Black Badger

Why are there so many people?

I blurted it out the moment I stepped into the corridor leading to the media room.

I had heard that access to the media room inside the Black Badger building was restricted to authorized personnel only.

On top of that, this year’s live broadcast was supposedly being held in a media room far larger than last year’s. The largest media room at Black Badger HQ was said to be almost the size of an auditorium.

And yet, people were lining up from the very entrance.

A bottleneck had formed.

“How many people usually come?” I asked.

“Don’t know. Last year was my first time coming to watch this too~....”

Ricardo answered indifferently.

Ami had stepped away because she was the assigned senior for someone taking the promotion exam and had to do some kind of oath. Apparently, all the seniors would be coming in together later.

“Ask Ami later.... She usually comes every year~.”

“Will there even be seats?”

Thankfully, there were.

They were seats at the very edge, but still. Somehow, we managed to claim the remaining ones. Perching on the chair, I craned my neck and looked around the media room packed with people.

Even at the year-end party, I don’t think this many seniors had gathered.

They said it wasn’t limited to special-duty staff and that general staff were mixed in as well.

Some of them even looked like they had only just returned from land-reclamation work. They tracked sand in as they came, grabbed seats, and then immediately ran off to shower.

Was Kairos really this popular...?

Thinking it had been the right call to send the captured handler back home, I stayed seated, waiting for the exam to begin.

When signs that the exam was about to start appeared, the media room filled to capacity.

Then, the seniors entered.

“Seniors entering!”

People applauded as the three seniors filed in one after another.

“Thank you for your hard work!”

Ami smiled brightly and waved.

Behind her came Leeho and a senior I was seeing for the first time, Adrien Wood. Wood looked relaxed, but Leeho’s face was full of worry.

The former intelligence-agency senior, who had been casually acknowledging greetings as he walked in, soon spotted me.

He started waving his hands wildly and mouthing ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) words.

What?

I leaned my upper body toward the corridor.

Ah.

He was trying to point out the CIS staff who were sitting mixed in, pretending to be general employees.

I nodded to let him know I already knew.

Ricardo, who had been watching the screen with a bored expression, snorted.

“He really does stick his nose into everything....”

“Leeho? Yeah.”

He was warm-hearted and had a strong sense of justice.

That was why he kept ignoring my advice to pull back. I had no intention of letting that turn into something bad for him.

I did feel a bit guilty that I couldn’t clearly explain what I was planning to do.

But he was strong, so he’d be fine.

“Starting!”

I was about to tell Ricardo that he could leave midway if he got bored, but at someone’s shout, the media room fell silent in an instant.

“They’re out!”

The juniors appeared on screen.

Luke, running calmly but confidently. Nana Dol, trembling as she ran beside him.

Next to her was a red-haired figure.

The crowd erupted.

“Black-Jack!!”

Low, heavy voices chanted Kairos’s name.

“Black-Jack! Black-Jack!”

“He’s handsome!”

“So cool!”

“I want to ride in your car and go for a drive too! Take me with you, Black-Jack!”

“You have to cheer for the other rookies too!”

Ami’s clear voice from the front row completely drowned out the roar.

“Got it? Make sure you cheer for Luke and Nana too!”

“Don’t worry, ma’am!”

Someone shouted at the top of their lungs.

“Let’s go!”

I feel bad for Nana.

Watching the juniors prepare for the armed drop and walk toward the apparatus, I thought back to the brief time I’d met her before. She seemed to absolutely hate being the center of attention.

And of all people, she had to be in the same intake as Kairos, taking the exam under the gaze of this many spectators.

Unlike last year, this promotion exam started after lunch. The weather conditions in the morning hadn’t been good. Still, instead of postponing it to the next day, they were going to do the sea swim at night.

“This batch isn’t getting an easy exam.”

“That’s an apparatus drop? Guess they’re not using a Chinook.”

“I heard the weather’s not great.”

“Ah, apparatus drops are the worst.”

Listening to the seniors grumble, I recalled the three weeks of training I’d gone through at the airborne special warfare school.

The apparatus really wasn’t great.

It’s cramped, and when you jump, it honestly feels like you’re committing suicide.

The altitude isn’t as high as a Chinook or a plane, so there’s no time to deploy the reserve chute if the main one doesn’t open. If the main chute fails, it’s instant death, and there’s no room to feel any thrill from the fall either. All in all, it’s a terrible option.

I watched the 63rd intake board the apparatus with parachutes weighing about 20 kg strapped to their backs.

I’d already confirmed that no one had tampered with the equipment used for the promotion exam.

If that happened, they’d be making an enemy of Black Badger, and turning the richest and most influential organization into an enemy wasn’t smart.

And with it being a live broadcast and so many eyes watching.... No one would do something as insane as sabotaging the equipment.

“The wind’s picking up.”

“Still, they’re all holding well.”

“Even with good holds, look how they’re getting pushed at the landing zone.”

