Chapter 40 - Bombs Are Not Art (2)

* * *

Yujong swallowed hard under that chilling gaze.

“W-well, you see...”

“Just answer the question.”

If Asan was indeed the villain who had come to take the Poison King’s place after his death, Hyeonyul intended to show her just how steep the price was for making him work on his day off.

Hadn’t he joined the Black Eagles after deciding to eliminate villains anyway? They would be pleased to have one major player erased.

Only small fry would fill the vacuum left by the big players. Those small fry didn’t know how to fight in secret. Once they started slashing at one another, he figured the Black Eagles would eventually notice.

“... Could you give me a little more time?” Yujong asked hesitantly.

“Will you find her if I do?”

“Yes...! Yes! Of course.”

Yujong nodded over and over.

“Find out where the Poison King obtained information about me, too.”

“Wouldn’t that have been Shin Daeho’s... doing?”

“It could have been.”

After killing Shin Daeho, Hyeonyul had erased every piece of information about himself. But someone might have already possessed that information beforehand.

“I’m asking you to tell me who leaked my information. I’ll kill them as well, so don’t worry about retaliation.”

“I wasn’t... worried,” Yujong mumbled.

Who was he to worry about anyone else? He was more worried about his own neck right now.

“Are you getting out of this business?”

“Of course! It’s just... taking some time.”

“I can wait, but I’m not the one giving you time right now. The Black Eagles are, aren’t they?”

Yujong bit his lip at Hyeonyul’s cold smile. There was no way the Black Eagles wouldn’t raid this place.

“I warned you in advance, didn’t I? Didn’t you take care of things yourself? Or were you stupid enough to get caught?”

At Hyeonyul’s words, Yujong lowered his gaze and shook his head.

“I saved your life. Be grateful.”

The Mad Dog was running his mouth, but he was right. If he hadn’t told Yujong about the Black Eagles, they would already have dragged him away.

The money he had received for his work as an information broker was in another account under a borrowed name, and he had kept this entertainment agency’s operations fairly clean. Even so, the Black Eagles would still be watching the place, yet that Mad Dog came and went as freely as if it were his own home.

‘Catch him, not me. Catch that bastard, you Eagle fuckers!’

Yujong suppressed his seething emotions and lifted his head. His eyes met Hyeonyul’s. The sight of those eyes, utterly devoid of light, sent chills over his skin.

“Why haven’t you released the people you drugged and forced to stamp their contracts?”

“... What?”

“Did you think I wouldn’t know about that?”

The tricks used to lure people in were all much the same. Why hadn’t he thought of that, with a villain standing right in front of him?

“Don’t give anyone grounds to hold this against you later. Release them and make a clean break. If you refuse, may I destroy this place?”

“N-n-no. I’ll release them! I will!”

“Then keep up the hard work. I’ll visit again soon.”

Hyeonyul opened the window and jumped out. By the time Yujong looked outside, he was gone.

‘... Crazy bastard.’

Yujong clutched his hair. He had thought he was finally getting free of that bastard, but there was no escaping him.

‘Die! Just fucking die!’

Yujong ranted inwardly, unable to bring himself to say the words aloud. There was nothing he could do. The moment Hyeonyul discovered even the slightest involvement on his part, he would kill him in the most agonizing way possible.

‘Eagles, I’m telling you to take him away! Please...!’

All he could do now was plead with the Black Eagles he had hated so much.

* * *

“Good even—”

“Hyeonyul!” Haeryeon called urgently.

“... Yes.”

Hyeonyul stepped back. He had no idea why she was in such a hurry.

“You’re just in time!”

“... Pardon?”

“I need you to go defuse a bomb right away.”

“Has the Bomber appeared?”

The collaborator incident had begun when he stole a White Sparrow’s phone. Its owner had died that very day. Hyeonyul had thought magic was the cause, but it had turned out to be the Bomber’s work. In other words, the Bomber could even make magical bombs.

“Yes. It’s a magical bomb... Can you defuse this kind too?”

Haeryeon looked as though she was forcing herself not to rush him. Hyeonyul answered without hesitation.

“I can. Internally, magical bombs aren’t very different from conventional ones.”

Bombs were a villain’s virtue. Hyeonyul was reminded of that once again. He had wondered where he would ever use what he’d learned. To think he would use it like this.

He had to be useful. That was the only way to prove his worth.

“Shall I leave now?”

“Members of another team will be there. Just get rid of the bombs and come back. Only the bombs.”

