Chapter 22. What Are You Moving? (2)
The reason children were needed was because of test subjects.
Just like himself.
It was an act to create another monster like himself.
They were trying to commit that horrifying deed.
An intense emotional change was inevitable.
“You really didn’t know, it seems.
Like idiots.”
Hyeon-yul sneered at the enemies' wary eyes.
“Kill…!”
The enemies charged, but Hyeon-yul stood calmly.
“Three adults trying to take away one child.
Aren’t you ashamed?
Even if you’re villains, let’s keep some minimum decency.
Don’t touch young children.”
“Eagle bastard, are you crazy?
If I intended to protect that, why would I have come here?”
Flames ignited in the enemy’s hand.
Seeing those flames, Hyeon-yul thought of Se-rin.
“Then, bark. Beasts cannot speak human language.”
Hyeon-yul took the dagger and threw it forward.
Tipped with black energy, it embedded itself firmly in the head of the villain wielding fire power.
Watching the dagger quiver vigorously like a puppy’s tail, he counted the numbers.
‘Two.’
Hyeon-yul caught the dagger that sprang up from the shadow.
Being made by the Black Eagle, its elasticity was excellent.
As he stepped forward, he slid naturally past one enemy as if gliding on the floor.
Following the smooth trajectory of the dagger, the enemy's head separated from his body, and thick blood burst forth.
Hyeon-yul quietly walked towards the last remaining enemy.
Witnessing his comrade dying, spewing a fountain of blood, the enemy stumbled over a stone and fell.
‘……Th-that’s a Black, Eagle?’
Among the Black Eagles he knew, there was no one like this.
Usually, they strutted about claiming justice, and some idiots would even let you go if you begged pitifully.
And what about their actions?
Highly inefficient.
Didn’t the kindergarten alone prove it?
What foolish human would raise children with powers like that?
They knew they wouldn't be taken if kept locked up, yet they left them out in the open as if inviting them to be taken.
The Black Eagles were the idiots who let them loose to be stolen, then condemned it as a wicked deed.
But this man’s way of speaking and acting felt somehow different.
It felt like facing a major villain.
“You roughly know the situation, don’t you.
Like a beast, crawl back to your base.”
“…W-will you let me live?”
Hyeon-yul approached the villain who was racking his brain.
He lightly gripped one finger.
“You have ten fingers.
How many disappearing would be inconvenient?”
“……”
The villain swallowed dryly.
“I don’t have much patience, so I don’t just overlook attempts to sound me out.”
Hyeon-yul thrust the dagger forward.
First, one.
Before a scream could erupt along with the vanished finger, Hyeon-yul clamped his hand over the enemy’s mouth.
“Quietly shut up and guide me to the base.”
The villain nodded, his face brimming with tears.
“It’s alright now.
You waited a long……”
Startled by the sudden voice, Se-rin unintentionally spurted fire.
Flames blazed fiercely around Se-rin’s body.
‘Small.’
It was a fire too small to even roast anything.
Hyeon-yul calmly extinguished the fire.
“……!”
Belatedly, Se-rin looked at Hyeon-yul in surprise.
He was looking at Se-rin with the same unchanging expression as before.
“Let’s go back to the kindergarten.”
“…You’re not going to scold Se-rin?”
“Why would I scold you?
That fire exists to protect you in the first place, and it worked well.”
“Protect Se-rin…? But I just tried to hurt mister! Se-rin tried to do something bad again, again, again!”
“A small fire doesn’t harm me at all.”
“Because mister is a Black Eagle!”
Se-rin pointed at Hyeon-yul.
He didn't know what she meant, but Hyeon-yul thought for a moment before speaking.
“You might hate that fire now, but you just need to become friends with it.
If you see it often and touch it gently, you will surely be able to control it.”
The more Hyeon-yul spoke, the brighter the child’s eyes became.
“……Really?”
Once, when fire came out of her body, she had burned down a room.
They said it was all her fault.
They yelled asking why she wasn't careful.
After setting the fire, even the friends she played with avoided her.
But Hyeon-yul didn’t say such things, nor did he look at her that way.
He just looked at her the same.
“Yes. You don’t have to go that way anymore.”
“Then can I bring my friends? My friends are over there.”
Hearing Se-rin’s clueless words, Hyeon-yul had various thoughts about what to say.
There were points to note for mission completion.
—Must not forget that the protection targets are children.
—Must not frighten the children.
—Must not let them know they are being targeted.
“No. They went further away.”
Hyeon-yul looked straight at Se-rin.
As a test subject, Se-rin’s friends might have been spirited away somewhere.
He didn't say foolish things like he'd get them back.
That might not even be possible.
It was right not to speak empty words.
“…Hmph! They didn’t even say goodbye!”
