Black Badger

They said there was a problem at the D Zone safehouse.

The moment we burst out of the C Zone portal, someone snapped their head up. It looked like they had been waiting for us there. Well, of course. We had no means of transportation to get to D Zone on our own.

The one who had secured transport and was waiting for us was Ami.

My light and my salt.

“I have to head to a different zone. I only came to pass on the transportation.”

Ami spoke the instant she saw us spill out of the portal.

“How many?”

“Five of us, senior.”

Tom answered brightly, his face lighting up when he saw Ami.

Ami nodded, then read the mood.

No—she was forced to read it. The moment Trevain stepped out of the portal, he reactivated the recognizer. As if shouting that he couldn’t possibly carry out the mission pretending nothing had happened.

The portal machinery was installed inside a building that must once have been used as a cathedral. It was a time when sunlight poured down, but the light only leaked in through shattered stained glass on the western side. Multicolored light failed to reach most of the interior, which was instead covered in damp shadows. In the dark, desolate space, an emotionless AI voice echoed.

[Humanoid Creature detected 1m ahead.]

Tom turned to Trevain with puzzled eyes.

Ami, one hand resting on a motorcycle handle, stared hard at Trevain.

The people walking toward the neatly lined motorcycles came to a halt.

“Everyone should know before we head out.”

Trevain stabbed me with the recognizer’s red light.

“Were you planning to keep deceiving us?”

Yeah. It was better to reveal it like this before moving out than to cause chaos in the middle of a mission.

Jonathan and Ami already knew anyway, so all I had to watch were Richard Green’s and Tom’s reactions.

With a calm heart, I divided my gaze between the two men.

They had stopped mid-step on their way to the motorcycles. Their eyes settled on me.

It seemed Richard had already heard the argument between Trevain and me.

There was no surprise in his eyes. Naturally—but there was no sign of understanding or acceptance either.

But Tom would be different, right? Richard Green wouldn’t look on me kindly, but Tom wouldn’t react that way, would he?

It might just be my hope, but Tom seemed like the type who, even if he felt hurt that I’d hidden the truth for so long, wouldn’t be angry with me...

“Whether you’re a creature or a human, what matters is your loyalty to the organization.”

Richard broke the silence first.

My eyes widened at the unexpected response.

I was so taken aback that I failed to check the others’ reactions. I stared blankly as Green loaded a firearm no ordinary person could even lift.

The battle-hardened man looked straight at me.

“This must have been something the Commander-in-Chief approved.”

“...Yes. The Commander is aware.”

“He seems to trust your loyalty, but I don’t fully trust Yehyeon in that regard.”

In what regard?

“That weak bastard might’ve let sentiment get the better of him and appointed you as a Badger.”

Yehyeon?

Let sentiment sway his judgment?

I was startled by an opinion I couldn’t accept at all.

But Green ignored my reaction and turned his head away.

The man strode toward a motorcycle.

As he passed by me, he said,

“I’ll be watching your loyalty. I don’t fully trust you yet.”

If he didn’t trust Yehyeon’s judgment, it was only natural that he wouldn’t trust me either.

“I’ll watch.”

“Yes.”

Surprising.

It surprised me that he didn’t take issue with my nature. He was someone who had fought Creatures more fiercely than anyone else—did he really feel no instinctive revulsion or rejection?

Behind me, I heard Trevain let out a hollow laugh. Ignoring it, I turned my gaze to Tom.

For the first time since the recognizer activated, I felt afraid.

How would Tom react...?

“Hilde.”

What?

I froze, flustered by the sight of my peer wearing an unmistakably sad expression.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“So that’s why you had no one to spend Christmas with. Hesh and I didn’t even realize...”

...Christmas?

“Hesh and I... what?”

“Last year, you couldn’t even invite anyone. I should’ve paid more attention. I was stupid for not even bringing it up, thinking it might be a burden.”

Standing there like an idiot, I belatedly realized he was talking about Christmas two years ago.

The memory of spending Christmas at Hesh’s place after accepting his invitation surged up.

Isn’t that completely beside the point?

Seeing Tom lower his gaze in dismay, I hurriedly spoke.

“No, Tom. That’s a different story, and now I have people to spend Christmas with anyway... I’ll tell you everything once we’re back in the Core. I’m sorry for hiding things and not telling you.”

“No.”

Tom didn’t hide the sadness in his eyes.

“You don’t need to apologize. Who’s had it harder than you? How hard it must’ve been, not being able to open up, not being understood.”

Sometimes Tom reacted far more emotionally than I expected.

I had always spent time with people who were simple or coldly rational, so I never quite knew how to respond to someone like this. Even now, every time Tom sent me links to videos of himself playing guitar, I floundered, unsure what to say.

This time was no exception.

How should I respond?

Say thank you? Say it’s okay?

“Stop dawdling!”

Thankfully, Richard Green’s shout snapped everyone back to attention.

“Did you come out here to sightsee?!”

Thump!

