Black Badger

But can civilians even come in here?

The moment I had that thought, Richard Green growled.

“You’re not telling me you brought a civilian.”

The seniors’ faces went pale.

It looked like they really had brought a civilian. The seniors who had been snickering while looking me up and down instantly showed strained expressions.

A few even muttered “Bathroom,” and slipped away.

But there’s no way Richard Green would let it go.

Ska also set down the absinthe glass he’d been holding.

“You dragged a civilian up here?”

Even I, just hearing it, felt a chill run down my spine.

“In that state, drunk out of your minds?”

“We really didn’t lift a finger!”

That much was obvious.

“He wanted to come up, so we just let him, seriously!”

“Do you even know where you brought him?”

Richard Green pulled his chair back and stood.

The vein bulging on his forehead was visible. He was in full rage mode.

Well, I was also dumbfounded by their thoughtless actions.

The more I thought about it, the more absurd it was. They dragged someone who might have been a civilian to a place swarming with drunken Badgers. Even if they were that plastered, the seniors had crossed a line.

Ska rose from his seat.

“Come in.”

The aide-de-camp spoke coldly.

“All of you.”

No one dared talk back.

Silence fell over the year-end party hall in an instant. Even with only the thick-skinned people left, the atmosphere grew heavy.

They came inside with their heads lowered.

So who is it?

A reporter pretending to be an ex-girlfriend?

“Shu.”

Without taking his eyes off the seniors, Ska ordered:

“Go check if there’s a civilian outside. Ask how they got in and what happened.”

Huh?

If the person outside was Jaeyeon, that would be bad.

I was panicking when Shu nodded and stood, then asked:

“Aide-de-camp. Should I take Hildebert Taleb’s worker as well?”

A grateful question.

Ska’s gaze came to me.

“Do you have any idea who it might be?”

“No. I have absolutely no clue.”

“My guess is it’s a paparazzi or a reporter who showed up after your live broadcast.”

“If it’s a reporter, this will blow up even bigger.”

Richard Green folded his arms and shot a murderous look at the seniors.

“You brought a reporter into a restricted zone?”

“He’s definitely not a reporter, sir! She’s just an ordinary young woman who wanted to see our junior!”

“Yeah sure. You think a reporter introduces themselves as a reporter?”

Samuel Han snorted as he poured himself another drink.

“I guess the trend among reporters has changed these days?”

All those people standing in a row would end up writing incident reports.

Funny, but not important. I was more curious about who the civilian standing in the hallway might be.

Good thing this happened after the year-end party ended.

Ska sighed, then gave an order.

“Shu. Bring the person outside in.”

Shu nodded and left the hall.

And soon returned with someone. Everyone’s gaze shot toward the person entering. I also stared at the black-haired woman following behind Shu.

Black hair and blue eyes.

Much taller than Shu.

“Sorry.”

The woman spoke into the frozen air.

“I thought this place had free access, so I followed without thinking, but I guess not.”

“Hilde. Do you know her?”

Ska asked me.

I couldn’t answer immediately.

I had lost my words, staring at the person in front of me.

I felt everyone’s gaze stabbing into me, but I couldn’t react. I just stood there like an idiot.

My senses returned only after some time.

I stared straight into the blue eyes.

Then broke the silence.

“You dyed your hair?”

Deltei’s lips curved into a smile.

“I got tired of red.”

I ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ blinked several times.

Her appearance came into focus. Deltei’s entire image had changed. The pure, delicate saint who once wore a bridal veil was gone. Her features were the same, but her now-black hair had been chopped short.

And she wore all-black clothes.

Piercings hanging from her ears.

A short skirt and black boots that covered her calves.

Even if we had brushed past each other in the city, I wouldn’t have recognized her.

I lost my words again.

It wasn’t until Ska asked, “Is she really your ex-girlfriend?” that I snapped back.

“No.”

A horrifying question.

Deltei, my ex-girlfriend?

She was more like a blood relative I never had. Just hearing the question gave me goosebumps.

I failed miserably at controlling my expression.

“We do know each other, but she is absolutely not my ex-girlfriend.”

“Then why is your acquaintance trying to come in here?”

Before Ska could speak, Richard Green pressed.

Now his sharp gaze was pointed at me.

“You didn’t call her here, did you?”

“No.”

“Sorry. I only asked if I could join when I heard Hilde was drinking with the seniors. I didn’t know they’d bring me to Black Badger HQ. I thought they were drinking at an ordinary place.”

“Why didn’t you just call him?”

Samuel raised an eyebrow, cutting in.

“You don’t have his number?”

How was I supposed to explain this cleanly?

While I was thinking, Deltei hung her head.

Then turned it slightly and sniffled.

...What are you doing?

“Hilde suddenly disappeared, and I couldn’t meet him for so long....”

I stared, mouth open, as Deltei wiped tears.

“He didn’t answer calls, I couldn’t reach him. No one knew anything.... Do you know how long I’ve been searching for him....”

No.

Please don’t say something so misleading.

I panicked.

Samuel across from me also panicked.

Ska, who knew the situation, and Shu and Walker, who had their own interpretations, didn’t react—but even Richard Green shot me a look of utter disbelief. I never thought I’d get that look from him.

