* * *

Hyeonyul had already expected the villains to be looking for someone. There were any number of possible reasons: a company, the person themselves, technology. What mattered was that this patient knew whom they were looking for.

"... Sorry? Oh, um, ... I only heard them say ‘chairman.’"

"Chairman, not president?"

"Yes. Definitely... that's what they said."

"Thank you."

President was one thing, but chairman was a title rarely used outside major corporations. Few companies qualified as major corporations. In other words, he could narrow it down. After thanking the patient, Hyeonyul began hacking the phone.

CLACK CLACK

The patient quietly listened to the keyboard clatter filling the room, then wiped away tears. It felt rather awkward. Wouldn't someone normally offer a little comfort?

"... Excuse me, but..."

"Yes?"

"May I ask why you took so long?"

"I'm sorry we were late. But I can't tell you why. It's classified."

He couldn't disclose internal affairs to outsiders. That was what he'd been taught.

"Then, are there... other people still alive besides me?"

"There are."

"... Really?"

The patient's eyes reddened again. Another bout of tears seemed imminent. What should he say here? Hyeonyul thought of Jeongmin. Would doing the same thing work?

"I'm not very good at comforting people. I don't know what to say, but you're safe now."

"..."

The patient stared blankly at him for a moment. Just as he began to wonder whether that had been the wrong thing to say, tears began streaming down again.

"I'm sorry. I..."

"Thank you. ... Thank you."

The patient smiled shyly through the tears.

So he was awkward at this. That could happen, too. The patient had heard of the Black Eagles, but hadn't known what sort of people they were. They'd seemed so far removed that it was hard to imagine them as ordinary people. Yet he was no different.

"I wanted... to keep living. I hate being sick, but I still wanted to live. Even more today."

"That's natural. Everyone wants to live. You just need to focus on living longer."

"Can I really do that...? This is already my third surgery."

Hyeonyul tilted his head slightly at that.

"But it's only your third."

How many had he undergone? He'd given up counting.

Before the patient could respond, Hyeonyul took out his medication and syringes.

"... What is all this?"

The patient's eyes went round. Why were there so many pills? How many days' worth was that?

"These are the pills I take in one dose, and the syringes for the injections I need several times a day."

"One dose? How many times a day... do you take them?"

"Usually five, up to seven. You'll live longer than I will."

Hyeonyul spoke matter-of-factly as he put the medication away. Anyone could see that, between him and the girl, he would die first.

"Oh, I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone outside about this."

It wasn't anything to boast about. Nor was it something anyone could hold against him. He still had to prove his own abilities, after all. But there was no need to publicize it, either.

"And you still became a Black Eagle?"

"You only have to meet the requirements. Why wouldn't I?"

"... I see. So that's how it is."

Since the patient was murmuring quietly to herself, Hyeonyul turned his attention away and moved his fingers faster over the keyboard.

* * *

"... There you are. Oh, hello."

The patient startled when Sinu opened the door. When he abruptly bowed his head, she bowed back.

"Yes. I was just about to leave."

Listening to Hyeonyul's answer, Sinu cautiously addressed the patient.

"You haven't been upset or offended, have you?"

"Sorry...?"

Her puzzled response reassured Sinu. Hyeonyul's awkwardness in conversation could easily lead to misunderstandings.

"Never mind. There's a place over there where people are gathered, but seeing what's outside might upset you. You'll be lonely here, so would you mind if I covered your eyes and took you there?"

"Would you do that for me?"

"Of course."

When Sinu smiled, the girl smiled brightly back.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Oh, wait here a moment. I'll be right back."

"Understood."

As he answered, Hyeonyul pulled a blindfold from the darkness and held it out. What was this? Sinu gave him a baffled look, but accepted it. After covering the patient's eyes, he led her outside.

While waiting for Sinu, Hyeonyul sent his eyes toward Building B. There was some distance between Buildings A and B, but not enough for the White Sparrows to approach safely. Whereas Building A formed a square around a courtyard, Building B was laid out in a straight line. Movement on this side would inevitably be visible from Building B.

