Chapter 82 - Now Even the Small Fry Are Acting Up (2)

* * *

“You already found them?”

The first thing that crossed Hyeon-yul’s mind was how. He had only just heard about the matter from Juhyeon, so he had assumed it would take some time.

“They didn’t directly participate in the traitor incident, but I’ve been keeping an eye on everyone who dipped a foot into it even once.”

Haeryeon looked at the three as though this outcome had been obvious. They might have slipped away back then, but things were different now.

“When you got lucky and escaped punishment, you probably thought you were fortunate not to be kicked out. At the same time, I’m sure you resented Hyeon-yul, didn’t you? You probably thought one little loach had crawled in and muddied the whole pond.”

Even while speaking, Haeryeon could feel her irritation rising. How could they leak internal information to outsiders?

“Do you remember the cult incident we wrapped up not long ago?”

Haeryeon took a deep breath and turned toward Hyeon-yul.

“I remember.”

“They’re White Sparrows who infiltrated that mission.”

“Is that so?”

Only then did Hyeon-yul look properly at the three of them. He remembered their faces, but until now they had been awkward targets to touch.

“They repaid kindness with betrayal, didn’t they?”

Haeryeon briefly clenched her fingers. Hyeon-yul had been the one who noticed something was wrong with them. If he had not, who knew what they might have done while under a villain’s control? Who would ever have wanted that fate for themselves?

“Team Leader.”

“Yes?”

“I met Team Leader Ye Juhyeon a short while ago and spoke with her.”

“Team Leader Juhyeon said she wanted to explain it to you herself.”

“There was one thing I had her confirm before I came here.”

Hyeon-yul did not take his eyes off the three people. They showed fear toward Haeryeon but contempt toward him, making their instinct for picking on the weak and fearing the strong painfully obvious.

“The former Black Eagles who have gathered into a group are classified as villains. Then what should we call these three people who gave my information to them?”

Haeryeon looked pleased by the attack disguised as a question.

“Traitors, I suppose.”

“Then please deal with them according to the punishment decided last time.”

“Wait! Traitors?”

“That’s right. We only told them because people we knew from before asked us...”

“Nobody told you to talk.”

Haeryeon casually told them to shut their mouths.

“A notice went out telling everyone not to mess with the rookie. You’re the ones who ignored it.”

She began walking toward the three offenders at an unhurried pace.

“Once you’re expelled as traitors, remember this well. The moment you open your mouths about anything that happened here, you could die for it. You remember what you signed before you started working here, don’t you?”

KNOCK KNOCK.

A knock came from the door.

“Go on. They’ll be waiting for you.”

“This is unfair!”

One of the White Sparrows spoke while glaring at Hyeon-yul at the same time.

“...Unfair?”

Haeryeon could hardly believe her ears.

“We only told them the truth. He is a villain! I don’t understand why you’re going this far to protect someone who came from the villains!”

“You leaked internal information to outsiders and still claim you don’t understand? You’ve got some nerve.”

Haeryeon was dumbfounded, and even explaining it to them was beginning to feel irritating.

“Team Leader. I’ve spent six years here. I thought supporting the Black Eagles was my life’s work...”

“Get out. Right now.”

Haeryeon refused to listen any further. There was nothing left to say to someone who did not even understand how severe the consequences of wagging his tongue so carelessly could be.

“...Ha. I’ve given six years of my life to this place, and now you’re defending someone who used to be a villain?”

The White Sparrow released a short breath while staring at Haeryeon. The look in his eyes changed completely.

“You spent six years here and still can’t tell what you should say from what you shouldn’t? Then getting kicked out sounds exactly right.”

Haeryeon deliberately provoked him, and the White Sparrow could no longer hold himself back. Black Eagles were not the only people who possessed abilities.

When Hyeon-yul tried to step in, Haeryeon held out a palm to tell him to stay where he was.

“You want to come at me?”

“If I’m leaving anyway...”

Before the man could finish, Haeryeon smiled lightly and threw a fist. Her punch broke through the arm the White Sparrow raised to block and struck him squarely in the face.

