After greeting each other politely, it didn’t take long for the president to reveal the purpose of his ‘summons’ to Mr. and Mrs. White.
”Recently, I’ve been hearing a lot of talk about how the Black Tiger is suffering at the hands of the Gray Wolfe on the international stage, but I don’t really understand all the ins and outs of the matter. Could the two of you enlighten this old man?”
Naturally, neither of them believed his nonsense. Although recently he had been losing some ground, the political situation of the country still remained firmly in his control.
Could such a person remain unaware of major events that even the common folk knew?
Mrs. White smiled. “Mr. President must be joking. How can we be privy to details that can elude even your eyes? All we really know about the situation is that the two of them suddenly started competing fiercely. We’re just an unrelated third party.”
The aged man sighed. “Is that so? But I heard your business has been booming all over the world in the past few months. To be able to make such progress at this time while being unclear about the situation… I envy your ‘luck’.”
Mr. White seemed embarrassed, but his wife just nodded. “To be honest, we have always had a lot of trouble with the Black Tiger, so now that they’re distracted targeting someone else, it’s only natural for us to do much better compared to before.”
The president paused, seemingly considering her words.
Obviously, it was impossible for him to be unaware of the high-profile rivalry between the two top corporations in his country. After all, the few times things had gotten violent, for the police and military to not make a move required him to have instructed them not do so.
The reason Oriana country changed so much in the past few decades was precisely because he didn’t care about ‘small matters’, as long as the overall economy of the country kept improving.
Law and order were just tools that had to be used the right way at the right time, as far as he was concerned.
After a few moments of tense silence, the aged man nodded. “I understand. Everyone wants to grow stronger, and no one wants to be weaker than their opponents. This is true for the Black Tiger, and this is true for you as well. However… this country cannot do without either of you. Understand?”
Mrs. White narrowed her eyes, and her husband frowned. “What does this mean, Mr. President?”
The aged man smiled ‘kindly’. “You’re both smart people. I believe there is no need for me to beat around the bush. Regardless of what happened in the past, the Black Tiger’s roots still belong to this country. And as fellow citizens… should you not stand together in times of need?”
He didn’t give either of them time to interject, and pushed his chair back with a satisfied nod, clearly expressing his intent to ‘end’ their conversation. “If either of you were to fall below a certain point… I might have to seriously start looking into how the monopoly laws are enforced in this country.”
Regardless of their dissatisfied expressions, the president smiled. “This is for the greater good.”
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Although she had been quite anxious the night before, when Emilia really heard of the matter between her parents and the president, her heart remained surprisingly still.
The ‘way out’ that the president decided to give to the Black Tiger was to assign them along with the White Deer to several high-profile government projects.
After hearing the specific details of the situation from her older sister, Emilia couldn’t help but find it a little funny.
These ‘cooperations’ were obviously far from equal, with the responsibility distribution being almost ninety percent on the White Deer, while the Black Tiger reaped most of the profits.
No matter how well they did, the Black Tiger would be able to enjoy ten times the profit while leisurely sitting back and watching a good show.
It was like asking two kids to do chores together, but forcing only one of them to do everything, while giving most of the rewards to the other.
Had she not been sure that this ‘favor’ would soon be reversed, even Emilia would have felt somewhat suffocated from the injustice of it all. As it was, though, she could only find it amusing.
After all, the more the president favored the Black Tiger right now, the harder he would feel his face had been slapped when the corporation’s ‘treacherous deeds’ were exposed.
Emilia sighed. “It’s not completely unexpected, but still… to be able to ask us to help Black Tiger, who’s been trying to destroy us for so long… wouldn’t we look like idiots if we really agreed? No one else should know the situation would be reversed in the future, after all.”
Cynthia felt like her head was getting too big. ‘That’s what she’s concerned about?!’
Sam sighed. “I guess we’ve been playing passive for so long that they’re used to it, but don’t worry. Even if we look ‘easily bullied’ now, it’s only temporary.”