Hyeonyul surveyed Building B through the eyes he had sent out. A rough count showed fewer villains there. They seemed to have concentrated their manpower in Building A to prepare for and attack the Black Eagles.

Where would their leader be?

'In the last building.'

The deepest point. Perhaps the leader was waiting there, assessing the situation.

Hyeonyul turned at the sound of the door opening. Sinu came in and shut it behind him.

<I've hacked the phone.>

<Find anything?>

<Yes. A chairman is currently hospitalized here. The villains are after him.>

<A chairman...?>

Sinu was startled. He'd expected someone important at a university hospital, but a chairman was important on an entirely different level.

<Do you know who it is?>

<Yes. I found that through this phone.>

Sinu waited quietly.

For a start, a chairman meant a major corporation was involved. If villains were looking for one, it could mean blackmail—or the chairman could also be a villain, making this a factional conflict. Given their takeover of the hospital, however, the latter seemed unlikely. The former was far more probable. Whether they sought the chairman to swallow up the company itself or to blackmail him wasn't what mattered.

<... This is dangerous.>

If they succeeded, an entire major corporation would be swallowed up. Nothing could be worse than letting them gradually put down roots. Sinu frowned.

<Aren't the Black Eagles already tracking down a major corporation said to be run by villains?>

The Black Eagles had been searching for that corporation since before Hyeonyul joined them. Shin Daeho had been the lead that could take them to it. Hyeonyul had handed over every bit of information he'd taken from Shin Daeho's informant. Since it was still taking so long, apparently that information alone wasn't enough.

<We're still looking, but there's no good news yet. I'll report to the Team Leader first.>

<Yes.>

Hyeonyul nodded and went outside. He smelled blood. Some of it was fresh.

'The outcome won't change.'

Hyeonyul looked at the villains restrained by Sinu's power. Whatever they did, villains only killed.

* * *

"... They're not answering."

The man lowered his phone and addressed the woman.

"What?"

"Neither Building One nor Building Two is answering. Could something have happened?" he repeated.

"Give it here."

The woman waved her hand, and the man respectfully offered her the phone. The instant it changed hands, both their hands were smoothly severed at the wrist and dropped to the floor with a thud.

"...?"

Neither understood what had happened. Then the pain struck, bringing reality home. Hyeonyul drove a dagger into the neck of the man, who looked ready to draw his long sword at any moment, and moved his other arm. In an instant, he had a dagger at the woman's throat.

"... Fuck."

"Calling won't help. We've finished clearing this building, too."

Hyeonyul kindly informed her that Building B was also under their control.

"Baek Taejin, the chairman of a major corporation. Have you found him, or are you still looking?"

"...!"

The woman's lips trembled for a brief instant. More offensive than his knowledge of Baek Taejin was the Black Eagles emblem brazenly on display. Why? Why were these bastards here again?

"Silence may be an answer, but I'm not especially patient."

Hyeonyul's dagger dug deeper into her neck.

"You don't know your place... Coming crawling back?"

The villain sneered through the pain.

"Is that not allowed?"

Hyeonyul pulled his dagger from the dead villain's neck and pointed it at the woman. Her face twisted as the two daggers approached.

"Compared to your arrogance, drunk on victory after a single success, what's so remarkable about coming back?"

Hyeonyul moved behind her, holding one dagger to her throat and the other to her back.

"Stand up and go outside before you die."

As a rule, there was only one way to shatter arrogance. When she didn't move, Hyeonyul drove the dagger deeper into her back. She bit her lip against the pain.

"Aren't you supposed to be champions of justice? Can you really do this? Who made you so—"

"Who attached that ridiculous label to us? It's fucking offensive."

Hyeonyul deliberately scoffed.

The Black Eagles had brought this perception upon themselves. Wasn't their mercy toward villains precisely what allowed such sophistry?

"Just as you want the Empire, the Black Eagles' mission is your annihilation."

Hyeonyul pushed with the dagger. Groaning at the mounting pain, the woman walked forward, leaving a trail of blood. When she reached the door and still wouldn't open it, Hyeonyul obligingly kicked it himself.