Even so, Luke, Kairos, and Nana all landed safely.

Despite the wind being stronger than when I had jumped, they all rolled perfectly across the ground with flawless form.

“They’re good.”

“Damn, that was clean.”

“No idiots trusting their enhanced bodies and landing on their feet this time. Didn’t we have one a few intakes ago?”

“Yeah, he got completely wrecked after that.”

“Huh!”

Whiiing!

Nana Dol’s parachute caught the wind and re-inflated.

The green canopy ballooned, got pushed backward by the wind, and started dragging her along the ground.

People straightened in their seats.

“Hey, cut the canopy! Cut it! Cut it!”

“Damn, she panicked.”

“Cut it before the lines choke her!”

“Ah!”

“There!”

The mushroom-cap-like canopy dropped cleanly away.

Nana, who had been dragged by the wind-filled parachute, finally came to a stop. Cheers of relief erupted from all over.

I let out a sigh of relief as well.

Ricardo said slowly,

“She panicked a bit....”

“She’s a rookie.”

Luke had grown up in a military family, and Kairos probably hadn’t panicked since he was ten years old....

Comparing Nana to them was unfair to her.

In any case, everyone passed the airborne portion. The rookies sprang up and neatly finished collecting their parachutes. Nana’s retrieval took a bit longer, but still, the first event ended without incident.

Two male members of the 63rd intake approached the pale-faced Nana and silently patted her on the shoulder.

The seniors, now relaxed, started tossing out comments.

“Shit, I’m jealous!”

“Let me be in the same intake as Black-Jack!”

“Oh, no thanks. I’d be way too pressured. I almost feel sorry for that curly-haired kid.”

“Luke Lyle’s good. He doesn’t move like a rookie.”

“They’re starting rock climbing right away.”

“Jack!”

When Kairos rolled his sleeves up to his forearms, people screamed.

“Kraaaah, Jaaaack!”

“Black-Jack!! Black-Jack!!”

“His life must be exhausting too....”

Ricardo looked down disdainfully at the men cheering over Kairos’s forearms.

I chuckled softly.

After briefly watching the seniors wave their fists and cheer, I turned back to the screen as the juniors began rock climbing.

They all did flawlessly.

Luke and Kairos reached the top almost simultaneously, and Nana finished the climb last without a single mistake.

When all three passed without issue, people clapped happily.

“Ah. No lunch, so they’re going straight into shooting and the basic fitness test.”

“They’re doing the basic fitness test too, then dinner.”

“Man, it’s been a while since a night swim test. The night sea isn’t easy—this batch is really having a rough time.”

“I’m getting hungry, thinking of grabbing something. What do you want? Coffee?”

Would Kairos shoot well?

Unlike our time, the shooting test followed almost immediately. Maybe because I’d struggled with it for various reasons, but I watched the screen more tensely than I ever had before.

Kyle’s clan had a lot of archers, but I didn’t know whether Kairos had learned that.

A guy who never even got into swordplay wouldn’t suddenly find archery fun either....

Without realizing it, I’d hunched my shoulders too much.

Ricardo tapped my shoulder lightly.

“Ugh.”

“Relax a bit....”

The senior’s words cut off midway.

My body had stiffened reflexively at the pain, and I hurriedly twisted toward the senior sitting beside me.

“Senior.”

Ricardo, who had been studying my shoulder intently, turned his head toward me and raised one eyebrow without a word.

I’m screwed.

He hadn’t even opened his mouth, but I could already hear the voice saying, Recite it.

While registering with my ears that Kairos had passed with solid performance, I spoke quietly to the senior leaning back in his seat.

“...I’m really sorry for making you worry every time.”

“Oh.... Go on~.”

“Well.... I did get all the treatment properly, and for a normal Badger it’s the kind of wound that heals within a minute, you know? It’s not infected and it’s getting better, so I thought there wasn’t really a need to mention it....”

“Oh~. Yeah~. I suppose~....”

The indifferent tone, laced with barbs, made my heart shrivel.

I watched his expression carefully.

Beside the senior who had already gone back to watching the screen with boredom, I hesitated, then fumbled out,

“Are you upset? I’m sorry.”

Ricardo didn’t reply, and I added, feeling even more like a criminal,

“But I really do mean it when I say I’ll come back. Please believe that.”

Green eyes rolled toward me.

Looking at the expressionless senior, I added a bit desperately,

“You’ll believe that much, right, Rick?”

Bang!

“Oh, a perfect pass—no misses at all!”

“Damn, they can shoot!”

“Just watch the exam already~....”

Applause burst through the media room.

At the same time, Ricardo signaled that he’d let it slide, and I let out a small sigh of relief before turning back to the screen.

The 63rd intake, forbidden from talking to each other during the exam, lightly slapped palms together, celebrating their shooting pass.

From the look of it, everyone had cleared the shooting test with decent scores.

