Black Badger

There were so many people.

Looking at the schedule, nothing particularly special was planned. But simply wandering around the area offered plenty to see, so crowds naturally gathered.

It was also a public holiday.

In any case, the order of events was simple.

A pre-ceremony air show. After the air show, an outdoor orchestra performance. Once the main ceremony began, the national flag would be raised, the anthem played, the President would give a brief address, the Black Badger Commander would speak, the celebratory fireworks would be launched, and that was it.

The main ceremony itself wasn’t long.

But we had been out there since before the air show began.

Even if the program was simple, the President and the Black Badger Commander were both present—along with other major figures—so the highest level of security was enforced.

Of course, as Badgers, we did not respond to attacks from humans.

Protecting key figures from assassination or terrorism was the role of the Presidential Security Service.

“Sent the rookies again this year, huh?”

The Security Service official grumbled as he went over the security route with us.

He scanned me and my peers before frowning.

“Every year I tell them to assign a Black Badger with real skill to the President, just in case of an emergency.”

What’s the problem?

Yehyeon was right next to the President.

There was no better protection. Yehyeon never left the President’s line of sight throughout the event. It was the best protection a Black Badger could provide.

But they seemed to believe Yehyeon’s abilities had declined since he hadn’t worked in the field for decades.

“How am I supposed to trust the skills of someone who hasn’t been on active duty for so long?”

Hesh opened his mouth.

Tom and I immediately reached out and clamped our hands over Hesh’s mouth.

We ignored Hesh as he squirmed.

“Every time I ask them to send someone strong from the field team....”

The official sighed, rolled up a pamphlet, and slapped it against his palm.

“And once again, they sent bright-eyed greenhorns. Let’s just hope nothing happens.”

Well, aside from this guy, the other Security Service members were fine.

Not that there was much conversation. They all left the briefing room with rigid posture. In contrast, we were simply instructed to stay at our posts and watch for Creature appearances.

It was awkward, but Badgers weren’t allowed to intervene in anything except Creature suppression.

I knew this regulation was controversial, but rules were rules.

We agreed to get through the day safely, then headed to our assigned positions.

By then, we’d already been patrolling for four hours.

Thirty minutes before the ceremony.

[There really are a lot of people.]

Hesh’s voice came through the earpiece.

I gave a bitter smile and agreed.

It was a clear, cool day. The air show had ended. The outdoor orchestra performance was nearing its finale. Now the seats in front of the outdoor stage, where the President would speak, were filling.

I was in charge of the VIP seating.

The stage, the rows of chairs in front of it, the fences separating that area from the general audience—private security personnel stood outside the fences.

Many people seemed to have come just to see the VIPs. Some stood at the fence holding placards.

“Matthew!”

“It’s Rachel! Can you see her?”

“Aaron! Aaro—n!”

Every time a celebrity arrived, cheers erupted and faded.

Flashes and camera shutter sounds never stopped.

As I confirmed that no Creatures could be felt within several kilometers, I observed the faces of the arriving guests. I had seen Matthew and Rachel at Erhart’s mansion before. That hadn’t been the most pleasant encounter.

As for the people arriving afterward—I had no idea who they were.

Ah.

Kairos had arrived.

He said he’d been invited again this year, just like last year.

“Blackjack!”

As he stepped out of a bright red sports car wearing a suit, the people pressed against the fence lit up.

“Blackjack! Blackjack!!”

Kairos waved leisurely and headed to his seat.

Hands behind my back, I watched my kin.

I stood outside the fence in front of the first row of VIP seats—between the stage and the seating area. I would be posted here like a statue from the start of the ceremony to the end.

From my position at one end, I could clearly see both the VIPs entering and the people already seated.

Kairos’s seat was in the third row from the front.

He had become excessively famous.

「The full-dress uniform suits you.」

I widened my eyes at the Imperial tongue drifting through the crowd.

Kairos laughed brightly, his eyes narrowing.

「It really matches your eye color.」

After tossing Imperial language into a crowd full of humans, the subordinate immediately began shaking hands with people nearby.

I let out a quiet, incredulous laugh.

“So now that you’ve run into me, you don’t care whether You notices or not?”

Well, drones with cameras were flying everywhere.

