I’m Not That Villain

91 – Change (1)

She had followed me faithfully, always.

Theresa and I parted ways. Called away by an acquaintance, seemingly out of the blue, she didn’t join me for the ride.

“I have something to attend to separately as well.”

“…Ah. Then at least an introduction.”

“…Hmm.”

She looked down at me quietly.

Her fingers tapping against her arm. As though, after much deliberation, she was about to offer a handshake…

Her composed lips twisted slightly.

“I think it’s best you don’t hear it. At least not now.”

“Pardon?”

“I have a feeling my premonition will prove correct. If I speak it aloud, there’ll be no turning back. It’s better if we part like this.”

“What does that…?”

“These past few days have been a pleasure.”

Theresa opened her arms.

And drew me into an embrace.

“…Farewell.”

She spoke as if we would never meet again in this lifetime, and then she left.

A fleeting connection. Yet, not so fleeting a tale, all things considered.

Still, perhaps we might cross paths once more someday. I felt a pull to chase after her completely vanished form, but there was a more pressing matter at hand.

Within the Hundred Eyes headquarters.

I had Seol Yewon moved to a private ward there.

“She appears to be stable for the moment… but we will need to observe her progress further to know for sure.”

After settling Seol Yewon there, I went to see Joo Hwa-rin, who had also been brought to the Hundred Eyes headquarters.

-Creak.

The scent peculiar to sterilized hospital rooms washed over me as I opened the door.

Various machines emitted a quiet mechanical hum. No less than six numbers turning over at once.

Joo Hwa-rin lay alone in the ward, surrounded by lengths of snaking wire and little else.

Her face…

It was barely recognizable. Many knife wounds marred her skin, and several teeth were missing, vanished from sight.

A cheekbone had caved in. And that wasn’t all. Her nose was bent, making her seem like a completely different person.

Beneath her face, things were even worse. Bright yellow pus seeped from everywhere wrapped in cloth.

…They had done this to a human being.

They had beaten a human being half to death.

To a degree I couldn’t have imagined. Completely.

“………”

I dragged a chair over. And sat beside her.

Had she heard something? One swollen eye fluttered open, quiet.

The rasping wheeze of breath. A slight surge in the machine’s graph.

Her hand trembled, a frantic bird.

I took it in mine.

“Juhwarin.”

“…Ah…uh…”

The heart graph, threatening to erupt, settled once more. A faded gaze brushed against me, like a hesitant touch.

Her lips parted.

She asked, almost a whisper:

“…Heukgyeong…”

“Yes. It’s me.”

“…I…I di…”

She, the grand liar, the spinner of tall tales.

The mouth that had traded idle chatter with me as we hunted bounties moved again.

As if filled with a strange pride.

Forcibly tugging the corner of her lips upward, though they refused to obey.

“…Didn’t…say…a thing…”

“……..”

“Really…not a…lie… tru…truly…”

A cough wracked her, flecked with blood.

I cleaned the blood away, every bit of it, slowly.

“Didn’t… say… any… thing… Asked… about… you…”

“…You could have just told them.”

“…Cl…close…”

Her voice, though distorted, rang with defiant pride, sputtering a laugh.

“Close…friend…so…”

“……..”

I leaned closer, bringing my mouth nearer to hers.

“…Can you tell me…who did this to you?”

“…Sh…Shark…”

“Shark?”

“…Fix…er…”

The monitor spiked. A sharp, thin moan escaped her parted lips.

Doctors, waiting just outside the room, rushed in.

“Out of the way! Quickly!”

Nearly pushed out, I stumbled from the space.

Walking the hallway, I paused, leaning against the wall for a moment.

“Friend!”

Just…

She should have acted as usual. Should have groveled and sold me out like the first time we met.

It would have been easier on the heart, then. I wouldn’t have been so incandescent with rage.

“…Haa.”

“…Hey. You alright?”

I turned to look at Black Mamba, Baek So-yeon, who had been trailing me silently.

She was fidgeting, her eyes carefully gauging my expression.

“You’re really going to do it? Truly? A partner workshop? Of course, I know your skills, so I’m all for it, rather…”

“Rather what?”

“…As you know, once you get tangled with a massive organization, it’s a huge deal. A really huge deal. If we go under, you’ll go down with us. It wouldn’t be such an easy thing. Even if you cut ties later, the tag could follow you for life.”

“It was one of the proposals you made.”

“…After looking into it, our situation isn’t as relaxed as I initially thought. Plus, some information came in. The Executive Office is really coming after us this time, encroaching on our territory. The timing couldn’t be worse. The thought of you being in danger… well, my conscience is a little…pricked.”

“All the better.”

“…U…Uh?”

“They need to pay the price. Just promise me one thing.”

“…What…promise?”

“Lilly Bennetwater. Renata Lyudmila. Keep tracking down information on those two. With everything you’ve got. If you do that, then I, as a partner workshop, will return the favor.”

“How exactly are you going to return the favor?”

