* * *

"... Is that possible?"

"Why wouldn't it be? We have power, intelligence, and manpower... Well, not manpower, but anyway, we have the resources to pursue them if we want to."

Ah. Only then did Hyeonyul remember what he had forgotten. These were the Black Eagles—the Black Eagles openly backed by the Empire. Pursuing them really didn't seem impossible.

Still, one thing bothered him.

'... Can I trust them?'

That put Hyeonyul on his guard. It was difficult to trust them. Weren't they people who could turn their backs on him at any moment if they learned what he really was?

"Besides, I agree with you, Hyeonyul. That drug... It really was horrific."

"Did you see it?"

Nayun let out a long breath and nodded at his question.

"Is that why you had me get in the car?"

"... Yes. I didn't want you to see it."

"I'm fine. I've seen it many times."

"You say you're fine, Hyeonyul, but I don't think that's something anyone can be fine with. Anyone would think so, not just me."

They had conducted drug experiments in the basement. It truly was horrific. There was no other way to describe it.

Even the stairs were a sea of blood, filled with corpses that had rotted because they hadn't been properly disposed of. Among those rotting bodies were people who had been injected with the drug, breathing but looking like corpses themselves.

After seeing that, how could she bring Hyeonyul there? She knew perfectly well that he would say he was fine, but she still couldn't take him.

A faint crease formed between his brows. She hadn't understood at first, but now she knew that was the expression he made when he couldn't understand something.

"I'm saying this because I'm worried about you, Hyeonyul. I don't want you to suffer."

Nayun put it more directly, but his expression remained unchanged.

"Doctor Jeongmin would have said the same thing."

Only at the mention of Jeongmin did Hyeonyul finally nod.

'Is Doctor Jeongmin practically a god to him?'

Nayun smiled.

"You can show me next time. I really am fine. I don't want to be excluded from missions like this."

'... We weren't excluding you from the mission.'

Nayun couldn't voice the words hovering on her tongue. She felt as though she would lose her temper the moment she said anything. Knowing that her anger wasn't directed at Hyeonyul, she held it firmly in check.

"I'll go contact the Team Leader for a moment."

"Understood."

After hearing his reply, Nayun turned away.

Hyeonyul had been a test subject. He was a victim of the horrific circumstances she and all the other Black Eagles had witnessed. Anger surged through her at the villains who had reduced a perfectly healthy person to that state, and her eyes stung.

Was this personal guilt? Or a sense of debt because she had failed to save him as a Black Eagle?

Whichever it was, Nayun drew a breath, realizing that she had accepted Hyeonyul as a teammate.

'I'll protect Hyeonyul.'

Whether he had intended to or not, Hyeonyul had protected them. Naturally, that meant they ought to protect him in return.

'Everyone must feel the same way.'

Nayun trusted her teammates.

* * *

BANG!

Someone slammed a fist down. Things weren't merely going wrong—they were going disastrously wrong.

"Didn't you say the Poison King was captured?"

"... Yes. That's definitely what I heard."

"Then why the hell is his faction still alive instead of dead? Fuck, do you know how many of our operations we've lost?"

The Poison King, who had held territory near the capital region, was gone. Hearing that had filled them with elation.

Had they been the only ones? No. Every villain with a faction, large or small, must have felt the same way. You had to move in quickly to claim any spoils.

They had rushed in, only to get their asses kicked just as quickly—and worse, they had watched their own forces get taken from them. There was no way to endure that without getting angry.

The man rose from his seat, approached his subordinate, and slapped him across the face.

"Answer me, you bastard!"

At a flick of his finger, the subordinate's tie tightened around his throat.

"... S-sorry—urgh—I'm sorry."

"If that bastard Poison King was caught by those Eagle fuckers, who's leading his faction now?"

The man raised his voice. There was so much he couldn't understand. Who would dare lead the Poison King's faction? What kind of bastard had that much nerve?

"... I-I don't know."

"What?"

"They... urgh... call them R-Rabbit Mask."

"What? Rabbit what?"

The man narrowed his eye and looked at his subordinate, releasing the force strangling him. An eyepatch covered his other eye.

"... Cough, cough."

"Speak."

He grabbed his subordinate by the hair.

"R-Rabbit Mask!"

"Rabbit Mask?"

The man burst into raucous laughter.

"This is fucking ridiculous."

"Hahaha... ha."

His subordinate joined in, as did the others standing like dolls around the room.

"... Hey."

An icy voice rang out. The subordinate swallowed hard and looked at the man. The instant he met that coldly smiling face, something pierced his ears.

Without even making a sound, he collapsed, blood streaming down both sides of his head.

"Find out properly who's taken the Poison King's place."

