Being a Villain is My True Calling

A few days later.

Today, I visited a building to provide research funds to Roy.

‘Normally, the money would be automatically paid without the need to talk about it, but since there was a change related to the payment amount last time, I need to go and tell them about that.’

I checked my outfit for today.

A semi-formal suit with a somewhat casual look.

It’s lighter than the usual suit, but it still gives off a somewhat formal feeling, so it’s not bad.

“..Oppa, you look like a company employee going to work.”

“Is that so? I was hoping to give off more of a CEO vibe.”

“If that’s what you’re going for, at least take off that convenience store mask.”

“But then I wouldn’t be able to hide my identity.”

The disposable mask bought from the convenience store didn’t quite match, but it was enough to hide my identity at the ‘ordinary person level’.

‘I need to look unrelated to the villain side at the place I’m going today.’

More precisely, I needed to look unconnected to ability users.

While still hiding my identity.

“It feels like seeing off a husband going to work.”

“Are you trying to get someone arrested?”

“You’re a villain.”

“I’ll consider it when you’re older.”

By this point, perceptive people might have noticed, but I wasn’t going to a bank right now.

Honestly, how could I? I’m a villain.

I could go as an ordinary person, but right now I’m going to invest money in Roy.

And of course, what he’s doing is clearly illegal experimentation.

As I’m in the position of investing in it, I need to refrain as much as possible from activities that could leave direct traces.

“Then, I’ll be going. Take care of the store, Ga-yeon. I left food in the room on the 2nd floor, so eat when you want to.”

“Okay.”

So how should I send the money?

It’s simple.

“Welcome, Major Shareholder Kang I-an.”

Just have people who are good at this kind of thing handle it and pass it on to someone else two or three times.

“Chairman Yu is waiting for you.”

The rising new company ‘Raon’.

A place where I, knowing it would become a huge conglomerate in the future, invested from the early stages of the business.

As a company in the grey area between legal and illegal, it’s quite good at money laundering flexibly, and since I have a personal relationship with the chairman of this company, it’s a useful company that I often ask favors from.

“Please guide me.”

Speaking intentionally in a lower tone than usual, I nodded and followed the guide into the elevator.

“You’ve arrived, Major Shareholder Kang I-an.”

“It’s been a while, Chairwoman Yu Chae-hwa.”

As the elevator reached the top floor, I was greeted by a young beauty in a suit.

She wasn’t a secretary. She was Yu Chae-hwa, the chairwoman of the rising company ‘Raon’.

“Let’s sit down first. I’ll have some tea brought out soon.”

“Alright.”

Despite still having a youthful appearance, she exuded an inexplicable charisma.

After a moment, tea was served and she immediately got to the point.

“What brings you here today?”

“Do you remember when I asked you to send some investment funds to the researchers last time?”

Without any unnecessary greetings, we went straight to business talk.

It might be surprising, but as I was familiar with her unique way of speaking, I comfortably brought up the main point.

“Yes, is there a problem?”

“No, it’s not that. I’m thinking of increasing the support for that monthly investment a bit more.”

Realizing what I wanted, Yu Chae-hwa nodded and continued.

“Then I’ll tell the intermediary to increase the amount of investment sent.”

“You can take the money from what I’ve entrusted to ‘Raon’ as before. I hope my funds aren’t insufficient?”

“They’re sufficient.”

Well, I have more than enough money, and I’ve entrusted countless amounts to ‘Raon’, so such worries might be unnecessary.

“Then, I’ll leave it to you.”

“In that case..”

Yu Chae-hwa smiled brightly.

Knowing what she wanted from the look in her eyes, I smiled too.

I smiled with my eyes and took off my mask.

“Now that work is done, let’s speak comfortably, noona.”

“Yay!!”

An unrefined voice that’s hard to believe came from the same refined mouth just a moment ago.

Surprisingly, it was indeed the same person.

“Geez, even when working, you’re so cringey being all polite to your noona?”

“No matter how close we are, it was a business request, so.”

The young chairwoman of the rising company ‘Raon’, Yu Chae-hwa.

And she was also a noona who was close to me when I was in the orphanage.

“Ugh, if I knew it would be like this, I shouldn’t have started a company..! Becoming so awkward even with a close dongsaeng!”

“Hey, you’re making your investor lose spirit.”

People probably wouldn’t know.

That this person, who became the chairwoman of a rising company in her 20s with overflowing charisma and intelligence, is such a goofball.

“Ah, I don’t know, I don’t know! I don’t want to work!”

“Don’t say things that’ll make the company’s stock price drop.”

When I first found out that Yu Chae-hwa, the chairwoman of Raon, existed in the same orphanage as me, I was a bit surprised.

I was even more surprised when I learned about her personality.

“Hmph. I said I don’t want to work..”

It was a chance fortune that came by, but I didn’t let it slip away.

After noticing her existence, I intentionally approached her and became close, and when she said she would start a new company, I invested while mixing in a bit of sentiment.

‘As a result, I’ve become a sudden millionaire who doesn’t have to worry about money for the rest of my life, like now.’

On top of that, having a personal relationship with the chairwoman means I receive incomparable treatment to other shareholders.

This could be considered quite a successful investment, right?

While thinking that, Yu Chae-hwa’s drawling voice was heard.

“So.. what’s the other reason you came here?”

“As expected, you knew.”

