Black Badger

The night before the sports festival, I dreamed about Kyle.

I had muttered something after seeing him standing in front of a unicorn-shaped horse, and he had immediately flown into a rage. I woke up feeling dumbfounded at the sight of him getting so furiously angry. After that day, I never dreamed of Kyle again.

In fact, the frequency of my dreams dropped sharply.

I used to have nightmares every other day. But ever since the seizure during the dodgeball match, the nightmares had plummeted straight down.

Thanks to that, the quality of my sleep improved tremendously. When I woke up in the morning, my eyes were no longer swollen.

Still, sometimes I would suddenly feel sad while eating breakfast.

Now that I could never see him with my own eyes again, I found myself wishing I could at least see him in dreams every now and then.

I wanted to have new conversations with him, if only inside my head, but that never happened. Maybe it was some kind of rebound effect, because I had started talking to Kyle to myself more often.

Thankfully, no one had caught me yet.

If they did, I would probably end up getting an actual psychiatric consultation. So I was trying to be careful in my own way.

Maybe from now on I should switch from talking to myself to writing letters instead.

If I wrote it all down, maybe this habit of muttering to myself now and then would disappear.

“But I don’t know how to spell your surname.”

I opened a notebook and gripped a pen, trying to put the idea into practice, but no sentence came out.

I simply had no way of knowing how to write “Zargal” in the Empire’s script.

“You should’ve told me that before you left.”

It was truly a ridiculous thing to say.

If Kyle had heard it, he probably wouldn’t even have bothered answering.

But there was no way he could hear me, so it didn’t matter. I grumbled that he could at least have told me back when we were in the Empire. If he had, I would know the exact spelling now.

“I told you everything about me.”

Even Gale’s name....

In the end, I never wrote the letter.

Nor could I completely get rid of the strange habit of talking to Kyle. For now, I shoved that problem aside and picked up my sword again. I trained in front of the cabin, and I worked out in the gym Yehyeon and Yun had arranged for me.

In my spare time, I slept or played games.

I read books too.

I welcomed the people who kept coming back, and I listened to how the people connected to my fallen kin were doing.

Then I filmed a commercial.

“How’s your body?”

Kairos helped me.

“Doesn’t your eye hurt?”

“It’s fine.”

Kairos was still absurdly busy with the land-clearing work.

But even the day before leaving on a mission, he came by to help with my commercial shoot. Thanks to him being there, I didn’t panic even on a set that was much more elaborate than I had expected.

The Lexic noodles commercial had been genuinely simple.

I was startled by how much more serious the setup was than I had imagined. Having several people crowd around me saying they needed to touch my hair was a little frightening.

Kairos burst out laughing when he saw how flustered I was.

『Didn’t you dress up whenever there was an event in the Empire?』

『Back then they just roughly put oil in my hair and combed it.』

He asked in the Empire’s language, and I answered in the same tongue.

Then I stared blankly at the filming set before muttering in the common language.

“Why are there so many people?”

“Then is this your first time wearing makeup too?”

“Makeup?”

My mouth fell open.

“I have to wear makeup too?”

I was half out of it while several people dressed me up.

Just as Kairos said, after I rose to the position of Knight Commander, there had often been occasions where I had to be groomed. But even then, the procedure had been far simpler than this.

Bathe in holy water, oil and comb the hair, put on earrings, wear the formal uniform, and it was done.

Once the scabbard was polished clean, the preparations were perfect.

Even before the First War, when I was constantly meeting politicians, I had never been dressed up like this. Back then all I needed was a fitted suit, a watch, and proper shoes.

“Your skin is incredible!”

“Thagk you.”

Because someone was applying something to my lips, I couldn’t answer properly.

“Your eye color is so beautiful!”

The preparation was the hardest part.

Actually filming wasn’t that difficult. Maybe it was because Kairos had explained some things in advance.

“It ended faster than I expected.”

Thank goodness.

“When they said it was your first real shoot, I thought it would take much longer. Your face did half the work.”

“Whew, everyone worked hard!”

So even though the shoot had been more hectic than expected, it ended much more easily than I had worried it would.

During the shoot, I left all the monitoring in between takes entirely to Kairos. Anyone might have found that strange, but Kairos checked all my footage without asking a single question.

He only asked once everything was over and we were on our way back to the cabin.

“Still not good at looking in mirrors?”

I had expected a question like that, so I smiled bitterly.

“I’m okay with mirrors now. It’s photos that are a little...”

