Black Badger

He didn’t know how long he had waited for you.

In truth, he had thought you were dead. He was a skeptic. His instincts felt nothing from the one he had served, and Yoow trusted his own searing sense of loss more than other people’s incomprehensible intuitions.

So he mourned for a long time, despaired, then stood back up and began to move.

It was a period so difficult that he had cursed Hildebert—who had died ahead of him—countless times.

Far too long. Far too lonely...

“Hilde?”

Yoow called his name in a hoarse voice.

Hilde was trembling on the floor.

Harsh, irregular breaths stabbed at the ears. With his left hand—the one not bracing against the sofa—he seemed to be trying to cover his mouth. But his body shook too violently, and he kept failing.

Cold sweat beaded and dripped onto the floor.

The blood drained from Yoow’s face.

“Hilde.”

He rushed over and grabbed the other’s shoulders.

Feeling the shoulders quiver violently, his grip tightened.

“Hill—”

Bang!

The door flew open, and two solidly built men rushed inside.

“So that’s why his condition felt off.”

Kairos muttered as he sprinted toward Yoow and Hilde.

Igor followed close behind.

Yoow hurriedly yielded his spot to the two men kneeling beside Hilde.

“Hyperventilation.”

“Bag.”

As Igor muttered, covering Hilde’s mouth with his thick hand, Kairos produced a paper bag from somewhere—where on earth he’d gotten it was anyone’s guess.

Igor skillfully pressed the paper bag to Hilde’s mouth.

“The bed?”

“Second floor. It’s more comfortable up there.”

The two moved in perfect sync.

Igor scooped up Hilde, who was fading in and out of consciousness. Kairos stayed close behind, guiding him.

Yoow stared blankly at the men as they grew farther away.

Their low voices faded.

Footsteps receded. A door closed. Only after all those sounds were gone did Yoow come back to himself. His brain, stunned into dysfunction, slowly began to think again.

The letter left by Adam’s parents.

Hildebert had read it, cried for a long time, then seized.

Yoow slumped where he was and kept thinking.

The image of those finely trembling hands wouldn’t leave his mind.

***

My eyelids are heavy.

That was the first thought when consciousness returned.

They must be really swollen...

“You awake?”

A familiar voice came from close by.

I forced my stubborn eyelids open.

My vision slowly came into focus. Igor was sitting on the edge of the bed, chewing on something.

His characteristically rough gaze shot over and lodged itself in me. Something jutted out of his mouth, dangling up and down.

What is that. Dried squid?

“No, I’m good.”

When I stared at what was dangling from his mouth, Igor pulled one out of the container he was holding and offered it to me.

I politely declined and rolled my eyes around.

So this is Kairos’s place.

Looks like I had a seizure. I didn’t have much strength left in my body. I didn’t feel like I’d thrown up, but I also had no urge to push myself upright with my elbow.

How long was the password valid again.

And what time is it now? How long did I sleep?

I rolled my eyes, trying to grasp the situation. Originally, after opening the Easter egg, I’d planned to get ready to head to Core 3 and contact Lee Seunghyun, but...

“Need water?”

Igor’s question pulled my drifting mind back.

I nodded obediently.

“Where’s Yoow?”

“No idea.”

The man grumbled as he stood up.

“Not curious either. That prissy bastard—hope he went out and got smashed by a monster.”

“That’s a bit much.”

I was honestly taken aback.

Igor was always foul-mouthed, sure, but—

I’d thought he wouldn’t be able to completely cut off his affection for Yoow. Igor was the kind of person who had more warmth than Kairos. If Kairos distributed equal, polite indifference to everyone except those he fixated on, Igor threw around a rough kind of affection that looked like indifference.

Which meant his disappointment in Yoow must have been that much greater.

I accepted the bottle of water Igor brought back with a quiet thanks.

“The tactician says you should wash.”

“Huh?”

In the middle of attempting to drink water without sitting up or spilling, I blinked.

“Kai? Come to think of it, where is he?”

“Said he was heading out for a bit.”

So where exactly—

I was about to ask, when Igor suddenly yanked the blanket off.

I panicked at Igor’s apparent intention to pick me up like a log.

“What are you doing!”

“Let’s splash some water on you. Don’t you feel gross?”

“No, wait, wait!”

