Black Badger

The stiff atmosphere in the office loosened in an instant.

Soft snickers rose from here and there. I couldn’t close my gaping mouth.

No.

Ami had just pronounced my name correctly, hadn’t she?

I hadn’t expected something like this to bother me so much. Of course, back in the Empire, mispronouncing a noble’s name could cause real trouble—but still, he’d lived on Earth longer than I had....

Giacomo had no ill intent.

In fact, Giacomo Ro was wearing a genuinely baffled expression, clearly unable to understand why Yoow was glaring at him like that.

Yehyeon looked awkward.

“It seems you’ve misunderstood.”

Even I could tell—it was a massive misunderstanding.

“Everyone else gets names right, but there’s one subordinate in particular who just can’t remember people’s names. That employee probably doesn’t even remember mine.”

Huh?

Is this for real?

I was stunned. In a slightly different way than before.

My name was long, so I could understand forgetting it. We hadn’t known each other that long, either.

But forgetting the name of Yehyeon—his peer and direct superior?

Yet he got Ricardo’s name right?

As I stared with my eyes wide, Yehyeon turned to Ro.

Ro blinked in confusion, shifting slightly in his chair.

Ignoring the subordinates who were biting their teeth to suppress laughter, Yehyeon addressed him.

“Ro. What’s my name?”

Ro... paused for a moment.

“Boss.”

“No. Not that. Your superior’s name.”

Pfft. Dante failed to hold it in and collapsed with a strange choking sound. The seniors beside him desperately turned away, clamping down on their laughter.

Ricardo wore a hollow grin. Yun stared blankly up at the ceiling. Jonathan blinked. Richard Green let out a massive sigh.

Ami clutched her head with both hands.

Ro, of course, paid no attention to any of it.

He blinked again.

“Bianco.”

Thud!

Ricardo hurled a water bottle at Ro.

“Ah, you bastard—! You’re disgracing everyone from back home!”

“What the fuck?! Ricardo, why are you picking a fight all of a sudden?!”

“As you can see... that employee is terrible at remembering names.”

Yehyeon cleanly ignored the Sicilians’ exchange and turned back to Yoow.

Yoow ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ wore a doubtful expression.

The strategist stared at the conference table with shocked eyes, as if he genuinely couldn’t believe a person could live like this.

“But he seems to remember the name of the Badger who just threw the bottle....”

“That’s because they’re from the same place.”

“He probably doesn’t know my name either.”

Sitting beside Yehyeon, Ska joined in with a laugh.

The aide-de-camp leaned forward, directing his gaze at Ro, who was still grumbling.

“Ro! What’s my name?”

Ro lifted his head.

“Huh?”

Another brief pause.

“Boss’s subordinate.”

“You’re a boss’s subordinate too.”

“Boss’s errand boy, one.”

“You don’t even qualify as an errand boy!”

Ami grabbed her hair with both hands like she was about to explode.

Countless Badgers turned their heads, barely holding in their laughter. I let out a hollow chuckle as I watched the whole thing unfold.

Aide Gilbert laughed quietly and muttered, “Then does that make me errand boy number two?”

Ro opened his mouth again.

“Among the boss’s errand boys, the black—”

Thud! Thud!

Three or four water bottles flew through the air at once.

Two hit Ro squarely. I stared with my mouth hanging open as Ro snapped irritably, asking what the hell that was.

That one had been dangerously close.

Even Yehyeon—who clearly had zero expectations of Ro’s intelligence—widened his eyes and turned to him.

Ska, the person in question, just ducked his head and snickered.

“Watch your mouth, you idiot!”

Ami exploded.

“Your intelligence is worse than a sheep’s! Worse than a sheep!”

“What the fuck did you say?!”

“Wait.”

Ami, who had been raging, suddenly calmed down.

I blinked at the abrupt shift in the junior’s demeanor.

She lowered the hands that had been tearing at her hair.

“Do you know my name?”

Gasp.

A tense silence spread through the conference room.

Everyone shut their mouths and waited for Ro’s answer. No Badger was unaware that, for all their bickering, Ro and Ami were close.

There was no way he didn’t know Ami’s name....

“Peanut?”

Pffft!

One Badger who had been drinking water sprayed it out in a clean arc.

The Badgers seated at the table collapsed. Several slumped forward onto the desk at once. Others bowed their heads, shoulders trembling.

Ricardo closed his eyes. Jonathan stared straight at Ro.

Even Yehyeon blinked in astonishment.

Igor, sitting right next to me, muttered in a voice only I could hear.

“At least he remembers it has three syllables.”

True.

But how could he remember just that...?

Meanwhile, Yun—who had been watching everything with a blank expression—suddenly spoke.

“Nut.”

He was looking at Ami.

“Pass the water, Nut.”

“No!”

Ami erupted.

“No! It’s not Nut! It’s not! Aaaah! I’m going to burst! If there were an intelligence test, you’d have been scrapped ages ago, Nut-brain! Nut-brain!”

“What?!”