“I’m glad mirrors are fine now.”

Thankfully, Kairos didn’t press further.

Instead, he brought up another subject.

“The concealment-release potion is scheduled for about two weeks from now.”

I stared straight into his orange eyes.

“You still haven’t explained to me why you all made this decision.”

“Did we not? But you’re not against it, are you, Captain?”

“I’m not, but...”

I still didn’t know what I was supposed to feel.

The kin who had remained inside the Core during the First War had lived for fifty years with their presence erased, with the help of the Elders.

Fifty years was by no means a short time.

Most of them had probably become accustomed to living in a state where they could neither sense others’ presence nor have their own sensed.

And now they were suddenly going to lift the concealment.

“You’re already too famous. That’s what worries me.”

I thought briefly about the sixth sense before muttering,

“I’m saying this because I know not every remaining sixth-sense user is a gentleman. Someone might track your presence and come find you on their own, or maliciously trace your movements and expose them.”

“If someone really wants to, humans can do all of that too. You know the power of social media well enough.”

“That’s true, but...”

“If I lift the concealment, won’t it make things easier when we go on missions together later?”

Kairos smiled, easing my concern.

“Isn’t that the whole point of having sharp instincts?”

It was a fair point.

So in the end, all I could do was nod once more.

Anyway, that was how I earned some money by filming a commercial. Even after I shot an ad, the Ice Dragon still didn’t come to find me.

Instead of the Ice Dragon, the advance payment found me.

The amount was much larger than I had expected, but Kairos told me it was by no means excessive and that I should accept it as it was.

Compared to the debt I owed Yehyeon and Yun, it was still a very small sum.

I split the advance into several portions, transferred part of it into Yehyeon’s bank account, then arranged to meet him and informed him that I intended to return to work.

Yehyeon immediately showed an unpleasant expression.

“You’re not fully recovered yet.”

He answered informally.

As my superior, it was a clear declaration that he intended to deny the request.

I smiled bitterly.

“Even so, I’ve recovered enough to at least demonstrate sword strikes.”

“Stay on medical leave until your heart is fully healed. What are you going to do if your ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ heart acts up outside the Core?”

“It was the same last time. Once it starts, the attack passes quickly.”

“Last time was a sports field. Outside, there are Creatures right in front of you.”

“I won’t overdo it. I don’t think staying holed up in the cabin like this is going to make my body any better.”

When I insisted, sadness settled into Yehyeon’s eyes.

I couldn’t fully understand his emotions.

But I didn’t back down. I wasn’t trying to overreach. Still, I was sick of staying glued to the cabin.

It wasn’t as if I was completely idle, considering I was still receiving status reports from the chick Elders.

But regardless, I wanted to go outside the Core.

“I miss the trees.”

When I murmured it almost like talking to myself, Yehyeon stared straight at me.

“You can still go out with the Badgers while staying on leave, if the Core feels suffocating.”

“I want to work too.”

“You’ve already worked for a long time.”

“I want to feel a small sense of accomplishment.”

I explained with a faint smile.

“We don’t age, do we? If I just rest in the cabin, there are times when I feel like I’ll be crushed by the sudden stretch of endless time.”

Yehyeon stared at me again.

But instead of the worried response I had expected, after sitting there for a while with an unreadable expression, he said,

“If you can show me you’re better, I’ll think about it.”

My face lit up.

“So we spar?”

“With me.”

Yehyeon answered.

“But I absolutely won’t go easy on you.”

For a moment, I nearly burst into laughter.

Suddenly I remembered the junior knights from long ago, running over to show me the very first sword strike they had created themselves. The smile I used to wear whenever I watched them rose to the surface.

I barely managed to hold it back.

Trying to keep it to only a small smile, I answered,

“Sounds good.”

“If I win, you stay on leave.”

“Yes.”

“...Then I’ll come at you the way I went at my father.”

Yehyeon suddenly spoke in a somewhat sulky voice.

I realized he had let go of his authority, and I smiled a little more comfortably.

“Of course. Come at me with everything you have.”

“I plan to use my morph weapon too.”

“You can use every weapon you want.”

“...I really came at my father in a disgraceful way.”

At that point, I couldn’t hold back my laughter anymore.

I laughed out loud, then looked at the child whose expression had now become even sulkier and smiled warmly.

“That’s probably how you managed to imitate my swordsmanship in less than five years.”

Yehyeon’s eyes widened.

I smiled as I looked at the startled man.

