Chapter 21: What Are You Moving? (1)
‘…I’m going crazy.’
For the first time, Hyeon-yul understood what that feeling was.
The mission he had just received was as follows:
「Incident Start
—This kindergarten is an extremely important place that gathers and educates ‘children possessing powers’ who have lost their parents.
Incident Progress
—Since villains became aware of this kindergarten, they have started targeting the children.
—There are circumstances indicating several children have already been kidnapped.
—Security was tightened after the kidnapping incidents, but there have been recent reports of seeing someone suspicious.
Points to Note
—Must not forget that the protection targets are children.
—Must not frighten the children.
—Must not let them know they are being targeted.」
This kindergarten wasn’t an ordinary one.
As written in the incident log, it was a special kindergarten run by the Black Eagle.
This was a world where various powers existed.
Most beings possessed powers from birth, and these powers were categorized and divided into respective grades.
Those with higher ranks, whose power control was immature, received education in special facilities, and this was one of them.
Especially the fact that these children had no guardians would likely seem even more attractive to villains.
‘I understand why protection is needed, but does it really have to be done this way?’
Hyeon-yul found this situation utterly perplexing.
Children were beings too far removed from him.
When he went to kill other villains, he either saw them as corpses strewn about, or just powerlessly weeping in fear and terror.
It felt like the first time seeing them alive like this, smiling brightly no less.
Then and now, he saw only a weakness that seemed like it would die if gripped too tightly.
“Friends! You saw this hyung last time, right?”
Ji-hwan spoke familiarly to the children.
“Yeees!”
The children answered energetically.
“This hyung came for the first time today. He might not know much, so if he gets lost, you have to guide him.”
“Yeeees!”
As if competing, they yelled louder, straining their throats even more.
Hyeon-yul’s ears were ringing from the noise.
Why were they screaming so inefficiently?
What was this competition about?
It felt like encountering beings whose identities he couldn't even grasp, making it difficult to even open his mouth.
Ji-hwan smiled, looked at Hyeon-yul, and then briefly faltered.
His expression was extremely poor.
“…I will scout the surroundings.”
After much thought, Hyeon-yul decided he couldn't act like Ji-hwan and that staying near the children wasn't right.
The more he saw that brightness, the more he felt they lived in different worlds.
“Ye Mr. Ji-hwan……”
“That might be difficult?”
Ji-hwan shrugged at Hyeon-yul’s suggestion.
It didn't take long to understand what he meant.
The children abruptly approached Hyeon-yul.
“Hyung, what’s your name?”
“Oppa, are you good at playing house too?”
“Hyung. Hyung, do you eat your vegetables well?”
“Oppa, can you fly in the sky?”
Suddenly, a flood of questions tagged with countless question marks poured down.
Hyeon-yul froze on the spot, and Ji-hwan burst out laughing.
Catching the villain would be good, but usually, actually catching them was difficult.
Nevertheless, coming here like this served as a warning to villains: Black Eagles are protecting this place, so don't act recklessly.
Since there were already separate bodyguards, their job could be described as playing with the children.
‘If the kids ask him to play together right now, I think he might actually faint.’
He knew he had to endure it, but looking at his expression, it seemed utterly difficult.
Hyeon-yul finally felt relieved only after escaping from the children.
‘…They’re so small, how do they move around alive?’
Answering one question only led to another barrage.
—Have you ever put a snail in your nostril?
—Penguins, penguins are friends with crocodiles!
Words he couldn't understand also grazed his ears.
‘The mission itself is simple, but I didn’t expect this kind of ambush.’
It was just a matter of catching the suspicious person and annihilating them so this wouldn't happen again.
Given that several children had actually been kidnapped, there would surely be traces.
But the mission, upon closer look, turned out to be playing with children.
‘Maybe in my past life, I would have acted like Ye Mr. Ji-hwan.’
The mind messed up by drugs had changed many things.
Starting with the way of thinking.
Like Ji-hwan, he too hadn't escaped the side effects of the drugs and was undergoing rehabilitation training.
‘As expected, dead people are easier.’
The dead tell no tales, so there was no need to share emotions.
At the thought that just occurred to him, Hyeon-yul rummaged through his inner pocket, took out medicine, and chewed it.
Crunch.
‘Thinking stray thoughts, the medicine’s effect must be wearing off.’
Without taking medicine, his mind would ring noisily all day like an alarm going off.
