WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Dionysus
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Newbie Civil Servant Hunts Villains Before Going Home ◈
Chapter 38: Festival (3)
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* * *
“Why would you say that? Someone has to stop it.”
Hyeonyul looked at Sinu as well.
Was this really enough to be called insane?
“Why does that someone have to be you?”
“Do I look like I want to do this?”
Hyeonyul’s expression hardened further as irritation rose within him.
He did not want to work either.
Who would want to work on their day off?
But he had to do it.
As though planting and defusing bombs were Villain virtues, only Black Eagle’s bomb disposal team knew how to defuse them.
“Then do you know how to deactivate it?”
Hyeonyul asked calmly.
If Sinu did, he only had to hand the job over.
“...No.”
“That is why I have to do it.”
“But what if...”
“Have you forgotten who I caught?”
He had caught the Poison King.
Poison did not affect him at all.
Sinu should have known that.
“This is a poison I have encountered before. At this point, I think you are simply being stubborn.”
When Hyeonyul said it again, Sinu turned away.
Stubbornness?
There was another word for this.
Sacrifice.
What if the poison inside was different?
What if it was not poison this time?
Countless assumptions tangled through his mind.
‘...I understand why Team Leader has such a hard time now.’
A rookie should know to protect himself, yet Hyeonyul was trying to step forward as if it were nothing.
Sinu clenched his fist.
“...Not here.”
“There will not be room to set foot anywhere. It is a festival.”
“Someone could get caught up in it...”
“Do you think no one is watching?”
<Hey.>
The moment Hyeonyul finished speaking, a message appeared in midair.
It was Nayun.
<What?>
Sinu silently mouthed the same question.
<I see suspicious movement.>
<How?>
<They are openly watching people leaving the festival.>
<If we go outside...>
<Not now. There are places you cannot see from here. If there is even someone over there watching from afar like I am, it is over. Those bastards wanted to detonate the new weapons from the beginning, right? I am telling you, they will kill everyone.>
Sinu hesitated at Nayun’s words, and another message appeared.
<Are you convinced now?>
It was Hyeonyul.
Sinu had not even noticed when he put in the Black Eagle earpiece.
Sinu bit his lip.
That damn stubbornness.
<Do not worry. I will not do anything unhelpful.>
<That is not the point.>
<It is important.>
Hyeonyul answered firmly.
Whether something was helpful or not was extremely important.
He existed here because he could be useful.
Hyeonyul looked around, then took the new weapon in his hand.
It was small enough to fit in his palm.
He sent darkness into it and examined the inside.
It was no different from the previous one.
First, to put Sinu at ease, he removed the vial of poison from inside.
After that, it was simple.
Behind the spot marked with a pattern was a switch that stopped its operation.
After stopping it, he crumpled the weapon with darkness for Sinu to see.
<Did you see?>
After speaking to Sinu, Hyeonyul handed him the vial of poison he had removed.
Sinu took it for the moment.
<What is this?>
<Poison. Please take it to Team Leader. If that breaks, everyone will die, so be careful...>
<Why are you only telling me that now?>
Sinu recoiled in horror.
It was not something to handle lightly.
<I only just saw it.>
At Hyeonyul’s answer, laughter suddenly burst out of Sinu.
Pfft.
Forcing himself to cover his mouth, he stepped away from the streetlamp and waved a hand.
<That is impressive. Wonderful.>
‘Is that sarcasm?’
Hyeonyul said nothing.
<I will do as you say. If you keep enjoying yourself, we will come find you ourselves, so just help us when it comes to handing over the new weapons.>
<What about the poison...>
When Hyeonyul turned his head, a man he did not know took the poison from Sinu and calmly disappeared.
To anyone else, it would have looked like they had merely brushed shoulders.
<There are Managers, right? The Villains tried to damage our relationship, but we need to trust them. Right?>
‘Since when was he there?’
Hyeonyul looked more carefully at the people around them.
Just as Villains hid among the crowd, White Sparrow did the same.
‘Not bad.’
Some people said uniforms were just for looking impressive, but that was not true.
There were things you could only see once you wore a uniform.
The difference between wearing one and not wearing one was this great.
His admiration lasted only a moment before reality came flooding back.
‘...Right. My reality has not changed.’
A day off did not equal a day without work.
That formula had been shattered.
Just as Hyeonyul’s eyes narrowed sharply, something suddenly entered his view.
Jeongmin flinched.
Hyeonyul looked fierce enough to kill someone.
“...You are back.”
Hyeonyul swallowed his emotions and greeted Jeongmin.
“Why are you so angry?”
“Did you... wait long?”
Serin asked hesitantly.
Hyeonyul lowered his gaze.
Serin was holding chicken skewers in both hands and fidgeting with their fingers.
“Serin wanted to watch the chicken skewers being grilled a little longer.”
