To Hell With Being a Hero!

“How?”

“I’m planning to lease parts of the buildings I own.”

“Ah,” Chi-Woo exclaimed.
He now got why Ru Amuh had suggested gathering people first.
Ru Amuh wanted to lease his building and have his tenants bear some of the land tax.
Then he would be able to maintain his authority over his land while lowering the amount he needed to personally earn.
After all, simply leasing one of the buildings would reduce the amount he had to pay from 27,000 to 24,000.

“But who and how many should we gather…” Chi-Woo murmured to himself and sighed.
“Trying to raise money and seek tenants—we’re going to be really busy in the beginning.”

“Yes, that’s my biggest worry too, sir.” Ru Amuh nodded.
“If I could, I would like to make official moves after securing some funds, but two months is not a lot of time.” They will have to get outside of the city to get such a large amount, but traveling outside would take a few days at the least.

“I feel like I will be able to stabilize the area with one more month of grace period, but…”

“Hey! Don’t worry about it too much! If worse comes to worst, I can always sell my house!” Ru Hiana said.

“No, I don’t want to do that no matter how desperate we are.
Recruits are going to keep coming in, and the value of my buildings will only keep increasing.”

While Chi-Woo listened to the two converse, he recalled what his brother told him.

[You probably don’t even know why I’m giving you this money.]

Chi-Woo didn’t know why his brother gave him the money then, but he thought he knew now.
His brother must have foreseen all of this and prepared him in advance—or else there was no reason his brother would’ve given him a nearly perfect amount.

“I think I can help you extend the time by at least a month,” Chi-Woo said.

“Sorry?”

“Give me a moment.
Hey, spit it out,” Chi-Woo told Steam Bun, and Steam Bun spat out a pouch.
Chi-Woo took out 27 gold coins with the number 1,000 engraved on each of them.
“With this, we have another month to settle things, right?”

’

Ru Amuh looked star-struck, while Ru Hiana’s eyes opened wide.

“S-Senior…where did you get the money…?”

“I received them,” Chi-Wo said and told them a revised story of what had happened.
In his version, he barged into the embassy and demanded the legend to compensate him for the injustices he alone faced under the new housing system.

“No, we can’t use that,” Ru Amuh refused immediately.
“I’m really grateful for your offer…but this is for you alone, Teacher.
I can’t take it.”

Having expected Ru Amuh’s response, Chi-Woo smiled.
Adam Grant had written in his book Give and Take that people could be categorized into three types in human interactions.
The ‘Giver’ wanted to give the maximum amount they could give regardless of the amount they received, the ‘Taker’ wanted to receive more than they gave, and the ‘Matcher’ returned as much as they received.
If Chi-Woo was a Matcher, Ru Amuh was a Giver.
Thus, as a Giver, Ru Amuh was extremely burdened by Chi-Woo’s offer and felt the need to reciprocate manifolds.
People like Ru Amuh tended to not return exactly as much as they received even when interacting with a Matcher, because they had the firm belief that they would be reciprocated with more than they gave; in a way, a lot of the decisions they made were investments for the future.

“Mr.
Ru Amuh,” Chi-Woo said leisurely while leaning against the chair and repeating the exact lines that had been told to him.
“One must look out for themselves.
It’s the same when receiving help.
You must take it when you have the opportunity to do so.”

“…”

“It’s also your responsibility to take opportunities when offered.
It won’t just come to you without you doing anything.”

‘Oh—’ Evelyn clapped at Chi-Woo’s seemingly cool lines.
Hawa also seemed surprised that Chi-Woo was finally making sense.
But of course, Philip and Mimi snickered knowing who Chi-Woo was imitating.

—Kuh! This is nuts.
Are you seriously going at it again? You know it only seems cool if the right people say it?

[How cute.]

And while Chi-Woo told the two to shut up inside his mind, Ru Amuh still appeared conflicted.
Thus, Chi-Woo continued imitating his brother.
“…Ehem.
In a way, you can think of me lending you this money as an assignment I’m giving you, Mr.
Ru Amuh.”

“Yes, Ruahu.
Even Senior says so.
Stop being so stubborn.
You can just repay him,” Ru Hiana also added.
And after the people around him pressed him a couple of times more, Ru Amuh finally surrendered.
It was hard for him to refuse such a good offer to buy himself more time.

“…I promise to return your offer with interest,” Ru Amuh said.

Chi-Woo handed him the 27,000 royals, secretly wondering how much Ru Amuh would give him with hope.

“Is there anything else I can help you with?” Chi-Woo then asked.
Ru Amuh’s face became red.
It seemed he was embarrassed to say anything after receiving such a large sum of money already.

“Are you really going to stop here?” Chi-Woo talked in a firm, indifferent tone like a certain someone he knew.
“If you brought me all the way here, shouldn’t you have at least thought of the ways you could ask for my help?” Noting the way Ru Amuh held himself back in hesitation, Chi-Woo channeled his brother once more.
“For me, effort and time are special resources, especially considering my position.”

Those were the pivotal words.
Ru Amuh thought it was just as Chi-Woo said: time was like gold.
The course of the future would be decided by who moved first and faster.
Above all, Ru Amuh was already indebted to Chi-Woo for saving his life; it was something he would need to spend the rest of his life repaying.
Thus, it was probably fine for him to become a bit more…indebted? Ru Amuh mused and spoke, “Teacher, then please…”

’

* * *

Chi-Woo went outside alone and walked.

‘…Did I go too far?’ He had told Ru Amuh to tell him anything he needed help with and really did receive quite a big task.
After looking through the list Ru Amuh gave him, Chi-Woo soon sent a message to one person.
He got a response immediately and promised to meet in front of the square’s fountain.

“I was thinking about going to see you again.
It’s nice that you called me first,” Zelit said while sitting next to Chi-Woo.
“It seems we both have things to say to each other.
Why don’t you go first?”

Chi-Woo got straight to the point.
“You said you were staying at an inn and sharing a room with seven others, right sir?”

“Hm, yes.”

“It must be very crowded.”

“Yes, it’s only expected.”

“Have you ever thought of staying in a more pleasant environment and improving your standard of living?”

“…Wait a moment,” Zelit raised his hand and asked, “By a ‘more pleasant environment’, are you perhaps talking about Ru Amuh’s zone?”

“…Were you already aware of that, sir?”

Instead of answering Chi-Woo’s question, Zelit said, “Then let me ask another question.
Did you decide to join hands with Ru Amuh?”

Chi-Woo admitted it with some hesitation.

“Hahahaha!” Zelit burst into laughter.
It was loud, unlike his usual calm self, and after the uncharacteristic display, Zelit spoke while smirking.
“Ru Amuh…oh my.
Should I call him smart or cunning? Regardless, I suppose this means he’s planning to do things properly.” Zelit looked at Chi-Woo curiously and said, “The big shot of the seventh recruits has joined hands with the only hero to reach gold rank.
Ha.”

“?”

“It’s going to be fun seeing how things play out.”

Chi-Woo blinked in bewilderment.