Being a Villain is My True Calling

A short while later.

“Phew, it’s finally extinguished…”

Fortunately, thanks to the blaze erupting at a considerable distance, it could be suppressed without major damage.

“…Ah, my apologies for the unsightly spectacle! Maker!”

Exhaling a sigh of relief before abruptly realizing, an Eclipse member deeply bowed towards me.
Based on his appearance, he seemed to be the one responsible for overseeing the helicopters.

“Thank you for assisting with the fire suppression!”

“Not at all, Pollia deserves far more gratitude for her efforts.”

“Ahem.”

Pollia, referring to Ga-yeon, had simply utilized one of her abilities to extinguish the flames.
In that crisis situation, I had done little beyond observing.

“Of course…I must express my gratitude to Pollia. I am utterly ashamed.”

The man squeezed his eyes shut before deeply bowing once more.

“The helicopter’s maintenance was my sole responsibility! I’ve committed an unforgivable offense!!”

“It’s alright. Humans are prone to mistakes.”

“Maker…”

“Ah, although I may forgive you, I cannot speak for Director Astra’s judgment.”

“I,I understand…”

Initially elated by my words, that single remark prompted a despondent tear to trickle down his face.
Observing this exchange, Ga-yeon inquired quizzically:

“Is the ahjussi crying?”

“…It’s sweat.”

“Crying won’t resolve anything.”

“Not tears, sweat…”

“Making excuses?”

“My apologies…”

This man…cowering before a child far his junior…

Trembling as he averted Ga-yeon’s gaze.
Ironically, her innocently inquisitive demeanor rendered this exchange all the more comical.

“Rather than mere apologies, perhaps a more practical approach…”

“Ga-yeon, that’s enough.”

Any further prodding would surely reduce him to tears.

“Kkhuk, uhuhung…”

No, it was already too late.
A grown man, weeping under the scrutiny of a child decades his junior.

“Uhuhung! Uhuhuhung!!”

His pitiful display even stirred a tinge of guilt within me.

“I’m so sorry! I was diligently maintaining it! But then it suddenly exploded on its own…uhuhung!!”

“Well…”

…This was ultimately our fault, after all.
And could you tone down the waterworks? People are starting to steal furtive glances.

Not only that, but the Eclipse members began whispering amongst themselves.

“That maintenance ahjussi is rather pitiable.”
“Why would a perfectly fine helicopter just explode like that?”
“At least we managed to extinguish it swiftly, that’s a relief.”
“Ugh, what a way to start the morning…”
“Rumor has it someone was inside the helicopter too.”

Hmm?

That peculiar undercurrent prompted me to isolate the key phrases from their murmurs:
Oblivious maintenance staff, perfectly functional helicopter, explosion, early morning, swift suppression, and someone aboard the helicopter.

“……”

While it could merely be my imagination, revisiting those scattered remarks instilled a sense of disquiet.

“…I should probably seek out whoever’s in charge to investigate this matter.”

It seemed prudent to consult the individual most informed about this incident.

Shortly after, I proceeded directly to Astra’s office.

“Ah, Maker has arrived…?”

Astra greeted me with bleary eyes, the pronounced dark circles emphasizing her evident fatigue.

“You appear quite exhausted.”

“Huh? Ahh…well, this incident did rouse me from my slumber. Though I only missed around two hours of sleep, so no need for excessive concern.”

Two hours. While it could be perceived as a mere reduction in sleep duration,
considering Astra typically functioned on a daily average of four hours, her current state bordered on delirium.

“I heard you assisted with the fire suppression upon your return. Thank you.”

“Ga-yeon was the one who helped. I merely observed from the sidelines.”

“Huhuh, being able to control that little rascal is a feat in itself…”

Astra lowered her head, chuckling ominously.

…What’s this about?
While Ga-yeon could be rather rambunctious, was she truly that severe…?
A fleeting doubt crossed my mind, but I decided to let it pass for now.

“What was the extent of the damage?”

“As you’ve no doubt seen, the flames didn’t spread extensively, resulting in only that single aircraft’s destruction. The explosion also caused some scorching on surrounding aircraft and the ground from the embers.”

Astra raised her teacup to her lips, only to find it empty, prompting her to alchemically brew a fresh cup of coffee.

While doing so, she tapped a document with her finger before levitating it towards me.

“But the real kicker is this.”

“Casualties.”

The photograph Astra provided depicted a charred human-shaped lump within the cockpit.

“Apparently, there was someone aboard that helicopter. But the more concerning part is…”

“The individual aboard was not an Eclipse member, but rather an outside party.”

“…As expected, you would have already deduced as much, Maker.”

Astra regarded me with a subtle smile, alchemically transporting our coffee cups before us with a flick of her finger.

