Chapter 81 - Now Even the Small Fry Are Acting Up

* * *

“The rookie found it again?”

Hyeonho reacted as though he were thoroughly fed up. Once again, the rookie was standing at the center of the incident. Did that even make sense? Why did it always have to be that particular rookie?

“Isn’t that impressive?”

Haeryeon asked with a smile, making Hyeonho’s eyelid twitch.

“There is something that bothers me.”

“Is there a single team that didn’t receive help from our rookie during the Poison King incident?”

Haeryeon immediately countered and stared at Hyeonho.

“Team Leader Oh Haeryeon. I understand perfectly well that you’re protecting him because he’s your team member. I’m only telling you not to forget the rookie’s past.”

Hyeonho spoke while hiding his displeasure. The rookie had once been a villain, and no matter what he did, that origin would never completely disappear.

“I understand why Team Leader Bong Hyeonho feels that way. Every team leader is responsible for protecting the Nest, but you’re especially sensitive because you oversee the Nest’s defensive magic and facilities as a whole.”

Haeryeon nodded as she continued. Each team leader had responsibilities beyond managing their own members. In Haeryeon’s case, she was an alchemist and had to make medicines that could help during missions. That was why she had been the one who created the antidote. Hyeonho, meanwhile, was responsible for creating and maintaining the countless defensive facilities and defensive spells surrounding the Nest.

“But if our rookie wanted to do something, wouldn’t he have done it much earlier?”

Haeryeon answered calmly. With Hyeon-yul’s abilities, he could certainly have done so. She was not exaggerating. If he wanted to, he could probably cut the throats of all six people sitting here right now. That was how highly she evaluated him.

“I agree with her. Why would the kid bother doing something like that? If he really wanted to attack us, he would’ve done it back when the White Sparrows were pulling that shit. Why would he stop the Poison King’s poison? It would’ve benefited him more to just let all of us die.”

Dojin spoke up in Hyeon-yul’s defense.

“But if he has some other motive...”

“That’s enough.”

Juhyeon cut him off sharply and narrowed her eyes at Hyeonho.

“What kind of idiot villain hands over internal information, tells us there’s a traitor among us, and even captures the Poison King on top of that? Just say you don’t like that he used to be a villain. Why keep dancing around it?”

“...I’m wary of him. I’m afraid something might happen to all the defensive facilities and spells we engraved to protect the Nest.”

“Um, everyone, please calm down.”

Jeong Narin of Team 6 clasped her hands together as she spoke, and the room finally quieted. She was the one responsible for hunting down Black Eagles and White Sparrows who had turned against the organization.

“...I do understand what you mean. But the Team 3 rookie already went through several checks, didn’t he? The rookie is a test subject... We only ended up in this situation because we failed to see what was happening to him. If we had known and rescued him back then, would he really have gone down that path...?”

Narin lowered her gaze as the strength in her clasped hands increased.

“...I apologize if I spoke too harshly. I was being shortsighted.”

Hyeonho stood from his seat and bowed his head to Haeryeon. Haeryeon readily accepted the quick admission and apology.

“Team Leader Jeong Narin made an important point. The reason our rookie had no choice but to fall in with that side was because of practical problems. There were no living test subjects, so there was no support system for people like him, and he’s still drowning in debt because of the expensive medicine he needs. Is that really right? Why should the victim be forced to live like this?”

Haeryeon looked around at everyone. If they were going to keep calling him a villain, they at least needed to understand why he had ended up that way.

“Our rookie has never killed an ordinary civilian either. If he had, he would’ve become one of our targets a long time ago.”

Killing villains was tacitly overlooked. Everyone here knew that. They all knew it was a distorted reality, and they also knew why things had ended up that way.

“Our rookie brought us Shin Daeho right from the start. And do you think Shin Daeho was all he did? He helped us catch the traitor, captured the Poison King, discovered the mental alteration affecting some of the White Sparrows on an infiltration mission, and even brought us the information that former Black Eagles had gathered into a group to attack us during this operation. What more is he supposed to do? What exactly does he have to do before you’ll see him as a Black Eagle?”

The more Haeryeon spoke, the more her expression twisted. To be frank, she was irritated. If even the team leaders looked at Hyeon-yul that way, how much worse would their team members be?

Haeryeon released a long breath and calmed herself.

“I’d like you to stop framing him as a villain. This is not a request. I’m not going to tolerate it anymore either. I’m giving you a clear warning, so please make sure your team members understand that as well.”

