* * *

"The recruit discovered this too?"

Hyeonho sounded thoroughly fed up.

The recruit was at the center of the incident. Did that make any sense? Why did it have to be that recruit?

"Isn't that impressive?"

Haeryeon smiled as she asked, and the corner of Hyeonho's eye twitched.

"There are things that concern me."

"Was there a single team that didn't receive our recruit's help during the Poison King incident?"

Haeryeon immediately countered, looking at Hyeonho.

"Team Leader Oh Haeryeon. I understand perfectly well that you're protecting a member of your team. I'm simply saying that you mustn't forget to consider that recruit's past."

Hyeonho spoke while concealing his displeasure.

The recruit had been a villain. Nothing could ever erase that background.

"I understand why you're saying that, Team Leader Bong Hyeonho. All of us are responsible for protecting the Nest, but you're the one managing its overall defensive magic and facilities. Naturally, you'd be sensitive about it."

Haeryeon began with a nod.

Each Team Leader had duties beyond managing their own team members. As an alchemist, Haeryeon had to produce medicines useful for missions. That was why she had made the antidote herself. Hyeonho was responsible for creating and maintaining the various defensive installations and spells surrounding the Nest.

"But if our recruit intended to do something, wouldn't he have done it much earlier?"

Haeryeon answered calmly.

With Hyeonyul's abilities, he could easily have done so. It was no joke: if he wanted to, he could cut off the heads of all six people sitting here right now. That was how highly she rated him.

"I agree. Why would he bother? If he really intended to attack us, he'd have done it when the White Sparrows pulled that shit. Why protect us from the Poison King's poison? He'd have been better off letting us all die."

Dojin took her side.

"But if he has some other ulterior motive..."

"Enough."

Juhyeon cut him off sharply, looking at Hyeonho with narrowed eyes.

"What idiot villain hands over inside information, reveals that there's a mole, and then catches the Poison King for us on top of that? Just say you don't like him because he used to be a villain. Why keep beating around the bush?"

"... It makes me uneasy. I'm afraid all the defenses I've inscribed to protect the Nest will be disabled."

"Um, well, everyone, please calm down."

Jeong Narin of Team Six spoke up, clasping her hands.

Silence fell. She was the one tasked with catching Black Eagles and White Sparrows who had turned traitor.

"... I understand what you mean. But Team Three's recruit went through all sorts of checks, didn't he? He's a test subject... He's in this situation because we failed to see what was happening. If we'd known and rescued him, I wonder if he'd have gone... over to that side."

Narin's clasped hands tightened.

"... I apologize if my words were harsh. I wasn't thinking things through."

Hyeonho rose and bowed to Haeryeon. She readily accepted his prompt admission and apology.

"Team Leader Jeong Narin has made a good point. Our recruit had no choice but to fall in with them because of practical circumstances. There were no surviving test subjects, so there was no system to support them, and he's still drowning in debt because of his expensive medication. Is that right? Why should a victim have to live like this?"

Haeryeon looked around at everyone. If they were going to keep calling him a villain, shouldn't they understand why he had become one?

"Our recruit has never killed an ordinary civilian, either. If he had, he'd already have been one of our targets."

There was an unspoken agreement not to prosecute anyone for killing villains. They all knew that, didn't they? They knew both how warped that reality was and why there was no other choice.

"Our recruit brought us Shin Daeho right from the start. And was Shin Daeho the only one? He helped us catch the mole, and he caught the Poison King. He uncovered the mental tampering with some White Sparrows on undercover assignments, and on this latest mission, he even brought back word that former Black Eagles had banded together to attack us. What more does he have to do? What will it take for you to see him as a Black Eagle?"

The longer Haeryeon spoke, the more her expression twisted. Frankly, she was irritated. If a Team Leader viewed him like that, how much worse would the team members be? She let out a long breath and calmed herself.

"I want you to stop branding him a villain. This is not a request. I won't tolerate it any longer, either. Consider yourselves clearly warned, and keep your team members in line."