Trevain slammed hard into my shoulder as he passed.

Did he really have to be this textbook about it?

I stared dully at the man mounting his motorcycle. Beside me, Tom, still shocked by Trevain’s behavior, muttered, “What’s wrong with him?”

I gave a bitter smile and jerked my chin.

“Let’s go. Before we get chewed out even more.”

Jonathan brushed past Tom.

I tried to pretend not to see him, but I couldn’t miss the way his gaze lingered briefly on the shoulder Trevain had rammed into before disappearing.

It couldn’t be concern.

Maybe he was just checking how efficiently Trevain had shoulder-checked me.

Either way, I successfully pretended not to notice and moved on. I crossed the cathedral floor, littered with dead leaves and dust, and headed for an empty motorcycle.

Ami was waiting for me.

I smiled at her, then bent at the waist in greeting.

“I’ll take good care of it, Ami.”

“Hilde.”

Ami rose onto her tiptoes and whispered into my ear.

“Don’t mind Jason acting like that.”

“I don’t mind, and I’m not hurt, so don’t worry.”

“That’s because Hilde’s a guy.”

Hm?

That couldn’t be it, could it?

“If Hilde were a woman, he wouldn’t care at all.”

“No way. People can’t be that shallow—”

“I’ll prove it to you later.”

Prove it how?

I blinked, at a loss for words, but Ami was urgent and serious. She stayed on her tiptoes, whispering quickly.

“If Hilde were a woman, he’d be the type to say he’d kill with his own hands anyone who runs their mouth about Hilde’s identity.”

“Ami!”

At Richard’s bark, Ami jolted.

“Are you not leaving?!”

“I am!”

Ami hurriedly sprang away from me and ran toward the cathedral’s old doors.

“Good luck out there!”

The moment she flung the doors wide open, she shot up into the sky.

Leaves that had been under her feet scattered through the air. Richard Green was the first to set off through the doors she’d opened. He revved his engine loudly and tore out of the cathedral.

Trevain followed close behind.

Jonathan went after him.

I’d go last.

“Let’s go.”

Tom nodded, then hurried after Jonathan.

I drove my motorcycle after the fluttering red hair of my peer, racing down branching roads while breathing in the scent of moisture and fresh greenery.

As we sped along the foggy suburban road, I pondered which was better: being a man and becoming the target of Trevain’s burning hatred and harassment, or—assuming Ami was right—being a woman and having Trevain declare that anyone who talked shit about Hilde’s identity would die by his hands.

Hm.

All things considered, now seemed better.

In a considerably lighter mood, I kept riding.

***

[Warning]

[Humanoid Creature detected 1m ahead. Humanoid Creature detected 1m ahead.]

[Warning]

[Humanoid Creature detected 1km ahead. Humanoid Creature detected 1km ahead.]

Even so, this was a bit much.

Activating the recognizer right in front of unknown seniors stationed at the D Zone safehouse, the moment we arrived? Watching Trevain activate it the instant we stepped into the safehouse core, I thought dully.

If the warnings hadn’t continued, I would’ve thought him pathetically petty.

But the recognizer issued a warning unlike any before.

The seniors dismounting their motorcycles—and the seniors who had been watching me with stiff faces—froze in place.

“What is it?”

Richard turned to the squad leader guarding the D Zone safehouse.

“Is there a humanoid creature here?”

“Pardon?”

The senior was flustered.

The one who had greeted us with a cold, tense expression stammered, face drained of color.

After hesitating like that, he pointed at me.

“Th-there....”

“I'm talking about the Creature one kilometer ahead!”

Richard barked.

“Did you think I was asking about the one right in front of us?!”

“Is it really a humanoid Creature?”

One of the seniors lined up in front of the safehouse screamed, pointing straight at me.

“If that thing really is a Creature, then this is a problem!”

“What’s the problem?”

Richard spoke in a voice that sounded like it was barely holding back an explosion.

The D Zone seniors who had been staring at me, faces drained pale, sensed the danger. Their shocked gazes shifted from me to Richard Green.

Of course, there were still a few who hadn’t grasped the situation at all.

The man who had been pointing didn’t take his eyes off me as he shouted.

“It’s a Creature!”

Well, stories bordering on myth about Rei had spread through society, so I could understand why seeing me made them panic.

“It’s a monster! You’re telling us you’re just going to leave something that dangerous alone?!”

“This was approved by the Commander-in-Chief. Put this matter aside for now.”

“Approved? A Creature?!”

The senior recoiled, stumbling two steps back. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

“How can you accept a monster?!”

Kwang!

The ground where Richard stamped his foot caved in.

This time, everyone shut up. I pressed my lips into a straight line as well, carefully watching Richard Green’s mood.

Right in front of the safehouse, in the front yard protected by the Core.

Richard tensed the sinews in arms as thick as an adult man’s thighs.

“So you can’t tolerate the humanoid Creature right in front of you, but the humanoid Creature one kilometer away is acceptable?”

