Seoul Dragon - Chapter 56

How did it end up like this?

Sia glanced at Seohyun, who had placed her on her lap and was squishing her cheeks.

This was the result of Sia's unconscious action when faced with Seohyun, who looked slightly unstable.

"Uncomfortable?"

Seohyun, who had started speaking informally to her, smiled at Sia with a slightly more relaxed expression than before.

"No, I'm actually used to it from having it done to me so often... but, what are you planning to discuss with the Governor?"

"You mentioned before that when the World Tree is fully grown, you'd create a village for mutants, right?"

"Yes."

"I was thinking it might be good to expand the scale a bit~"

Sia tilted her head at Seohyun's words.

She was curious why Seohyun suddenly brought this up.

"Why the scale?"

"The reason this incident happened in the first place was because of discrimination against mutants in the U.S., right?"

"...That's right."

"But from what I can see, the conflict between mutants and ordinary people in the U.S. seems to have reached a point of no return."

"You're right. It's irreversible now."

Sia recalled when she first arrived in the United States.

Korea wasn't a suitable environment for growing the World Tree. To begin with, it was a country that didn't have trees appropriate for the World Tree.

So she had no choice but to leave her homeland where she had lived her entire life, and when she first arrived in this distant foreign land... she couldn't help but feel considerable hostility.

Even that was only because her appearance was no joke; if she had been a mutant with even slightly unattractive features, she would have been exposed to all kinds of discrimination and hostility.

Subsequently, when asked by the California Governor who had contacted her why she had come all this way, she revealed her vision and abilities, and that's how she got to where she is now.

If she hadn't had her abilities and vision for the World Tree, the California Governor probably wouldn't have advocated for her either.

She might have had a rather tough time. That's what she thought.

The United States, a country where all kinds of multiculturalism mix, but within it, discrimination and hostility were boiling, and Sia had been continuously pondering what she should do in the midst of that hostility.

That's how she came up with the idea of a village for mutants.

And now, Seohyun brought up that topic.

"So... originally, you were thinking of some level of exchange with the outside, right?"

"Yes. We need at least enough money for the village to function."

"What if it was completely cut off from the outside?"

"Cut off? Wouldn't everyone starve to death?"

"That's why you need to make a deal with the Governor. All the money the U.S. is spending on headaches caused by mutants and maintaining public security, just direct it all towards the village you're going to create, and in return, mutants won't cause problems outside."

"...Well, I would feel more comfortable with that approach, but would the U.S. agree to it? They'd probably prefer the status quo."

"I'm going to try to put some pressure on them. The way I wiped out the Liches and Dullahans today, it was captured on drones, right?"

"Uh, probably...? Since San Diego is a place with all kinds of U.S. military facilities, drones would naturally be deployed for battles of such a large scale."

"Let's show them that. And then make the deal. I'll solve the problems caused by mutants. So divert the budget allocated for resolving mutant-related issues to the mutant village. For all I know, that budget must be astronomical."

Sia tilted her head at Seohyun's opinion.

No matter how she thought about it, she couldn't imagine that the high-ranking humans in the United States would agree to it.

Above all, a group that cannot be self-sufficient becomes a bigger problem later.

Human greed is endless, and the same goes for mutants.

"Then how do we generate income? There would be many challenges in managing mutants with just that budget. Even with an astronomical budget allocation, there are limits. Mutants ultimately live with desires similar to humans, and to fulfill those desires, the village alone has limitations."

"You mentioned it before, right? The World Tree premium. Not just the World Tree premium, but also specialties produced by other mutants. For instance, tools produced by Dwarf-type mutants. Encourage production activities using the specific characteristics of each race. And mutants skilled in combat can be used as security personnel for the production-centered mutants."

"And then operate by distributing such things to the whole world? And mutants who need to go outside would go through a very strict procedure before being allowed out."

"That's right."

"...Not bad."

Sia thought Seohyun's opinion was quite good. It wasn't perfect, and who knows what problems might arise later... but at least it was a way to minimize mutants going wild against ordinary people.

What if mutants fight among themselves within the village?

