Chapter 11 - Let's Put It in Writing

* * *

"Curious what I know?"

Hyeonyul smiled. Slowly, his expression hardened.

"Shin Daeho was in distribution."

Hyeonyul looked at the man, then let go. He took the gas mask from his bag again and put it on.

The man swallowed hard at those words and actions. He looked as though a scream might burst from his mouth at any moment.

"Someone brought him a new weapon back then. Someone who served the Witch. That was you."

"..."

"I'm told this is a liquor company. Shin Daeho really loved his booze. The bastard was obsessed with alcohol."

Would a man like that have left a liquor company alone?

"The company name didn't mean anything to me, but seeing this logo made something click."

The dead security team's clothing and the screensavers on the computers had given him a clue. The design evoked a wineglass. It was practically Shin Daeho's personal emblem.

"This company had an agreement with Shin Daeho, didn't it...?"

Apart from guarding Shin Daeho or assassinating other villains, Hyeonyul had mostly worked in the office. Naturally, he had seen countless related documents.

As a villain, Shin Daeho couldn't keep so many companies directly under his control, so he had formed an alliance. Its members had sworn loyalty to him in return for support drawing on his technology, connections, and other resources. They called it loyalty, but ultimately it all came down to money.

Hyeonyul gazed steadily at the man. The silence seemed to make him even more flustered.

"Shin Daeho had quite a few affiliated companies under him."

["You see, my master has taken an interest in you. In particular, he said the sight of you killing Shin Daeho was absolutely magnificent."]

The Poison King knew for certain that Shin Daeho was dead. What about the other major villains, then?

"With Shin Daeho dead, why wouldn't they want what he left behind? Apparently, your master heard that the Poison King was moving in on Shin Daeho's distribution business. It would be a problem if the Poison King swallowed up the whole thing, wouldn't it?"

Outside a handful of special circumstances, villains didn't cooperate. Instead, they watched one another warily and tried to devour each other. Yet they did share the goal of destroying the Empire. Ridiculous and absurd as this bunch was, 'destroying the Empire' was precisely the special circumstance that brought them together.

"Did you stage this whole thing to turn people against the Poison King?"

The Poison King used poison. If poison spread, who would be the first suspect?

"In short, your master framed the Poison King to take over this place. Have I summed that up correctly? You can answer now."

Hyeonyul looked at the man. His lips remained tightly shut.

"Am... I obligated to tell you that?"

He tried to sound tough, but Hyeonyul saw the fear betrayed by his behavior and voice.

'So I got it right.'

Hyeonyul drew a breath and checked the time.

"I can wait about five minutes."

"You fucking idiot! You think I'm going to answer you?"

"What are you talking about?"

Hyeonyul sounded incredulous.

"I've already heard the answer I wanted. I'm giving you a choice: go back as you are and die at your master's hands, or come back to the Black Eagles with me and at least stay alive."

His finger had been scraped because of this bastard. He wanted to twist the man's neck right then, but held back. He had never forgotten his goal of rooting every last villain out of this land. Getting this man into the Black Eagles' hands would help in several ways. That was the only reason he was offering him a chance.

"You failed your mission. And mission failure means death, doesn't it? Loyalty? Affection? Do you think a villain has any of that shit?"

Hyeonyul let out a derisive laugh. Expecting anything from a villain was arrogance and stubborn folly. It only ended in death.

"Are you getting paid properly? Are you getting enough sleep? All that endless overtime must be exhausting. I don't understand why you're keeping your mouth shut for that bastard."

'Huh...?'

The man couldn't believe his ears. What on earth had he just heard? The words were so vivid that it felt as though Hyeonyul had worked at his company himself.

"Honestly, I think the answer is already decided. Wouldn't you be better off dropping this pretense of loyalty and coming along quietly?"

The man couldn't readily bring himself to speak. But his eyes were already wavering.

'... I've never met a Black Eagle like this before. Did they start investigating us thoroughly without my knowing?'

He couldn't help being shocked. Had the Empire brought its power to bear? He exhaled slowly.

"Someone in your position must be pretty deeply involved. What leash have they put on you? Your family?"

