Black Badger

At first, I didn’t realize it was a memory from back then.

I was too busy being horrified that he’d managed to do something with his hands when I’d clearly severed the tendons in his wrists. It looked like he’d used magic to stitch the severed nerves back together.

He must’ve lost a lot of blood, and he still pulled it off. Tenacious bastard.

Still staring in shock, I finally saw myself—filthy, a chain around my neck—and that was when true terror hit.

Wow.

“Why are you playing something this gory?”

I drew my sword and stabbed down hard into the mage’s hand.

He screamed, but he kept the footage flowing.

It wavered for a moment, then the memory continued.

Because it was fragmented, there was no continuity to speak of. The scene of me being dragged along with a chain around my neck was already gone.

Instead, an image of me being trampled under the feet of three Executioners appeared. That, too, snapped off—and this time, a scene burst forth of me having my jaw forced open, swallowing some unknown liquid.

I need to knock him out completely.

I sheathed my sword, then swung the sheath into the back of the mage’s neck.

Thud!

The moment he passed out, the image cut off.

Silence settled over the transport.

“What the hell?”

The one who broke it was Ricardo, his voice sharp.

I gave an awkward smile.

“Sorry. That was unpleasant to see.”

“What was it.”

“Mages often use psychological attacks. That was probably part of one.”

After giving a light explanation, I turned toward Kairos.

This zone was far too dangerous to linger in. I wanted to tame a monster and get us out of here. We had no idea when the fluorescent marimo would finish eating everything.

But the squad didn’t give me time to issue orders.

“Captain. Was that really your memory?”

Kairos spoke bluntly before I could even open my mouth.

“How does that bastard know you have memories like that?”

“I’ll explain later, so let’s handle what’s urgent first.”

“Sky-birds don’t fly at night. The ground has to heat up for updrafts to form. And the transport is being guarded by the snake. It looks like we should stay here until daybreak.”

The tamer reported coolly.

Meaning: don’t even think about dodging the answer.

I want to dodge the answer.

But judging by the stares I could feel, I wouldn’t be able to wave it off. Ricardo and Kairos, especially, weren’t the types to let something slide. Kai was the type who would let it pass without asking, and Sophia and Walker didn’t ask, but watched closely—Ricardo and Kairos didn’t keep “let it go” as an option.

And the Choi siblings would come at it in their own way, too.

Realizing I couldn’t skip the explanation entirely, I dragged a hand across my neck.

“Kyle showed it to them. Most of our kin can’t beat me physically, so I guess the order is: if you face me, attack me mentally.”

“That thing just now... that really happened?”

Ami’s voice came out hoarse.

“No, right?”

“...Yes. It did. A story from ages ago. I told you, didn’t I? That I once swallowed an entire village.”

“How did Kyle show that scene to his subordinates?”

Ami sucked in a breath, and Kairos frowned.

“Have you ever been trapped together in the Room of Dreams?”

I gave them the rough outline—that I’d shown it myself.

And now that our relationship had completely broken, it seemed to be getting used as an attack method. When I thought about it, it wasn’t a surprising reaction. Hadn’t I also refused to hand my sword to Yehyeon, hoping Rei would hesitate?

And Rei really did hesitate when he saw my sword.

That hesitation got him killed.

Kyle would know that, too. And then he crossed the line. With that vicious betrayal and resentment, teeth grinding to dust.

Someone who wants revenge can become endlessly cruel.

The seniors were furious.

“Truly a vile bastard.”

Carl Dow—who rarely showed any emotional fluctuation—spat the words like he was chewing them apart. It startled me.

“Worst trash I’ve seen in a long time.”

“Fucking lunatic.”

Ricardo murmured, murderous.

“But why are you so calm about it?”

Why is the fire coming at me....

“I found out last time....”

“Last time? When was last time.”

“Don’t tell me your rejection reaction to inhalation is because of that experience?”

The moment I tried to make excuses, Ricardo shot back sharply, and Kairos immediately piled on after him.

I pressed my lips into a straight line, then answered in a subdued voice.

“Yes. I barely have those nightmares anymore. And, Rick—uh, you know the one from when that train overturned. The guy riding the crow. I found out while facing him. I killed him right away, though.”

“When Senior Kudo beat you up?”

Sophia, who’d kept her mouth shut until now, suddenly cut into the conversation.

I really wished she wouldn’t. I wanted to end this quickly and get back to the current situation.

But maybe that short clip had been too shocking—because the seniors didn’t look like they had any intention of changing the subject.

Even Walker was watching me with a dumbfounded face.

