* * *

“Did you come to observe the factory?” Hyeonyul asked again.

There was nothing particularly strange about a villain checking on villains from another faction. If anything, it was only natural. This was a drug manufacturing plant. Someone spying on a place like this could easily be here to steal a formula they coveted.

Today, however, he saw it a little differently. There was only one man. What could a single man accomplish?

‘It makes sense to assume he’s just scouting.’

Then why had he come to scout? Hyeonyul found an answer immediately.

‘... Oh, is he from that group?’

Hadn’t he recently confirmed the existence of a villain faction that despised drugs? It seemed he would have to check.

“Did you come to obtain drugs?” Hyeonyul casually asked, lowering his dagger.

“... What the fuck are you talking about?”

The man immediately reacted with displeasure. He hadn’t come to do business, and his expression didn’t fit someone who had come to steal something, either.

“Do you like drugs?”

“You crazy—”

The villain quickly shut his mouth. Apparently, the dagger bothered him. But Hyeonyul had no intention of lowering it any further.

“They’re selling drugs here, right?”

“They’re manufacturing them,” Hyeonyul corrected him.

“... What? They’re making drugs?”

“Yes. Didn’t you know that when you came?”

“How would I...”

The villain shut his mouth again. He seemed quite short-tempered.

“So you came without knowing.”

The villain scowled when Hyeonyul supplied the answer.

“... Filthy bastards. I know they have no standards, but they’re actually selling that shit?”

“Is that wrong?”

“Of fucking course it is. Once that stuff keeps circulating, where do you think it’ll end up?”

“Where?”

“With us! Us! Why the hell are you taking it this far? Will you stop once everyone’s addicted? Are you addicted too? Do you like it that much?”

‘He really is from that strange villain faction.’

Even as he reached that conclusion, Hyeonyul gave the villain an odd look. Saying those things in this situation made him seem out of his mind.

“Are you really a villain?” Hyeonyul asked doubtfully.

He could dislike drugs, but delivering a lecture like that was hardly villainous. If he was going to behave this way, why call himself a villain at all?

“That’s fucking hilarious. Since when did drugs determine whether someone’s a villain? Why? Do I look like a Black Eagle because I’m running my mouth like this?”

His actions weren’t those of a villain, yet he insisted he was one. Hyeonyul found it utterly contradictory.

‘... Oh. Is this how I look too?’

Only then did Hyeonyul understand how villains saw him. Perhaps they thought he was a bundle of contradictions.

“Go on, keep talking. All I have to do is die, but don’t forget that everyone knows where I am. What? Suddenly scared? Tough luck. With that many drugs in the factory, you won’t even be able to move them all out today.”

“That isn’t the issue. I’m a Black Eagle,” Hyeonyul calmly informed him.

“Bullshit.”

The villain merely scoffed. He wasn’t even wearing a uniform. More importantly, those eyes—how could a Black Eagle have eyes like that? Anyone could see they belonged to someone who had killed countless people.

“I don’t want to argue. I really am a Black Eagle. Just stay quiet.”

Hyeonyul aimed his dagger at the villain’s throat again. He had investigated covertly, but he had told Haeryeon the truth about this part. Taking the man to the Black Eagles was therefore the right thing to do.

“Fucking bullshit...”

Before the man could say more, Hyeonyul moved behind him. Reversing his grip on the dagger, he struck the back of the man’s head hard.

CRACK!

The villain’s eyes lost focus, and he went limp.

Hyeonyul hadn’t expected to use them, but he bound the villain’s hands and feet with zip ties designed for villains. He turned his head. Jihwan was running toward him, quite slowly.

Hyeonyul walked over to meet him and said, “He’s a villain.”

“... So, hah, hah...”

“He belongs to a different faction from the villains inside. I think he’s worth taking in for questioning.”

“You’re not hurt, hah, are you?”

“Catch your breath first. Why didn’t you use magic to get here?”

“... Oh.”

Jihwan’s eyes went blank. Hyeonyul was speechless for a moment before speaking.

“It happens.”

Something about that matter-of-fact tone made Jihwan choke and cough loudly.

* * *

“... Is that the stuff? Is it here?” Sinu asked, pointing at the drugs.

There were so many different kinds. Honestly, Sinu wanted to approach, but Hyeonyul stopped that.

“I haven’t checked yet. Don’t come any closer.”

Repeating what he had said a short while ago, Hyeonyul looked at everyone. They stood in the gap of the slightly open door.

“It’s dangerous.”