Se-rin seemed to press her lips together tightly, then suddenly waved towards the forest beyond.
“Guysss! Go on ahead! See you later!”
The more she spoke, the brighter she smiled, waving her hand vigorously.
Knowing it was a meaningless act, Hyeon-yul waited for a moment.
When Se-rin mentioned the seventh friend's name, Hyeon-yul recognized it as the first friend mentioned and opened his mouth.
“Let’s go back now.”
“You know, mister.”
“Speak.”
“There was something I wanted to do with my friends, can I do it with mister?”
Did it relate to the mission?
Hyeon-yul thought for a moment, then asked.
“What is it?”
“I want to see the fireworks at the festival!”
Se-rin raised both arms high, waving her hands sparklingly.
Her eyes closed gently, and her chubby cheeks rose high.
“I’ll definitely be happy if I watch with mister!”
Hyeon-yul’s shoulders slowly slumped.
There was no way she’d be happy watching with him.
Hearing that confident statement, Hyeon-yul felt strange.
Very confused.
Ji-hwan’s mouth trembled.
How startled he had been upon receiving Hyeon-yul’s text.
Why take the kid?
If he had to go, shouldn't he go alone? While various thoughts swirled, Hyeon-yul stood there with the child.
—It ended faster than expected. The child Se-rin is safe.
Hearing the nonchalant words, Ji-hwan wanted to say something but firmly closed his mouth.
The child was safe, and the gaze she directed at Hyeon-yul was incredibly clear.
—I’ll go and come back now, please take good care of the child.
It was so natural that he almost waved back just like that.
Ji-hwan soon came to his senses, took Se-rin back to the kindergarten, and followed Hyeon-yul.
‘To think that it’s here…’
Ji-hwan’s gaze traveled upwards.
It was a building.
‘…Third floor, fifth floor, eighth floor?’
It was quite high.
Ji-hwan lowered his gaze to look at Hyeon-yul.
Why did he come here?
He clenched and unclenched his fists, then briefly sat on a nearby bench and took something out.
“Hyung. Where… is this place?”
He was curious about what was in the envelope, but Ji-hwan wanted to know why they came here.
“This is the base of those who tried to kidnap the children.”
He hadn't forgotten to deal with the villain after learning the location.
It just happened that the time coincided with when he needed to take his medicine before raiding the place.
“……Excuse me?”
Ji-hwan couldn’t understand what this meant.
A base.
Was tracking a villain’s base ever this easy?
“Ye Mr. Ji-hwan.”
“…Yes?”
Ji-hwan felt like laughing out loud at the overwhelming reality.
If they could track bases, how many problems could have been solved long ago?
But the enemy wasn't stupid.
They approached more meticulously to avoid revealing their base.
‘He… solved this so quickly? What. What did he do?’
Ji-hwan immediately wanted to ask Hyeon-yul.
“Can you destroy it?”
Hyeon-yul had seen Ji-hwan’s magic before.
The power of magic varied among magicians, but Ji-hwan was strong even among them.
“Destroy… what?”
Ji-hwan couldn’t clear his dazed eyes.
He hadn't been able to keep up with Hyeon-yul’s pace for a while now.
“The building.”
Hyeon-yul casually pointed at the building.
He had tried swallowing a building before.
It only made his body feel worse and was highly inefficient.
“I will go in there, kill the boss, and come out.
When I come out, please destroy the building.”
After saying that, Hyeon-yul finally surveyed the surroundings too.
The adjacent building was a bit close, but he thought the damage wouldn't be that severe.
Above all, killing them in one go was necessary to leave work early.
Ah.
Remembering something he forgot, Hyeon-yul continued speaking.
“If it seems like the damage to other places will be significant when the building collapses, I will try to rescue the people.”
He thought this much preparation was sufficient.
He looked at Ji-hwan.
Ji-hwan’s hazy eyes hadn't returned to normal.
“It seems I’ve asked for something unreasonable.
You don’t have to worry about it anymore.”
“I can do it.
…But, um, what happens to the people in there?”
“They die.”
To the obvious question, Hyeon-yul could only give the obvious answer.
As Ji-hwan fell silent, Hyeon-yul swallowed his medicine and then spoke.
“I told you I was a former villain. Do you remember?”
“I remember.”
“Once you become a villain, you don't work there out of ignorance.
Ye Mr. Ji-hwan might think they should be given a chance.
But the chances were already countless.
It’s very difficult, but they could have stopped.
But those guys are the ones who didn’t.”
He had no intention of making excuses for himself either.
He couldn't handle the snowballing medicine costs, and he had to find the ones who made him a test subject, so he remained a villain and worked at a villain's company.
“You don’t have to do it, Ye Mr. Ji-hwan.
