Lovers – Chapter 108

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Side Story: The End of Revenge 1

Kouri checked his phone in the slender incoming sunlight.

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He stretched his neck for a moment. It had been such a long time. The quiet world was familiar to him, but suddenly thinking of Armin Schnieke, he chuckled. He was the only man full of vitality in this quiet world. If you looked closely, he was an ordinary, or rather somewhat handsome adult man, but the boyish brightness that always emanated from him was due to his personality. That foul-mouthed habit of saying “shit, shit.” The composure to tolerate things because he was strong. That man who was always sincere even while complaining about things being bothersome. Even his attitude when teaching Anya Becker self-defense was serious. According to Armin, Anya had apparently been keeping up with stretching and exercise every day without fail.

A good person.

Armin Schnieke could be defined in that one phrase. Perhaps that’s why his complicated employer loved that man so much.

‘Well, honestly, it seems their meeting initially started because of his looks.’

Mmph, mmph―

While having peaceful thoughts, there was a constant noise from the side. Kouri struck the head with the hand holding his phone. The sound cracked sharply through the air.

“Quiet.”

Turning his gaze, a middle-aged man with his mouth taped shut was sitting restrained in a chair. This man known for his exceptional way with words, this era’s greatest con artist, Matthias Yudorov, was shaking his body as if asking for the tape to be removed.

When Matthias Yudorov kept hiding his traces while traveling around the world, Sebastian modified his plan to lure him back to the country. Sebastian Riegel, a man with innate dominant tendencies, often gave directions to others without sharing much of his plans. But it was clear that he had modified quite a few plans due to Armin Schnieke’s appearance.

While Armin Schnieke was in motion, Sebastian faithfully played his role as a cooperating wealthy boyfriend, while on the other side, he was pushing Yudorov. The rabbit drive was successful, and when Canaris’s executive forces divided, Yudorov hurriedly returned to the country. Gleinach provided the information about his return. A spy obsessed with money was very kind to potential clients.

Yudorov was wary of Sebastian but thought of him only as a package deal with Armin. Since Sebastian moved by supporting Armin from behind, he probably never thought Sebastian would take such overt action. For example, he clearly hadn’t considered why Sebastian had hired a team from SARD, famous for assassinations and kidnappings, as his security team.

When Kouri’s team was abandoned by SARD, Sebastian contacted SARD and personally “purchased” Kouri’s team. SARD ordered Kouri’s team to fulfill Sebastian’s “request” as their final project in exchange for acknowledging their resignation, and Kouri’s team honed themselves as a net to catch Yudorov, disguised as Sebastian’s security team, in order to part amicably with SARD. Of course, the reason Sebastian rescued Kouri’s team by pouring in huge amounts of money and influence among many mercenaries was naturally because Kouri was his cousin’s husband. In that sense, he was infinitely human.

If Sebastian hadn’t rescued them then, Kouri and his subordinates would have been definitively dealt with. Unlike Armin’s situation, they had really been put on the elimination list.

The youngest lit a cigarette.

“Fortunately. I was actually a bit scared we might not catch this bastard.”

The youngest laughed, saying he had been anxious about not being able to repay Sebastian’s kindness if they couldn’t catch Yudorov. The youngest had joined SARD and had a rough time. The phrase “had been put on the elimination list” doesn’t fully describe the situation then. They were intensely pursued, injured, and all had to overcome the brink of death multiple times. Sebastian was the person who saved their lives. As younger people tend to be brave and reckless, the youngest had even sworn that he would finish off Yudorov in this lifetime, even if it meant attaching a bomb to his body and embracing Yudorov to die together. Somewhere on his body, there was even a tattoo about that oath.

“Is Mr. Riegel on his way?”

“Yes. It’ll take him some time as he’s trying to come without being noticed.”

Yudorov was in Maderke. He just wasn’t in the headquarters building.

Kouri’s team came to Maderke following Armin’s GPS signal, and by watching their reconnaissance, they could guess what they were targeting. And he checked if there was anyone watching Armin’s team, or if there was anyone like Armin observing the headquarters building. And he soon found out. That there was an old man drinking all day at a terrace opposite the headquarters building.

Just one bottle of alcohol. All day drinking with that one bottle while looking at his phone. But his fingers weren’t moving. The fact that an old man wearing sunglasses didn’t touch the screen with his fingers even once in two hours while looking at his phone meant he wasn’t looking at his phone. So what was he looking at? He was monitoring the entrance and exit of the building across the street.

On the second day of watching and following the old man, Armin entered the headquarters. And the old man hurriedly ran somewhere. While running, he threw his hat backward. And as he entered an alley, he also took off his graying wig.

Only then did Kouri realize. That the old man was Yudorov himself.

After that, everything went smoothly. Kouri captured Yudorov and brought him here. There were several buildings in Maderke owned by Riegel Bank. Even while they were bringing Yudorov to one of the luxury mansions, he kept trying to recruit them. About his eloquence, the third member said:

‘Indeed, a mouth worthy of running a fanatic production factory.’

