Black Badger

It was an item found on the roof of the High Castle.

[Split Bow of the Imperial Clan]

A dot-image matching the description appeared.

The character Hilde picked it up without hesitation. Ricardo watched the character descend the walls of the High Castle, his hands stuffed in his pockets.

Hilde, hooded, returned to the place where the game had begun.

Sugar, who rarely showed her emotions, spoke up excitedly.

"If you take this and place it in front of the statue, then pray, the statue will move."

Was this really something to get so thrilled about?

Ricardo apathetically watched the character head toward the statue.

A sense of doubt began to creep in. What was he even doing in this blue new recruit's house? He had planned to go home and lounge around, smoking cigarettes endlessly.

Ignoring his inner thoughts, the character moved busily. The statue was of a woman with her eyes covered by cloth and her hands clasped together.

The character Hilde placed the bow beneath it and prayed.

Then the dot screen shifted up and down.

"Wow."

Shu let out an exclamation as the ground beneath the statue opened up.

"It's real."

An entrance appeared in the floor.

The character descended through the open passage.

The background changed to ashen stairs. The light and cheerful BGM turned somber and grand.

The stairs ended quickly, leading to a temple. Inside the temple were statues of people whose names were unknown, lined up densely. At the point where the statues ended, there was an altar. On the altar lay an open book.

Ricardo stared at the screen, wondering what all this could possibly mean.

Shu moved the character toward the altar.

The character Hilde clicked on the book.

The book zoomed in.

A sentence written in the upper left corner of the worn book caught his eye.

[When your successor aims at your blood kin]

"They said they couldn't solve this."

Shu muttered to herself while looking at the screen.

"It seems like something will appear if you input it, but no one's figured it out."

"Where do you enter it?"

Ricardo knelt on one knee beside Shu.

"Where's the place to write the answer?"

"Do you know the answer?"

Shu looked up at Ricardo with wide eyes.

"How did you know?"

Because that kid told me.

He didn't spit out the answer that rose to the tip of his throat.

Ricardo simply took the controller from Shu without a word. Ignoring the sharp gaze flying his way, he moved the controller to input the numbers. There was no need to search the internet. He knew exactly the day it had happened.

The day Ye-hyeon ended the First War.

The day Hilde's sword killed his kin.

When he entered that day as numbers next to the sentence, letters began to appear on the book.

Shu let out a gasp.

"Amazing."

Ricardo read along with the words appearing.

It would probably be some trivial content.

That apathetic thought vanished as soon as he read the first sentence. As the words scrolled down, he forgot everything else. The incoming call, the text from the HR Director asking if he had time for a meeting, the phone call with Ska.

The intense sentences captured his attention.

[Hilde. When you returned alive, honestly, I wasn't happy.]

It was someone's handwriting.

[I thought you had finally sided with your kin. I prayed in the corner of the lab, thinking it was the end. But you showed us a way to escape while pulling out the grenade fragment embedded in your arm.

Even when we looked at you with suspicious eyes...

You lifted up the researchers whose legs had given out, opened the emergency exit, and said,

"I'll hold them off, so run."

Those who never doubted you for a moment, and those who didn't care what decision you made, all rushed out the emergency exit.

I stayed until the end. You pulled me to my feet when I was dazed. Showing a weary smile. Clutching the sword you cherished, soaked in blood.

I still can't believe that was the last I saw of you.]

Ricardo realized that the game developer had created this game to convey this message.

He didn't know who this person was. But in any case, this game was a letter to Hilde, just like the title said. And the sender of the letter seemed to be human, not a creature.

Someone Hildebert had saved.

[I was so foolish.

I didn't know reality, just like people said. People feared you and prepared for the coming disaster. I didn't agree with their claims, so I couldn't understand even you, whom even the sharp-edged rulers sometimes feared terribly.

"We've lived peacefully until now, what's the problem? You're too worried."]

Shu muttered beside him, "What does all this mean?"

But Ricardo had no energy to respond.

He read the letter downward without moving a finger. He didn't miss a single word.

He couldn't bring himself to tear his gaze from the screen.

[People say you're dead...

That you, like them, couldn't even find a body. That you turned to ash and scattered in the wind.

He died four months ago. The only one who believed in your survival until the end.

Hilde. If you've truly scattered into the wind as people say, at least take your kin who was loyal to you until the end.

Wherever you go, take him with you. He waited for you until the moment he closed his eyes.

I'll keep waiting for you too.

If you knew how much I want to repent to you, come back alive. Come back and spit your resentment at me on my knees before you.

If that's not allowed, then at least live happily with your kin there.

Now I know how much you loved them and how much you suffered...

I only learned after everything ended that you cried endlessly the night before the disaster.]

Intense emotions struck Ricardo's heart.

Before he could name that emotion precisely, a few more short sentences appeared.

[The world will cover up your name.

That fact is so horrific that I dredged up memories to make this game.

Sorry if the historical accuracy is off.

I can't ask anymore.

I still have so many questions I want to throw at you...

I thought I'd be able to ask you questions forever.

I'm really sorry, Hildebert.

Sorry.]

The letter ended like that.

No more sentences appeared on the screen.

The screen froze, the BGM cut off.

Similarly, the badgers who had forgotten how to move just stared at the screen for a long time.

Then the man with green eyes suddenly turned and reached for his phone.

Ricardo pressed the missed call to redial, but the other side didn't pick up.

*

As expected, no answer.

Our connection was completely severed now.

I wasn't surprised, but feeling even more depressed, I started calling Ska.

