WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Dionysus
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Newbie Civil Servant Hunts Villains Before Going Home ◈
Chapter 84: A Cup of Tea, a Slice of Cake
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Haeryeon’s brows lowered slightly.
“Team Lead Haeryeon. Hyeonyul doesn’t say things like that with any particular intention.”
Jeongmin spoke as he glanced at Haeryeon.
He understood Hyeonyul, but someone else could easily misunderstand him.
“I know. Don’t worry.”
Haeryeon smiled.
Why didn’t Hyeonyul realize how awkward he was at conversation?
“I’ll do it.”
“Understood.”
Hyeonyul answered without hesitation.
He could give permission, but everything else fell under Jeongmin’s responsibility.
“I’ve given permission, but the doctor will decide the rest.”
He knew little about medicine.
He had watched Jeongmin work so often that he could roughly imitate only those parts.
When Haeryeon looked at Jeongmin, he still seemed uneasy.
“Team Lead Oh Haeryeon.”
“Yes.”
“It absolutely, absolutely cannot get out. The moment Hyeonyul’s identity is exposed, I know they’ll come after me.”
He did not know how he had avoided discovery until now, but he had always been prepared.
“I won’t speak even if I die. I’d rather die myself.”
At those words, Hyeonyul jolted upright.
Haeryeon was equally startled.
This was the first time she had seen Hyeonyul show such a drastic change in emotion.
“Why would you... die, Doctor?”
Hyeonyul’s eyes shook violently.
He had done everything he could to ensure that would not happen.
If nothing else, he had desperately kept his information hidden by using Yujong, the useful information broker.
Just in case, he had avoided creating any point of contact with Jeongmin.
The only time he had created one was now, after becoming Black Eagle.
But he was not the only one coming and going from this place.
Countless others visited as well.
If there was only one condition by which he could be identified here, it was this.
Team Three.
Murderous intent began to gather in Hyeonyul’s eyes, and Jeongmin gripped his shoulder.
“It’s a hypothetical, Hyeonyul. Just a hypothetical. Calm down.”
“Don’t. You shouldn’t even make that hypothetical.”
Hyeonyul grabbed Jeongmin’s arm, the corners of his eyes drooping.
“I hate even that possibility. It would be better if I were the one in danger, if I were the one struggling.”
“Hyeonyul, it’s only hypothetical. Nothing like that will happen.”
“Doctor, I...”
“Calm down, Hyeonyul. This was my fault.”
Jeongmin immediately apologized.
It was something he should never have said in front of Hyeonyul.
It was his mistake.
Even knowing what he meant to Hyeonyul, the fear that had suddenly overwhelmed him had shaken his reason.
“I’ll do the same.”
Haeryeon spoke with a smile.
Hyeonyul and Jeongmin turned to look at her.
“I’d rather die than speak.”
“...Really?”
Jeongmin asked haltingly.
“I don’t know how I can make you believe me, but I know a fool who had power, did nothing, and let an opportunity slip away. I don’t want to become like that person.”
Haeryeon looked at Jeongmin, making her resolve clear.
This was her purpose and her pride.
Without it, she would not be herself.
“I have power, and I know very well that now is the opportunity. So I’ll do it. I’d rather die than speak.”
At words that could only be true, Jeongmin slowly smiled.
Why now?
He could ask that, but it was also something that could be offered precisely because it was now.
He had seen much of Team Three himself.
More than anyone, had he not seen firsthand how Haeryeon had treated Hyeonyul?
“I thought... I thought I would be alone forever.”
“I can support you with anything. I have plenty of money, too.”
Still smiling, Haeryeon held out her hand.
“That’s reassuring.”
Jeongmin spoke as he handed over the paper.
“I look forward to working with you.”
“The feeling is mutual. Don’t be disappointed if I can’t come by often.”
When Haeryeon made the joke, Jeongmin chuckled.
Once the atmosphere between them softened, Hyeonyul lay back down.
He saw Haeryeon move elsewhere, while Jeongmin peeled off his bandage.
“Does it still hurt?”
“Barely.”
“Wait a moment. Blood has pooled there, so I’ll change your bandage.”
“Yes.”
Hyeonyul stared blankly at the ceiling.
‘...Ah. It’s gone.’
He felt the location of the Villain who had given him the drugs disappear.
It seemed someone had killed them.
