Chapter 157: That Time I Created an Economic Bloc in South America

TL: Skye

Tick. Tock.

“...Finished.”

I’d burned through every last ounce of energy. Now I just stared blankly at the ceiling.

I checked the clock. Three in the afternoon.

For the first time in nearly three months, I had managed to review and process every document before quitting time.

There was another reason I had worked with such intense focus.

For one thing, my workload was the lightest it had been in recent memory.

With the Venezuelan infrastructure projects on track and Tortilla Foods and Tortilla Bank finding their footing, there were no urgent fires left to put out.

The Korean construction companies were keeping the Libertad Redevelopment running smoothly on their own, while Mayor Antonio had Choi City under ironclad control.

CEO Harper was faithfully handling Black Oil, while Senior Secretary Resa did the same with Tortilla Energy.

It was only natural, when I thought about it.

It had been six years. Things ought to run on their own to some extent by now.

‘It makes no sense for the president to work without a single day off.’

Anyway, since it looked as though I might actually get off work before six, I had done my utmost to finish early.

In other words.

From this moment on, I was completely free.

‘What should I do for fun?’

Should I watch an American TV show?

That dictator drama Tyrant looked interesting.

Or should I read a book?

‘Is there anything worth reading these days?’

Maybe I should reread 1984 for the first time in ages.

‘Or I could just take a nap...’

As I agonized over the decision, something bumped against my leg.

Tap. Tap.

It was Panther.

“Grrr.”

Now about one and a half times the size of a golden retriever, he rubbed his head against my leg before turning to look at the door.

“You want to go out?”

“Grrrr.”

His tail was slowly swaying from side to side.

Jaguars did not normally wag their tails, but Panther alone had this peculiar habit.

It was probably because I’d raised him from a cub.

“A walk, huh...”

Come to think of it, I had not taken proper care of Panther lately.

I had been so preoccupied with Venezuela that all I had done was let him loose in the Presidential Palace garden for a little while.

I could not even remember the last time I had taken him outside for a proper walk.

Panther's golden eyes gazed up at me.

His gaze brimmed with anticipation.

What human being could refuse those adorable eyes?

“All right, all right. Let's go out.”

“Rraow!”

As though he had understood me, Panther sprang to his feet and began wagging his tail furiously by the door.

I went to the secretariat and called for Isabella.

“Chief of Staff, I was thinking of taking Panther for a walk along the beach.”

Isabella looked up from the documents she had been reviewing.

“I'll accompany you.”

“You must be busy. You don't have to.”

“Where the needle goes, the thread must follow.”

“Wait.”

How did she know a Korean proverb?

“Let's go.”

Before I knew it, Isabella had put on her jacket, contacted the security team, and ordered a car prepared.

Isabella and I sat in the back seat, with Panther between us.

Apparently excited, he stared out the window and purred without pause.

His tail wagged like mad, repeatedly smacking Isabella's knee.

Our destination was a promenade on the western coast of Libertad.

Almost no one ever went there, so I sometimes used it for walks.

“We've arrived.”

“Thank you.”

The scent of the sea tickled my nose as I stepped out of the car.

The warm afternoon sun shone down over the Caribbean, and the emerald sea stretched endlessly to the horizon.

Not a single cloud marred the sky, while the rhythmic crash of waves against the white sand repeated over and over.

The instant Panther leaped out of the car, he raced toward the beach.

“Rraaaow!”

His black body tore across the white sand.

The sight of Panther covering a hundred meters in seven seconds was...

“Hmm. Devastatingly cute.”

He looked just like a little kitten.

After running to his heart's content, he turned around and waited for me.

Isabella and I began walking after him.

Perhaps because we had not walked side by side like this since the inspection of Choi City, an awkward silence fell between us.

The only sounds were the waves and Panther digging in the sand.

During meetings, there was so much to say that we never had enough time, but walking like this, I had no idea what to talk about, so I blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

“What do you do on your days off, Chief of Staff?”

“I prepare for the next day's work.”

“......”

Good grief.

“But it's your day off.”

Isabella paused to choose her words, then answered.

“Do you not think about state affairs on your days off as well, Your Excellency?”

“Well, that's true, but...”

“The chief of staff cannot rest while Your Excellency is working.”

“Ahem.”

So she could not rest because of me, either.

I suddenly felt guilty.

“Try to get some rest from now on. Or should I give you regular days off?”

“I'll consider it when Your Excellency begins resting regularly.”

“Let's just rest when we're dead. When we're dead.”

“That doesn't sound bad, either.”

“......”

Her answer was as unchanging as ever, but I did not dislike that constancy.

Just then, Panther was doing something at the water's edge.

“Panther? What are you doing?”

He crouched in the shallows where the waves rolled in and stared at the surface.

Then, all of a sudden.

Splash!

Panther plunged into the water.

“Hey!”

Five seconds. Ten seconds. Fifteen seconds.

