Black Badger

What’s the problem here.

Is my problem the fact that I keep wanting to make snarky comments even though I tell myself not to?

I reflected on myself for a moment and then snapped out of it.

I quickly changed the subject.

“You said he’ll arrive in a few hours, right?”

“At least eight hours!”

Bleak.

“He said because of the snow, it’ll take even longer than usual.”

“Then we’re on standby without moving until then?”

“Yeah. He said not to move. We’d pass each other for no reason.”

That’s true.

“I’ll go up sometimes and check the situation~.”

After finishing lunch, we had nothing to do.

We had already finished cleaning the surrounding area in case we had to depart at any moment. All the supply crates we had to load were lined up in one place, and our personal luggage was bundled together.

There was nothing to do.

And after we dug some quick trenches to prepare for any Creature attacks, we had even less to do.

I told the seniors who were probably sleep-deprived to get more sleep.

“There’s nothing to do anyway.”

“You’re just gonna sleep in the truck later~?”

He has a point.

At that reasonable remark, I gave up on urging anyone to sleep.

We all scattered loosely and started spending time on our own. The air was cold, but the sunlight made resting easy.

Carl was cleaning his firearm. Sophia sat near Carl, wiping down her personal items. Ricardo sat lazily and smoked.

Yun was fiddling with an engine he’d removed from the broken train.

Ami built a little snowman.

Then she came over to me, who was tossing pinecones up and catching them.

“Hilde. What’s the biggest Christmas present you’ve ever gotten?”

That’s a unique question.

But it was the kind of question that suited her, so I smiled.

“A full-body massage chair.”

“A massage chair? Hilde, you got a massage chair?”

“Yes. Thanks to that, my cabin got even smaller.”

“Which company~?”

Ricardo exhaled smoke and asked.

“Company G.”

“Holy crap. That’s the most expensive kind.”

“Is it? I just said the massage machine looked nice, and that person gave it to me.”

“Aren’t you the one who asked me for a heated mattress?”

Yun suddenly spoke without taking his eyes off the train engine.

“Yes.”

“Hilde’s like a grandpa!”

“I am a grandpa.”

Ami burst into laughter. She laughed brightly, saying my answer was funny. I truly had no idea what part was funny.

I hadn’t even asked for it. Around Christmas, when I was obligated to send Colton a holiday greeting, I’d added some sugar-coated comment about the massage chair in the corner of the arcade being pretty good.

But then a massage chair far more expensive than the arcade one arrived on Christmas Day.

My message asking for Lexic noodles as a Christmas present was gloriously ignored.

I want noodles....

We spent time talking about nonsense.

From Christmas presents to New Year’s special meals at HQ, from good restaurants near HQ to stories about Badgers.

Even though people took turns napping here and there, there was still enough time to hear every kind of story.

While cleaning up dinner, we were listening to Yun talk about his “teleportation-case not being resolved, so he was deployed to cool his head,” when Ami descended from the sky.

“I see Trevor’s truck!”

The seniors who were sprawled around all got up.

They moved so fast that within five minutes of Trevor’s arrival, all the supplies were loaded.

The NPC of the Round Tower stepped down from the tall driver’s seat.

Trevor was a big man with a thick beard, like a muscular Santa.

“You’re here, sir.”

“Yeah.”

The moment he got off the truck, he bowed to Yun at a perfect 90-degree angle.

“I’ve been waiting anxiously for you.”

Why does he like Yun so much.

“The weed trimmer’s busted.”

“There isn’t a single blade of grass this season, so how did the trimmer break.”

Yun’s eyes fixed on Trevor’s snowy white beard.

“Did something other than weeds chew through your beard?”

“It’s been busted awhile.”

A man who looked like he’d snap Rudolph’s neck if it took a wrong turn answered politely and earnestly.

“The circulation system in the greenhouse is also about to die. I took it apart trying to fix it, but I can’t find the cause at all.”

“Let’s go look.”

“Yes.”

Trevor answered respectfully, then turned with disciplined precision.

He only made eye contact with Yun as he held out his palm toward the truck.

“This way.”

We decided to switch off driving.

The first driver was Yun. While Yun and Trevor got into the driver’s and passenger seats, the rest of us climbed into the cargo bed. The truck was enormous. Even after loading all the bulky supply crates, there was still room left.

Just like Ricardo had said—we could stretch our legs out and sleep comfortably.

We each found a spot inside the cargo bed and fell into silence.

The ride was smoother than before. We had worried about Creature attacks stopping the vehicle, getting lost, or running out of fuel, but none of those became serious issues. There were attacks, but we handled them fine. We didn’t get lost, and we refueled on the way.

After nearly ten hours of pushing through—

We arrived at dawn.

“Rookie!”

The Round Tower filled my entire field of vision.

The truck pulled into the Core surrounding it.

As we were getting off the cargo bed of the stopped truck, Trevor shouted:

“Catch the sheep!”

Huh?

I blinked at the words shouted by a senior I hadn’t even exchanged names with.