Igor didn’t wait.

My body lifted abruptly. I twisted, slipping out from between Igor’s thick arms—but failed to escape. This brute grabbed both my ankles as I fled to the floor and started dragging me along.

A body being dragged face-down.

I resisted with all I had.

“You bastard! I said I’ll wash later myself!”

“Why is this place so stupidly huge?”

Igor ignored me.

“Takes forever just to get to the bathroom.”

Futile scratch marks were left in the carpet.

My fingernails left long trails, like slug slime. I had no strength, and Igor was absurdly strong even among our kin, so scratching the carpet did absolutely nothing.

“Don’t you usually bring a wet towel and wipe someone down? Huh?”

“Why would I use such a stupid method? One good dousing and you’ll feel refreshed.”

“I don’t want you washing me! I said I’ll do it myself!”

“Then at least drink your water properly.”

“Kairos!”

I gave up on talking to Igor and called for the far ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) more reasonable tactician.

“Kairos! Save me!”

My desperate cry went unanswered...

Shaaah.

Warm.

In the end, I was dragged into the bathroom with a rotten expression and stood there dully under the shower.

Igor really did just splash water on me.

At least he adjusted the temperature.

I sat sulking on the bathroom floor the entire time, not moving an inch, while Igor went about his business regardless. After dousing me, he slapped some body wash on, then rinsed me again.

Once I gave up entirely and stayed still, he even washed my hair.

With soap.

He rinsed it thoroughly, then wrung my hair out like a rag.

“Is washing your captain really that fun?”

I muttered, too dumbfounded to even argue back.

“But hey, do you even know what shampoo and conditioner are?”

“Why’s your hair so long?”

The guy, unable to stand the inconvenience, muttered as he looked at my white hair.

“Doesn’t this bother you?”

The washing ended quickly. Turning off the water, Igor roughly wrapped me in a robe, then slung me over his shoulder and carried me out of the bathroom, my will to move completely gone.

Deciding resistance was pointless, I hung there like a log on Igor’s shoulder, touring Kairos’s house.

Then I made eye contact with Kairos as he came inside.

Kairos blinked when he saw my dead eyes.

“Oh.”

“You back already?”

Igor said to the tactician, who had stopped short.

“Change the sheets.”

“Kairos.”

I blinked several times at him, then smiled faintly.

“From now on, whenever you ask Igor to do something, make sure you explain it in as much detail as possible.”

They said Yoow had returned to the cabin.

The game was left there too. Deltei was reading the letter Adam’s parents had written over there. As expected, I’d cried, seized, and apparently slept for nearly twelve straight hours. The day had changed.

A Black Badger headquarters where many things had changed in just a few days.

I listened to Kairos’s concise explanation.

Our meeting with the juniors was postponed indefinitely. Because a tragedy had occurred, the atmosphere at headquarters was unbearably heavy. After briefing me on the situation, Kairos apologized, saying he would have to head back to Black Badger headquarters soon as well. He’d been assigned to review footage being sent in by the rescue unit.

“If anything else happens, let me know.”

I gave a faint smile and saw Kairos off.

“Thanks for taking care of things. You must be exhausted—sorry you’re working so hard.”

“If anything’s uncomfortable, call me right away, Captain.”

After nagging me several more times, Kairos finally left the house, clearly reluctant.

“Please, don’t just endure things.”

Thud.

With the sound of the door closing came silence.

After the tactician left, I lay on the bed for a long while, staring at the ceiling. I explained the situation to Lee Seunghyun, told him let’s meet on Friday before I head to Core 3, and added that I was sorry but the next training would probably have to wait until after I finished my mission in Core 3.

After sending that message, I lay there blankly, waiting for a reply.

Igor sat in the chair beside the bed, unmoving.

I broke the silence first.

“Did you find the one who killed Adam?”

Igor answered bluntly.

“Two months after you disappeared, Captain.”

“Who was it?”

“Some insignificant lackey of the Frost Emperor. Yoow tortured him himself and killed him. Sorry there’s nothing to show you.”

“No.”

Hearing that he’d died in pain eased something inside me.

The guilt and loss didn’t disappear, but still.

It seemed our kin had done a lot while I was gone. I shifted my gaze to the IV bag Kairos had expertly hung up for me.