“Yes. Back then.... He babbled an explanation, so I found out.”

“So because you were shocked, you were just letting Senior Kudo beat you up?”

“Pardon? No. That wasn’t—”

“That’s too much.”

Ami was on the verge of bursting into tears.

“I’m going to kill him and display the corpse.”

The words that followed were chilling.

I started thinking fast to salvage the situation. The projection hadn’t even lasted a full minute, but the seniors and Kairos were either glaring at the unconscious mage like they wanted to kill him, or dissecting my face with their eyes.

Looks that were itching to murder the mage.

I needed something to flip the momentum.

While thinking, I remembered there was someone who hadn’t added a single word yet.

“Yun!”

When I whipped around and called the shooter, he jolted like he’d been startled.

“What.”

His eyes, which had widened for an instant, quickly returned to normal.

But after witnessing the rare sight of a startled Yun, I couldn’t speak right away.

Only after blinking a couple of times did I come back to myself.

“Please help interrogate that mage.”

If we interrogated him, we’d learn what he’d done to Shu, too.

If we couldn’t return right away, interrogation was still efficient. The information he spat out would help once Shu was transported to the hospital. And it would also dampen the seniors’ boiling anger, at least a little.

The other seniors listened, grumbling.

“Ah, sure.”

Yun answered gently.

Gently?

Why are you answering gently?

“I’ll go get the equipment, so wait a bit.”

“...Pardon?”

I stared blankly as he walked off toward a duffel bag.

“What equipment?”

Instead of answering, Yun bent down and pulled something out.

A smooth silver case emerging in his large hand.

It was a scalpel set.

“Why are you carrying something like that around?”

“Just in case I ever need it.”

Without panicking, I moved to Ami’s side.

Yun arched one eyebrow as he watched me back away to widen the distance.

“Why are you reacting like that.”

“Yeah. Why do you think I am?”

“Calm down. You’re the one who asked me to help with interrogation. Don’t tell me you meant you were going to get answers by listening to the captive’s inner voice like some psychiatrist.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

Yun and scalpels.

What a horrifying combination.

Even if I tried to go back to my spot, my feet wouldn’t move. So I stayed glued beside Ami, and Yun stared at me with a blank face before tilting his chin once.

“Then what were you going to do.”

“I usually use water.”

With the mage in tow.

Right now, without a mage, the best option would be to tame the “Voice of Dreams,” but—

The shooter let out a small laugh.

“That’s efficient too.”

“Yes. If you use water neatly, it cuts down the work in every way. ...But I may have been a medieval knight captain, senior, yet you’re a modern scientist—how do you know that?”

“I saw it in a movie.”

Shameless.

I made a face that said I was impressed anew every time by his sheer audacity. As always, Yun ignored my glare.

He set the silver case with the scalpels down on a chair, then unfolded a pair of latex gloves that had been tucked inside.

As he pulled ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) the gloves on, Ami shouted.

“Oppa, what are you doing!”

“I’m helping the squad leader.”

“But Hilde says he uses water!”

“Then we’ll use water too.”

Yun put on those uncomfortable-looking gloves perfectly well by himself.

Sophia frowned as if displeased, Ricardo and Walker let out hollow laughs, and Carl narrowed his eyes.

I pressed my palm to my forehead.

Ignoring all of that, the man smoothly drew out a scalpel—frighteningly well-suited to him—and went to the mage, dropping to one knee beside him.

The shooter muttered to himself.

“Though... don’t we not have any spare water?”

Meanwhile, Kairos, who had been standing still as if feeling out his instincts, spoke.

“The Voice of Dreams is too far away.”

I admired the tamer’s sense—he’d located the Voice of Dreams without needing instruction.

“Thanks. I was looking for it. If it’s that far, it can’t be helped. But if it comes nearby, tame it.”

“Got it.”

The red-haired man nodded.

“Given the circumstances, we’ll finish the Kyle story after we return.”

Wasn’t it over already?

Wasn’t my honest answer, plus the implicit signal that we’d kill the mage eventually, supposed to be the end of it?

I wanted to ask—but if I did, the topic would circle right back, so I held it in.

For the first time, I felt relieved that the situation wasn’t entirely good.

I gave an awkward smile and turned my gaze toward Yun and the mage.

The mage lay collapsed in one corner of the transport.

Yun was turning the man’s face left and right with his hand.

This isn’t really the place to start work.

We should take Yun and Walker outside the transport and do this with the seniors staying inside.

As I was thinking that and turning toward Walker, Yun broke the silence.

