Black Badger

I should give him an answer.

All the people I’ve met since falling out of the ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) portal.

Those I encountered for the first time, and those I met again.

If someone asked me whether I was blessed with good people, I would say yes. I truly believed that.

When I was an infant, I lost my parents, but by luck I was handed over to a priest. They said my mother, lying atop a heap of corpses, used the last of her strength to beg them to raise me well. She said my name was Hildebert Taleb.

That was how my parents’ traces remained only in my name.

A name whispered to a priest moments before her breath ended.

I never knew their faces, but I never forgot the grace of parents whose presence I could sense only through that name. She could have given up her life and found peace sooner. But she waited beside her husband’s corpse, drinking rainwater with cupped hands, waiting for someone to pass by.

And at last, my mother succeeded in passing me into warm hands.

The priests.

Those who gave me all the love I lacked.

Those who taught me how to face life’s joys and hardships. I grew up in an abundance of affection, and that love still sits in a corner of my chest.

And even after that, I met many benefactors. Too many to list.

Even after losing everything and falling out of a portal, my fortune with people did not disappear.

Just think about it.

How could the very first Badgers I met be Ricardo, Ami, Shu, Kai, and Ro?

How could the commander of the Badgers be Yehyeon?

How could my mentor be...

...well.

Objectively, he has a lot of problems. But still—how could my mentor end up being Yun, someone so strangely perfect for me?

I really did like them.

It was a short time, but enough for affection to form.

So this is not a matter of whether I cherish Kyle more than Yehyeon.

It isn’t that at all.

“...I...”

As I finally opened my mouth, Yehyeon’s eyes trembled.

“I don’t really know either.”

I answered honestly.

His already large eyes widened further.

The sadness welling in those black eyes stung sharply in my chest. I could see him trying—and failing—to accept my answer.

Maybe I should have lied. Maybe I should have said something for his sake, even if it wasn’t true.

But...

“Yehyeon.”

“...Why?”

When I called his name, he took a step back and muttered:

“Why....”

“It’s not because Kyle is more precious to me than you. You won’t believe that, I know.”

He didn’t look convinced.

I didn’t move any closer as I spoke.

“It’s also not because my own kind is more precious than humans. As you know, some of my kin now actually support me.”

Yehyeon kept his mouth shut.

I didn’t approach or reach out; I simply continued.

“So it’s not any of that.”

How should I explain this?

“It’s not that, it’s just...”

If in the final, final moment... I had to kill Kyle.

If I fulfilled the duty only I could fulfill. Even if that wouldn’t wipe out every monster scattered across Earth, if I succeeded in removing the disaster humans feared most... if the burden on my shoulders finally eased...

And if, in that moment, Kyle wished for my death—

Then would I...

“Would I be able to endure?”

I muttered the words like they were meant for myself.

Yehyeon flinched. I caught the widening of his eyes.

This time, I couldn’t bring myself to meet his gaze.

“After sending off two comrades I once considered closest, by my own hand... if I were given a reason to let everything go—would I be able to hold on?”

“...Hilde.”

“I know it’s selfish. And I’ll try not to be that way.”

He stepped closer to me.

I lifted my head to meet his eyes and gave a bitter smile.

The worst godfather imaginable.

“But I can’t promise you anything. I’m sorry this is all I can give you.”

Yehyeon stared at me for a long time.

The study was wrapped in a cool, cutting silence.

And surprisingly, the child—who did not cry—broke that silence softly.

“I understand what you mean.”

It wasn’t defensive.

“I also have moments when enduring feels unbearably heavy. That doesn’t mean I love Yun or Ami any less. I know what you’re saying.”

Selfishly, his answer made my heart sink.

I stayed quiet, unworthy of adding anything.

“But there were also times when, because life was so heavy, I held onto the love they gave me and managed to endure. So... I’ll try harder.”

“You don’t need to try anything.”

I whispered as I looked at him.

“I mean it.”

“But you were angry that you couldn’t end it back then, weren’t you?”

My hand, which had been about to pat his head, froze midair.

“You were angry that everything should have ended with Rei, but you and Kyle survived for some inexplicable reason.”

...He sensed that?

How did he know? Was it something in my voice when I described those memories? Or did he read it off my face?

No wonder Yoow berated me asking if I tried to run to death because I felt the same thing.

As I stiffened, unable to move, Yehyeon took my hand and lowered it gently.

“I’m glad your kin came for you.”

He stared somewhere into empty space and whispered quietly:

“They’ll be able to hold you back enough.”

“You’re enough.”

I meant it.

“It’s not that I lack affection. Something inside me is broken. But I’ll try, Yehyeon. I’ll give it everything I have.”

“Yes.”

He turned his head toward the painting and replied:

“I’ll whine a lot too.”

A bitter laugh escaped me.

In the tangle of guilt, affection, and pity, I stroked his hair. Whining was, in his own way, an effort. Maybe he hoped I would stay because I couldn’t bear to leave a child who hadn’t been properly cared for.

The painting was beautiful.

A cool ocean.

As I looked at the refreshing sea, I asked:

“Did that hurt you?”

“Yes. But thank you for answering honestly.”

He said that, then walked out of the study.

“I’m going to sleep for a bit.”