When the knife spun a few times lightly in the third member’s hand, Yudorov closed his mouth. The third member took out tape, stuck it on Yudorov’s mouth, and deliberately used the knife he was holding to cut the tape. From Yudorov’s perspective, it would have felt as if the knife was vertically scraping down his cheek.

The sound of a car was heard from afar.

Sebastian had arrived. The end of a long revenge. And the end of revenge for countless people. Kouri didn’t know how Sebastian was planning to end this enormous revenge. How cruelly would he have to kill Yudorov for it to be revenge? How cruel would be enough for Yudorov to receive his due punishment?

‘There is no such thing as due punishment.’

Even if they flayed Yudorov’s skin 1mm at a time until death, Yudorov couldn’t pay for his crimes. If you kill ten people, thirty lives end, fifty people suffer so much they can’t live normally for a while, and a hundred people are left with eternal scars.

And hundreds of people have died because of Yudorov.

Then thousands must have received eternal scars, so no matter what pain Yudorov suffers, his one filthy body isn’t enough to balance the ledger. But Sebastian is the eldest son of Michael Riegel. Born and raised as a banker’s son, he has an innate talent for pricing values and recovering profits. Isn’t he the son that a genius in that field has carefully raised? Surely Sebastian would make Yudorov pay the price, even if he had to divide him into hundreds of pieces—

The door burst open, and the person who appeared wasn’t Sebastian.

Kouri and his team members all looked at the person who appeared with troubled faces. It was Michael Riegel himself.

Sebastian had never told Michael about his revenge plan. Even when Canaris threatened him, Sebastian just reassured him, saying, “I’ll handle it, Father. Don’t worry.” The son who had lived his life avoiding people’s eyes and built a mansion covered with strange tastes to bury himself in, who had never dated any woman or man and wasn’t interested in animals either, showed interest in Canaris-related matters for the first time. And he was confident. So Michael knew there was a plan somewhere in Sebastian’s heart that he didn’t know about.

Sebastian acted like he was crazy about romance, but Michael read his son’s movements underneath. Seeing traces of large sums of money moving sharply, Michael noticed something was happening with his son. And as soon as he received a report that Sebastian had contacted the security system for Maderke Bank’s collateral, he moved immediately.

He had already heard that Canaris was targeting Sebastian. He thought it might be that kind of thing. It could be serious. Sebastian had become more reluctant to talk about himself after being kidnapped. Michael understood. Because Sebastian’s kidnapping back then couldn’t have happened without an insider’s help.

But if something happened to Sebastian, and especially if it was due to Canaris, Michael couldn’t stand back. He couldn’t let Canaris harm Sebastian again. Now all his children had become adults. His wife had now quite regained her senses. Even if something happened to him, his wife and children could cope appropriately. He had done his best over the years to ensure that.

So now it was time to fully save Sebastian. With such a mindset, he arrived at a place where Sebastian’s security guards were waiting for something, smoking cigarettes or looking at their phones. And in the center of the room, a man was tied to a chair.

At first, he didn’t recognize him.

“What are you doing now?”

Kouri, who had barely regained his senses that had run away at the sight of Michael appearing with his security guards, stepped forward with an “Ah.” It was a very difficult situation. If there was one person who absolutely shouldn’t come here, it wasn’t Armin Schnieke or Director Andrea Dill. It was this person, Michael Riegel.

“Well…”

“Who is that person?”

“…”

“This mansion is held as collateral by my bank. Can’t you answer?!”

As Michael shouted, Kouri scratched his head. He waited in silence just in case, but there was still no sound of a car outside. Inevitably, Kouri opened his mouth.

“He’s the leader of Canaris, Matthias Yudorov.”

“Matthias? My friend Matthias? Why Matthias—”

Sometimes intuition arrives faster than logic.

Michael looked around. Security guards from SARD. And Matthias Yudorov, who was shaking with his head down. Sebastian was kidnapped with an insider’s cooperation…

“Let me ask one thing.”

Michael’s eyes were looking straight at Matthias. A certain Christmas came to his mind. That Christmas when he heard his son might never walk again. The world was excited, expecting blessings, and he wanted to kill everyone. And that night, his friend called to comfort him. That friend was now shaking and avoiding his face.

“Was Matthias the mastermind behind my son’s kidnapping?”

Michael’s face had turned pale. Kouri saw in that face one of the thirty people whose lives had ended. Just as he was about to answer, the sound of a car was heard outside.

‘Please, come quickly. Please.’

While Kouri was urging Sebastian with all his heart without answering, Michael pulled out a gun from his chest. Everyone was surprised. “Chairman!” “Mr. Riegel!” Amidst the screams, Michael walked steadily toward Yudorov.

“It’s okay if you don’t answer. I think I should hear the answer from him personally.”