After issuing the order, the man returned to his seat. Some of his subordinates dragged the corpse away as though accustomed to it. If they failed to find the answer, they would be the ones to die.

The trail of blood lengthened.

* * *

"... How did the mission end in a single day? Do you know how surprised I was when I heard yesterday?"

Jeongmin looked in wonder at Hyeonyul, who was lying down. He had been told it would take five days and had been praying the whole time. Now Hyeonyul had appeared like a surprise gift, and he couldn't stop smiling.

"It was just a coincidence."

"Feels good, doesn't it?"

"It does."

"If it feels that good, how did you stand being back there?"

"I thought I had to endure it then. If I didn't, I had no choice but to die."

He hadn't had the money for treatment. That had been the only place that paid enough to cover it.

"That's true."

Jeongmin was briefly at a loss for words before smoothly changing the subject.

"I think about this every day lately. I wish the Black Eagles' recruitment notice had gone up sooner. I'm so comfortable now that I've left that shitty hospital. Imagine how much better it must be for you."

He looked ready to break into a little dance at any moment.

"I checked several times to see whether I'd missed it. It turned out I had."

"You weren't debating whether or not you should go?"

"I didn't agonize much over joining the Black Eagles. The part I gave some serious thought to was meeting the requirements. Thanks to Shin Daeho, that turned out to be very easy."

Hyeonyul remembered the look in Shin Daeho's eyes as his life ended. After the surprise, he had seemed to smile faintly.

Why had he smiled?

"You're doing well now, right?"

Jeongmin pushed up his glasses and narrowed his eyes. He had decided not to be fooled anymore by Hyeonyul's assurances that he was doing well, that the job was tolerable.

"Yes."

"Are you really? You lied last time too."

["I haven't done anything that goes against what you taught me, Doctor."]

That was always what followed his claim that he was fine.

"Neither last time nor this time have I done anything that goes against what you taught me, Doctor."

Just as expected, Hyeonyul brought it up again.

"Not that."

"I'm doing well."

"Not that, Hyeonyul."

At Jeongmin's insistence, Hyeonyul gently closed his eyes, then opened them. Jeongmin braced himself for the same words yet again.

"It's strange."

"... Strange?"

"Yes. It's strange. Yesterday, they told me to stay in the car because it was cold and excluded me from the mission, but I didn't feel all that bad. I didn't like the fact that I could be excluded at any time, though. As you know, Doctor, the cold means nothing to m—"

Hyeonyul stopped before finishing. Jeongmin was smiling.

"Why are you smiling? Is what I said funny? Which part is funny?"

Hyeonyul sat up as he asked. Had his efforts finally paid off?

"... Hyeonyul. Let's be honest with ourselves. You're not exactly a great conversationalist."

"... I'm working on that."

Hyeonyul lay back down, his face twisting.

"I know. I know you're trying hard."

"What was funny?"

"I just thought, you're doing well."

Jeongmin kept grinning. He had seen Hyeonyul's teammates for himself and watched how they treated him, but hearing it directly from Hyeonyul finally put him at ease.

"That's what I've been saying all along. Did I phrase it strangely?"

"No. You said it well. I was suspicious because you're so good at lying."

"... I've only lied a little."

After turning various thoughts over in his head, Hyeonyul simply turned away. He had nothing more to say.

Jeongmin burst out laughing.

* * *

"... What? You came in too, Hyeonyul?"

Sinu was startled the moment Hyeonyul entered the room. The person he had been certain wouldn't come had shown up.

"Yes. I need to earn money."

Hyeonyul answered calmly and sat down.

"Fair enough. When else do we get a double-pay event?"

Sinu nodded in understanding. Was there anyone who disliked money?

"And just between us, the work's a little easier at times like this."

He lowered his voice. Haeryeon hadn't arrived yet, but this was something he needed to say carefully.

"Everyone will probably come in."

As the door flew open, Sinu immediately leaned back into his chair and clamped his mouth shut. Haeryeon might scold him if she found out.

"Baek Sinu. I can hear everything you're saying from outside."

Nayun came in carrying a paper bag of coffee and desserts.

"Don't be ridiculous. What's that?"

Sinu spoke nonchalantly, turning his gaze to the paper bag.

"I ran into the Team Leader on the way. She said to eat while we wait."

Hyeonyul rose reflexively and took the items while Nayun was speaking. Having handed everything over before she knew it, she watched him with a look that asked what he was doing.

With practiced movements, he set out the coffee and desserts. Once everything was neatly arranged, he returned to his seat.

'... That was fast.'

Sinu and Nayun had the same thought. How were they supposed to bring this up? Better not say anything.

