Black Badger

The one who answered was Yun.

“No idea.”

Then, before anyone else could say anything, he tilted his head.

“Pick it up.”

I stared at Yun in disbelief.

His talent for sounding irritating really was something else.

Ami must have been thinking something similar, because she looked up at him with the same sulky expression.

But before she could start nagging, Ricardo accepted the call with an uneasy look.

“Yes, Advisor.”

His voice was impeccably polite.

Ricardo lowered his head and listened for a moment.

His brows curved.

“You mean Ska’s house passcode?”

The rest of us stared at him too.

“In Jonathan’s and my case, our irises are already registered.... What exactly happened?”

Is he unwell?

Or did something happen involving the Elders...?

“Alcohol?”

Hm?

“He’s blackout drunk? Ska Owen?”

Ami and I, who had been openly listening in, blinked.

The call didn’t last long.

Ricardo listened to Yehyeon’s explanation for a moment, then ended it and came over to tell us we’d be following his car instead.

Apparently Ska had been drinking at Yehyeon’s house and had passed out.

“Ska got drunk?!”

Ami sounded almost excited.

“I’ve seriously never seen that in all my decades!”

He really must be having a rough time.

I smiled bitterly, and Ricardo nodded before beckoning me over.

“So that’s how it is. You’re riding with me~.”

“Ah, should I?”

Now that we were splitting into two cars, dividing into pairs did make sense.

I nodded and was just about to walk toward Ricardo when Ami yanked me back.

“No way! Hilde was supposed to ride in our car!”

“Don’t be greedy~.”

Ricardo snorted as he looked at Ami.

“You live right across from each other. You see him every day anyway.”

“I’m always out playing, so I actually don’t get to see him as often as you think!”

The green-eyed senior smiled sweetly at Ami’s protest, then grabbed the back of my neck.

Caught between the two seniors, I ended up standing in an extremely awkward pose.

Worried one of the few outfits I owned might rip, I muttered,

“Please, both of you, let go of me....”

“Sunbae-nim’s car is a two-door.... And Ami, your car is full of dolls~.”

“There’s still plenty of room for a person!”

“Really? Guess you moved that giant stuffed animal I gave you for your birthday....”

“You just shove it to one side and sit. Hilde’s going in the passenger seat anyway!”

Vroooom!

While I listened helplessly to the seniors’ bizarrely leisurely argument, Yun started his car.

From the driver’s seat, staring straight ahead, he said flatly,

“Choi Ami. Get in.”

In the end, Ami lost.

She sadly waved both hands at me before climbing into the passenger seat.

I gave her a wry smile and waved back.

I didn’t really understand why they were bickering over something like this, but then again, Ami being strange was nothing new.

And just like Ricardo said, Ami’s car really was packed with dolls and random things.

Riding with Ricardo was definitely the cleanest option.

“But what happened with the Commander?”

“We were just planning to have a simple drink at the Advisor’s house today....”

The Maserati pulled out smoothly.

“But it looks like he got drunk and passed out first~.”

“The Commander?”

He got drunk before Yehyeon?

He really must be under a lot of stress these days.

Then again, I’d also suffered quite a bit when I had first become Commander of the Knights.

That position naturally demanded a considerable sense for ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) politics.

I’d originally been the type to survive knight life through pure intuition while having no interest in politics, so when I reached that rank and those avoidance skills stopped working, the shock had been severe.

Grand Duke Jacques had even once set aside a day to summon me and tell me something.

The point was that I needed to stop underestimating my own influence.

I was now in a position where failing to recognize that influence was no longer acceptable, and even choosing not to use it could itself become the sin of negligence.

Put simply: great power, great responsibility.

I know that painfully well now.

I found myself blankly thinking of Kyle.

Kyle had always possessed better political instincts than I did.

Rei had once said it was probably because he’d been raised as a chieftain’s son.

But even then, he had never quite matched someone like Grand Duke Jacques or the Emperor.

Nor was he as sharp as Rei, who had been born an imperial noble.

