Chapter 44 - Here Goes One

* * *

"...!"

Haeryeon and Juhyeon both looked at Hyeonyul in surprise. His eyes shifted under their sudden scrutiny.

He hadn't made a mistake. Objectively speaking, it made sense for him to go and ask. No matter how much poison the Poison King poured out, none of it worked on him. It was simple enough to call trivial.

"Are you cra—"

Haeryeon hastily shut her mouth mid-sentence.

"It surprised me too, but he's not exactly wrong, is he?"

Juhyeon laughed, and Haeryeon gave her a long look.

"Unni. Think about it objectively. Of all the Black Eagles I know, at least, he's someone the Poison King's power can't touch at all."

"Juhyeon. Can't you see your Unni sitting here?"

Haeryeon curled her lips into a smile, and Juhyeon looked displeased.

"I know you have excellent poison resistance too. You're among the best. But it doesn't affect him at all. That's an enormous difference."

Poison had been dangerous in the past, and it remained dangerous in the modern day. Was he called the Poison King for nothing? All he had to do was release a single poison, and everyone died. He needed no other powers. He didn't even need to refine his technique.

"Honestly, sometimes I wonder if the Poison King was going easy on us. With that power, he could easily wipe out everyone in this whole area."

Juhyeon slowly closed her eyes, then opened them.

The Poison King was different from the other major villains. He could release as much colorless, odorless poison as he pleased. Was there anything he couldn't do if he set his mind to it? The mere thought painted a horrific future.

Juhyeon tapped the message with a finger.

"Seeing this made me think I was right. Whoever was behind the Poison King had him on a leash and was ordering him to 'stay.'"

Hyeonyul didn't like that idea. But it wasn't wrong. The messages clearly showed that a villain who had only ever maintained his own power base had joined hands with someone. Hyeonyul had thought villains would never cooperate unless they all faced ruin.

He had been wrong.

'What's happening? Did the Poison King lose to someone? If not...'

Perhaps someone had emerged who could bring them together and fulfill the villains' objective. Someone with enough legitimacy to bring even those villains to heel.

"I don't know how this will sound, but killing people isn't the villains' objective. From the very beginning, right up to now, they've only ever had one goal."

Hyeonyul spoke in a calm voice.

"The destruction of the Empire."

That was why the villains had emerged. Some had come along to take a free ride, but other villains tended to kill those people.

"They simply stop at nothing to achieve it. So you may not be wrong when you say the Poison King was going easy on you."

"If that's true, it's a little... disheartening."

Haeryeon let out a long breath. If it was true, that made it all the more demoralizing.

"It almost sounds like everything we've done until now has amounted to nothing."

"That's not true. The Black Eagles are quite notorious among villains. I only said he was going easy on you because we're talking about the Poison King. It was different for the others. They couldn't do what they wanted because they had to watch out for the Black Eagles."

"Should we be happy about being notorious...?"

Juhyeon fiddled with the phone and chuckled. It didn't feel all that bad.

"Thank you for trying to cheer us up, Hyeonyul."

"Not at all."

He shook his head at Haeryeon's words. He had merely stated the facts, not offered comfort.

"Anyway, that's everything I can tell you right now. I'll announce it officially at the next meeting."

Juhyeon concluded the discussion and stood up.

"So may I go see the Poison King?"

Hyeonyul repeated his earlier question. If he was going to see him anyway, he wanted to do it officially. He didn't want to kill someone at the special prison for criminals and needlessly lower morale.

Haeryeon considered it briefly. Meeting the Poison King was the quickest way to ask about this matter. It was also true that Hyeonyul would be safer than anyone else.

"You'll only ask him questions, right?"

"Yes."

"All right. Come with me when I go."

"Understood."

Hyeonyul nodded. His goal was to see the Poison King, regardless of who accompanied him. There were a few things he wanted to ask for his own sake, too.

'I'll have to stop by Doggy's.'

