Chapter 126 - Today, Today (2)

* * *

Seungyu’s eyes widened.

Today?

This had been expected, but it was sooner than anticipated.

Judging solely by Prunal’s finances and the management of its businesses, Seungyu had called it nothing more than a powerful faction. But even Seungyu rated its leader’s personal power highly. There had been talk of whether most of them qualified as major players, and Seungyu had no particular intention of disputing that.

And now this person was casually suggesting they strike such a faction.

Just how formidable was this leader?

Seungyu felt a laugh rising and struggled to hold it in.

「You’ve been getting ready, right?」

“Yes. Since I never know when you will come, I’m always prepared.”

「Has anything else happened?」

“Not an incident, exactly... There’s a rumor circulating about a living test subject. It hasn’t spread very far yet.”

「A living test subject?」

「Is that possible?」

Hyeonyul feigned ignorance. If this had reached Seungyu’s ears, it could soon spread throughout the villain factions.

‘Why the hell are they spreading it?’

Wouldn’t it be better to keep it to themselves? Or were they trying to become the cat that herded the mouse?

“When I heard this rumor, I seriously debated whether to tell you, or whether I would only be sullying your ears for no reason. But I decided it was right to tell you. We mustn’t overlook anything.”

「Have you traced the source?」

“Not yet. I’m sorry. This may sound like an excuse, but it feels as though it was deliberately spread so its source couldn’t be traced.”

「Don’t I know you?」

「That just means we’re dealing with someone formidable.」

「I don’t think it’s an excuse.」

Those words, which seemed to take Seungyu’s side, were deeply moving. The feeling of being acknowledged was enough to lift Seungyu’s spirits.

“... Are you interested in test subjects, by any chance?”

「Why the sudden question?」

“While digging into the Poison King, I found indications of past involvement in experiments concerning test subjects.”

「Let me see.」

That was also why Hyeonyul wanted to kill the Poison King. The villain already had a history of participating in experiments involving test subjects. Hyeonyul didn’t know what experiments they were, but had thought the only way to find out was from the bastard’s own mouth.

“Please wait a moment.”

As Seungyu stepped away, Hyeonyul looked toward the window. It was night. He had deliberately chosen this hour.

“Here it is.”

Hyeonyul took the documents and examined them. He only skimmed them, but the experiments weren’t related to him. They were intended to create some kind of power; if anything, perhaps they resembled the Empire’s experiments. Deciding they warranted a closer look, he pretended to put them in his inner pocket and slipped them into the darkness instead.

「You did a good job investigating, Seungyu.」

“... You’re too kind.”

Seungyu looked startled, then hastily bowed.

「Where is Prunal’s leader? Somewhere close?」

The company was a front; as a rule, the real operation was elsewhere. At Hyeonyul’s question, Seungyu’s lips curved upward, regarding him with a look that said, Of course.

“I’ll see you there in comfort.”

「Leave Prunal’s company alone.」

「There’s nothing worth taking there anyway, is there?」

「Let’s handle this quietly.」

“Of course. I don’t care for complicated, messy operations either.”

「Neither do I, Seungyu.」

「It’s best to keep everything clean.」

He had said it to build rapport, but Hyeonyul did like clean work. Even if it was a coincidence, sharing that preference with a villain deeply irritated him.

“Even if there is complicated, messy work to be done, I will take care of it.”

Seungyu smiled gently. Whatever the king standing before Seungyu chose—even an order to join hands with the Black Eagles—Seungyu was ready to obey.

* * *

Prunal’s true core was a hospital.

Who could have imagined it? A hospital owned by a villain, where countless drugs and corpses passed through, and even organ trafficking took place. Who could have imagined such a secret lurking behind a milk company?

[“During the investigation, I learned that we’d fought that faction before. We inadvertently took several of their businesses, and I’ve been ignoring their noisy barking to get them back. In any case, that helped us find it quickly.”]

Recalling what Seungyu had told him before they came here, Hyeonyul looked at the man wearing an eyepatch before him. Apparently, he was called the Eyepatch Octopus because he had his hands in all sorts of things. It was a nickname the man himself loathed.

[“His nickname is ridiculous, but his power puts him among the major players.”]

