Chapter 2 - I'm Looking for a Job

* * *

BANG!

Someone in the conference room slammed a clenched fist against the floor. The creases in his wrinkled face deepened, his expression sharpening as he vented his frustration.

"How does this make any sense?!"

BANG!

Tendons stood out along his thick, muscular forearm as his fist struck down. A black eagle emblem adorned his clothes.

"We found where that bastard was, and it turned out to be a fake! A fake...!"

"Old man, you'll keel over at this rate."

The woman glanced at the middle-aged man while fiddling with her phone.

"Who the hell plays with their phone during a meeting?"

"Old man, all I need to do is listen. What's with the boomer act today?"

CLICK.

The woman winked as she took a picture.

"What...? This happened because your Team Seven didn't do its job properly!"

"You're the one who should watch what you say, old man. You led this operation to catch that bastard Shin Daeho. Who could've known the place was a decoy? All we did was wreck an innocent building."

As a smile spread across her face, the middle-aged man trembled with rage.

"Do you even know who gave us that information?"

"Oh, right. That was our Team Seven. Sorry."

She stuck her tongue out slightly at him. A star decoration was affixed to her face.

"Now, now, both of you, please calm down. Getting worked up won't bring Shin Daeho back."

A woman with light brown hair in tight, tousled curls gave them a good-natured smile.

"We lost Shin Daeho, but we haven't lost his trail yet. It was a decoy, but didn't you say you captured his subordinates in that building? That's the result of Team Seven and Team Two's leaders working together."

She was trying to change the mood. If this continued, relations between Teams Seven and Two would only deteriorate. Their work frequently required cooperation between teams, so they needed to get along. Yet the two Team Leaders were always snarling at each other, itching to tear each other apart.

"You heard Haeryeon, didn't you, old man?"

"I did. You heard what she said too, didn't you?"

"Old man, I said it first."

"This is why children won't do. So childish."

"You want to have a go, then? Is that it, old man?"

"Yes. Let's have a go."

As the tension rose again, Haeryeon intervened. She set something down: a bottle containing a thick green liquid.

"Drink this, and you'll get along for about three minutes. Shall I force it down your throats, or would you rather stop fighting?"

The corners of Haeryeon's eyes tilted upward. She was the sort who followed through on her threats, so both of them cleared their throats.

AHEM, AHEM.

"But can we decide this among ourselves? Not all the teams are here, are they?"

Only Teams Two, Three, and Seven had gathered.

"Haeryeon, didn't you hear?" the woman asked her.

"Hear what?"

"The old man and I started fighting again, so everyone said they were sick of it and left, telling us to sort it out ourselves. They handed us the authority to decide everything."

"Hmph! Those young brats! Leaving instead of trying to stop a fight!"

"Maybe they all left because you keep acting like a boomer, old man?"

She raised an eyebrow, and the middle-aged man looked at her disapprovingly. Given their age difference, she could have been his granddaughter. Her constant backtalk grated on him, yet he couldn't quite hate her.

"How is that my fault? Blame those brats for saying nasty things just because they'd been assigned missions."

He supplied the fact she had left out.

"So we can decide anything ourselves? Anything at all."

The corners of Haeryeon's lips rose. At that suspicious smile, the woman and the middle-aged man shouted together.

"That's not what it means, Haeryeon!"

"Exactly! That's not what it means, Haeryeon!"

"It is what it means. They even handed over all their authority, so why should it matter what we do? We all know perfectly well how busy everyone is."

Haeryeon smiled and loosened her fingers. She considered taking this opportunity to start relaxing the restrictive regulations.

"Where should we start? With how to fill our already understaffed ranks? While we're at it, perhaps we could raid the national coffers..."

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Just then, urgent knocking came from the door. All three turned toward it.

"I'll get it."

Haeryeon stood and opened the door.

"W-we've got trouble! Outside—there's a lunatic outside!"

"Sorry...?"

Haeryeon was baffled. A lunatic? This was the Nest, home to the Black Eagles who hunted down villains. Who would do something crazy here?

"H-he says he brought Sh-Shin Daeho's head."

"...?"

An enormous question mark sprang up in Haeryeon's mind.

* * *

"... Good heavens."

Haeryeon stared at the test report in her hand, unable to close her mouth. The results matched Shin Daeho. It really was his head.

A little earlier, she'd been told some man had arrived carrying a severed head. That was more than enough to earn him the label of lunatic.

"Bwahahaha!"

The middle-aged man burst out laughing beside her.

"Old man, how can you laugh right now?"

Team Seven's leader narrowed her eyes.

"He's brought us Shin Daeho's head. How could I not laugh?"

"How is this even possible? We tried so hard to catch him."

