It was that expression. A warm expression alongside his rough hands, which pressed onto the sweet bread—the same bread she ate right by his side. Edel, who met Black Mamba’s gaze, smiled. The bright smile from her two eyes slowly spread across her face. He stared at Edel’s face, feeling lost.
“Wakil, it’s embarrassing for me to receive things all the time.”
Sun WooHyun’s greeting catapulted Black Mamba’s senses to reality, and he immediately thwarted his gaze.
“Ah, the coffee scent is rather thick today. Who made it?” Black Mamba told a white lie in embarrassment.
That witless b*stard, I’m going to roll him into dust one day.
Ombuti planted his fierce eyes onto Sun WooHyun’s face. He’d barely managed to chase Emil away, but another witless b*stard was ruining the mood at critical moments.
“I’ve nothing but my body to give, due to my poor fate.”
Sun WooHyun was still setting up a shield. Being the salty person that he was, he emphasized that he had nothing to give in return.
“It wasn’t that expensive. I hope you like it.”
“Of course I do. Black, thank you. I’ll keep this for the rest of my life,” Sun WooHyun replied.
Edel hid her slightly excited face behind the wallet.
“It’s nothing much, don’t embarrass me by acting so grateful.”
The macarons that Black Mamba had bought on impulse came into view. Edel had been the one to remind him of his mother, so she was the rightful owner of the macarons.
“Edel, this is a gift.”
He awkwardly handed the box of macarons to Edel.
Edel’s eyes, upon receiving the box, slowly grew bigger.
“Macarons!”
A word, with so many meanings behind it, escaped her like a sigh. Black Mamba was sensitive to humans’ emotions and brain waves.
“Edel, is there a problem?”
“No, no. Black, this is the best gift I’ve ever received.”
Edel brought the box close to her chest, as though someone would steal it away from her. Tears were brimming in her eyes.
Seems like there’s a story.
Black Mamba looked at Ombuti. Ombuti shook his head.
“Let’s share that.”
“No!”
Edel slapped Sun WooHyun’s hand away and ran into her bedroom.
“My…what feisty hands. Why’s Miss Edel acting like that?”
Black Mamba continued to make an awkward expression. Ombuti’s face crumpled.
“That b*stard’s just like Emil! That’s why he has no woman.”
Angered, Ombuti looked as though he’d pull out a gun at any moment.
Edel, who’d run into her room, carefully took off the wrapper. When she opened the box, the rows of neatly placed macarons greeted her. There was a chocolate engraving of “Bon Courage![1]” on them.
“Dad!”
Tears fell in droplets. She had also loved sweet biscuits, like most teenage girls. She had loved macarons the most, amongst them.
Her mother had protested her eating sweet things as it was unhealthy, but often, her father would secretly buy macarons after returning from an overseas business trip. She would share them with her father in the attic, hiding from her mother. The sweetness that had spread across her mouth had been heaven.
Rudrey, this is an absolute secret from your mother.
I’ll keep the secret, so give me one more.
You little evil thing, here, I hope you choke on it.
Her father used to shove a macaron too big for her into her small mouth and tapped her jaw shut.
Her father, who she had respected the most in the world, and the macarons that she had shared with her father in secret was complete happiness. It had been the greatest, most joyful break in the world.
Her father, the attic, and the macarons. The tears which had been accumulating in her chest poured out continuously.
“Father, he gave me macarons. Father, you’ve given me macarons through him. I’m scared I’ll burden him. He’s 1,000 times stronger than you, father, but he doesn’t like blood. I’m so scared he’ll leave if I tell him your story. Father, he’s so precious to me. Father, your revenge! My evil uncle, what should I…”
Black Mamba’s face hardened. He had spread out his senses because he was worried about Edel, who was acting differently from the norm. Edel’s self-confession had been embedded clearly into his ears.
Damn it. It’s always like this! It’s my fate, isn’t it?
Black Mamba stood up instantly and opened the bedroom door.
Edel raised her face.
“Black!”
Surprised, she stopped crying immediately. With a man in her room, who hid the room’s light and stood like a metal tower, the atmosphere became tense.
Edel read an unknown emotion from him for the first time. In a hurry, she wiped away her tears. She was grateful not to have worn mascara.