I wandered around the living room, unable to return to the cabin, and fell asleep on the sofa—ready to knock on his door if I heard him cry.

But no crying came through the night.

***

When morning came, Yehyeon’s eyes were swollen.

I couldn’t even muster a bitter smile.

“So you learned how to cry without making a sound.”

“Eat your cereal.”

He walked to the kitchen and set out milk and cereal.

I obediently poured milk into the bowl and began eating. As I chewed the choco-balls, I watched him scan his phone with an already businesslike gaze.

He had clearly started working.

I should return to the cabin after hearing news about Sylvia and Leonard, and meet Ju. Deltei sent word yesterday that she received the documents, so she should be leaving for the Private Bank soon.

I’d tell Yun by message that I’d hurt the kid. He’d beat me later, but I deserved it.

I chewed cereal and waited for Yehyeon to speak.

But he didn’t bring up the deserter-capture unit.

Instead, his face suddenly drained of color, and he shot up from his seat.

“Gilbert.”

He pressed his phone to his ear urgently.

“Where?”

A flood of frantic questions followed.

I soon understood the situation.

Things had escalated critically.

A deserter was the least of our worries now—something far more pressing had happened.

Shu had been taken.

Beyond a teleportation array.

It happened ten minutes before the end of her patrol shift.

Only Shu was taken. Asil and the Badgers preparing to rotate in were unharmed. What emerged from the open teleportation array wasn’t a Creature but an endless black vine. It wrapped around Shu and vanished. The array disappeared the moment it swallowed her.

Ricardo had said before that he had pulled Shu back when she was nearly taken the same way.

[Fortunately, because the abduction happened before her shift ended, her tracker functioned to some extent.]

Gilbert reported.

[She hasn’t moved from one location. Transmitting coordinates now.]

Yehyeon set the phone down and projected a hologram over the screen.

I watched the satellite footage spread across the air.

Zone A—

No.

Zone S.

It wasn’t covered in fog, so at first glance I thought it was A, but the map clearly said “Zone S.”

Zone S. A place even trained Badgers were forbidden to enter.

Yehyeon zoomed in on the blinking red point.

“Biological readings?”

[She appears to be in a sleeping state.]

Did they sedate her?

She seemed to be inside a building that used to be a school. I narrowed my eyes and scrutinized the footage. In the broken windows of the eerie building, traces of Creatures were visible.

Particularly nasty ones.

It looked highly probable that this was a black magician’s nest.

“Did they take her because of her portal compatibility?”

Yehyeon pressed his forehead to the back of his hand, muttering to himself.

“Now that I think about it... every time a portal behaved strangely, she was there...”

...Damn.

He was right. She’d been there when I first fell out of the portal, when portals opened simultaneously at the Science Wing and Center Core, and on Foundation Day, which she said she would attend since it was her day off.

I didn’t know what influence she had on portals, but it no longer seemed like coincidence.

They likely snatched her because of that peculiarity.

To keep her and experiment on her...

The blood drained from my face.

“Prepare the drones.”

[Yes.]

“Commander.”

He called the commander as Yehyeon rose from his seat.

“Let me go.”

If we sent a handful of moderately skilled Badgers into that building, they’d be slaughtered. They’d fail to rescue Shu and only increase casualties.

“Those monsters—ordinary bullets won’t work—”

“I know.”

He cut me off.

“Get ready.”

I shot to my feet.

“Tell Jack to prepare as well.”

I was about to sprint out of the house when an unexpected sentence froze me.

I stared at him with widened eyes.

“Your kin won’t sense that man's presence.” 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Ah.

“Jack will retrieve Shu.”

It was a rational solution.

The situation was dire enough to bring out the hidden Kairos. I nodded and ran out the door.

***

Kairos did not argue when I told him we needed to deploy outside the Core immediately.

He didn’t ask a single question and finished preparing.

There was no time to explain the situation to Deltei or Igor. All I managed was a request to look after Yoow.

We would exit the Core through the portal zone at HQ—this time not by stepping out on foot, but by taking a fighter craft through the portal exterior.

Only once I got into Kairos’s roaring sports car did I manage to explain.

He nodded.

“What monsters did the footage show again?”

“Marla. Adjudicator. Chimera.”

Those were manageable enough.

“And High Lich and Grave-Wight.”

“Ah. So that school is a nest.”

I agreed. That was why I abandoned Yoow’s matter and begged Yehyeon to let me deploy.

I had also just sent Colton a message.

Besides the greatsword, I brought several short blades as well. The edge could be damaged. The air near a nest carried a foul energy—blades dulled, bows weakened.

And Creatures like Marla, Adjudicator, and Chimera became stronger near nests. High Liches and Grave-Wights were already upper-tier monsters difficult to handle alone. Not as overwhelming as Usurpers or Wraith-Lords, but still.

The real problem would be the black magician almost certainly present.

And because it was a nest, there would be something twisted dwelling there—something even Kairos and I wouldn’t know.

They said drones were being sent into the school now. Even the limited footage before their inevitable crash was crucial to assessing the situation.

“Are you leading the squad? You’ll be going with the Badgers I met last time?”

“Yes.”

But one more member would join.

“William Walker.”

The strongest among all current Black Badgers.

He, too, would be deployed for this mission.