“Isn’t it dangerous for you too, Hyeonyul? Earlier, you said you couldn’t even use basic skincare products without checking.”

Sinu immediately reacted to Nayun’s question.

“... What? He said he’d be fine.”

Sinu’s startled eyes turned to Hyeonyul. Nayun had found this place, and Sinu had been the one to ask Hyeonyul if he would really be all right.

“Cosmetics are full of ingredients I’ve never been injected with. They’re said to be harmless to ordinary people. I’m only taking precautions because I don’t know how those harmless ingredients will affect me.”

“Then what about those?”

Sinu felt a lump in the throat. What was he saying?

“I’ll be fine,” Hyeonyul replied lightly.

Many of these would be things he had been injected with anyway. What he sought wasn’t a drug administered once or twice. He was looking for drugs he had been given continually, regularly, over and over. Their greater relative importance meant they were a faster route to the bastard who had made him this way.

“Step back and close the door,” Hyeonyul warned one last time.

It was time to smell them. Toxic drugs had no effect on him, but the same wasn’t true of the others. There was no telling what even one tiny drop might do.

Hyeonyul waited. Only after the door closed and he heard footsteps retreating did he move. Although there appeared to be many drugs, there were actually five kinds. He cracked open a container.

‘Not this one.’

Hyeonyul closed it completely and smelled the one beside it.

‘One.’

Then the next.

‘Two.’

Then the next.

‘Three.’

Hyeonyul smelled the last one and set it down.

‘... Three.’

There were three in this place alone. He hid those three in the darkness.

‘I was on the right track.’

At last.

His fingers tightened. He felt an urge to plunge his dagger into their throats right this instant.

‘... No. I can’t simply kill them.’

He closed his eyes briefly, then opened them as he slowly exhaled.

He had thought test subjects existed to destroy the Empire. But Asan, the Red Witch, had conducted experiments because she wanted to save her child. Having witnessed an exception, he could no longer assume test subjects were always created to destroy the Empire.

At first, he had judged the experiments themselves to be pointless. But hadn’t he learned through the Poison King and Asan that the Empire had started them first, to create power?

The world had indeed become one in which most people possessed powers. The Empire’s experiments had succeeded. He finally understood that those successful precedents were also why villains pushed ahead to such a foolish degree.

‘... Then why was I created?’

Hyeonyul could only ask the most fundamental question. With what intention? Why? What had they intended to use him for?

Even while being experimented on, he had never been told the purpose. All he had heard were commands such as “Get up,” “Sit,” “Lie down,” “Lie on your stomach,” and “Eat.” Perhaps the deterioration of his ability to converse had also played a part in that.

‘... No. I’ll think about it later.’

Hyeonyul put the thoughts aside and took his medicine. Once he began thinking too much, his mind grew noisy. When that noise started, even medicine couldn’t quiet it.

He turned and walked to the door. Before leaving, he enveloped his entire body in darkness. He didn’t want that disgusting smell clinging to him.

* * *

“... Doctor.”

Hyeonyul handed over the drugs. The instant Jeongmin saw them, he started in surprise and looked at the surveillance camera.

“I obtained the Team Leader’s permission.”

“... Whew. You scared me.”

“Why are you surprised?”

“As a Black Eagle, you’re not allowed to steal evidence.”

“I know that too. I’m procuring what I need through other channels.”

“Other channels...?”

“Please take them.”

“Hyeonyul. What did you mean by that just now?”

“These are drugs that were used on me.”

“... What?”

Jeongmin’s expression changed completely. The previous revelation mattered too, but nothing was more important than this right now.

“These three?”

“Yes.”

“... H-how did you get them?”

Jeongmin reached out to accept them, then stopped when his hand began to tremble. He was afraid he might drop the drugs.

“Before my shift, I went on a mission following what Chu Nayun, my sis, told me. I obtained them there.”

Hyeonyul’s expression stiffened briefly. Work before his shift. He didn’t like it.

“Did you f-find out who made them...?”

“I don’t know yet. Don’t get excited... No. You may be happy.”

Hyeonyul changed his words. Jeongmin was already happy.

“How, how did things turn out this way? To think we’d find them like this. I really... really can’t believe it. You searched so hard. You worked so hard to find them...”

Jeongmin couldn’t continue. His eyes quickly reddened. Knowing how much Hyeonyul had suffered, this small hope was incredibly precious and made him so happy.

He wanted to hug Hyeonyul and spin him around right then and there. If he did, however, Hyeonyul might look at him with contempt.

