Black Badger

It was fortunate that there weren’t many cars out, since it was night.

Ratatang!

Rose rolled down the passenger-side window and fired.

Ratatatatang! Ratatatatatang!

「I didn’t get hit.」

「Just evade first.」

At Rose’s flat report, I floored the accelerator.

「The position’s bad.」

Chasing down the one on the rooftop and capturing him would take considerable effort.

On top of that, it was a carefully prepared ambush. Right now, we were racing down a single-lane straight road wedged between a forest of buildings. There was nowhere to turn, no corner to cut, so we couldn’t change direction.

Worse still, it felt like there were snipers on every rooftop and in every window sealing in this one-lane road.

Bang! Ratatatatatang!

Crash!

“Glass!”

Lin screamed from the back, clutching himself.

“Glass! Aah! Fuck!”

「Close your eyes.」

I was worried, but there was nothing I could do for him.

「Cover your head! Just stay alive—I’ll handle the rest!」

Vroooom!

The engine roared.

Gunfire and engine noise drowned out everything else as the car tore forward.

Shards of shattered glass flew everywhere.

I narrowed my eyes to keep them from getting in.

“Is that a machine gun?!”

First priority was getting out of this straight stretch.

Before a bullet blew out a tire. If a tire burst at this speed, the car would roll violently—but that was still better than getting riddled with bullets.

“Machine guns aren’t exactly easy to get unless you’re a deranged gang!”

「Rose, get your head down.」

I grabbed the back of Rose’s head as she loaded her gun with her right hand, forcing her down by feel alone.

The subordinate who curled up obediently shouted,

「Commander, your shoulder!」

「It doesn’t hurt, so don’t remind me.」

It was true. Adrenaline was flooding my system—I couldn’t feel any pain at all.

Only speed.

Just like this.

The intersection was coming up.

「Turning.」

Screeeech!

Kraaang!

「Right, Commander!」

After turning left, another intersection appeared not long after.

I had intended to go straight, but Rose—who had crawled under the glove box—shouted,

「There’s a subway!」

Screeeech!

I slammed to a stop in front of the subway entrance.

The inside of the car was a mess. Bullet fragments, blood, and shards of glass covered everything. But fortunately, the gunfire had stopped. Thanks to the two turns, we seemed to have slipped out of their firing range.

I kicked open the door riddled with holes and jumped out, then yanked open the back door.

Lin, who had been curled up, rolled out onto the ground.

“It hurts!”

When I bent down and hauled him up, his face was soaked with tears.

“It really hurts, Commander. It hurts like hell.”

「Yeah.」

Thank fuck it wasn’t a headshot.

I slung Lin—soaked in his own blood—over my right shoulder.

Then I ran around to the back of the car and toward the passenger side.

Rose was already outside.

Thankfully, she was bleeding only from her upper arm.

「Get into the subway!」

「No.」

If we went underground, I wouldn’t be able to absorb.

Touching concrete didn’t allow absorption. I could have flipped up the asphalt with my sword and placed my palm on the exposed earth, but there was no need for that right now.

There was a roadside tree next to the subway entrance.

I ran to it, dropped to one knee beside it, and checked Lin’s wound.

「We need to take the bullet out.」

“Aaah!”

Lin screamed as I ripped open the clothing around the wound.

“That’s going to hurt like hell! No, it hurts! It hurts!”

「You know the drugs you siphoned off from that cult professor.」

I asked while peering into the wound.

「Where did you stash them?」

I could feel Lin panic.

He opened his mouth with a tone different from the fear of being shot—more like the voice people use when they’re caught doing something wrong.

「What are you tal—」

I pulled the bullet out.

“Aaaargh!”

I immediately regenerated him.

Lin, who had screamed loud enough to wake the entire street from the pain of the extraction, fell silent the moment the wound closed.

He sniffed once, then stared down at his cleanly healed body.

“Oh.”

He let out an awkward sound and stood up.

「Thank you, Commander. It’s been a while since I got one—feels... nostalgic.」

「Rose.」

I called her while turning my head back.

Were the others in the rear car all right?

The fact that I couldn’t tell where they were or what condition they were in—because they’d erased their presence—suddenly filled me with fear.