Haeryeon delivered her final warning. She had a duty to protect her own team member.

“I’m sure everyone understood. Now let’s discuss the actual issue, the former Black Eagles.”

Dojin changed the subject to ease the atmosphere and finally brought the meeting back to its original purpose.

“Those bastards were so happy to get the hell out before, and now they crawl back just to attack us?”

Haah.

Even as he spoke, Dojin sounded completely dumbfounded.

“They’re trying to destabilize us. I’m sorry to bring him up again, but they may try to use the Team 3 rookie.”

Hyeonho spoke while glancing toward Haeryeon, but this was something he could not avoid mentioning. If Black Eagle had a weak point right now, it was the rookie. There had already been a traitor among them, and information like this could easily leak from someone else as well.

“From a psychological standpoint, I think they’ll almost certainly try to use that weakness.”

Dongwoo cautiously joined the discussion after listening to the others.

“I’m aware of that as well.”

Haeryeon accepted that it was unavoidable.

“But they don’t know what kind of person our rookie actually is. They’ll spread ridiculous rumors, and I’m asking all of you to stop anything that could grow out of those rumors before it happens.”

“I agree.”

Juhyeon immediately raised one hand to show her agreement.

“He shouldn’t have to suffer unfair treatment as a Black Eagle.”

Juhyeon picked up her phone again and moved her thumb over the screen. Before long, she stopped and held the phone out for everyone to see.

「***MUST READ***」

「New Black Eagle Recruit Is a Former ‘Villain’」

“I dug around a little, and it’s already spreading.”

At Juhyeon’s news, Haeryeon immediately ground her teeth.

“...Those bastards.”

The chill in Haeryeon’s voice made every team leader watch her carefully. None of them had expected her to become this furious.

“Uh, sis? I’ll erase as much of it as I can. Calm down.”

“Right, calm down, Haeryeon.”

“Team Leader Haeryeon? P-please calm down!”

Juhyeon and Dojin spoke first, and even Narin hurriedly joined them.

“...Everyone, I’m asking for your cooperation. I’m going to find the rotten bastards who passed that rumor along. Right now.”

Haeryeon intended to find out exactly who inside the organization had leaked the information this time.

* * *

“...Seo Hyeon-yul.”

The moment Hyeon-yul stepped off the bus, he found a woman with wavy dark purple hair waiting for him. Under the night sky, the color of her hair looked even deeper. She was Ye Juhyeon, the leader of Team 7.

“Good evening.”

Hyeon-yul bowed his head when he saw her.

“I’m late saying this, but thank you.”

“It’s fine. Thank you for saying it.”

“There’s something I want to talk about while we walk. That okay?”

As usual, Juhyeon kept looking down at her phone and moving her thumb across the screen, but the sharp edge hidden in her attitude and voice was noticeably softer than before.

‘Was stopping the poison really that important?’

Hyeon-yul still did not understand, but considering that even some White Sparrows had started apologizing to him, he had no choice but to accept that it must have mattered that much.

“By the way, aren’t you going home?”

“There’s something I wanted to tell you before I left. Sis will explain it too, but I figured it’d be better if you saw it yourself, so I waited.”

“Understood.”

Hyeon-yul answered calmly, and Juhyeon glanced at him.

“You’re not surprised. You already expected it, didn’t you?”

‘...?’

A question mark practically appeared in Hyeon-yul’s mind. What was she talking about?

“...I knew it. I thought I’d finally surprise you this time, but you predicted this too.”

Juhyeon sounded genuinely disappointed by his complete lack of surprise.

“Honestly, even I didn’t expect this. I didn’t think they’d use you again.”

‘Ah.’

Only then did Hyeon-yul understand. Apparently, something had happened that was intended to use him again. There was only one thing he could infer from that. Information about him had leaked to the former Black Eagles.

As expected, nothing ever changed. Since he already knew that, there was no shock left for him to feel. Hadn’t he understood better than anyone that no matter what he did, people would always see him as a villain?

“What did you see that told you?”

When Hyeon-yul asked, Juhyeon let out a breath first. This was nothing pleasant.

“This showed up.”

Juhyeon unlocked the screen and held out her phone for him to see.

「***MUST READ***」

「New Black Eagle Recruit Is a Former ‘Villain’」

“Have you found out who leaked my information?”

“Not yet.”

“I expected something like this from the moment my information leaked to the White Sparrows. You don’t have to work too hard over it.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

One of Juhyeon’s eyebrows rose sharply at the strange response.

