Black Badger

I slowly explained why I had run out with my eyes turned.

I also explained the past I had recalled. After explaining it for the third time, I had gained the ability to summarize only the core points and give a brief explanation.

The gist. That had been the best way to save my kin.

I did not mention things too trivial, like the forced absorption.

I also did not speak of the pathetic things I had done to prevent the worst outcome. Like how I had begged my kin until the very last moment, or how I had tried—poorly—to play politics between my kin and the humans to prevent the war from breaking out in the first place.

But when the story ended, Ami was crying.

“Why are you crying?”

When I asked with a faint smile, Ami sniffled and wiped away her tears.

“It would have been nice if everyone could have lived together....”

Ami muttered in a trembling voice.

“Then Hilde would not have had to make that kind of decision....”

I pulled out a tissue from the box on the desk next to the bed and handed it to her.

Ami wiped her tears with the tissue, then opened her arms and pulled me into a hug.

I felt a small warmth and smiled faintly.

“It feels good to not be frustrated anymore like when I could not remember anything.”

“From now on, anyone who badmouths Hilde is getting dealt with by me.”

Hm?

I looked down at her round head.

“Why are you suddenly saying that?”

“Anyway, that is what I am going to do.”

Ami wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and muttered.

“If I catch them, I am going to kill all of them....”

Calm down.

I hastily changed the subject to calm down the Ami who suddenly felt like a fleeting glimpse of Choi Yun. I asked her to teach me about exploration work during reclamation work once she was discharged. I said I had found a café with good frappuccinos, so she could tell me while we had some there.

Ami brightened with a round smile.

“Okay!”

Ricardo, who had kept silent until now, finally opened his mouth.

“You do not regret it~?”

I had heard this question at his house.

It was a question I had not been able to answer properly because I had not recovered all my memories.

I handed another tissue to Ami and smiled softly.

“No.”

It was the truth.

“I deeply regret not stopping the war, not persuading my kin, and not overturning the hardliners’ arguments, but I do not regret the final choice I made.”

Otherwise there would be nothing here now.

I felt Ricardo’s sharp gaze.

I could not read what the expression on his face meant. But I at least felt relieved that he was not angry.

He does not hate me more now, does he?

It may not please him, but he did not seem angry enough to show it like last time.

That alone was enough for me.

I did not want more.

“For this mission... I know I lack a lot, but I look forward to your guidance.”

Ricardo silently nodded.

It felt awkward to keep talking to a senior who remained silent, so I turned my gaze to Ami. Until her visiting hours ended, we talked about the exploration duties.

Such as how we would have to take a car from D Zone to C Zone, and that in C Zone there would be a portal prepared for us. And how from C to B to A Zone, we would have to drive, but if we ran out of fuel, we often had to return all the way on foot like idiots.

Talking like that, Ricardo and I left the hospital room.

***

The hazel-eyed senior finally spoke as we stepped out of the hospital building.

“So the owner of that message is one of your kin~?”

“Ah. Yes. I was going to ask you something related to From K.”

I had been planning to ask anyway, so I was thankful he brought it up first.

I asked as we entered the hospital lobby.

“Are there any illegal Colosseum fighters famous for their reputation?”

Ricardo narrowed his eyes.

He remained silent until we had crossed half the lobby, then spoke.

“There are~.... Not many of them are normal.... Why, do you think he might be one of them~?”

“He was a handler—someone who controlled Creatures in matches. He said it would not be hard to find him.” 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

“What does he look like~?”

“Orange eyes.”

Whenever I watched the matches, I would be captivated by his presence. That fierce charisma would not have disappeared.

“He was the greatest star of his time. His distinctive presence should remain.”

“I do not think any of the famous ones had orange eyes—....”

We left the lobby and exited the building.

A now fairly cool wind brushed past my cheek.

The senior said it would be best to ask Asil for the list of famous illegal Colosseum participants. My heart leapt at his words.

It would be difficult to confirm it before we departed on the mission.

Suppressing my rising impatience, I thanked him.

Screech!

At that moment, a black vehicle stopped right in front of me.

“Hildebert Taleb?”

I blinked as I saw the man in a suit stepping out of the vehicle.

Who...

Who?

“Sorry for coming so late.”

And who exactly are you, sir?

From the atmosphere wrapped around his body alone, he was at least an Elder or a corporate owner. The high-grade suit he wore. His straight posture and relaxed aura. Eyes sharp with no dullness despite his age.

I could not hide my bewildered expression even as I reached out to take the hand he offered.

Until the man who clasped my hand firmly spoke with a solid voice.

“Claudio Winter. Pleased to meet you.”

Ah!

Senior Bobby’s father!

I hurriedly bowed as I received his greeting.

“Ah, yes! Hildebert Taleb!”

“It was a magnificent apple liquor.”

Behind the stopped vehicle, another identical car approached and halted.

From that car poured a group of men in black suits.

People walking in the Black Badger headquarters turned to look. Understandably so. Had Bobby not told me, I would have been terrified too.