Fortunately, Rose ran over and told me they had taken another road and made it home safely.

「Seems they didn’t get hit as hard.」

「Looks like they knew I was in the lead car.」

Thank fuck.

I checked Rose’s wound.

Seeing that it wasn’t closing properly, it looked like an artery had been nicked. In this situation, I had to regenerate. I placed one hand on the tree again and grabbed Rose’s right hand.

A few people peeked out from nearby buildings, but I ignored them.

Lin waved at anyone who tried to approach.

“Gang fight! Go back inside!”

When he shouted at the top of his lungs, someone yelled back,

“Do you need an ambulance?!”

“We’re fine!”

Lin shouted in reply.

“It’s dangerous—stay inside!”

「What about your shoulder, Commander?」

Rose whispered as she knelt in front of me.

「Did you regenerate it?」

「It closed while I was treating Lin. It’s fine.」

After finishing Rose’s regeneration, I forcefully swallowed down the nausea rising in my throat.

Then I stood up, ignoring Rose as she tried to speak.

「Let’s get out of here first. We’ll deal with the rest once we reach the safehouse.」

「You took the Eternal Chaser neutralizer before leaving, didn’t you?」

Lin ran up to me as I headed toward the subway station.

「How did they know? I mean—how did they know the Commander was in the front car? You left from that cult leader’s underground parking lot!」

「Maybe they caught a whiff.」

When Jaeyeon impersonated the Emperor, they had reproduced part of that instinctive sense.

Of course, it was also possible that someone at the party had been bought off, or that my position had been discovered through some other means. There was no way to confirm the cause right now.

What mattered was getting out of here.

Was going into the subway really the right choice?

Given the scale, it wouldn’t have been strange if they’d planted people down there too.

And regenerating would be difficult underground.

Maybe entering a nearby building would be—

Screeeech!

A car stopped beside us.

I snapped my head around as the passenger-side window rolled down, revealing a familiar face.

“Get in.”

Lee Seunghyun said shortly.

“They’re waiting in the subway.”

“Thanks.”

I didn’t hesitate—I climbed straight into the passenger seat.

Rose and Lin slid quickly into the back seat. Seunghyun started the car before they even finished closing the doors.

Then he drove down the road at a perfectly ordinary speed.

The car itself was completely ordinary.

One of the most common sedan models in Center Core.

It blended seamlessly into the late-night traffic.

We left the scene without incident.

***

The bullet was lodged in my left shoulder.

It had been naturally sealed in during regeneration, leaving fragments trapped unnaturally inside my body, sending sharp pain through me.

Once we reached the safehouse, I’d cut it out with my sword.

At least it didn’t look bad on the outside—that was one thing to be grateful for.

Using only my right hand, I checked on the others’ safety.

Igor was injured, but Deltei and Yoow were unharmed.

After regenerating Igor too, I’d have to cut myself open.

Once I’d sorted the situation, Seunghyun gave me a rough rundown.

After confirming that the attack had indeed been carried out by the ambitious intelligence director, I let out a long sigh as the safehouse came into view.

“Sorry. I probably got your car seat pretty dirty.”

True to form, Lee Seunghyun ignored me completely.

Instead, he asked when I planned to deal with the man. I replied that, since things had come to this, I intended to prepare patiently—extracting information while taking revenge.

Seunghyun voiced no particular opinion at my answer and dropped us off in a blind spot not covered by CCTV.

After Lin and Rose went in first, I only prepared to get out once I confirmed they were safely inside.

“Pass along my thanks to Sukhoi as well.”

“Yes.”

“She still doesn’t like my plan, does she?”

I asked quietly before getting out.

Lee Seunghyun kept his hands on the wheel, staring straight ahead without looking at me.

Then he answered in a low voice.

“Yes.”

I thought he might add something, but instead he shot me a sideways glance and replied curtly,

“Go get treated. Looks like you haven’t taken the bullet out.”

“Seunghyun.”

When I called his name casually, he whipped his head around, eyes wide.

I chuckled softly and asked,

“Who do you like more—me or Sukhoi?”

For a moment, he looked like he suspected I was Jaeyeon.

