Black Badger

I was broken for a while.

It was even more shocking because it wasn’t anyone else—it was Kairos crying. He was one of the toughest people I knew. His mind had been as solid as Ska Owen’s level of solidity.

So, unable to comfort him, I just wandered helplessly until I burst into coughs.

Thankfully, that gave Kairos a moment to come to his senses. He laid me back down on the bed, cleared away the bowl I had emptied, and nagged me to sleep more.

Even this was somewhat bewildering.

As far as I remembered, he had never been someone with a sense for everyday life?

He was the type who’d get weirdly hyperactive sometimes, high on adrenaline and Creatures.

“Sorry for mentioning it late, but did you catch the Blue Disease before?”

“Ah, did I catch the Blue Disease?”

When I insisted I wouldn’t sleep, Kairos brought over warm tea and brightened.

He handed me the cup and folded his arms with a grin.

“I caught it before! I remember suffering because it happened right in the competition season. You’ll have a hard time till it passes, Captain.”

“I’m glad you had it before.”

With relief, I drank the tea he handed over.

My throat still hurt, but my insides felt much better.

I stayed silent until I emptied the large mug. I needed time to take in the information he had given me.

A cool space stripped of belongings. Inside it, I thought about our kin who had blended anonymously into Center Core as residents, and those who had received eternal life and thus could not blend in as easily.

And Yo, who had broken.

Someone who had been cracking, then shattered completely because of my return.

“What about the others?”

After finishing the tea, I set the mug down.

Kairos immediately reached over and took it.

“How are the other kin who received eternal life?”

“Ah. About that.”

What?

The moment I heard that awkward tone, my body stiffened.

Kairos must have seen my reaction, because he hurriedly added:

“In principle, I’m not allowed to contact our kin right now. But if something urgent happens, they usually contact me first, so no news is good news—they must be doing well. Yo’s message was the last one.”

“What? Why?”

I didn’t understand the first part at all.

I furrowed my brows, and the red-haired man gave a sheepish smile.

“Famous ones aren’t allowed to contact kin first.”

Ah.

“It’s an internal rule made quite a long time ago. To protect the safety of kin living together. So before I entered a competition years back, I had to delete all their contacts.”

“Was that rule made by Yo?”

“That’s right.”

Kairos gave a bitter smile.

“He made it.”

It was just like him.

A personality that double-checked everything. It wasn’t an unreasonable rule. If those who had eternal life became famous, many problems would arise. A Badger who doesn’t age could blend in if they had no fame and lived pretending to be a Badger.

But things changed once you became famous.

But wait—didn’t he become way too famous to even reset his identity?

“So what are you going to do then?”

When I raised my head and asked, Kairos stared blankly at me, as if he didn’t understand.

“Hm?”

“You’ve become famous—way too famous, haven’t you?”

“Ahhh.”

Kairos drew out a long sound of realization.

Then he flashed his dazzling trademark smile.

“I was going to tell you this too.”

“What is it?”

“There’s a brilliant way to solve that hassle while also serving under you, Captain. I’m currently in the Black Badger rookie recruitment process.”

What?

I stared at him blankly.

Kairos broadened his bright smile.

Arms folded, he looked proudly at me.

I wished he’d stop smiling like that and just explain more.

From his expression, he seemed to think he had already explained enough.

That part of him hadn’t changed at all.

I coughed twice and narrowed my eyes.

“Badger? Black Badger?”

“Yes! They’re taking three this time! I applied at the start of the year, and I’m already going through the final background check. I passed the physical, the written test, and the interview.”

“Background check?”

I was so dumbfounded I couldn’t even speak properly.

“The final stage? So if you pass that, you’ll be my junior?”

“If I pass, yes! If I don’t, I’ll apply again next year.”

No, but....

Well, becoming a Badger would explain why he doesn’t age anymore.

But this? Like this?

“You’ll have to fight Creatures.”

My voice cracked.