Seungyu had added that as an explanation. Hyeonyul didn’t know whether the man’s sprawling ventures had eventually extended to drugs, but the bastard looked distinctly displeased now.

“... What are you doing? Hm?”

The Eyepatch Octopus impatiently jiggled his crossed legs, pressing Hyeonyul to respond.

“Testing my patience?”

「I’m checking what you look like.」

“... What?”

「If you don’t like it, look at me too.」

「Look all you want.」

「Cute rabbit, right?」

Holding out his phone, Hyeonyul turned his head slightly to survey their surroundings. This wasn’t the hospital. As soon as he learned that the hospital was the real base, he had made two demands of Seungyu. One was to change the meeting place. They were in an abandoned building relatively close to the hospital. The other was to accommodate some of the Eyepatch Octopus’s demands.

“Right, you’ve got your liver hanging out of your belly, don’t you? Got some nerve.”

The Eyepatch Octopus chuckled. His men crowded behind him. That was what he had insisted on.

[“I can’t trust you. How could I just come along? Bring only three people, yourself included. Then I’ll come.”]

The Eyepatch Octopus’s demand was simple, and Seungyu had become angry the moment it was made. But because Hyeonyul had already laid out his two requirements, Seungyu had suppressed that anger and barely managed to accept.

「Has your liver ever actually hung out of your belly?」

Hyeonyul held out his phone as if mocking him.

“... Wow. You’re a real fucking nutcase. Is that an act?”

It really was a rabbit mask. What kind of lunatic would come all this way wearing one?

“If it’s real, I killed him for nothing. He kept babbling ‘Rabbit Mask, Rabbit Mask,’ so I thought he was trying to make me laugh and killed the underling. You hear me, Bunny? Hm?”

As the Eyepatch Octopus’s lips curled up, the corner of his eye curved with them.

「Then is your eye real?」

「Aren’t you playing pirate?」

“Mine’s real.”

The Eyepatch Octopus lifted his eyepatch. There was no eyeball beneath it.

「Oh, I thought you were asking me to join your crew.」

“My crew? Don’t give me that shit. I lost a whole eye getting this far. What did you lose? Your hair?”

The Eyepatch Octopus chuckled as he spoke, and his men behind him roared with laughter. The laughter spread. Hyeonyul watched without concern until he sensed murderous intent behind him. Both Seungyu and the other person were furious. He didn’t know the latter’s name, but guessed they were Seungyu’s right hand, since they had been brought along.

Why were they getting angry over mere laughter?

‘I suppose I shouldn’t just sit here?’

He considered what to write, then dashed off something without much thought.

「Thanks for worrying about my hair.」

Hyeonyul leisurely raised his phone.

「I heard you lost your businesses.」

He showed him that, then another message.

「I was worried you’d been taking it really hard.」

With each message, the Eyepatch Octopus’s expression darkened. Apparently, losing those businesses had really pissed him off.

「Glad your hair’s still intact.」

The Eyepatch Octopus had a fairly full head of hair.

“... This isn’t going to end well for you.”

「What isn’t?」

“You’re the one who showed up recently, Rabbit.”

「Yep. That’s me.」

“Do you know how many people are after you?”

「I find that funny every time I hear it.」

「Apparently the Poison King is scary, but I’m not.」

The Eyepatch Octopus laughed the moment he read that, pointing openly at him.

“Just look at yourself.”

A rabbit mask, and messages displayed on a phone as though he couldn’t even speak. What about him commanded any respect?

When his businesses had been taken—no, even when the Poison King’s faction had been seized, he had been forced to admit they were in serious trouble. But he had worried for nothing.

‘If I’d known it would be like this, I’d have taken it myself.’

The Eyepatch Octopus rubbed his chin with a finger. Then one eyebrow rose. After losing his businesses, he had demanded negotiations countless times, only to be ignored. He had been waiting for the chance to punish that disrespect.

‘I just have to take it for myself... don’t I?’

Perhaps today was the day. As if to prove his stupidity, the rabbit had accepted the offhand demand to bring only three people.

‘Right. If not today, when would I get the chance?’

