A day passed after seeing Minister Keita off.

When I heard that the buses carrying Myungsoo and the others would soon arrive at the border, I headed out to the checkpoint.

A little later, several buses came racing in from the distance, kicking up clouds of dust.

The buses that had crossed the checkpoint came to a stop, and Foreign Ministry staff boarded each one to begin verifying the headcount.

Not long after, I saw Myungsoo stepping off one of the buses.

“Myungsoo!”

Standing a little farther away, I waved and shouted toward him.

At the sound of my voice, Myungsoo turned toward me, broke into a bright smile, and walked over.

“You crazy bastard. How are you smiling right now?”

“Then what, should I cry? You crazy bastard.”

The way he started grumbling the moment we met was exactly the same as always.

Still, it seemed the mental strain had taken its toll, because Myungsoo's face looked noticeably worn.

“First, let’s head to Freetown, get something to eat, and rest. I heard your meeting with the President of Sierra Leone has already been arranged?”

The President of Sierra Leone wanted compensation for helping Korea this time, and that role had also been delegated to Myungsoo.

“Ha. I want to go straight back, but now there’s more work.”

Myungsoo let out a sigh and shook his head.

I patted his shoulder in consolation.

“You can ride in this. The others will come by bus.”

I jerked my chin toward the car I had come in, and Myungsoo nodded.

“Got it. Then let me go say goodbye to a few people first.”

“Hurry back.”

Myungsoo headed back toward the buses, exchanged farewells with someone, and then returned.

“Let’s go. We’re supposed to meet in Freetown.”

“Yeah. Let’s head back now.”

The vehicle carrying us departed for Freetown.

I pulled my phone out from inside my jacket and handed it to Myungsoo.

“I already gave your mother a rough explanation. Call her.”

Taking the phone, Myungsoo looked at me with a subdued face.

“She was really worried, wasn’t she? Korea must’ve been in chaos too.”

“Of course. You’ll probably catch some hell. I told her I came to get you myself, that nothing would happen, and to wait without worrying. Still, call her first.”

At my words, Myungsoo quickly made the call. It seemed to connect almost immediately.

“Yeah, Mom.”

From the other end, I could hear his mother’s voice trembling with tears.

Pretending not to notice, I turned to look out the window and waited for him to finish.

After quite a long call, Myungsoo handed the phone back.

“Thanks.”

“What are you thanking me for? What did she say?”

“Well, the moment I get back to Korea, she wants me home immediately. I’ll have to report to the President first, then head straight down to Busan. Want to come with me?”

I glared at him with narrowed eyes. I came all the way here to rescue him, and now he wanted to drag me into getting scolded too?

“Are you insane? Why would I walk into that just to get chewed out? You go get yelled at by yourself.”

“Aw, come on! My mom absolutely adores you. So please come with me, huh?!”

“No thanks. You heard about the situation back in Korea, right?”

Cutting off his nonsense, I shifted the topic to Korea.

“I heard it’s bad. The President’s approval rating dropped below fifty percent.”

“It couldn’t be helped. It looks like we bowed to Guinea. But if we hadn’t used that method, there would have been no way to rescue you and the delegation like this. At one point they were even talking about sending in a special forces unit for an extraction.”

“Really? I never heard that.”

“How would they discuss something like that over tapped communication lines? But are you going to be okay? It’s going to be chaos from the moment you land.”

With a gloomy expression, Myungsoo let out a quiet sigh.

“Well, I’ll have to bear it. Who could’ve known? A coup out of nowhere, and then they’d detain us on top of it.”

“It wasn’t just you. I heard all foreigners were banned from leaving.”

Myungsoo nodded.

“I only found that out later too. I couldn’t figure out what they were thinking. They said it was to investigate corrupt foreign businessmen in cooperation with the government, but what kind of bullshit is that?”

“They probably wanted to use them as hostages to gain international recognition. They definitely didn’t make that proposal to only you.”

As if blaming himself for how everything had unfolded, Myungsoo's voice dropped.

“Probably. But no country openly supported the coup except Korea.”

“It is humiliating. There was a lot of back-and-forth inside the Korean government too. I even stepped in with a few threats myself.”