I watched as preparations began for the basic fitness portion, the one where no one had been eliminated so far.

“You need to act in ways that earn trust on a daily basis....”

Ugh.

“But well.... Since you’re going this far, I’ll believe you just this once~.”

I whipped my head around.

Seeing the senior watching the screen with the same indifferent look, I broke into a grin.

Apparently disliking the sight, Ricardo raised one eyebrow, then tapped my left shoulder with his right hand.

“Ah, that hurts, Rick.”

“Didn’t you say you were fine~?”

...No argument there.

I clamped my mouth shut and, wearing a repentant expression, watched the rookies take the basic fitness test.

Everyone passed the basic fitness portion smoothly, and the juniors began drifting toward the tables to eat dinner.

At the same time, the media room grew noisy.

People standing up to go out and eat dinner. People staying seated and opening delivery apps to eat right there. Some going out to smoke, others leaving altogether, deciding they’d seen enough.

I turned my head to ask Ricardo what he wanted to do for dinner.

At that moment, someone approached and stopped beside us.

“Mr. Taleb.”

It was a man I’d never seen before.

I could tell immediately where he was from.

The senior’s hand, which had been reaching into his inner pocket for a cigarette case, froze.

I slowly lifted my head, looked up at the ash-gray-haired man in a suit standing over me, and smiled.

“Hello.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Anthony Conway, CIS.”

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Conway.”

“May I have a moment of your time?”

At the polite question, I nodded and started to rise.

However, Ricardo stretched out his leg and blocked my path as I tried to step into the corridor, stopping me.

“Rick.”

“Let’s just talk here...?”

I really don’t want to....

Saying that outright would probably end badly, right?

I hesitated for a split second, wondering if I should express my refusal another way—but it was pointless. The moment Ricardo finished speaking, Conway opened his mouth as if not to be outdone.

“Then I’ll relay the message quickly.”

You’re impatient.

“It’s from him.”

Him who?

Don Child?

Colton Wiseman?

I was puzzled, but the answer came immediately.

Conway spoke in a voice devoid of emotion, like an AI reading text aloud.

“This is my final offer. If you lower the sword you’ve raised and return to everyday life, I promise I will continue to guarantee peace, just as I have until now. Have I ever broken a promise I made to you before the war? Have I ever disappointed you? You may not believe it, but I truly consider you a friend.”

Someone in the back row snorted.

I shifted only my eyes and saw Yun sitting in the seat behind us.

The senior sat with his legs crossed, eyes lowered, a sneer hanging on his lips.

I looked at him briefly, then turned back to Conway.

Conway continued flatly.

“If that were not the case, why would I have gone out of my way to bring you back to life?”

The corner of my mouth stretched into a long smile.

“Revenge brings nothing. Lower your sword and things become simple. Those you cherish will be happy as well. I will provide my full support so that you may be victorious in your battle with him. In the end, you will survive, and those who care for you will live happily, enjoying a perfectly ordinary life without trouble.”

“That’s why you brought me back.”

Because you thought I’d give up on revenge.

Just like I’d given up on avenging Adam. This time, you thought I’d choose to live peacefully under your protection, sitting at the top of the world. The Hildebert you’d seen all this time was a realist, after all.

Why pursue revenge? The dead were already dead, and the living were enjoying peace with your help.

All you had to do was get rid of Kyle by whatever means and then enjoy yourself.

If Hildebert lived, he’d be satisfied with the peace his kin had won, live quietly under your rule, and when trouble arose, he’d help you protect your throne....

That was probably the idea.

“But if you refuse this time, I will make sure you understand that the past two months were merely a taste.”

“Haha.”

“I think it would be good to start with the humans you care about. Humans were never included in our pact. I have no need for your head, so there’s no reason to take hostages. I can simply erase them one by one.”

Cold rage surged up from deep inside.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Leeho—who had sensed something was wrong and rushed over—flinch violently.

But he didn’t intervene.

I quietly looked at Anthony Conway.

Then I answered.

“Is that all you had to say?”

“...Mr. Child instructed us to allow you to watch the promotion exam through to the end.”

Conway inclined his head slightly, then stepped back.

“Enjoy the viewing.”

“Anthony!”

Leeho urgently called out to the agent as he spun around and headed for the media room doors.

“Anthony Conway! Wait!”

I didn’t follow him.

Instead, I sat back down and didn’t move for a while.

I kept my gaze fixed on the edge of the massive screen, only coming back to myself after Leeho returned, panting.

“Hildebert?” the senior called me.

“What would you like for dinner?”

I smiled at Ricardo and Yun, who were watching me in silence, and at Leeho, blinking in confusion.

“Anything is fine. I’m hungry.”

We ate dinner inside.

I ate whatever Yun ordered, but I don’t really remember what it was.

***

Sea swim.

A night sea swim.

It began amid the cheers of thick-voiced men.

“Huh?”

And not long after, someone said,

“What’s that under the water?”