Black Mamba approached. Edel’s heart shriveled to the size of a pea.
Is he mad because I cried too loud? What if he tells me to go back to Africa immediately?
“Edel, I want to hear your father’s story in detail.”
“What do you…”
Edel was surprised. How did Black know about her father?
“I’m Black Mamba.”
The strong voice rang like a crash. Her beating heart instantly calmed down.
“Black, I did think of entrusting you with my father’s revenge after seeing your strength. After all, I need to regain my inheritance. However, you’re more important to me. How can I stay by your side if I ask you to take revenge for me, knowing that you hate the sight of blood?”
“Are you saying that you’ll forget about taking revenge because you lack power?”
“Yes. I can’t share your burdens, so how can I add more onto your shoulders?”
“Edel, I’m going to decide.”
Edel stared up at the man who was a firm as a rock. She recalled the memory of him treating the children with his injured body. No one could stop him if he decided to do something.
“Sit. There’s enough space.”
Pat, pat—
Edel patted her bed with her palm. Black Mamba sat on the bed. The bed didn’t even move.
“You just have to hear me out. I’ve been burning myself with this for seven years. There’s a sarira on my chest.”
“Hm, I didn’t know women formed sarira on their chests. The story’s going to be long, isn’t it? Ombuti!”
Ombuti’s wrinkled face turned wrinklier when he saw the two of them sitting together on the bed.
“Coffee! Ombuti, you sit down too.”
“Yes, sir!”
Ombuti’s answer was overflowing with strength, ignorant of the situation.
Edel’s story took two hours to tell, and it still didn’t end. The story, which had started off in calm tones, had progressed into one with tears and emotional outbursts. It was one of the characteristics of a strong, young woman full of emotions.
Black Mamba cursed himself for deciding to listen to her story. His weakest point was foreign languages. He grew confused from the mashed pronunciations and butchered words. Ombuti, who’d been catching glimpses of his master, intervened in Edel’s story.
“Miss Edel, let me summarize. Your father, Colton Wayneright Edel, had finished his long military service and organized the family’s inheritance to start a cotton plantation in Doba, near Pende lake. He had supplied the locals with medical aid and education businesses using the profits he had earned from the farm, am I right?”
“Yes. I heard he had used all the profits he had gained from the farm. Father had always traveled throughout northern Chad, aside from the cotton gathering seasons. Sometimes, he even went to Batha or Ennedi. Father had considered the cotton farm a cash cow, a way to increase rescue activities.”
“Ooh, he is a respectable man. When your father bought the land, a portion of your uncle’s inheritance was involved. Your uncle had many complaints regarding Mr. Colton’s actions. The farm was attacked several times by armed suspected militant men while Mr. Colton was out on his check-up rounds. Your uncle had created a defense group by arming the workers of the farm. He then alerted your father of the attacks. Your father, upon his return, was killed on a cross by the armed militant men. Your uncle was overseas when that had occurred, am I right?”
“Yes. All of them were wage workers who were treated by my father. They had called my father, charitable pere[2]. They had attacked with a woodcutter and an ax! I recall that scene every time I close my eyes. It tortures me.”
“I respect you. You’ve grown so well despite the horrible memories of your childhood. It seems to be Monsieur Edel’s protection. I’m sorry your father was executed. Your father had returned the next day after the incident. Miss Edel was hiding in the cotton fields at the time and had overheard your uncle’s words. So, your uncle Nick had organized the attacks on the farm to steal your father’s inheritance. He had bribed the workers and killed your father. Your father’s crimes were communicating with the FAP and acting as a spy by giving them information. Even the governor of Logone Oriental acknowledged your father’s status. The farm was given to your uncle, is that right?”
“Yes. The group that attacked the farm should have attacked under my uncle’s orders. There hasn’t been a single attack since my uncle became the owner.”
“Then, why did your uncle let you live, Miss Edel? There wouldn’t be an inheritance problem if Miss Edel disappears, too.”
“My uncle is trying to marry me off to Andrew.”
“Who is Andrew?”
“He is my cousin, my uncle’s son.”
Ombuti immediately understood the entire situation.
“He’s trying to take Miss Edel’s share of the farm as her dowry, without even paying the capital gains tax. Perhaps, Nick already took it.”