I am someone whose hands are already stained with blood.
It doesn’t matter if one more stain is added.”
Hyeon-yul smiled looking at Ji-hwan.
It didn’t matter if he was criticized for being the same kind of person.
“Hyung. Let me ask just one thing.”
“Speak.”
“Why do you have to go this far?”
“Villains are weeds. Even when you think you’ve pulled them out, they grow back when you turn around.
The more half-heartedly you pull them, the more they spread.”
Looking at the building, one corner of Hyeon-yul’s mouth lifted slightly.
Seeing the atrocities of those who couldn't even keep a simple employment contract, he knew that villains just needed to be wiped out without a trace.
“If we leave those guys alone, countless children will be dragged away as test subjects.
Children shouldn’t grow up like that.”
Ji-hwan’s lower lip trembled at Hyeon-yul’s increasingly heavy assertion.
“…Hyung!”
Hyeon-yul’s eyes shook violently at Ji-hwan’s sudden approach.
“Hyeon-yul hyung! Those are awesome words!”
Ji-hwan clenched his fists firmly, his face looking like he wanted to clap his hands together.
As a colleague who had to undertake many missions together in the future, he wanted to know what kind of person Hyeon-yul was.
‘Now I know for sure what kind of person he is!’
He was a hopeful person trying to break away from the past and dream of a new future.
‘Right. What does appearance matter?’
Hyeon-yul’s facial scar made him look a bit scary, but he was quite an eye-catching person.
‘What does the past matter?’
What mattered was the present.
Ji-hwan stared intently at the building.
It was a place trying to turn children into test subjects.
It looked like a disgusting place.
“Hyung. Actually, I’ve always wanted to blow up a building at least once.
I debated endlessly whether I should or not, and couldn’t because the weight of responsibility was too great.”
Hyeon-yul looked warily at Ji-hwan, then stepped back.
He didn't know what words were needed for the mere act of blowing up a building.
“If hyung is resolved like that, it’s right for me as a teammate to be resolved too.”
“What resolve are you talking about…?”
“The resolve to root out villains. I was too complacent. I thought this much would be enough, but it was a half-hearted mindset.”
When it needed to be done, it had to be done.
He learned that through Hyeon-yul.
Without looking at Hyeon-yul, Ji-hwan gave a thumbs-up.
“Go, hyung. I’ll make sure not even a single rat gets out.”
“How long will it take?”
“Just give me 5 minutes. It’s my first time blowing up such a big building too.”
“Then, I’ll finish taking my medicine and go.”
Only then did Ji-hwan look at Hyeon-yul.
Seeing the handful of pills in his palm and the needle piercing his stomach area, Ji-hwan couldn’t ask anything.
Hyeon-yul was a former test subject.
Would a living test subject be healthy?
‘…So, hyung came to the Black Eagle to burn his final flame?’
Just looking at the amount of medicine, he couldn't help but assume he was terminally ill.
A healthy person wouldn’t take that much medicine.
‘Is this what atonement looks like…?’
“I’m fine.”
As Ji-hwan’s gaze turned strange, Hyeon-yul stated clearly.
Ji-hwan merely nodded.
His gaze was still strangely uneasy, but thinking he must have understood, Hyeon-yul slowly walked off, covering his eyes.
The boss was usually on the upper floors.
Hyeon-yul surveyed from the very top.
The place likely to be the boss’ office was obvious.
It stood out uniquely.
A room created to maintain a heavy atmosphere despite the occupant doing nothing but signing papers or playing golf.
‘There it is.’
The boss' office.
He checked the nameplate.
To confirm his presence, Hyeon-yul walked, covering his ears.
“…You can’t even do that one thing, why are you dawdling like this?”
Even just hearing the reprimanding voice, Hyeon-yul got a sense.
‘That’s the guy.’
“Hurry up! Do you know how angry the Poison King is? Move all the acquired kids quickly!”
‘……What?’
Hyeon-yul doubted his ears.
Why was the Poison King’s name coming up here?
Hyeon-yul walked to a spot where Ji-hwan couldn’t see him.
There was no CCTV in the boss’ office.
Usually, the more corrupt someone was, the less likely they were to carelessly install such things, fearing their weaknesses would be exposed.
Hyeon-yul melted into the shadow and appeared behind the boss.
He drew his dagger.
“Don’t forget to check the merchandise before leaving! Got it?”
The boss irritably hung up the phone.
“That bastard, I need to kill him someday.”
He took a cigarette out from his pocket.
He opened a drawer to look for a lighter.
Creak.
Along with the sound of the drawer sliding, a voice came from behind.
“Where are you moving what?”
It was heavy yet chilling.
The boss’ eyes darted around, then finally looked down.
He saw the blade gently digging into his neck.