Haeryeon delivered her final warning. It was her duty to protect her team.

"I'm sure everyone understands. Now, let's talk about those former Black Eagles."

To lighten the atmosphere, Dojin returned to the reason the meeting had been called.

"Those bastards were so fucking happy to leave, and now they're crawling back to attack us? Ha!"

Even as Dojin spoke, the voice carried sheer disbelief.

"They're trying to destabilize us. I'm sorry to bring him up again, but they may use Team Three's recruit."

Hyeonho watched Haeryeon's reaction as he spoke.

But he had no choice but to mention it. If the Black Eagles had a vulnerability right now, it was that recruit. There had been a mole, and information of that sort could also have slipped out through someone else's lips.

"From a psychological standpoint, I think that's something they'll inevitably exploit."

Dongu spoke cautiously.

"I'm aware of that, too."

Haeryeon accepted that this was unavoidable.

"But they don't know our recruit. Ridiculous rumors will spread. I'm asking you to prevent that possibility."

"I agree."

Juhyeon raised a hand.

"No Black Eagle should have to suffer an injustice."

Juhyeon took hold of the phone again and moved a thumb over the screen, then stopped and held it out.

「*MUST READ*」

「The New Black Eagle Used to Be a 'Villain'」

"I looked through that site, and it's already spread."

Haeryeon immediately gritted her teeth at the news.

"... Damn it."

At the icy voice coming from Haeryeon's lips, every Team Leader watched her warily. They hadn't expected her to become this fierce.

"Uh, Unni? I'll delete as much of it as I can. Calm down."

"Yes, calm down, Haeryeon."

"Team Leader Haeryeon? P-please calm down!"

After Juhyeon and Dojin, even Narin raised her voice.

"... I ask for everyone's cooperation. I'll start by catching the rotten bastards who spread that rumor. Right now."

Haeryeon intended to find whoever else had spread this information from within their own ranks.

* * *

"... Seo Hyeonyul."

As soon as he stepped off the bus, he found a woman with wavy, deep-purple hair standing there. The night made the color of her hair look even darker. She was Ye Juhyeon, Team Seven's leader.

"Hello."

Hyeonyul bowed when he saw her.

"I'm late in thanking you."

"Not at all. Thank you for saying so."

"There's something I want to discuss on the way. That's all right, isn't it?"

As usual, Juhyeon kept looking at her phone and moving her thumb, but the edge beneath her manner and voice was less sharp than before.

'Was stopping the poison really that big a deal?'

Hyeonyul still wondered, but with even some White Sparrows now apologizing to him, he had to admit that it was.

"Aren't you going home, though?"

"There's something I need to tell you before I leave. Unni will explain it, but I thought it would be better for you to see it yourself, so I waited."

"I understand."

Hyeonyul spoke impassively, and Juhyeon glanced at him.

"You're not surprised? I suppose you already expected it?"

'...?'

A question mark appeared in Hyeonyul's mind. What was she talking about?

"... I thought so. I figured you'd be surprised this time, but you anticipated even this."

Juhyeon sounded disappointed.

"Honestly, I didn't expect this myself. To think they'd use you again."

'Ah.'

Only then did Hyeonyul understand. Apparently, something had emerged that sought to use him. There was only one conclusion he could draw: information about him had leaked to the former Black Eagles.

As expected, nothing changed. He had known, so there was no shock to feel. Didn't he know better than anyone that no matter what he did, he could only ever be a villain?

"What did you see that told you?"

Juhyeon sighed before answering his question. It wasn't anything good.

"Something like this showed up."

Juhyeon held out her phone.

「*MUST READ*」

「The New Black Eagle Used to Be a 'Villain'」

"Have you found out who passed on my information?"

"Not yet."

"I expected this from the moment my information leaked to the White Sparrows. You don't need to try so hard."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

One of Juhyeon's eyebrows rose.

