* * *

* * *

Hyeonyul opened his eyes.

'... Yesterday was horrible.'

He understood why they had scheduled today as a day off. He hadn't done anything, but one by one, everyone else had lost their minds.

'How did the Team Leader endure all that?'

Only he and Haeryeon had stayed in their right minds. Like him, she hadn't touched any alcohol. This had been his first welcome party here, but it hadn't been hers.

["We can't have me getting drunk too. But cut them some slack today. Everyone was really, really happy you joined us, Hyeonyul."]

She didn't seem to have drunk anything, yet her smile had been so much more relaxed than usual that he almost wondered if she had. It was that strange.

'Happy...'

Hyeonyul stopped pondering after a moment and twitched his fingers. The darkness brought him his phone.

The instant he checked his messages, he turned the phone facedown. After the drunken wrecks they'd become yesterday, he'd expected them to sleep until late afternoon, but there were already over five hundred messages in the chat.

He squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them again. The thought that he'd been fooled once more kept circling in his mind.

'After the state they were in yesterday, how is this possible?'

["Brooo. Bro. I'll be really good to you. I mean it."]

Once Jihwan got drunk, he cried every time he looked at Hyeonyul. He'd used more than half a roll of toilet paper all by himself.

["Want some of this? It's good. There's more. I can buy you more. See your sis's card? Your sis can afford it. Plenty of money. Order everything! Order it all!"]

Nayun kept holding out her card and trying to feed him things. It was hard to refuse, so he kept eating. Never in his life had he eaten so much.

["... Where was I? Hyeonyul, become my little brother for real. I'll go sign the papers right now. Jihwan, you come too! Nayun, you... Never mind."]

Sinu kept trying to make him his actual little brother. Hyeonyul didn't even know whether that was possible.

When he'd worked for the villains, he'd attended plenty of company dinners and served drinks countless times. Even there, nothing like this had ever happened. Since he'd started working as a minor, he'd spent about twelve or thirteen years with them.

Yesterday had been very different from those days. It was still horrible, just in a different way.

'Still, it really was strange.'

A look of wonder crossed Hyeonyul's face before he stopped thinking about it. He looked at his hand. It was trembling.

'Is the medication wrong for me?'

His medication was being changed little by little. This would continue until they found something that suited him perfectly, so he wasn't surprised. Hadn't he vomited blood after the last change? Compared with a side effect like that, a trembling hand was fine.

It was rather absurd. He was searching for experiment sites and using the information from them to find the bastard who'd made him this way, all while searching for medication that suited him.

Hyeonyul sent Jeongmin a message, then got up.

[My hand is trembling.]

The 1 beside the message vanished immediately.

[Doctor Jeongmin: Wha?]

[Doctor Jeongmin: Wait.]

BZZZZ.

A call came in.

"Yes, Doctor."

<"How badly is it trembling? Does it hurt? You haven't vomited blood, have you?">

Jeongmin spoke very quickly.

"A little. Not enough to stop me from holding a dagger."

<"What kind of comparison... All right. I'll make a new batch for now.">

"Understood."

<"I'm sure I got the ingredients right. How strange.">

"It's all right. It's not your fault, Doctor. My body is simply demanding. It isn't breaking down, either."

<"That would be a disaster! That must never, ever happen!">

"Yes. I know."

<"I'm not all right with this. Not remotely!">

Hyeonyul held the phone a little away from his ear and yawned.

'Quite a set of lungs.'

He waited until Jeongmin's voice calmed down.

<"... See you later. We'll examine you again when you come in.">

"Understood. I'll see you later."

Hyeonyul waited for Jeongmin to hang up, then rose. He swallowed his medication first and gazed impassively at the sunlight.

'... It's my day off, but I suppose I should get moving?'

Yesterday, he'd been assigned to support the Bomb Disposal Team because of bombs attached to the highway. There, he'd discovered villains other than the ones who had planted the bombs. He'd been able to tell they weren't with the bomb planters by the smell of gunpowder on their bodies.

He wanted to pass anything he discovered on a mission to the Black Eagles whenever possible. But even if he explained how he'd discovered it, others wouldn't readily believe him, and the way he'd located the place was difficult to explain as well.

["I don't want to hear about you from someone else, Hyeonyul. By then, it's too late. There's a lot less I can do. Even if you cause trouble or make a mistake, let me be the first to know."]

He suddenly remembered what Haeryeon had told him.

'This isn't causing trouble. It isn't a mistake, either.'

He'd even kept a villain alive and captured him so the Black Eagles could investigate too. Wasn't he merely checking things in advance?

After considering a number of things, Hyeonyul nodded.

* * *

"... Hey. You guys hear about this?"