“You crazy bastard. You said you even joined the NSC by phone, right?”

“The President called me. There was no prior arrangement—my phone just rang out of nowhere. But they kept going on about not thinking about your safety and how we couldn’t engage in humiliating diplomacy, and I got angry in the moment.”

Apparently the image of it was easy enough to picture, because Myungsoo let out a short laugh.

“The Prime Minister must’ve been the most against it. He’s someone who suffered all kinds of torture during the military dictatorship.”

“I understand that, but first you save the people. Still, your position might get a little shaky after you return. Do you know how many people will try to tear into both you and the President over this? Want me to throw some weight behind you?”

When President Yoon Changho’s approval was above sixty percent, neither the opposition nor the ruling party’s non-mainstream faction could raise their voices too loudly.

But after this incident, the opposition had already begun fiercely criticizing the government, and dissenting voices inside the ruling party were growing louder too.

“No. It’s a brushfire we just have to let pass through once. The damage is done, so now all we can do is handle the aftermath properly.”

Myungsoo firmly rejected my involvement.

“You’ve already done more than enough. You came all the way here and went through hell just to save me. From here on, it’s my turn.”

Far from feeling disappointed, I only felt proud.

I gave a small smile and nodded.

“Alright. If it gets hard, tell me anytime. I’ll help.”

“You know it’s not because I dislike your help, right? If you keep stepping in and solving everything for me, then one day when you’re not there, I won’t be able to do anything on my own. You know what I mean, right?”

“I know. Your tongue’s getting too long, Lee Myungsoo.”

“You brat. No fun at all.”

Myungsoo and I looked at each other and laughed.

After talking more about the domestic situation, I asked about Captain Kamara.

“What was Captain Kamara like when you met him in person?”

“Hm.”

Myungsoo swallowed a sound and thought for a moment before answering.

“He seems convinced he already has power in his hands, so he’s completely unrestrained. Before boarding the bus this time, he even made time to meet me briefly.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. He said he wants to maintain good relations with Korea and asked us to forget everything that happened here.”

“That crazy bastard.”

“Exactly. I was so dumbfounded. I almost said something, but because the delegation still had to make it home safely, I held back. I just smiled and said I’d do my best.”

For Myungsoo, not cursing him out was already a miracle. I patted his shoulder.

“You did well to hold it in.”

“But he also asked about you. What kind of person you are. He seems to know the rough outline, but not the details.”

“That figures. A mere captain from a country like Guinea—how much could he possibly know about me? So what did you tell him?”

“That you’re a businessman. What else was I supposed to say? Why, what about Kamara?”

“Now that you’ve been released too, it’s time to return what we received. I’m in ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) talks with the government forces. I’m thinking of sending Black Bear to support them and crush the coup.”

Myungsoo stared at me in shock.

“Why are you acting surprised? Did you really think I’d just let this go? I’m the kind of person who returns exactly what I’m given.”

“Crazy bastard. Even after the government already announced support for the coup?”

“That’s the Korean government’s position, not mine. And it’s not like I’m doing it directly. The legitimacy belongs to the government. I’m just backing that government, so what’s the issue? I’ve already reached a certain understanding with the U.S. side too.”

“Ugh, I don’t even know anymore.”

“I’ll handle it, so don’t worry.”

By the time we finished talking, we had already arrived in Freetown.

The chartered plane that would carry the citizens who had remained in Guinea was also waiting at the airport.

But Myungsoo and the delegation planned to remain in Sierra Leone for a few more days to complete their schedule before returning home.

“Get some rest for now. Let’s have dinner together later.”

I sent Myungsoo up to his hotel room, then asked Chief Ma,

“Still no contact from the government forces?”

“No.”

“I don’t know why this is dragging out so much.”

“It seems they still haven’t unified their internal opinions.”

This was exactly why split leadership was such a headache.

I sighed and pressed a hand to my forehead.

“If we don’t help them, they’re people who’ll disappear exactly as they are. So why are they so full of greed? They should just push Kamara out first and think about the rest later. For now, let’s wait.”

“......”