“Lend me some people.”

“People?”

I pushed myself off the wall.

“I’ll need to relocate my workshop. To the basement of Hundred Eyes headquarters.”

. . .

Lili Bennetwater and Renata Lyudmila.

The matter of their vanished whereabouts was entrusted entirely to Hundred Eyes.

Though with Lili, I couldn’t imagine she’d been *done to* by anyone. But judging by her current state, she must have been caught off guard all the same.

She’d vanished deliberately, without a doubt. The most proficient agent I’d ever known had simply melted away.

If that were the case, even if I gave chase myself, there’d be no way to find her.

Rationally. I decided to think rationally. There was only one thing to do now.

My acquaintances had been attacked.

More importantly, those acquaintances had been attacked and the perpetrators had *all* escaped.

A possible second strike, coming at any time. And the opposition was likely not an individual, but an organization.

If even an Enforcer had been involved with the attacking organization, then it was safe to consider them all enemies.

They wouldn’t let this go, that was certain. So what could I do in this situation?

Everything.

Destroy it all.

To show those targeting me that I was not someone to be trifled with. That I wouldn’t simply endure whatever came my way.

And to do that…

This fence that protected me had to become stronger. So no one would even *dare* to touch it.

-Thump.

Several massive trucks came to a halt before my longtime hideout. Darko, second-in-command of Hundred Eyes, stood at my side.

He was still watching me with a doubtful gaze. He was following the boss’s orders out of necessity, but he hadn’t seen anything for himself, so doubt was only natural.

“What do you need me to do?”

“Move people, get these moving boxes carried. I’ll break everything down into parts and categorize it all. Just be careful, make sure nothing gets damaged.”

“How much can there be to move in a house this small…”

“Thirty minutes tops. Why me, though?”

Next to me, the executive, Tsubame, was grumbling along. I opened the basement as if to show him.

The two of them saw a section of a huge facility stretching on endlessly, and their tone changed.

“There’s quite a lot to move, isn’t there.”

“…What the hell kind of guy are you?”

“Tools of the trade. Everything must be moved, so absolutely do not miss a single part. Move everything I designate.”

Hundred Eyes headquarters.

The whole basement itself was quite large, but compared to the basement I had been digging, it was nothing short of cramped.

To expand that underground facility, I had to move once more.

But unlike before, this time, all kinds of equipment were already in place.

Based on the equipment that was quickly moved in, internal construction began immediately.

Darko, who had been quietly beside me, had a complete change in his eyes. He spoke to me kindly, as if appraising an object.

“Is there anything I can help you with?”

“Ah. No, nothing really. If I had to ask… could I take a look at the overall building blueprints? I want to get a feel for where I should dig, and how.”

“Of course. That is possible.”

Following the blueprints, I quickly proceeded with the internal construction. Fortifying the ground, adding iron plates to the interior, I continued to dig steadily downwards, ensuring the building wouldn’t collapse.

Unlike before, Hundred Eyes immediately took care of any missing resources. A large organization is indeed a large organization. Thanks to the endless supply of additional materials, I was able to proceed quickly with the underground construction without worry.

Scarlett’s architectural mode proved a boon beyond measure. The vast artificial intelligence, drawing on my power to reshape the very stone, quickly consumed and reinforced the underground facility. Because of her, we could even add several amenities impossible in the old space.

With the foundation complete, it was time to flex our muscles as a partner workshop.

I sought out Baek So-yeon, finding her alone in her office. Her face was bored as she mechanically scribbled signatures on documents. She bolted upright when I entered.

“Oh! You should’ve said you were coming! My hair’s a mess… honestly!”

“…….? What are you talking about? I’m here on business. Trying to figure out some direction.”

“Direction?”

“Providing customized, dedicated equipment to each and every member? It’ll take a long time. But if you’re right, then we’re practically staring down the barrel of another war.”

“…Right? So?”

“Scarlett. The AI I developed is already swamped. She’s operating and controlling the entire facility. She’s got so much on her plate already that it’s impossible for her to fabricate countless pieces of dedicated gear in my stead. In the first place, even the original system couldn’t handle such volume all at once.”

“…Hrm…”

“So, we’ll hire as many skilled artisans as we can afford.”

“What? Why?”

“To create a mass-production process for dedicated equipment.”

Baek So-yeon arched an eyebrow.

“…Mass-produced… dedicated equipment? That’s utter nonsense. The very idea is contradictory! Dedicated equipment is called ‘dedicated’ because it’s customized for the individual…and you’re going to *mass-produce* it? Dedicated equipment tailored to each person?”

“You’re not wrong. But I can make it possible.”

“…What does that…”

“To rapidly supply our forces. That is our objective this time…”

I declared with confident resolve.

“Follow me, Baek So-yeon. If you do, I won’t just make you a conqueror of Jung-gu, but the mistress of Seoul itself. I possess the ability to do so. There’s no reason to hide it, nor to stay hidden, any longer.”