“Understood.”

“Whatever that team tells you to do, don’t do it. Just get rid of the bombs.”

As though emphasizing it twice wasn’t enough, Haeryeon repeated the same point again.

‘It doesn’t seem like a difficult job...’

Why was she stressing it so much? Hyeonyul gazed steadily at her.

Nothing had been difficult since he became a Black Eagle. He hadn’t had to spend days lying in wait without sleeping or eating properly to kill the leader of a rival band of villains, nor had leaked information led him into an ambush where he nearly died.

That didn’t mean he could say life as a Black Eagle was easy compared with being a villain. It was simply a little smoother because they handed every miscellaneous task over to the White Sparrows, as though determined to focus solely on taking villains down.

“If they try to pick a fight, ignore them and tell me.”

Haeryeon stepped closer, and Hyeonyul hesitated.

‘... I suppose I can’t kill them?’

Killing them was cleaner than ignoring them. He could never get used to taking such a roundabout approach to something so simple.

“You don’t need to be scared. I’ll protect you no matter what happens.”

At Haeryeon’s words, Hyeonyul did not dismiss the thought that suddenly crossed his mind.

“... Was it you, Team Leader?”

“Was what me?”

“I know the Empire has no reason to welcome me.”

‘... Oh. So that’s why he asked that earlier.’

Haeryeon recalled what Hyeonyul had said a little earlier.

[“Does that protection include me?”]

Whatever else she knew, she knew Hyeonyul always spoke about himself as though discussing someone else. He had done it then, too. He was unquestionably a Black Eagle, yet he had singled himself out as the exception.

‘I thought he was adjusting well. Is he still not there yet?’

Haeryeon felt anxious. The line Hyeonyul had drawn seemed especially stark today. She wondered what to do about it.

To her, he seemed to stand halfway between the villains and the Black Eagles. Could he return to being a villain at any moment if something went even slightly wrong? If the blade he harbored turned toward the Black Eagles, they might face their worst enemy.

She didn’t want that ending. Not when she was only now beginning to understand who Seo Hyeonyul was.

“Hyeonyul. I’m the one who accepted you. I’m the one who told you to join our team. So no matter what anyone says, I’m on your side.”

Haeryeon told him the truth so he could feel reassured. She could say it as many times as he needed. Everyone had things about them that others couldn’t understand. Hyeonyul simply had a few more.

“And I intend to stay on your side even if you stop being a Black Eagle.”

Haeryeon smiled, and Hyeonyul’s eyes slowly widened. He had neither hoped for nor expected such an answer.

Those words were deeply unfamiliar.

Deeply.

“And Hyeonyul, you seem to have misunderstood something. When we accepted you, the higher-ups didn’t object.”

“Why not?”

“I thought they might take issue with it too, and I prepared for that. But their answer was, ‘It doesn’t matter,’ and, ‘Welcome the new Black Eagle.’”

‘The Empire... said that?’

Hyeonyul did not readily accept her words. If the Empire truly welcomed test subjects, Jeongmin wouldn’t have been hounded over performance targets at his old hospital, and Hyeonyul wouldn’t have had to wander the streets at night, holding his failing body together while searching for a doctor who would help him.

“Thank you for telling me.”

“Of course. Ask if there’s anything you want to know. I’ll answer as much as I can.”

“Yes. Then I’ll be standing by.”

Hyeonyul bowed formally, then went to board the eagle.

‘We really should... hold the welcome party, shouldn’t we? That would help him feel secure, wouldn’t it?’

A welcome party would help him feel that he belonged. Haeryeon pondered it, then pondered it some more.

* * *

‘... I can’t get used to this.’

Hyeonyul quickly swallowed his medicine as nausea churned inside him. Everything else about the eagle was fine, but that queasiness alone was enough to make him want to plunge into the darkness and travel on his own.

After several long exhalations, he reviewed the mission.

「*Incident Onset

—The location is an art college. Following a student’s report that “there’s a sound coming from somewhere,” campus security investigated and identified a bomb.

*Incident Progress

—A Black Eagles bomb disposal team was dispatched to dismantle the bomb.

—After the bomb was dismantled, a new magical bomb appeared, accompanied by the words, “You defused that one?”

—The new magical bomb’s range expanded to encompass the entire university building.

—A condition was added that it would detonate if anyone inside went outside.

—A further condition was added that it would detonate if an impact was delivered from outside to inside.