BOOOOM!

The second White Sparrow, who had started moving as well, froze when he saw his companion buried deep in the wall. He turned toward the man and recoiled with a frightened squeak.

“You should come too.”

Haeryeon crooked a finger at him. She normally held back because of the dignity expected from a team leader, but if they attacked her like this, she was more than happy to accept.

“M-me...?”

The White Sparrow looked as though he was about to move his feet, but Haeryeon suddenly appeared in front of the bewildered man and drove her knee upward.

WHAM!

The instant his face was hit, the White Sparrow shot upward and crashed through the ceiling. Hyeon-yul quietly studied Haeryeon as the man dangled there.

‘I didn’t feel any power from her.’

Was her speed and strength simply something she had been born with?

“It’s doping. One of the perks of being an alchemist.”

Haeryeon smiled at Hyeon-yul. He nodded in understanding, then tilted his head slightly.

“Are there no side effects?”

“I made it specifically for myself, so I’m fine.”

“Ah...”

“Let’s clean this up first, then we’ll keep talking.”

Haeryeon walked to the door and opened it. Several people came inside and looked around. They calmly arrested the one remaining White Sparrow, then pulled the other two out of the wall and ceiling.

“We’ll restore the rest.”

“Please do.”

Haeryeon looked completely accustomed to this. They waited a short while until the three men were removed and the wall and ceiling had been repaired.

“Thank you for your work.”

“It was nothing. Then we’ll be going.”

The workers bowed in response to Haeryeon’s greeting and left the room.

“They’re managers who handle internal maintenance. You probably won’t see them often, so just remember that people like that work here.”

After explaining, Haeryeon gestured toward the desk. Once Hyeon-yul sat down, she slowly took her own seat and looked at him.

“To be honest, the moment I learned about your physical condition, I did wonder whether I should try making medicine for you. I actually have a pharmacist’s license too, though that’s mostly thanks to my ability. Were you disappointed that I never brought it up?”

“No. I never even thought about something like that.”

From the beginning, Hyeon-yul had never considered the possibility that anyone other than Jeongmin could treat him.

“There are things I’m not ready for yet, and I’ll discuss the details with Dr. Lee Jeongmin.”

“Understood.”

Hyeon-yul paused for a beat after answering and was about to speak when Haeryeon abruptly beat him to it.

“Do you want to investigate this case?”

“I do. The fact that they formed a group bothers me.”

“What do you want to do, Hyeon-yul?”

“There must be a reason they gathered into a group. I want to find out what’s behind it.”

“Once things are organized, I’ll register it as a mission.”

“Thank you.”

“There’s an awful lot we still need to figure out, isn’t there?”

Some things had already been resolved, but many questions remained. Who was producing the discontinued drug that could turn a non-ability user into an ability user? And why had the former Black Eagles gathered into a single group?

“Yes. There is.”

“Let’s take it slowly, Hyeon-yul.”

“...I would like that too.”

Hyeon-yul spoke with hesitation. He could not help wondering how much more slowly he was supposed to go.

“Anyway, today’s mission is...”

BZZZZZZZZ.

Both of their smartwatches began vibrating at the same time. It was an emergency alert.

“What happened?”

Haeryeon immediately answered the emergency call without wasting a second.

<S-23 District White Sparrows witnessed a villain injecting someone with a drug at the scene.>

“A drug?”

<After checking the substance, we believe it is one of the drugs recently obtained as evidence. We are currently pursuing them, but the villains are fleeing. We need support.>

The instant Hyeon-yul heard that the villains were fleeing, he answered without hesitation.

“I’ll go, Team Leader.”

Haeryeon lightly bit her lip. She had expected him to say that, but she still could not help hesitating.

“It’s a drug case. And all I have to do is chase them.”

It was not even a major incident. At its core, this was simply one of the most basic kinds of missions: pursuit.

“Once you catch them, come straight back. I’m not permitting you to pursue anything beyond that.”

Haeryeon made him promise in case something happened.

