The Newbie Civil Servant Hunts Villains Before Going Home - Chapter 40

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Dionysus

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Newbie Civil Servant Hunts Villains Before Going Home ◈

Chapter 40: Bombs Aren't Art (2)

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* * *

As cold gazes fell on Yujong, he swallowed hard.

“W-Well, you see...”

“Just answer.”

If Ahsan truly was the Villain who had come to take the Poison King’s place after the Poison King died, Hyeonyul intended to show her just how steep the price was for making him work on his day off.

Had he not joined Black Eagle after deciding to get rid of Villains anyway?

Black Eagle would benefit if another major figure disappeared.

Only small fry would fill the void left by the big names.

He thought that, as those small fry who did not know how to fight from the shadows turned their knives on one another, Black Eagle would eventually notice.

“...Could you give me just a little more time?”

Yujong asked hesitantly.

“Will you find her if I do?”

“Y-Yes! Of course.”

Yujong nodded several times.

“Find out where the Poison King got information on me as well.”

“Wasn’t that... Shin Daeho’s doing?”

“It could have been.”

After killing Shin Daeho, Hyeonyul had erased every bit of information related to himself.

However, someone else might have possessed information about him from before then.

“I’m telling you to find out who leaked my information. I’m going to kill them too, so don’t worry about retaliation.”

“I... wasn’t worried.”

Yujong muttered.

Who was worrying about whom?

He was more worried about his own neck right now.

“Have you stepped away from this line of work?”

“Of course! It’s just taking... a little time.”

“I can wait, but Black Eagle is the one giving you time right now, not me.”

As Hyeonyul smiled coldly, Yujong bit his lip.

There was no way Black Eagle would not raid this place.

“I told you in advance, didn’t I? You took care of it yourself, right? Or did you get caught because you were stupid?”

At Hyeonyul’s words, Yujong lowered his gaze and shook his head.

“I’m the one who saved your life. Be grateful.”

Mad Dog was spouting nonsense, but it was true.

If Mad Dog had not told him about Black Eagle, he would already have been dragged away by them.

The money he had received as an information broker was in other accounts under borrowed names, and he had run this agency relatively cleanly.

Even so, it was surely still under Black Eagle’s watch. Yet Mad Dog came and went as freely as if this were his own home.

‘Go after him, not me. Go after that bastard, you Eagle bastards!’

Yujong suppressed his boiling anger and raised his head.

His eyes met Hyeonyul’s.

Seeing Hyeonyul’s eyes, completely devoid of light, sent chills down his spine.

“Why haven’t you released the people you drugged and forced to stamp their seals?”

“...What?”

“Did you think I wouldn’t know that too?”

People’s tricks were all the same.

There was a Villain right in front of him. Why would he fail to think of that?

“Don’t leave anything for them to use against you later. Release them properly. If you don’t want to, may I tear this place apart?”

“N-No, no. I’ll release them! I will!”

“Then work hard. I’ll be back soon.”

Hyeonyul opened the window and jumped outside.

Yujong looked out the window a moment later, but Hyeonyul was already gone.

‘...That crazy bastard.’

Yujong clutched his hair.

He had thought he was finally free of him, but he could not escape.

‘Die! Just die already!’

Yujong cursed inwardly with words he could not bring himself to say aloud.

There was nothing he could do.

The moment Hyeonyul learned he had been involved even slightly, he would kill him in the most painful way possible.

‘Eagles, I’m telling you to take him away! Please...!’

All he could do now was pray to the Black Eagle he hated so much.

* * *

“Hello...”

“Hyeonyul!”

Haeryeon spoke urgently.

“...Yes.”

Hyeonyul took a step back.

He had no idea why she was in such a hurry.

“Your timing is perfect!”

“...Yes?”

“You need to go defuse a bomb right away.”

“Has Bomb Maniac appeared?”

The internal informant incident had begun when he stole White Sparrow’s phone.

The owner of that phone had died that same day. He had thought magic was the cause, but it turned out to be Bomb Maniac’s work.

That meant Bomb Maniac could make magic bombs as well.

“That’s right. It’s a magic bomb... Can you defuse it too?”

Seeing Haeryeon’s expression, as though she was desperately holding back the urge to rush him, Hyeonyul answered without hesitation.

“I can. Magic bombs are not fundamentally very different from regular bombs.”

Bombs were a Villain’s virtue.