He did not care who had done it.
‘It was there.’
But he had identified the location.
That was enough.
‘Let’s rest today.’
To avoid overworking himself, Hyeonyul closed his eyes.
* * *
“...Good morning.”
Hyeonyul spoke as he sat on Yujong’s bed.
“...What are you even talking about?”
Mumbling, Yujong turned over.
“Do you not understand what I’m saying?”
When Hyeonyul called Yujong’s name, Yujong blinked and shifted again.
Slowly, Yujong raised his head.
The moment their eyes met, Yujong steadied his breathing.
“Please don’t install so many CCTVs. It’s troublesome in many ways to keep breaking them.”
At the word CCTV, Yujong jolted upright.
When Yujong looked around, the room was full of broken remnants.
“I don’t know why you installed so many CCTVs, recorders, and listening devices. Is it because of me?”
“...Ah, no. Why would it be?”
“I saw that you even installed them on the windows. Your security measures are quite thorough. This is the seventeenth floor, after all.”
Hyeonyul stared at Yujong.
Yujong swallowed dryly.
‘That bastard is freakishly perceptive.’
Why had he come again?
Why did he come by so often?
“Any good news lately?”
“...Good news?”
“Yes. It doesn’t matter what it is, so tell me.”
Hyeonyul brought over a chair and sat down.
Taking the hint, Yujong got up and climbed down from the bed.
Yujong voluntarily knelt before Hyeonyul.
His hair was flattened and matted from sleep, and he still had eye crust he had not managed to wipe away. He looked a complete mess, but Yujong did not care.
“...That drug you gave me before.”
“Yes.”
“I found out where it’s produced. It has been circulating strangely lately. There are several production sites.”
“Is this place among them?”
Hyeonyul took out his phone and showed Yujong a location.
“...Just a moment.”
Yujong hesitated, then studied the map closely.
‘Huh...?’
“Bring it.”
At Hyeonyul’s instruction, Yujong got to his feet.
After Yujong disappeared, Hyeonyul yawned.
His eyelids grew heavy.
‘Reversing my days and nights really is awful.’
As he waited, Hyeonyul looked around.
Then he lowered his gaze to the bed.
Something was different.
Hyeonyul moved the mattress with darkness.
“You came...”
“What is this?”
Hyeonyul looked at the gold bars.
It seemed Yujong had made a recent deal.
Yujong turned pale.
‘How the hell does... Mad Dog know about this?’
He had not yet had time to put the gold bars in the safe.
He had only hidden them here in a hurry.
“Did you sell my information?”
“Ah, no! Absolutely not!”
Yujong shook his head, then dropped to his knees.
He had to explain himself well before that Mad Dog tore him apart.
“Then what did you sell this time?”
“I... well, as an information broker...”
“An information broker. Yes, I heard you’ve become an unrivaled one. Who made that happen?”
At some point, Hyeonyul had pulled out a dagger and was waving it around.
“...The person right in front of me!”
Yujong shouted desperately.
‘...Fuck, did you make that happen? You go around killing every information broker you don’t like, so there are barely any left!’
It was something he could not possibly say aloud, so Yujong held it in with all his strength.
“What information did you sell?”
“...Well, I have Black Eagle information.”
“Yes.”
“Someone wanted it, so I sold it.”
“Was it updated information?”
Understanding that Hyeonyul was asking whether Yujong had planted another internal informant, Yujong urgently shook his head.
“Not that, but... I did hear something strange.”
“Something strange?”
Hyeonyul tilted his head, and Yujong lowered his voice.
“I heard there is a Villain among Black Eagle.”
“There is a Villain?”
“...It’s difficult to investigate, so I brushed it off, but does that even make sense?”
“Who bought that information?”
At Hyeonyul’s question, Yujong began to wonder, then suddenly came to his senses.
He had to tell him.
That was right.
“For now, it was a new face. The Black Eagle information I had was losing value, so I was going to dispose of it, but one of my subordinates got hold of a post.”
Yujong carefully moved to retrieve his phone.
He had clicked a link in the message, but it was gone.
“It was this site, but... it seems to have disappeared now. They sent several others besides this one, and I believe they were all posted from the same place.”
Click.
Hyeonyul took a picture that clearly showed the address.
He intended to hand it over to Black Eagle when he had time.
“They are buying Black Eagle information?”