If someone wanted to see, they already had.

Without moving, I released a faint sigh.

As I remained statue-still, the sound of camera flashes suddenly intensified.

“VIPs entering.”

A nearby security agent reported into his radio.

“VIPs entering.”

The President arrived first.

He stepped out of the bulletproof limousine and walked slowly.

He sat in the very center of the first row. The first row filled with his entourage.

Then another car arrived, and Yehyeon stepped out. He wore his usual attire—a slim black suit and a dark tie.

Ska, the senior aide, was absent; I recognized two secretaries whose faces I had seen in passing.

They took seats in the second row.

I quietly watched Yehyeon greet the President and various others.

His husky, courteous voice drifted on the breeze to my ears.

Before sitting, he glanced at me.

“The ceremony begins in five minutes.”

He gave me a gentle smile, then sat down.

“The ceremony will begin in five minutes!”

Still no sign of any Creature.

I only hoped there wouldn’t be a terrorist attack. There were multiple groups who hated the Black Badgers with fanatic intensity, so peace of mind was impossible. And I’d heard Yehyeon received no protection because of his enhanced body.

A reasonable decision, but not comforting.

I couldn’t touch civilians, but if I felt killing intent, I would have to respond as an enemy.

“Ceremony begins in one minute.”

The ceremony was starting.

One hour until the end of the honey mission.

May it be a peaceful sixty minutes.

Sharpening my senses, I listened to the announcer’s voice echoing through the cold air.

***

The ceremony proceeded smoothly.

Until the President finished his speech and received applause.

Until the man with a natural gift for accepting the Elders’ decisions without complaint—and presenting them as his own—stepped down from the stage. A man said to be tight-lipped, aware of his own place, and thus predicted to live long even after leaving office.

Everything was peaceful until he finished speaking.

Until Yehyeon stood up for his own speech.

[Next, we will hear from the Black Badger ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) Commander.]

There were no Creatures.

I felt no killing intent.

So as Yehyeon rose from his seat and walked down the long aisle built across the plaza, receiving applause, I watched him with relief.

Colorful firework fragments littered the white ground.

The aisle was built beside the VIP section. From the stage’s perspective, VIPs were on the left, the aisle was in the middle, and civilians were on the right.

Two layers of viewing fences lined the right side.

People were packed tightly against the outermost fence.

People filming Yehyeon with their phones. Families with children. Students watching with friends. A student laughing while holding a pet. Journalists and... people who inexplicably looked displeased.

So many people it was suffocating, yet still no killing intent.

Yehyeon passed them with his usual long strides.

As he looked toward the stage—

“Huh?”

What is that?

I noticed it late because I had been focusing on the crowd.

The schedule of the Founding Day ceremony was the same every year. So monotonously identical that it made terrorism too easy. That was why every security personnel, including myself, worried about an attack.

A terrorist attack aimed at VIPs, whatever the motive.

After that, a Creature. After that, a civilian rushing the stage.

We’d considered other cases, but none seemed likely. The actual probability of anything else happening was nearly zero.

So—

“No way.”

Even I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

“No... way?”

A round light began to shimmer on the ground.

What started as a small dot gradually expanded in concentric circles. Yellow light, slowly growing in size. The glowing circle followed the path of Yehyeon’s shoes toward the stage.

At first, I thought it was a holographic visual effect.

Only when it grew larger did I recognize the strange familiarity of its shape.

Something I had seen decades ago—and not once since.

I never imagined I would see it again.

But how could it be here?

This?

「Hildebert, you idiot!」

From within the crowd, a seductive and urgent voice shouted.

「It’s a spatial teleportation circle!!」

Boom!

I sprinted.

Kairos kicked his chair and shot to his feet, but I couldn’t spare him a glance.

I couldn’t look at the startled VIPs glancing around, nor at the security officers turning toward me.

A magic circle.

That was a teleportation circle.

It was the work of magicians. All dimensional-teleportation magicians had been wiped out, but plenty survived who could use spatial teleportation circles.

Kin and humans now existed in the same dimension.

If you planted a seed that could form a magic circle, let it ripen, left it somewhere with sufficient sunlight—

And if no one interfered while it expanded...

“Yehyeon!”

The circle had grown large enough to draw the eyes of nearby onlookers.

