WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Dionysus
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Newbie Civil Servant Hunts Villains Before Going Home ◈
Chapter 79: Worries
──────
* * *
‘...Hmm.’
Jihwan hesitated considerably at Hyeonyul’s blunt words.
Was this right?
Was it okay to do this?
Those thoughts circled through his mind countless times.
“...Hyung.”
“Yes.”
“This really...”
When the student suddenly lunged forward, Jihwan flinched in surprise.
Even knowing that darkness was choking their neck and binding their body so they could not move forward, the student forced themself forward.
Hyeonyul narrowed his eyes as he sensed something rippling around the student’s body.
It was a mental-type power.
“Please step back.”
He spoke to Jihwan immediately.
They needed to be careful with this.
“Die, die, Black Eagle!”
The student’s eyes flew open as they gave the command with force.
Hyeonyul had heard that mental-type powers grew stronger the more intense one’s feelings toward the target were.
He did not know how much stronger, but he could feel his skin trembling.
‘It must be fairly strong?’
Perhaps it was the sort of power one could use only when facing an archenemy, or something beyond that.
Why could they use such a powerful ability?
Hyeonyul glanced at Jihwan.
Other than looking surprised, he appeared perfectly fine.
“Is it a mental-type power?”
Hyeonyul spoke as if he knew nothing.
The student visibly hesitated.
Then their face twisted.
“Why are you so angry?”
“...It doesn’t work?”
It was the student who was startled by Hyeonyul’s composure.
It really did not work?
They stared at Hyeonyul as though something utterly unexpected had happened.
“Do you have some grievance against Black Eagle? You have not been brainwashed, either. I would appreciate it if you did not pretend to be stupid.”
“...My family died because of you.”
“Are you saying Black Eagle killed your family?”
Hyeonyul tilted his head.
It was incomprehensible.
Should they not be saying Villains instead of Black Eagle?
Perhaps they had failed to grasp what happened properly.
‘More importantly, is it time to take my medicine?’
Considering how many thoughts were running through his head, it seemed it was time.
Hyeonyul leisurely took out his medicine.
“Why couldn’t you save my family? Why... why do I have to suffer because of you? If you had done your jobs properly, I would not be like this!”
The student’s voice rose and rose from behind their deeply furrowed brow, until it seemed ready to explode.
“...Ah. One of those people.”
After swallowing his medicine, Hyeonyul responded as though it did not matter.
He did not feel like hearing any more.
Put simply, they blamed others.
In the past, people like that would have stopped once others pointed fingers at them, ashamed of themselves, or they would have kept quiet out of concern for what others thought.
But not now.
When people who blamed others gathered together and formed a group like this, what else could happen?
A place like this was bound to be created.
Hyeonyul did not know what to call it.
It was a new type, at least.
“One of those people...?”
For some reason, the student’s lips trembled.
Hyeonyul watched them silently.
“Do you know how many people died because you ran around saying you were going to catch Villains? My friend was hit by debris in the aftermath of you running around and now limps because of their leg!”
“Was that not the hospital’s fault? Black Eagle does not handle treatment as well.”
“If you had stayed out of it, would the Villains have grown this much? They would have disappeared on their own, but you made them grow bigger! Smarter and crueler! You, bastards like you, raised the Villains!”
At those continued words, Hyeonyul blinked.
They could only be speaking in earnest.
“Did you hear that? Ah, listen from there. Do not come closer.”
Hyeonyul started to ask Jihwan, then stopped him as he tried to approach.
“I finally understand why they attacked me earlier. I was simply a target because I belonged to Black Eagle. They believe that, just as this student said, Black Eagle is entirely responsible for the Villains becoming smarter and crueler.”
He could not call it complete nonsense.
In a way, perhaps they had both grown like rivals.
“But, student. If Black Eagle disappears, who will stop the Villains?”
“If Black Eagle disappears, the Villains will disappear too. What kind of stupid nonsense are you spouting?”
“How would the Villains disappear? Are you saying that if Black Eagle disappears, the Villains will regret everything they have done and voluntarily disband?”
The Villains?
Hyeonyul’s mind filled with question marks.
They were the kind of people who would rejoice at Black Eagle’s disappearance and rush to devour the Empire.
“At least they would not act like they do now! Stop talking and die! Die! Just die!”
