Chapter 47 - It Always Starts With the Little Things

* * *

Sinu moved to another spot and began explaining.

"The thing is..."

Hyeonyul listened closely. A corporate investigation. It was a decidedly unfamiliar assignment.

"It's one of our regular assignments. First, the managers conduct a preliminary investigation into the companies."

"Yes."

"Then, if something suspicious turns up, we step in."

"Why do we step in?"

Hyeonyul wondered whether this was another miscellaneous chore. It wasn't an assignment that involved confronting villains directly.

"Because we're the ones best positioned to handle things."

"What do you mean by that?"

"We have more legal privileges on our side."

"Ah..."

Hyeonyul understood immediately. Following the law whenever possible made things easier.

'Is this how Shin Daeho came up? While they were investigating a major corporation?'

They still hadn't identified the major corporation run by villains that Shin Daeho had been involved with. Apparently, tracing the evidence was difficult with such a large company as their opponent.

'They'll handle it.'

Hyeonyul gave it no further thought. He had no desire to engage in a battle of nerves over villains who weren't even hovering around in front of him.

"Anyway, this is an assignment everyone wants."

"Why is that?"

"Because it's perfect for slacking off."

Sinu beamed. They needed assignments that let them clear their heads once in a while.

"Didn't you say there were suspicious circumstances? If we have to look around, it will take a fair amount of time."

"Well... hmm, we can't do this secretly. The inspection happens the same day they're notified, but they still have to know about it."

"Are you saying the investigation is only for show?"

"Not entirely, but they'll get in our way, won't they? What I mean is, it's hard to conduct a thorough investigation."

"Then you're saying we can investigate properly if we stop them from interfering?"

Sinu narrowed their eyes at Hyeonyul's remark.

"... I suppose that's true."

That was how everyone had always done it. They had tried taking a different approach, but there were too many watchful eyes. Sinu's own power was suited to attacking and couldn't be applied to anything else.

But with Hyeonyul...

Sinu stepped closer to Hyeonyul and lowered their voice.

"Can you do it?"

"I can."

"Do you want to investigate thoroughly?"

"An assignment must always be completed properly."

Since it was an easy assignment, he could have taken it easy, but Hyeonyul had no intention of doing so. How could Sinu not want to help when he was being so commendable?

"All right. Let's give it a try today."

Sinu smiled with renewed resolve.

* * *

Before entering, Hyeonyul looked up. Even at a glance, the company they were investigating appeared to be on the larger end of small and medium-sized businesses. Its factory was particularly sizable.

'... It's clean. Looks new.'

Hyeonyul studied the building. They seemed to have quite a lot of money.

"Nervous?" Sinu asked with a chuckle.

"I'm not nervous."

At his reply, Sinu lightly pointed to their ear, where a wireless earpiece sat.

"Contact me through this if it's urgent."

"Understood."

Hyeonyul followed Sinu inside. The only way to find out whether villains ran this company was to take a close look. No company openly declared that its owners were villains. He would have to examine everything carefully.

Conversations. Symbols. The smell of blood.

Usually, that last one was enough to weed them out. No matter how many times someone washed, the lingering smell of old blood was difficult to erase.

Hyeonyul watched Sinu stride confidently ahead. They looked perfectly natural.

'I wonder how I look.'

Following the recent festival incident, they had modified the magic embedded in their smartwatches and all changed their appearances. Hyeonyul didn't mind the change, but one person came to mind.

["Mister. Play with Serin again next time, too."]

Rubbing her sleepy eyes, Serin had held out her little finger.

He had made another promise. He had held out his finger because it fascinated him that such a fragile being—one whose neck would break if he so much as gripped it—was looking at him.

"... Who are you?"

An employee walking around inside the company with a paper cup approached, eyeing the pair warily.

"Oh, hello. We're here to inspect working conditions."

Sinu presented a civil-service ID.

Borrowing the Ministry of Labor's authority was the best way to approach a company naturally. Working-condition inspections did take place, though staffing constraints meant they didn't cover every company. Hyeonyul understood that they investigated places with frequent problems or suspicious circumstances. An arrangement was already in place: if anyone contacted the Ministry of Labor to ask about them, the ministry would reply that they were genuine employees.

"... An inspection?"

"Yes. It's a simple inspection, so there's no need to be nervous. Could you show us to the president's office?"

"... Yes. Follow me."

