* * *

'... Hmm.'

Hyeonyul's blunt words left Jihwan deeply hesitant. Was this right? Were they allowed to do this? Those questions circled endlessly through his mind.

"... Bro."

"Yes."

"This really..."

Jihwan flinched as the student suddenly lunged. Despite knowing that darkness was not only choking them but binding their body so they could not advance, the student strained forward.

Sensing something rippling around the student's body, Hyeonyul narrowed his eyes. It was a psychic power.

"Step back," he immediately told Jihwan. They needed to be careful with this.

"Die, die, Black Eagles!"

The student's eyes flashed wide as they issued the forceful command.

He did not know much about it, but he had heard that psychic powers grew stronger as one's feelings toward a target intensified. He did not know how much stronger they became, but he could feel his skin trembling.

'This is on the stronger side, isn't it?'

Wouldn't this level require facing a sworn enemy—or something beyond that? Why could the student wield so much power?

Hyeonyul glanced at Jihwan. Apart from being startled, he looked perfectly fine.

"Is that a psychic power?" Hyeonyul asked as though he knew nothing.

He saw the student falter, then contort their face.

"Why are you so angry?"

"... It doesn't work?"

It was the student who was shocked by Hyeonyul's composure. It really didn't work? They stared at him as though something utterly unexpected had happened.

"What do you have against the Black Eagles? You haven't been brainwashed, either. I'd appreciate it if you stopped playing dumb."

"... My family died because of you."

"Are you saying the Black Eagles killed your family?"

Hyeonyul tilted his head. That made no sense. Shouldn't they replace 'Black Eagles' with 'villains'? Perhaps they had failed to understand what had happened.

'Anyway, is it time for my medication?'

Judging by how many thoughts were occurring to him, it seemed to be time. He unhurriedly took out his medication.

"Why couldn't you save my family? Why... why should I have to suffer because of you? If you'd done your jobs properly, I wouldn't be like this!"

The scowling student's voice rose and rose until it was on the verge of exploding.

"... Ah. So that's what this is about?"

Hyeonyul swallowed his medication and responded indifferently. He had no desire to hear more. Simply put, they were blaming others.

In the past, merely pointing out their behavior would have made them feel ashamed enough to stop, or they would have kept quiet out of concern for what others thought. Not anymore. What happened when people who blamed others gathered, and kept gathering, until they formed a group like this?

A place like this was inevitable. He did not know what to call it. It certainly was a new type.

"What this is about...?"

He did not know what had offended the student, but their lips trembled. Hyeonyul watched them steadily.

"Do you know how many people have died while you lot ran around trying to catch villains? My friend got hit by debris because of the mess you caused, and now they walk with a limp!"

"Isn't that the hospital's fault? The Black Eagles aren't responsible for medical treatment as well."

"Would the villains have grown this powerful if you'd just stayed put? A group that would've died out on its own has only gotten bigger because of you! They've gotten smarter and crueler! You—you bastards are the ones who made the villains stronger!"

Hyeonyul blinked at the words that followed. The student could only be speaking in earnest.

"Did you hear that? Ah, listen from over there. Don't come closer."

Breaking off his question to Jihwan, Hyeonyul stopped him from approaching.

"Now I understand why they attacked me earlier. I was a target simply because I was a Black Eagle. They believe that, just as this student said, the villains becoming smarter and crueler is entirely the Black Eagles' fault."

He could not call it complete sophistry. In a sense, they might have grown together like rivals.

"But tell me. If the Black Eagles disappear, who will stop the villains?"

"If the Black Eagles disappear, the villains will disappear too. What kind of stupid shit are you spouting?"

"How would the villains disappear? Are you saying that once the Black Eagles are gone, the villains will say they regret everything they've done and voluntarily disband?"

Villains would do that? Hyeonyul's mind filled with question marks. If anything, those bastards would rejoice at the Black Eagles' disappearance and rush to seize the Empire.

"At least they wouldn't act like they do now! Stop running your mouth and die! Die! Just die!"

"Without thought, judgment, or reason, you simply believe that the villains will disappear if the Black Eagles do?"

