Black Badger

He said that if I showed up at the designated place, he’d be willing to negotiate.

Of course it would be a ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) trap.

But even knowing that, it was a trap I had no choice but to walk into.

“The Badgers still can’t infiltrate all the way in.”

Kairos sat on a beanbag placed on the bare floor with no blanket laid down, trimming Milk’s claws.

“And that makes sense. Looks like Kyle’s guarding it. So it seems they can’t even slam a missile into the area nearby.”

“So he’s dead set on it. Captain, if you’re going out, you have to drag me and the handler with you.”

“You can’t go out.”

Igor said it while sprawled long on the blanket, staring up at the ceiling, and Yoow sprang to his feet from the chair by the table.

The chain looped around his ankle clinked.

“There’s a mage on that side. The moment you step into the negotiation site, you could be kidnapped at any time. It’s a scheme to drag you to wherever they want.”

“Before the war you were forcing yourself to speak in honorifics to the bitter end. Since you’re twisted now, at least this part is nice.”

Sitting in the massage chair I’d decided I needed to move upstairs tomorrow, I smiled faintly.

Yoow’s face crumpled mercilessly.

When I watched that face in silence, Yoow snarled.

“You’re thinking you’ll get dragged somewhere and then go raise hell, aren’t you. You’re thinking it’d be even better if you could go and finish it there.” 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

And why couldn’t I?

Either way, I had to enter their depths at least once. Leeho was there, and Jin Silver was there. And Kyle’s camp didn’t know that Kairos and Igor could hide their senses. My subordinates were people who could conceal their own senses while still detecting mine—skilled fighters I could trust enough to cut loose.

So even if I got kidnapped, it wasn’t like I’d remain helplessly bound.

This current war with my kin was, in truth, a chess game.

Take the king, and it’s over.

Kyle.

“All the mages will rush you and start firing restraint spells.”

Yoow looked like he was barely holding back the urge to hurl the cup on the table.

“No matter if you’re the captain of the White Knights, you can’t break through restraint spells being cast by dozens of people at once.”

“True.”

“You want your head cut off that pointlessly?”

Yoow dragged his chain as he came closer and pressed his index finger hard into my chest.

“If it were me, the moment I restrained you, I’d cut your neck.”

I felt Igor and Kairos go still.

Bbak. Milk, puzzled, lifted its head where it had been wedged against a foot. The white, fluffy monster stared at me with questioning eyes.

After meeting Milk’s gaze, I smiled at it.

Milk stared blankly for a moment, then slipped out of Kairos’s arms.

“It’s an instant.”

As I petted Milk’s head—now perched on the massage chair’s armrest—Yoow continued.

“You, more than anyone, know how fast Kyle can draw his sword. It’ll end in an instant. And then humans will be left with only one option: nukes!”

“Don’t worry. I’m not planning to die like that.”

“Good. Then you won’t go to the negotiation site.”

“I have to keep Kyle pinned somewhere else.”

Yoow looked at me like I was unbelievable.

A look that said, If that were so easy, do you think we’d be suffering like this? I let out a small laugh.

By now, Milk was clinging to my chest, shedding fur all over my clothes.

As I stroked its back, I looked up at Yoow.

“Yoow.”

Yoow flinched.

Kairos’s and Igor’s gazes also snapped toward me. Maybe it was the sincerity in the way I said his name. Everyone braced for what I’d say next.

After lifting Milk—grunting as its claws dug into my clothes—onto my shoulder, I said,

“Apologize to my peers.”

Yoow pressed his lips into a straight line and looked down at me.

Still wearing a faint smile, I added,

“How long are you going to put off apologizing like a disgrace?”

The strategist stared at me with a blank face.

He didn’t move for a long time. Then he spoke.

“Until you say you’ll abandon the kidnapped Badgers and refuse to go to the negotiation site.”

“Stop talking nonsense. This has nothing to do with your apology.”

“It didn’t even become trauma. If I suddenly go and apologize, I’ll just make them remember an incident they were finally starting to forget.”

“How long are you going to make cowardly excuses?”

“In the first place, those peers don’t even know what you are. What exactly am I supposed to say while apologizing?”

I smiled.

“Don’t worry. What I am will be revealed soon.”

Most likely, the day Jason Trevain returned inside the Core would be the day the lies ended.