“And you’ll have to eliminate Monsters you like so much. Did you apply knowing that?”

“I thought about it the moment I saw the article saying you’d become a Badger.”

Hah.

I didn’t know how to take this unexpected revelation. I had hoped they would all live ordinary lives.

I silently petted Milk. Milk was still white and fluffy. Still snapped at my fingers whenever I offered them.

I lifted Milk, who was clawing at my shirt, and kissed the top of his head before speaking.

“I think I should tell the Commander about this...”

“If that’s what you want, then do it. As I said, you don’t need my permission.”

“If you pass, you’ll become my junior.”

I already felt tired.

Not because I disliked it—never that. But suddenly I remembered all the times I had to clean up the mess he caused in the past. Back when Kairos wasn’t my subordinate but the greatest star of the era, the Emperor’s loyal agent.

After coming to Earth, the object of his loyalty became me.

I offered my index finger to Milk, who was going piii-uuu piii-uuu.

Since Kairos wasn’t leaving—apparently with no schedule—I pulled out one of the questions that had been piling up.

“Then getting calls first is fine, right? Can you tell me who among the kin with eternal life had been contacting you recently?”

“The most recent was Deltei.”

My eyes widened.

When I jerked upright, Milk, who had been dangling from my finger, let out a protest. I immediately stroked Milk’s head gently and apologized.

“Sorry, sorry.”

Milk chirped angrily.

Kairos laughed and offered Milk something like a biscuit.

“She contacted me not long after your article came out. Told me not to approach you recklessly because Yo had disappeared. That was the last time I heard from her. Before that, she was doing well. She made a ridiculous amount of money on YouTube.”

“YouTube?”

Another unexpected line.

The sound of Milk crunching the biscuit tickled my ears. Kairos, still scratching Milk’s chin, saw my dumbfounded expression and grinned.

“With hit-song covers.”

“Hit-song covers?”

“She never showed her face, so she didn’t need to cut ties with the kin. Ah, a few years ago she said she was getting tired of covers and was thinking of starting an ASMR channel. Not sure what happened with that.”

“...ASMR....”

“She also got offers to debut, but she said she refused.”

“...Debut....”

She was doing well.

Better adapted than me, even.

Kairos even showed me Deltei’s channel. I blankly replayed the videos she had uploaded.

A seductive voice I knew well. In the videos, she showed only below her chin, but that was enough to know who she was.

Something inside me felt lighter.

Something that had been pressing down on me....

“Igor contacted me around the same time, but as usual, he didn’t say where he was.”

I lifted my head at the familiar name.

And I recalled the game I was playing. From I. The game that, unbelievably, contained messages from Igor. I was more shocked at Igor’s name appearing than I was at Kairos’s.

Even when I was a knight commander, he had been my subordinate, but he was absolutely ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) not the type to write letters.

I turned off the video and leaned back against the headboard.

Ignoring Kairos’s briefly crumpling face, I muttered:

“What is he doing to make a living? Private security? Detective work? He wouldn’t adapt unless it’s a job like that.”

“Who knows. He’s not the type to tell.”

True.

“When he contacts me again, I’ll ask.”

With my eyes closed, I nodded.

Then came a flood of nagging. That I should lie down and sleep. That he wouldn’t go anywhere, so I could rest easy.

Listening to him nag, I chuckled. I never imagined I’d be the one being nagged by him. I had always been the one doing the nagging.

But I liked that familiar voice, so I didn’t interrupt for a long time.

With my eyes closed, I listened until I felt the time had passed too long, and then I opened them.

“I should go.”

When I spoke softly, Kairos stared at me.

“Go? Where?”

“To my house.”

“In this state? Now?”

“I’m just feeling weak, but I can walk fine. It’s the Blue Disease, not something fatal.”

“Why don’t you sleep here?”

“No. My clothes are all in my cabin...”

“Do you have to go right now?”

“If possible, yes.”

“Then just a moment.”

