire, pulling out from headquarters, but he proceeded with the work at Caroline’s strong request.

Until yesterday he hadn’t been certain whether coming to Korea was the right thing, but through this matter he could also be certain.

“Sun-woo-ssi is our hope.”

“Well, seems we picked the right side, so shall we wrap up Association business too.”

Shortly after, Chairman Kang’s screams gradually decreased, and eventually the chairman fainted with an exhausted face.

Branch Manager Tobias, who withdrew his ability, roughly slapped the fainted Chairman Kang’s cheek. It was a considerably emotional movement just for waking someone up.

“Tsk, since he was brainwashed, can’t even kill him.”

If the opponent were an ordinary person, they might not have let him off even with brainwashing. But since the opponent seemed to be the chairman of a major corporation and the ringleader of the Korean government and big shots, it wasn’t easy to touch him recklessly.

Helplessly, the branch manager decided to substitute venting anger about the attacks received on the way here by slapping cheeks.

Slap! Slap! Slap!

After pleasant striking sounds continued, Chairman Kang could finally awaken from fainting.

While the chairman was fainted, the branch manager also checked the man beside him, but fortunately he remained unconscious without any movement. The person brainwashed here seemed to be only Chairman Kang.

“Are you somewhat conscious?”

When the branch manager asked worriedly, Chairman Kang, who barely opened his eyes, opened his mouth while rubbing his temples.

“What on earth happened?”

At Chairman Kang’s utterly puzzled words, the branch manager answered.

“It’s a kind of hypnosis. Until now, Chairman, you hated Cleaners because you were under hypnosis.”

When abilities collided, headaches occurred, and when the headache stopped, both abilities collided with each other so all abilities became void.

Right now, Chairman Kang was in a state where both the memory readjustment that Cleaners first deployed and the brainwashing that the contaminated ability user deployed afterward were all released.

The branch manager attributed Chairman Kang’s curiosity to hypnosis. Since he couldn’t talk about brainwashing superpowers, he had no choice but to speak of hypnosis.

Chairman Kang, who had been rubbing his head recalling memories, continually groaned as memories surfaced. As he recalled the actions he had done until just before, he couldn’t raise his face.

“It seems to be hypnosis to make you hate our company. Fortunately, I know the technique to release hypnosis, so I could release it. Probably the one who caused this trouble seems to be a group or individual with ill feelings toward our company.”

Cleaners was a kind of troubleshooter dispatch company, so even if the branch manager knew how to break hypnosis, it didn’t seem particularly strange.

“Now that you’re conscious, we should resolve matters.”

Chairman Kang looked at the two people with a curious expression. Clearly they said they made a trap no one could survive, but they appeared here perfectly fine. It was truly a Cleaners-like appearance.

Chairman Kang looked at the two people with a pale white face. Though he hadn’t been in his right mind, it was a matter of trying to kill people.

It was clear attempted murder.

The branch manager opened his mouth while looking at Chairman Kang who had stiffened up.

“Our company will not publicize this matter.”

Though there were dead people, mercenaries were a profession that went with death. The branch manager was thinking of giving maximum compensation to the dead mercenary’s family.

At the branch manager’s words about burying the matter, Chairman Kang’s expression brightened.

“Then would you tell me what happened? And let’s also talk about the contract again.”

The branch manager looked at Chairman Kang and smiled broadly.

***

Quite some time later, the two people exited the room.

“Since we’ve secured the list, please send people immediately. If too late, who knows what trouble they’ll cause again.”

“Yes.”

Along with the answer, Caroline took out her phone. Now they had returned to an official position. The branch manager who had spoken casually to his junior officer now raised his speech to her again.

“Oh my!”

The two people passing through the hallway and going outside exclaimed at the outside scenery.

Outside was completely a mess. Several cars were overturned along with the ground, and some cars were cut and scattered here and there.

And people who had fainted, including the bodyguards who had been guarding the hallway entrance, were scattered everywhere. These were vehicles and people who had entered here after the two people went into the private room.

But they had all been smashed by Sun-woo. While screaming happened inside, it seemed chaos had also erupted outside.

“Did business go well?”

“Yes, thanks to you, we wrapped up well. But you’re amazing. I thought reinforcements came, but you handled everything alone.”

“It’s all money. Instead of receiving support, you’ll pay more for service fees, right?”

At the branch manager’s words, Sun-woo smiled and spoke.