Hyeonyul asked calmly.

Everyone who joined a villain-run company started out unaware of that fact. Who would go there knowingly? These companies cultivated their image by offering relatively high salaries and unbelievably generous benefits. But that was only their public image. Gradually, they fitted their employees with leashes that made escape impossible.

Taking their families hostage, for instance. Or entangling them in crimes so they could never live ordinary lives again. There were plenty of methods.

"... Ah. I've already removed the drug from your body. You don't need to cling to them for an antidote. Are you still refusing to come?"

It felt like the final time he would ask, so the man shook his head. His leash was gone. That alone had opened up countless choices.

"... How did you know?"

The man asked hesitantly, but Hyeonyul didn't answer. Instead, he pressed him sharply.

"I'm the only one asking questions. Understand your position."

* * *

"... How can you stay so calm?"

Nayun only asked Hyeonyul after they had ridden the eagle back to the Nest. With the White Sparrows arriving at the scene and survivors present, it wasn't something she could bring up casually. Seeing the curiosity in her eyes, he realized she meant no harm.

"Because I used to be a villain."

Hyeonyul answered without hesitation. The rumors had already spread, and he'd told Sinu too. It wasn't much of a secret.

"Really?"

"You've heard the rumors."

"That's different from hearing it from you. I don't like rumors. They can be used to attack anyone, anytime."

"The rumors are true."

Hyeonyul watched Nayun, testing her reaction.

"No wonder. Your work was far too clean for a rookie."

Only then did Nayun understand why he had stayed so calm and captured the ringleader without batting an eye.

"Oh, you are still a rookie, though. A rookie with experience."

Former villain or not, Hyeonyul was still the rookie everyone wished for. She was very pleased.

"... Does that reaction run in Team Three?"

Her response wasn't what Hyeonyul had expected. It was so anticlimactic that it could have taken the wind out of his sails.

"Does Sinu know too?"

"He does."

"Well, then there's only one answer. Sinu and I both trust our Team Leader."

Nayun smiled as though stating the obvious. This was a rookie chosen by Haeryeon, of all people. That alone was proof enough.

"I know you can't trust that. I'm sure you've been through plenty of things I couldn't even ask about. Once you've experienced it yourself, you'll probably understand why I said that today."

"Is that so?"

No matter how spiritedly Nayun spoke, her words didn't reach Hyeonyul. They felt no different from the whispers he heard in passing.

"Anyway, that's a relief, isn't it? You'll see all kinds of things from now on. You must have a strong stomach?"

"I believe so."

"I'm glad."

His answer genuinely reassured Nayun.

Seeing dead people was merely the baseline. And it hardly stopped at seeing the dead. There were plenty of disgusting, filthy incidents that made you sick of humanity. Quite a few people had quit because they hated this work. Knowing he at least wouldn't leave for those reasons already put her at ease.

"Any questions about this mission? Ask me anything. I'll answer."

"How difficult was this mission?"

By now, Hyeonyul was curious. There would be countless missions ahead. What level could he expect?

"Average. Not hard, not easy. Right in the middle, I'd say."

"So this is the usual level?"

"That's really just by my standards. All I had to do was snipe accurately from a distance, so it felt average to me. Mission difficulty is relative, which makes it hard to establish a benchmark. But we often handle jobs alone that would be comfortable with at least two people."

Hyeonyul nodded at her answer. If this was roughly the norm, the workload was quite reasonable.

"How did you destroy the barrier?"

"You're really curious about that, aren't you? I've been waiting for you to ask."

Nayun's eyes sparkled. Hyeonyul felt he had touched on something he shouldn't have.

'... I shouldn't have asked.'

Still, he genuinely wanted to know how she'd found the center of its power.

"Please explain."

Hyeonyul braced himself a little as he asked.

* * *

"Good work out there, Hyeonyul."

Haeryeon greeted him with a smile.

"Chu Nayun received another mission on the way and left immediately."

"I know. Sinu got a mission and left too. I'm often the only one here, so you'll be seeing a lot of me."