“I’m wearing this uniform, but I know I’ve only been given the outer shell. Some people do thank me because of the Poison King incident, but that’s only temporary, isn’t it? The moment something like the traitor incident happens again, they’ll turn their blades toward me. I’ll be useful as a target anywhere.”

“You’re more pessimistic than you look. Were you always like this?”

“You may call it pessimism, but it’s simply the truth. No matter what I do, I’ll still be a villain to them. I expected this much.”

“So you’re just going to sit back and watch? I can practically hear Sis exploding from here.”

“No. Of course not.”

Hyeon-yul looked straight ahead. He had planned to ignore them as long as they left him alone, but they had touched him first.

“Was it the former Black Eagles?”

“Yeah. Honestly, even calling them ‘former’ and putting the name Black Eagle after it pisses me off, but we don’t really have another term for them.”

“How are they classified?”

“Classified...?”

“Are they villains or not?”

“Under imperial law, anyone who carries out any kind of attack against the empire or Black Eagle is classified as a ‘villain.’ Ordinary criminals never come after us.”

There were plenty of similarities between what criminals and villains did, but criminals targeted individual citizens and never openly bared their fangs at the empire or Black Eagle. Villains were different. Instead of targeting individuals, they aimed at citizens as a whole and attacked the empire and Black Eagle either directly or indirectly.

“So they’re villains?”

“Of course. They’d deny it to their dying breath, but those bastards are ‘villains’ too. And they touched you. You’re a Black Eagle, which means they touched all of us.”

Hyeon-yul’s steps stopped for a moment, and Juhyeon turned her head toward him.

“...You recognize me as a Black Eagle?”

“What am I supposed to do, refuse? You’ve already proven yourself. I still don’t like your background, but I have no choice except to recognize you. Right now, you’re doing a better job than any Black Eagle here.”

Even while saying it, Juhyeon wore a displeased expression. Her feelings and the facts did not line up, but there was nothing she could do about that. What deserved recognition still had to be recognized.

“I’m not even your team leader, so maybe you’ll find it annoying that I’m saying all this. But just like Haeryeon, I hope you don’t become a villain again. I don’t want you to become our enemy.”

“That will not happen.”

“I sincerely hope you keep feeling that way.”

“I will.”

“An article went up a little while ago. It got deleted quickly, but it did appear.”

“An article?”

Hyeon-yul reacted just as calmly to this, and something about that bothered Juhyeon.

‘How much crap has he been put through to end up like this?’

Juhyeon narrowed her eyes slightly and held out her phone.

「New Black Eagle Recruit, Actually a Former Villain?」

“The attack has already started. Villains are going to deliberately seek you out.”

“Is that so?”

Even after hearing that warning, Hyeon-yul’s expression did not change at all.

“...That’s it? That’s your whole reaction?”

Juhyeon was the one who ended up flustered. This was something worth being shocked about. Attacks could come from every direction.

“What exactly am I supposed to say here?”

Hyeon-yul genuinely seemed unsure what kind of reaction he was expected to give, which Juhyeon found incredibly frustrating. She was starting to understand, at least a little, why Haeryeon worried about him so much.

“...Right. What could you even say? Of course you’d be angry. I made a mistake. Sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

“Then, as an apology, I’ll promise you one thing.”

The corner of Juhyeon’s mouth rose.

“I’ll find whoever did this. And of course, I’ll stop posts like that from spreading around too.”

“Didn’t you dislike me?”

“As long as you don’t betray us, you’re a Black Eagle. I’m a team leader, and I protect Black Eagles.”

Juhyeon naturally stepped off to the side.

“You don’t have to follow me. That’s everything I wanted to tell you. Hear the rest from Sis.”

Juhyeon waved a hand and headed toward the bus stop. Hyeon-yul hesitated, then awkwardly raised his own hand and waved back, making Juhyeon burst into laughter.

“That really doesn’t suit you, but it’s not bad.”

* * *

The moment Hyeon-yul entered the room, he took two steps backward because there were people inside whom he did not recognize.

‘...Did I come to the wrong room?’

He glanced back outside the door.

“You came to the right place, so get in here, Hyeon-yul.”

At Haeryeon’s voice, Hyeon-yul stepped inside and looked at the three people.

“Who are they?”

“The bastards who sold your information to the former Black Eagles.”

Haeryeon did not even treat them like people. They were among the White Sparrows who had infiltrated the recent cult incident. In other words, they had repaid kindness with betrayal.