* * *

* * *

"... I'll keep this brief."

As soon as the White Sparrow inside the shop confirmed that Hyeonyul and Sinu were Black Eagles, they began speaking quietly.

"In about five minutes, someone they've sent will come here. They're a civilian, and thoroughly brainwashed."

"Will they be going with us?" Sinu asked.

"Yes. They're extremely wary. They'll keep probing you throughout the journey, and may disguise almost hostile questions as friendly conversation. But I'd like you to remain calm and stick to the information you studied beforehand."

"Don't worry about that. We've learned it thoroughly."

"I was told there's a new recruit with you. Which of you is it?"

'They weren't given even that much information?'

Hyeonyul considered the White Sparrow's question before speaking.

"Me."

What would they say?

Hyeonyul's gaze on the White Sparrow was less than friendly.

"First, I'd like to apologize for the unfortunate incident originating on our side. I know this isn't the right time, but I truly wanted to apologize."

Hyeonyul's expression didn't change.

Was this just to save face? How could he know whether it was sincere?

"Don't be nervous. Just respond calmly. I'll do everything I can to help you from beside you. If you feel anything is wrong, come to me, no matter what."

"Why should I do that?"

Hyeonyul's question briefly flustered the White Sparrow, but they soon lowered their gaze slightly and answered. From the new recruit's perspective, it was understandable. Their side had drawn the line first.

"I've been instructed that the most important issue in this mission is minimizing mental contamination among you. I believe in your strength and abilities. I'm telling you that, should anything happen, I can take care of that aspect."

Could they really?

Hyeonyul gave a perfunctory reply.

"Understood."

"Thank you."

"Is there anything else we need to hear about this mission?" Sinu asked next.

"I'll give you more details once we're inside their headquarters. Several other White Sparrows are undercover as well. They'll signal you before approaching. Please be wary of anyone who approaches without a signal."

"... They're coming."

Hyeonyul spoke as he heard footsteps. The White Sparrow's and Sinu's expressions changed at his words.

"... Really? If we really do that, will my brother be able to speak?"

Sinu slipped into the situation as though that had been their conversation all along. Hyeonyul glanced at Sinu at the astonishingly quick change. The White Sparrow presumably did this all the time, but Sinu didn't.

'... Oh, didn't Sinu say something about being a child actor?'

Hyeonyul soon remembered what Sinu had said.

"Of course. Have you ever heard the saying that prayer is the heart, and prayer is truth?"

While the White Sparrow was spouting hot air, the door opened.

JINGLE, JINGLE.

"You're here?"

"Are these our new Morning Stars?"

It was a middle-aged woman with a remarkably kind-looking face.

"They are. Someone has lost their way. How could we not help?"

"Of course. Isn't that precisely what we're here for?"

She smiled amiably and sat down, turning her gaze to Hyeonyul. When she reached out to take his hand, he reflexively pulled it away.

'Should I have let her take it?'

But he didn't want her to. Uninvited physical contact was unpleasant.

"Don't worry, Morning Star. Everything begins in the heart, and the heart can be healed through faith."

The woman beamed at Hyeonyul.

"... Um, what's a Morning Star?"

Sinu asked, looking bewildered but still guarded. It looked as though, despite having come this far, Sinu was repeatedly checking whether this was the right choice.

"It means someone who is about to receive a miracle for the first time. Our Saint has saved countless people from darkness through faith and prayer."

She looked at Sinu with a benevolent smile.

'They're doing this openly?'

Sinu thought the approach was a little outdated. These days, didn't people put their guard up against every kind of solicitation? Put that way, wouldn't it sound suspicious to anyone?

"I was saved as well. Can you see?"

She rolled up her sleeve to reveal signs of self-harm. The countless cuts bore traces of the anguish in which she had struggled.

'... Ah.'

Sinu understood where this was going. Deliberately raising someone's suspicions made the effect of a subsequent reversal all the stronger. This was a way of pretending to share their pain and fostering a bond.

It was an infuriating method.

'Of all the things to exploit, you exploit pain?'

Sinu shuddered with anger. Pain wasn't something to exploit, and it never should be.