Taking a deep breath, Hyeon-yul’s eyes darted to the left.
He heard crying.
He drew his dagger, aiming straight for the opponent’s neck, but stopped abruptly.
It was a child.
He quickly hid the dagger.
“…Mister.”
The child sniffled and called out to Hyeon-yul.
Wasn't she scared of him?
“Are you perhaps here looking for Se-rin?”
Tears welled up in her large eyes, falling drop by drop each time she blinked.
Was her name Se-rin?
“No. I just happened to find you.”
Why was she here?
The curiosity was brief; Hyeon-yul didn’t concern himself further.
Just as he moved to search for traces, Se-rin grabbed his trouser leg.
Feeling the tight grip, Hyeon-yul lowered his gaze.
“Ask Se-rin… why she’s here.”
“Why are you here?”
Thinking about it, it was indeed strange.
Why did no one else know this child was here?
“…Um. Um. Um.”
Despite asking him to ask, Se-rin seemed lost in thought now that he actually asked, fidgeting with her fingers.
She kept glancing at Hyeon-yul.
“Mister, are you perhaps a new teacher?”
“No.”
“Then why are you here?”
“I came to work. Why did the teacher leave you here alone?”
“……Th-the teacher didn’t do anything wrong!”
Se-rin’s voice automatically grew louder.
Flames briefly sparked from her body, and Hyeon-yul extinguished them with his power.
‘She doesn’t know how to control her power.’
Se-rin covered her mouth in surprise, looking around, turning her head and body as if searching for the flames.
Soon, she stared intently at Hyeon-yul.
“…Did you see?”
“See what?”
“The flames.”
“I didn’t see anything.”
Only then did Se-rin relax.
“…Se-rin, you see, is a troublemaker.”
The child covered her face with both hands as if embarrassed by something and shook her head.
“What makes you a troublemaker?”
“Whether I’m happy or angry, fire keeps coming out of my body.
So I can’t go near my friends.
Last time, a friend got hurt because of Se-rin.
…Se-rin, Se-rin is a monster.”
“Is that so?”
At the indifferent tone, Se-rin stared hard at Hyeon-yul.
It wasn't what she usually heard.
Could it be, just maybe, that this mister knew too?
“You know, mister, have you ever done that?
Like, like unwillingly doing bad things.”
Se-rin asked, gripping Hyeon-yul’s trouser leg tightly again.
She didn’t seem intent on letting go until she got an answer.
Hyeon-yul scanned the surroundings with his shadow.
At least, there were no suspicious people nearby.
“By any chance, have you seen any suspicious people around here?”
It seemed she was often alone.
Even if he were a villain, he would surely target that child.
Fire power was always on the stronger side.
“If mister answers, Se-rin will tell you too.”
“Alright.”
Thinking it a wise bargain, Hyeon-yul readily accepted.
He briefly knelt on one knee, bringing their eye levels similar.
“I have done that too.”
When he first manifested his power, he came to his senses to find himself surrounded by a sea of blood.
It was exhilarating.
He only regretted not being able to kill more.
“…Really?”
Se-rin looked at him with eyes that seemed to hold stars.
“Did mister really do that too, like me?”
“Yes. Now, please answer my question.”
Hyeon-yul cut her off sharply.
This was a deal.
Even if young, reason existed.
Se-rin’s lips pouted slightly.
But she beckoned him closer with her hand.
Hyeon-yul knelt to meet Se-rin’s gaze.
“…This is a secret, but a certain mister said he’d help me. I’m telling you because you’re the same as me, mister.”
“How did he say he would help?”
A smile touched Hyeon-yul’s lips.
Caught him.
Whether the teacher neglected the child or separated her to protect others, that didn't matter.
What mattered was that the child was alone like this.
Seeing Hyeon-yul’s smile, the child smiled back.
“Mister, do you want to come too? Se-rin will ask for you!”
“Alright.”
“Shhh.”
Hyeon-yul nodded at Se-rin’s words.
The child smiled brightly and opened her mouth.
“I’m Lee Se-rin.”
“I’m Seo Hyeon-yul.”
Se-rin hugged Hyeon-yul’s leg tightly, then ran off somewhere.
Hyeon-yul took out his phone and informed Ji-hwan of this fact.
[I don't know if it's neglect or protection, but I found a child alone.]
[After talking, I found out someone intends to take the child. I will follow along with the child.]
[Her name is Lee Se-rin. Please confirm.]
