Actually, Dad Was a Hero

Chapter 27: The Person in Charge

Attention.

It’s a word that means “attention” in both English and French.

Although there’s a slight difference in pronunciation, when said forcefully in a military manner, it doesn’t sound too different.

It’s a word used for various purposes in the military, but when it echoes loudly indoors like this, it only means one thing.

Someone of high rank has entered the room.

Therefore, not only the French soldiers but also the Ghost Squad members reflexively stood up and assumed an attention stance.

Except for Jin Beom-Min, who wasn’t a career soldier.

He just raised his eyebrows in curiosity and took a sip of wine.

Soon, someone approached the table where the Ghost Squad members were sitting with quick steps.

It was a French officer with a protruding belly and a middle-aged man who looked Korean.

“Ah, you’re the ones who came from Korea…?”

The middle-aged man, with a rather arrogant impression, asked the Ghost Squad members.

Sandman, after briefly rolling his eyes to assess the situation, cautiously replied.

“That’s correct, but who are you…?”

Originally, the identity and affiliation of Ghost Squad were classified. They had to figure out who the other person was before revealing any details.

“I am Kim Young-Hoon, the South Korean Ambassador to France.”

“…Do you have any identification?”

The middle-aged man frowned for a moment before taking out his wallet from his pocket and handing it over.

After checking the ID, Sandman nodded and replied.

“Thank you for your cooperation. We are Ghost Squad, dispatched from the National Intelligence Service, and Special Designated Agent Jin.”

“Hmm, I see… well.”

Ambassador Kim Young-Hoon paused for a breath and continued speaking in an arrogant tone.

“I’ve heard you did a good job. Colonel Belmondo here wants to have dinner with you as a celebration, so let’s go together.”

“…Colonel Belmondo, sir?”

Colonel Belmondo was the one who was originally supposed to guide the Ghost Squad members here at Villacoublay Air Base.

And he was also the one who ran away without showing his face.

Colonel Belmondo, standing next to Ambassador Kim Young-Hoon, extended his thick hand and said something, but Sandman just stared at his face with cold eyes.

It wasn’t just Sandman. The Ghost Squad members, Jin Beom-Min, and even the French soldiers all had displeased expressions.

Especially, the French soldiers, who were maintaining their attention stance without any further instructions, had truly rotten expressions.

Some even secretly spat on the floor to express their disgust.

“…Why is the atmosphere like this?”

Ambassador Kim Young-Hoon grumbled, looking around.

Sandman opened his mouth to say something, but he soon closed it as if he had changed his mind.

It was a very awkward situation for him as well.

He had no desire to have dinner with Colonel Belmondo, who had abandoned his subordinates and fled while they were surrounded by enemies.

However, the South Korean Ambassador to France was equivalent to a Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, a very high position in the government.

As a member of the National Intelligence Service, albeit a secret agent, it wasn’t easy for Sandman to flatly refuse the order.

Just as Ambassador Kim Young-Hoon’s expression was about to wrinkle and Colonel Belmondo’s outstretched hand began to tremble slightly, a cold voice was heard.

“You haven’t served in the military, have you, Ambassador?”

It was Jin Beom-Min, who had been sitting calmly and sipping his wine alone.

“What, what?”

“Which soldier would want to associate with a commander who abandoned his subordinates and ran away? They’d be lucky if they weren’t shot.”

Then Ambassador Kim Young-Hoon, his face contorted in a grimace, spoke in a reprimanding tone.

“…And who are you?”

“What, some kind of special sperm something…?”

“Special Designated Agent.”

Sandman corrected him in a small voice. Perhaps Jin Beom-Min’s words had spoken for him, as his expression, which had been as hard as stone until a moment ago, softened a little.

“Special Designated Agent? I’ve never heard of it.”

“He’s the key person who resolved this incident. He dealt with the Necromancer who was controlling the zombies.”

Sandman replied quietly, but Ambassador Kim Young-Hoon scoffed and opened his mouth again.