Are all Tuareg nobles born smart?
Black Mamba was impressed by Ombuti’s ability amid his anger. Ombuti had summarized Edel’s two-hour story within five minutes. He could be well off working as a lawyer.
“Edel, how big is the farm anyway? That Nick b*stard willingly killed his own brother just for that?” Black Mamba, who had been listening in silence, asked.
“It should be 7,500 acres, 30 square kilometers in meters.”
Black Mamba’s head was incapable of understanding the British metric system. It was the same for kilometers of an area. It wasn’t a unit that was used in Korea, where there were more people than land. He had to calculate it by pyung to understand.
“9…9,000,000 pyung!” Black Mamba shouted in surprise.
9,000,000 pyung! The land his father had gained by working himself to death for 10 years had been 2,000 pyung. 9,000,000 pyung meant his father had to work for 45,000 years. Imagining his father wielding his sow since the stone age made him laugh.
“Amazing. There are big farms in the southern regions, but there won’t be much on such a grand scale.”
“My father had used all of my grandfather’s inheritance too. It should be the biggest farm in Logone Oriental province.”
“Still, materialistic goods shouldn’t be more important than a human’s life. Edel, I hate people who backstabs the most, in this world. I’m going to take care of this matter. It isn’t for your revenge, Edel. I simply hate it when greedy, vile people live well. Are you planning to continue your father’s volunteer occupation when you inherit the farm?”
“Of course. There’s nothing better than money, but there’s nothing more foul smelling than money which is piled. I’m sensitive to smell as I’ve inherited my father’s blood. I can’t stand the rotten smell that comes from stagnant money.”
Relaxed, Edel began to joke around.
“I need to return to my hometown soon. I’ll trust your words, Edel. However, there’s a difference between believing and the truth. I’m going to send the lackey to investigate. I’ve invested in him, so I need to use him.”
Edel had a mountain of words to say. The full cotton blossoms which had bloomed as though a cloud had settled on earth, the story of how she had broken a white ants’ hill with other children who had their belly buttons left out, the huge butts of the half-naked women who shone in sweat, the kind children who had clung on to those women’s butt, how she had come to hate Africa when she had suffered from a high fever by too many mosquito bites—endless stories swam around in her mouth.
“Black, I won’t thank you. You said there is no need for thanks between families. However, I’ll say that I love you instead.”
“Right. Wait, what?” Black Mamba replied, then glared at Ombuti. He was certain that that sneaky servant had coached her to say so.
“Lackey, you have work to do. How is your condition?”
“I can’t even move. This isn’t the figure of a human. Are you trying to bite my skin off?”
Sun WooHyun, who’d been skinny originally, had grown slightly fatter during his stay in the hospital as he frequently ate greasy foods and rested well. He was on the verge of getting rid of his scary form when he became a zombie, no, a skeleton within the week, once more.
His ribs could be seen profoundly underneath his under armor shirt. Currently, Sun WooHyun was just skin plastered between bones. Now, his hopes of dating women were dashed. He began to rebel a little in disappointment.
“Don’t worry. According to the exams, his overall physicals have improved.”
Edel waved her hand at Sun WooHyun to indicate that it wasn’t a problem. The zombie’s expression crumpled, but no one cared. Black Mamba smiled. He liked Sun WooHyun’s confidence, which remained still after all that he had gone through.
“The appearance isn’t important. Humans gain their strength from the lever principle of their bones and muscles. As you know, your power is the result of your weight and speed squared. If you increase your weight, your speed decreases. To increase your speed, you need to decrease the weight of your muscles and bones and strengthen its quality. This is what the combined repetitive expelling theory aims to do. Doesn’t your body feel lighter?”
“My sight got better, and my body feels light to the point that I can’t feel the weight.”
“The bodybuilder’s muscles are built by increasing muscle cells through the balloon method. To increase strength, you need to break down the muscle fibers and increase the absolute amount of muscles. The soul-returning pain administration increases cell activity and expels waste that blocks the cell’s division. This is a secret method of 1,000 years.”
That basically meant he had gained superpowers. Sun WooHyun’s face brightened. He exclaimed with a determined expression.
“Then hit me every day!”
[1] Hang in there!
[2] Father.