Black Badger

Ska opened his eyes.

Even lifting his eyelids looked difficult.

The man stared up at the ceiling and grumbled.

“Honestly, that’s too cruel. I thought you’d at least offer some words of comfort.”

“I could,” Yehyeon replied.

“But would that kind of comfort actually make you feel better?”

“No.”

“That fear won’t go away until the personnel order is issued.”

The Commander-in-Chief spoke in a gloomy voice.

“No matter what anyone says, you won’t feel okay.”

Ska covered his face with both hands and let out a strange sound through his fingers.

It was the kind of noise someone might make while doing the splits. After a while, he lowered his hands and looked back at the ceiling.

“I’m a patient, you know.”

“You were about due to get sick. It’s actually better if you ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) fall ill like this periodically. Take this chance to rest a bit.”

“A bit?”

“You still have to work....”

At the somber muttering, Ska covered his face again and flailed.

Kicking wildly under the blankets, the man stared into the air.

“But why do I have to work?”

This time, he asked a fundamental question.

“I’ve already earned more than enough money. I’ve got unused leave piled up. Wouldn’t everything be solved if I just let go of it all and rested?”

“And leave your comrades behind?”

Yehyeon said.

Ska glanced briefly at the comrades in the room, then muttered weakly to himself.

“We’re all getting old anyway. They’ll manage fine on their own....”

“Did you forget that when an outsider sat in the Commander-in-Chief’s chair, Kudo almost got disciplined for disobeying orders?”

Ricardo, who had been leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, suddenly rubbed his face dryly.

A faint crease formed between Ska’s brows as he stared blankly at the ceiling.

Only Hildebert and Jonathan looked puzzled.

Ska let out a faint groan.

“Well, the one sitting in that seat back then was utterly incompetent. Didn’t listen to the Personnel Director at all, and tore apart a perfectly functional system just to erase the predecessor’s traces. Jonathan Kudo only looked like the first to rebel because he’s so bad at playing the game. In reality, everyone was one step away from exploding with dissatisfaction.”

“True. But you remember how it ended.”

At Ska’s remark about lacking finesse, Jonathan stared straight at him.

But the two at the top ignored that clear gaze and continued talking among themselves.

“Even if there’s discontent, it’s not easy to replace an appointed person. In the end, they opened a Core in an unprepared state, claiming they’d reclaim territory, and all they did was lose land and people.”

“...There’s no guarantee I wouldn’t make the same mistake.”

“Even if you gave orders while drunk, you’d still be better than that person.”

Yehyeon dabbed at Ska’s brow with a tissue, wiping away sweat.

After crumpling the damp tissue and placing it on the bedside table, he looked back at him.

“And you’re good at this, Ska. You’re thirty times better than I was when I first sat in the Commander-in-Chief’s seat. Have some confidence. There’s no such thing as a perfectly prepared moment.”

“There’s no need for you to be pushed out like this.”

The aide muttered in a hoarse voice.

“You served so excellently for so long, and now you can’t even retire with honor.”

Yehyeon chuckled softly.

“I told you. If I don’t step down now, I’ll get cursed even worse later. If I leave cleanly at this timing, someday people might even say the old guard was better. Maybe they’ll say I did reasonably well and retired. But if I dig in and get forced out here, that’s when it becomes a truly disgraceful retirement. I’d be remembered as a dictator who refused to resign out of lust for power, even after smashing the headquarters building and causing mass casualties in the center of Center Core.”

Ska covered his face again.

A groaning sound leaked out between his fingers.

Ricardo snorted cynically, while Jonathan blinked.

Hildebert, who had dragged over a chair and sat down, spoke for the first time.

“I actually came to say something about that as well.”

Everyone’s heads turned at once.

The room had already been checked once for bugs and cameras.

Sitting in the center of the room with the curtains drawn and the lights on, Hildebert smiled faintly.

“This is an impertinent proposal from start to finish, so please take it with a grain of salt.”

The message was concise.

Leave it vacant.

In my view as well, it seems best for Yehyeon to formally express his intention to resign. It might even be good to proceed with a retirement ceremony. However, I understand that administratively, the Black Badger Commander-in-Chief is appointed by the President. If the President delays appointing someone to that position, then in the meantime, the person designated as acting head would carry out the Commander-in-Chief’s duties.

“The acting head would be Aide Ska.”

“So no matter what direction we choose, there’s no option where I’m free....”

“There is an option where we all go down together~.”

“Why don’t you try it? You might be surprisingly good at it.”

“Then I’d better pull out a revolver....”

“Hilde, you’d definitely do well.”

“I’d rather join hands with Kyle.”

Hildebert smiled gently.

Ska let out a heavy sigh and collapsed back onto the bed like a rag doll.

“I don’t really know what kind of person the President is.”

Hildebert, having listened to the conversation between Ska and Ricardo, widened his smile as he continued.

“But I’ve heard in passing that he’s someone who knows his limits, so it might be worth considering this option. If the seat is left vacant, it would be easier for Yehyeon to return as Commander-in-Chief in an emergency if war breaks out.”

“You too?”

Ska asked.

Those round golden eyes blinked.

He asked again.

“You too think it’d be convenient in various ways if I stayed on as acting head?”

A long smile formed at the corner of Hildebert’s mouth.

It was slightly different from his usual faint smile.

Ricardo and Jonathan watched closely that smile, with a chill gathering at its edges.

Hildebert, his long white hair twisted and tied back, answered.

“I will not deny it.”

The strange smile quickly melted away and disappeared.

“Please recover swiftly, Aide. I won’t burden your rest with any more complicated talk.”

Indeed, Hildebert said nothing further after that.