"The villains weren't like this when they first appeared. They didn't kill people...! They only became truly vicious because you appeared! Why can't you understand? Are you brainless?"

"Has it never occurred to you that the Black Eagles were created because the villains were vicious in the first place?"

"You're laughing at me, aren't you? You think there's something wrong with me? No! You must feel there's something wrong with your organization too! You keep defeating villains, but their numbers never go down!"

"Yes. I understand."

Hyeonyul neatly cut the conversation short. There was no need to hear more. Following that argument led nowhere.

The police bred criminals. Therefore, getting rid of the police would make criminals disappear.

How could someone think of only one thing, see only one thing?

'I can't put it down to them being students. The ones who taught them were adults.'

Former Black Eagles. If they had been Black Eagles, why had they fed the students such nonsense?

Hyeonyul looked behind him.

"Please knock them unconscious."

Jihwan cast a spell, and the student lost consciousness. He walked over slowly, his expression dark.

"... You're saying there are more than just one or two people here who think like this?"

"That's right. If it were only an individual who held those views, we could ignore them. But this is no longer an individual. It has become a group."

"I don't know if I should say this, but honestly, it's disgusting."

Jihwan frowned.

The Black Eagles worked out of a sense of duty. What would happen if that was shattered?

"I can't... believe the person who made them believe this was true was a Black Eagle."

Why? The question kept circling in his mind. Why attack fellow Black Eagles?

"I'm beginning to question whether he really was a Black Eagle in the first place. If he was, perhaps he was expelled for some reason?"

"Probably. That has to be it."

Comforted by Hyeonyul's words, Jihwan smiled again.

The Black Eagles had saved him. He had admired them. Hearing that everything he had done until now was futile felt as though it would drain all the strength from his body. What would that make his fallen comrades?

"Mr. Ye Jihwan. I was a villain. I'm the first. Doesn't that tell you something?"

If the Black Eagles truly were evil, it would be natural for villains to come over to their side. Villains inevitably pursued evil. If he was the first former villain to become a Black Eagle, didn't that demonstrate that the Black Eagles' justice was not misguided?

Jihwan said nothing and simply smiled. He looked around briefly and let out a long breath.

"Now we just need to wrap things up. Sit down for a bit, Bro. I'll make it quick."

Hyeonyul stared at him. His expression was strange. This wavering was not good. Seeds of doubt grew exceptionally fast, and spread contamination as well. That situation would not be good for Hyeonyul either.

"Don't waver. Trust what you've seen for yourself. Even if those claims are true, we can cut out the affected parts. Just as good and evil exist, no place is completely clean."

"You're right. I can't waver. This might actually be what they want."

"They'll use anything they can. The Empire is what the villains want. They may have turned their attention elsewhere because struggling and throwing tantrums got them nowhere."

The Black Eagles, the Empire's shield. They might have decided they needed to pierce that sturdy shield first.

"If it still bothers you, ask the Team Leader. She'll give you an answer."

Hyeonyul smiled faintly.

* * *

"... Team Leader, we're back."

Jihwan smiled warmly the moment he saw Haeryeon.

"Good work, Jihwan. Hyeonyul, is your hand all right?"

Haeryeon rose from her seat and approached them.

"It's fine."

Hyeonyul hid his bandaged hand behind his back. Jeongmin had given him a scolding, but what could he do about a hand that had already been pierced?

"You have something you want to ask me, don't you?"

Jihwan nodded at Haeryeon's question.

"Yes, I do."

"To give you the conclusion first, it is true that something regrettable happened."

Haeryeon stated the facts clearly. As soon as she received the report that a former Black Eagle was involved in this incident, her first concern had been how shocked the two of them must have been.

"You remember why Team Five's leader was expelled?"

"I remember. They joined forces with villains," Jihwan answered.

His gaze held unwavering trust as he looked at Haeryeon.

"That's right. I can't say such things have never happened within the Black Eagles. They happened before, and they happened this time too. But those actions don't make everything we've done meaningless."

Haeryeon explained calmly. She had not expected an attack in this form. She had considered it a small issue, but it seemed to have grown larger than she thought.

