Black Badger

“Aaagh!”

What is this!

What is this!!

What the hell is—.

Bzzzzzzzzzzzz!

“Aaaagh!”

When I screamed in panic, Kairos, who had been unloading luggage from the car, came running.

“What is it!?”

The handler stopped short beside me.

“Oh.”

He let out a brief sound of admiration as he looked at Tig floating in midair.

“Tig flies.”

“No, why is it flying?!”

Flustered, I stared at the robot vacuum hovering in the air.

“Why is the robot vacuum flying?!”

It wasn’t something that originally had a function like this!

This is....

This is....

I was so dumbfounded that no words came out.

My mouth just opened and closed before I finally managed to pull myself together.

After blinking a few times, I walked up to Tig, which was spinning lazily in the air and slowly descending.

Tig touched down lightly on the first floor.

The two propellers that had suddenly popped out into the air folded back inside....

“Who did this.”

I knelt beside Tig and spoke.

“It was Yun, right?”

It had to be Yun.

“He took you away and turned you into this, didn’t he?”

Because I stupidly mentioned that it couldn’t clean the second floor....

While I was petting Tig’s lid in a daze, Kairos made a small hm? sound.

“There’s text showing up on the side.”

What?

Startled, I checked Tig’s side.

Only then did I notice a gel-like display attached to the side of my beloved robot vacuum.

Angular alphabet letters appeared on the thin screen.

〔Ye....〕

“Tig!”

I screamed.

“Tig! What is going on?!”

〔Upgrade complete.〕

The sentence scrolled across from right to left like a billboard.

The display wasn’t attached only to the sensor area.

〔Second-floor cleaning now possible~.〕

“When did Yun modify you like this?”

I asked, not really knowing what I was supposed to be feeling.

I completely ignored Kairos muttering from the entrance, “Good thing it’s white. If it were black, it’d look like a cockroach.”

“Can you only fly, or did you actually become an AI like Martin? What on earth did Yun do....”

〔Cannot understand.〕

Red letters streaked across the rounded side.

〔Your faithful cleaning assistant, Tig!〕

“Oh.”

While I stood there clutching Tig in a daze, Kairos stroked his chin.

“Lower intelligence than Martin.”

“...Don’t call Tig low-intelligence....”

I muttered in a sunken voice.

Then I stared blankly at the robot vacuum.

What is this supposed to be....

My cute Tig....

No, it’s not broken, exactly.

It’s still Tig.

But still, somehow, it feels....

I only snapped out of it when Kairos waved his palm in front of my eyes and said, “You? Are you alright?”

“Yun.”

The moment I came to my senses, I pulled out my phone.

Without checking whether he was out on land-clearing work or anything else, I just mashed the call button.

My senior picked up quickly.

[Choi Hyunjun said you’d have to wait two months if you want to purchase.]

The man launched straight into his words without even greeting me.

[Demand has exploded recently, but the supply chain’s been cut, so it can’t keep up. Ever since Black Badger HQ got overrun by a Creature swarm, the wealthy have been ordering security Core devices in bulk.]

“No, the rare earths issue was resolved, wasn’t it?”

I ended up grumbling, momentarily forgetting why I’d even called.

“So what’s with the supply chain excuse now?”

[Well, it’s not a complete lie. Quartzite supply hasn’t been keeping up with demand lately.]

“Quartzite?”

[Raw material for silicon wafers.]

What is he talking about.

I was briefly confused, but quickly grasped the context. Apparently silicon wafers are needed to manufacture Core devices.

But that wasn’t what mattered to me.

When did I ever say I wanted to line up and buy things fairly?

Lowering my gaze, I let out a sigh.

“You’re not someone who doesn’t understand what I’m saying. If the Chairman’s intention is like that....”

[Choi Hyunjun also added that he’d be happy to give you a tour of the device factory at any time.]

Yun continued, a faint smile in his voice.

[He told me the location too. You’re coming to HQ soon, right. I’ll tell you then.]

“Ah.”

He’s balancing things quite well.

Hearing Choi Hyunjun’s implied message — ‘I can’t openly help you, but if you wanted to steal the devices, I’d have no way to stop you’ — I smiled.