Trevain would hear that Samjin—that is, Gregory—got beaten up by either Yun or Ro. And he wasn’t the kind of man to let that slide. Especially not when it involved me.

From the start, he didn’t like me much. Yehyeon personally set the stage to introduce a new recruit, and that recruit also used the exact same swordsmanship as Yehyeon—how could that not be disgusting to him?

From where I stood, the only reason I’d been free of Trevain’s old-man bullying until now was purely because of Yun.

Trevain hated Yun, but he avoided a serious clash with him.

But that was only on the assumption that Yun didn’t provoke him.

“I guarantee it, that senior will call me out personally.”

I smiled as I stroked Milk, which was loafing on my knees.

“He won’t let it go. He’s the kind of person who was ready to go down together with Rei if Yehyeon failed. Even if everyone else accepts it, he’ll never accept it to that extent. He’s not someone who hides that he didn’t concede.”

“See?!”

Yoow suddenly went off.

It was such a baffling outburst that all three of us were startled. No—three people and one creature.

Everyone widened their eyes and stared blankly at the strategist, his face twisted.

Yoow didn’t care. He fumed.

“I hate them!”

“...Them? What... the Badgers?”

“The Badgers too!”

“The Badgers too... ah, humans?”

“Yeah! I can’t stand watching you walk into a trap those war-crazed bastards dug for you, just to save these damned things! At your age, isn’t your goal supposed to be dying peacefully!”

He’s attacking my age here?

Taking the hit, I stared at him dumbly and tried to soothe him.

“Just calm down first.”

“An ungrateful species! Those selfish things—just let them die! What are you going to do by saving people who won’t even add to your fighting strength!”

“Thought he’d gotten better, but I guess not.”

“And what the hell is in the head of that bastard who calls himself the Commander-in-Chief!”

Igor, who’d been lying down, lifted his upper body and muttered. Beside him, Yoow started pouring out curses in the imperial language. Startled, Milk leapt off my knees and fled into Kairos’s arms.

Kairos pulled Milk into his chest, then watched Yoow with amused interest.

I reflected.

I knew he had a tendency to get worked up when things tangled like this, but I hadn’t realized his boiling point had dropped this far.

I’ve been away too long.

I took a brief moment to reflect on that.

Then, when Yoow finally paused to breathe, I spoke.

“It was the same in the past, and it’s the same now—my top priority is my kin. I’m not going to the battlefield for humans.”

“But then things that can’t even live a century call you out? And you’re thinking of going?”

“Yoow.”

I couldn’t hold it in. I chuckled.

“What’s the big deal? What can the people calling me out even do?”

Richard Green might show up, sure.

But what would that change? Unless they dragged out someone on the level of Lee Seunghyun, I was confident I could walk out from among the seniors without a scratch.

At worst, they’d bring out the recognizer, reveal I was a Creature, and grab me by the collar. Their blame didn’t affect me at all. It took bonds on the level of Jonathan’s or Ricardo’s for something to actually hurt.

Jason Trevain and Gregory’s blame?

Not even as damaging as Yoow’s age jab just now.

Seniors I’d never even properly introduced myself to, blaming me? Bad rumors circulating among people? There were too many other problems that actually mattered for me to spare attention for that.

It wasn’t like I was being framed, either. I’d been framed a few times—an unclear origin and so on.

Even when I was blamed for things that weren’t true, I tended to stay calm.

Everyone around me was the one going insane.

“Even if they call you, don’t go.”

“I can’t do that. It’ll be treated as insubordination.”

“And going out and smashing the seniors is not insubordination? The Commander-in-Chief accepted you—on what grounds would they even call you out to blame you? And we’ve been fighting Kyle longer than they have. The very idea that you’d be blamed doesn’t make sense.”

“Not everyone blames me. People I’m somewhat close with mostly took my side. So calm down.”

And I thought the veterans—including Jason Trevain—had the right to be angry.

Among them, I thought Jason Trevain in particular had even more reason to be angry. I still remembered that voice from the footage. His resolve had been real. Trevain had been ready to stake everything to kill Rei.

That isn’t easy.

A person can’t forget being cornered like that.

If we hadn’t come to Earth, he would have lived an ordinary life.

Jason Trevain wasn’t a likeable human, but I respected his resolve. Even though, when I asked the seniors before leaving the research wing, “How do I maintain a good relationship with Senior Trevain?” Ro answered like this.