"The Black Eagles were created because those people, whom we called criminals at the time, launched indiscriminate attacks on civilians. That day, a city disappeared and tens of thousands of civilians died."

"Then why didn't the Empire declare war?" Hyeonyul asked, unable to understand.

Couldn't they simply have swept them away with the Empire's military forces at the time?

"The Empire had already endured several wars. Peace had barely arrived, and a civil war would certainly have torn it apart again. The timing wasn't good either."

"Was the incident buried?"

"No. It wasn't buried. Jihwan should know about it."

Haeryeon shook her head and indicated Jihwan.

"I learned about this... um, in history class. The emperor, who had concealed the truth even if only briefly, admitted it, acknowledged his wrongdoing, and stepped down. I was taught that it was the Empire's fault."

"Is that so?"

Hyeonyul found that unexpected. An emperor had stepped down so easily.

"The previous emperor intended to establish the Black Eagles, and the current emperor carried on that intention and created them," Haeryeon continued.

The current emperor had established the Black Eagles. Hyeonyul knew that much from his theory classes.

"Anyway, regardless of what he said, anyone who joins forces with villains for personal gain—"

Hyeonyul's eyes shifted for the briefest moment. His figurehead president, Lee Seungyu, came to mind.

'I haven't gained anything.'

Nothing had come into his hands. He was merely using him for his own sake, and for the Black Eagles.

"We exclude cases where someone joins forces with villains to eliminate them. We allow fairly broad latitude. For example, if someone bribes a villain to learn something, and that information saves many people, we can't punish them. In other words, don't seek personal gain."

Haeryeon explained in greater detail for Hyeonyul's sake. He would have learned about it in training, but it might not have been explicitly addressed. This was generally something people learned gradually after their probation ended.

"Those who kill civilians who aren't villains, those who harm civilians who aren't villains, those who wield the Black Eagles' strength as a form of authority. Most are weeded out on those grounds. The man you and Jihwan saw today was probably one of them."

"But he said the Black Eagles create villains. Rather than making up something out of nothing, he seemed to have witnessed something."

Hyeonyul raised the question. This point needed to be clarified before they moved on.

["Do you know what the Black Eagles did? They made deals with villains! They were actually fostering villains for their own safety! Even when our teammates died, even when other Black Eagles died, we believed in one thing: that we were serving the Empire and its citizens. We believed in that alone and silently pressed on, but it wasn't true...!"]

The former Black Eagle.

["... The Black Eagles won't give you what you want. Unlike what you think, that place isn't just."]

The Poison King, too. Why did they all make such an issue of justice?

"He witnessed something...?"

"Yes. I don't know what he saw. His claims were almost identical to the Poison King's: the Black Eagles aren't a just organization. Why would they say that?"

"... Hmm."

Haeryeon's expression grew serious as well. It looked so natural that he could reasonably conclude she truly knew nothing.

"Even considering everything I know, there's really nothing like that. ... Black Eagles who've been expelled? There are still some. We simply have no reason to mention them. Reporting every single case would only heighten anxiety. That's one of the things we team leaders are most wary of."

Anxiety was contagious, and once spread, it ate away at everyone and contributed to a higher death rate.

"Anyway, I'll say it again. The Black Eagles have one goal: a world without villains. So don't waver."

"Understood, Team Leader."

Jihwan smiled at Haeryeon, relief on his face.

"And Hyeonyul."

"Yes."

"I heard today's report. Apparently Jihwan removed you from the mission because of your injury, and you refused to comply. Is that right?"

"That's correct. I thought the mission took priority. And the mission did, in fact, end quickly."

"I'm glad the mission ended quickly. But I won't tolerate this going forward."

'She won't tolerate it?'

As Hyeonyul stared at her as if to ask what she meant, Haeryeon held out her fingers.

"One: if you're injured, you're removed from the mission entirely. Two: if you're injured, you return to the mission after treatment. Which will you choose?"

"... Pardon?"

Haeryeon was adamant, and Hyeonyul could hardly believe his ears.