Black Badger

The seniors’ faces stiffened at once.

Mine did too. I sprang up from my seat and moved toward her.

Among the squad, the best at first aid was Carl, but the one with the most medical knowledge was Yun.

The two of them checked Shu’s condition together. They couldn’t do a thorough examination, so there wasn’t much they could do.

The other Badgers watched the two of them moving quietly.

A suffocating stillness settled over the transport.

We didn’t move. We waited for the result.

Thankfully, after running the scanner over Shu from head to toe, Yun spoke.

“It doesn’t look like complete paralysis.”

Faces brightened instantly.

“I’ll need proper diagnostics to be sure, but from what I can tell, there’s a high chance it can be treated with rehabilitation.”

“Really?”

Shu, who had kept her mouth tightly shut except to answer questions during the examination, lifted her head.

The way her voice jumped made my chest ache.

How scared must she have been.

Yun nodded.

“It doesn’t seem like spinal damage to begin with. Of course, we’ll only know for sure after detailed tests back at base.”

“Thank goodness!”

Ami, who had been gripping Shu’s right hand tightly, finally relaxed her expression.

“I’ll help you with rehab! I’ve done it before, so I’m good at it. If you keep at it, you’ll get better, so don’t worry too much, Shu.”

“You’ve done rehab before, senior?”

“Yeah. I was in a coma for two years before I woke up. I couldn’t move properly because I’d been lying down the whole time. But with rehab, I gradually got better.”

Ami kept smiling as she held Shu’s gaze.

“I’ll help you, so don’t worry!”

Tears welled up in Shu’s eyes. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

It was the first time I had seen that young Badger show such raw emotion. She usually only smiled faintly at best, and even when surprised, she would just blink. That was all.

Shu wiped her tears with the back of her hand.

“Thank you.”

Her murmured voice trembled.

“I was worried my dad would be concerned....”

She trailed off, lowering her head and rubbing at her eyes.

I couldn’t bring myself to speak, weighed down by guilt and pity.

Meanwhile, Ami smoothly pulled Shu into a hug and rubbed her back.

Even as she soothed her, Ami shot me a look.

A look that clearly said she would take care of calming Shu down, so I should go out and finish interrogating the mage.

I couldn’t argue with that.

I nodded in thanks and stood up.

“Yun. Walker, senior. Jack.”

I didn’t need to add anything else.

Walker rose from his seat and picked up the mage. The man lifted him like he was carrying a pizza box, then silently disappeared out of the transport. Yun carefully packed up his set of surgical tools and followed after the giant junior.

Kairos uncrossed his arms and headed outside as well.

Before leaving, I glanced at Ricardo.

The green-eyed senior immediately understood my look and tore his gaze away from Shu.

“I’ll be back.”

Ricardo nodded silently.

That was answer enough. Gripping the hilt of my sword, I stepped out of the transport.

***

Kyle was still pouring out resentment and hatred.

I clung to it like a lifeline. Until yesterday, I had thought these emotions were getting tiresome. I had told myself they were only natural, yet they still hurt when I wasn’t in good shape.

Now, I was grateful for what he was pouring out.

If not, I don’t think I could point my blade at him.

Shu’s words—that she had seen me when she was caught by the Ashen Mantle—kept echoing in my head.

At first, I wondered if he still had some affection left for me.

I thought maybe that was why the Ashen Mantle had shown her that.

But when I traced the emotions Kyle was transmitting, I realized that horrifying assumption was completely wrong.

Thank goodness. If he hadn’t been able to sever his feelings for me, it would have been unbearable.

So keep sending me these emotions.

So I don’t forget that there’s no turning back now.

The mage gagged and choked in fear and pain.

I sat on a rock and watched Walker skillfully fill his ears with water.

“You barbaric bastard!”

I’d heard almost everything worth hearing.

“We show our prisoners the utmost courtesy....”

I’d heard plenty.

More than expected. I still didn’t know why Kyle had kidnapped Shu, but we had learned that he had deliberately performed excessive transfer on her, then ordered her to be placed into a teleportation array.

When nothing unusual happened, he had told them to put her into the flower typically used to summon familiars.

And after reporting the anomalies, he had instructed them to send her back as comfortably and politely as possible.

We even learned that Jin Silver was still alive.

“You saying you can’t hear any more?”

Walker pinned the struggling mage down and looked at me.

“Seems like there’s a lot more we could squeeze out of him. Enemy locations, living patterns.”

“There’s a vow placed on him.”

I answered dryly and tapped the air around the mage with my silver blade.

“He vomited blood every time he tried to say certain words. That’s proof. Even if he wants to talk, he won’t be able to. Not internal information.”

“Figures.”

Yun flicked his knife.

“No warning signs, yet he was coughing up blood.”

Valdez must have placed the vow.

A skilled mage. It wouldn’t be easy to break. We were lucky to have extracted even this much.

If we pushed any further, the mage would die vomiting his organs.

Yun clicked his tongue.

“There’s still a lot I’m curious about. I want to keep him alive.”

“You’ll have to choose one.”

I lowered the tip of my blade to the wasteland and let out a low laugh.

“Interrogate him further and dispose of him, or keep him around for use?”

“The latter.”

“Then please give me a little time.”

Listening to his ragged breathing, I continued.

“There are a few things I want to ask this one.”

Yun and Walker looked at me.

I could feel their gazes sweep over my face, but I didn’t lift my head. I sat there with my eyes half-lowered.

The night air was cold.

The seniors rose to their feet.

“You want us to step away.”

“Thank you.”

“Want me to step away too?”

The summoner, who had been staring at the dark silhouette of the forest at the edge of the wasteland, twisted his body.

“Just for a moment.”

I didn’t take my eyes off the sword tip.

