Black Badger

It didn't take long to descend.

We plunged through the cold air. The chilly wind stung my ears. The palms gripping the wire felt raw. But with the speed we were going, there was nothing I could do about it.

The ground rushed up to meet us.

I landed safely.

Fortunately, there were no mishaps this time. We made it down without incident and escaped the arena. Ricardo, who had landed first, was already making a report on a phone that seemed to have come from who knows where.

Probably snatched from one of the dead cops or mafiosi.

I hadn't even thought to grab one. Something to reflect on.

I adjusted Barbie into a more comfortable position in my arms and approached. My senior looked up.

"Status."

"Aside from some chest pain, I'm fine."

Ricardo's brow furrowed slightly.

But he didn't press further.

The low-voiced report he'd been giving cut off soon after. A cool silence settled in its place.

We stood in the moonlit wasteland, waiting for support.

Barbie, who had been crying her eyes out, reached out to Ricardo.

"Lend me your phone...."

She sniffled as she took the phone he offered.

"I have to tell Dad to wipe them all out...."

Huh?

That sounded like something huge.

I looked at her with wide eyes, but she just sniffled through her reddened nose and held the phone to her ear.

Ricardo kept silent with a wry smile.

Hmm.

So, it seemed like the talk about operating in non-legal ways wasn't wrong after all.

I set the blond senior down in a suitable spot so she could talk comfortably.

I waited quietly for support a few steps away, gazing down at Asil, who had his mouth shut and showed no signs of waking.

Time burned at my insides.

The rescue helicopter arrived.

"Send up the injured first!"

The shout came from the helicopter.

From then on, things got hectic.

We loaded Asil and Barbie up one after another and boarded the helicopter.

As soon as everyone was on, the helicopter headed for Black Badger headquarters. There were medical personnel inside, and they busied themselves attending to Asil and Barbie.

In Barbie's case, the solution was clear: she'd need a prosthetic leg attached, and there was nothing more to do right now.

For Asil, his arm would heal, but the deadly poison already spreading through his body was the problem.

Proper treatment would have to wait until we got back to headquarters. After relaying that much, the medical staff focused on care. Ricardo and I spent the cramped helicopter ride endlessly checking on our seniors' conditions.

We didn't have the bandwidth to worry about details like what would happen to the arena, the people inside, or how the cops and mafiosi would be handled. I kept talking to Barbie to keep her from getting too down and watched Asil's situation. I also answered questions from the medical staff.

The noise made conversation difficult, adding to the chaos.

It was only when the pilot spoke that I realized we'd arrived at headquarters.

The headquarters loomed closer through the darkness.

The top floor.

We landed on the rooftop.

*

Ska was there.

The aide watched us disembark with a troubled expression.

He walked slowly toward the interior of the landing pad.

I caught him looking at Asil being carried away with a complicated gaze, then turning to Barbie on her stretcher.

He said something to her and placed a hand on her shoulder before letting go.

Asil and Barbie soon vanished from sight.

Once the injured were safely off, the man approached us.

"You okay?"

"Ah~.... Sorry to disappoint...."

Ricardo gave a wry smile at Ska's question.

The thick fatigue in his voice worried me. It was clear he was hurting inside but trying not to show it.

I barely suppressed the urge to tell him to go rest.

"Coming back from a simple mission like this a failure.... And dragging along a rookie who hasn't even shed his newbie tag...."

"Go to the hospital, both of you."

"I need to file the report.... I'll send the greenhorn off~."

"Write it tomorrow."

Ska replied firmly.

"You already gave a brief report."

"Thanks to the newbie throwing his body in the way, all my limbs are intact.... You should hear it now while it's fresh in my mind~. And the scene? We left it a total mess.... There are more than a couple dead~."

The aide stared at Ricardo, who smiled brightly.

The superior's eyes, fixed on his comrade, were filled with worry. I watched the two men, wrapped in guilt.

Truly sorry.

I'd gotten dinner and briefed him on the mission's peculiarities, yet here he was making that face. As Ricardo said, this was a failed mission.

Even though I'd known it wasn't as simple as it seemed....

"Hilde."

Ska's voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

I straightened up.

"Yes."

"Go get treated. Hurry."

"I'm fine too."

Chest pain aside.

My breath was short like after sprinting all out, and my shoulders ached uncomfortably, but otherwise, I was okay. The minor cuts on my hands would heal in a day or two.

Ricardo was clearly in worse shape than me with my trivial wounds.

There was probably a chain of command for reports, so I couldn't say I'd handle it instead.

But I said this.

"I'll wait until the report's done."

"Why~? What difference does it make if you stand around like an idiot~?"

"Ric."

My senior turned to me with a bright smile.

Ska immediately cut him off.

I forced a smile at my counterpart's chilly grin.

"No...."

"If you know, then get lost already...."

Then I should go check on Asil's condition.

Waiting for the report didn't seem allowed.

The cold wind stung my ears. I brushed away the white hair fluttering at the edge of my vision.