A brief moment of calm passed. Yehyeon soothed his groaning subordinate, and Jonathan helped the parched Ska drink water.

Ricardo checked the room temperature, while Hildebert brought in a fresh water bottle.

As they indulged the patient’s complaints, Gilbert arrived.

“You’re here.”

“I am. There’s no one more worried about your condition than I am right now.”

That was the first thing Aide Gilbert said the moment he stood at the threshold.

“Please recover, Ska. I haven’t been this sincere in years.”

Ska expressed that he wanted to talk privately with the aide who had struggled alongside him for so long.

So everyone willingly stepped out.

Leaving behind the low murmur of Gilbert and Ska’s voices, they headed into the living room.

The silence was broken by Yehyeon as he walked across the living room toward the entrance.

“Sordi. Kudo.”

The two men stopped short.

Yehyeon turned and faced his subordinates directly.

“Sooner or later, the day will come when Ska takes the Commander-in-Chief’s seat.”

Yehyeon was not one to speak unnecessarily to his subordinates.

Those whose names had been called stood quietly and listened to their superior. Ricardo, in particular, always behaved as formally as possible whenever he stood before Yehyeon.

“When that day comes, survive as long as you can.”

At those words, the men stared straight at Yehyeon.

Yehyeon gave a bitter smile.

“Because from the moment he becomes Commander-in-Chief, Ska’s greatest fear will be that he might have to kill the two of you on my orders.”

Hildebert also stood quietly, listening to Yehyeon’s words.

“Train hard and build up your skills. Don’t act too recklessly. In truth, while I sat in that chair, I was able to endure because Yun and Ami survived without dying.”

“...We’ll do our best.”

“Yes.”

At their replies, a satisfied expression bloomed at Yehyeon’s lips.

It was a smile that looked somehow relieved.

“Thank you.”

The superior smiled gently at the Badgers, their expressions complicated.

“See you at the retirement ceremony.”

The Commander-in-Chief returned to headquarters.

***

Sticking close together never leads to anything good.

Having judged that, I did not go to headquarters with Yehyeon.

Instead, I had a brief conversation with him before he got into the car. We hadn’t seen each other much lately, both busy with our own work, and there were things I needed to say.

I put my helmet back on, lifting only the visor.

Then I handed a radio and a spare phone to my superior in the driver’s seat.

“I can’t completely avoid using communication devices.”

“So I contact you with this.”

“Yes. I can’t guarantee I’ll always respond, though....”

“Will you come to the retirement ceremony?”

I smiled reflexively.

“Of course. I’ll be there no matter what.”

“What about the deserter apprehension unit?”

I thought the timing of Yehyeon’s question was exquisite.

I had just received a reply from Sylvia Kip, after all.

Leonard and Sylvia.

The ones who had gone to Core 2 to catch deserters in the past.

“I received a positive response. It doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll be going out with both of them, though. If it does come to that, I’ll make sure there’s no noise.”

Yehyeon acknowledged my answer with a short sigh.

He said that back when he was promoted, he had formed a deserter apprehension unit using a pair of men and women as shameless as Yun. As long as Ska inherited the position, there wouldn’t be a problem, but the moment an outsider took the seat, there would be no guarantee of control.

He had been asking whether it was acceptable to use their hands if it came to that.

I might not use them, but in any case, I received permission to borrow their hands if needed.

After telling Yehyeon about other pending matters, including Cecil lying in Shu’s house in a mana-feedback state, I parted ways with him.

I greeted Ricardo and Jonathan, then left my residence.

And I rode my motorcycle to the safehouse.

The safehouse was located in the basement of a gloomy commercial building in the middle of Center Core’s downtown.

If you walked down the stairs with no CCTV blind spots, pressed your fingerprint on a steel door that looked like the entrance to an underground parking lot, and opened it, an eighty-pyeong luxury apartment appeared.

A place that looked like a peaceful family home.

I parked the motorcycle in the neighboring building’s underground parking lot and came out.

As I entered the safehouse without a sound, my subordinates turned their heads in unison to greet me.

“Commander! We’ve been waiting for you, Commander!”

“Did you deliver the communication devices?”

“We finally got an official response from Sukhoi’s side. Just as we expected. Take a look yourself.”

“You’re here.”

The moment I heard Kairos’s voice, I took Milk out of my pocket.

When I handed the thieving snowflake to its owner, the gaze flying toward me sharpened.

Probably because now he could confirm me not just by instinct, but visually as well.

Seeing Milk beep happily after fulfilling its role, I smiled.

Then I looked at those gathered in the spacious living room, each doing their own work.

“Call Lin.”

The noise cut off abruptly.

“We’ll need his skills once things really start moving.”

From the retirement ceremony onward, things would spin chaotically.

I didn’t like the idea of calling back a kin who might have turned over a new leaf and been living well, but this wasn’t a situation where I could afford such luxuries.

His skills were certain.

As long as his abilities hadn’t rusted, calling him would be a huge help....

.......

What?

“Why do you all look like that?”

People flinched.

“What’s the problem?”

My subordinates subtly averted their gazes.

Yoow, Igor, and even Kairos avoided meeting my eyes.

I narrowed my eyes and scrutinized them.

Only faithful Rose clapped her hands and smiled brightly.

“You mean Senior Lin!”

That’s right.

She had always called Lin “Senior.”

Because he had entered the same line of work before her....

“I’ll call him right away! These days, what he’s been up to is....”

And so I heard about Lin’s recent situation.

The latest information my subordinates had gathered on him.

One of the kin who had blended into Center Core better than anyone else....

“What do you mean he’s doing that?”

I was furious.