"I couldn't believe it either, until I was saved. I couldn't bring myself to die, so I went on living, leaving these marks on myself. I was wondering when to die, when it would be best to die, when I happened to learn about this place. I went there with mixed feelings."

As she continued and her gaze grew more intense, Hyeonyul didn't want to hear any more.

'What pointless nonsense.'

That was his judgment.

If you had mental health problems, you needed to go to a hospital. Faith. Prayer. Religious activities performed with an earnest heart, and so on. They could offer psychological comfort, but they couldn't cure you. In the end, a hospital was the answer.

There were doctors who were experts in the first place. Why avoid them and let someone without even a license capture your attention? Hyeonyul couldn't understand it at all. People usually said they'd heard it from someone they knew, but that someone wasn't a doctor. It was closer to irresponsible talk telling them simply to cling to hope.

"Praying with the Saint's words. The activities there slowly helped me recover. I hadn't even realized it, but what was eating away at me was terrible loneliness. You may be different from me, Morning Star, but I think it would be good for us to find faith together."

She looked warmly at Hyeonyul. Someone else might have been fooled, but the overpowering smell of drugs coming from her had already told him she wasn't in her right mind.

"My brother... has had mutism for a very long time," Sinu said hesitantly.

"Our parents died in an accident..."

Overcome with emotion, Sinu couldn't readily continue.

Their cover story was that their parents had died in an accident several years ago, and the shock of witnessing it had left Hyeonyul unable to speak. Temporary records for Hyeonyul and Sinu had already been created, so they could investigate their backgrounds all they wanted.

"It seems to have caused a severe illness of the heart. We've visited several hospitals, but there hasn't been any improvement. ... My brother is the only family I have left. What wouldn't I do for him?"

Sinu held back tears, but the rims of those eyes reddened. To anyone watching, this was an older brother devoted to his younger brother.

"I know exactly how you feel."

She moved naturally closer to Sinu and clasped those hands, patting the backs of them in consolation.

"I understand very well, too. Rather than staying here, would you like to go meet the Saint first?"

"Really...?"

"Yes. I truly want to help."

"Thank you. Thank you."

"Then would you get in the car first?"

She walked ahead, opened the door, and guided them toward the car. She was so practiced that this clearly wasn't her first or second time.

Sinu got into the car looking bewildered and beckoned to Hyeonyul.

"Come on."

After Hyeonyul got in, she made a request.

"Could you wait a moment? I have something to discuss with that person from earlier."

Hyeonyul nodded.

Once the car door closed and she walked away, Sinu pointed to an ear. Hyeonyul took his Black Eagles wireless earpiece from his pocket, put it in, and activated it.

"... You're nervous, aren't you?"

<There seems to be a listening device in the car. I can hear something operating.>

"Yeah. I'm a little nervous too."

Sinu kept talking alone. Leaving the audio silent could itself look like behavior prompted by awareness of a listening device.

"What did you think of those people earlier?"

Hyeonyul considered Sinu's question for a moment, then covered his ear.

<I'll listen in.>

He listened closely to their conversation.

"You did choose carefully, didn't you?"

He heard the woman's voice.

"I made the decision carefully. You saw for yourself. There's a doctor's opinion as well. They say he hasn't spoken for a full five years."

"In short, all we have to do is make his voice come out?"

"Exactly."

"The Saint will be pleased. He's an enticing prospect, one that can bring the Saint a step closer to greatness. Very well done. I'll be sure to mention your contribution today."

"Thank you."

"By the way, are they both powerless?"

"No, they aren't."

"That's a real shame."

The woman fell silent, showing her disappointment. As the silence continued, Hyeonyul lowered his hand, thinking he wouldn't get any useful information by listening further.

<She says I'm an enticing prospect for that person. She probably means the 'Saint' she kept mentioning earlier.>

"Let's go see what it's like."

<It looks as though they'll use me as their public face. Mental problems aren't easily visible, but the role I'm playing is different. Anyone will see a huge difference before and after my mutism is cured.>

"That's true. I hope it's a good place."

<I expect we'll attract a lot of attention once we arrive inside. Can you handle all of it?>

"No problem."

Sinu smiled, looking as though there really would be no problem.

