Black Badger

「Thank you.」

I replied absently and stepped out of the safe house.

Every time we moved as a group, my nerves were on edge, leaving me with no room to respond gently. I let Lin’s flattery—something about how the watch suited me—go in one ear and out the other as we headed down to the underground parking garage.

「Should I strap on a knife too?」

Two vehicles were parked in the middle of the garage, engines already running.

Deltei, who had been standing near the front car, approached and asked.

「What do you think?」

I looked down at the woman who was fully prepared to attend the party.

Her hair had completely returned to its original color now.

Her blue eyes matched well with the navy dress. Just yesterday, Deltei had laughed and said, “Thank goodness I bought the dress before my card got suspended.”

I wasn’t sure where the knife idea had come from, but....

「You look like you’d cut yourself with it.」

There was no need to think about my answer.

「Just stay as close to me as possible.」

Of course, since it was Eric Erhart’s VIP-only party, it probably wouldn’t be extremely dangerous.

Still, there was no harm in being cautious. Colton was already on the move.

「Got it.」

Deltei muttered with a slightly wilted expression.

「I don’t really have much confidence either, honestly.」

「Are we finally ready?」

Igor approached, stepping out of the back seat.

「Then let’s head out now. Commander, the vehicle inspection is done.」

The cars were ones Kairos had obtained.

They had originally been his, but their ownership had been brilliantly transferred to a paper company—corporate vehicles, identical high-end SUVs. Their engines hummed as the sound echoed through the garage. The underground safe house Yun had arranged came with its own underground parking, and all of us had gathered there.

This garage was, quite literally, for our exclusive use.

Visitors to the commercial complex used the adjacent parking tower instead.

“There’s even a floor with a massive freezing warehouse.”

The safe house whose address Yun hadn’t even shared with Yehyeon and Ami.

A few weeks after we’d rented the place, Yoow made an unexpected discovery.

“The power’s cut right now, but there’s something with excellent performance here. Is this also your mentor’s?”

It turned out it was indeed Yun’s.

I didn’t bother asking what the freezing warehouse was used for.

What good would knowing do me? It would only make me uneasy.

Strangely, the safe house Yun had provided wasn’t registered under Choi Yun’s name, but under some company—one that was highly likely a paper company as well.

I didn’t dig into any of it.

Instead, I accepted my mentor’s help with gratitude. The safe house even came equipped with high-performance security systems.

When I asked if they’d been installed for us, my mentor had snorted.

He said what was installed there was already outdated.

Even so, the security equipment had been doing its job well lately.

「Wow, this car is amazing!」

Lin walked out from behind us, whistling.

「Impressive. As expected of Blackjack!」

「Haha, thanks.」

Kairos laughed lightly.

Among the neatly dressed group, he alone stood there in a comfortable sweatshirt. He wouldn’t be attending the party tonight.

In public, I moved around with Kairos; in the shadows, I moved with Lin and the others.

And I still had to pass the promotion exam.

I’d already cultivated tens of thousands of antis just by joining the Black Badgers. There was no way I could let the promotion exam be anything but perfectly normal.

There aren’t many days left.

「Thanks for getting the cars even though you’re busy.」

「Don’t mention it.」

The contractor replied breezily to my thanks.

The moment Lin heard Kairos say they could wreck both cars if they wanted and just go comfortably, his eyes lit up.

「Boss. You’re the best. Truly unmatched in generosity.」

「From what I’ve heard of your track record, you seem perfectly capable of buying a car like this yourself.」

「Oh, come on. If you work while staying within the lines, the money you make isn’t actually that much.」

「So has Kairos been crossing the line all this time?」

Deltei couldn’t hold back and interjected.

Lin turned his head and replied smoothly.

「Ah, Saint. You know what I mean. You get it, right?」

「I don’t, actually.」

「Let’s go.」

I cut off the brewing tension among my subordinates.

「We really need to leave now.」

Lin didn’t get along well with the others.

Deltei and Yoow, having lived in the imperial palace, instinctively couldn’t understand Lin, who enjoyed deviation by nature. Igor kept trying to restrain Lin, which made Lin unilaterally recoil from him.

At least Lin seemed comfortable with Kairos. Perhaps he even admired the feats Kairos had accomplished under the identity of Blackjack.

But Kairos wasn’t coming with us....

Still, they were tolerating each other well enough, and I was grateful for that as I spoke.

「Igor. Please take good care of Del on the way to the social hall.」

「No problem.」

「Rose, Lin, and I will take the front car. The three of you take the back car.」

「Yes!」

Rose shouted with an emotional voice and ran over.

「I’ll drive, Commander!」

「No. I’ll drive. You sit in the passenger seat, Rose.」

「C-Co-Commander driving... driving... driving...!」

Wouldn’t daily life be exhausting if she got this excited every time?

「Rose. It’s an order. Sit in the passenger seat, fasten your seatbelt, and wait quietly.」

「Yes!」

I was relieved she didn’t get a nosebleed.

Letting out a small sigh, I turned toward the contractor.

Standing near the entrance in slippers, he smiled gently.

「Be careful.」

「You too.」

I was on edge because of the annoying presences that had been detected near the safe ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) house over the past few days.

「If anything happens, contact me immediately.」

Kairos waved his hand with a smile, telling me not to worry.

Leaving him behind, we departed for the social hall.

***

Colton was someone utterly distant from stupidity.

Which meant he also knew exactly how far to go with his exposés. He specified the tenth-class Creature as a “yellow-eyed being,” without revealing the existence of Titans themselves.