“Certain remarks from the Eclipse members piqued my suspicions.”

The first aspect that raised doubts was the timing discrepancy.
While Narin had reportedly relocated the helicopter sometime between late afternoon and evening, around 3-4 PM, the explosion occurred the following morning around 4 AM.

‘That’s an excessively long delay for it to have simply spontaneously exploded.’

Twelve hours would have been ample time for the engine to not just cool down, but essentially freeze over entirely.
With no apparent explosive materials in the vicinity, this was undoubtedly no natural occurrence.

The next point of concern was the unidentified individual who had surreptitiously boarded the helicopter, unbeknownst to the maintenance staff.

‘I’m so sorry! I was diligently maintaining it! But then it suddenly exploded on its own…uhuhung!!’

‘Rumor has it someone was inside the helicopter too.’

Combining the maintenance staff’s account with the members’ remarks, it implied an undetected infiltrator who had met an unfortunate fate.

For any legitimate staff member, there would be no need to covertly board the helicopter without the maintenance crew’s knowledge, let alone operate it in such circumstances.

‘Which essentially translates to an unsavory character, and considering it involved a repurposed military helicopter under the cover of early morning…’

At the very least, the high probability of an outside intruder or treacherous defector could not be dismissed.

“We attempted DNA analysis for identification, but not a single match was found among our members.”

“So last night, or at the very least early this morning, we had a rat infiltrate the organization.”

“It would certainly seem that way.”

For an outsider to brazenly intrude into Eclipse’s confines…
Not only had they ascertained our location, but they had circumvented our security measures as well, suggesting formidable capabilities.

“You have no intention of letting this matter rest, do you, Director Astra?”

“Of course not~ After they’ve so brazenly added to my workload…no, after daring to provoke Eclipse, we cannot simply overlook this transgression.”

Naturally, regardless of their identity, they had provoked the proverbial hornet’s nest.

Eclipse’s retaliation was quite straightforward.
First, we would ascertain the perpetrators’ motives and desires.
Then, we would promptly deprive them of those very objectives they had sought from us.

‘No doubt she’ll soon assemble a team to conduct a temporary investigation into this incident.’

Once the investigation concluded, we would retaliate against them directly. That would be the end of it.
While their identities and motives might remain unknown, the fact they had been exposed already sealed their fates.

‘Case closed. The end. Simple as that.’

In any case, since this had escalated beyond Narin’s involvement, it was no longer my concern.
With that, I should proceed with my own assigned duties…

“…And perhaps you could personally lead the retaliatory strike this time, Maker.”

“No, thank you.”

“……”

“……”

“My, what’s this? Maker? You still have a mandatory mission for this month, do you not?”

Astra smiled subtly as she alchemically manifested my contract, allowing it to flutter before me tantalizingly.

…Damn it.
My life truly knows no respite.

“…Don’t I still need to investigate the emergence of the hero Alpha as well?”

“But you informed us upon returning from Shadow Night that ‘the hero Alpha was, in fact, alive, and the Association had secretly imprisoned him,’ did you not?”

Indeed, among the information I had disclosed after that particular return, I had included that detail.
Likely to enhance my credibility in Astra’s eyes, I had interwoven partial truths more accurately than I would for other villains.

“I immediately assigned personnel to monitor all prisons yesterday.”

“Pardon?”

I had been utterly unaware she would so readily believe and swiftly execute based on that statement.

“Given Eclipse’s sizable membership, we have operatives within various prison facilities, do we not?”

“Y,yes…”

“I’ve instructed them to ascertain if anyone resembling Alpha is being held, or if any concealed spaces exist at those locations. For prisons without our operatives, I’ve assigned surveillance to those adept at such intelligence gathering.”

Naturally, this included major facilities like Tartarus as well.
As Astra relayed this with a warm smile, I couldn’t help but feel my head spinning.

“While investigating is certainly important, I thought it prudent to simultaneously conduct surveillance based on the provided information.”

“…I,I see.”

“By progressively narrowing our focus to areas with potential Alpha sightings or suspicious activity, who knows? We might prevent his escape a month from now.”

…Admittedly,
while this approach felt somewhat akin to grasping at straws, given our limited information, it was a reasonable strategy.

The crux was that Alpha had already escaped, and I had intended to pursue other objectives.

“So, rather than fretting, let’s demonstrate Eclipse’s formidable retaliation against those who dared provoke us. After all, you’re assigned to lead the strike mission. Conducting the investigation or raiding other organizations is a matter of mere hours for you, is it not?”

“Well, that may be true, but…”

As she fluttered my contract tauntingly, Astra shot me a smug grin.
…Informing her of Alpha’s escape was evidently not an option.

‘Sigh…’

Resigning myself, I suppressed an inward sigh.