“You’d never even held a sword before that. If this were the Empire, people would’ve called you a budding Swordmaster.”

We sparred.

In the senior officers’ private training gym next to Yun’s house. It was the same place where I had sparred with Yehyeon when part of my memories had first returned.

Back then, I had lost to Yehyeon by a margin of one second.

This time, I won.

Just as he had promised, Yehyeon came at me with ruthless persistence. I charged in with the single-minded determination to win, but he was even more tenacious than I had expected.

If it had been anyone else, they would already have admitted defeat, but seeing him stagger back to his feet, grit his teeth, and keep charging left me with a strange feeling.

Lee Seunghyun had been just as relentless.

Out of all the stubborn idiots I had taught, he had been the most talented and the most viciously driven.

In that respect, Yehyeon really did resemble his father.

The only difference was that there was a kind of desperation visible in Yehyeon.

So this was the expression he must have worn every time he trained with a sword to stab Rei.

The spar only ended once Yehyeon was no longer able to get back up.

“I won.”

I said softly, looking down at Yehyeon, who no longer had the strength to rise.

“Advisor.”

“...Yeah.”

Yehyeon answered in a hoarse voice.

Lying spread-eagled on the floor, he stared blankly at the ceiling and muttered,

“I really... gave it everything I had....”

“You did well.”

I looked down at him with a faint smile.

The truth was, I had already realized midway through that the spar had stopped being a “proof of fitness to return” and had turned into something closer to instruction. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Whether that came from Yehyeon’s desire to grow stronger, or from his desire to defeat Lee Seunghyun, I couldn’t say.

“As your godfather, I want to scold you for charging in this recklessly. But as a teacher, I’m proud.”

“...From the middle on, I started attacking in really unfair ways. I’m sorry.”

“What’s unfair about it? That kind of viciousness is necessary.”

I tried to carry Yehyeon back home, but he gently refused.

He said it was fine as long as he lay there a little longer and let his stamina recover.

And sure enough, a few minutes later Yehyeon abruptly stood up and looked at me, who was smiling, with complicated eyes.

“I really hoped you wouldn’t return to work.”

“I won’t overdo it. Really.”

“I’m only allowing it because I know how desperately Badgers on medical leave want to return to the field.”

Yehyeon said in a somewhat gloomy tone,

“And I know exactly what it feels like to be crushed by the endless time stretching out in front of you.”

And that was how my reinstatement was decided.

***

However, Ska and the rest of the leadership gave me rather special treatment.

I ended up going on my reinstatement mission with familiar faces.

Ricardo. Ami. Yun. Kai. Sophia.

“Isn’t this a waste of manpower?”

As I blankly stared at the lineup, Yun lowered the paperwork and glanced at me with only his eyes moving.

“You think the Commander likes you on a personal level and is giving you special treatment for that? It’s only natural to handle the final weapon with special care.”

“This isn’t exactly an easy mission either~.”

Ricardo curled one corner of his lips into a cynical smile.

“Ska’s not that soft-hearted....”

Just as he said, the upper brass did not assign me one of the supply missions reserved for rookies.

Instead, they gave us a longer mission, one serious enough to justify this kind of ironclad firepower.

This time, the land-clearing mission was about “establishing a foothold.”

HQ was preparing to newly expand a safe house, and now that the necessary infrastructure—electricity, water, and so on—had already been completed, our orders were to head out and finish the final setup.

Install the mini Core, clear out the nearby monsters,

and above all, there was a subway entrance in the surrounding area. We were to assess how it should be handled and take whatever measures were necessary.

And so, for the first time in a very long while, I boarded a train.

We couldn’t head out immediately, though. This time, before going outside the Core, we had to spend a night in the station building on the outskirts of the Core.

It was apparently because of a power issue.

Yun didn’t explain the details, but in any case, we entered the station, which had been converted into an unmanned hotel.

We roughly unpacked our things and got ready to sleep.

That was when Ami made her request.

“Hilde!”

“Yes, Ami.”

“Tell us an old story!”

“What?”

I blinked and looked down at the round-eyed senior.

Standing under the gazes of the team, Ami grinned at my confusion.

“I’m curious about the world you used to live in.”

Ah.

“If it’s okay, will you tell us a story?”

...It wasn’t impossible.

I had a feeling Ami would ask someday.

Slowly, I began telling the seniors an old story.

***

“Hilde.”

Rei’s voice woke me.

“Get up. We’re screwed.”