One of the seniors standing in line spoke up loudly.

“That’s why we tried to find Taleb’s worker ourselves–”

“Shut up.”

Richard Green’s head snapped around.

“Whatever your reasons, the fact remains you dragged a civilian up here.”

Were they stupid from alcohol or just stupid to begin with?

While I was pondering that, Deltei stepped toward me.

Closing distance. I watched the fellow Titan walking toward me, unable to step forward or backward.

Her heels clicked against the floor as she came, then stopped right in front of me.

Everyone left in the hall stared at her.

The saint who loved Kyle.

My proud comrade.

Silence fell over the hall. The late-night calm past midnight pressed against my ears.

But she didn’t seem intent on breaking the silence.

Not until she suddenly burst into tears.

“Waaahhhh!”

Ah.

“Hueeeeeeng, hueeuuuuung!”

Deltei let out her grief.

I hastily reached toward her.

“Deltei.”

“I—I thought you were dead, I thought you were dead....”

She hiccupped so hard she couldn’t even speak.

Hic! Hic! The hiccups settled only after I patted her back.

But the crying didn’t stop.

“Huuuu.... Why did you come back only now. Why only now....”

“I’m sorry.”

“You crazy bastard.”

Samuel muttered as he downed soju straight from the bottle.

“How could you disappear without a word?”

It’s not that.

I opened my mouth to answer, then closed it again.

No point correcting the misunderstanding.

And the doctor wasn’t entirely wrong. I had disappeared. Whether intentional or not, I vanished from my people for quite a while.

I pulled the sobbing Deltei into a hug.

“I’m sorry. I was far too late.”

“E-everyone said you were dead....”

Deltei couldn’t even think about hugging back as she cried her eyes out.

“They said you were dead.... Yo also, Yvon too, everyone....”

She wailed again.

She cried so hard that Samuel told them to give her water before she dehydrated.

Walker got up to close the hall door, and Shu hurried over with water for me. I gave the senior a bitter smile and accepted the plastic bottle.

“Thank you.”

“Hilde. Take her home.”

Ska instructed quietly.

“We’ll take care of the rest.”

I followed his order.

Deltei cried until she passed out. Carrying her on my back, I left the hall. I planned to get her a taxi since I was too drunk to drive.

After exchanging numbers and riding with her, I’d send the taxi back and return to HQ.

I wrapped her tightly in the coat I’d worn and stepped outside. A sharp winter wind slapped my cheek.

A winter dawn with no one around.

As I was fiddling with my phone to call a taxi, Deltei muttered:

“I can go myself.”

I gently set her down.

“Just give me your number.”

“I’ll type it. And I’ll take you home, so tell me your address.”

“I said I can go myself.”

Deltei answered in a husky, seductive voice and swept back her falling hair.

Her swollen eyes looked pitiful.

Maybe she sensed my thoughts, because the former saint flicked my forehead.

Thwack!

“Ah.”

“I made an agreement with Igor not to stick by your side until we catch Yo.”

I blinked as she opened her taxi app.

“So I’m going now. Contact me tomorrow.”

“Is Igor doing well? What’s he been up to?”

“No idea. Ever since he ran off saying he’d catch Yo, he hasn’t contacted me.”

She took out a cigarette from her inner pocket.

I quietly watched the fellow Titan as she put it between her lips.

My head was so tangled I couldn’t form words.

Feeling my stare, Deltei arched an eyebrow while lighting it.

“What are you staring at like that?”

“I feel bad.”

“For what exactly?”

Her voice carried irritation.

One wrong word and she’d probably hit me.

I gave a bitter laugh as I watched the former saint take a deep drag.

“No. Let me rephrase. Let’s say I’m just happy to see you.”

“...I was originally planning to come see you after we captured Yo. Sorry. I didn’t mean to cause trouble for you in front of your seniors. I really didn’t know.”

“You don’t need to worry.”

“I’ll come find you soon, so this time don’t disappear anywhere.”

Deltei said something that reminded me of Kairos.

“I’ll catch Yo, so stay put like this. Got it?”

Had I unintentionally given my people separation anxiety? 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Watching Deltei’s hair whip in the winter wind, I gave her a bitter smile.

Trying not to drown in the rising tide of guilt and gratitude.

I tried to measure the depth of the time I had lost.

“Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere.”

She pulled me into a tight hug.

Then got into a taxi and left. Without telling me where she lived or what she was doing these days, she vanished from sight.

Once I saw the taxi’s headlights disappear, I returned to HQ.

***

“Hey.”

As expected, the rumor spread quickly.

With four seniors writing incident reports, how could it not?

“I heard your ex-girlfriend bawled her eyes out at the year-end party?”

One week after the new year.

I was boarding a train with the TF members for a reclamation mission.

A train heading outside the Core, as always.

But surprisingly, this train actually had a stop.

Meaning that until we reached the stop, seniors with other missions would also be aboard.

“I heard you ghosted her.”

And the roster of that other team was downright depressing.

Ignoring Chen’s snickering, I felt free to pity Jonathan all I wanted.

That he had to carry out a mission with such unpleasant-looking seniors.

Hopefully he wouldn’t flip the whole thing upside down again....