The man tensed his entire body, ready to react instantly if I lunged—then, after staring at me smiling for a long moment, «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» he finally let out a sigh.

It was such a massive sigh it felt like the car floor might cave in.

“I dislike both of you.”

Very much like him.

“Get out already.”

“If Sukhoi doesn’t aim a gun at me, I won’t aim one at her either.”

I had been conveying that stance repeatedly.

Don’t stab me in the back. As long as she doesn’t covet the highest seat of power, we can remain on friendly terms—and I have no intention of cutting her down.

Of course, I had no plans to hand Colton’s throne over to her. I intended to leave it empty, or seat Spitfire there instead.

Accept that fact, and don’t point a gun at me.

That was the message I reiterated.

Would Yekaterina really be the one to aim the gun?

Lee Seunghyun would be the one to do it, following his master’s command.

He stared at me sullenly, and I offered no further explanation.

“Get in safely.”

With that farewell, I got out of the car.

***

「Igor!」

The moment I entered the safehouse, Deltei ran over shouting.

「Hilde, Igor!」

「Where is he?」

I moved quickly inside.

The moment I found Igor washing his wound in the bathroom, I grabbed his arm.

Deltei brought over something—chicken, maybe. Yoow, who had been helping clean Igor’s wound, promptly stepped aside.

I grabbed the squishy meat and finished the regeneration.

Igor let out a sigh and rolled up his sleeve.

「Sorry. All I ever do is get protected by the Commander.」

「Who are you apologizing to? Thanks for bringing everyone back safely.」

I waved my hand dismissively and turned away.

Thankfully, the spacious safehouse had multiple bathrooms.

「Take Rose and check the security systems. I need the bathroom.」

「Commander, just now—」

「It was the intelligence director’s doing. So Yoow, contact Spitfire and get an accurate read on the situation. Del, check on the others’ safety.」

「Yes.」

「Got it.」

Leaving them as they ran off, I headed into an inner bathroom.

I turned on the ventilator, ran the water, and started emptying my stomach.

Ghhk.

While I was gagging violently, the door suddenly flew open.

I nearly jumped out of my skin and whipped my eyes toward the intruder.

It was Kairos.

「I won’t nag, so don’t worry.」

The handler grabbed my blood-caked hair and patted my back.

Ah.

At this age, shouldn’t this be getting better?

There was a mountain of things to do, and yet every time, I ended up locked in a bathroom like this. I was sick of it.

But since it wasn’t something that could be fixed immediately, I just kept retching—until another voice chimed in.

“Commander?”

From behind the open bathroom door, Lin called out to me, stunned.

“Did you eat something bad? Or was the Eternal Chaser neutralizer too strong? You were only injured in the shoulder....”

Too startled to even use Imperial speech.

Lin didn’t know.

And I had no desire to explain my absorption rejection syndrome to him.

Thankfully, Kairos answered in my place.

「Maybe he got carsick?」

「Carsick?」

Lin echoed in disbelief.

「A Swordmaster getting carsick—」

Only after I’d vomited up even stomach acid did the spasm subside.

As the nausea faded, the weakness that followed a seizure washed over my body. I rinsed myself off, thanked the handler, and stepped out of the bathroom.

「Let’s sleep and sort things out in the morning.」

I smiled at the pale-faced Lin.

「Wash up and sleep, Lin. We’ll finish talking tomorrow.」

「But why did you suddenly throw up? Was it indigestion from dinner?」

「Something like that.」

I answered without caring whether he believed me.

I ignored the look he sent that clearly said, You think that’s an excuse?

Instead, I got organized. I stripped off my blood-soaked top, tied my gore-matted hair back into one bundle, and replied to Kairos’s mutter about how inconvenient long hair must be at times like this by saying I planned to cut it right after revenge was done.

Then I dismissed the subordinates.

After saying there was someone I needed to contact, I headed to my room.

「I’m turning in.」

They didn’t stop me.

***

When I tilted the mirror roughly and finally relaxed enough to cut into my wound—

The door flew open without a knock.

「Aah!」

「I knew it.」

Kairos smiled.

「Earlier, I noticed the back of your jacket wasn’t pierced.」