“There’s no way you’d come just to say something like this. You have my personal contact, so why come in person instead of calling?”

“So you think I came for another reason?”

Despite her voice full of laziness, she threw quite a sharp question.

It seemed to show that she didn’t get the chairwoman position for nothing, though it might also be because she knows me well.

“Huh, how about that? This noona’s deduction?”

“Oh.. it’s correct, but it’s really off-putting when you say it while sprawled on the sofa like that.”

Yu Chae-hwa soon sat back on the sofa as if annoyed, and looked at me with an expression that seemed to say ‘is this better?’.

I smiled brightly at that sight.

And matching her personality, I immediately got to the main point.

“I came to see how the thing I asked for before was going.”

“Ah, you mean finding that person?”

Yu Chae-hwa sipped her tea while listening to me.

Soon, she put down her tea and made an apologetic expression.

“Sorry, it looks like finding that person will take a bit longer.”

“Is that so?”

I had previously asked her to find a certain person.

The target was the Alchemist.

She was the only person in the story who could gather the Vestiges of Mystery I was collecting and recreate them into the Elixir.

To be more precise about her identity, she was a half-youkai (半妖), the only one with mixed blood of ‘Mystery’ and ‘Human’.

Since only she held the possibility of creating the Elixir, I wanted to find her in advance and keep her safe in case any variables might occur.

‘Ah, come to think of it, she wasn’t the only half-youkai, was she?’

Just around me…

“You’re surprisingly calm?”

“I didn’t think you’d be able to find her so easily.”

I took a sip of the tea placed in front of me and opened my mouth.

“-If you couldn’t find her, it can’t be helped. Honestly, it was more of a ‘it’d be nice if you found her, but no big deal if not’ kind of thing.”

Her location was unknown even in the original story.

It was only known that she was hiding somewhere in the world.

With no hints at all, it was natural that she couldn’t be found.

“Still, a request is a request, so I’ll try to find her until the end. I’ve gotten stubborn about it now.”

“Then I’ll leave it to you.”

“Ah, and while we’re on the topic, I’ll report on something else too, about the Vestige of Mystery you asked me to find in Japan last time.”

“Ah, that.”

It might be too much to call it a bonus, but I had additionally asked her to track the last Vestige of Mystery I was looking for.

‘It was bothersome to search since it was overseas, and I only knew that the Vestige of Mystery was somewhere in Japan.’

I asked her with a half-expectant heart.

“You couldn’t find that either?”

But she immediately shook her head.

“I did find it. As you said, I sent people with strong mental power. But..”

“Seems like they failed.”

“Yeah..”

The Vestige of Mystery that goes into the Elixir, which currently exists in Japan, is in a situation where entry is blocked by a barrier.

It’s not physically blocked, but because of an ability that causes strong hallucinations, it’s not easy to approach.

It was bothersome for me to go, so I used people instead.. but I guess it can’t be helped.

“If we form a team again and try to enter…”

“It’s fine. Just knowing the location is enough. I’ll go there myself next time.”

Putting the thought that I should go to Japan sometime in my head, I stood up from my seat.

“I should get going now.”

“What, already?”

“I have a lot to do.”

I’ve heard all the recent updates, and achieved my original purpose, so it’s about time to leave.

I soon gathered my things and headed towards the door.

Just before going out the door, I turned my head and smiled at her.

“Let’s have a meal together sometime when you’re free, noona.”

“..Alright, got it.”

With a Korean-style meal promise with Yu Chae-hwa, I left the Raon company building.

A few weeks later.

Chise nervously gripped the phone and called someone.

“Ah, hello!”

-Noona!!

-Unni!!

The recipients of the call were none other than her younger siblings, Ren and Yui.

Their voices, sounding so lively that it was hard to believe they had an incurable disease, rang in her ears.

“Have you been well?”

She talked with her siblings after a long time.

How their bodies were, if the hospital food was tasty, how their day was, what she had been doing.

A smile naturally formed on her face at the sound of their bickering voices and cute complaints directed at her.

If conditions allowed, she wanted to hold onto the phone all night and talk.

“Yui, Ren. Isn’t it about time for you to sleep?”

-Eeh.. I don’t want to.

-I want to talk more with unni!

But that wasn’t possible.

Even if the siblings didn’t have pain, they were still patients, so health management was essential.

“If you keep this up, should I ask the nurse unnies to feed you bell peppers?”

-Gasp! Unni, that’s unfair!

-Gasp! Noona, you’re mean!

As she was about to finish the call while laughing, that’s when it happened.

-..Unni.

“Hm? What is it, Yui?”

-When are you coming back? Yui misses unni.

-Ren misses noona too!

At Yui and Ren’s words, Chise couldn’t continue speaking for a moment.

‘When am I coming back, they ask.’

As long as she needed money, she had no choice but to stay.

But…

“..Soon. I’ll be able to come back soon.”

-R-really?!

-You’re not lying like at Christmas, right?!

“Yes, really.”

This time, it’s really the last.

Chise thought it was time to end this hardship.

A treatment has been found, and she’s steadily saving money.

From now on, only happy things are left.

She thought they could live peacefully like other people.

Drip.

“Unni will definitely make our Yui and Ren healthy.”

Imagining her siblings becoming healthy, she curled up in an empty room without a single proper piece of furniture.

Chise smiled as if she had no complaints at all.