The employee glanced around uneasily. Hearing that someone had been dispatched by the Empire tended to make people nervous even when they had done nothing wrong. Pretending not to be conscious of the visitors, the employee stared desperately straight ahead.

'It's this easy?'

To Hyeonyul, walking to the president's office without any trouble was an entirely different experience. He had infiltrated countless places, but never like this. Striding openly through the front entrance was ordinarily extremely difficult. He felt he had experienced all sorts of new things since joining the Black Eagles.

"It's... here."

The employee pointed to the president's office and quickly bowed.

"Thank you."

At Sinu's reply, the employee hurried away as though fleeing and disappeared.

<Did you notice anything?>

<There was no smell of blood.>

<Looks like this isn't the place. There's another place nearby we need to visit.>

<I'll look further.>

Once Hyeonyul had replied, Sinu knocked casually on the door.

"Yes, come in."

The voice came from inside.

The president, who had been playing a game on his phone, froze at the sight of unfamiliar visitors.

"We're from the Ministry of Labor."

Sinu spoke promptly, and the president rose from his seat, staring wide-eyed.

"What... brings you here?"

"Oh, we're here to inspect working conditions."

"... Working conditions?"

"Yes. We'll be taking a look around the company. That won't be a problem, will it?"

"Yes, yes, of course."

The president replied with a dazed expression, then slowly grew tense.

"Will this, um... have a major impact?"

"Yes. Follow-up measures may be taken."

"May I ask why my company was selected?"

"That's confidential internal information."

"... Ah. Then, pardon me, but could I verify your identities? The world is rather dangerous these days."

"Of course. Just contact the Ministry of Labor and ask."

Sinu responded calmly. There was only one answer he would get anyway.

The president approached and checked the civil-service ID hanging around Sinu's neck, then Hyeonyul's as well.

"One moment."

He took out his phone, searched around, and placed a call. Without any attempt at discretion, he mentioned their names and asked whether such employees existed.

'We've already got one of the types on the answer sheet.'

Hyeonyul recognized him as one of the several types Sinu had described before they entered.

The hallway hadn't told him what kind of company this was, but the president's office revealed that it was a snack company. The word "snacks" appeared on various awards.

One might wonder what snacks could possibly have to do with villains. But the phones and earphones people commonly used, the coffee and snacks they frequently consumed, and all kinds of bakery goods—villains made all of these, too.

Villains knew better than anyone that they couldn't carry out villainous activities without money. They made quality products for people to use, at reasonable prices, too. Why wouldn't products made by villains be among those people praised? Villains already existed close to people's everyday lives.

"..."

The president hung up and looked at the two visitors. They were genuine. When Sinu smiled, he swallowed nervously.

"Ah, I'll show you around."

"No, we can look around on our own."

Sinu wouldn't allow the president to accompany them. Genuine inspectors might have requested a guide, but that part was up to the officials handling the inspection.

"We need to take an objective look, so I hope you'll understand."

"... Understood."

The president backed down. There was no reason to get on their bad side.

"We'll come back if we need a guide."

"... Yes. There are a lot of machines in the factory, so please be careful."

"Don't worry. We've done this more than once or twice."

Sinu smiled and dipped their head lightly.

"Let's go."

Urging Hyeonyul along, Sinu stepped outside.

Hyeonyul looked at the president. He could see the anxiety. The man seemed to be trembling with fear that something might be discovered.

'Looks like he's involved in employment fraud, or some other kind of corruption.'

Hyeonyul turned away. If the president were a villain, he wouldn't have been afraid. Instead, he would have looked at them as prey, considering how to kill them.

["Their net profit is about the same as comparable companies. But you saw the building, right? They've renovated everything, expanded, and the president's pockets have gotten fatter, too. All this place does is manufacture products other companies need."]

Sinu had summarized the assignment for him, explaining that the company was receiving additional money from somewhere, and they needed to discover who was paying it.

'So I just need to uncover the corruption?'

Among all the possible irregularities, there was a good chance villains were involved. Even if they weren't, the place was clearly suspicious in several ways.

* * *

They toured the building inside and out. Whatever the president had told them, the workers were wearing work clothes that were obviously brand-new. Quite a few bowed deeply the moment they saw the visitors. When caught busily scrubbing machinery, they offered the absurd excuse that they always cleaned at this time.