But the situation became clear immediately.

Ah.

One of the fences must’ve broken.

I ran after the flock of sheep rushing out of the small Core.

“The sheep are escaping.”

I dashed past Ami, who was murmuring.

I quickly caught up to the lead sheep.

The sheep, which had been running mindlessly in all directions, spotted me and was startled.

It’s been a while since I herded sheep.

When I was young, I liked riding on them. I would lie lazily on their backs and fall asleep watching the clouds drift across the sky.

Burying my face in their wool felt good too.

While the seniors unloaded the supplies, I drove all the runaway sheep back into the pen.

After herding them inside and closing the gate, the Core door closed behind me.

Meeeeeeh

Baaaaaaaah

Meeeeeeehhh

“Yeah, yeah.”

These creatures really are cute and stupid, now and forever.

I answered their bleating absentmindedly. After checking that everything was properly locked, I went back to where the seniors were gathered inside the Round Tower.

People who had been talking turned their heads and looked at me.

I was about to say the sheep were back inside when Trevor, holding a shovel, strode straight toward me.

“You.”

He grabbed my shoulder.

“Yes?”

“You herded sheep before? Your skill in rounding up those stupid things isn’t ordinary.”

“Ah, yes.”

Why is he sticking his face in so close.

“It was part of my chores when I was young. Do you raise those sheep alone?”

“Did you grow up in the countryside?”

“Uh... yes. In the mountains.”

“What! Hilde was a shepherd?”

“A shepherd? Not really. I just raised various things.”

“HQ finally picked someone useful.”

Trevor was amazed.

He looked at me with eyes that clearly said a useful worker had finally arrived.

I narrowed my eyes at the ominous ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) feeling creeping up as the senior handed me a shovel.

“You’re the rookie, so you’ll wash last.”

“I was planning to anyway, but....”

“Let’s go fertilize the greenhouse.”

Looks like he lives more productively outside the Core than anyone else.

I was dragged away. While the seniors washed and did their personal maintenance, exhausted from the long travel, I worked hard with Trevor. Fertilizing the greenhouse, watering the trees where mushrooms grew, brushing and trimming the wool we had sheared earlier....

I even helped with delivering a newborn lamb. Trevor handled the difficult parts, but when he separated the baby from the mother, I wiped the mucus from the lamb’s tiny muzzle as it gasped on the ground. Then I swung the newborn three times in the air to get all the amniotic fluid out of its lungs.

When I set it down gently on the bedding, the mother sheep turned and began licking her baby.

Fluffy, adorable creatures.

After finishing all that miscellaneous work and washing up, the sun was up.

Apparently the seniors had prepared breakfast for us.

I shook the water from my wet hair and walked toward the first floor of the Round Tower, used as the dining hall.

After checking the condition of the supplies, we needed to look at the map and make a plan right away.

I stepped into the dining hall, deep in thought.

And my eyes caught a bizarre sight.

Trevor, bent at a full 90 degrees beside Yun, who was sitting on a folding chair.

What now?

“Sir, can I borrow the rookie for a while? For about three months.... If not, even just a week.”

“No. He’s my mentee.”

Yun answered lazily, legs crossed.

“I don’t lend him out.”

“Are you his acting supervisor, sir?”

“Yes.”

“As expected, you’re wise. He’s the most useful junior I’ve seen yet.”

Should I be happy about that.

Or should I be sad that it means I’ll be dragged around for all kinds of chores? I couldn’t decide, so I just laughed awkwardly.

While Yun sat there saying “He’s mine, go covet someone else,” the other seniors called out to me.

“Good job, Hilde! You must be tired. Eat this quick.”

“Thank you.”

“Take the rest of the day off. We’ll handle the cleanup.”

“I thought you grew up doing nothing but swinging swords~....”

The seniors ladling stew handed me dishes and a bowl full of stew.

I tasted the thick, slightly sweet stew and smiled.

“I just grew up doing all sorts of things a rural kid would do.”

After we finished breakfast, they literally shoved me into a room.

My argument that I wasn’t tired at all was ignored. The seniors insisted they were going to rest too and pushed me into a room inside the Round Tower.

They said I probably only got light naps in the truck, so I should get some real sleep.

If I went outside and lingered, I’d definitely get nagged, so I actually slept for several hours.

***

The dream wasn’t pleasant.

Rei, Seba, and Jonathan appeared one after another.

The last dream was especially awful. For some reason, Jonathan was holding Rei—who had a sword pierced through his heart—and crying. Silent tears streamed down his face as he looked at me with eyes full of resentment.

Why is this combination so wrong.

I was thinking that when I woke.

The ceiling came into view.

The Round Tower’s old ceiling.

Tiles blackened with age. A light that wasn’t turned on. And a grotesque face stuck to the ceiling.

Um?

A face?

Why is there a face on the ceiling?

I narrowed my eyes and lifted my head slightly to see more clearly.

“Aaaaargh!”

At that moment, Ami’s voice rang brightly down the hallway.

A voice full of terror.

“A ghost!”