His voice sounded like he was barely restraining himself from wringing their necks.

“Which do you think is more urgent? The one standing right here, or the humanoid Creature one kilometer away?”

“...The Creature one kilometer away.”

“You can’t even identify priorities properly!”

Richard roared.

“You’ve all been on duty for at least five years!!”

The shout was so thunderous my eardrums rang.

“You’re the ones who called for emergency support because you were under attack—what the hell do you think you’re doing?! Squad leader, report the situation immediately!!”

The squad leader, who had been standing there dumbly, snapped back to his senses.

In a terrified voice, he gave his report. In short: the small Core devices surrounding the safehouse were under attack. It seemed to be by burrowing Creatures. Their defense wasn’t going well, and they couldn’t fire shells for fear of destroying the Core devices along with them.

On top of that, drone reconnaissance showed swarms of Creatures gathering beyond the ridge visible from the safehouse.

It looked like they planned to smash the Core devices first, then wipe out the safehouse entirely.

And the key point.

They had no idea about the humanoid Creature.

“No idea.”

A chill ran down my spine at the ominously low voice of Richard Green.

I pitied the squad leader, who couldn’t even bring himself to meet Richard’s eyes. The man who had pointed at me earlier stood frozen, lips tightly sealed.

“That’s all you have to say?”

“I’ll correct it.”

“Did it not occur to you to activate the recognizer?”

“I’m sorry. The reconnaissance drones didn’t pick up a humanoid Creature, so we didn’t activate the recognizer.”

“Run the drone footage again. It might be visible there.”

“Yes, sir!”

“This bastard might know something.”

With his arms crossed, Trevain abruptly broke the silence.

At the squad leader’s orders, two people rushed into the safehouse to check the footage. Everyone else turned to look at Trevain.

Then their gazes followed the direction of his thumb—toward me.

“You remember, right? Back when this bastard drew Creatures into D Zone. Isn’t this the same thing? Maybe that humanoid Creature crawled all the way here just because of this bastard.”

“Hildebert.”

Richard Green called my name.

I answered calmly.

“Yes.”

“Do you have any information worth reporting?”

Everyone’s eyes flew to me and stuck there.

Under the stinging gazes, I reached out with my instincts. I quickly caught the presence of one of my own kind. Just as the recognizer said, it was about one kilometer away. It wasn’t moving, and it was somewhat separated from the mass of monsters that were gathered.

And I couldn’t tell who it was.

Why couldn’t I tell?

I blinked, unable to fully shake the puzzlement, and answered.

“It does seem to be about one kilometer away, but I don’t know who it is.”

For all this, I was usually good at remembering faces and names.

I couldn’t tell whether it was a newly born kin, or someone so introverted and quiet that I’d had trouble remembering them. Either way, it was definitely not a common situation.

Richard Green’s eyes narrowed. He seemed to be combining my information with the squad leader’s report.

Of course, Trevain wasn’t about to stay quiet.

He snorted and turned to me.

“Do you even know your own kind that well?”

What kind of question was that?

“Did you get bullied inside and come crying over to the humans?”

Ah. So saying I didn’t know who it was amused him.

With nothing to say, I simply stayed silent. That seemed to irritate Trevain further, but I pretended not to notice.

Fortunately, nothing exploded immediately. I could see why so many people followed Richard Green. Just standing there, he was able to suppress the internal chaos to a degree.

The reason Trevain wasn’t pointing a gun at me right now was probably Richard.

Someone Choi Yun used honorifics toward despite being the same rank.

“Senior.”

As I was thinking I should ask Ami about Richard later, a senior who had been silent hesitantly addressed him.

Richard raised an eyebrow.

“What is it, Giggs?”

“With a humanoid Creature outside, shouldn’t we keep this one inside?”

The nameless senior gestured at me as he made his suggestion.

“Aren’t they the same kind of humanoid Creature?”

“Worried about betrayal?”

Probably.

“No.”

No?

I blinked in surprise.

Without looking at me, the senior continued.

“He might not be able to kill them.”

“A humanoid Creature?”

“Yes. Even so, since it’s his own kind, I think he’d hesitate at a critical moment.”

Insane.

“So it would be better to have him provide rear support from inside—”

I burst out laughing.

I should have held it in, but I couldn’t. I threw my head back and let out a laugh that wasn’t pleasant to hear.

A spasmodic laugh.

I spilled unhealthy laughter into the cold air. After laughing until my voice grew sharp, I lowered my head and gathered up the small chuckles that leaked ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) out.

Ah.

I wiped the corner of my mouth with my thumb, then lifted my head.

Silent seniors.

People frozen in place, struck speechless.

Looking at them, I smiled faintly.

“Don’t worry. For the sake of victory, I once stabbed the heart of the person closest to me with my own hands.”

I spoke without erasing the smile.

“Whoever that kin outside may be, why would I hesitate to draw my sword.”

This time as well, there would be no hesitation.

When the opportunity came, I would once again drive my sword into his heart.