“As expected, this one has it too.”

Everyone’s eyes flew toward the shooter.

Yun was looking at the mage’s neck.

No—more precisely, behind his ear. He was inspecting the bumpy bone behind the auricle, even folding the mage’s ear forward so the bone behind it was clearly visible.

Why is he staring at that so closely?

As I wondered, Yun lifted his head.

“You have this too.”

“Pardon? What are you talking about? I’m genuinely asking because I don’t understand.”

“This bumpy part.”

“Hm?” 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

I craned my neck to check the spot Yun was indicating.

“Doesn’t everyone have that?”

That part is just shaped like that, isn’t it?

It’s not usually within one’s field of view, so I’ve never closely examined that part on others—but the bone below the auricle is normally like that. I’d seen it a few times when fastening Kyle’s earring or other people’s earrings, and they all looked the same.

It’s usually hidden by hair, so you don’t notice it much.

“The human mastoid process isn’t bumpy like this.”

At Yun’s words, my eyes widened.

“It’s just smooth bone.”

I reflexively touched behind my own ear.

So this area is called the mastoid process?

My callused fingers felt the distinctive uneven texture of the spot.

Humans don’t have bumps here?

I turned my gaze to the humans around me.

Checking behind Ami’s ear felt... awkward.

I stretched my legs and stepped closer to Yun.

When I approached from behind and bent down, Yun folded his own ear forward to show the bone behind it.

“Oh—what.”

It’s true?

“Why is it so smooth here?”

“It’s always like this.”

Really?

All humans are like this?

Then why hadn’t Eve noticed this difference?

Still stunned, I straightened up while rubbing the bumpy bone behind my ear—the mastoid process, according to Yun.

That was when I noticed people touching behind their own ears.

Everyone was craning their necks, trying to look at either the mage’s mastoid process or mine, stroking behind their own ears as they did.

I stared at the squad with a blank expression.

“I wanna see behind Hilde’s ear!”

It was only after hearing Ami’s voice that I snapped out of it.

I nodded and walked over to her.

“Let me see yours too. Is it flat back here for you as well, Ami?”

“Eek!”

When I bent down and showed behind my ear, Ami’s eyes widened.

“It looks so unique!”

“No, isn’t this how everyone’s is normally shaped?”

“Wow~.”

The members who had been sitting jumped up all at once and crowded over, staring intently at my mastoid process.

“It’s like tiny scales tattooed there~. I never noticed~.”

“Rick, if you don’t mind, can I see behind your ear too.... Yeah, it’s really smooth for you too, senior.”

“This isn’t a scar? It’s just naturally like that?”

“Yes. Everyone I know has bumps here.”

“Jack too?”

“Of course, senior. I have it too.”

“I honestly thought everyone’s was like this.”

“Humans’ is just smooth there, rookie. Guess you’ve never smashed a human in that spot before.”

Walker said something terrifying.

Drawn in by the commotion, Kairos came over, marveling as he looked at the humans’ mastoid processes. Ami and Carl examined behind Kairos’s ear. Ricardo tugged my ear back hard.

We spent a while like that, earnestly inspecting one another’s mastoid processes—until we snapped back to reality.

Because Yun stood up.

The man held the scalpel deftly in his right hand.

“My guess is that this is the receptor for your instincts.”

The scientist spoke flatly, a faint smile on his lips.

“Whether it’s a chemical receptor, an electrical receptor, or something else entirely, we’ll only know after looking. But finally encountering a living specimen I can open up—this is refreshing.”

That’s a real mad scientist thing to say.

While I was reeling, the shooter continued calmly, saying something even more horrifying.

“I’ve been curious about it every time I saw your mastoid process.”

“Pardon? Since when did you know about this? How did you even see this part of me?”

“How many times have you passed out in front of me? It’s been a while. I just didn’t say anything.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? Do you have any idea how violated my dignity feels right now? Do you understand this feeling? Can you even imagine it?”

“I don’t know. Since we’re already talking, let me ask one more thing.”

Trembling, I waited for Yun to continue.

Grabbing onto the arms of the seniors who had gathered around me.

I was too scared to even tell whose arm I was clutching—Carl’s, Ricardo’s, Walker’s, or Kairos’s.

I just shook and waited.

And the question that followed was genuinely shocking.

More shocking than the footage the mage had shown.

Choi Yun asked,

“Can you transmit emotions among yourselves too? This was another hypothesis I hadn’t mentioned—but inside the school today, it looked like you somehow warned Blackjack.”

This is seriously terrifying.