Black Badger

My first thought was, Kysis?

I knew full well that the possibility was close to nonexistent.

The next person who came to mind was Cecil. Shu’s words brushed past my thoughts. Hadn’t Shu said that her biological father had been dreaming about Cecil frequently lately?

Coming from someone who had actually met Cecil, it wasn’t something I could easily dismiss.

So after explaining the situation to Igor, who had been staring up at the cabin ceiling, and to Deltei, who had been editing a YouTube video, I got into Kairos’s car.

Kairos was hearing about the situation for the first time through me as well.

“The strategist?”

“Looks like he happened to be with the leadership.”

At some point, Yoow had begun spending more time at Black Badger headquarters than at the cabin.

I couldn’t quite tell how it had come to this. He’d been spending far more time with the leadership than I had. Sometimes, he even knew things that surprised me.

It was also surprising how much the leadership trusted Yoow.

Though it seemed they didn’t give him any information about the Elders at all.

Anyway, the moment I got into the passenger seat of Kairos’s sedan, I called him.

“Who is it?”

The other kin fell silent as well, listening closely to my call.

From the phone I held up, Yoow’s tightly rigid voice came back.

[For now, please come.]

“Are you watching?”

[Yes.]

“Who’s there right now?”

[The leadership, and the Badgers who happened to be in the portal zone when this occurred. Ricardo Sordi, Carl Dow, Sophia Kalak, William Walker, Choi Ami, Choi Yun.]

“Huh?”

Wasn’t that the Shu rescue TF?

Ah. So they’d gone on a mission without me. Since I hadn’t been in a condition to go out, they probably hadn’t said anything to me on purpose.

I felt a slight sense of being left out.

Of course, it was far too childish a feeling to voice out loud. And with an emergency like this happening, my attention wasn’t really stuck on that either.

Still, at least it was people with experience. They must be a bit less panicked.

I said I understood and ended the call.

I wanted to ask more, but there might be listening ears, so I restrained myself.

I’d find out once I got there.

Having heard the conversation, Kairos pressed down on the accelerator.

“Kai! Even so, you don’t need to step on it that hard!”

I’m getting carsick.

“Just take it easy. I don’t know who it is, but it doesn’t seem like they’re trying to escape or cause a rampage.”

“So you get motion sickness.”

The bastard noticed instantly.

I’d only nagged him like usual—how did he know?

Startled by a handler’s intuition, I took in the Center Core flashing past at a reasonable speed.

If it’s not Cecil, then who could it be?

And if it is Cecil... what state would she be in?

***

We hadn’t been speeding, but we still arrived at headquarters noticeably faster than the map’s estimated time.

Yoow told us to come down to the underground level where the portal zone was located.

There were two portal zones in headquarters. One on the top floor, and one underground.

The underground portal level was completely sealed off now. Badgers were being routed to use the portal on the top floor instead. Down below, only those who knew the current situation were present.

We were instructed to enter through a secret passage connected to the underground portal zone.

So there is a secret passage.

[It was built to prevent a situation where Creatures might pour out into the portal zone due to portal malfunction.]

In fact, there had been two portal malfunctions since Black Badger headquarters was founded.

Once, when I fell out.

And once now.

But until today, the secret passage had never been used.

When I fell out, Yehyeon had been clearly aware of my existence. Back then, they hadn’t even considered sealing the portal zone like this.

But this time, the situation was clearly different.

To avoid being seen by other Badgers, we parked in the underground garage and walked toward the pillar we’d been instructed to use.

As if they’d been watching us approach, the wall behind pillar Y-7 slid inward.

Walking through the stark white one-way corridor inside the wall, we came to the end of the passage—where the strategist stood, shrouded in gloom.

Yoow greeted us with dark circles heavily sunken beneath his eyes.

“All relevant personnel are in the control room.”

“Control room?”

“A place with CCTV that overlooks the portal zone at a glance. Think of a movie theater’s projection booth. We’re monitoring whoever came out from there.”