<Understood. And I confirmed the point about being 'powerless.'>

"Hm?"

<I don't understand that part either. I'll check things one by one when we get there. They're coming now.>

Hyeonyul removed the wireless earpiece and waited for them. The woman got into the car looking excited.

"Oh, you'll get thirsty on the way. Have a drink."

She offered water, pretending to open it. There was no sound. When Sinu accepted it, Hyeonyul smelled a hallucinogen inside.

'So this is how it starts.'

Hyeonyul took the water himself. It wouldn't work on him, but Sinu, Nayun, and Jihwan were different. They had brought several doses of the medicine Haeryeon had made to counter the hallucinogen and had already taken it beforehand.

Only after confirming that Hyeonyul had drunk the water did the woman smile in satisfaction and start driving.

"Off we go."

* * *

The woman's name was Kim Myeongja. Her mouth never stopped moving throughout the trip. Nayun never stopped talking either, but this was different. How could he put it? The things she said seemed designed to grate on people's nerves.

Perhaps she thought the hallucinogen had worked. Having to keep listening to pointless talk about faith this and faith that, and how they would see the Saint's radiance upon meeting the Saint, was more of an ordeal than he'd expected. Yet Sinu kept playing along as though under the drug's influence. All he could say was that it was impressive in a different way.

He realized that without his cover of mutism, things could have gone terribly wrong. Just as he was getting thoroughly sick of it, the car stopped.

"We've arrived," Myeongja said excitedly.

Hyeonyul looked out the window.

They had passed through two checkpoints, as though entering a secret location, before arriving. The place was away from the city, with a mountain at its back. Calling it countryside felt somewhat questionable. The buildings in view were far beyond what one would expect in the countryside: it was full of the three- and four-story buildings he often saw in cities. It simply felt like a village built for these people.

'So I just need to arrest the bastard running things here and the executives following him?'

It wasn't a particularly difficult mission for him. The faster he worked, the sooner he could go home.

Hyeonyul looked at the sky. The sun was still up. When night fell, he was ready to see and hear everything.

'I'll finish this within a day.'

Without fail.

SNAP, SNAP.

Hyeonyul was already looking at Sinu at the sound of snapping fingers.

"Lee Chandae. Chandae?"

At the call that followed, he approached Sinu.

He typed on his phone. Out of habit, he nearly used his usual phrasing, then hurriedly changed it.

[What is it?]

"Nothing. You were really spaced out. Are you carsick?"

[No.]

[Is there Wi-Fi?]

[Isn't this totally the countryside?]

[I don't really like places like this.]

His profile said he liked holing up in his room watching videos or movies, so he thought it was the most appropriate question.

"... You."

Sinu let out a sigh and looked at Hyeonyul as though he were a thoughtless child.

"Is something wrong?"

Sinu smiled as Myeongja approached.

"No. My brother, um... Is there Wi-Fi here?"

"Of course. We have computers and laptops too, so don't worry. It may not be quite like the city, but this is a good place. Stay a few days and you're sure to like it."

"Honestly, it does feel a little... unfamiliar."

As Sinu rubbed the back of the neck in feigned embarrassment, Myeongja laughed heartily.

"Everyone feels that way at first. There's a bus running here. We'll have to take that."

"A bus...? Can't we drive the car inside?"

"It's to keep traffic orderly."

'To keep people locked up, more like.'

Sinu sneered inwardly. Taking away private transportation was the easiest way to check everyone leaving, one at a time. No one could leave as they pleased. That was what she was indirectly telling them.

Myeongja walked ahead, followed by the White Sparrow.

HONK, HONK.

Everyone turned at the horn sounding behind them.

"We have quite a few Morning Stars today."

Behind the man getting out with a friendly smile, they saw Jihwan and Nayun. Hyeonyul and Sinu looked at the pair as well. Their eyes met, but they pretended not to know each other, gazing around inquisitively as though they had come somewhere unfamiliar.

Sinu quietly rubbed the bridge of the nose. The first stage of the mission—reaching the inner entrance—was a success. Having signaled their status, Sinu lowered the hand.

Now it was time to go inside, find the villains here, and capture them.

It was the Black Eagles' time, too.

Sinu narrowed those eyes.