“It is fine to watch longer. I was just thinking about something unpleasant.”
Jeongmin’s gaze deepened as he looked at Hyeonyul.
Hyeonyul had lived as an experimental subject for a very long time.
His basic personhood had been ignored, and he had received countless gazes as nothing more than an object. How could any gaze feel welcome to him?
“Mister, eat your chicken skewer!”
Serin’s voice suddenly rang out.
“Hurry, hurry!”
As Serin stomped their feet, Jeongmin practically shoved the chicken skewer toward Hyeonyul.
Hyeonyul was swept along by it as well.
“It is good, right? It is nice and warm, right?”
Serin looked at Hyeonyul expectantly.
“Yes. It is good and warm.”
“When Serin eats something tasty, Serin feels better. I hope Mister feels better too.”
“I hope so too.”
Hyeonyul looked at the chicken skewer.
He should have felt something, but nothing stirred within him.
“Then let us try something else too!”
Sniff, sniff, sniff.
Serin smelled the air.
The scents of countless foods seemed to tickle their tongue.
It felt like Serin could eat anything, no matter how much there was.
“Yes. Let us do that.”
Hyeonyul nodded, then looked at Jeongmin.
“You are going to clean out my wallet today.”
Jeongmin sounded pleased.
People really did need to eat something.
* * *
Hyeonyul received a total of three new weapons while going around the food stalls.
The handoffs were completely natural.
With so many people around, they passed the new weapons while bumping shoulders or openly slipped them into pockets.
Hyeonyul had expected Team Three to approach them, but each person who brought a new weapon was different.
They all appeared to be White Sparrows.
‘This is very convenient.’
Holding a tornado potato, Hyeonyul chewed as he watched the performance.
“Excuse me.”
The last person passing in front of Hyeonyul suddenly swayed.
At the deliberate movement, Hyeonyul naturally extended his other hand while raising the hand holding the tornado potato.
Pretending to fall, the person placed a new weapon in Hyeonyul’s palm, and Hyeonyul immediately closed his fist around it.
“I-I am sorry! Are you hurt?”
“I am fine.”
“I am sorry. I am so sorry!”
The White Sparrow repeatedly apologized before retreating.
“...Mister, are you okay?”
“Are you okay?”
Serin and Jeongmin asked nearly at the same time.
“I am fine.”
“The lighting is a little dim. It is supposed to be a Light Festival, but it is dark.”
“That is right. Serin almost tripped too.”
When Serin agreed, Jeongmin nodded several times.
“I am truly fine.”
It was a staged performance anyway.
Hyeonyul put the new weapon into his pocket, removed the poison, and destroyed it again.
So this was what it meant for things to be handled without him doing anything.
Even if he was kicked out of here or left of his own accord someday, he did not think he would forget this part.
It was convenient.
As Hyeonyul quietly watched the performance again, his eye twitched.
He could no longer shake off the question slowly rising within him.
‘A murder happened, yet it is so quiet.’
Before distributing the new weapons, they had made a move to draw Black Eagle’s attention.
He did not know how far it had reached, but something was strange.
‘They do not like this kind of quiet.’
The enemy was not foolish.
They knew very well how to spread suffocating fear and screams.
He had destroyed four new weapons in total.
That was both a small and large number.
Considering their power, perhaps that was all of them.
If it was not, then with Black Eagle scouring the festival grounds, this was also a chance to confirm that they could not move as they pleased.
‘...What will they do?’
Hyeonyul quietly thought as he listened to the song ringing out from the stage.
What would he do?
How would he make his name infamous?
Hyeonyul’s gaze shifted.
The sun had completely set.
Even from the performance area, he could see lights turning on one by one.
The corner of Hyeonyul’s mouth rose.
Where would everyone look at once?
‘Fireworks.’
Today was the final day.
“Shall we get up now?”
Hyeonyul asked Serin and Jeongmin.
As befitted a Light Festival, it was time to see the lights.
“If we go later, there may be even more people. There will be fireworks too.”
“You are right. It would be better to go now.”
Jeongmin answered, looking at Serin.
“Serin.”
“Yes.”
“Can you walk a little farther?”
“I can walk! Serin wants to see the lights!”
“All right, let us see them together.”
When Jeongmin smiled, Serin smiled too.
Hyeonyul stood first and held out a hand to Serin.
“Serin can walk.”
“I know. There are many people, that is all. You should not get lost. Is that still all right?”
“...Then Serin will behave.”
The moment Hyeonyul picked Serin up, they tightly gripped his clothes.
Being alone might be terribly, terribly scary.
Serin looked around, then looked at the tornado potato in Hyeonyul’s hand.
“It is one I was eating. Is that all right?”
“Serin is okay with it.”
“Then have some.”
Hyeonyul handed the tornado potato to Serin and moved on.