People had always rated him poorly. If he swallowed up the Poison King’s faction, they would look at him differently. And would that be all? His faction would grow stronger, too, allowing him to become a major player beyond any doubt.

‘Yes... Today. It has to be today.’

The look in his eye as he watched Hyeonyul slowly began to change.

RING-RING-RING!

Just then, a ringing phone shattered the mood.

“Excuse me.”

Seungyu spoke cautiously to Hyeonyul, then answered the phone when he nodded.

“Are you fucking kidding—”

「Let’s mind our manners.」

The Eyepatch Octopus bit his lip as soon as he saw the phone Hyeonyul held out.

‘Just you wait.’

He had countless men behind him. What could the rabbit do?

「Oh.」

「Think about how you’d like to receive the businesses.」

「You want them, don’t you?」

Though it was merely an expressionless rabbit mask, he could feel the mockery.

‘Yes. How should I kill you?’

The Eyepatch Octopus smiled quietly at the rabbit mask. First came that ridiculous mask. He needed to see what face lay beneath it.

“Yeah. Yeah. Understood.”

Seungyu ended the call, looked at Hyeonyul, and nodded.

Hyeonyul’s reason for leaving the hospital alone and coming here was simple. He needed to buy time to dispose of the trash inside it. The faction he had absorbed was the Poison King’s. It had plenty of people. Put another way, he was now equipped to give any order and have any task carried out. So he had given Seungyu instructions.

1. Don’t touch civilians, and don’t let them see you.

2. Kill only villains there.

3. After killing the villains, dispose of the bodies cleanly.

Without doing this, he couldn’t remove the faction’s entrenched influence there. The news just received confirmed that all his instructions had been carried out.

‘Having numbers really is better.’

Hyeonyul judged it efficient. It would have taken longer even if he had done it himself. Nothing was quite as helpful for getting rid of villains as well-trained villains.

「All right, that’s done.」

「Tell me how you’d like to receive the businesses.」

Hyeonyul held his phone out toward the Eyepatch Octopus.

Whatever else he might miss, the greed filling that eye was easy to read. People had looked at him with that same greed whenever they learned his identity. When the bastard demanded that only three of them come, Hyeonyul had read his greed. He had also understood that the man would let down his guard, grow smug, and act arrogantly.

“I wonder if you’ve forgotten those were ours to begin with.”

The Eyepatch Octopus snapped his fingers, looking for an opening to launch a surprise attack.

「They’re mine.」

「Why’d you let them get taken, then?」

“If you’re not giving the businesses back, why did you come to meet me?”

「Oh.」

「I came to tell you some good news.」

Hyeonyul waved his phone.

“Good news?”

「That’s right.」

「You’ll jump for joy when you hear it.」

The Eyepatch Octopus read the message and looked at Hyeonyul. It was an enticing suggestion. After all, the rabbit wouldn’t have come to meet him without some purpose.

‘I have plenty of men behind me.’

That fact reassured the Eyepatch Octopus.

Hyeonyul briefly turned and held a message out to Seungyu.

「You can leave now.」

“... Are you certain?”

Seungyu’s anxiety showed.

「I am.」

「Don’t let anyone peek inside this abandoned building, and don’t let anyone in.」

「Remember that, Seungyu.」

The messages were more forceful than usual.

Seungyu looked at the Eyepatch Octopus, wanting to gouge out that remaining eye. But the king’s wishes had to be obeyed. Seungyu had no other choice.

“... Understood.”

Seungyu bowed at the waist.

“What are you doing?”

「This is a serious conversation.」

「Oh, you don’t have to send yours out.」

「You’re a coward who only feels safe in his underlings’ arms.」

Hyeonyul gave a brief laugh.

“Why don’t you watch that mouth?”

Hyeonyul paid no attention to the Eyepatch Octopus’s words. He merely jiggled his leg as he waited for Seungyu and the other person to leave. Once he heard the door open and them go out, he displayed a message.

「Now, let’s talk.」

“Go on.”

「Your hospital.」

“...?”

The Eyepatch Octopus’s expression rapidly stiffened.

「It’s mine now.」

The moment he read the message, the Eyepatch Octopus sprang to his feet.

「See?」

「Told you you’d jump for joy.」

Hyeonyul gleefully waved his phone.