<This place really needs a visit from the Ministry of Labor, doesn't it?>

Sinu's message appeared.

<Will you report them?>

<I can recommend it. Look at the workers.>

Hyeonyul turned his head, following Sinu's gaze.

<Do they look like they're keeping to the legal working hours? It looks obvious they aren't even paid for overtime.>

<I'll look into it.>

<... Huh?>

Sinu looked at Hyeonyul. He seemed to be suddenly burning with determination.

<We just need to put this place out of business, don't we?>

<N-no. No, Hyeonyul.>

<Why not?>

Hyeonyul didn't understand. Wouldn't it be better for a factory like this to go under?

<They're all here because they can't quit. They can't... get by without this place, so they have no choice but to keep working here.>

Hyeonyul looked at the workers. They were working while keeping a nervous eye on the pair. Whatever else he didn't understand, he could understand feeling that this was the only place for them. The Black Eagles were that kind of place for him.

<Then it would be best to aim for improvements without putting them out of business. Of course, only if we find something during the assignment that can resolve this.>

Hyeonyul reached his conclusion. This was additional work, and he wasn't obliged to do it. It wasn't the assignment he was supposed to be handling now.

<Right. Let's do that.>

Sinu found themself grinning. Whether someone had been a villain in the past or anything else, what mattered was living well in the present.

'In that sense, Hyeonyul is living well now.'

Hadn't he started looking out for other people? Whatever the endeavor, that first step was always the greatest.

'Anyway, the Team Leader said we'd have a welcome party. Would he be all right with it now?'

["Let's throw a welcome party. I feel like Hyeonyul is still hovering around the edges because we haven't had one."]

Sinu had wholeheartedly agreed with Haeryeon. There was an enormous difference between having a welcome party and not having one.

'Absolutely. People need things like this to feel happy.'

Hadn't they made it quite clear last time that the welcome parties Hyeonyul knew were different from theirs?

CRASH!

At the sudden sound of something toppling over, Sinu reflexively turned their head.

'Crafty, aren't they?'

Sinu looked at the clumsily toppled objects with displeasure. How could they not realize it was a plan to divert their attention? Still, Sinu would have to play along.

"Are you all right?"

Sinu ran over, while Hyeonyul moved in the opposite direction.

"...?"

Sinu's eyes widened. Why was he going that way? They wanted to ask, but instead looked at the faces of the people who had dropped the objects.

'I'll keep myself occupied here.'

They had to. The workers' eyes were pleading with Sinu to stay.

* * *

'... What are they trying to hide with such a clumsy act?'

Without hesitation, Hyeonyul walked briskly toward the factory. People were piling boxes onto a forklift. They looked to be in quite a hurry.

"Stop."

At Hyeonyul's words, they all looked at him at once. Their expressions said they had been caught doing something they shouldn't.

"Th-this has to be moved urgently..."

"Yes. Put it down."

Before they could stop him, Hyeonyul approached and opened a box.

'... Drugs.'

The pungent smell told him the moment he looked inside.

'The problem isn't the working conditions. It's this.'

They were all in on it. Selling drugs didn't automatically make someone a villain. They might simply be connected to drug criminals.

"Put that down."

Hyeonyul looked behind him and spoke coldly. Someone was holding a syringe.

CLACK!

The man was so startled that he dropped the syringe. His trick was obvious. They said a single dose brought on an uncontrollable addiction. If they couldn't silence someone, all they had to do was make him one of them.

'But getting injected didn't even make me feel good.'

He had been injected with narcotics more than enough during the experiments. He might have felt something back then, but not now. He wouldn't feel anything at all. Still, he didn't want to be injected against his will.

"Where did you get this?"

Hyeonyul asked quietly. The person behind this might merely be a drug criminal, but it was worth digging into.

"..."

They all kept their mouths shut as though they had been threatened. He knew they were criminals, but they weren't villains. The uncertainty about whether he could lay a hand on them made this quite awkward.

Hyeonyul turned his head at the sound of someone approaching. It was Sinu.

"Are you all—"

Before Sinu could finish, Hyeonyul approached. The box in Sinu's hand—the moment he saw the symbol stamped on it, he had to ask. There was no mistaking it for anything but the symbol he had seen before.

"Where did you get this?"

"Huh...? These are snacks, though?"

Sinu was bewildered. Did he like these snacks so much that he would practically lunge at them?