Kairos suddenly disappeared downstairs.

I heard some noise below, and he returned quickly.

He was holding car keys in one hand.

“I’ll take you.”

I didn’t refuse.

I knew refusing wouldn’t work anyway. So after saying goodbye to Milk and promising I’d come again, I got out of bed and followed my kin.

Maybe conscious of my condition, Kairos walked very slowly.

He kept looking back at me as we walked.

His unfamiliar behavior made me laugh quietly.

“Why do you have so many trophies.”

The penthouse, empty of daily-life feel except in one corner, also made me laugh.

“And why is this place so big. Why are all the blinds down?”

“Ah. Too many paparazzi outside.”

The car was underground.

We descended slowly, and the dim garage revealed itself. Kairos reached out and turned on the lights.

With a click, the sports cars gleamed under the bright illumination.

My eyes widened.

The row of neatly parked sports cars was dazzling.

Ultra-high-priced vehicles lined up in formation. I let out a hollow laugh as I examined them. Completely different from Yun’s tastes. Yun liked pitch-black things. He liked matte finishes, and in any case, he preferred simplicity.

But Kairos’s sports cars—if they were black, they were glossy or customized, and they were red or yellow or blue.

While I coughed lightly and inspected the cars, Kairos opened the passenger door of a red sports car. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

“Get in, Captain.”

“Don’t you have something more modest?”

“I did, but it’s being serviced.”

I got into the red sports car.

I didn’t even look at the brand. Dragging my tired body, I sat in the passenger seat and closed my eyes.

I thought I should reply to the seniors who had been calling.

I’d respond after getting home.

I didn’t know where this was, but it must have been Center Core.

So it wouldn’t take long....

The car shot forward.

I yelped.

“Drive slowly! Slowly!”

“It’s fine.”

Kairos answered calmly.

His expression didn’t change at all. At that insane speed, he shot out of the garage.

I didn’t even get to see the front gate of his house, let alone the paparazzi.

Alarmed by the terrifying speed, I grabbed whatever I could inside the car.

“It’s too fast!”

“Don’t worry. I won’t brake much, so you won’t get motion sick.”

Don’t look at me with those clear orange eyes and say that calmly.

And hit the brake.

Why aren’t you braking!

If I’d been feeling well, I would have nagged him until he slowed down.

But I had no energy for that, so I sat there, pale, in the racing car.

Until we reached the cabin in an absurdly short time. Drenched in nervous sweat.

***

The ones gathered in front of the cabin smoking cigarettes stared at the sports car that screeched to a halt in front of it.

A darkened road.

A wealthy, empty neighborhood. The streetlight illuminating the road cast its light on the red sports car.

They stared at it.

They saw the sports car stop perfectly in front of the door and the roof begin to open.

Yun, Ricardo, and Ska—who had been tearing into the reckless behavior of the experienced newcomer—fell silent. Smoking heavily, they watched what was happening.

The famous celebrity stepped out of the open car.

And in the passenger seat, drenched in cold sweat, lay the target of their complaints.

Jack Black looked at the Badgers standing in the hazy smoke and smiled brightly.

“Good evening.”

After politely greeting them, he went around to the passenger side and yanked the door open.

His hand shot out to catch Hilde as he staggered to his feet, urgency clear in his movements.

“Careful. It’s dark. Are you feeling really unwell? You’re sweating too much.”

“Ever think it might be because of you?”

The white-haired rookie grumbled.

“Ever think the cause isn’t the Blue Disease?”

The driver looked at Hilde with a baffled expression.

Hilde let out a hollow laugh.

It was clear the two knew each other.

Approaching them was awkward, so the Badgers who knew his identity simply watched the scene in silence. Until Hilde suddenly jolted and hurried over to them.

Hildebert lightly abandoned the world-famous celebrity on the road and ran to them.

While apologizing for worrying them, he smiled—a strangely bright expression compared to before.

It was the clearest smile they had ever seen on him.