Someone spoke up as he passed around cups of coffee. His colleagues, who'd been working at their desks, leisurely got up to take them.

"What? Try spouting some dad joke. I'll rip your mouth apart."

As if he meant it, one colleague held out a knife.

"Hey, not that. Things have been pretty unusual with the Poison King's people lately, right?"

"So what?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

The others sounded equally indifferent. That was their business, not theirs.

"I hear they've got a new boss."

At the man's words, his colleagues showed a little more interest.

"Who is it?"

"Yeah, who? What lunatic's shown up?"

"That, I don't know."

His answer drew a chorus of jeers.

"Hey, get your facts straight before you talk. Things here are shaky enough as it is."

"Why? Thinking of moving?"

"If I can, I should. There aren't many places we can go once we're in this business. Still, I ought to find somewhere good."

"... Ha. Why's life so damn hard? We don't know when we'll croak, yet here I am worrying about the kids' tutoring fees first. Funny, isn't it?"

The others laughed weakly, as though they shared the sentiment.

"All this talk about destroying the Empire, but what we're worried about right now is making a living."

"But seriously. Do you guys think we can actually beat the Empire?"

At the question, asked with a coffee cup against the speaker's lips, silence abruptly fell. The mood became unnaturally heavy.

For something tossed out so casually, it had made everyone stare at him. Their eyes abruptly turned murderous, replacing their expressions of reluctance to work.

"... Hey. What's gotten into you all? Aren't you honestly curious? I mean—"

Before he could get the words out, a scream erupted. A knife was buried in his stomach.

He stared at the colleague beside him, trembling, then collapsed. His breathing grew rapid. He flailed, trying to get up, only to land on his ass again, bringing the things on the desk down with him.

CRASH.

"Looks like those Eagle bastards sent him. He's kept himself well hidden until now."

"No kidding. Disgusting."

Those weren't eyes looking at a colleague.

An enemy.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Chilled, the man struck the floor. Just as a circle of light began to spread, the colleagues gathered around him fell to an unseen force. Long gashes covered the floor.

"... Crazy fuckers."

Panting, he stared at them.

All he'd asked was whether they could beat the Empire. How had that single question turned him into a Black Eagle?

"Sure, we've all stepped into the same mire, but you stab me... just for saying that?"

He was shocked. He'd felt them changing, bit by bit, every time they attended training, but he'd never imagined it had gone this far.

Honestly, what did the Empire matter? They could cite hard lives and whatever other excuses they liked, but they were scum, and they lived with that admission. He didn't understand why they were suddenly bringing up the eradication of the Empire as if they were something special.

When had they started thinking that way?

"I've worked with you for six years, you fucking bastards! Did you forget I bought diapers for your kids, you sons of bitches?"

"A filthy Eagle, tricking us?"

"When did you infiltrate us?"

They had no intention of listening to him. They were simply going to kill him.

"You said you'd never let your kids get into this business! Why the hell—"

The man's eyes widened mid-sentence. Someone had appeared, shrouded in black smoke.

"You know it's useless."

As calmly as if he were out for a stroll, the newcomer grabbed a colleague's head and sliced through his neck. It happened so quickly that the man could barely process it even as he watched.

"Those bastards, yourself included, are nothing but components. Do you still not understand?"

Hyeonyul tossed aside the head he was holding as though it were an object and looked at the man behind him.

"If you think you're in your right mind, you should abandon that notion. Your fits are simply less severe than theirs. No sane person gets into this line of work."

Just as he seemed about to approach the man, thin black smoke rippled around his body. He appeared at the very rear of the villains who'd tried to attack him.

"What villains want is the Empire. They'll do anything for it. Isn't it time you noticed?"

Offering that helpful explanation, Hyeonyul pierced the throat of the villain before him. The bastard's twitching traveled through his fingertips.

He looked at the others. One mouth to talk was enough, anyway.

Hyeonyul kicked away the villain whose throat he'd pierced. A fist the size of a person's torso came crashing down toward him. It crushed the head of the villain he'd shoved into its path, but the attacker paid no heed to his dying colleague.

How could that be sane?

Hyeonyul dodged the descending fist to the side and severed the arm.

"Aaaagh!"

As the loud scream erupted, Hyeonyul tried to stab him in the neck, but his fingertips trembled. He immediately switched hands and smoothly drove the blade into his throat.

After watching him collapse to the floor, Hyeonyul walked toward the man. His steps were slow, but different.

"Did you actually think they were your colleagues? They betrayed you."

Seeing the man's anger, Hyeonyul couldn't understand it.

"Never mind. You don't need to answer."

Thinking he'd asked a pointless question, he asked another instead.

