Black Badger

They realized I couldn’t move.

I got dragged straight to the hospital wing. And then my memory cut out. I think I passed out for a moment.

I had used too much stamina.

Those who have no rejection response recover quickly when they fight while absorbing. Kyle was like that, Rei was like that. The reason I was this drained from consecutive absorptions was because of my rejection response.

At least I didn’t throw up.

Thinking that, I opened my eyes and saw the IV line.

I also heard people talking noisily.

How long did I sleep?

“Hello~....”

Oh.

“You worked hard....”

“Ric.”

I saw the green-eyed man lying on the bed beside mine and narrowed my eyes.

It’s really nice hearing his voice again after so long.

“It’s been a while since I last—”

Huh?

What’s that. What’s wrong with his ankle?

I pushed the bed with my elbow.

I didn’t have the strength to get up, and I failed to lift myself, but even as I fell back down pathetically, I couldn’t ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) take my eyes off the bandage wrapped around Ricardo’s ankle.

So this isn’t a single room.

“Are you injured?”

“Please just stay still, will you? Getting up won’t change anything anyway.”

“I won’t get up. Just tell me where you’re hurt.”

When I asked while lying obediently, Ricardo sighed.

The senior leaned lazily against the headboard. His expression made it clear he didn’t particularly want to answer.

How should I ask him indirectly?

As I was thinking, Shu thankfully poked her head in from somewhere and said:

“He got hurt saving me when I almost stupidly got dragged into the portal. Right ankle.”

“Will it not heal right away?”

“The portal was closing and nearly sliced off his ankle.”

My god.

“If he’d been even a little slower, his ankle might’ve flown off.... They can’t guarantee how long the recovery will take.”

“Even though I kept telling Samuel I was fine except for the ankle~.”

Ricardo grumbled while tapping on his phone.

“I told him I was completely fine besides the ankle....”

“Is the ankle really that bad?”

I asked Shu, because Ricardo definitely wasn’t going to answer.

That was a mistake.

Shu—whose expression normally showed almost no emotion—darkened instantly.

“The inflammation’s bad. If only I had charged my hoverboard properly, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“Ah.”

“Kiddo~.”

Ricardo set his phone down on the bed and called the senior standing beside him.

“What did I say earlier~?”

“You told me to stop thinking about things that don’t help at all.”

“Very good~. Now go rest~. Stop dwelling on pointless thoughts~.”

“Yes.”

Shu nodded obediently.

“I’ll head out.”

She bowed quickly to Ricardo and then turned toward me.

Her lips pressed into a line, she waved at me as I watched her nervously.

“I’ll come again tomorrow. Rest well. Bye.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Off you go~.”

Tak.

The two-tone-haired senior left the room with her usual expressionless face.

Now that I looked, we were in an eight-person room. Only two beds were occupied, though.

A room where the corridor noise did not leak in.

Once the conversation ended, silence settled.

I stared absentmindedly at the closed door.

It’s a relief Shu has good rebound speed. Like Hesh and Tom, she had that unique firmness found in people who grew up flexible but straight.

Ah. I need to ask about the portal. But now that Ricardo is injured because of the portal, it became harder to bring it up casually.

But seriously—is his ankle okay....

“Stop staring~. You’re going to burn a hole in it....”

“Sorry.”

“So what did you do to end up in that state?”

Ricardo hooked one arm over the headboard and turned toward me.

“Why’s your body fine but your fever’s burning up so—”

Bang!

Someone burst through the room door.

Both of us turned toward the visitor.

And without needing anyone to say anything, we froze simultaneously.

But the visitor did not seem to notice our reaction. The man strode inside, eyes fixed on Ricardo.

“You.”

“What.”

When Jonathan spoke in a stiff voice, Ricardo snapped back, twisting his body to the other side.

“What are you here for—?”

Jonathan didn’t answer.

He didn’t even respond when Ricardo told him that if he had time to be here, he should help with outside cleanup, because things out there definitely weren’t sorted yet.

He probably didn’t even hear it. That man became excessively anxious whenever anyone within his “circle” was injured. This overreaction was simply part of his trauma.

Anyway—hide.

I turned my back to Ricardo and wriggled under the blanket.

Curling up like a larva, I held my breath.

If I stay like this, he’ll leave soon enough.

Feeling the warmth of the blanket, I stayed still. Through the narrow gap between the bed and the blanket, I heard the seniors’ conversation. Ricardo grumbling that he should stop making a fuss over nothing.