“Are you happy?”

“... Of course! I need to know what drugs were used on you to make medicine myself. Then I’ll be able to call your name more often, for longer than I can now.”

“That’s true.”

Hadn’t he already lived a long time? Hyeonyul thought it, but didn’t say it aloud. To him, it was merely an obvious statement, but it made Jeongmin sad.

“If they were going to turn up like this, they should have turned up sooner! Why did they have to be so difficult to find, making you suffer so much? Honestly, what’s so special about... these things!”

“I’ll obtain more.”

Hyeonyul pulled out a tissue and handed it to Jeongmin. Every time, he thought the Doctor shed so many tears. But if he considered them tears shed in place of his own, which had dried up, that wasn’t so bad either.

* * *

Haeryeon looked at everyone and cautiously asked, “... Are you all okay?”

They had accomplished something enormous before their shift. This wasn’t the first or second time something like this had happened, but this time Hyeonyul had been involved.

“I’m fine,” Jihwan answered.

“I had two cups of coffee.” Nayun held up two fingers.

“I took another nap—no, got some nighttime sleep.”

After Sinu answered with a tired face, everyone’s eyes naturally turned to Hyeonyul.

He wasn’t okay. He absolutely wasn’t okay. That was how Hyeonyul wanted to answer.

The White Sparrows had arrived and quickly cleaned up the situation. They arrested the villains, sorted out who was an ordinary civilian, and carried off all the drugs and records, all without needing direction. It was convenient, though he did wonder whether they were really taking everything intact.

But aside from that, after returning home to rest and then boarding the bus to work again, life couldn’t have felt more dreadful. He liked being home even when he did nothing, even when he simply knitted. It was more spacious now, with more sunlight coming in. There was no better place.

‘I want to go home.’

“... Can you work?” Haeryeon asked again when Hyeonyul said nothing.

“I will.”

His voice sounded even more drained than usual.

Haeryeon looked at his forehead.

“Is your head okay? Does it hurt?”

“No. It’s almost fully healed.”

“I’d like to let you sit this one out, but we have a bit of a backlog today.”

“What? Today, of all days?” Sinu asked in horror.

They had already expended plenty of energy. Once they got there, it hadn’t turned out to be a small job, either. Sinu had expected at least a reduction in their working hours. It felt as though those hopes were crumbling.

“I told you several factions are fighting each other right now, didn’t I?”

“... Have their locations been exposed?” Nayun asked, hardly daring to believe it.

The reason villains were so difficult to eradicate was that no one knew how far their connections extended or where their true core lay. Until they found a place occupied entirely by villains, they had to keep following one lead after another.

Hadn’t today been a perfect example? They had discovered a drug production factory, but it wasn’t the real base. Ordinary people worked there too. In fact, Nayun had been continually watching Haeryeon’s reactions, since what they had done warranted disciplinary action.

“They have. Only about two factions so far, but I expect more and more to be exposed.”

At the certainty in Haeryeon’s voice, Hyeonyul merely nodded quietly. That was precisely why he had taken over the Poison King’s faction in the first place. If they kept fighting, their factions would inevitably be exposed. Once a fight started, they wouldn’t be able to stop it, so wasn’t capture by the Black Eagles the natural outcome?

‘Taking over just the Poison King’s faction has had quite an effect. What would happen if I took over others too?’

Hyeonyul gave this possibility close consideration. It wasn’t something he had never considered before, but back then, he hadn’t even thought of becoming a Black Eagle. The Black Eagles, who could keep villains in check, had no reason to listen to him in the first place. Nor had he thought they would accept him, so he had given up.

“Is the mission to subdue the factions?”

Haeryeon shook her head at Hyeonyul’s question.

“Not yet. Even if we know their locations, we need to hit them simultaneously, so we’ll need a little more time.”

“They could still run rampant after their leaders disappear, so we’re trying to prevent that?”

“Exactly. Even without their leaders, they can join another group. Our aim is to eradicate villains. Capturing their leaders is good, but that isn’t the end of it.”

Villains were like cockroaches that laid eggs even as they died. Unless they were uprooted all at once, they multiplied. If information about the Black Eagles’ methods leaked, they returned even more evolved.

“Today’s mission is to escort the White Sparrows.”

When Haeryeon announced the mission, everyone except Hyeonyul looked displeased. Everyone knew that he and the White Sparrows were on bad terms. But setting that aside, Hyeonyul didn’t understand what the mission actually entailed.