I whipped my head around and sprinted toward Yehyeon, whose eyes widened as he saw me.

“Come this way! Now!”

Yehyeon twisted his body, startled.

“Hilde?”

He muttered,

“There’s nothing there, why are you—”

Kuwoong!

Uwoooong!

Space opened.

“Got you.” 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Thankfully, just as the ground began to break open, I managed to grab Yehyeon’s arm and yank him toward me.

“Run the other way.”

The opening space began pulling nearby objects inward.

Uwoooong! Uwoooong! The teleportation circle made a sinister noise.

Its power grew.

Ignoring the sound and the force, I seized Yehyeon by the collar. He was lighter than expected; I hoisted him and dragged him behind the left-hand fence.

“What is that?”

Even as he was helplessly dragged, Yehyeon asked calmly.

“Portal? Or a new Creature?”

“Teleportation circle.”

I replied shortly, then shoved him in the opposite direction.

After pushing my superior to safety, I vaulted over the collapsing fence.

Yehyeon shouted in alarm.

“Hilde!”

“Kyaaaah!”

“What is that?! What is that?!”

“A portal opened!”

Thank goodness the fence had been doubled.

Circling wide around the teleportation circle, I sprinted toward the right-side fence where the panicked spectators were fleeing in chaos. I couldn’t relax—not for a moment. Anyone who got sucked into that black-hole-like thing would find escape nearly impossible.

“Stay away from the portal!”

The double-layered fence began collapsing.

The inner fence crashed down with a deafening bang and slid toward the circle. The torn-open space swallowed the dragged silver fence whole.

Several drones that had flown close to film it were swallowed too.

Boom! Boom! The fences fell in sequence.

[Please evacuate according to instructions!]

A screeching microphone blasted through the plaza, followed by the announcer’s desperate voice.

[A portal has opened! Please evacuate quickly according to guidance!]

The ground quaked.

Panicking people fled from the circle, screaming and scattering.

It was fortunate the teleportation circle had formed inside the fenced zone. Civilians only needed to get out of the plaza to be safe.

Boom!

“Aaah!”

“Ah!”

“I’ll help you!”

Bracing my legs so I wouldn’t be pulled in, I lifted everyone who was falling together with the fence.

“Run, quickly.”

People scattered in an instant.

They moved away from the fallen fences. I kept my legs firm, knocking aside flying placards and chairs, helping up every person who stumbled.

I was frantically hauling people upright.

Until a young voice screamed.

The chilling scream came from right beside me.

“Cookie!”

A girl who looked like a high school student was running desperately after her dog.

“Cookie! Cookie!!”

A tiny puppy rolled across the ground, dragging helplessly toward the circle.

I lunged and grabbed the leash.

Hugging the puppy, I turned to run with the girl in the opposite direction—to hand them over to the nearest security officer.

But the moment I began turning toward the crying girl, her foot slipped.

The girl was sucked by the wind and tumbled across the ground.

Then she collided with me.

Thunk!

“Ah.”

We were falling.

“Damn.”

“Aaaaah!”

The girl screamed in pain, overwhelmed.

An immense force yanked both of us toward the circle. I curled my body tightly around her to absorb the impact.

At the same time, I shoved the puppy outward.

The girl was holding onto me and falling into the circle—but the puppy had not yet crossed into it.

At least you go!

If I pushed gently, the puppy would just roll right back into the pull—so I shoved hard.

I worried I might have injured it.

I worried it might die if it landed poorly—it was a puppy, not a cat.

At that moment, my body sank inward.

“Hilde!”

Yehyeon’s panicked shout.

“Captain!”

Kairos’s desperate voice behind me.

And with that—we were swallowed by the teleportation circle.

A girl I didn’t even know and I were pulled in together.

***

“Huh?”

The chaotic plaza.

A journalist—one who stubbornly refused to evacuate—let out a shrill shout.

He froze after speaking, staring at the camera feed.

His eyes widened in disbelief.

The silence was brief. But once he grasped the situation, the reporter couldn’t stop himself from shouting.

“Senior! The drone is functioning!”

The journalist who had been recording the Founding Day event craned his neck and yelled.

“It’s functioning normally! It’s capturing the Badger and the student!”