Team Seven's leader moved her thumb rapidly over her phone. How had that man killed Shin Daeho when none of them had managed it? Wearing an incredulous expression, she took a picture of herself.

CLICK.

"Did you just take a picture of me?"

The voice of the man sitting bound in the interrogation room came through the speaker. Even in this situation, he seemed largely unfazed.

"No? I took one of myself. Would you let me take yours, though?"

Team Seven's leader actually welcomed the idea. Aside from his oddly numerous scars, he was very much her type. Unkempt black hair covered his face, and the casually tied ponytail hanging down behind him suited him remarkably well.

"No."

He shook his head, rejecting the suggestion flatly. The hair that had lifted fell back down.

"Wait, you can hear us?"

Team Seven's leader asked in wonder. She hadn't switched on the microphone yet.

When Haeryeon headed out, Team Seven's leader watched her in surprise.

"Haeryeon, where are you going?"

"To see him in person."

Haeryeon entered the interrogation room and sat down.

"I'm Oh Haeryeon, Team Leader of the Black Eagles' Team Two."

She began by introducing herself. That came first.

"I'm Seo Hyeonyul, currently looking for a job."

Haeryeon smiled lightly at his reply. Whether or not he was joking, he was clearly very cooperative.

"First, I apologize for the inconvenience. You're being temporarily detained in accordance with procedure. Are your wrists hurting?"

Whatever Hyeonyul's intentions, he was an outsider. Regardless of their reason for coming, outsiders who arrived without an appointment could be temporarily detained.

"It's fine. I consider it a reasonable measure."

Hyeonyul was calm. He had arrived carrying a head, after all.

"Have you confirmed Shin Daeho's identity and mine?"

He had cooperated as much as possible for their sake.

"Yes. We've finished the checks."

Haeryeon nodded. He was indeed Seo Hyeonyul, and he had no criminal record. The unusual points were that he hadn't received even a basic education and had an excessive number of hospital visits on record. She couldn't fathom why he went to the hospital practically every other day.

'Is he sickly, despite how he looks?'

The thought passed through Haeryeon's mind.

"First, I'd like to ask whether you killed Shin Daeho, Mr. Seo."

"I killed him alone."

"Alone? All...by yourself?"

Haeryeon's eye twitched for the briefest moment. Did that make any sense? Shin Daeho was, broadly speaking, a major villain.

"Yes."

"... How were you able to kill him?"

"I cut his head off in a single stroke with a dagger. Did you see his startled expression?"

"... I did."

"Apparently, he didn't think he would die."

Hyeonyul smiled lightly, and Haeryeon took note of his expression. It was rather chilling.

"Then why did you kill him?"

As she asked, she recalled what she had heard earlier.

["H-he said it was Shin Daeho's head. Then something about...the four major social insurance plans? Yes. He asked if we offered those. He's a lunatic."]

"I brought that bastard's head as part of my job search."

"..."

Haeryeon blinked. She couldn't see the connection between job hunting and Shin Daeho's head.

"I saw the special recruitment notice."

"... You mean the Black Eagles' recruitment notice?"

Haeryeon's gaze began to waver.

"Yes. What else would I mean?"

"I'm quite sure the notice specified arresting the target, not killing them."

Her voice rose slightly.

"Isn't that essentially the same thing? The Black Eagles have exceptional authority to kill villains, so you'd kill them anyway."

The internet was full of that much information. Authority to kill people in a modern society—it showed how serious the Empire was about getting rid of villains.

Villains were more a collection of individuals than one large organization. Deploying the army would clearly cause even greater chaos, but leaving them alone would allow them to grow. The Black Eagles had been created to prevent that.

"You're a civilian, Mr. Seo."

"I know. But I'm also aware that the law makes allowances even when private individuals kill villains. So there's no problem."

Hyeonyul pointed out the legal loophole. Even his brief search through the rulings had revealed a considerable bias. He was right, so Haeryeon couldn't readily respond.

None of that mattered.

"In any case, there was nothing saying I couldn't kill him, so I've met the conditions. Haven't I?"

"You have."

Haeryeon hesitated briefly before answering. In broad terms, he could be said to have met the conditions.

"There were 'no restrictions' on eligibility. Does that mean it doesn't matter what I've done in the past?"

Hyeonyul asked just to be sure. There had been cases where the story changed once he reached the interview.

"Yes. There are no restrictions on eligibility."

Haeryeon assured him firmly. With their current staffing shortage, they couldn't raise the requirements any further.

"Are the employee benefits exactly as advertised too?"

"They are. Why would we list them otherwise?"

"Requirements and benefits often change at the interview."

"What...? Who would do something so despicable?"

Haeryeon broke off, appalled. Putting out a recruitment notice with the intention of deceiving people from the outset!