“That’s right. I don’t know why, either. It’s simply strange. ...So, I wasn’t doing business. This happened while I was sorting through what I had. As you know, organizing everything doesn’t happen all at once. I’m trying to get out of this line of work, but there are many places I’m entangled with, and people keep giving me things, so I would like you to give me... time.”
The more Yujong spoke, the smaller he felt.
It was pathetic.
‘...Fuck. Fuck! Fuuuck!’
He did not know why he had to live like this, but there was nothing he could do.
He really was sorting things out, and it was also true that he needed time because the scale was so large.
“I know it’s difficult to deal with immediately. You have information to sort through, and there are people who come to sell information as well. I don’t care about the other matters, but anything involving ordinary people must be dealt with quickly.”
“Yes. I’ll absolutely deal with that first, quickly. Within three weeks, no, within two weeks. And this is where the drugs are produced.”
Watching Hyeonyul’s expression, Yujong handed over the material he had brought.
It was a printed map.
Hyeonyul flipped through it, then stopped.
‘There is information I found.’
After work, he had gone to the place where the Villain who had fled had died.
The place where they had died was a bar.
He had investigated the inside, but there was nothing unusual.
Still, it was clear that Villains gathered there.
‘More precisely, it seems that place was one of their business contacts.’
Holding the papers, Hyeonyul pretended to take something out of his pocket and held out the drugs.
He had smelled each drug to verify and sort them, then stored them separately.
He had obtained six drugs.
Two of them were connected to him.
It was more than he had discovered while pursuing them himself.
“Find out where these drugs are made.”
Looking at the drugs Hyeonyul handed over, Yujong could not help but think.
‘...He took control of the Poison King’s faction, and now he’s even eyeing drugs?’
Did he not keep ordering Yujong to seek information related to drugs?
‘There is... that person in the drug trade. Will this be all right?’
There was a major player with such a vast operation that they could be said to control all drugs.
Yujong had never seen them and did not even know where they were based.
They were simply called the Drug Merchant.
It might not even be one person.
Someone had once called that major player the King of Drugs, and it was said they became enraged and wiped that person out with drugs.
It was difficult to tell whether that was even true.
After all, drugs were something nearly every person bearing the title Villain sold.
“I know there is also a major player in the drug trade. Can you track them?”
“As I told you before, it’s impossible.”
Yujong immediately shook his head.
He broke out in a cold sweat, worried about what Mad Dog might say.
“Then just find this. I’ll dig into the rest.”
‘...Really?’
Though suspicious, Yujong was bewildered.
He had expected Hyeonyul to pressure him as though it did not matter what happened to him.
‘Has he become gentler?’
As Yujong’s eyes wavered, Hyeonyul smiled.
“You have stepped away, haven’t you? Ah, you’re in the process of stepping away. Is there any reason for me to do that?”
“...Ah.”
Yujong immediately corrected his thinking.
It was not that Hyeonyul had become gentler. He was simply letting him off.
“If there is a faction giving you trouble, tell me.”
“...Will you kill them?”
“If they are Villains. Since you’re stepping away, I can do at least that much.”
‘So if they aren’t, I die...’
Yujong could not stop the laugh that escaped him.
He had done everything possible to escape Mad Dog, yet after going in circles, he was once again in that bastard’s grasp.
Even after Yujong moved house, Hyeonyul found him. No matter how many defenses he put in place, whether CCTVs, recorders, or listening devices, Hyeonyul broke through them all.
That bastard was a shadow.
A shadow that could never be shaken off.
Yujong suddenly wanted to cry.
Honestly, Yujong wanted to order Hyeonyul killed, but he did not have the courage.
Had he not already been ruined by that bastard once?
He could only survive by giving him everything he had.
‘Can I really live like this when it’s so miserable...?’
Yujong held back his tears.
“Honestly, aren’t you curious who the major player controlling the drug trade is?”
At Hyeonyul’s question, Yujong’s expression brightened.
‘He’ll tell me? Really, he’ll tell me?’
It was insane.
That was the only thought that came to mind.
“I’m curious!”
Yujong’s mouth moved.
Then Yujong startled and covered his mouth.
‘That was... too eager.’
Yujong’s neck tucked inward like a turtle’s.
Gulp.
Swallowing dryly, Yujong looked at Hyeonyul in fear.
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