The Awakened were testing the System by attacking all the Na Seon-Hus in Korea even though they knew their quest target was in Japan. The reason why they were aiming at my father was not because they had actually identified who I was, but simply because he was the father of one of the Na Seon-Hus that existed. They… or the person was powerful enough to control the Korean government, and it was rare to find someone like that.
<Seon-Hu: How many other people have the same name as me?>
<Jamie: Nine, and five of them went missing. I have placed guards for the remaining three.>
Jamie was good at working. However, the person who was after me would have figured out my relationship with the Jeon-il Group based on how the firm protected my dad and placed security personnel on the remaining three. He or she wouldn’t have noticed that I was the actual owner, but the person would have realized that my father had great power.
<Seon-Hu: Keep track of all suspicious people. I’m heading back to Seoul now.>
<Jamie: But!>
<Seon-Hu: Can you do that or not?>
<Jamie: I can.>
<Seon-Hu: Good. Let’s see how well our security team does.>
***
(Perspective has changed to the third person.)
The 2003 Bilderberg Club Conference was held at the Trianon Palace Hotel in France. The atmosphere was terrible because the European, British and American members all had different opinions about the Iraq War. The British and European members aggressively opposed the Iraq War at the 2002 conference, but the Americans started the war anyway. They had clearly neglected the order that Bilderberg had maintained.
People raised their voices. When hostility and tension reached their peak, the chairman announced the end of the first meeting and promised the second meeting the next day.
“You knew the American members would break their promise last year, right?” Cassandra asked Gillian.
He replied, “Ah, you’re talking about that again? Our group has been focusing on the oil market since the dotcom bubble burst. It’s a different story from the club’s resolution.”
“You could’ve told me.” Cassandra’s reply was barbed. The Club had come to an agreement not to attack Iraq and to lower the price of crude oil futures. Therefore, Cassandra had cleared out of her oil positions last year, but the Jonathan and Gillian Group had taken them.
However, nowadays the price of oil was soaring every day as the American members had violated the pledge.
Cassandra remarked, “Sometimes, you seem to forget that you are British. You must be not familiar with this atmosphere since it’s your second time here. This kind of tension doesn’t resolve quickly. I’m just saying that it’s time to strengthen the unity between British members.”
“Let’s keep our private and public lives separate. Our group will never hand over the position to you.”
Gillian smiled and sat on the bench. He watched people picking up the cigarette butts that had been thrown away by club members, and he remembered last year’s conference. When he had heard that the people in charge of the hotel’s dirty work were actually agents of the CIA and Mossad, he felt odd… The world’s elite agents were cleaning and undertaking errands this year again as always.
Then, Cassandra followed Gillian, but he didn’t like having her attention on him. It would have been nice if she bothered other members, but she only clung onto him. It was understandable because she had been kicked out of the Cartel Oil Group last year. However, not only her but most of the members of the Cartel Group were also kicked out as they had acted based on the belief that the Americans would keep their promise. Hence, the only three groups currently remaining in Cartel were Gillian, Rothschild and…
It must be Jonathan Group again.
“Was Jonathan Hunter not invited again? I didn’t see him,” Gillian said while looking around.
“They are… umm… troublemakers,” Cassandra replied awkwardly.
There was something off about what she said, and Gillian questioned, noticing this, “Did you find out who John Doe is?”
Cassandra smiled insidiously.
“Nevermind. I’ll figure it out from others.”
“He is Korean. You still didn’t know?” She giggled.
Korean…?
Gillian felt like the frustration in his heart had finally subsided. The Jonathan Group was a force that should have been a member of the Bilderberg Club. Moreover, their power was so tremendous that they could be placed in the center as they had merged medium-sized banks while the U.S. government was busy. However, there was a reason why they weren’t invited.
“Thank God they aren’t Chinese. It would have been a complete disgrace,” she said disdainfully.
Gillian flinched inwardly because he had been suspecting that his group’s capital was Chinese for a long time.
“Wait, which Korean? I don’t know anyone who could do that in Korea.”
Cassandra turned her head towards the hotel entrance where the Secretary of the U.S. Treasury was conversing with the general commander of NATO[1].
“Tomorrow’s agenda would have been about that if things didn’t go like this,” she said. Gillian replied while sneering at her, “It’s not a matter to be addressed as an itinerary at the conference. They should have invited them.”
The Jonathan Group didn’t need the Bilderberg Club, but the Bilderberg Club needed them.
“Gillian, you must be hospitable to them.” She stared at him.
“You sound very sarcastic.”
Gillian grimaced slightly. Although he had entered heaven, he had not been incorporated into the mainstream yet. The mainstream was formed by distinguished families like Cassandra’s or the Karjan.