Emilia hummed. “So we still have to pretend, huh?”
The older girl also felt a little helpless. “Yeah. It won’t do to completely offend the government, so we still have to pretend to ‘help’ them. Although I doubt he’s stupid enough to hit the only other lifeline of the country when one is already in jeopardy.”
Emilia giggled. “Never underestimate how stupid people can be, big sis. Of course, I wonder if they’ll still remain so optimistic about the Black Tiger when they discover certain blueprints in the hands of the enemy country.”
Thinking about how much Amos had helped them this time, even Sam couldn’t help but feel a little ‘grateful’. After all, if not for him, how could they manage to get their hands on such ‘evidence’? Of course, no matter how much she ‘pitied’ her opponent for being stupid, it didn’t lower her disgust for him.
Emilia smiled. “You know what, big sis? I just had a great idea. I’ll have Noelle change the live broadcast to ‘highlight’ Amos and ‘help’ him improve his image… temporarily. It won’t be too suspicious if I ‘help’ him right now, right?”
After all, the government asked her parents. Of course, poor little Emilia couldn’t be blamed if something went wrong later.
Sam blinked, a little confused. “You don’t have to be wronged, baby! As our little princess, you can be unreasonable!”
Emilia giggled. “Don’t worry, big sister. You leave this matter to me. I promise, the one to be wronged… definitely won’t be me. You just relax and come back soon, okay?”
Although still a little confused, Sam hummed in agreement. “Okay, I’ll definitely be there before your event. Take care of yourself till then. Bye bye, baby!”
As soon as Emilia was done with her older sister, she heard her partner scoff.
”Hmph. You can’t fool me. How can you feel grateful to the hero? Tell me the truth, ahh!”
The crimson-haired girl smiled. ‘Well… rubbing the opponent’s face into the ground might be fun from time to time, but it gets boring after a while, you know? Why not let him get up a little first? His reaction… should definitely be more fun this way.’
Cynthia sighed, feeling both proud and a little complicated. “I knew it. How could my villainess possibly do anything good?”
Emilia couldn’t help but roll her eyes in exasperation. ‘You just have to pick the worst way to say it, don’t you?’
The raven-haired girl coughed. “A-Anyway, he’s taking part in some quiz competition, right? I’m guessing you’ll frame him for ‘cheating’ or something?”
Emilia pretended to gasp in shock. ‘How could you think so lowly of me, Cynthia? When did I ever frame anyone?’
”… Don’t be too proud.”
The crimson-haired girl giggled. ‘Okay, well, but you’re still wrong. I don’t need to ‘frame’ him at all this time, you see. As always, he’s been digging his own grave. I just have to push him in.’
Cynthia blinked. “Wait, what do you know that I don’t? Can you stop being so mysterious?!”
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On Mr. Black’s side, the dark fog full of doom and gloom seemed to have been finally scattered by the morning sun, and Mr. Black’s almost permanently scrunched brows also finally smoothed out.
Naturally, the president hadn’t approached the White Deer’s leaders on his own, and he had already been ready with multiple agreements before the couple could even think through things properly.
Of course, they wouldn’t be stupid enough to sign up for things that wouldn’t benefit them in any way at all, just because of a vague threat. If they really did so, it would be the equivalent of putting their head in the bear’s jaw and trusting it not to bite.
At the same time, however, it was impossible to completely reject the cooperation without offending the government, so the couple decided to use a combination of diversionary and delay tactics.
Mr. Black didn’t think they would simply give in either, though, and their ‘concessions’ were already satisfactory enough, as far as he was concerned.
Although the Black Tiger was suffering quite a bit now, the situation was far from critical, unlike what he had made the president believe. Even if the White Deer delayed all that they could, these projects would eventually come to fruition sooner or later.
White Deer’s resources would be tied up, and the Black Tiger would continue growing on their own while also enjoying the fruits of their opponent’s labor.
In the end, the trend would be reversed, and the one to come out on top… would be his Black Tiger.
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