Black Badger

I jerked my upper body back in surprise.

Ricardo blinked his green eyes once.

“Almost cracked my jaw....”

“I’m sorry.”

Having narrowly avoided a collision, I steadied myself and checked his condition.

A senior who must have been bored, dragging an IV stand along with him.

His fever had finally broken yesterday.

In fact, Ricardo looked far better than before. Seeing the healthier color in his face, I let out a heavy sigh of relief.

I’d been so worried all this time....

Ricardo studied me closely.

“Happy~?”

“Huh?”

“That franchise reopening and all....”

Ah.

I nodded.

The senior let out a dry laugh.

I quietly observed his sharp green eyes.

“You’re not upset, right?”

“I don’t even know what you’re asking if I’m upset about, but.... I’m not upset at all. Just baffled~.”

“That’s a relief. How are you feeling now?”

“Fine, aside from the outfit~.”

Good.

He’s not in a bad mood after all.

Piuu—

As I was exhaling in relief, a crying sound came from the side.

The senior and I turned our heads at the same time.

Kairos was trying to grab Milk, who was perched on his shoulder.

“Milk. You shouldn’t interrupt a conversation.”

“Pyak.”

“Oh.... So this little thing’s name is Milk~?”

Ricardo said, looking at Milk as she climbed down from the shoulder to the arm.

Had he never really seen her up close?

Well, makes sense. Thief Snowflakes are naturally timid and extremely wary, so when an unfamiliar life-form approaches, they turn transparent and hide.

Since she was in Kairos’s arms right now, she wasn’t running away.

The handler, who had cherished the Thief Snowflake since before it even hatched from the egg, smiled softly.

“Yes.”

The man gently extended his palm, with Milk on it, toward Ricardo.

“Would you like to pet her?”

Ricardo looked quietly at Milk.

“Did she allow it~? She looks skittish....”

“She’ll be fine with you, senior. Though she’d never show herself in front of Yun.”

That’s true.

Ricardo chuckled.

Then he carefully raised the hand without an IV needle and gently stroked Milk’s head.

Milk flinched when the hand approached, but she didn’t move away.

Once she realized there was no malice in the touch, she even made a pleased sound.

Fluffy white fur.

The senior laughed softly.

“Cute....”

“I heard Milk crying.”

Ami suddenly stuck her head out of the tent.

Dragging her IV stand, she ran toward us.

“Milk!”

Others around us also became aware of Milk’s presence.

People started gathering again. Kairos calmly mediated, making sure Milk didn’t panic. I saw him shade Milk with his other hand, forming a little canopy over her.

While half-listening to the people admiring Milk, I replied to Shu’s message.

The reply came immediately.

[Shu: No. He was still standing in the ruins.]

That’s a hopeful response.

I’d been suspecting that Simon Diamond—Shu’s father—might be encountering Cecil, who exists in another world, through his dreams.

I’d heard before that one of the strange methods mages use to communicate is through dreams.

If my guess was right, that meant Cecil was still in another world.

[Shu: But he looked very unstable. That’s why he’s worried. He wasn’t sane to begin with, and he tried to kill himself several times when he was with my dad. But he said he seemed even stranger than back then. It could just be a meaningless dream, though...]

[Me: No. Thank you very much for telling me. Do you still feel something strange about the portals these days?]

[Shu: It’s been like that for a while now.]

[Me: I see.]

[Shu: I watched the ad. It was good.]

No.

I was a little flustered by the sudden topic change.

But this senior had always been a bit odd. I pulled myself together, thanked her, and said we should go eat together sometime if there was a chance. A nodding character emoji came back in response.

I couldn’t tell if it was a bear or a cat.

[Me: Is that a cat?]

[Shu: It’s a mouse.]

Huh?

[Shu: It’s a character I like. I’m thinking of going to the pop-up store in late July. It’s in a busy area, though, so I’m hesitating...]

[Me: Because of the wheelchair?]

[Shu: Yeah.]

[Me: If nothing comes up, I’ll go with you. I should’ve visited you in the hospital more often....]

[Shu: Do you still think the prosthetic leg was a rash decision?]

I let out a sigh.

I brushed back my fallen hair with my hand. If Shu were in front of me, I’d have controlled my expression—but she wasn’t.

