Black Badger

It really was You who recovered A.

I pressed down the sigh that was about to slip out and listened to Erich Erhart’s words.

He had not changed. His languid, elegant voice flowed into my ear.

[To state the conclusion first, as you must have guessed, the one who recovered A, the kidnapper, and the one who stabbed the youngest of the Choi family—are all the same person.]

“I thought so... Did you perhaps obtain a clue?”

[Many. But not enough.]

The Elder gave a short laugh.

[His skill at disappearing is astonishing. Falcon must have helped him, but even without that help, it would have taken quite a bit of effort to find him.]

“He is someone who received that kind of training.”

Even I had not known he would perform this well.

“I would like to hear what the clue is.”

[Good. I will start by telling you what A actually means.]

He looked strangely delighted.

He always enjoyed life, but even taking that into account, he seemed unusually pleased.

Not a good sign.

[Adam’s parents.]

“...What?”

My hand, which had been cleaning up the house while I held the call, stopped in midair.

Erich Erhart gave a low laugh through the receiver.

[From Adam’s parents. That is the official full name of “From A.”]

Ah.

I forgot how to move for a moment.

Memories poured in. Whenever memories surged like a broken dam like this, I was never able to react properly. It always felt like my consciousness was being swallowed by the rushing memories.

They had been kind and elegant people.

They had come to Earth and had a child. A child born during the period when peace was still being maintained. A child who reminded our kin that although the world had collapsed, life continued. Because of that, we had no choice but to love him.

And Adam truly was a child worthy of love.

But he did not reach adulthood.

We never uncovered the murderer. His death had ignited the fuse. I could now clearly recall the despair I had felt at that time.

And the guilt that filled my heart.

When I heard that Adam had died, rather than sinking into grief, I had been engulfed by fear as I imagined the future that would come.

I slowly came to my senses.

“...Did you obtain the game?”

[No. But it was something someone who had played the game before discovered. Anyone who knows a little computer work can find out the listed developer name.]

“I see.”

I cleared my throat and sank down into the wooden chair nearby.

I forced myself to sift through the questions I needed to ask, struggling not to drown in guilt. This was not the time to sink into emotion.

“Do you perhaps know the game’s contents...?”

[I know them, but they are neither important nor interesting.]

So there was no special meaning in the game’s storyline.

Why had You destroyed all copies of that game? And what message had Adam’s parents—who had believed in me even though I had essentially failed them—left behind for me?

I wanted to obtain the game.

But right now, capturing You was more urgent.

“Do you have any other clues?”

[Of course. I will send the rest of the clues by delivery.]

“...What?”

Why was he sending them by delivery?

It puzzled me, but it did not seem like he would answer even if I asked. Time would reveal the answer anyway.

At any rate, I thought I knew why he had called in such a good mood. He must have wanted to tell me that Adam’s parents had made it.

Whatever his motivation, I was grateful for the information.

I thanked him and was about to end the call.

But Erhart suddenly burst into laughter.

[And one more clue.]

What?

[Your juniors are chasing him right now.]

My eyes opened wide.

[No—maybe it is more accurate to say they bit at the bait that Titan laid out.]

“Where are they?”

I snatched up my sword and ran toward the front door.

“Where?!”

Spitfire laughed joyfully and told me the location.

Near Hesh’s home.

My mind spun quickly. If it were commuting hours I could grab any scooter or steal Yun’s motorcycle again, but it was late in the evening.

The car would be fastest.

Faster for me to go myself than ask anyone for help.

I grabbed the car keys and sprinted out of the cabin.

***

Screeeech!

“Hesh!”

That idiot!

He had turned on his hazards and thrown the car carelessly onto the road. He burst out of the stopped car and was now sprinting down the street. I chased after him.

Why is he so uselessly fast?!

I squinted my eyes and ran like mad.

It was a residential neighborhood swallowed by darkness. Streetlights were sparse, and most of the area was private property, so there was almost no sign of people. Without a light source, the ground and the black air could not be distinguished.