A black shadow darted swiftly beneath the surface.

Splosh!

Panther burst out of the water.

A silver fish gleamed between his jaws. It was a fairly large one, easily thirty centimeters long.

Still holding the fish, he raced over like an arrow and dropped it at my feet with a plop.

“Prrrow!”

Panther looked up at me, wagging his tail with a proud expression.

“Come on. Now I'm going to have to bathe you.”

Beside me, Isabella covered her mouth and laughed.

“Pfft.”

She tried to hold it in at first, but could not, and laughter escaped as her shoulders shook.

It lasted only a moment. Her usual impassive expression returned, and she spoke.

“My apologies. I was just thinking that he truly is Your Excellency's pet.”

“It's fine.”

“In any case, this appears to be his hunting instinct. It would be best to let him loose from time to time.”

“Isn't it more like a house cat bringing home a mouse?”

“Jaguars even prey on crocodiles.”

Isabella laughed again, her eyes curving like crescent moons.

“.....”

Had I ever seen her laugh like this before?

We released the fish back into the sea and continued our walk.

The sun began to sink toward the west.

Caribbean sunsets are the most beautiful in the world.

It sounded like something from a tourist guidebook, but seeing one in person left me no choice but to admit it was true.

The sky shifted from orange to red, then to purple.

A golden path formed across the surface of the sea, stretching all the way to the horizon.

“Prrrow! Prrrow!”

Exhausted from following Panther around, Isabella and I sat side by side on the white sand.

Sand clung to my suit, but I did not care.

Panther was playing a short distance away, digging in the sand.

Every kick of his paws sent sand soaring high into the air.

Whoooosh~!

A warm breeze carrying the scent of the sea enveloped us.

I glanced to the side without thinking and saw a few grains of white sand caught in Isabella's hair.

Her hair, normally tied up in a neat arrangement, had come loose in the sea breeze and fallen over her shoulders, where the sand had caught in it.

My hand moved first.

Before thought. Before conscious intent.

I had reached out to brush the sand from Isabella's hair.

My fingertips touched it.

It was soft.

At that moment.

“...Ah!”

I felt her stop breathing.

The feel of her hair against my fingertips. Her warm body heat. Her ears, red perhaps from the glow of the sunset.

Only then did I realize what I was doing.

“Ah... You had sand in your hair...”

I hastily withdrew my hand, but my heart was pounding like mad.

My eyes met Isabella's.

The light of the sunset illuminated her face.

‘Beautiful.’

The instant that thought flashed through my mind, my heart gave another great thump.

It had been six years.

For six years, we had seen each other every day, worked together, eaten together, and overcome crises together.

We had endured a coup d'etat together and weathered a hurricane together.

She had been a capable adviser and an impenetrable chief of staff.

At times, she had been the most dependable person in the world.

“It's... It's all right.”

Isabella spoke in a small voice, completely unlike her usual resolute tone.

She gazed at the sea with her head slightly lowered. The flush on her ears had spread all the way down her neck.

I looked at the sea as well.

My heart would not settle down. My fingertips were still tingling.

I had only brushed some sand away.

That was all, yet we sat there for a long time without saying a word.

The sun slowly sank beneath the sea. The colors of the sky deepened.

Only the sound of the waves could be heard.

Swoooosh!

Isabella and I sat side by side, barely a handspan apart.

We had sat beside each other thousands of times over the past six years, yet today that handspan felt strangely close.

Once the sun had completely set, we returned to the car.

As we walked from the beach to where the car was parked.

Panther paced back and forth ahead of us, rubbing his head against us in turn.

Once against me, then once against Isabella.

It was almost as though he was trying to push us closer together.

“Prrrr.”

Even as we walked, that moment from earlier lingered in my mind.

I felt as though I should say something, but nothing came to mind.

And I was someone who had delivered speeches before tens of thousands of people.

Then the words leaped from my mouth before I could think.

“Let's come out like this every once in a while.”

I did not even know why I had said it.

It felt as though my mouth had acted independently of my brain.

Isabella stopped walking, then gave a small nod.

“...I'd like that.”

Was it my imagination?

Isabella's voice sounded different from usual.

It was not the resolute, cold voice of the chief of staff, but a voice that was a little softer and a little quieter.

I silently faced forward and kept walking.

***

Reality was waiting when we arrived at the Presidential Palace.

Sophia, the senior secretary for foreign affairs, was waiting outside the reception room.

“You should have called...”

“It wasn't urgent. Besides, I didn't want to disturb Your Excellency's rest.”

“All right. What is it?”

However, what came out of Sophia's mouth was more urgent than I had expected.

“President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador says he would like to make an official visit to San Marcos.”

“...What?”

Out of nowhere?

“What does he say his reason is?”

“According to El Salvador's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the official reason is mutual economic cooperation... but privately, he is deeply interested in what San Marcos is doing in Venezuela. They said he is particularly interested in Tortilla Farm.”

“......”

*****

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