After letting my unease out with a breath, I replied.

[Me: We just need to capture an Archmage.]

[Shu: Aren’t those two Archmages the ones who showed up at headquarters this time? They really don’t seem like they’d fix my leg.]

[Me: If a blade is at their throat, they might change their attitude. I’ll make it happen.]

[Shu: They seem like they’d choose death instead.]

[Me: Shu. We still have Cecil.]

I went back and forth with Shu over messages for quite a while.

I’d felt it last time too—my immediate senior was incredibly stubborn. Not that there were many Black Badgers who weren’t stubborn.

If persuasion didn’t work, I’d have to contact Simon instead.

“What’s wrong~?”

Looks like I got caught frowning.

I gave Ricardo, who had turned toward me, a bitter smile.

“Well, it’s just....”

After I roughly explained the situation, Ricardo furrowed his brow too.

He stayed silent for a moment, thinking, then spoke.

“That mouse thing—when was it again~?”

“The pop-up? The last week of July.”

“That’s soon.... If nothing happens, let’s go together~.”

My face relaxed.

I was genuinely glad about his suggestion. If Ricardo joined in to persuade her, maybe Shu would stop agonizing over it.

Late July still bothered me a little, though.

Because I remembered what the Ice Dragon had said to Kai.

Still, we couldn’t afford to sit idle from late July to early August just because of an uncertain future.

Thanks to being assigned to outer-area missions, Kai and Sophia hadn’t caught the spreading infectious disease.

I’d heard they were currently on patrol nearby.

I should check in on them too.

Making a mental note, I loosely set a plan with Shu and Ricardo. Since the pop-up would be running throughout the last week of July, as long as nothing major happened, it seemed likely the three of us could match schedules for at least one day.

Face-to-face persuasion would probably be more effective.

After setting the plan, I put my phone away—and someone approached.

There was no sense of hostility at all, so I didn’t pay much attention until the person came right up and stopped.

Only when the surrounding noise abruptly died down did I realize who it was.

My eyes widened.

“Senior Mühlen?”

“The materials you sent me.”

The ash-gray-haired scientist fixed me with piercing blue eyes.

“Who organized them?”

People stopped cooing over Milk and stared blankly at John Mühlen.

They were shocked that he’d spoken first.

And even more shocked that he’d come looking for me himself.

But I was speechless for a different reason.

I stood there dumbly for a moment, then snapped back to my senses.

“I received them from a genetic scientist who has passed away.”

At some point, Yun had come out nearby as well.

Standing beside Mühlen, my mentor stared straight at me.

I didn’t have the leisure to greet him. I did my best to maintain composure under that legendary blue gaze.

“What was the scientist’s name?”

“They used a pseudonym. I don’t know their real name.”

“Do you at least know which journal they published in?”

“No. I’m sorry.”

“The data is excellent.”

Of course it was.

Eve was a genius of the century—just like the scientist standing in front of me now.

Back then, she’d been one of the few stars illuminating the vast night sky of genetic engineering. And because of that, she’d drawn both admiration and hatred from many.

Considering the data was something she’d risked her life to smuggle out, it made sense that Mühlen would come looking for me like this.

“Then do you know roughly when they passed away?”

I opened my mouth.

My answer came half a beat late.

“...Within the last three years.”

“Old age?”

No.

Gunshot.

I couldn’t say it.

The image of a brain floating in glowing fluid surfaced in my mind.

Then the image of it sagging limply, dead, like a jellyfish.

Eve.

She....

“This kid doesn’t know anything, so there’s no point asking him.”

Yun’s voice snapped me back.

The blurred edges of my vision sharpened. My mentor had stepped between John Mühlen and me without me noticing.

“Those materials are everything there is. I looked into it separately.”

Pale blue eyes slowly closed, then opened again.

“If anything, I’d like data from you instead. Didn’t you collect biological data from Hildebert while he was dead drunk?”

“Huh.”

“From the look of it, you stored it quite neatly in the share house.”

“What the hell.”

The seniors gasped. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

At the same time, someone grabbed my shoulder hard.

“You.”

“You.”

I turned my head toward the voices.

Ricardo was staring at me with a deep frown, and Kairos had seized my shoulder, his face rigid.