“You can’t keep it a secret forever, Gillian. You know that we won’t be able to protect you when the time comes, right?”
She was pressuring Gillian to reveal the group’s actual owner, and she was suggesting that she would try giving him more authority in the club if he transferred the oil positions to her.
But why?
Gillian had already been fully prepared for this last year. However, when attacks were pouring toward his group, the new head of the Karjans, Joshua von Karjan who was a European member, ended up supporting him, which was contrary to his expectations. Most of the things that had occurred were hard to understand. Gillian knew that his group was technically attacking the Karjans when they attacked the mark currency, but Joshua had been strangely kind to Gillian during his stay at the hotel.
Just in time, the former head of the Karjans, who had attended on behalf of Joshua this year, approached Gillian and Cassandra. They both got up at the same time.
“Cassandra, you don’t seem to age at all. Every single muscle in your face is very active,” the former head said.
Cassandra laughed and waved her hand.
“No, I didn’t say that to make you laugh,” he said.
“How should I react to your compliment? Hoho.”
“Don’t bring outside work into the club. I’m aware of how others look at you even though they pretend they are friendly. I’m already busy dealing with the American members, so I hope you don’t bother me.”
The former head left after leaving that parting statement. Cassandra glared at his back and stood up.
She asked, “Well, I have no choice. Let’s talk about the rest after the conference. Will you invite me over?”
“Wait, are you sure John Doe of the Jonathan Group is Korean?” Gillian stopped her.
“According to the American members, yes.”
“That’s it? They only know about his nationality?”
“You are not the only one who believes that the club should invite the Jonathan Group. We all used to think that way.”
She spoke in the past tense, and Gillian got a rough idea of the situation. During a previous conference, the members must have clamored to invite the Jonathan Group, but the American members had ended up dissuading them.
“You know the conference agenda for tomorrow, right?” she questioned.
It was about imposing direct taxes on crude oil from oil wells. The general public didn’t grasp what that actually meant, but the truth was quite simple. They wanted to expand the club’s authority worldwide and enable them to collect taxes directly from people.
Cassandra turned away after finding out personally that Gillian would vote yes. She looked around and took out her phone. However, the news from the person wasn’t what she had been waiting for.
***
<I’m sorry.>
<Cassandra: Why?>
<It’s blocked. We tried bypassing to track Jeon-il’s capital, but I don’t think it will work at all.>
<Cassandra: It’s that bad?>
<If we proceed further, this could become a diplomatic issue. Please reconsider.>
Cassandra had heard there was a speculative force that had infiltrated deep into Korea, but it was basically domination, not infiltration. The Korean government was now in a precarious state as they were easily swayed by an unknown speculative force that was much weaker than her family.
This is ridiculous.
Korea was a small peninsula, but it had developed into the Eastern economic powerhouse. However, they had been faltered by a single speculative force. She now realized why the assassination quest had been set as an S-class. She thought the quest deserved an S-class if she had to go against a whole country as she needed to take plenty of time and prepare from scratch.
<Cassandra: What about the remaining factors[2]?>
<It looks like people from Jeon-il are protecting them, so we are keeping an eye on them.>
Cassandra snorted. Targeting people named Na Seon-Hu was only to test the System, and she had no other purpose beyond that. She had noticed the dot that stayed in Osaka for days was the real Na Seon-Hu and that he was also the son of Jeon-il’s director. Jeon-il Bank was protecting the director, and he was protecting his son. She knew the name ‘Jeon-il’ was common in Korea, but under this circumstance, it didn’t seem coincidental that the group’s and the director’s names were the same. In many ways, it was quite an interesting quest. She reached her hand into her pocket.
[You have used the Location Seeker.]
A map window appeared in the direction of her gaze.
Huh?
The location of Na Seon-Hu, which had been the same until yesterday, was now in Seoul. His dot was moving fast as if he was driving.
He must have heard the news from his father. But, too bad. You’re shackled now.
<Cassandra: The important factor has moved to Seoul. Don’t touch and instead just watch him. His location is…>
When she called Seon-Hu’s location on the map, the agent became silent.
<There must have been a mistake. We are at that location right now…>
Things became rowdy over the phone. Objects were broken, and a desperate scream almost pierced Cassandra’s eardrum. She frowned but put her phone closer to her ear. Then, a man’s cold voice filled the phone.
<You are cheating.>
Stupid bastards. They were being followed.
<Don’t you think so, Melissa?>
Cassandra’s eyes opened wide. Melissa was her real name and only her family knew this.
1. North Atlantic Treaty Organization, it guarantees and protects the freedom and security of its members by political and military means. ☜
2. Cassandra and her agents call Na Seon-Hus ‘factor.’ ☜