He stared at Haeryeon. Knowing what he wanted, she smiled lightly.

"Go home, Hyeonyul."

As though he had been waiting for those words, Hyeonyul promptly rose from his seat.

"Thank you."

"... You're sending him home already? Unni, is that really okay? It'll make things harder for you."

Juhyeon looked at Haeryeon in surprise. There were still four hours left until the end of the workday.

"Why not have him do a few little things? There's always a huge backlog of missions."

Hyeonyul was unmoved by Juhyeon's words. She was right.

"No. Hyeonyul is injured, and he's going home early today. Hurry along before I change my mind, Hyeonyul."

As soon as Haeryeon finished speaking, he bowed to each of them in turn and left.

"You'll have to go on missions yourself now. Are you sure you'll be okay?"

"It's nothing I can't handle. He's still a new recruit."

Haeryeon smiled.

Juhyeon looked exasperated. She had heard countless times that being a Team Leader meant volunteering for hardship, but Haeryeon took it even further.

"Unni. What about him looks like a new recruit? His abilities are insane."

"Juhyeon. Hyeonyul went through a lot over there. We should let him settle in gradually."

"He seems pretty settled in alrea—"

DING!

A notification sounded.

"Oh, hold on."

Haeryeon checked her computer. A report had arrived on the interrogation of a villain captured during the festival incident.

「... The festival terrorists are estimated to have possessed between 20 and 30 new weapons (suspected).」

Haeryeon's gaze stopped on that passage. Jihwan's concerns had been justified. It was deeply troubling. They had destroyed six new weapons. Didn't that mean the man Nayun had seen had taken at least fourteen?

"What's wrong?"

Juhyeon noticed Haeryeon's expression stiffen.

"... It seems another major villain has appeared."

Was the Poison King's territory really that desirable? She had no idea what was there that made the villains flock to it.

* * *

"... I'm here."

At Hyeonyul's confident announcement, Yujong dropped the glass in his hand.

CRASH!

Realizing this wasn't a dream nearly made him faint. This wasn't the company. It was his home—one of the many homes he owned. Hyeonyul had found out about it and come here.

'Crazy bastard! Ruthless bastard...!'

Yujong barely managed to hold back the curses rising inside him.

"Have you found what I asked for?"

"... How did you know about this place?"

Hyeonyul's lips lifted slightly at Yujong's question.

"Why do you want to know? Were you planning to run away?"

"No! Not at all! Absolutely not!"

"You weren't at the company when I went there, so I came here."

He had hacked the computer at Yujong's desk. His skills fell a little short of a professional hacker's, but he could manage it.

'... He can hack, too?'

Yujong pieced together what Hyeonyul must have done.

"I can."

Watching the movement of Yujong's eyes, Hyeonyul answered before he could ask.

"Isn't that much a virtue every villain should possess?"

Ah.

Hyeonyul started to correct himself, then stopped. Why bother telling him he was a Black Eagle?

"I found information on Asan... the Red Witch, I mean."

"I only need to know where she is now."

"Just a moment."

Yujong headed straight for his room. Before opening the door, he looked back. Seeing Hyeonyul standing there, he slid down to the floor.

"Why... why are you following me?"

"The interior is nicely decorated."

How should one decorate a home? This place seemed to offer the definitive answer. Hyeonyul simply wanted to see how the room was decorated.

"... What?"

What the hell was that supposed to mean? Yujong couldn't make sense of Hyeonyul's words.

"... I'm not going to run away."

Hyeonyul merely looked at him.

"I-I mean it!"

"Yes. You've been diligently gathering information on me. Do you want to kill me?"

As Hyeonyul smiled, Yujong immediately dropped to his knees and slammed his head against the floor.

THUD!

"Th-the thing is, what happened was..."

"Don't bang your head on the floor. You'll disturb the neighbors downstairs."

"P-please give me a chance to explain."

"Yes. Go ahead."