If he’s offering a tour, I should go.

I’ll have Yoow and Rose survey the area around the factory, and tell Lin to secure a few more vehicles that won’t raise issues.

It’d be nice if we could get what we need before Don Child pins anything on me, but things probably won’t move that fast.

And the promotion exam is really right around the corner....

While turning things over in my head, I belatedly remembered why I’d called Yun in the first place.

The moment I heard Yun say, “I’m hanging up,” I shouted,

“Yun!”

[What.]

My senior replied flatly.

I looked down at Tig, rotating slowly beside my knee.

“What did you do to Tig?!”

Yun fell silent for a moment.

When his voice returned, it was filled with pure puzzlement.

[You said it couldn’t clean the second floor.]

Ah!

I tilted my head back and stared at the ceiling.

“I didn’t ask you to modify it!”

[What’s the problem?]

He genuinely seemed not to understand.

[The added features don’t interfere with cleaning.]

“I know that. I get that. But it’s just.... the way it looks.... when it took off, the noise and all that....”

I couldn’t bring myself to say that if it were black, it would really look like a bug.

Tig was ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) right here listening.

I also didn’t explain that it felt like I’d entrusted my beloved cute toy to someone for a moment, only to have it returned covered in weird extra functions and looking monstrous.

Yun wouldn’t understand anyway....

My senior snorted.

[If it’s a vacuum you cherish, shouldn’t you love it no matter what it looks like? Try developing some tolerance.]

“I don’t want to hear that from you of all people!”

[I upgraded it and you’re full of complaints.]

“Tig was perfect even without an upgrade.... And does it have AI functions too? Like Martin?”

[Why would a robot vacuum need an AI like Martin.]

No.

Ah....

I was so speechless that I walked over to the cabin wall and leaned against it.

Watching the modified Tig while exhausted, Kairos suddenly flipped the robot vacuum over.

“Did you attach propellers because adding legs might interfere with the mopping function?”

〔 •́︿•̀ 〕

A sad emoticon appeared on Tig’s side as it lay upside down.

The moment I saw it, I said,

“Let Tig go.”

“You really get attached to everything.”

[You’re making a fuss over an inferior AI.]

“Don’t call Tig inferior. Don’t listen, Tig. You’re the best robot vacuum.”

〔So much tasty hair~〕

“Hilde?”

The voice from the open cabin door cut through the atmosphere.

Turning my head, I saw a familiar face staring with wide eyes.

A man in a T-shirt and sweatpants.

Someone who had stepped down from the position of Supreme Commander two months ago.

“Welcome back.”

Daeja asked.

“What are you doing here?”

Only then did it truly sink in that I had returned to the cabin after two months.

***

They said Yehyeon had slept almost continuously for a month.

So much so that Yun and Ami would hold the back of their hands in front of his nose to check if he was breathing.

He fell asleep while reading, fell asleep with his phone in hand while checking messages, and after going out with Ami, he slept for twelve hours like he’d blacked out.

But he said the most recent month hadn’t been as fortunate as the first month after retirement.

“Ska dumped the spy-hunting case on me.”

Yehyeon said with a bitter smile.

“He said I should help out at least this much.... That I have plenty of time and know how to read reports. I couldn’t argue with that.”

“Did you find anything?”

If I’d met him at HQ, I would’ve used honorifics.

He’s a senior, and an advisor to Black Badger.

But right now, he wasn’t on duty, and he seemed to want to use polite speech with me. So I relaxed my expression and replied casually.

He had looked like he’d aged ten years from worry, relieved that I was safe.

Yehyeon immediately noticed my shoulder injury.

Said he could faintly smell disinfectant.

He didn’t nag about it. When I told him it wasn’t serious, his face just turned briefly sad. He didn’t ask further and invited Kairos and me to his place.

The handler politely said we should take time to talk alone, then returned to his own house beside the cabin.

Yehyeon didn’t try to keep Kairos.

Instead, he ordered a full sashimi spread and, while waiting for delivery, showed me various materials.

“I’m combing through all existing Core data.”