That wasn't really their concern. Let them do whatever they want to each other.

As long as they don't destroy the facilities and resolve their issues among themselves, it's fine.

For matters that could lead to murder, mediation would naturally be involved, but there was no intention to suppress minor disputes beyond that.

Instead, it would be a headache to apply various rules... but this would need to be discussed with California.

Sia had grasped the general flow. However, this flow would ultimately depend on whether the California Governor follows Seohyun's will or not.

Still... if the Governor is quick to calculate profits and losses, he might follow Seohyun's opinion.

If it's a village that accommodates all mutants across the U.S., they could request quite a large scale of financial support from the federal government.

For subsidies for mutant policies... the federal government is likely to roll up both sleeves and take action.

After all, a huge headache in the U.S. right now was the crime caused by mutant discrimination.

There was a hope that the conversation would proceed according to Seohyun's wishes, as well as her own.

The negotiations with the state government proceeded quite smoothly. The California Governor respected the intentions of Sia and Seohyun, and agreed to provide maximum support for the village of mutants they proposed, commonly referred to as the Paradise Plan.

"Then, we'll proceed in that direction. Thank you for your cooperation, Governor."

"Haha. I'm doing this because I have my own interests too. No need to be so formal."

The reason the Governor so easily accepted their deal was due to the various benefits that would arise from it.

He was already well aware of how Seo Jin-ha's existence was creating a storm in the fashion industry.

Mutants were no different from walking gold mines.

The world may despise them, but it is fascinated by their uniqueness.

Tools made by dwarves? Knives?

Their value as decorative items would be enormous.

The premium for those would be no joke.

Tea brewed with World Tree leaves? Need I say more?

Tea ceremony practitioners from all over the world might visit California.

In other words, he had no intention of cutting open the belly of the goose that laid golden eggs.

Moreover, the budget needed to establish a mutant village could simply be extracted from the federal government under the name of mutant policy support and disaster recovery.

Even Seohyun had personally beaten those numerous monsters that had advanced to San Diego... as a governor, there was no reason not to respect their opinions.

Additionally, there would be a need to express gratitude in various ways to the Korean Mutant Crime Management Bureau, which had rushed to help at the request for support.

After all, if things had gone wrong, not just California but the entire United States might have been swept away.

The negotiation was successfully concluded. Just as I had envisioned.

Since gaining power, I had never failed to take the lead in such negotiations.

Well, part of it was that I presented conditions that the other side could understand.

They probably did some careful calculations.

Anyway... now that the matters here have been settled, I should get some rest.

It's not particularly physically tiring, but mentally exhausting.

The Vice Chief will be arriving soon, so when he does, I should do a bit of sightseeing in the U.S.

With Sia.

Speaking informally to her was a bit of an impulsive action.

I'd already started speaking informally to Harin, so I thought it wouldn't be a problem to do the same with Sia.

Fortunately, Sia seemed to understand.

Perhaps I was emotionally a bit unstable at that time.

Honestly, I was very angry, and equally sad.

I am fundamentally an idealist.

An idealist who thinks everyone in the world should live happily together.

An ideal that is realistically impossible.

So, the more I experienced these kinds of situations, the sadder I became.

I didn't want people to fight each other, harbor resentment, create conflicts, and as a result, have such terrible disasters occur.

One might say, "Who are you to say that?" but what's wrong with discussing ideals?

I was just an ordinary Korean literature student, and the poems and novels learned in Korean literature typically calmly unfold the author's ideals.

I couldn't help but be influenced by that.

Sia, noticing my state, voluntarily sat on my lap and offered her cheek.

...No matter how I look at it, she seems to instinctively know and act on how to make people take a friendly attitude towards her.

When you think of High Elves, you usually imagine a lofty or noble image, but she gives the impression of approaching everyone with a familiar image?

She had also mentioned that she does this because she thinks it's the way for the World Tree.

There's no point in building up strange pride; it's just a survival strategy since it would only put the World Tree at risk.

Squish, squish.

And even now, after the negotiation has ended, I was still squishing her cheeks.

It definitely makes perfect sense.