"I didn't gather it myself. I brought back information that had already been gathered."

"Who gathered it?"

"... The Red Witch."

The moment Yujong answered, Hyeonyul grabbed his hair. The Red Witch had obtained information on him, and Yujong had conveniently learned where the Red Witch was. What else could that mean? The two had made a deal.

It was laughable. Making a fool of someone right to his face took only a moment.

"Spare me! Please spare me!"

Yujong begged at the top of his lungs.

"I'm going to kill several villains, including the Red Witch. Don't get yourself added to that list."

It was a warning. Yujong knew that perfectly well. What else could those chilling words be?

"... Y-yes. I'll delete it right away!"

"Don't make me personally destroy every home and building you own."

"I'll never... do it again."

"Kim Yujong."

Hyeonyul called his name. Tears gathered at the corners of Yujong's eyes as fear washed over him.

"Don't try to become my prey."

Hyeonyul held out a hand. Yujong stared at it.

'Is he helping me up?'

When Yujong reached out, Hyeonyul slapped his hand away in apparent displeasure.

"Give it to me."

'... Oh.'

With an awkward smile, Yujong got up and entered the room. When he glanced back, Hyeonyul was there.

"It's nicely decorated. How did you do it?"

"... Well, I hired a company to do it."

"Thank you."

"... You're welcome."

Looking embarrassed, Yujong quickly retrieved the documents and handed them to Hyeonyul.

"What's the Poison King's weakness?"

"Pardon...?"

"I asked what the Poison King's weakness is."

Hyeonyul repeated the question. Taken aback by the abrupt inquiry, Yujong stared blankly for a moment, then shook his head.

"He doesn't have one. ... He certainly shouldn't, but I heard the Black Eagles captured him. It's shocking."

"Do you know who actually caught him?"

"I... don't. Everyone's looking for that Black Eagle. Someone like that is too dangerous to leave alive, aren't they?"

"That's true."

"Are you... hunting them? Are you planning to kill them?"

A derisive laugh escaped Hyeonyul at the question. Being asked whether he planned to kill himself sounded utterly absurd.

"That doesn't concern you."

"... Ah. Of course."

Yujong smiled awkwardly. But he hoped the Mad Dog would kill that person. How strong would someone have to be to capture the Poison King? The Poison King's name alone made people tremble.

"How extensive is the Poison King's power base?"

"He has a foothold near the capital, so you can consider it substantial. ... You're not planning to absorb his forces, are you?"

"Am I not allowed to?"

"A-are you serious? Dozens of factions could clash over that territory right now!"

"Do you know where those factions are?"

Hyeonyul's question was different from before. It was chilling. Yujong swallowed involuntarily.

"... I'll investigate and bring you the information."

"Yes. I'll be waiting."

"... Are you going to kill them all?"

"Does that bother you?"

At Hyeonyul's question, Yujong stepped back and shook his head.

"Don't concern yourself with it. Just focus on doing your part. As long as you do that, I won't touch you."

Hyeonyul walked forward. By the time Yujong looked up, he was already gone.

'... Even that crazy bastard couldn't pull it off, could he?'

There was no way he could.

'No! Go charging in and fucking die!'

As he thought that, Yujong rubbed his neck, which had suddenly gone cold. He glanced around for no reason.

* * *

The information Yujong had handed over included Asan's current residence and the location of an experimental facility owned by the Red Witch. Since it had been obtained by selling information about Hyeonyul, he could use it however he pleased.

From the moment he had decided to make her pay for forcing him to work on his day off, he had thought of nothing but killing her. He hadn't cared what Asan was doing, but seeing the experimental facility changed his mind. He had to get some information out of her, whatever it might be.

Hyeonyul strode boldly through the door.

"Hello."

Asan opened her eyes at the voice. Someone stood there in the darkness of night. A familiar voice. The metallic smell of blood drifted toward her.

Asan curled her lips into a smile.

A Black Eagle had come.