‘Cut off what’s hanging between your legs.’

‘Then I’ll just live being hated.’

Even if I were human, I doubt I could have maintained a good relationship with Jason.

Yun finished him off with a sneer.

‘The moment either you or Yehyeon turns into a woman, he’ll be the guy holding doors open every time you two pass by.’

Bobby really needs to fix her taste in men...

Ding-dong!

Everyone’s head turned toward the door.

“Yes,” I said, getting up from the massage chair—when the door burst open.

“Captain!”

“Huh?”

Why is she here?

The three men’s eyes widened as they looked at the visitor. I blinked at Rose, standing on the threshold.

“You’re divorced already?”

“No.”

Rose smiled shyly at attention, standing at ease.

“I heard the news late.... The moment I heard, I made up an excuse about a business trip and flew straight to Center Core.”

“What is it?”

Standing in front of the massage chair, I asked. Rose blushed and lowered her head.

What rumor did she hear to come barging in like this...?

Ah.

“Rose!”

I shouted as I sprang toward Yoow.

“Stop!”

Rose, sword drawn, charging in with the blade aimed for Yoow’s throat.

Everyone reacted instantly. I grabbed Yoow by the nape and rolled with him across the cabin floor. Igor sprang up and blocked Rose—who was rushing Yoow—with his body.

Terrified, Milk squealed and fled into the corner, and Kairos smoothly plucked the sword out of Rose’s hand while Igor had her restrained.

Then, the lull.

We stayed motionless in silence for a long while.

Until I let out a deep sigh and ordered everyone to disperse.

“Let’s get ready.”

Everyone listened well enough.

***

Time passed quickly.

All week, I didn’t leave the area around the cabin. I sparred with Igor near the cabin, saw Kairos off when he went to work, and poured milk for Milk. I soothed Rose—who kept smiling in circles about gouging out the strategist’s eyes—and bought a lion’s mane mushroom kit to cultivate.

Since we couldn’t use the cafeteria, we rotated cooking. Ordering delivery every time got boring.

No one was especially good at cooking, so it always tasted just okay.

Yoow had an absurdly small appetite and no interest in food. Deltei loved delivery food. Igor liked bland food.

I think I’m passable, but I’m not actually that good.

Kairos came back exhausted every time, so I didn’t make him do anything.

We ate our not-very-impressive meals and enjoyed a peace that felt like the calm before a storm. During that time, my phone stayed quiet. The Elders didn’t contact me, and the seniors only sent a few unremarkable messages. A message from Asil checking in, a message from Shu saying rehab was going well.

Lee Seunghyun postponed the lesson.

[I’m sorry.]

He called me directly.

[Something urgent came up.]

“It’s fine. When it’s over, let’s match schedules again.”

[Yes.]

The disciple ended the conversation, saying he’d contact me once he wrapped things up. That was just like him—only the essentials. No unnecessary small talk, no greetings with emotion.

Meanwhile, Ami—who’d come to visit out of boredom and ended up accidentally saving Yoow from being choked by Rose—came running to me, eyes round.

“She’s the wife of the pharmaceutical company chairman!”

“Ah... yes. You’ve met. Actually, she’s my subordinate too. Thank you for saving a trash subordinate from a crazy subordinate, Ami.”

“No. It’s good I found it in time. But what are you making, Hilde? Gnocchi?”

“Yes. I tried, but it takes way more work than I expected. Doesn’t even look like it turned out well.... Later, I should probably learn cooking from Ric.”

“Cooking from Ric?”

Ami stared at me, eyes huge.

She raised an eyebrow, looked me over, and said seriously,

“I’d rather learn cooking from Gordon Ramsay.”

An old name. She knows it impressively well.

Anyway, it was a pleasant rest. Maybe because I kept busy while resting, the jellyfish didn’t surface often. I made lion’s mane mushroom infused liquor, and trained with Igor on escaping restraints—preparing for kidnapping. Deltei did panic when she saw me bound up tight, asking what the hell was going on, but—

I kept myself busy with one thing after another, waiting for D-Day.

D-Day.

The day I met the Lexic noodle boss.

The day before it arrived, my phone rang.

[Get your ass to headquarters.]

Of course.

It was Jason Trevain calling me out.