"I'm wearing this uniform, but I know all I've been given is an outer shell. Some people do thank me for the Poison King incident. But that's only fleeting, isn't it? If something like the mole incident happens again, they'll turn hostile toward me again. I'll be used wherever it's convenient."

"You're more pessimistic than you look. Are you always like this?"

"You call it pessimism, but it's a fact. Whatever I do, I'll be a villain. I fully expected this."

"So you're going to sit back and watch? I can practically hear Unni losing her mind in frustration from here."

"No. Why would I do that?"

Hyeonyul looked ahead. He had intended to ignore them if they left him alone. But they had come after him.

"Was it the former Black Eagles?"

"Yes. Honestly, even calling those bastards 'former' anything and attaching the name Black Eagles to them pisses me off, but there's no other term. What can we do?"

"How are they classified?"

"Classified...?"

"Are they villains or not?"

"Under imperial law, anyone who carries out any attack against the Empire or the Black Eagles is designated a 'villain.' Criminals never touch us."

There were strong similarities between what criminals and villains did. But criminals targeted individual civilians; they never turned against the Empire or the Black Eagles. Villains were different. They targeted the civilian population as a whole rather than individuals, carrying out direct and indirect attacks against the Empire and the Black Eagles.

"So you're saying they're villains?"

"Of course. They'll deny it to their dying breath, but they're 'villains' too. Besides, they came after you. You're a Black Eagle. That means they came after all of us."

Hyeonyul stopped walking for a moment. Juhyeon turned her head.

"... You acknowledge me as a Black Eagle?"

"What choice do I have? You've proven yourself. I don't like your background, either. But I have to acknowledge you. Right now, you're more admirable than any other Black Eagle."

Even as she spoke, Juhyeon wore a disgruntled expression. Her feelings and the facts didn't align, and there was nothing she could do about that. But she had to give credit where it was due.

"I'm not your Team Leader, so you might resent me saying all this, but like Haeryeon Unni, I hope you won't become a villain. I don't want you to become our enemy."

"That won't happen."

"I sincerely hope you'll keep feeling that way."

"I will."

"An article went up a little while ago. It's been taken down, but it did appear."

"There was an article?"

His calm response to this, too, bothered Juhyeon.

'How much has he been through to act like that?'

Narrowing her eyes slightly, Juhyeon held out her phone.

「New Black Eagle Actually a Former Villain?」

"It means the attack has already begun. Villains will deliberately seek you out."

"Is that so?"

Hyeonyul's expression didn't change.

"... That's your entire reaction?"

Instead, Juhyeon was the one taken aback. Wasn't this worth at least a little surprise? Attacks might come from every direction.

"What am I supposed to say here?"

Hyeonyul genuinely seemed not to know what the right response was.

It was frustrating. She felt she understood, just a little, why Haeryeon worried about him so much.

"... True, what could you say? What could you do besides get angry? That was my mistake. Sorry."

"Not at all."

"As an apology, I'll make you this promise."

The corners of Juhyeon's mouth lifted.

"I'll find out who did it for you. And of course, I'll stop posts like that from circulating."

"Don't you dislike me?"

"As long as you don't betray us, you're a Black Eagle. As a Team Leader, I'm simply protecting a Black Eagle."

Juhyeon smoothly stepped aside.

"You don't have to follow me. That's all I had to tell you. Hear the rest from Unni."

She waved and headed toward the bus stop. Hyeonyul hesitated, then waved back, making her burst out laughing.

"That doesn't quite suit you, but it's not bad."

* * *

The moment Hyeonyul entered the room, he took two steps back. There was someone he didn't know inside.

'... Did I come to the wrong room?'

He glanced outside the door.

"You're in the right place. Come in, Hyeonyul."

At Haeryeon's voice, he came inside and looked at the three people.

"Who are those people?"

"The bastards who sold your information to the former Black Eagles."

Haeryeon didn't treat them as people. They were some of the White Sparrows who had infiltrated the group involved in this latest cult incident. They had repaid kindness with betrayal.