The AI voice immediately replied, "I'm in a meeting and cannot answer."

I just gave up on calling. As I climbed the stairs, I drew Nol's Sword. Anyway, since that person had great recovery power, I planned to unleash a sword slash that would recover soon enough.

Aim for the ankles!

Go, little sword slash!

Pshk!

Blood burst out. The sword slash appropriately slashed both of the senior's ankles and succeeded in felling him.

Jonathan Kudo tumbled forward.

I quickly sheathed the sword and ran to the fallen senior.

"No."

But seeing him crawl forward on his elbows while bleeding profusely, I was shocked.

"Senior."

Was it that desperate?

To the point of leaving a trail of blood as he crawled up since he couldn't walk. To the point of dragging his body with both hands, unable to wait for the wound to heal.

My heart grew cold as I ran toward the senior rising to his feet.

Those whose mental wounds weren't deep would snap out of it from physical pain.

But the senior showed no sign of coming to his senses.

This person and this creature had the worst compatibility.

"Shall we try starting over with the sword?"

The flower shop woman's voice echoed through the space.

"You've always wanted to pick it up again, right?"

Even so, his pace slowed.

Thanks to that, I was able to catch up to him. I grabbed him at the top of the stairs.

The senior rolled across the third-floor landing with me.

Thud!

We flailed our limbs on the floor, sprawled out. I tried to knock him out by hitting him, but it wasn't easy. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

If I kicked, either he or I might end up with broken bones.

After hesitating, I pinned Kudo down with my elbow and rummaged through his pocket.

If I called Juna Ye-hyeon, there might be a reaction. Hearing his superior's voice might bring him to his senses a bit.

The moment I thought that and pulled out the phone, a wind brushed my cheek.

Thwack!

The phone hit by Kudo's elbow flew away.

...My phone.

Ye-hyeon had bought it for me again after hearing about the Colosseum incident. The phone rolled down the stairs. The bouncing sound grew sadly distant.

I cherished it.

Even sadder now, I raised my hand to strike the opponent's neck.

At the same time, Kudo's right foot kicked my abdomen.

"Guh."

A heavy pain made the sound burst out.

My body flew backward. I managed to brace against the steps with my hand to avoid rolling down the stairs.

As soon as Kudo shoved me aside, he started walking toward the fourth floor.

I rose to my feet, watching the peaceful suburban area vanish and a battlefield unfold.

"Jonathan Kudo? That's a unique name."

"Isn't he mixed race~?"

People in military uniforms entering the trench.

Their voices introducing themselves sounded familiar.

"Yeah. Japan and Britain."

"Ah, from Britain? I'm from the US."

"Italy~."

It was Ska, Ricardo, and Jonathan Kudo.

"I'm from China. I studied abroad in Britain for a long time."

"Mexico."

There were two more whose names I didn't know; their voices carrying on as they held guns never stopped. It was a conversation amid the sound of tank engines and faint gunfire.

I gritted my teeth, hearing them talk about "what they were doing when the First War broke out last time."

This time, when I caught up, I grabbed him and rolled down the stairs together.

With that resolve, I snatched the hem of the senior's clothes and rolled down the stairs.

Thud, thud!

"Ah, I got married a year ago."

Hearing Kudo's low voice, we rolled down the stairs together.

"No kids..."

"Let go."

"No."

The senior, who had come down to the second floor with me, shed tears and struggled desperately to climb back up the stairs.

Ignoring the pain enveloping my body, I focused on subduing him. Pressing down heavily on both his legs, I raised my arm to finally knock him out.

I needed to knock him out quickly while he wasn't resisting.

Strike the neck.

As I put strength into my arm with that thought, I froze at the voice I heard.

"Hide Hilde!"

It was a familiar voice.

"Priest Mar! Hide the child, hurry! It's an attack!"

"Healers!"

"Hilde! Get inside!"

"No!"

In the world.

Even after such a tediously long time, why did this memory make me break out in cold sweat every time I recalled it?

"I can fight too!"

Puk!

Intense pain heated my leg.

Kudo had somehow drawn my sword and stabbed my thigh. And the sword went in splendidly. It felt like it wouldn't come out unless I applied force.

I had a wound like this back then too.

The deepening pain and the clothes soaking wet with blood.

Looking at my blood-soaked clothes, I smiled faintly.

"Thinking about it, there was another way."

I muttered to myself while looking at the senior who kept shedding tears nonstop.

"The Dream's Voice targets prey that can be eaten quickly."

Until now, it had targeted the senior with deep trauma.

But now that I was injured, the story would change. The content of the unfolding stage had shifted. Just like when the creature targeted Sara Perry and we saw Sara Perry's desires. Just like when the Dream's Voice targeted Kudo and both Kudo and I saw the senior's past equally.

Now the hunted target had changed.

End of Act 2. Kudo's past had closed its curtain, and in the upcoming Act 3, my past would unfold.

Shameful regrets and desires.

I didn't want to show them, so I was steeling my mind.

"If you snap out of it, please take good care of me."

Watching the changing scenery, I smiled bitterly.

"With one leg like this, it'll be easier for you to subdue me."

And please pretend you didn't see the glimpsed past.

I couldn't tell if I had voiced those words I wanted to say.

Because at some point, the abandoned building, the stairs, and the senior had all vanished, replaced by a massive World Tree.

Because I was half-dazed by that intense scene.

The golden World Tree.

The great tree whose roots were covered by the dragon's corpse I had just caught.