He gestured at the mountain of documents piled on the dining table.

“You remember that we briefly entered Kyle’s defensive zone and filmed their living area, right.”

I nodded and looked at him.

The gentle smile he’d worn while ordering food, reminiscing about old times, was gone. In its place was the familiar air of a Supreme Commander draped over him.

Experience like that doesn’t disappear easily.

“I know.”

“You also remember asking about the flowers caught on that footage. At the time, we only asked about the flowers, but in truth, that wasn’t all we were focusing on.”

“Then what?”

“The supplies. Things that could only have come from inside a Core.”

Latest medical supplies. Clothing and fertilizer. Toilet paper.

Staff at the Center checked the manufacturers and production dates of the items caught on video.

They discovered that several of them had been shipped out after the destruction of the private portal through which Green Dream had been leaking.

Which meant supplies were still being siphoned out through somewhere.

“It won’t be Center Core. They’re probably moving goods through a Core with weaker surveillance. We’re digging through data to confirm that.”

“Sounds like you’ll catch something soon.”

“Yes. Of course, we can’t guarantee that the one leaking internal information and the smuggler are the same person. But if we trace the smuggling route, we can climb up from there and find a lead on the spy. Since communication is cut, the spy’s information will have to be passed in physical form.”

“What are they trying to do.”

I muttered gloomily.

I’d been so busy fighting Colton that I’d barely paid attention to Kyle’s side.

Lately, Kyle’s side had been quiet too. Almost as if they knew I was fighting the Elders. Like they were waiting for me to be exhausted from taking on the Elders before pushing in.

Or was it because their trump card, the Archmage Cecil, was gone, so they were lying low for now?

Or were they planning something else entirely?

It was suffocating, but there was no way to check.

Planting a spy was impossible. Unlike us, who could pass as human, humans couldn’t imitate us.

No leaf-veins.

That sense of connection.

The distinctive presence....

If I erased my presence with medicine, would they react?

“Hilde.”

While I was staring blankly into space, lost in thought, a child’s voice pulled me back to reality.

“Eat lots of sashimi. You look like you’ve lost some weight....”

“Ah, sorry. We’re eating together and I was lost in my own head. We finally meet after so long and I’m talking about work.”

“...You’re not pushing yourself too hard, are you?”

Yehyeon placed a slice of flounder fin sashimi on my plate.

“I know how much people suffer when they make Falcon their enemy. I may not be of much help, but if you need anything, please let me know. Financial support, connections, anything....”

“It’s fine.”

He’s retired. I can’t drag him into this.

I chewed the flounder fin, then picked up some ginger and let out a small laugh.

“Eating sashimi like this really brings back old memories.”

I tried to change the subject, but it didn’t work.

Yehyeon studied me closely and asked,

“I may look like this, but I still have connections here and there.”

“I know. I wasn’t saying you’d be useless. You haven’t retired from Black Badger either. If anything, you’ll probably get even more calls from all over....”

“I have a rough idea of how things are unfolding. You’ve hired a lawyer to deal with the false charges, right?”

Yehyeon fired the question straight at me.

The slice of salmon he hadn’t yet eaten dangled from his chopsticks.

“They were talking about arresting you on some absurd charge like attempting to overthrow a Core....”

“Ah. I’m planning to get arrested on purpose.”

I should tell him before he gets shocked if he comes to watch the promotion exam.

When I lifted my head and said it, the eyes of the man across from me went wide.

I hurriedly added,

“If they take me somewhere without CCTV first, that actually makes things easier for me, right?”

Thud.

The salmon sashimi dropped onto the table.

“I can respond immediately. I could even assassinate someone, but there’s something I want to check inside.”

His mouth wouldn’t close.

The pale face, covered in shock, was soon joined by sorrow and anger.

In the end, I had to endure Yehyeon’s nagging for quite a while.

***

Life in the cabin with a winged Tig....

A few days during which Yehyeon, who lived across from me, brought food every day.

After that short time passed, the day of the 63rd promotion exam arrived.

I went to HQ early in the morning to update my will and ran into familiar faces.

“Rick! Ami!”

It’s good to see you.

“Have you been well?”