The men who seemed to be his subordinates thrust a clipboard toward me.

A contract and a fountain pen.

I let out an awkward laugh and picked up the pen.

Since I had no real interest in money, this was the first time I learned how much I was getting.

“Ugh?”

Why is it so much?

“Isn’t the amount too large?”

“It is an appropriate amount, young man.”

The restaurant chain owner gripped my shoulder firmly.

“You are an excellent product. Top-class. I have no idea how you brewed such liquor.”

“Well... the yeast did a good job.”

I signed the contract with an embarrassed smile.

Seeing the satisfied smile on the man’s face made me even more embarrassed. I never imagined the liquor I brewed to thank Samuel would lead to this outcome.

It did not seem like something that should have gotten this big.

Anyway, withdrawing from this would be ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) pointless, so I signed the contract and wrote down my account number. Soon one of his subordinates sent me proof of transfer. Even upon checking again, the amount made me dizzy.

“Thank you....”

“Not at all. Contact me again.”

Claudio Winter told me that if I ever brewed new liquor, he wanted to taste it himself, then said I could visit his restaurant anytime. He ended with saying that if I ever had questions, I should call him.

The car started up with a proud exhaust note.

I stared blankly at the shrinking black sedan for a while.

“...Senior Bobby’s father.... I heard he was not mafia but something close to it....”

“Who said that?”

Ricardo, who had silently watched everything, scoffed.

“There is no one more textbook-mafia than that man....”

Oh.

So that was why Bobby was frequently picked for Colosseum missions. In other words, the Personnel Director used to send the son of a former mafia man, the daughter of a current mafia man, and a former police officer together on missions.

It really was an absurdly perfect combination.

But is it okay that I made a contract with the mafia?

Perhaps reading my expression, Ricardo answered before I could ask.

“He runs his restaurant business completely legally, so it should be fine~.”

“I am relieved.”

“But you did not save any for me~?”

Ah.

“So selling even one more bottle is what matters~?”

Fortunately, the past me had saved shares for Ricardo and Kudo.

Steadying my lowering heart, I urged Ricardo to praise the “past me who saved the senior’s share,” and we continued walking.

***

S Zone, where even Badgers were forbidden to enter.

I had thought it was merely because it was even less explored than A Zone, or because the danger of building collapse and other risks was high.

At least until I received a direct call from Yehyeon a few hours before mission departure.

[Most of S Zone is the Titans’ domain.]

I almost dropped the black crystal I was holding.

[Do not enter that area.]

“How did you know it was their domain?”

[I do not know how, but satellites, quadcopters, and drones can never record video of that area.]

A photo appeared on the screen set up in the briefing room.

I stared at the satellite image that could not be distinguished at all. I had never learned how to read imagery, but even if I had, it would have been useless for this.

All the magicians who could use teleportation were dead, but the ones whose skills were not enough to matter had survived here and there. Must be their work.

I wondered how they were living out there.

Suppressing the swell of nameless emotion, I replied.

“Yes. I will be careful.”

[Good luck.]

Yehyeon spoke calmly.

[Do not cling too hard to the target point. You will manage well.]

I answered that I would keep it in mind and ended the call.

With lowered eyelids, I looked down at the map spread out on the table. A huge map marking the regions we had to move through.

We carried paper maps because communication stopped working from C Zone onward.

And from C Zone onward, unless something warped space-time, electricity did not come through. Some Badgers reportedly lived by candlelight in Safe Points located in C Zone.

By this point it felt almost like the encampments I had once lived in.

Hoping the personal tent—described by Ami as a “cocoon”—would be at least good in performance, I slowly folded the map.

***

We decided to take turns driving.

It would take four hours of driving through nothing but wasteland from the Safe Point in C Zone to the base camp established in B Zone.

They said the base camp sat at the foot of a mountain range that emerged after an endless stretch of barren land.

So the current driver was Choi Ami.

Thump!

“Is something chasing us?”

After the car briefly lifted into the air and came down from rolling over a fairly large rock, Yun pointed it out dryly.

“Do not stomp it.”

“The speed is only 150 though?”

“If we crash into anything, I will die.”

I let out a small laugh and joked.

Ami insisted she would not crash, Yun scoffed, Carl raised an eyebrow, and Sofia remained indifferent.

Ricardo, arms crossed, commented, “At 150 we would probably all die too~,” and I diverted the conversation.

“By the way, it seems there are some earth-whales around this area.”

I had the Creature compendium in my hand.

A black compendium embossed luxuriously with the B mark.

“Shall we eat earth-whale once we reach the base camp?”

“Wha?!”

A voice came from the driver’s seat.

People turned their heads to look at me. Several widened pairs of eyes stared.

Even Carl Dow stopped cleaning his gun.

What.

I blinked, not understanding their reaction.

What word had surprised them.

I shot a look at my gunner demanding an explanation, and Ami lowered the car’s speed as she shouted.

“You can eat that?!”