“Kh—!”

“Hey, don’t laugh.”

“Calm down.”

Yehyeon lightly tapped the desk with his knuckles.

Ami snapped her mouth shut. Ro looked away from her. Those who had been doubled over laughing bit their lips and straightened their upper bodies.

The loosened atmosphere in the conference room settled back into calm.

Having smoothly subdued the chaos, the commander muttered in a tired voice.

“This is embarrassing.”

There was no need for him to feel that way.

Though I could understand why Yehyeon might.

Yoow looked at the commander with weary, exhausted eyes.

The vitality he’d shown before entering the room was completely gone.

“No.”

Since being captured at the Glasshouse, Yoow had consistently disliked Yehyeon—but now, the burning emotion from back then was nowhere to be found in his eyes.

“There are no additional proposals.”

If not for his past hostility, he looked like he might even add, “You’ve worked hard.”

The leadership nodded, as if they’d heard words that hadn’t been spoken.

Then the commander signaled the start of the meeting.

Without another word, everyone turned their attention to the screen.

I had the feeling the meeting would proceed with far less friction than expected.

***

A refined silence settled over the conference room.

A map unfolded across the screen covering one wall.

Yehyeon enlarged it and began his explanation.

“The humanoid Creatures have requested negotiations, with Hilde at the forefront. The location is the point shown on the screen. Their condition is that both sides arrive unarmed.”

Kyle, you really are being transparent.

“They said they need to visually confirm that Hildebert hands his sword over to an ally before coming.”

Dry laughter broke out around the room.

Naturally so. There was no guarantee the hostages would be returned safely, and it was painfully obvious that the negotiations were just a pretext.

But with Yehyeon present, everyone watched their mouths—

Bang!

“What kind of bullshit is that?!”

Ro slammed the table.

“They think they get to make demands of us?!”

Yehyeon cleanly ignored Ro’s fury.

“They claim they’ll release all hostages unharmed, assuming Hilde comes to the negotiation site unarmed. They insist they’re not demanding Hilde himself—just that, if we talk while unarmed, we might be able to reach a mutually beneficial compromise.”

“What response are you considering?”

Richard Green asked in a heavy voice.

Arms crossed, the man stared at the map on the screen.

“You all know that talk of compromise is nonsense.”

“Indeed.”

The childlike expression of worry from earlier was nowhere to be seen.

The commander gazed at the screen with an emotionless face.

“Their goal is to abduct Hilde.”

Bodies went stiff.

Some people glanced at my face. I pretended not to notice the looks flying my way.

Yehyeon continued.

“It seems they know how to open portals—what we call teleportation gates. You’ve all seen San’s case already.... If I were a humanoid Creature, I’d abduct Hilde at the negotiation site. I hear there’s something called binding magic.”

“Yes.”

I answered calmly.

“That’s correct.”

“The best outcome would be preventing the abduction. But the moment we step into negotiations, risk is unavoidable.”

The commander let his gaze drift in the air.

“And we have no way to counter magic. So instead, we plan under the assumption that Hilde will be abducted.”

“Are you sending Hildebert to the negotiation site?”

Surprisingly, it wasn’t my subordinates who asked—it was Asil Fiscer.

He frowned deeply at Yehyeon.

“You know it’s an obvious trap. Commander, with all due respect, even the police don’t trust hostage-takers’ promises.”

Come to think of it, this man had a temper to rival Hesh’s.

He’d grabbed Yun by the collar in a fit of anger—and the very next day, stormed straight into the leadership offices.

I couldn’t help admiring Asil’s nerve in speaking so bluntly to the supreme commander.

Some frowned at him, but Asil himself didn’t even blink.

Yehyeon didn’t seem offended either.

“The problem is that we currently have no way to land a meaningful blow on the enemy camp.”

He stared into the air, deep in thought.

“We can’t enter their territory, but they’ve already figured out how to enter ours. We need to resolve this imbalance quickly.”

“With all due respect, I don’t see how that relates to letting Hilde be abducted.”

“If Hildebert dies, that represents a catastrophic loss of combat power for the Black Badgers.”

Asil answered with a twisted expression, and Yoow added darkly,

“You’re not unaware of that.”

Of course not.

In fact, the person here who least wanted to send me to the negotiation site was probably Yehyeon himself.

But none of that showed on his face. I looked into my superior’s eyes.

Eyes devoid of emotion. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

“I am aware.”

He was speaking to Yoow.

“That’s why we’ll refine the plan again and again before moving out, to ensure we don’t lose Hilde. Even so, the risks won’t disappear entirely.”

Yoow opened his mouth, but the commander spoke first.

“However, supreme combat power only has meaning when it’s used.”

Yehyeon’s sharp gaze flew straight at me.

“I intend to take a calculated gamble.”

I met his eyes and smiled.

Keeping the faint smile in place, I replied,

“Didn’t you say before that you’d use me without hesitation as a card?”

Whether a throwaway card or a joker.

“If you give the order, I will obey.”