After walking for some time, Serin’s chewing mouth fell open and their legs kicked excitedly.
A tunnel decorated with lights appeared before them.
“...Woooow!”
Lights that looked as if stars might pour down from above shone over the tunnel.
How beautiful would it be inside?
“It is so sparkly!”
Serin could not hide their laughter.
A child’s joy felt as though it were pushing him forward, and Hyeonyul’s steps quickened.
As he walked ahead, he looked back at Jeongmin.
Jeongmin wore the same expression as Serin.
He looked happy.
Was it different just because the lights sparkled a little more than the ones on streetlamps?
‘...You are supposed to be happy when you see this.’
Hyeonyul watched the other people around them.
It was difficult to find anyone who was not smiling.
Hyeonyul learned something he had not known before, but he continued walking through the tunnel filled with light with the same impassive expression.
The shadows deepened beneath the lights.
* * *
The Light Festival.
True to its name, once night fell, lights that brightly illuminated everything filled the festival grounds.
Countless lights gathered to become butterflies, whales, and beautiful flowers.
The air was full of camera shutters clicking to capture the lights and cheers drawn out by glittering streams of light.
Hyeonyul, who had pulled his cap low and put on a different coat, walked among them.
The shadows beneath his footsteps seemed to ripple faintly.
The farther he walked, the farther he went from the lights.
Today, he had intended to pretend not to know and avoid working.
As Sinu had said, he intended only to accept the new weapons brought by White Sparrow and destroy them.
But how could he stay still after seeing Black Eagle’s complacency?
They did not know the Villains’ true nature.
Why did they not know those leeches were madmen who would fulfill their mission even at the cost of themselves?
They would do anything, yet Black Eagle had been distracted by the new weapons and was not looking elsewhere.
That was why he moved.
With the fireworks nearly due to begin, he left the others for a moment under the excuse of going to the restroom.
What they intended to do was extremely simple.
‘Turn the festival into a sea of blood.’
They had far too many cards they could use for that.
They were not people who would cling only to new weapons.
Hyeonyul stopped walking and looked ahead.
On a stall at the outskirts of the festival grounds sat neatly wrapped gift boxes.
“Free Giveaway.”
Reading the words on the sign, Hyeonyul almost laughed.
“Hello. Please take one.”
The gentle smiles and phrases urging people to believe in God were neither clumsy nor suspicious. Hyeonyul thought it was quite a good tactic.
Religious people often did things like this as part of their proselytizing.
Those who wanted one could take one, while those who did not could simply pass by.
It was not a place likely to attract Black Eagle’s attention, nor was it anything unusual enough to do so.
‘They really are impressive.’
Where did they learn to think like this?
“Am I your first?”
Hyeonyul asked despite already knowing.
Finding them had not been difficult.
It was evening.
With darkness spread everywhere, this was the time when he could become every shadow.
All sound and sight were practically beneath his feet.
“...Pardon?”
“I have passed by here several times, but I have not seen you before.”
“Ah, you must not have seen us. We were somewhere else...”
“What is inside those?”
Hyeonyul cut them off and stepped closer.
One step.
Then another.
Something about his heavy footsteps, which made no sound at all, and the chill beneath his gaze made them feel that something was wrong.
“Shall I guess?”
With those words from Hyeonyul, they realized.
But it was too late.
Every light in the area was swallowed by Hyeonyul’s darkness.
In the silence of the night, countless hands stretched out and seized all their throats at once.
Clench.
“...Ghk.”
A groan escaped them, and when the lights came back on, only Hyeonyul stood there.
“...What was that? Why did the lights suddenly go out?”
People questioned the strange phenomenon.
But they would not know.
Hyeonyul walked among them, taking every wrapped gift box.
‘Choo Nayun did not see that, did she?’
He had kept checking Nayun’s location.
The angle had been somewhat uncertain, so he had changed his cap and coat before finding them.
Even if she had seen him, the lights had gone out. She would not know it was him.
There was no problem now.
* * *
“...Hurry, hurry!”
When Serin saw Hyeonyul, they urged him on anxiously.
They were getting impatient about the fireworks, which could start at any moment.
“There should still be time.”
“There were so many people, right? I went to the restroom earlier and nearly panicked. The line was so long.”
“Yes. The line was very long.”
Without looking at Jeongmin, Hyeonyul let the lie pass his lips.
Fweee!
Startled by the sudden sound, Serin jumped.
Hyeonyul held Serin close.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Fireworks burst across the sky as if embroidering it.
“...Wooooow.”
Serin’s exclamation stretched out as long as the tails of the exploding fireworks.
Hyeonyul looked up at the sky.
The streams of light filling the broad sky looked just like bombs.
‘They sound like buildings exploding.’
He thought he understood why people liked fireworks.
A faint smile spread across his face.
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