“Understood.”

Hyeon-yul answered without even considering it, and Haeryeon forced down her lingering doubts before responding to the call.

“I’ll send him shortly.”

<Thank you.>

Hyeon-yul bowed and left the room. Although Haeryeon had given permission, uncertainty continued to gnaw at her as she watched him go.

‘He’ll be okay, right?’

* * *

Because the mission involved pursuing villains who were fleeing in real time, even the Eagles could not know exactly where the targets would head. That meant the rendezvous point had to be chosen on the fly.

The place Hyeon-yul eventually reached looked like nothing more than an old, run-down park. Several White Sparrows were waiting for him in the deserted area, but before meeting them, Hyeon-yul first injected himself with a tranquilizer because his stomach was still churning.

“Take this.”

A White Sparrow handed him a thick mobile device. The urgency of the situation was obvious from the man’s voice and expression, and every person there looked visibly unsettled.

“The villains’ locations will be transmitted to you in real time. Press this button and you can use it like a radio. Our side will continue contacting you. Do you have any questions?”

“No. Thank you.”

Hyeon-yul bowed before running forward. His task was simple: catch the fleeing villains.

His legs gradually accelerated until he seemed to glide across the ground like someone riding a skateboard. Hyeon-yul could see an enormous amount through his vision, but trying to observe everything at once made his head ache. There was only one thing he wanted to focus on: the countless living creatures moving at this very moment.

With night spread across the area, every living creature’s movement entered his awareness. He sensed tiny insects, rats, birds, other animals, and even ordinary people going about their lives. Hyeon-yul felt his breath tightening and adjusted the ability again, narrowing his focus to living creatures moving at high speed.

‘...I can see them.’

Hyeon-yul saw people moving in similar rhythms. There were already at least ten within his field of awareness. Before his breathing became any worse, he fixed his attention on the nearest one.

‘Let’s catch him.’

Hyeon-yul clenched a fist and raised it. Darkness surged like a rolling wave and formed into the shape of a hand. Like jaws closing around prey, the shadow seized the man by the back of the neck and drove his head straight into a wall.

CRACK!

Something sounded as though it had broken, but Hyeon-yul cared about only one thing: whether the target had lost consciousness. Even with blood dripping steadily from the man’s head, he remained awake, so Hyeon-yul lifted one foot slightly.

“When you wake up, you’d better tell them everything you know. This is your warning.”

After informing him quietly, Hyeon-yul stomped on his face without hesitation.

CRUNCH!

‘One.’

Hyeon-yul seemed to take a step forward, then dissolved into the darkness. The shadows surged again around him.

‘Let’s leave only two who can talk.’

That should be more than enough. Breathing roughly, Hyeon-yul emerged from the shadow of a man running between rooftops and grabbed his leg.

“...!”

The man’s footwork tangled when his leg was suddenly seized. Just as he was about to fall, his entire body lifted into the air, but Hyeon-yul did not merely watch. He kicked the man hard in the back.

Unable to withstand the force, the villain crashed down and scraped his face across the ground. Bewilderment filled his eyes because he had no idea what was happening. Then darkness powerful enough to swallow even the surrounding light flooded in.

“When you wake up, you’d better tell them everything you know. This is your warning.”

Hyeon-yul delivered the flat warning before kicking him in the face.

WHAM.

The man’s face snapped completely to the other side, and his body went limp. After confirming that he had lost consciousness, Hyeon-yul took out the radio-like phone he had received earlier.

“Yes. What is it?”

<Their positions have changed. Please check the update.>

“Understood.”

The information they were sending him was unnecessary. Hyeon-yul tossed the device into the darkness and pulled out his dagger.

WHOOSH.

He spun it several times through the air before catching the handle. He had already left two mouths alive to talk, so now it was time for the hunt.

Hyeon-yul leaped forward as though diving and fell from the building. The instant he reached the ground, he plunged into the darkness. Countless locations flickered past, and at one of them Hyeon-yul reached out, seized another villain by the back of the neck, and slammed him into a nearby wall.