“Then in the portal zone...?”

“He’s alone.”

Yoow answered ominously.

I carefully studied the strategist’s pale face.

Worry, suspicion, and fear flickering in his pitch-black eyes.

Fear?

...I really do need to see this with my own eyes.

When I asked him to guide us, Yoow turned at once, as if he’d been waiting.

We followed behind him in silence. At this point, questions would be useless.

Just like when receiving a mission, we went down to the portal zone. After seeing the massive doors sealing it off, we turned left.

Opening a small door in the corner and climbing a flight of stairs led us into something like a CCTV control room.

Screens filled an entire wall.

The people who had been staring at the displays in heavy silence turned their heads the moment they saw us.

I found myself under the collective gaze of the leadership and the seniors.

“Hilde.”

Yehyeon spoke in a stiff voice.

“Check the screen.”

I did.

On the screen, a room illuminated only by light. A space covered in crimson carpet, giving it the feel of a movie theater. I stepped into it—at least, that’s how it felt—without even greeting anyone, my eyes already fixed on the image.

And then I focused on the center of the wall of monitors.

The largest screen.

A portal zone vast enough to fit multiple airplanes.

And there, a single person stood alone.

The moment I saw him, my mouth fell open.

I’d thought I’d come prepared.

But that preparation proved meaningless. I stood frozen, as if caught by a freezing spell, staring at the screen.

An unintended word slipped from my mouth—in the language of the Empire.

「Your Majesty?」

***

The Emperor was dead.

Of course, I hadn’t seen his death with my own eyes. I had only seen his choice—not to enter the dimensional transfer array. I knew he had remained behind with Kysis. I still remembered that day as vividly as if it were yesterday.

My liege.

Kysis’s biological father.

The supreme ruler of the Empire.

“Is it really him?”

Half forgetting that the leadership was present, I muttered while staring at the screen.

“Did you speak to him?”

“For now... yes. I did offer my greetings.”

Yoow said gloomily.

Even as I listened to the report, I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen. I absorbed the footage captured by the portal zone CCTV in a daze.

He was wearing the same outfit he’d had on the last time I saw him.

The hem of his clothing was soaked, discolored by dried blood. But even that did nothing to diminish the authority he carried simply by existing.

He was someone who radiated pressure just by standing there in silence.

However...

“It could be Jaeyeon.”

Yehyeon voiced what I was thinking.

“When you came out into the portal zone, I also went through the process of confirming Jaeyeon’s identity. Back then, Jaeyeon was clearly by Falcon’s side.”

“Did you confirm it this time as well?”

“I checked around. Apparently, Jaeyeon is currently away on a long-term mission.”

Which meant they couldn’t say for certain whether it was Jaeyeon or not.

But whether it was Jaeyeon or my former liege himself didn’t change anything for now. Neither was an opponent we could afford to lower our guard against.

The Emperor was both mage and swordsman, a wise ruler—and also someone who, for over a hundred years, had never forgiven a single act of rebellion.

Whatever that was, maintaining a defensive posture was the smart choice.

No one knew at what point this basement might explode.

Still, the person beyond the screen looked astonishingly similar to my liege as I remembered him.

The red ring is missing.

Keeping my gaze fixed on the screen, I murmured,

“What did you say when you greeted him?”

“He muttered in the Imperial tongue, asking where this place was. I informed him that I was nearby and asked him to wait for a moment.”

Yoow replied.

“I’ll now explain the situation from start to finish.”

This was how it had unfolded.

When the TF members excluding me, along with William Walker—the Shu rescue team—had just arrived at the portal zone, the anomaly occurred.

The situation was almost identical to when I had appeared. Six people had entered the portal, but seven emerged.

However, the man who suddenly appeared outside the portal did not speak the common tongue.

He didn’t speak English, nor did he seem to use any other regional language.

And his clothing—unlike anything seen on Earth—had dried blood clinging to its hem.