“If we still hear nothing by the time Myungsoo and the delegation leave Sierra Leone, we’ll proceed with a solo assassination operation against Captain Kamara.”

At my words, Chief Ma cautiously responded with a worried face.

“Boss, that could cause serious international misunderstanding. Being hired by the government to send mercenaries is one thing. Black Bear independently stepping into Guinea’s internal affairs is a completely different matter.”

“I know. That’s why I said we’ll wait. The more time passes, the stronger Captain Kamara’s grip on power will become. By then, there may come a situation where even I can’t do anything alone. Besides, I’ve already had some degree of discussion with the U.S. side.”

The United States also did not view Guinea’s coup favorably.

But with the Middle East already giving them enough headaches, they had no spare capacity for a small African nation.

So when I stepped forward saying I would join hands with the government forces and suppress the coup, they had no choice but to welcome it with open arms.

“Let’s get some rest for now.”

I sent Chief Ma out as well, then remained alone, sat on the sofa, and closed my eyes for a while.

* * *

That evening, I headed to the hotel restaurant to eat with Myungsoo.

The once-quiet hotel restaurant was now packed with members of the special delegation and Foreign Ministry staff.

As I entered, I looked for Myungsoo.

I spotted him in a corner talking with someone and headed over.

“Myungsoo.”

Myungsoo looked up at my call and welcomed me.

“You’re here? This is the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs.”

He introduced the person he had been talking to.

The man stood and extended his hand.

“Seo Seonggi.”

“Kim Muhyuk.”

After the handshake, Myungsoo pointed to the chair beside him.

“Sit here. We haven’t finished talking yet. You don’t mind joining us, right?”

“Sure. Go ahead and continue.”

I naturally sat where he indicated.

Vice Minister Seo glanced at me once, then looked at Myungsoo.

“You can speak freely without worrying about him. He’s someone who even has a direct line to the President.”

“Ah, yes. Then...”

Nodding, Vice Minister Seo began.

“What happened in Guinea couldn’t be helped, but now that things have turned out this way, what do you think about using this opportunity for resource diplomacy with Sierra Leone?”

“Resource diplomacy?”

“Yes. Sierra Leone has several mines with high business potential besides diamonds. Since it hasn’t been long since the civil war ended, ownership of those mines still belongs to the government. How about purchasing the development and extraction rights from them?”

“I don’t know much about that field. Is it really feasible?”

“That’s why I prepared this.”

As if waiting for that exact question, Vice Minister Seo pulled out a stack of papers from his briefcase.

“With help from the Korea Resources Corporation, we selected only the most profitable mines.”

Myungsoo began reading through the documents.

When he had gone through about half the thick stack, he asked:

“Bauxite? What kind of mineral is this?”

“It’s the ore used to extract aluminum.”

Vice Minister Seo explained in considerable detail.

After nodding, Myungsoo continued reading, and once he finally set the documents down, Vice Minister Seo spoke again.

“All of these are mines in which the Sierra Leone government currently holds 100 percent ownership. If we can secure even fifty percent, we’ll have a stable supply of minerals.”

“Understood. Prepare everything. I’ll need to bring it up during tomorrow’s meeting with the President of Sierra Leone.”

“Yes, sir.”

Vice Minister Seo gathered the documents again and stood up.

Once he was gone, I moved to sit directly across from Myungsoo.

“Mines, huh. Are you sure about this?”

“What?”

“Even if Sierra Leone’s civil war is over, it’s not exactly a stable country. If this fails too, it’ll hit you hard.”

“It doesn’t sound bad to me. Are you against it?”

“It’ll be under your name, so wouldn’t it be better to verify things thoroughly first?”

At my words, Myungsoo stared at me as if asking me to elaborate.

“There’s a lot of corruption here. The government might be using Vice Minister Seo to dump low-profit mines on you.”

“Come on, why would they do that? This meeting with Sierra Leone’s government wasn’t even originally scheduled.”

“You never know. Look into it once.”

“Alright. I’ll contact Korea and check. Let’s eat.”

We finished a simple dinner, then went up to my hotel room, had drinks, and parted ways.

The next day, ahead of the meeting with the President of Sierra Leone, Myungsoo came to find me.