"Quite a few employers."

Hyeonyul kept his answer brief. This was effectively an interview now.

"I will carry on the Black Eagles' resolve and eradicate villains at the root."

Hyeonyul spoke emphatically. They had promised to enroll him in the four major social insurance plans, then failed to do so. They hadn't let him take vacations or sick leave. They made him work overtime as routinely as eating meals, without paying overtime wages.

Trash like that had to disappear.

"I thought it was better to demonstrate my ability than merely talk about it."

"What kind of work have you done until now?"

Haeryeon played along with his idea that this was an interview. There was no record of him attending school or working for a company.

"I worked for companies run by villains."

"Was that voluntary? Or were you threatened into working there?"

Though inwardly startled, Haeryeon struggled to maintain her composure.

"Few companies offered pay that could cover my medical bills, and they recruited me."

"... What?"

It was Team Seven's leader, not Haeryeon, who asked in surprise. Recruited?

"It's true. You may consider me a villain, but my wish to become a Black Eagle is sincere."

Hyeonyul put the decision in their hands. The choice was theirs now.

'I hope they don't turn me down.'

This was the only workplace where killing villains was the job itself, and he would even get paid for it. If they rejected him, he intended to ask whether he could still collect the bounty.

"First, let me ask you something."

Haeryeon spoke calmly. This was a problem they had never faced before and probably never would again. Precisely because it was such a headache, it stirred her up all the more.

"If you're hired here, you may be treated unfairly because you used to be a villain. Are you all right with that?"

"What exactly do you mean by unfairly? Would it affect things like my salary, sick leave, or annual leave?"

Hyeonyul's eyebrows rose slightly. Surely they wouldn't behave like the villains?

"No. I mean people's attitudes toward you, Mr. Seo."

"Oh, in that case, it's fine. I can just ignore them."

Hyeonyul relaxed. And here he'd thought it was something serious.

"Good! That's the spirit! I like it!"

A deep male voice rang out. Hyeonyul didn't miss that detail.

'One more.'

There were three people here in total.

"Come on, old man! This isn't something you can decide so easily!"

A woman's horrified voice followed.

"Old man! Where are you going..."

BANG.

The door opened. A middle-aged but exceptionally muscular man entered, laughing heartily.

"We have seven teams in total. Fortunately for you, only three squad leaders are left here today. We've been given authority to make decisions that the others will accept, whatever the outcome. I don't care whether you were a villain or anything else. I'm in favor."

Team Two's leader spoke firmly. At this promising start, the corners of Hyeonyul's mouth lifted slightly, as though it were only natural.

CLACK.

The door opened hurriedly, and Team Seven's leader emerged.

"I'm against it. He has no documented history, and I don't see why we need to accept him just because the head he brought belongs to Shin Daeho."

"Well said. Shin Daeho. He took that bastard on alone. What more do you want to see? We're the Black Eagles."

Team Two's leader looked at her, confronting her with reality.

Their argument taught Hyeonyul something he hadn't known.

'Looks like that bastard Shin Daeho was a bigger deal than I thought.'

Who knew he'd prove useful after death?

"I know what you mean. Being strong is good. But the fact that he did it alone makes me uneasy."

Team Seven's leader put down her phone. What kind of power did he possess to make that possible? What would happen if he turned it against them? That was what troubled her.

Hyeonyul naturally turned to Haeryeon. Only she remained. As she considered her answer and was about to speak, something buzzed.

BZZZZZ.

The smartwatches worn by Haeryeon and the leaders of Teams Two and Seven lit up simultaneously.

"What's happened?"

Haeryeon asked as she operated hers. The transmission came through her smartwatch to the wireless earbud in her ear.

<A minute ago, we received a message from a villain. They claim to have planted a bomb in a village about ten kilometers from here. The bomb appears powerful enough to destroy the entire village.>

GRRRK.

Haeryeon gritted her teeth at the news. The timing was so perfect it almost seemed orchestrated.

"... Understood."

She immediately ended the transmission and looked at the Team Leaders.

"Please contact the bomb disposal team. I'll check whether any teams have been deployed to that area."

"... Haeryeon."

Team Seven's leader spoke up.

"What?"

"The bomb disposal team isn't here right now."

"...?"

"She's right. A serial bomber has turned up."

Even Team Two's leader's face hardened. The timing really was awful. But with a serial bomber involved, there was no helping it. One wrong move could blow up a city.

"Are you in a difficult position?"

All eyes turned to Hyeonyul as he spoke. Seemingly satisfied, he continued.

"I can take care of that."

You?

That was what all their looks said.

"Do you need help?"

The corners of Hyeonyul's mouth lifted slightly.