“Do you believe that if Black Eagle disappears, the Villains will disappear, without any thought, judgment, or reason?”
“When Villains first appeared, they were not like this. They did not kill people...! They only became truly vicious after you appeared! Why can’t you understand? Do you have no intelligence?”
“Have you never considered that Black Eagle may have been created because the Villains were vicious from the start?”
“You’re mocking me, aren’t you? You think I’m strange, right? No! You will realize that the group you belong to is strange too! You keep defeating Villains, but their numbers never decrease!”
“Yes. I understand.”
Hyeonyul cleanly ended the conversation.
There was no need to hear more.
If he argued with them, there would be no end to it.
Police create criminals.
Therefore, if the police disappear, criminals will disappear.
How could someone think about and see only one thing?
‘It would be one thing if it was because they are a student, but the people who taught them this were adults.’
Former Black Eagle members.
Why had they instilled such nonsense in them when they had once been Black Eagle?
Hyeonyul looked behind him.
“Please knock them out.”
When Jihwan used magic, the student fainted.
He slowly walked over.
His complexion was dark.
“...That means there are more than one or two people here who think like that, right?”
“That is correct. If only individuals held those beliefs, we could ignore them. But they are no longer individuals. They have become a group.”
“I do not know if I should say this, but honestly, it is disgusting.”
Jihwan frowned.
Black Eagle was a place where people worked with a sense of duty.
What would happen if that was shattered?
“I cannot... believe that someone from Black Eagle made them believe this was true.”
Why?
That question kept circling through his mind.
Why attack fellow Black Eagle members?
“I first have doubts over whether they were really Black Eagle. If they truly were, perhaps they were Black Eagle members expelled for some reason.”
“Right. It has to be that way.”
Jihwan smiled again at Hyeonyul’s reassurance.
Black Eagle had saved him.
He admired that place.
The moment he was told that everything he had done so far was meaningless, he felt as though all the strength would leave his body.
What would that make his dead colleagues?
“Mr. Ye Jihwan. I was a Villain. I am the first. Does that not tell you something?”
If Black Eagle was truly evil, then Villains should be coming here.
Villains were inevitably bound to pursue evil.
If Hyeonyul was the first former Villain to become Black Eagle, did that not prove that Black Eagle’s sense of justice was not wrong?
Jihwan said nothing and simply smiled.
After looking around for a moment, he let out a long breath.
“We just need to sort things out now. Hyung, sit down for a moment. I will finish it quickly.”
Hyeonyul stared at Jihwan.
His expression was strange.
This kind of wavering was not good.
Seeds of doubt grew exceedingly fast, and on top of that, they contaminated everything.
That situation would not be good for him, either.
“Do not waver. Believe what you have seen yourself. Even if what they said is true, we can cut that part out. Just as there is good and evil, nowhere is completely clean.”
“Exactly. We cannot waver. This might even be what they want.”
“They will use anything. They want the Empire. They may have turned their attention here because their struggling and throwing tantrums did not work.”
Black Eagle, the shield of the Empire.
Perhaps they had decided they needed to pierce that sturdy shield first.
“Still, if it bothers you, ask the Team Lead. She will answer you.”
Hyeonyul smiled faintly.
* * *
“...Team Lead, we are back.”
Jihwan smiled brightly the moment he saw Haeryeon.
“You worked hard, Mr. Jihwan. Mr. Hyeonyul, is your hand all right?”
Haeryeon rose from her seat and approached them.
“It is fine.”
Hyeonyul hid his bandaged hand behind his back.
Jeongmin had scolded him, but what could he do when it had already been pierced?
“You have something you want to ask me, do you not?”
At Haeryeon’s question, Jihwan nodded.
“Yes, I do.”
“To give you the conclusion first, it is true that something regrettable happened.”
Haeryeon made the facts clear.
The moment she received the report that former Black Eagle members were involved in this incident, she had worried first about how shocked the two of them must have been.
“Do you remember why the Team 5 leader was expelled?”
“I remember. He joined hands with Villains.”
Jihwan answered.
His gaze toward Haeryeon was full of firm trust.
“That is right. I cannot say there have never been such cases within Black Eagle. There were cases before, and there were cases this time. But those actions do not make everything we have done meaningless.”