"What work do you do, Team Leader?"

Haeryeon hadn't expected him to ask outright and burst out laughing. Once again, she realized he was more thorough than she had expected.

"Curious?"

"Yes, I am."

As soon as he answered, Haeryeon turned her computer screen toward him.

"I'm writing reports on the missions our team members completed."

"You write the reports? How does that work? Do you write down what we tell you?"

"No. There's a body camera on the uniform you're wearing."

At her words, Hyeonyul looked down. Fittingly for the Black Eagles, the uniform was predominantly black, with white accents here and there, including the shoulders and sleeves.

When he gave her a look that seemed to ask what she was talking about, Haeryeon drew a deep breath.

"... Were you not told when you received your uniform?"

"I wasn't. Big brother Baek Sinu told me it would protect me from various things."

"I see. They didn't tell you."

Haeryeon smiled coldly. Her fist tightened. Explaining this was the White Sparrows' job.

"You're not angry, are you?"

"I'm not."

"Good. Then I'll bring this up, so don't get involved. The same goes for other matters. You're just starting to build exactly the right image."

The monster rookie.

Today's mission had been ideal for building that image, and the fact that he was still on probation made it shine all the brighter.

"Understood."

Hyeonyul didn't know what image she meant, nor did he care. What did it matter?

"Anyway, a Team Leader mostly writes reports for the members, interrogates villains you bring in like today, and attends meetings to decide our course based on the information extracted. Then I pass that information on to the team. Of course, managing team members is my job too."

With personnel in short supply, every single team member was an invaluable asset. It was fair to say they had painstakingly devised this system so the members could focus solely on their missions.

"Unless there's absolutely nobody else who can go on a mission, I guard the Nest. We have an internal rule that at least three Team Leaders must stay here to protect it. Does that explain things?"

She kept it brief and simple. A Team Leader had more duties than that, but listing them would only eat up time.

"Thank you for explaining."

Only then did Hyeonyul understand why the Nest was safe despite being out in the open. It was guarded by people as powerful as the Team Leaders themselves.

"Can you give me your report now? Just tell me who you brought back and what happened inside."

"He wasn't a subordinate of the Poison King. However, I learned that the Poison King is reaching out to seize control of Shin Daeho's affiliated companies."

"So someone made a move to keep him in check?"

"Yes, that's right. I imagine that man will know the finer details."

"Nice and simple. I had something to tell you too. Is now a good time?"

"Please go ahead."

"Through the ringleader from your previous case with Sinu, we found the second location for the test subjects."

"Where is it?"

"It was a site within ten kilometers of the company where the poison spread today. According to a report that came in about thirty minutes ago, there was an explosion there. That's where Nayun went."

"That's a strange amount of overlap."

"Exactly. We don't know what's going on yet, but I'll let you know when we find out."

After that brief reply, Haeryeon spoke again.

"Hyeonyul."

"Yes?"

"Do you intend to keep working here?"

Hyeonyul's eyes wavered wildly at the unexpected question. Why was she suddenly asking this? It wasn't a good sign. Was he about to be fired?

"... Have I done something wrong?"

"No, it's nothing like that."

"It... isn't?"

"That's right. Usually, people who are going to quit do so around this point. If you quit, you need to sign an agreement with a confidentiality clause first."

Only then did Hyeonyul regain his composure.

"As long as you honor the benefits package, I have absolutely no intention of quitting."

"Of course we will. We'll honor it no matter what happens. But this is your last chance to choose. After this, there's no backing out. There's a reason this job comes with so many benefits. Are you still all right with that?"

"I am. There's no better place for me than this."

At Hyeonyul's firm answer, Haeryeon heard a fanfare ringing in her ears. Who knew how many fireworks had gone off? She was so excited she felt her face might flush.

"Good. Shall we fill out your employment contract now?"

Smiling brightly, Haeryeon took a document from her drawer and set it down. They were civil servants, but because of their special duties, they had to complete this paperwork.

'... I was wondering when we'd sign it. So this is the moment.'

The moment had finally come. Hyeonyul's expression changed first. He knew that from here on, it was war.