And yet Kyle had developed his political sense far faster than I had, likely because of his unusual background.

Even before the Empire fell, Grand Duke Jacques had often sided with Kyle over me when it came to political judgment.

But now, wouldn’t we be about even?

I’ve worked very hard at political maneuvering on Earth, after all.

If the Grand Duke saw me now, he’d probably burst into laughter and say I’d finally become a proper person.

“What are you thinking about so hard~?”

“Gah.”

Way too presumptuous of me to zone out like this in a senior’s car.

I straightened up immediately.

“Sorry. Sitting somewhere warm got me so comfortable I drifted off....”

“You should really rethink returning to duty~.... If I hadn’t caught you back there, that fish would’ve eaten you.”

“Thank you very much for catching me.”

It wasn’t exactly wrong, so I started with gratitude.

Of course, I also didn’t forget to act just a little shameless while reading the mood.

“But Rick. Honestly, weren’t there way too many variables in this mission?”

“True~.... Maybe it’s because you were there~.”

“No.”

As always, I was immediately stepped on.

“What exactly is that supposed to mean?”

Ricardo only laughed lightly instead of answering.

Anyway, by the time we’d made that sort of small talk, the cabin had come into view. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Yun’s car was already pulling into the home garage.

Instead of using Ami’s parking space, Ricardo parked beside the cabin.

Originally my own car should have been there, but after selling it during the fight with Colton and never buying another one, the spot now stood empty.

We got out and followed the siblings inside.

I didn’t really need to go in, but since I’d get to see Yehyeon too, it worked out.

“You’re here?”

“Oh?”

Kairos opened the door for us.

Ami’s eyes and mine widened.

“Why is Jack here?”

“I heard the Commander was here, so I stopped by briefly to make a report....”

Kairos greeted us with a practiced nod as he explained.

There was an awkward smile on his face.

“I heard he’s not the type to get drunk. But....”

“Excuse us.”

Ricardo passed right by Kairos and strode into the building.

Then he spotted something and came to an abrupt halt.

“Wow~.”

I saw it too.

Ska Owen was lying on the sofa.

I couldn’t fully see his face because a damp cloth covered his eyes.

Judging by the white shirt and dress slacks, it seemed he had come over for a drink after work.

I couldn’t tell whether he was asleep or simply too drunk to move.

His mouth was closed, both hands folded on the sofa, completely still.

Seeing the heavyweight champion of drinking, Ska Owen, like this gave me a strange feeling.

Ami must have felt the same, because she muttered a genuinely worried, “What do we do...?”

Yehyeon suddenly emerged from the kitchen.

“Sorry. You must be exhausted after the mission, and I still called you all the way here.”

He walked quickly over to the sofa.

“I could’ve just taken Ska to his place myself. I know where he lives too.”

“No~.... I’ll carry him there....”

It looked like Jonathan was still out on a mission.

Ricardo also moved swiftly to the sofa.

“This does happen sometimes~. I’ll make sure to get him home safely, so don’t worry....”

“I was just going to let him sleep here, but he kept stubbornly insisting he had to go home.”

So he’s the type whose homing instinct activates when drunk.

Ami and I hurried over to the sofa too.

Soon everyone except Yun was crowded around it.

In truth, even Ami alone could have lifted Ska Owen with ease, so no extra helping hands were really needed.

But somehow....

“Everyone except Sordi should just back off.”

Yun pointed out flatly.

“You’re all just getting in Sordi’s way.”

“Hilde....”

“Hm?”

The moment Yun said that, everyone who had crowded around the sofa stepped back all at once.

Then Ska, slung over Ricardo’s shoulder, suddenly muttered.

Everyone snapped their heads toward him.

The man draped over Ricardo’s shoulder spoke with his eyes still closed.

“You....”

What?

Did something happen involving my kin?

I froze in surprise when Ska called my name instead of Ricardo’s or Yehyeon’s.

Had the Elders made some strange move?

It had already been bothering me how quiet things had been.