The vast night view spread out beyond the rooftop.

The aide, who had been pressing his brow with a troubled look at his comrade's sharp words, turned to me.

"Yoon will be here soon."

"Yes?"

Why?

"You just arrived, so he'll have gotten the word. Head to the medical wing and report your location to your mentor on the way."

"Yes, I'll do that."

"Or he might show up any minute, so you could wait here a bit and go together."

He wouldn't come right away.

I couldn't even guess why he'd come here. What difference would it make if he did?

My mentor, who was the epitome of efficiency and innately lacked any human touch, had no reason to come here. It wouldn't surprise me if he hadn't even checked when I'd be back.

I wasn't dumb enough to voice my thoughts.

I smiled innocently at my seniors.

"Then I'll head down first...."

"Hildebert."

What.

I jolted in shock.

A sharp pain shot across my chest.

It hurt....

Wincing at the stabbing pain, I kept my brow furrowed as I stared at my approaching mentor.

Choi Yoon walked over in his lab coat.

His face showed no emotion, as always.

"Why are you here?"

"Yeah, it's been a while."

Yoon brushed off my rude greeting lightly.

He passed by Ska, who blinked in surprise, and Ricardo, who raised an eyebrow, stopping in front of me.

"You've gotten a lot more polite in the meantime."

"Of course."

Seeing your face reminded me of something I'd briefly forgotten.

"A greenhorn who hasn't even taken the promotion exam has to be polite, right?"

Ska coughed in surprise.

He must have been shocked by my cheeky attitude. He wouldn't know the situation, so that made sense. He couldn't even imagine that Yoon hadn't breathed a word about the promotion exam.

You could've said something important like that ahead of time.

If Ricardo hadn't mentioned it offhand, I'd have been clueless about the exam's existence until the sun went down. Even if he'd casually told me a month before, it wouldn't have been weird.

I looked into my mentor's eyes with a hint of complaint.

Of course, Yoon ignored my gaze.

Instead, the man who'd been standing there ignoring my words narrowed his eyes curiously and said,

"Why's your breathing like that?"

"Yes?"

What was wrong with my breathing?

"Is it weird?"

"It is weird."

Yoon stepped closer abruptly.

"Breathe."

Breathe...

It hurt to inhale deeply, so I took a shallow breath, then widened my eyes in surprise at what my mentor did next.

What?

"Why are you doing this all of a sudden!"

"Stay still."

My mentor suddenly pressed his ear to my chest. I wanted to pull back in alarm, but he'd already grabbed my arm, so I couldn't.

His silent speed was as sharp as ever.

With no way to escape, I stood obediently as he said.

Yoon, standing frighteningly close and unmoving, furrowed his brow faintly.

"Sounds like pneumothorax."

At the low mutter, my seniors approached.

I pretended not to notice their stares.

"Did you injure your chest area?"

"I did bump into something hard."

"When the building collapsed?"

"No, in the arena."

"And then you carried Sordi and ran?"

I nodded obediently at Yoon's question.

I kept my eyes fixed on him, not daring to glance at Ricardo standing beside me.

I ignored Ska furrowing his brow and eyeing my chest.

Yoon blinked his pitch-black eyes once.

"Must've been hard to run with the contusion."

Hmm.

"If I hadn't run, I'd have been smashed flat and died."

Yoon stared at me intently.

His face was unreadable, as always. Cold, piercing eyes.

The silence on the rooftop was intimidating.

I prayed this moment would pass quickly, unable to move. I didn't want to stoke Ricardo's anger any more. He'd wanted to leave me behind on the ground so badly....

My mentor broke the silence slowly.

"You have such a high pain tolerance, but you hate getting on the experimental table?" 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

"Are you really asking because you don't know?"

"I heard you even ran up the stairs in this state."

"Th-that, adrenaline makes it not hurt much."

And please don't bring up the topic I wanted to avoid most. I didn't want to rile Ricardo up any more.

But my mentor ignored my desperate signal this time too.

He let out a cold scoff.

Then he released my arm and turned his body slowly.

"Follow me."

It was a low voice without inflection.

"Don't sneak off to a different room."

What a ghost of a man.

I stared sullenly at Yoon's back.

Then I gave up. I turned my head and bowed to Ricardo and Ska, who had been listening beside me.

To my seniors, watching me with inscrutable faces.

Ah.

"I'm sorry."

I apologized to Ricardo, who stood silently.

"I-it wasn't a lie.... The adrenaline really made it so it didn't hurt like this.... I'll come apologize properly after treatment. Ah. And now that you've regained your physical abilities, feel free to come find me anytime and beat me as much as you want."

Ricardo didn't respond, but I didn't mind and bowed once more.

Then, following Yoon slowly, I added,

Words that might contribute to my senior finally unleashing his barely contained anger.

"But thank you for believing me."

Yoon would probably cover for me roughly.

"Make sure to rest after the report, Ricardo."

I didn't dare check his expression.

I turned my head and quickly followed my mentor out of the landing pad.