"You knew a group of villains planted bombs on the highway yesterday. Your group tried to add other bombs to theirs. Why?"

That was what he wanted to know. What had they been trying to do? Apparently they did this sort of thing normally, but the fact that they hadn't fled even after the Black Eagles arrived bothered him.

If it was nothing significant, that would be enough.

"... So you're an Eagle bastard?"

The man asked as he bled. Only the Black Eagles knew about that.

"Yes."

"... Haha. An Eagle bastard, doing something like this?"

"You do it too. Why shouldn't I?"

"You're all fucking idiots, aren't you? All you can do is... ngh, tell us to surrender."

The corners of the man's mouth lifted.

"That's not something I care to hear from a man betrayed by his colleagues."

"You people claim to choose good, yet look at you..."

"You do it too, so why shouldn't I? The law? I'm abiding by it. The Black Eagles are allowed to kill you. My methods may not be right, but even if they're filthy and sordid, isn't it good if they're directed toward what's right? Frankly, seeing you try to lean on that goodness disgusts me."

"So how far are you going to go? Will you kill my family?"

"I won't. I won't go that far."

"... Right. You couldn't. You're a Black Eagle."

The man squeezed his eyes shut. Despite his words, he was relieved.

"If you know how shitty it is to come to work on a day off, talk before you die."

"Why do you think I'll talk?"

"I didn't think that."

Hyeonyul adjusted his grip on his dagger and approached.

"I merely wanted to cut out the hassle in one go. Even if I have to take the long way around, I can find out. And I intend to."

The man looked at Hyeonyul. His helmet hid both his face and his expression. But only one thing mattered.

He was a Black Eagle.

There was only one option a stupid Black Eagle could choose.

Arrest.

"... Our president hates drugs."

The man offered information to secure that outcome. It was a way to live even a little longer.

"Is that possible?"

"Yeah. It's true. His child was dragged off as a test subject and died. ... So wherever drugs are used, he interferes, wipes the place out, or calls in the Black Eagles."

"Then what sort of group was using bombs on the highway?"

What did drugs have to do with bombs? Hyeonyul had difficulty understanding the connection. Their complete lack of a connection made it all the more suspicious.

'Was it to draw attention?'

With bombs involved, the Black Eagles had no choice but to keep the Bomber in mind, putting them on greater alert. What benefit could someone gain by exploiting that?

'Do they want us to search for drugs?'

He didn't know why, but the group they'd gone so far as to call in the Black Eagles to destroy was clearly involved with drugs.

"... I don't know that either. I just did what I was told. Only the president would know."

"Where is the president?"

"I don't know. I want to see him too. I thought this place... would be different from the others, but it wasn't. It wasn't!"

The man's face contorted with frustration. The moment Hyeonyul saw that expression, he spoke, intending to cut off anything else he might say.

"Give me your phone."

"... What?"

"I'll send your family a text for you."

"..."

The man's face turned deathly pale. Wasn't this going to end with an arrest?

"Did you think I'd spare you if you talked? Why are you so naive?"

All Black Eagles were like that. How identically must they have behaved for everyone to think that way?

As he'd told the man moments earlier, Hyeonyul believed it was fine even if it was sordid and filthy, so long as it was directed toward what was right. That was also the direction he'd promised Jeongmin he would take.

"Still, since you told me something, I'll show you some consideration at the end. Hand it over."

The man hesitated at Hyeonyul's words. Really? Was he serious? He seemed to be asking those questions.

"I'm not a very patient man."

At those almost threatening words, the man handed over his phone with a trembling hand.

"... Th-the passcode is 1226. My little princess's birthday."

"Yes. Go ahead."

He'd hoped mentioning his daughter would soften the Eagle's heart even a little, but there was no change in his voice.

It was hopeless.

With that thought, the man barely managed to speak.

Hyeonyul typed what the man dictated, then showed it to him.

"Is this correct?"

"... Yeah."

"I'll send it."

He pressed send and let the man confirm it.

"Are you really... going to kill me?"

"Is there a way to kill you falsely?"

"... What a truly fucked-up life it's been."

"Yes. That's how it is."

Hyeonyul took off his helmet.

"Life is fucked up by nature."

Hyeonyul bowed his head, then drove his dagger into the man's neck. The man let out a single groan and went limp.

After removing the chip from the phone, Hyeonyul dropped to the floor and melted into the darkness.

'I hope it was worth working on my day off.'

* * *

Hyeonyul went to the cinema. There happened to be a movie he wanted to see, and today was his day off. Spending it this way, at least, made him feel that things were somewhat all right.

"... Huh?"

Hyeonyul turned at the familiar voice. Jihwan and Sinu were standing there.

His breathing deepened, and a powerful sense of déjà vu washed over him.