BANG!

As the door swung open, he heard the villain draw a sharp breath.

"The difference between us and you, who will use any means necessary, is that we consider various things when choosing our means."

Hyeonyul enlightened her with a sneer.

Seeing the swords attached like bombs to the necks of the other subordinates who'd guarded the room, the villain denied reality. How could such a scene exist?

"... Impossible."

"It's reality."

"We... won. We beat you...!"

"Wouldn't ‘had beaten us’ be more accurate?"

Hyeonyul chuckled. Just once. And intoxicated by that victory, they'd lost everything.

"I'll ask again. Are you looking for Chairman Baek Taejin, or have you found him?"

"Do you think I'd tell—"

Without waiting for the rest, Hyeonyul killed her for all to see. Nothing more she said was worth hearing.

The villains' eyes changed as she collapsed with a thud. A Black Eagle had appeared—the very people they'd mocked, despised, and believed they'd crushed only moments ago. Hyeonyul raised a hand and shoved the villain beside him. Blood spattered again, and a silence deeper than before settled over the corridor.

He'd killed them. A Black Eagle had killed them.

"Did you think we wouldn't kill you? If you were prepared to take lives, you should have been prepared to give up your own."

Hyeonyul walked among the restrained villains. The moment they realized the Black Eagles could kill them, the predator had changed. The villains he passed gasped as though even the brush of his clothing choked them. He didn't spare them a glance.

Now, Building C. Only that one remained. Their leader was there.

<Big brother Baek Sinu. You can call in the White Sparrows now.>

It was time to bring the hostages out, one by one.

* * *

<... Hold on.>

Sinu, who'd been covering his mouth from the aftereffects of traveling to the final building, hurriedly spoke.

<Do you need candy?>

Hyeonyul held some out.

<No, that's not it. We're within that power's range now.>

<By that power, do you mean the ability that suppresses powers, the one Team Four encountered?>

When Sinu nodded, Hyeonyul glanced around. They were in a room inside the last building. It looked like a storeroom.

<Am I to infer that its range covers this entire building?>

<Right. Watch.>

Sinu snapped his fingers.

SNAP

A sword appeared. He crooked his finger, but it didn't move.

<I set it to the space we're in right now. See how it doesn't move?>

Sinu snapped his fingers again. Another sword appeared, and when he crooked his finger, it followed like a puppy.

<Set it to another space, and it moves like this. See how we're already within range?>

<But how did you know?>

Hyeonyul did feel something faintly irritating. It wasn't particularly uncomfortable, nor was it directed aggressively at him.

<Instinct...?>

<Instinct?>

<No, I'm kidding.>

At Hyeonyul's serious response, Sinu immediately laughed.

SNAP SNAP

With two snaps of his fingers, swords began circling Sinu. There were quite a few.

<What is this?>

<A way to protect my body. I have to be prepared, don't I?>

<Why leave your head uncovered?>

<I can see them. They block my vision, so I normally keep them out of the way, then cover myself with them like armor when combat starts.>

<Is it all right to tell me that?>

Hyeonyul couldn't understand why he was sharing such an important fact.

<In case you worry about me. Even if someone attacks me, ignore it and do your job. That's what I wanted you to know.>

Sinu would rather die than hold Hyeonyul back. That was how to improve their chances of survival.

<Oh. Then, big brother Baek Sinu, you should also ignore me—>

<No. I don't want to, so I won't.>

With a roguish smile, Sinu rejected the idea outright. Hyeonyul tilted his head.

<I'm your senior. The senior gets to do the cool stuff. That's how it works.>

<I don't think that's logical.>

<That's how it is. Looking cool and being logical always clash. Anyway, this power being here means the boss is here, and the enemies can't use their powers either.>

<That's correct.>

<And this power doesn't work on you or me. Right?>

<Yes.>

Hyeonyul nodded.

<Just leave me their positions. Then hurry over to that bastard and show him who we are.>

Sinu raised his thumb and drew it across his throat.