Because exposing Titans would also raise the likelihood of the Elders’ existence becoming public.

No matter how overwhelming their power, if the existence of the Elders were revealed to the public, their throne wouldn’t remain unshakable.

So he exposed only my identity.

To keep his throne safely hidden behind the curtain while pushing me into the spotlight of surveillance.

「Honestly, by modern standards, aren’t I living better than Sir Igor?」

Inside the car headed for the social hall.

Lin, sprawled out in the back seat, complained.

For various reasons, Lin had ended up living with us at the safe house, and lately he’d been grinding his teeth over Igor’s nagging.

Whenever he got the chance, he vented small grievances to me like this.

「I own my own place, you know.」

「Igor had one too. Things just happened along the way.」

「I’ve saved up a decent amount of money as well! Sure, it’s frozen right now and I can’t use it, but I was taking perfectly good care of myself!」

「But thanks to that, Igor’s account didn’t get frozen.」

I replied casually, letting Lin’s grumbling slide.

「Because his balance was small.」

「Was it 230,000 won? Or 330,000 won? A grown man not even having 500,000 won in his account— even voice phishing criminals wouldn’t bother emptying that guy’s account.」

「Then why isn’t Senior Lin driving?」

Just as I was about to answer offhandedly, Rose raised a question.

「Does the Commander not trust Senior Lin’s driving skills?」

「Hey, what are you talking about! I’m an excellent driver! I just yielded because I thought the Commander wanted to drive!」

「Is that so? That’s strange. The Commander isn’t really interested in cars.... Senior Lin, you were the one who really wanted to drive things like this, weren’t you? Didn’t you say you liked the G-Wagon?」

「The driver’s seat is dangerous right now.」

I explained.

If there was a sniper somewhere, the driver would be targeted first.

There was no way a seasoned deviant like Lin didn’t know that. I’d taken that into account too, which was why I hadn’t let Rose or Lin drive.

Rose would have realized it as well if I hadn’t been sitting beside her.

This kid had a tendency to lose a bit of intelligence whenever I was next to her....

「Commander!」

The red-eyed subordinate screamed.

「Please stop right now! I’ll drive! Or Senior Lin should drive! Commander!」

「Hey! If the Commander wanted to, he could take your head and mine in under ten seconds right here! And us? Even if the two of us rushed him together, we wouldn’t scratch him! So isn’t it obvious the Commander should drive?!」

「What’s the point of us living if it’s not in place of the Commander?!」

This is insane.

Feeling fatigue wash over me, I stared out the window.

I couldn’t even tell who I should start correcting, or from where.

「Switch seats! Commander! Commander!」

「Shut up! You’re the one who’s reminding us so much we’re going to get into an accident!」

「What are you doing back there, Senior?!」

Rose twisted her body toward the back seat and grabbed Lin by the collar.

「Come to the front!」

Ghk!

The strangled sound that burst from Lin’s mouth.

Instead of speaking, I grabbed Rose’s arm—veins bulging—and pulled it down.

“Don’t cause a scene in the car. It’s dangerous. Sit still.”

Only after the car stopped at a traffic light did I meet Rose’s eyes and scold her.

「And Rose. I told you not to say things like what’s the point of living in my place.」

「But Commander, really, I should drive—」

「Just leave it.」

Lin lay back in the rear seat and muttered.

「Like that guy would listen. If anything, it’s only gotten worse.」

Fortunately, I managed to calm Rose down.

Once she regained her composure, nothing else happened.

Letting out a long sigh of relief, I drove leisurely and arrived at the social hall.

***

The party had begun.

It was a gathering that invited only top-tier figures. Only those who knew that a power struggle was unfolding beneath the surface were in attendance.

Those who had enjoyed power, wealth, and fame to their fill—and now desired immortality—showed their faces.

People gathered in small groups, conversing as they tried to secure reliable backing amid the turbulent political undercurrents.

Wherever one looked, there were formidable faces. Even in the dim party hall, a few figures from Yekaterina’s side could be seen.

The most dangerous individual, Lee Seunghyun, wasn’t present this time....

Shashinsky sighed as he scanned the guests entering the hall.

Soft conversation filled the space as a piano piece flowed through the air. Earrings hanging from the ears of a performer in a red dress reflected the low lighting.

Mahler’s Piano Quartet No. 4, a piece his master favored.

Under normal circumstances, Eric Erhart would have approached the performer who played so beautifully and said something.

But this time, Eric Erhart didn’t spare the performer a single glance.

Instead, holding a glass of whiskey, he approached the group gathered in one spot.

They were seated in their usual place again today.

Those who always gathered around their leader. They typically enjoyed the party while conversing at a moderate volume, welcoming those who approached with practiced warmth.

In particular, their leader Hildebert and the blond man who seemed to handle reception dealt with people skillfully.

There was a reason Eric’s people felt comfortable talking to them while trying to join the line. Hildebert and the blond man were always courteous, often striking reasonable deals—such as gold purchases and other transactions.

It was, in effect, a venue for deals and contracts disguised as a party.

But today, there was no one around those usually popular figures.

All the invitees were perceptive enough to understand.

They unanimously yielded priority to Eric Erhart.

The sound of Eric’s shoes gradually drew closer to Hildebert. The people gathered around Hildebert clearly heard the footsteps, yet none of them tore their gaze away from the golden-eyed man.

They merely stared at the white-haired man sitting with his legs crossed, speaking.

Those displaying blind loyalty in various forms.

“Prometheus.”

Shashinsky’s master called the name of the one receiving that loyalty.

“How have you been?”

The golden gaze turned.

......