Jonathan ignored everything and obsessively checked his condition.

Thankfully, he didn’t seem to see me.

Good thing his field of vision is narrow....

Bang!

“Hilde!”

What.

My heart plummeted.

Who calls for me at a time like this.

“Hm?”

While I froze under the blanket, a familiar relaxed voice sounded.

“What are you all doing here?”

Ska.

The Black Badger Aide-de-Camp.

He was not someone I could pretend not to hear. And he was not someone who would call me urgently without reason.

Ricardo said something under his breath, but I couldn’t make it out.

I gave up pretending to be asleep and flung the blanket aside.

“Aide-de-Camp.”

Please get me out of here quickly.

“What brings you here?”

Ah.

I made eye contact with Jonathan.

I shut my mouth without meaning to.

The hospital room froze again. Ricardo, sitting on his bed, froze. Ska, standing at the threshold, froze.

Jonathan, staring at me, also froze.

He didn’t move for a long time....

Maybe if he keeps staring, he’ll turn away and leave.

Fwish—

The moment I thought that, a blade touched my neck.

“Jonathan!”

“Hey.”

Ricardo shouted sharply, and Ska strode inside with a hardened expression.

“Put the sword away.”

But even at the command, Jonathan Kudo did not move.

He only glared at me with the tip of his sword pressed to my neck.

Looking at his rigid face, I let out a bitter smile.

“Kudo senior.”

The blade tip twitched.

“I’m sorry. I’d like to move aside for you, but I... can’t exactly get up....”

Whack!

Ugh.

With a clean cracking sound, Jonathan’s head snapped to the side.

My eyes widened at the aide-de-camp who hit him as if smashing a watermelon.

“Mutiny, is it?”

Jonathan grabbed the struck area and glared at Ska.

“You’re not putting the sword away?”

“.......”

Jonathan glared at him sullenly, then finally sheathed the sword.

As I had heard, he obeyed Ska’s words very quickly.

If Yun had Yehyeon, then Jonathan Kudo had Ska Owen.

Once he confirmed the sword was put away, the aide-de-camp rested his hands on his hips.

“Good. If you’ve checked Ric’s condition, then leave. Honestly, I’d have you two talk things out while we’re here, but I need to see Hilde urgently.”

Jonathan gave him a sullen look.

But he obeyed and turned to leave.

Silence fell again.

Ricardo watched his retreating back until he fully left, then stretched out his body with a long “Aah~.”

“That stubborn bastard.... Even when you tell him, he never listens~.”

“Well, he’s definitely listening somewhere.”

Ska spoke coolly, then smiled at me.

“In the end, he’ll change his mind. So don’t take it too hard, Hilde.”

“...Excuse me?”

Even after that behavior, you can say that?

But I couldn’t bring myself to speak the thought aloud.

Once again, Ska read my insides perfectly.

The tall aide-de-camp lifted one corner of his mouth slightly.

“You’ll see.”

“...Yees.”

“Anyway, you look worse than I expected. We’ll have to postpone the meeting by a few days.”

“Meeting?”

He called me for a leadership meeting?

“What meeting do you mean?”

“The Elders.”

I blinked.

“The Elders called for you.”

You’ve got to be kidding me.

I was so shocked my throat closed up. I opened and closed my mouth without forming a proper question.

Why would those raccoon-like old monsters call me....

It must be because of the teleportation array.

Feeling suddenly exhausted, I turned my head away and said in a drained voice:

“I really hate this.”

“I understand. But since they don’t call often, let’s cut them some slack.”

“Is it possible to delay the date?”

“How can we hold a meeting when the centerpiece is barely standing? We have to postpone it.”

“They won’t like that.”

“They won’t, no. But they’ll accept it.” 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Ska truly had a mental fortitude comparable to titanium alloy.

“I’ll notify them, so get some sleep. I’ll come again this evening.”

The aide-de-camp spoke as if rescheduling a group project, then left quickly, apologizing for disturbing us.

Ricardo and I stared blankly after his back.

Silence came for the third time.

Listening to Ska’s fast footsteps fade away, I murmured:

“Honestly, sometimes Aide-de-Camp Ska scares me.”

“Me too~.”

Ricardo flopped lazily onto his bed.

“I absolutely never want to cross him~....”

It was a relief I wasn’t the only one who thought that.