Putting down his phone, he followed Se-rin.
Se-rin exited the kindergarten familiarly.
‘…Don’t tell me there’s a hole in the wall.’
It was narrow enough that even a child could barely squeeze through, so it was plausible they hadn't noticed.
Behind the kindergarten, a forest stretched out.
A search for the kindergarten yielded no results online.
It seemed they intended to hide the kindergarten with the forest.
Hyeon-yul observed Se-rin’s movements from behind.
He wondered what she was following, but small ribbons were tied at Se-rin’s eye level.
An adult would have to look down, making their eye level mismatch, so the possibility of passing by without noticing was high.
‘They did this kind of work multiple times?’
Hyeon-yul watched the small child’s feet moving tap-tap-tap as she hummed.
She seemed quite used to it.
“By any chance, did other children come here too?”
“That’s right! That friend went to get fixed before me. They said they can't fix me right away.”
‘Nonsense.’
Hyeon-yul saw through the villain’s ploy.
“By any chance, did they tell you not to tell the teacher about this?”
“How did you know? They said they wouldn't fix me if I told the teacher.
So, so I didn't say anything. They kept saying they couldn't fix it, but this time they said they can. Se-rin is super happy to come with mister today!”
Se-rin said brightly.
She seemed unable to even judge what was wrong.
‘…As expected, I knew they’d use that method.’
He used to hear various things from a company colleague who was surprisingly loose-lipped back then.
The best way to bring a child was to use another child.
A child’s wariness crumbles very quickly towards their peers.
It seemed they planned not to touch the kindergarten until the internal wariness died down after taking this child last.
‘In other words, if I miss them here, I can’t catch them.’
Hyeon-yul quietly covered one ear and started searching for the villains.
They had to be nearby.
“But, mister.”
“Speak.”
“Mister, can you use your power well now?”
“I can use it well.”
“How well can you use it?”
“I made various… efforts.”
Hyeon-yul quickly changed his words.
No matter what, he felt he shouldn't mention undergoing numerous experiments in front of a child.
“You made efforts? Did mister also eat vegetables well, sleep early, and, and, greet people nicely too?”
Se-rin kept looking back as she walked.
“……?”
Hyeon-yul couldn’t understand the barrage of questions.
What did that have to do with power control?
After thinking for a moment, he soon realized it was the comfort the teacher offered the child.
Sometimes, under the pretext of comfort, illusions were planted.
“That’s right.”
“Then, what other efforts did mister make?”
Se-rin chattered excitedly, as if having this kind of conversation for the first time.
‘Effort…….’
Hyeon-yul thought for a moment.
After gaining power from various experiments, his body collapsed.
Whether to call it shadow or darkness, he couldn't even maintain a human form.
In that situation, to become human, he examined the bodies of the people he killed one by one.
He thought he needed to feel the sensation of how the body was to maintain his original form.
‘I can’t tell a child to touch corpses.’
Just as Hyeon-yul felt troubled by the question, he reached out and grabbed Se-rin.
Voices and footsteps were heard up ahead.
“…What’s wrong, mister?”
“By any chance, is it hot when you breathe fire?”
“It’s not hot at all!”
“If anyone approaches, you can breathe fire. Ah, except for people with this mark.”
Hyeon-yul pointed to the eagle emblem embroidered on his clothes.
“…Mister, you were a Black Eagle?”
Se-rin’s gaze changed.
It was close to admiration.
Her face flushed, and she looked like she might scream any second, so Hyeon-yul immediately placed a finger over her lips.
Se-rin covered her mouth and nodded.
“Sit down like you did in the bushes earlier. Don’t let anyone approach except me and people with this mark.”
“Okay! Se-rin can stay well!”
Se-rin whisper-shouted.
Watching Se-rin immediately crouch down, Hyeon-yul moved towards the villains without hesitation.
Ji-hwan was rushing over now, so Se-rin would be fine.
Taking one step, he put on the completed helmet.
It resembled a motorcycle helmet but looked much thinner and lighter.
Hyeon-yul vanished from that spot, and when he reappeared, he was already behind one guy, having driven a blade into his neck.
“Did you need another test subject?”
Hyeon-yul spoke to the villains while maintaining that position.
Eyes widened in surprise filled the space.
Their gazes shifted to the eagle emblem on his arm.
“Did you not expect us to come after pulling this shit?”
Hyeon-yul didn’t hide the irritation automatically welling up.