Haeryeon explained calmly.
She had not expected an attack to come in this form.
She had thought it was merely a small issue, but it seemed to have grown larger than expected.
“Black Eagle was created because those who were called criminals at the time launched indiscriminate attacks against citizens. That day, an entire city disappeared, and tens of thousands of citizens died.”
“Then why did the Empire not declare war?”
Hyeonyul asked as though he could not understand.
Could the Empire not have simply swept them away with the forces it possessed at the time?
“The Empire had already gone through several wars. Peace had only just arrived, and if it went through a civil war, it was certain to split apart again. The timing was bad too.”
“Was that incident covered up?”
“No. It was not covered up. Mr. Jihwan should know.”
Haeryeon shook her head and pointed to Jihwan.
“This is... um, we learned it in history class. The Emperor who hid this truth, even if only briefly, admitted it, acknowledged his wrongdoing, and stepped down. I learned that it was the Empire’s fault.”
“Is that so?”
Hyeonyul found that unexpected.
An Emperor had stepped down so easily.
“The previous Emperor intended to create an organization called Black Eagle, and the current Emperor carried on that will, which is how Black Eagle was created.”
Haeryeon continued.
The current Emperor had created Black Eagle.
Hyeonyul knew that as well, having heard it during Theory Training.
“In any case, regardless of what they said, someone who joined hands with Villains and profited from it.”
Hyeonyul’s eyes shifted for just a moment.
The figurehead boss, Lee Seungyu, came to mind.
‘He did not profit from it.’
He had gained nothing.
He merely used them for himself and for Black Eagle.
“We exclude cases where someone joined hands with Villains in order to eliminate them. We allow for a broad range. For example, if someone bribed a Villain to learn a fact, and that information saved many people, we cannot punish them. In other words, do not seek personal profit.”
Haeryeon explained in greater detail for Hyeonyul’s sake.
He might have learned it in training, but it was not something they necessarily discussed outright.
Normally, people gradually learned it after their probationary period ended.
“Those who killed citizens who were not Villains, those who harmed citizens who were not Villains, those who used Black Eagle’s power like authority. Most are filtered out there. The people Mr. Jihwan and Mr. Hyeonyul saw today were likely filtered out for one of those reasons.”
“However, they said Black Eagle creates Villains. Rather than making something up, they seemed as though they had seen something.”
Hyeonyul raised an objection.
They needed to get to the bottom of this point.
‘Do you know what Black Eagle did? They made deals with Villains! They were actually raising Villains for their own safety! Even when our team members died and other Black Eagle members died, we believed only that we were working for the Empire and its citizens. We believed only that and pressed on silently, but it was not true...!’
The former Black Eagle member too.
‘...Black Eagle will not give you what you want. It is not a just place, contrary to what you think.’
The Poison King too.
Why were they all so concerned with justice?
“Seen something...?”
“Yes. I do not know what they saw. What they claimed was almost exactly the same as what the Poison King said. Black Eagle is not a just place. Why would they say that?”
“...Hmm.”
Haeryeon’s expression became serious as well.
Her expression was so natural that she truly seemed to know nothing.
“Even considering everything I know, there really is nothing like that. ...There are Black Eagle members who were expelled, even now. But there is no reason to mention them deliberately. Announcing each one would only increase anxiety. It is also what we Team Leads are most wary of.”
Anxiety was contagious, and those infected feelings ate away at everyone, contributing to a higher death rate.
“Anyway, I will say it again. Black Eagle has one purpose. A world without Villains. So do not waver.”
“Understood, Team Lead.”
Jihwan smiled at Haeryeon, looking relieved.
“And Mr. Hyeonyul.”
“Yes.”
“I heard today’s report. Mr. Jihwan excluded you from the mission because of your injury, and you refused to comply. Is that right?”
“That is correct. I believed the mission came first. In fact, the mission ended quickly.”
“It is fortunate that the mission ended quickly. But I will not allow this in the future.”
‘I will not allow it?’
As Hyeonyul looked at her as if asking what she meant, Haeryeon held up a finger.
“First, if you are injured, you are completely removed from the mission. Second, if you are injured, you return to the mission after receiving treatment. Which will you choose?”
“...What?”
Haeryeon was firm, and Hyeonyul doubted his ears.
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
