He wouldn’t be Black if he danced around women and said pleasing things. Black was rough. He was a man who walked his own path relentlessly. He shattered anything in his way. He pushed them away like the hail or storm.

  That wasn’t a rhetorical description but the truth. He had destroyed captain Richie at the MSF nursing station in Ati because of his rudeness. He had beaten up the invaders who attacked Val-de-Grace hospital like they were rabid dogs. He even turned the intelligence heads into scarecrows. France’s highest-ranking officers had volunteered to go to Africa to retract the remains of Black Mamba’s comrades.

  His actions alone were refreshingly clear. He had said after listing his requests to director Bonipas, “No, you can. You’ll end up doing all that I asked for within five days.” Those who betrayed him met the worse fates. That was when he felt the thrill. It got to the point that he shuddered at his two-sided personality.

  There were times when his hurricane-like force turned soft. It was when he faced Les Misérables. He was incapable of ignoring the pitiful and the tormented. Such a man was referred to as “manly” in Korea. The term didn’t represent gender but the worth of a man.

  Those who abused their power and stepped on other people didn’t know the pain of being stepped on. The rich didn’t know the sufferings of the poor. The educated didn’t know the frustrations of the uneducated. That was human. “I know your pain” and “I will solve your problems” were phrases that hypocrites often used.

  The political leaders who had emerged after Africa’s independence had forgotten all about the elephant’s pain the moment they sat on the ivory chairs. They shoved their countries and citizens into a dark era worse than the colonial period. The moment they sat on the chairs, their eyes turned blind, and their ears went deaf. Only their mouths functioned.

  To understand another human, one had to view things from another’s perspective and experience their life. Black was such a human. Edel, who was wearing pink-tinted glasses, viewed everything he did as something great. She didn’t know Black Mamba had threatened Bonipas into giving him large sums of money and stolen the jewels by beating the jeweler owner to death. She also didn’t know that he was the kind of person to call a service car owned by the DGSE to save his own money on taxi fares.

  She could hear Black Mamba’s heartbeats since her ears were pressed against his chest. The rough heartbeats of the man she loved sounded sweet. Black’s heart pulsed 0.5 times per second. It beat once to her second beat. It was slow to the point that she had almost suspected bradycardia when she examined him at the MSF nursing station. On the other hand, it was strong. His blood flow velocity was beyond anyone’s imagination. It was an impossible speed to obtain, even if she were to inject adrenaline and Digitoxin at the same time. At that moment, she realized that Black Mamba’s existence went beyond the limits of humanity.

  He was the most human she’d ever seen despite his inhumanity. He had a small mouth, big eyes, and big ears. He was more action than talk. That was Black. Edel’s heart warmed up at the comfort of his rough hands. If she didn’t love such a man, who else would she love?

  She had been taken aback after witnessing his womanish hands break through concrete and bend a metal pipe. She shelved all her questions away and simply considered him a man outside the realms of humanity. A monster with a human at its core was 100, no, 1,000 times better than those monsters with the appearance of a human.

  “Black, do you remember what you told me at the MSF in Ati?”


  “My weakness is my memory. I wasn’t in my right mind, either, since I was injured.”


  That was one of the many aspects Black Mamba didn’t understand about women. Women continuously tried to recall the words men said. They remembered every conversation down to every word, even from several years ago, with their superhuman memory. Hae Young and Jin Soon were like that too.

  “You didn’t put on Chanel No. 5 or Lance Rouge. You’re not wearing Emanuel Ungaro and didn’t doll yourself up with a Chloe scarf. Still, you’re the third most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in this world.”


  Edel lowered her voice as much as she could to replicate Black Mamba.

  Ugh, of course!

  Black Mamba grabbed the back of his neck.

  “That’s what you said. As a doctor myself, I can say that my shell is superb. Countless men shower their praises and seek my attention.”


  “Of course.”


  Black Mamba agreed without a second thought. B*stards who weren’t taken by Edel’s appearance were either men with no d**** or gays.

  “They were all barking dogs. Medically speaking, all women are the same when you remove two millimeters thick worth of skin. I’m Edel, the human, not a mannequin covered with two millimeters thick worth of skin. Still, you praised the human Edel who existed, rather than the woman covered with beautiful skin.”


  “Hahaha, that’s quite a cynical evaluation.”


  “Heheh, it’s an ostensive evaluation. The moment I heard those words, I felt happy. It felt like I had the entire world in my arms. I wanted to get to know you. As a woman, I have no choice but to be curious about a monster that proved to be more human than ordinary people.”


  Edel swallowed the following words, “You’re a man, and I was soaked by your manly charms.” A woman would sound immature if she revealed all her secrets.