“Thank you for finding him in the end.”

Igor merely nodded once.

“You been doing well?”

“I have.”

“That’s good. Sorry I made you wait so long.”

“It wasn’t that long.”

The upright knight replied without even turning to look at me.

“What’s a wait of less than a hundred years, when we don’t even age?”

Seriously, this tough bastard.

I let out a small laugh at his very Igor-like response, then tried to gauge the span of time I’d been absent. The war ended, the Black Badger organization was officially founded, the Second War broke out, and after wrapping up the Second War, the Badgers recruited the 62nd class.

A period that was very long, if you called it long—and very short, if you called it short.

“How did Eve die?”

Igor turned his head to look at me.

“No one knows.”

When he spoke, he never averted his gaze.

“She went missing. No one ever found the body.”

“What?”

Then she could still be alive.

“But with high probability, she’s dead.”

Seeing my thoughts written on my face, Igor added,

“They found what was believed to be her right arm and left hand.”

Ah.

“They ran DNA tests and confirmed her identity. But why ask this all of a sudden?”

“It just occurred to me that I don’t even know where her grave is. I thought I’d been too indifferent, but from the sound of it, there isn’t even a grave.”

“There isn’t. On paper, she doesn’t exist. The humans took the right arm and left hand. I don’t know how they handled them. I don’t care either.”

Igor hadn’t liked Eve.

He’d never approved of me becoming her clinical test subject over and over again. He hadn’t mocked her like Kyle did, but still.

But hearing that her right arm and left hand had been found—

Had Eve not met a peaceful death either?

I briefly recalled the scientist who had made a game just for me. I neither hated nor liked her. It wasn’t because she was excessively naïve. Nor was it only because uncomfortable old memories resurfaced whenever I became a test subject.

I couldn’t like her because she was too smart.

Eve figured out how to halt aging far too quickly.

Once that turning point was crossed, the alliance between humans and us began to collapse. There was nothing left for either side to exchange.

In the end, I never said it.

But the truth is, Eve—

I wished you would never discover that method.

I wished that the woman who had left everything behind to choose us, who had given up everything, would remain a failed scientist for life.

“I’m heading to Core 3 in a few days.”

I muttered, staring at the wall.

“Please take care of the cabin while I’m gone.”

“I’m planning to follow you.”

“What?”

I whipped my head around and met Igor’s gaze, fixed squarely on me.

Igor didn’t elaborate.

“It’s been discussed with the tactician.”

“Huh?”

“I’m not a Badger.”

Igor flicked the sword he carried at his side.

The dazzling amethyst embedded in the scabbard swayed back and forth.

“And I don’t plan on becoming one. Means I’m free. I can follow you wherever you go.”

“...Isn’t that just because you’re unemployed?”

“Where are you staying in Core 3?”

He ignored me again and carried on.

“And how do you even get to Core 3? I’ve never been to another Core.”

***

We took a plane.

Apparently, there’s an air route between Center Core and Core 3. They say there’s something like a massive Core passage laid across the sky. A huge, transparent tunnel, like a rubber tube...

I don’t really know. Anyway, we boarded a plane that passed through it and got off.

Stepping out of the airport in a daze, I saw seniors waiting for me.

Two members of the deserter apprehension unit.

Sylvia.

Leonard.

“Hilde!”

Leonard waved his hand enthusiastically as he greeted me.

In contrast to Sylvia, who remained seated in a café chair even after spotting me, the blue-eyed man approached with a broad smile and extended his right hand.

I lifted the corner of my mouth into a smile and shook his hand.

“Senior.”

Since we’d be working together from here on out, I should try to get along with them.

For all I knew, they might be more normal than Choi Yun...

“It’s been a while. I look forward to working with you on this mission. I may be inexperienced, but I’ll do my best to tail the deserter.”

“Ah, about that.”

Leonard spoke as if something had just occurred to him.

I blinked.

What is it?

“Actually, there’s something I need to confess to you.”

“Yes?”

“You know the deserter Badger’s name, right?”

“Yes. Doug Clark.”

“Right. Up until yesterday, Doug Clark was clinging to life—but for the past few hours, I’ve been thinking of him in the past tense.”

“No.”

What?

What?

What the hell did you do to him, you bastard??