Hyeonyul was reminded of that once again.

He had wondered what use there was in learning this, but who would have thought it would come in handy like this?

He had to be useful.

That was the only way to prove his worth.

“Should I leave now?”

“There’ll be members of another team there. Just remove the bomb and come back. Only the bomb.”

“Understood.”

“Even if that team asks you to do something, don’t. Just remove the bomb.”

As if emphasizing it once was not enough, Haeryeon repeated herself.

‘It doesn’t sound particularly difficult...’

Why was she stressing it so much?

Hyeonyul stared at Haeryeon.

Since becoming Black Eagle, he had not done anything difficult.

He had not spent days without proper sleep or food while lying in wait to kill the leader of a rival Villain group. He had not been ambushed because information had leaked and come close to dying either.

That did not mean Black Eagle had it easy compared to Villains.

It was only a little easier because, while Black Eagle focused entirely on bringing down Villains, it handed every miscellaneous task over to White Sparrow.

“If anyone picks a fight with you, ignore them and tell me.”

Haeryeon stepped closer, and Hyeonyul hesitated.

‘...I shouldn’t kill them, right?’

Killing them would be much cleaner than ignoring them.

He could never get used to having to go out of his way to make a simple matter complicated.

“You don’t have to be scared. No matter what happens, I’ll protect you.”

At Haeryeon’s words, Hyeonyul did not turn away from the thought that suddenly crossed his mind.

“...Was it you?”

“What was?”

“I know the Empire would not welcome me.”

‘...Ah. Is that why he asked that earlier?’

Haeryeon recalled what Hyeonyul had said a little while ago.

“Will you protect me too?”

If nothing else, she knew Hyeonyul always spoke of himself as if he were someone else.

He had done it then too.

Hyeonyul was clearly Black Eagle as well, yet he had spoken as though he alone were excluded.

‘I’d thought he was adapting well, but perhaps not yet.’

Haeryeon felt impatient.

The line Hyeonyul had drawn seemed especially distinct today.

She wondered what she should do about that line.

To her, Hyeonyul seemed to stand somewhere between Villains and Black Eagle.

If things went even slightly wrong, would he return to being a Villain?

If the blade he held turned toward Black Eagle, they might face their worst enemy.

She did not want that ending.

She had only just learned what kind of person Seo Hyeonyul was.

“Hyeonyul. I was the one who accepted you. I was the one who told you to join our team. So no matter what anyone says, I’m on your side.”

Haeryeon told him the truth so he could feel at ease.

She could say it as many times as necessary.

Everyone had things others could not understand, and Hyeonyul simply had a few more of them than most.

“Even if you were no longer Black Eagle, I would still feel that way.”

Haeryeon smiled gently, and Hyeonyul’s eyes slowly widened.

He had not expected that answer.

He had not even imagined it.

They were very unfamiliar words.

Very unfamiliar.

“And Hyeonyul, I think you have a misunderstanding. When we accepted you, the higher-ups did not say anything.”

“Why not?”

“I thought they might make an issue of it too. I prepared for it. But their answer was, ‘It doesn’t matter,’ and, ‘Welcome a new member of Black Eagle.’”

‘The Empire... said something like that?’

Hyeonyul did not accept those words easily.

If the Empire truly welcomed experimental subjects, Jeongmin would not have been pressured for results at the hospital where he worked. Hyeonyul himself would not have wandered the streets at night, holding together his collapsing body as he searched for a doctor willing to help him.

“Thank you for telling me.”

“It’s nothing. Ask if you have questions. I’ll answer as much as I can.”

“Yes. Then I’ll wait.”

Hyeonyul bowed politely before heading off to ride the eagle.

‘A welcome party really would be necessary, wouldn’t it? That would make him feel like he belongs.’

Haeryeon worried and worried again.

* * *

‘...I’ll never get used to this.’

Hyeonyul quickly swallowed medicine as nausea rose in him.

The eagle was good in every way, but the nausea alone made him want to sink into the darkness and travel on his own.

After taking several long breaths, he examined the mission report.

「Incident Begins

- The location is an art college. After a student reported hearing sounds somewhere, campus security investigated and discovered a bomb.

Incident Progress

- Black Eagle’s Bomb Disposal Team was dispatched to defuse the bomb.

- After the bomb was defused, a new magic bomb appeared along with the words, “You defused this?”