  “There are countless men scattered around the River Thames. There are bound to be pearls among the countless shells.”


  “Based on human evolution, women are more realistic than men. No foolish woman would search the River Thames for a pearl when there’s a diamond before her eyes.”


  Edel laughed upon finishing her words. Black Mamba had no choice but to laugh along. He recalled the pleasant conversation he’d shared with Hae Young under a roof. Hae Young had said something similar. It went along the lines of how women frequently made the mistake of choosing a man they loved instead of a man who loved. The words she added toward the end of her speech made it even more hilarious. She’d mentioned the reason was that they had yet to escape the level of animals.

  They had no choice but to stick close to each other since the road was narrow. Edel used the narrow road as an excuse to wind her arm around his arm. Edel didn’t wear makeup. She didn’t put on perfume, either. The natural smell of a pure woman’s body rushed in.

  Black Mamba hated the smell of makeup and cheap perfumes the most. It paralyzed his senses and disrupted his dimensional sight.

  Black Mamba inhaled her scent unknowingly. It was an aphrodisiac that contested Hae Young’s pheromones. He thought no other woman but Hae Young could smell so pure and fresh. Hae Young’s friend, Chui Min Sook, had once been Miss Korea but lacked the scent of a woman.

  Her breast that pressed gently against his arm, the unusual sensation of her hip bumping lightly against him, and her scent combined with the scent of the Ixora Chinensis stimulated his primal instincts relentlessly. Black Mamba was knocked down by the soft attacks he had no defense over. If he hadn’t pushed his mind organizing laws to the peak, he would have been done in by Ombuti’s schemes.

  “Edel, don’t you blame me?”


  “Blame you? Why?”


  “I made you do something hard. The Sahel is a rough region. The Ennedi Plateau is a deserted land with no humans. You must have met several wild animals by now.”


  Edel stopped walking and looked up at him for a long time. The sunset’s halos gathered in her light blue eyes. The silent, calm pool in her eyes made him raise his guard.

  Damn. It feels like I’m being pulled in.

  Black Mamba shivered internally. He wanted to bash the head of the person who said, “eyes are the windows to the soul.” The eyes of a beauty were the gravesite of men.

  “I’ve lost my father and my farm, but I’m not so stupid as to misinterpret your intentions. I’ve learned many things and wondered about what I should do for a long time.”


  “What conclusion did you reach?”


  “I realized that I am a weak woman. Uncle Ombuti looked after me like I was his daughter, but I suffered. If it hadn’t been for the fact that you requested it, Black, I would have given up.”


  “Are you prepared to run the farm?”


  “Not at all.”


  Edel shook her head from side to side. She’d learned the most that she could with uncle Ombuti by her side for the past year, in fear of disappointing Black. The conclusion was devastating. She confirmed the fact that she wasn’t the kind of person to rule over others.

  “I heard the news of how Mr. Lackey had managed to suppress the rebellion from uncle Ombuti. The Samaria farm is no longer mine. It’s Black’s farm.”


  “What!”


  Black Mamba flinched in his place. Even if it was the complaints of an immature lady, that was overkill! 9,000,000 pyungs of land wasn’t like peanuts that could be given and received as one pleased. It was a world where brothers killed each other for a field with trenches made of forklifts.

  “It’s not free. It’s Edel’s dowry.” Edel smiled.

  “Guh!”


  Black Mamba’s eyes widened. A shadow flickered past Edel’s face.

  “If I say so, Black, you’d faint, right? Oh, you look like you’re about to. Hahaha!”


  The clear sound of laughter rang across the drylands. Black Mamba looked embarrassed.

  “This is my first time hearing you laugh.”


  You idiot, I’m not laughing because I want to.

  Rain poured down on Edel’s heart.

  “The farm has already left my hands. Uncle Nick owns 90 percent of the shares, and the remaining 10 percent is under Governor Ibrahim Mutafa’s name. It is probably the promised shares for helping uncle Nick.”


  “I’ll take care of it,” Black Mamba answered as though it wasn’t a problem.

  Edel’s face brightened up. Black was truly a man who didn’t hesitate.

  “Just listening to your words make me feel better. Every single day, uncle Ombuti tells me stories about you, Black. With a weapon, the Azrael, and without a weapon, the savior. He said you are his religion and the meaning to his life. It should be easy for someone who can shake the French president by the neck to get rid of a few bad people.”


  Edel raised her small fist and shook it.

  F***, what did that damn old man tell the gullible Edel?

  “Black, uncle Nick’s shares are yours. Give me the governor’s shares. It used to belong to my mother, after all. People have their own stations. I treat people who can’t go to the hospital because they can’t afford it, and Black is someone who treats those ill from power and money.”