Ricardo spoke, brow knit.

“What’s going on all of a sudden?”

Kairos turned me the other way.

“Hilde. That wasn’t your fault.”

“What is it {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} now.... What are you hiding this time?”

“I’m not hiding anything.”

I didn’t hyperventilate.

Thanks to the people around me.

I exhaled slowly and rubbed my face several times with dry hands.

It seemed people noticed something was wrong. I heard whispers—what’s wrong with him all of a sudden?

I didn’t have the presence of mind to respond.

Fortunately, Kairos turned his body and started explaining something to the seniors.

I didn’t catch the details.

I focused on steadying my breathing.

Ricardo lightly patted my back as I desperately tried to stave off a panic attack.

Meanwhile, Ami ran over and clutched my arm.

I managed to calm down.

“I’m glad the data was helpful, even to a naturally gifted genius like yourself, senior.”

Good.

I can smile now.

“You likely would have succeeded in developing the antibiotics even without those materials, since you’d already found the clue.”

“No.”

“Huh?”

“It was possible because I stood on the shoulders of a giant.”

Astonishingly, Mühlen replied to me.

“It was truly impressive research. Thank you for sharing it.”

I wish you could have heard that directly.

You would’ve been so happy. You probably would’ve jumped up and down like a child.

As soon as the tall man finished speaking, he turned sharply and walked away. After asking a few questions like a normal person, he now acted as if he was done, leaving without even looking back.

I kept my eyes on his back until it disappeared.

Only after John Mühlen left the isolation ward did I dare to move my stiffened body.

I looked at the people gripping my shoulders and arms.

“I’m fine.”

Ricardo, Ami, and Kairos didn’t answer.

“I’m really fine. Thank you for helping me.”

“Why don’t you go inside and get some rest?”

“Good idea. Black, you come with me for a moment~.”

“Yes, senior.”

The handler replied politely.

Having gotten an affirmative answer, the green-eyed senior led Kairos—who had tucked Milk into his pocket—away somewhere.

I tried to stop them, but Yun grabbed me instead and dragged me along.

My mentor, who was being discharged tomorrow.

“Get some sleep.”

He shoved me into the tent.

“We’re in a situation where an ambush could happen at any moment. Late July, early August—what the dragon said is right around the corner.”

He wasn’t wrong.

With a pile of work waiting anyway, I obediently went into the tent. There, I received reports from Rose and Igor and organized the situation.

There were many pressing issues. I needed to keep my head straight and deal with them.

I laid out the new information and started turning it over in my mind.

***

The general staff were suffering from overwork in every sense.

The Planning and Coordination Team and General Affairs Team went without saying, but other departments were also put on emergency footing.

Employees trudged to work at dawn, stepping over debris. After the shutdown caused by the epidemic, headquarters itself had collapsed—inside and out, there was no shortage of work.

Thanks to the swift response taken when the spatial gate opened—people prepared for mutual destruction if necessary—public opinion hadn’t plunged to rock bottom.

Still, there was no way they wouldn’t take hits.

Especially since the Elders, who had keenly read the shift in the tides, quietly withdrew to the back.

When the three Elders let go of the reins of public opinion, the confusion accelerated.

Little by little, the world began to realize something was wrong.

Starting with the amusement park incident, the sudden increase in Creature appearances inside Cores.

The unprecedented invasion of headquarters.

Even a suspicious epidemic that might not be natural at all.

It was impossible not to feel anxious. Even as Lexic Noodles’ reopening thrived, prices soared and conspiracy theories spread. Food and weapon hoarding began. Stocks plunged day after day, and there were reports of cult-like religions rapidly expanding their influence.

The President reappeared after a long absence.

Corporate chairmen bustled about, scrambling to respond to the volatile markets.

The top brass were being summoned here and there, never once showing their faces.

As a result, in a strange twist, Badgers in specialized roles became relatively idle.

As they gradually returned to the field, the manpower shortage eased to some extent.

Specialists were all reassigned to patrols.

Watching all that, the last week of July arrived before long.

The day I’d promised to meet Ricardo and Shu.

After replying to Rose’s message saying she’d received Spitfire’s confirmation, I lifted my head.

Then I smiled at the two seniors approaching.

“Shu. Rick. Good morning.”