Only silhouettes buried in darkness were visible.

A chill crawled down my spine.

My intuition sensed the Creature waiting at the end of the path Hesh was chasing.

They were luring him toward the Creature.

“Hesh Lyle!”

I chased my junior and shouted at the top of my lungs.

“Hesh! Stop chasing! It’s a trap!”

A Creature melted into the darkness was waiting.

The moment he stepped on it, it would rip Hesh’s leg apart. It would swallow him whole and never let go. Even with an enhanced body, his bones would be crushed and his flesh eaten.

It was a Creature with that level of power.

And the one he was chasing was clearly not You.

It looked like someone hired with money.

“Tom!”

Thinking I might miss the timing, I called out to the junior who was ahead of me.

“Grab Hesh!”

“Hilde!”

Tom glanced back at me and shouted.

“How did you even know we were here?!”

“Just grab Hesh!”

I had no strength to spare for explanations.

“Now!”

Fortunately, Tom listened.

Without looking back or asking further questions, he caught up with Hesh, who had become obsessed with chasing the culprit. Once he caught him, he grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and rolled with him across the ground.

Crash!

“-What?!”

Hesh, pinned under Tom, raised his head in alarm.

“Why all of a sudden....”

I ran past the two toppled juniors.

As I sprinted past them, I drew my sword. The moment I drew it, I struck. The Creature that had blended into the darkness bared its white teeth and lunged.

To swallow up the humans who had fallen just a few steps ahead.

Seark.

I killed it.

The Creature split in half and oozed onto the ground like a sheet of paper.

I looked down at the fluttering remains as they fell.

Of course Hesh had lost the one he’d been chasing. That person had coated themselves in the scent that this Creature {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} loathed.

A carefully prepared trap.

Shadow Fang, of all things.

It was far worse than stabbing the abdomen with a blade coated in Green Dream. Shadow Fang was a powerful Creature. If your senses were dulled by exhaustion and you failed to detect it, anyone who encountered it died in a gruesome way.

Hesh had almost died.

“...Hilde?”

A confused voice came from behind me.

“How did you—”

I could not hold it in.

I turned my head and shouted at the juniors coming toward me.

“I told you not to try to catch him!”

Hesh and Tom’s eyes flew wide open.

My voice echoed through the quiet residential neighborhood.

The brown-haired junior stood frozen in place. The red-haired junior blinked rapidly in shock. But I did not apologize. To be exact, I could not.

Because the anger born from fear had not subsided.

I even forgot to sheathe the sword I had drawn.

Silence, frozen and heavy, settled over the dark neighborhood.

The sting of the cold wind in my ears. The flapping of the juniors’ clothes. The smell of midnight.

Tom, startled, broke that silence with a hesitant “Uh—”.

Hesh snatched Tom’s reply.

“Why?”

I stared at Hesh.

“Why what?”

“Yeah. Why are you trying to handle this alone? Isn’t it fine if anyone catches the culprit? Isn’t it better to catch him as fast as possible?”

“Because it’s dangerous!”

I did not know how many times my heart had clenched while stepping on the accelerator.

Even while running. The hope that, since he had not fatally injured Ami, he might only inflict a minor wound on Hesh this time had evaporated the moment I sensed Shadow Fang.

Had he found out that I met Kairos?

This attack was filled with malice, unlike the previous one.

“I told you he stabbed Ami out of nowhere. I told you he was extremely dangerous.”

“Which means such a dangerous bastard is sticking to you. Do you think he’s just going to stab your acquaintances? No. Bastards like that will eventually come to kill you. Whether late or early, the final target is you.”

“I know. That’s why I’m telling you this. Hesh, please—I’m begging you—if someone who looks like the culprit approaches, don’t chase him. And don’t go around alone for a while.”

“If you know that, then you shouldn’t try to deal with this alone!”

This time, Hesh grew angry.

It was not hard to understand why he was upset. But how was I supposed to explain this...

I could not exactly say, “I’m much more skilled than you now, so stay out of it.” And telling them I did not want to see them get dragged into this would not work either.