BOOM!

The villain’s eyes briefly lost focus, and Hyeon-yul grabbed his hair and yanked his head back.

“Who gave you the drugs?”

“Who... are you...?”

Hyeon-yul stabbed him in the back.

“AAAAAGH!”

“The drug that temporarily turns a non-ability user into an ability user. Who gave it to you?”

“I... I only followed orders... Kgh.”

Hyeon-yul’s dagger pierced the man’s throat without mercy. If he did not know anything, there was no need to keep him alive. The night was still long.

* * *

The moment Hyeon-yul grabbed the tenth villain by the back of the neck, a sharp blade burst from the man’s body.

CLANG.

The force was stopped by Hyeon-yul’s glove.

“Looks like I finally found the right one.”

Hyeon-yul lowered his hand and steadied his breathing. He could not understand why they kept choosing secluded alleys on their own. Would it not have been safer to run somewhere crowded?

The villain spun around in shock.

“Please wait a moment.”

Before the man could say anything, Hyeon-yul pulled something from the darkness and tossed it onto the ground.

One object hit the ground, then another, then a third. The number kept growing until there were seven in total. The more clearly the villain saw what had been thrown down, the more his expression twisted, and veins bulged around his eyes.

“You... You bastard!”

“It has been a long time since I saw someone treat his subordinates like people. They must have been happy to work under such a good boss.”

Hyeon-yul mocked him because there was no chance the villain was truly enraged for his subordinates’ sake. His pride had simply been wounded.

“...You’re telling me you’re a Black Eagle?”

The villain had looked ready to attack at any moment, but he suddenly froze after noticing the Black Eagle insignia. Suspicion filled his eyes.

“I’m not interested in why you chose to do this in the middle of the night.”

Hyeon-yul cut the subject off. Whatever was inside their heads, it would amount to the same thing: some plan to devour the empire by any means available.

“I haven’t seen many Black Eagles make this much of a fucking mess before.”

Something changed in the villain’s expression, though Hyeon-yul could not read what it was. Since he did not understand it, he ignored the expression and asked for the information he actually wanted.

“The drugs. Did you buy them, or are they yours?”

“Why? Want a shot yourself? I can give you one.”

The villain sneered at him. Hyeon-yul could not understand why the man was acting so confident.

“I’ve already been injected with them, so I know what they’re like.”

“Bwahahaha! You’re one fucked-up bastard. What did you even come here for? You planning to arrest me? Want me to hold out both hands?”

The villain held out his hands in a mock surrender and cackled. Hyeon-yul watched him without reacting before asking another question.

“It looks like you tested a drug that turns non-ability users into ability users on ordinary civilians. Did you buy it or make it?”

“We’ve got a shitload of other drugs too. Want some? I’ll give them to you.”

“What kinds?”

“All sorts.”

At that answer, Hyeon-yul briefly took out his phone. It was filled with a list of drugs they still needed to locate. He strode toward the villain, but the man neither backed away nor showed fear.

“Do you have any of these?”

“...What the hell are you? Why are you so damn professional about this?”

“Do you have them?”

“We did.”

“You did? You don’t anymore?”

“They were taken from us a while ago.”

The moment Hyeon-yul heard that, only one group came to mind. Could this have been the work of Lee Seungyu, the puppet president he had installed?

“Was it the Poison King’s group that suddenly appeared?”

“Yeah, those bastards. I’m telling you, they took our whole workshop.”

The villain rummaged through his pocket and put an e-cigarette between his lips.

“So how much do you need? ...Damn. With all kinds of crazy shit happening lately, you seriously startled me.”

“Give me everything you have.”

“Next time, just come normally. I’ll remember your face. Why the fuck are you pretending to be a Black Eagle? You don’t have to do that. First-time customers always get a discount.”

‘...Ah.’

Only then did Hyeon-yul understand why the man had been acting that way.

“A lot of people must approach you while pretending to be Black Eagles.”

Hyeon-yul quietly hid his claws and waited for the villain to offer up whatever information he could.