Confusion quickly turned into wariness, and the Badgers aimed their guns at the incomprehensible stranger.

The man standing before the muzzles began emitting a strange light from his palm.

A hair-trigger standoff.

What broke it was the scientists who had been watching the Badgers’ return.

Those waiting to disinfect the Badgers coming back from a hazardous zone reportedly began crying out, “Disinfection! Disinfection!”

Then, regardless of the extra person, they decided disinfection was more important and sprayed disinfectant into the portal zone—psshhhh.

Taking advantage of that moment, Ami dragged the Badgers out of the portal zone.

And that led to the current situation.

“After that, I arrived and informed him that we were organizing the situation, and asked him to wait without moving.”

“Did he recognize you?”

“Yes.”

Yoow answered firmly.

“The moment he heard my voice, he recognized me and agreed to wait.”

“You didn’t show yourself?”

“He wouldn’t be accustomed to Earth’s attire.”

Only then did I pull my gaze away from the screen.

From the person who looked exactly like the Emperor, my eyes shifted to Yoow.

And behind him, I saw the seniors staring intently at me.

People I had truly grown attached to.

Those I’d built trust with through countless events were watching me quietly. No one spoke, but their gazes were clearer than ever.

The subordinates were no different.

They looked back and forth between the screen and me, just as shocked as I was.

Standing amid those gazes, I spoke.

“I’ll go in and confirm.”

“Alright.”

Yehyeon answered.

“Nothing will change otherwise.”

He was right. I had to go in and confirm something—anything—with my own eyes.

As I turned my attention back to the screen, Yehyeon’s voice continued.

“I heard the old clothes have been well preserved.”

Ah.

“To avoid provoking him, wear those when you go in.”

I’d thought I’d never wear them again for the rest of my life.

***

I would go in alone.

However, Igor would be standing by right outside the portal zone. The scientists who had sprayed disinfectant gas earlier were also prepared to deploy sleeping gas if necessary. Yoow was ready in the control room to provide simultaneous interpretation of my Imperial speech.

The leadership asked us to “please understand the need for caution.”

I nodded quietly. I thought their response was correct as well.

Rose brought the clothes.

“To see the Captain in this again...!”

She had rushed over from another Core, and astonishingly, she spared the Emperor only a single glance.

Even when she looked at the screen, she showed no real interest.

More like, Well, if he showed up, I guess I should look once.

She quickly fixed her gaze on me instead, then held out my knight-commander uniform with trembling hands.

“Is it heavy?”

“No!”

Rose shouted.

“I could carry it for the rest of my life!”

Ah. So that trembling was from excitement.

I abandoned my worry and accepted the clothes.

The knight-commander’s uniform was maintained well enough that I could wear it anytime. Shining silver armor. Intricately embroidered gold thread. Neatly folded sleeves.

Seeing its condition, the weight of all those years suddenly seemed to press down on me.

The impossibly long time I’d been absent.

But there was no time to dwell on sentiment.

I took the clothes from Rose and changed in the hallway outside the control room.

I hadn’t worn it in a long time, but the moment I picked it up, my body moved on its own.

I’d lost some muscle and mass, so it fit a bit loosely.

Still, it was more than sufficient to go meet him.

After checking the condition of my sword, I returned to the control room.

I could feel people’s gazes, but I didn’t have the presence of mind to look back.

I turned to Deltei.

「Consecration.」

Deltei looked up at me with bright blue eyes.

She clasped her hands in front of me as I bowed my head. I heard the Saint recite the familiar consecration prayer. A faint sphere of light formed between her joined hands, touched my chest, then spread and vanished.

Preparations to meet my liege were complete.

I straightened up and looked at everyone.

Igor, ready to follow.

The seniors, eyes never leaving me.

I met Yehyeon’s gaze and said,

“I’m going in.”

“Go.”

The moment the order was given, I turned.

I walked toward the portal zone where the one who looked like the Emperor stood.