How was I supposed to calm down this justice-powered runaway train?

Helplessness surged and pushed out the anger I had been holding.

As I sighed and turned my eyes aside, Tom approached.

“Did you call the police?”

I looked at the red-haired junior.

“No. The police—”

I stopped speaking.

What was that?

I widened my eyes and stepped toward Tom.

Sword still in my right hand.

“What is this?”

I lifted my free left hand and touched the area near the cut on Tom’s neck.

“This is a cut from a knife, but... why isn’t it healing?”

“It happened just now.”

Hesh answered.

He approached Tom with a frown, murmuring that he was fine.

“The bastard I was chasing asked if he knew you, and then suddenly swung a knife at Tom.”

My stomach dropped.

Along with guilt, fear spread.

These young ones... they did not know my history or the war. They had talent, but they were still unripe, and I could not reassure myself that they would handle a surprise attack well.

What if something else happened and I did not know?

My inner thoughts must have shown on my face.

Tom hurried to reassure me, saying he dodged well and the wound was shallow, telling me not to worry.

Of course it did not help.

I stood speechless, then scrubbed my face with both hands.

“Stop trying to deal with this alone!”

Thwack!

Hesh smacked my back.

“Stop trying to shoulder everything alone! Hilde. You cannot stay by our side twenty-four hours a day. Try trusting your juniors. And if you do not, then what? Are you going to cling to your close acquaintances all day long?”

“...I do not know.”

I answered gloomily.

Because I truly did not know.

“I never imagined he would become this aggressive... I need to take some sort of measure soon. He seems to be getting more vicious as time goes on.”

“Let’s report it to the police first.”

“How do we lure him out...”

I ignored Tom’s suggestion and muttered to myself.

“If I staged some kind of suicide incident, maybe he’d come.”

Maybe he wanted to kill me with his own hands?

It might have been a stupid thought, but it felt worth trying, so I said it carelessly.

But Tom reacted. To be exact, Hesh tried to react first, but Tom quietly placed a hand on my shoulder.

The red-haired junior met my eyes and said:

“If you tried something like that, wouldn’t we try even harder to catch the culprit?”

It made sense, so I could only close my mouth.

***

A call came from Yehyeon.

I wanted to talk longer with the juniors, but I had to leave quickly because the call came. I told them I would definitely contact them before tomorrow’s mission.

As I walked toward the car with the hazards still on, I answered my top superior’s call.

Yehyeon wanted to hear about Kairos.

“I also have something else to report.”

[Your voice does not sound good.]

As I opened the car door, Yehyeon replied in a husky voice.

[It seems something happened. Report everything concisely.]

So I did.

I reported about Kairos, You, and how our kin had concealed their presence. I also reported that if we learned the method they used, we could strike the enemy with it.

And the incident just now.

Yehyeon remained silent until my report ended, then let out a short sigh.

[How are Tom and Hesh?]

I placed the sword on the passenger seat.

“They seem fine, but we will have to watch them. It must be the first time they have been attacked by a human rather than a Creature.”

[Right.]

The Commander acknowledged briefly, then continued in a businesslike tone.

[As for the Titan’s employment, I need to think about it more. His identity will be certain, but like you, his recovery ability will be poor.]

“Yes. That is the part I am most concerned about as well.”

[And the fact that his loyalty target is you is also a problem.]

Yehyeon gave a soft laugh.

[A minor problem, though.]

“You do not need to worry about that part. I will speak with him properly.”

[Of course. Can I ask a question? It may be personal.]

I started the engine and pulled the car onto the road.

It was past midnight. No people, no Creatures, no cars. An empty road.

I pressed the accelerator lightly and answered.

“You may ask anything.”

[Your intuition. You said you could sense the emotions of your kin.]

“Yes.”

[Then have you been continuously feeling only negative emotions directed at you?]

It was an unexpected, deeply personal question. My foot froze on the accelerator.

[Do not tell me it has been like that ever since your senses opened?]