- The new magic bomb’s range expanded to encompass the entire university building.

- A condition was set that it would explode if anyone inside left the building.

- Another condition was set that it would explode if the building received an impact from outside.

- The police Bomb Disposal Team was dispatched but failed to defuse the bomb.

Points to Note

- Not every student in the building has evacuated. Student safety comes first.

- Students must not hear that the bomb cannot be defused.

- Do not touch the building from outside.

- The bomb must not explode.」

‘...So this is a university.’

Hyeonyul moved as he looked at the building.

He had thought it seemed rather large.

There was nothing unusual about the exterior.

There was no magic flowing through it either.

‘Will it really explode if someone touches it?’

Hyeonyul was curious.

A condition was set that it would explode if anyone inside left the building.

Another condition was set that it would explode if the building received an impact from outside.

Those two conditions.

Were they really true?

Their opponent was a Villain.

‘It makes sense that someone leaving from inside would trigger it, but how much impact are we talking about?’

Ever since his eyes had ceased to be human eyes, he had been able to see through magic.

He even knew the real faces of the Black Eagle agents disguised by magic.

Hyeonyul quietly moved the darkness and probed inside the building.

Nothing happened.

Even when he put in a little more force and shook it, nothing happened.

‘...Aha. That’s a clever play on words.’

He understood exactly what was going on.

A mouth might be able to lie, but magic could not.

The impact from outside to inside had to reach the level of an actual impact.

‘Regardless of how strong that impact needs to be, Black Eagle can’t test it.’

Black Eagle, which valued human lives above all else, would think that even testing it was wrong.

Without stopping, Hyeonyul covered one eye.

‘Then there’s no harm in checking the locations of the magic bombs.’

The locations of the magic bombs had already been shared and displayed on the map, but they might not be accurate.

More than anything, he did not want to give those people, who were always looking for a reason to tear into him, any excuse.

Even though the internal informant incident was over, the looks directed at him were still not kind.

They were only keeping their mouths shut because they were afraid of being disciplined.

Hyeonyul moved his eyes as he looked at the map.

Magic bombs did not look special.

Imbuing magic into an ordinary object turned it into a bomb.

He could not use magic himself, so he did not know how formulas were embedded into them. Still, he had overheard that making a hundred regular bombs was easier than making one magic bomb.

That was why there were only a few people capable of making them.

Once he identified the locations and examined them, he found flowerpots, picture frames, desks, chairs, and many other objects.

They were easy to identify at a glance because they were covered in strange patterns unlike anything else.

‘...As expected, there are more.’

Hyeonyul found other bombs that were not on the map.

There were five more in this building alone.

Since the university had several sections, there could be more elsewhere.

How many more were there?

This time, there were several conditions.

He could not do anything foolish inside.

‘Will they even believe me if I say there are more magic bombs?’

Hyeonyul did not expect much.

Would it not be better to quietly deal with the rest himself?

Defusing a magic bomb was simpler than defusing a regular bomb.

He only needed to erase part of the formula that translated to, “It explodes.”

He had heard that the problem was that even mages could not see those formulas.

‘Even if they could see them, did they say handwriting made them confusing...?’

It did not matter.

Before Hyeonyul could draw out the darkness, he turned his head.

Someone was standing there.

“I thought there might be a rat around. If you’re here, you could at least make yourself known.”

A man from Team Five spoke sarcastically.

The Team 5 leader had been an internal informant.

The team members had inevitably become suspects as well, but after a thorough investigation, they had officially been cleared.

Considering that the Black Eagle Hyeonyul had killed had not been from Team Five, he thought the internal informant had at least used his head a little.

“From now on, Team Five will take on dangerous missions. They volunteered for this, and I went along with it because I knew it was to restore trust.”

He had heard it from Haeryeon, but he only thought it was foolish.

Seeing the man’s face, clearly exhausted from not sleeping properly for days, did not change his mind.

“There were no instructions telling me to acknowledge someone who treats me like a rat.”

Hyeonyul spoke as he stared at the man.

They had made the foolish choice to give up their vacation and work voluntarily, so why were they looking at him with such displeasure?

The man snorted.

“If my words were harsh because the mission isn’t going well, I apologize.”

“Yes. It seems you are having a difficult time proving that you are not an internal informant.”

Hyeonyul spoke without changing his expression.

The corners of the man’s lips trembled.

He barely swallowed his anger.