“Never mind that. Consider yourself lucky that Colonel Belmondo doesn’t understand Korean.”

“Excuse me?”

“Get in the vehicle right now. We’ll have dinner at the embassy.”

Now it was a complete order. Just as Jin Beom-Min was about to open his mouth to say something, someone stepped forward.

“Je n’irai pas avec le lache!”

A loud French voice echoed through the dining hall.

It was Ogre’s voice.

“Huh?”

“What?”

Jin Beom-Min and the Ghost Squad members turned their heads to look at Ogre with shocked expressions.

Only Sandman remained standing with a calm face.

“…What’s wrong?”

“Did you just… speak French?”

Reaper asked, as if he couldn’t believe it.

“What, I can’t speak a little French?”

“No, it’s not that… it’s just… it doesn’t… suit you…”

Looking at Colonel Belmondo’s face, which was turning red up to his ears, Jin Beom-Min asked this time.

“What did you say?”

“What else? I said the same thing Jin said.”

As if to prove his words, shouts erupted from among the French soldiers who had been standing silently.

“Lache!(Coward!)”

“Traitre!(Traitor!)”

Even if you didn’t understand French, you could roughly understand the meaning just from the tone of voice.

Colonel Belmondo seemed to be enraged and glared at the surrounding French soldiers with fiery eyes.

However, the soldiers’ gazes were just as intense. If looks could kill, Colonel Belmondo would have died at least 50 times by now.

Ambassador Kim Young-Hoon let out a deep sigh and asked Sandman.

“So, you’re refusing to follow orders?”

“Unfortunately, we can’t do that.”

“…You’re very arrogant. How long do you think that will last?”

“No, it’s not that…”

Just as Sandman was about to answer, Jin Beom-Min intervened again.

“But what are you doing here, Ambassador?”

“What?”

“There’s chaos outside, chaos. How much damage have our citizens suffered?”

“Uh…”

Ambassador Kim Young-Hoon stammered and frowned. But Jin Beom-Min continued speaking calmly, emptying his wine glass.

“How many deaths are there? How about the injured? Are there facilities prepared to accommodate the Korean survivors? What about flights to return them to Korea?”

“…The staff are working on it.”

“Oh, really? The staff? How many of them are still alive?”

“Uh…”

Clang!

Jin Beom-Min placed his wine glass on the table, causing it to crack and make a sharp sound.

Jin Beom-Min, who had been calm until now, seemed to be getting angry, his voice filled with emotion.

“You’re not doing your job properly and what? Dinner? Can you even swallow your food right now?”

“…I also have to carry out diplomatic activities…”

“No, f*ck, take care of our people first and then do diplomacy!”

“What, what?”

Ambassador Kim Young-Hoon looked more bewildered than angry.

It was understandable. It was probably the first time he had been publicly sworn at like this, having had a successful career as a diplomat.

But Jin Beom-Min had no intention of stopping here.

“Do you think this is the first time I’ve experienced this? Anyway, embassy officials only care about their own promotion, they don’t care if the citizens die or not, right?”

“Aren’t you being too harsh!”

“So what if I am? Fire me then.”

“What, what?”

Ambassador Kim Young-Hoon’s face turned crimson at Jin Beom-Min’s outburst, which went beyond harsh words and bordered on insults.

Just as he was about to shout something again, Sandman raised his hand and stepped forward.

“Please calm down, Ambassador.”

“Stay out of this, you bastard!”

“Oh, come on. Please calm down.”

Sandman soothed Ambassador Kim Young-Hoon and Colonel Belmondo in a gentle tone and led them out of the dining hall.

Ambassador Kim Young-Hoon and Colonel Belmondo raised their voices in defiance, but they soon gave in and followed Sandman.

They finally realized that they would only be subjected to more insults if they stayed, without achieving their goal.

The sudden incident was resolved, but the atmosphere in the dining hall became chaotic.

The French soldiers, who had been happily eating, drinking, and chatting until a moment ago, frowned and cursed as if they were in a bad mood.