With that thought, sleep slowly pulled me under.

***

I wanted to check on Yun and Seunghyun.

I also wondered about Yehyeon’s condition, and what had become of the teleportation array that had opened outside HQ.

But I couldn’t check any of it.

Because as soon as I woke from a deep, deep sleep, Ska rolled my bed and dragged me into an empty room.

“The fourth ‘raccoon’ will be attending this meeting.”

My flustered insistence that I could walk was ignored.

Closing the door, Ska dragged a chair beside my bed and announced it plainly.

“I told you before that among them, one is interested only in preserving their seat?”

“Yes. You said there was one old man like a raccoon.”

That was before the Colosseum mission.

I never expected to face them in person....

“Correct. Good memory. Anyway, that one will attend this time, so I figured I should roughly brief you on the Elders’ relationships and the relationships among their first subordinates.”

“...Excuse me?”

You really don’t have to go that far?

Besides, do Elders even have relationships? I assumed they only saw one another as political rivals.

Ska chuckled at my baffled expression.

“This meeting, you’re going in alone.”

“No.”

What kind of bolt from the blue is this.

“How did things become like this....”

“Well, that was their request. But they won’t lay a hand on you, so don’t worry too much. The Commander-in-Chief already made it very clear to them that I’m protecting you. And even without Yehyeon’s support, those three seem to like you quite a bit.”

It was depressing that I couldn’t deny that.

I didn’t need the affection of lunatics like them.

As I stared into empty air, bitterly, Ska scribbled something on a notebook.

Head lowered, he moved his hand across the page, then held the notebook out to me.

“The Elders’ relationships themselves are nothing dramatic. But the relationships between the Elders and their first subordinates, and the relationships among those first subordinates—it doesn’t hurt to know.”

A neat relationship chart appeared.

Its contents were as follows.

[Relationship Chart: Raccoons ⇄ Raccoons’ Subordinates]

▲ Falcon ☞ Jaeyeon: chess piece. possessiveness(?) affection(?)

▲ Jaeyeon ☞ Colton: love. hatred. fear. varies by mood

▲ Sukhoi ☞ Seunghyun: respect. sense of ownership

▲ Seunghyun ☞ Yekaterina: sense of debt toward his former wife. loyalty

▲ Spitfire ☞ Shashinsky & Rabbi: (conditional) love

▲ Shashinsky ☞ Spitfire: pure devotion. loyalty. resentment

▲ Rabbi ☞ Spitfire: blind love

▲ Wei ☞ Ryu O’Neil: love

▲ Ryu O’Neil ☞ Wei: love

“Is Wei the fourth Elder?”

“Yes. And Ryu is her First Subordinate.”

“Wei is a woman?”

I thought she was male, since Ska had called her a raccoon-like old man.

Ska silently nodded, then showed the next page.

[Relationship Chart: Between the Raccoons’ Subordinates]

△ Jaeyeon ☜ My life is still better than that bastard ☞ Seunghyun

△ Jaeyeon ☞ Shashinsky: pitiful bastard

△ Jaeyeon ☞ Rabbi: disgusting psycho bastard

△ Jaeyeon ☞ Ryu O’Neil: One day I’ll chop you up sashimi-style and kill you, I swear!

△ Seunghyun ☞ Shashinsky: pitiful guy

△ Seunghyun ☞ Rabbi: psycho

△ Seunghyun ☞ Ryu O’Neil: shameless, incompetent bottom-feeder

△ Shashinsky ☞ Jaeyeon: pitiful psycho

△ Shashinsky ☞ Seunghyun: a blindly powerful man he never wants to face

△ Shashinsky ☞ Rabbi: dangerous element that threatens his master’s safety; faint sense of alliance

△ Shashinsky ☞ Ryu O’Neil: how can someone be that carefree?

△ Rabbi ☞ everyone else: extras

△ Ryu O’Neil ☞ everyone else: doesn’t see them

My head spun.

I stared at the dizzying relationship chart with weary eyes.

After a long time staring, I muttered:

“I want a brain that doesn’t know any of this.”

“I get it, but unfortunately, no.”

Without mercy, Ska drew a long line under a particular entry.

The one where my eyes had paused while reading.

△ Jaeyeon ☞ Ryu O’Neil: One day I’ll chop you up sashimi-style and kill you, I swear!

“Remember this part especially well.”

The aide-de-camp warned grimly.

“It’s the most important.”