They exchanged a glance, and Sinu asked casually, "What sort of mission do you think we'll get?"

"It sounded like support work. That's why she gave us these. Like, we can eat while we wait, then dash out when a support request comes in."

As she answered, Nayun looked at Hyeonyul and promptly asked, "Anything you're curious about? ... Oh, right, you've been on one before, haven't you? Supporting magical bomb defusal."

"Yes. I have."

"Aren't magical bombs difficult?"

"You only need to know how to read magical formulas. That gives you the qualifications to defuse them."

Hyeonyul broke off and looked toward the door.

"That part alone is already difficult."

Jihwan hurried over and sat down. Seeing the food, Jihwan asked delightedly, "Did the Team Leader buy these?"

"Yes. She said to eat while we wait. Jihwan, just how difficult is it?"

Nayun's reply also expressed her curiosity. She hadn't given it much thought before, but having a teammate who could defuse bombs made her wonder.

"Even among mages, very few can defuse magical bombs. You can think of it as being connected to the reason for that."

"... That explains it."

Nayun nodded as though finally realizing something.

"What's up? Did you hear something on the way?"

Sinu, sipping his coffee, asked at the sight of her expression.

"I did. Apparently, the Bomb Disposal Team really wants our Hyeonyul. They say they're going to make a proposal to our Team Leader soon."

"... Ha."

A sigh sounded. It wasn't Haeryeon. At the entirely different voice, everyone in Team Three looked toward the door.

It was Dojin, Team Two's Team Leader. Dojin looked at Hyeonyul.

"I didn't expect another competitor."

"Team Leader Dojin. You still haven't given up on Hyeonyul?"

Nayun narrowed her eyes as she asked. Dojin cleared their throat, briefly displaying some yarn for "knitting" while speaking. When Hyeonyul reacted, Dojin put the yarn away and declared confidently, "I've come to request support."

"From Hyeonyul?"

As Nayun stared even more intently, Dojin approached.

"We have a mission, and I thought you'd be perfect for it. Will you come?"

"Has our Team Leader approved this too?"

Sinu asked warily.

It was quite rare for a Team Leader to come and make a request like this. Was this really necessary? From their perspective, Dojin looked like a nasty Team Leader trying to steal their precious new recruit.

"Of course."

"Wait a moment, Team Leader."

Jihwan spoke urgently. When Dojin looked over, Jihwan pointed at the desserts.

"Bro, could you eat your dessert before you go? You'll do better on the mission with a full stomach."

"... Well, that much is fine."

When Dojin looked at Hyeonyul, his eyes were wide with surprise. He didn't need to eat dessert.

'... Why do I have to eat?'

If anything, he was puzzled. But no answer came. Everyone seemed to want him to.

He took up his fork with a heavy hand. For now, eating was what mattered.

'Let's eat.'

* * *

"I apologize if that was sudden."

Dojin spoke while continuing to display the knitting yarn.

"It's fine."

"I heard you know a great deal about drugs."

"I'm not sure I'd say a great deal. I know a few things."

"I know you identified several companies suspected of being connected to villains. I heard you inferred it from their logos or insignias. Is that true?"

"It is."

Hyeonyul looked at the knitting yarn. With his attention continually drawn to it, Dojin felt rather pleased and went on.

"We found drugs while investigating those leads. The mission began about an hour ago. There may be more drugs, but we don't know where."

"So, tracking?"

"Essentially."

"Understood."

Hyeonyul answered simply. Tracking was one of the things he had done before.

Dojin stopped at the eagle boarding area and waved the yarn.

"I tried it to win you over, but it turned out to be fun."

Dojin briefly held out a clumsily made piece. Anyone could tell it was a beginner's work. To think Dojin had actually made something.

"... I've never seen anyone go this far."

Many people had tried to win his favor, but this was the first who had genuinely tried sharing something he enjoyed. It was surprising.

"I'm serious. Of course, even if you don't join our team, I'd like you to consider staying on good terms with me."

"Why?"

"Have you forgotten that I said I liked you from the start?"

"I didn't know you meant it."

"I'm serious about everything. Oh, right, I need to say this too."

As soon as the words were out, Dojin bowed their head.

"Thank you for protecting my people."

Was Dojin referring to the incident when the Poison King had spread poison?

Hyeonyul looked at Dojin, a faint crease forming between his brows. The people in the Black Eagles wouldn't let him keep his thoughts simple. They made him think further.

"... I'll consider your earlier proposal."

Hyeonyul finally replied with a faint smile. Of all the recruitment offers he had received, he thought this might be a fairly good one.

He walked to where the eagle was waiting, covered his mouth with one hand, and extended the other. The eagle swooped over and caught hold of his arm.