Some of them even gave thumbs up to Ogre and Jin Beom-Min in gratitude.

But now the mood was completely dampened. After all, the commander had returned, and it was clear that a free atmosphere would no longer be tolerated.

The quick-witted cooks quickly moved to clear the food and dishes.

The party was over.

******

“But where did you learn French?”

Reaper asked on the way back to the accommodation provided by the French soldiers.

“Well, isn’t knowing a foreign language or two common sense these days?”

“Well, English might be, but French? It doesn’t suit your face at all.”

“What doesn’t suit me? It suits me perfectly.”

“Ugh, absolutely not.”

“Que dites-vous, madame?”

“Ugh! Stop it! That tongue-rolling pronunciation is too cheesy!”

While Reaper and Ogre were exchanging banter, Imp quietly spoke to Jin Beom-Min.

“Ogre was probably in the French Foreign Legion with Sandman.”

“Oh, really?”

“If people who have spent their entire lives in the military can speak French, it’s obvious. I thought he knew a lot about France, like the Catacombs and all that.”

“Hmm, I see.”

Jin Beom-Min replied indifferently and looked up at the sky.

With the city lights dimmed due to the zombie incident, the Milky Way was clearly visible.

“…It seems you had a bad experience with the embassy before?”

“Ah, yes. Well…”

Jin Beom-Min scratched his head and continued.

“It was a long time ago. But listening to it made me a little angry… Those kinds of people never change, even after all this time.”

Imp smiled and gave a thumbs up.

“Anyway, it was refreshing.”

“Haha, actually, I wanted to punch him. And that Colonel Belmondo or whatever his name is.”

“Probably everyone there felt the same way.”

“I hope there won’t be any trouble.”

“Don’t worry. No matter how much of a fuss the French ambassador makes, he can’t do anything to us.”

That was true. No matter how high the position of the South Korean Ambassador to France was, there were plenty of people who could replace him.

However, Jin Beom-Min and the Ghost Squad were absolutely irreplaceable.

Not to mention Jin Beom-Min, the only countermeasure against the monsters, but the Ghost Squad, who had experienced actual combat with monsters several times, were also irreplaceable assets.

After exchanging various stories, they arrived at their accommodation, and the French soldiers guided them to their respective rooms.

Perhaps because it was a building used as officers’ quarters, it wasn’t spacious, but it was quite cozy and comfortable.

After taking a hot shower and lying in bed, Jin Beom-Min rested his arm on his pillow and fell into thought.

‘We managed to resolve it this time, but… where and what will happen next time…’

The monsters’ attacks were growing in scale and becoming more powerful.

But what was even more worrisome was that their purpose was unknown.

‘Why aren’t they sending a large-scale army…?’

It was the same this time. If they had sent warriors to escort the Necromancer instead of just sending him alone, Jin Beom-Min would have had a hard time.

However, they didn’t, and Jin Beom-Min was able to capture the Necromancer without much difficulty.

‘Is there a reason why they can’t mobilize a large force…?’

No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t find a suitable answer.

“Oh well, I don’t know. Next time, I’ll have to capture one alive and interrogate it…”

Knock knock.

Suddenly, a knock was heard.

Thinking that one of the Ghost Squad members had come to invite him for another drink, Jin Beom-Min opened the door without thinking.

However, it wasn’t a Ghost Squad member smiling outside the door, but an unfamiliar woman in a French military uniform.

“Uh… who?”

Jin Beom-Min, who was momentarily frozen, belatedly realized who she was.

She was one of the female soldiers who had been constantly glancing at him in the dining hall earlier.

She grinned and raised the wine bottle and glass in one hand, then gestured with her eyes towards the inside of the room.

It probably meant if she could come in.

And coming to his room at this hour and asking to come in probably meant more than that.

Jin Beom-Min smirked.

It felt like he was back in his younger days. Moreover, she was quite beautiful.

He shrugged and let her into the room, then closed the door.