“Your ad....”

Hm?

“The ad...?”

“It was cool.... I enjoyed it.”

“...What?”

What was he talking about?

Still standing there blankly unable to follow the context, Kairos gave a small laugh and looked back at me.

“The commercial you filmed aired today.”

Ah, that.

I’d almost forgotten about it after taking the money.

“Gasp! I want to see too!”

Ami dashed over to the TV.

“What ad did you film? Tell me the product!”

It was a fountain pen commercial.

I still found it baffling why a fountain pen ad had come to me, but since it fell under items HQ permitted, I’d gone along with it.

It was a fairly famous fountain pen company even I knew.

I still had no idea why that brand had approached me.

Talking about something this pointless really did confirm he was drunk.

After thanking him, I stepped aside so Ricardo could leave comfortably.

But instead of going, Ricardo stayed to watch Ami search up the commercial and play it.

I walked closer to him and said flatly,

“Aren’t you leaving?”

“After this~.”

Everyone gathered in front of the screen to watch my commercial.

Even Yehyeon, who had clearly already seen it, and Kairos, who had even followed me to the filming set, watched it again.

I stared blankly at everyone’s backs in disbelief.

But before I could ask what everyone was doing, Ami gasped.

“Hilde, you look amazing!”

She spun around and looked at me with sparkling eyes.

“You’re so handsome!”

“Thank you.”

I answered awkwardly.

“But do you really need to be watching that right now?”

“Oh, did they do your makeup too?”

As expected, Yun turned to me with a crooked grin.

“So the money you paid back last time was the contract advance, huh?”

Yehyeon jabbed Yun sharply in the side.

“Ah.”

“I told you not to pressure Hilde about repayments.”

“Black probably paid most of it back for him anyway.”

“They only gave me my own share. I had to do some convincing for even that.”

“When you’re dressed properly, you actually look perfectly normal~.”

Ricardo added with a grin.

“Didn’t I tell you before to dress more like that~?”

“The Commander seems uncomfortable.”

I stared blankly at everyone chatting while watching my commercial.

“He looks half asleep right now.”

Ricardo did eventually leave.

I had the feeling he would have stayed much longer if Yehyeon hadn’t been here.

Yehyeon seemed to know that too, because after lightly seeing Ricardo off, he withdrew quickly.

He did hand over fuel money while apologizing for calling him out during such a short break.

But even that seemed to make Ricardo a little uncomfortable.

In any case, the green-eyed senior loaded the sleeping Ska into the passenger seat without saying much more to Yehyeon, and—

“Advisor.”

“Hm?”

Ricardo called out to Yehyeon.

Everyone except Yun, who had stepped outside to see them off, looked slightly surprised.

Even Yehyeon blinked at being addressed.

Then Ricardo dropped the bomb.

“There’s something I’d like to tell you about Hildebert. When you have time later, I’ll speak to you then.”

No!

I stared at Ricardo with wide eyes, mouth opening and closing.

Seriously?

“Rick?”

“Alright.”

Before I could say anything, Yehyeon answered immediately.

“A call or a message is fine too, so just contact me however’s easiest.”

“Yes.”

“Good work.”

And with that, Ricardo left after dropping the bomb.

As for me, I ended up getting dragged into Yehyeon and the siblings’ house instead of returning to the cabin.

Kairos even slunk in after us.

Standing in the opposite house without understanding what was going on, I was met by the sharp gazes of Yehyeon and Kairos.

I kept my mouth in a straight line and studied their expressions.

Until Yun gave Yehyeon a brief formal summary of the unusual details from today’s mission.

As expected of Sasu, he delivered the entire report cleanly in under a minute.

Then he added one final sentence.

“There is also an unusual matter concerning Hildebert.”

“Ah.”

At that moment, I reflexively looked at Kairos.

And stared at those orange eyes filled with confusion.

Before Yun could speak, I opened my mouth first.

“Kai. I saw Kyle.”

Kairos’s eyes flew wide open.