—A police bomb disposal team was dispatched but failed to dismantle the bomb.

*Points to Keep in Mind

—Not all students in the building have evacuated. Student safety comes first.

—Students must not be exposed to negative thoughts that the bomb cannot be dismantled.

—Do not touch the building from outside.

—The bomb must not detonate.」

‘... So this is a university?’

Hyeonyul looked at the building as he walked. No wonder it seemed so large.

There was nothing particularly unusual about its exterior walls. No magic was flowing through them, either.

‘Will it really explode if I touch it?’

Hyeonyul grew curious.

—A condition was added that it would detonate if anyone inside went outside.

—A further condition was added that it would detonate if an impact was delivered from outside to inside.

Those two conditions. Were they true? He was dealing with a villain.

‘Let’s assume the part about going outside is true. But how much of an impact are we talking about?’

Ever since his eyes had ceased to be human, he had been able to see through magic. He even knew the real faces of the Black Eagles hidden behind their magical disguises.

Hyeonyul discreetly moved his darkness and poked it into the building. Nothing happened. Even when he applied a little more force and shook it, everything remained quiet.

‘... Aha. Clever wordplay.’

He knew exactly what was going on. A mouth might tell lies, but magic could not. An impact delivered from outside to inside had to literally qualify as an “impact” to trigger it.

‘Whatever the threshold for that impact is, the Black Eagles can’t test it.’

They valued human lives above all else and would consider even attempting to test it wrong.

Without stopping, Hyeonyul covered one eye.

‘Then there’s no harm in checking where the magical bombs are.’

Their locations had already been shared and appeared on the map, but it might not be complete. Above all, he had no wish to give those always looking to tear into him any ammunition.

Even after the collaborator incident had ended, the looks directed at him remained unfriendly. They only kept their mouths shut out of fear of disciplinary action.

Hyeonyul shifted his gaze while studying the map. Magical bombs didn’t look particularly special. Infuse an everyday object with magic, and it became a bomb.

He couldn’t use magic, so he didn’t know how the formulas were embedded, but he had once overheard someone say it was easier to make a hundred times as many conventional bombs than to make magical ones. Correspondingly, very few people could make them.

Checking their locations revealed all sorts of objects: flowerpots, picture frames, desks, chairs, and more. Unlike the objects around them, they were covered in strange patterns, making them easy to recognize at a glance.

‘... There are more, just as I thought.’

Hyeonyul found bombs that weren’t on the map. There were five more in this building alone. Since the university had several sections, there could be others elsewhere. How many more were there?

There were several conditions this time. He couldn’t afford to do anything foolish inside.

‘Will they actually believe me if I say there are more magical bombs?’

Hyeonyul didn’t get his hopes up. Wouldn’t it be better to deal with the rest quietly?

Defusing magical bombs was simpler than defusing conventional ones. All he had to do was erase part of the formula that translated to “explode.” He had heard the problem was that even mages couldn’t see those formulas.

‘And even if they could see them, didn’t they say things like handwriting made them confusing...?’

None of that mattered. Before bringing out his darkness, Hyeonyul turned his head. Someone was standing there.

“I thought there was a rat sneaking around. You could at least announce yourself when you arrive,” a man from Team Five sneered.

Team Five’s leader had been a collaborator. Its members had inevitably come under suspicion as well, and only after a thorough investigation had they been officially cleared.

Considering that the Black Eagle he had killed hadn’t belonged to Team Five, Hyeonyul thought the mastermind had at least used his head.

[“Team Five will take on the dangerous missions from now on. They volunteered, and I agreed because I knew they were doing it to rebuild trust.”]

He had heard that from Haeryeon, but he thought it was simply foolish. Seeing the haggard state of this man, who clearly hadn’t slept properly for days, did nothing to change his mind.

“I wasn’t instructed to greet anyone who treats me like a rat,” Hyeonyul said, gazing steadily at the man.

They were the ones who had foolishly chosen to give up their leave and volunteer to work. Why were they glaring at him?

The man snorted.

“The mission isn’t going as planned. If my language was harsh, I apologize.”

“Yes. You seem to be having a hard time proving you aren’t collaborators,” Hyeonyul said without the slightest change in expression.

The corners of the man’s mouth trembled. He barely swallowed his anger.

“Why are you angry? I merely said you seemed to be having a hard time. Or is there something weighing on your conscience?”

Hyeonyul smiled faintly. That bastard had struck first.