“Go back into the transport. If anything happens, I’ll let you know right away, so don’t worry.”

I felt Kairos’s orange gaze on me.

But thankfully, he didn’t ask any questions. He said he understood and casually followed after the seniors. I heard the footsteps of the three men returning to the transport.

The sound of sand being crushed underfoot.

I was left alone with the half-dead dark mage.

Amid the knife-like wind of the wasteland, I listened to the breathing of a criminal who had conducted human experiments and spoke.

“How much did Kyle show you?”

My mutter was swept away by the night wind.

“Show me everything again. My past, as you heard it from Kyle.”

His eyes rolled.

In the silent wasteland, a low-resolution gore film began to play. It was the footage I had tried desperately to sever just hours ago, even punching holes through my opponent’s hands.

Sitting on the rock, I watched it all without missing a thing.

To recognize that Kyle truly hated me.

Someone who could do this couldn’t possibly have any affection left for me.

It was good—a process that let me confirm that fact over and over again. It also threw kindling onto my resentment toward Kyle. No matter what, this was too much.

When I feel like I can’t point my sword at him, think of this footage.

When empty thoughts start to torment me....

“What the hell are you doing?”

Wham.

My shoulder was yanked around hard.

I stared up, eyes wide, at the person who had grabbed me.

“Why are you sitting here watching that crap? What’s wrong with you?”

“Ric.”

Hearing the fury in his voice froze my body.

Why did he come out?

As if reading my thoughts, Ricardo smiled coldly.

“You didn’t tell me to go back inside, did you~?”

Letting go of my shoulder, he strode forward and kicked the mage.

Thud! With a loud sound, the mage let out a choking gasp.

I panicked.

“Senior. You can’t kill him. Yun will chew me out.”

“If you were scared of that, you should’ve handed him over to Yun right away....”

Ricardo shoved his hands into his pockets and turned to me.

“Why are you doing this?

He looked like he was prepared to stand there forever if I didn’t answer.

I opened my mouth, then closed it again.

His gaze wouldn’t drop.

In the end, I gave in to those sharp eyes.

“I was watching it because I thought I might start having pointless thoughts.”

I slowly stood up.

“But I’m fine now. We should call Yun. He’s probably been waiting anxiously.”

“Is this because of what that kid said? Because the Ashen Mantle showed her your 모습?”

Still sharp as ever.

“Did you already forget the footage that just played? You were the one who called it a gore film....”

Exactly.

I gave a bitter smile and sheathed my sword. After pushing my hair back from my face as it whipped in the night wind, I fished a hair tie out of my pocket.

I tied my hair into a short tail and stepped closer to the senior.

“Did you hear? Jin Silver is alive.”

Ricardo allowed the change of subject.

He stared at me irritably, then let out a heavy sigh.

“Yeah~....”

“Once we return to the Core, I think we should sort out everything we learned on this mission. Rescuing Jin Silver will probably become the most urgent matter.”

Yehyeon would make the final decision.

“There’s nothing we can do right now. At least we managed to rescue Shu in time. Skybirds don’t fly until dawn, so you should go inside and get some rest.”

“You’re getting counseling the moment we get back~.”

Ricardo said something odd.

“There’s no way you’re fine after watching stuff like that....”

Counseling. I’d heard there was a separate counseling system for Badgers at headquarters.

If there was time, it might be worth trying.

I smiled and nodded.

But the green-eyed senior didn’t trust me.

He put a cigarette in his mouth, lit it with a lighter, and muttered as if to himself.

“I should give the F1 driver a heads-up....”

So much for trust.

Kairos had already warned me that we’d finish our conversation after returning as well.

Talking to that summoner always scared me. No matter what, the outcome always seemed to turn out exactly the way he wanted. He rarely got angry, yet Kairos always got what he wanted in the end.

I shouldn’t get dragged in this time.

Thinking that, I waited for Ricardo to finish his cigarette, then walked back toward the transport.

Keeping an eye on the fluorescent marimo, which seemed even bigger now.

***

The snake watched over us until sunrise.

I could feel, even with my sixth sense, that Creatures were swarming in the forest beyond the wasteland, but none of them dared approach.

At dawn.

Kairos was smiling, locking eyes with the snake, saying something to it.

The way it kept its gaze fixed on him, tongue flicking, was oddly cute.

Four skybirds hovered around the snake.

I heard Yun had taken care of the dark mage’s corpse. I didn’t ask how.

Carl and Walker were standing near the marimo.

There had been a bit of a commotion with the fluorescent marimo during the night, but fortunately, it seemed to be sleeping now.

After eating almost the entire hull of the transport, it was probably sleepy.

Probably.

If it woke up, the seniors would let us know.

Ricardo and Sophia were keeping watch.

Ami hovered near the skybirds, trying to win their favor.

“Can we get on now?”

She asked for what felt like the fourth time.

Kairos, who had been smiling at the yawning snake, turned his head.

“Not yet. The sun at dawn doesn’t generate thermals. We’re going a long distance, so it’s better to ride the updrafts.”

“What do they like? I should get friendly with them before we ride!”

As I watched Kairos head toward Ami, saying he’d show her how to make friends, Shu called out to me.

I turned and crouched in front of the senior sitting on a rock.

“Yes, senior.”

“I talked briefly with Jack yesterday too, and I think I should tell you this.”

What?

I stayed still and listened.

Shu hesitated briefly.

Tilting her head with an uncertain look, she spoke.

“This isn’t about the Ashen Mantle. I thought I’d imagined it, but Jack heard the same thing. He said he heard it when he pulled me out of the flower.”

What followed was shocking.

“Someone said it while laughing. ‘You locked me in this hell, and now you’re trying to get comfortable on your own?’”

Huh?

When ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) did I hear those words?