  Ha, how eloquent.

  Black Mamba was surprised. He thought she was a naive woman, but she was decisive too.

  “Don’t you think it’s a waste?”


  “Wealth unfitting of one’s station makes them poor.”


  “Well, we’ll say you’re right for now. Were you with Ombuti the whole time?”


  “Yes, I traveled through the whole of the Sahel to the point that all three pickup trucks you gave us broke down, Black. I also met a lot of Tuareg tribe members. Uncle Ombuti even got into a fight with one of them called colonel Kikali. When uncle shouted that he is “Azrael’s representative,” Kikali threw his knife away.”


  “Hm, I think I understand.”


  Lieutenant colonel Kikali from Habib’s army was a man with many ambitions. He wasn’t the kind of person to give up his investment. Now, he didn’t have to worry about Kikali’s forces anymore. Now, he could bring over the Kurd tribe anytime.

  “Black, you weren’t hurt, right?”


  “I’m very healthy that it’s a problem.”


  “There’s a new scar on your forehead. Please don’t get hurt.”


  Tears gathered in Edel’s eyes again. She rubbed the scar gently with her fingers. If possible, she wanted to remove it with an eraser.

  “Oh, that? It’s the scar from banging my head against a leopard three times the size of a tiger.”


  “Hmph, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” Edel pouted.

  “It’s true.” Black Mamba scratched his head.

  Well, who’d believe blacky’s existence anyway? He wondered if the creature had adjusted to the surface’s climate.

  “Let’s go inside. I smell blood from your body. You must be very tired.”


  “Really? Hm.”


  He raised the hem of his sleeve and sniffed. The scent was sharper than usual because of the blood he saw at Total jewelers.

  “Go shower. I’m preparing for dinner. I’m sure you’ll be pleasantly surprised.”


  Edel dragged him along by his hand. Black Mamba was silently impressed. She was from a noble family, which must be why she was different. Edel had salvaged a conversation that could have turned awkward quickly. She relieved his burden of explaining by changing the subject.

  She was a woman who understood that an outburst of emotions took too much from another. Her actions and words were elegant. She was a lady with restraint and care engraved into her bones. Edel was an elegant woman with Hae Young’s passion and Jin Soon’s pureness.

  “Is Ombuti at the company?”


  “Yes, he’s been pulling at his hair trying to construct the textile factory. He’s totally into the business.”


  “That’s a talent I didn’t know he had.”


  “The Cinq Freres Aiglers[1] are helping him out a lot.”


  “Cinq Freres Aiglers?” What did she mean by Five Eagle Brothers? It came out of nowhere.

  “Black’s friends! Emil, Jang Shin, Bellman, Paul, and Edel. Hehehe!”


  Edel included her name on the list of Sahel survivors and giggled. Black Mamba’s mouth turned into a smile. Like a jewel, she was a woman whom he’d fall for if he didn’t get a hold of himself.

  “Well, they are shareholders. Of course, they should help.”


  Black Mamba smiled. The Five Eagle Brothers had invested half of their paychecks each to Ombuti. The only person who had fully invested was Emil. Of course, that had not been willingly arranged.

  Ombuti had clicked his tongue after hearing about Jeanne’s interference. He had committed the ruthless act of investing Emil’s 400,000 francs, which Black Mamba had entrusted, into his company’s capitals.

  Emil had kicked up a fuss, but Ombuti didn’t even snort. Emil could only frown when Ombuti had told him to protest to Black Mamba if he found it unjust. He could already imagine Black Mamba’s club before his eyes.

  “Edel, call me Dong-bang-bull-pae from now on.”


  Bonipas had mentioned the CIA and how they were tracking him. To avoid more trouble, he had to restrain himself from using the call name Black Mamba. There was nothing to fear, but people around him would be at risk if his identity as a consultant was exposed.

  “Okay. Dubai, you should call me Rudrey, then. I’m asking you for the third time.”


  Edel revealed her bitterness at Black Mamba’s insistence on calling her Edel.

  “Fine. Grudging Rudrey!”


  Edel shot him a glare.

  “You’re doing well, Miss Edel.”


  Ombuti’s mouth hung from ear to ear as he looked out from the second-floor window. His wakil and Miss Edel were walking side by side down the white gravel road.

  Greeneries, red flowers, and a narrow white gravel road—his master and the future lady of the house were walking side by side down the road no one had stepped foot on. He didn’t know that his master would arrive a day early.

  “Ehhehehehe!”


  A burst of unusual laughter escaped from his mouth. They looked like a picture. The finest picture he ever wanted to draw finally came to life. It was worth living a long life, as he finally got to witness his master’s gentle side for the first time.

  [1] Five Eagle Brothers.