Black Badger

Chapter 135

"Hilde."

Ska, who was beside Yoon, called out to me.

I quickly responded.

"I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?"

"I realize I was being stubborn."

Ska raised one eyebrow.

My previously hazy vision sharpened. My dulled senses awakened. Thanks to that, the pain became vividly clear, but I could now perceive other things as well.

First, there were people outside the hospital room door. They weren't badgers but civilians.

The three members of the high command were likely watching the news on the screen mounted on the hospital room wall. Someone had adjusted the angle of the display so I couldn't see the content from my position. What had happened in the meantime?

"When reporting, you shouldn't omit important details."

Ye-hyeon's cold voice snapped me to attention.

"I didn't hear that Jae-yeon hadn't received treatment for his abdominal injury."

It was scary.

Anger seeped through my superior's voice.

It was all the more intimidating because it was suppressed and simmering beneath the surface.

If I didn't prostrate myself flat, I'd break.

I quickly admitted my mistake.

"I'm sorry."

"If I'd known that, I wouldn't have let him take the exam."

"I'm sorry. I was in a hurry."

"Don't let it happen again."

"Yes."

When I replied in a submissive posture, Ye-hyeon let out a small snort.

He observed me with his narrowly opened eyes.

Then, in a businesslike tone, he broke the silence.

"There's an announcement coming up soon."

I didn't understand what he meant.

I wanted to sit up, but I didn't have the strength yet. So, to show I was listening, I blinked.

"An announcement?"

My top superior just looked down at me calmly.

His expression was inscrutable and professional. I had no idea what he was about to say. I kept my mouth shut and waited for him to continue. The room was quiet, but the hallway was noisy.

The sounds of people moving busily.

Someone knocked on the hospital room door.

"What is it?"

When Ye-hyeon asked back, the door cracked open slightly.

I recognized his secretary.

"It's the report from the media side, Commander."

"Ah, thanks."

The brown-haired aide stood up and walked over to the secretary.

Ye-hyeon received the report from the aide and lowered his gaze to it.

The report wasn't long. After skimming the first page, the superior looked up.

"We'll proceed with the announcement as prepared by the spokesperson's office."

"Yes. I'll relay that."

The door closed again.

The people waiting outside vanished from view. I had been peeking at the suited individuals through the gap, but now I turned my gaze toward the high command.

From the atmosphere, it didn't seem like a lighthearted announcement.

Ye-hyeon handed the report to Ska.

Then, slipping his white hand into his pants pocket, he looked down at me.

"Territory reclamation."

The supreme commander's businesslike words struck my ears.

"Today, we're announcing the zone to be reclaimed this year."

I clamped my mouth shut.

Swallowing the bitter taste in my mouth. I couldn't help but feel a subtle unease every time territory reclamation came up. Even before, when Yoon had said, "We have to take back the land that was stolen, right?" I'd felt the same way.

Was it because of Kyle?

The one who had to run and conquer just to survive.

Thinking of his fluttering black curly hair, I pulled my consciousness back to reality.

I nodded at Ye-hyeon.

"I'll move as per your instructions."

"We'll discuss the details later, but from now on, if you notice anything unusual about the titans' movements, report it immediately."

"Yes."

"Do you have anything to say about this matter?"

Ye-hyeon asked.

I met his eyes and racked my brain, but nothing urgent came to mind.

Kyle's presence was still faintly felt, as usual. The distance was too great, and his movements showed no particular changes. It wasn't worth reporting.

The emotions stirred by the mention of territory reclamation were even less something to share.

Ah.

Suddenly, I remembered something said during the kidnapping.

I looked into Ye-hyeon's eyes.

"This time, be careful not to get shot."

Ye-hyeon's eyes widened.

Seeing my superior stare at me, speechless, I gave a wry smile.

"I assume the others have prepared well for you."

The hospital room fell silent.

Gazes poured onto me, lying there. Embarrassed by the sudden silence, I averted my eyes and looked at the ceiling.

I meant to ask if there was anything urgent to say, but I'd said something off the mark.

I was realizing now that I'd missed the timing to look after the man before me.

The sound of shoes running down the hallway tickled my ears.

It was Ye-hyeon who broke the silence.

He was angry.

"Worry about your own body first."

I'm sorry....

Looking at my frowning superior, I smiled awkwardly. Ska and the brown-haired aide clicked their tongues as they looked down at me. I understood why they were reacting that way. But deep down, I didn't regret being stubborn and passing the exam.

In the end, everything turned out fine, right?

Well, they were probably getting angrier because they could read my inner thoughts.

Yoon rolled his eyes sullenly.

I flashed a cheeky grin at my mentor.

"We should discuss the internal announcement before we go."

Ye-hyeon sighed at my attitude and glanced at his wristwatch.

The official announcement must be imminent.

I nodded and waited for what would come next. There was an official announcement gathering the media, and apparently an internal one just for within headquarters.

But if it's internal, why bother telling me first?

Pushing aside my doubts, I waited for the other party to speak. Since they'd come all the way to the hospital room on purpose, it wouldn't be trivial.

Was it about the kidnappers?

But that had already been announced....

As I recalled the memory of being loaded into the ambulance, Ye-hyeon spoke.

"The science department has invented a titan detector."

My eyes widened.

"To be precise, Yoon and John did it. It's going to be distributed to those going out beyond the core from now on."

"A detector?"

"Some of you are almost indistinguishable from humans."

"Shall we give it a try?"

Yoon smirked slyly and pulled something out of his pocket.

I stared blankly at the device in his hand. My mind wasn't turning quickly due to the unexpected words, even in my dreams, but with these busy people before me, the conversation proceeded without pause.

The device in Yoon's hand was about the size of a smartphone.

Before I could ask to see it closer, Yoon moved his finger.

An AI voice rang out in the hospital room.

[Warning. Humanoid creature 1 meter ahead. Humanoid creature 1 meter ahead.]

It was the voice from the creature codex.

It even shot out a red laser.

I stared dumbly at the laser hitting me.

It's dazzling.

Yoon grinned at my sullen expression.

"The performance is solid."

"Yes, it is."

"While you were out of it, we tested it several times, and it worked perfectly then too."

"That must be nice. Did you harvest my cells while I was unconscious to make this?"

"No. We took your head, remember?"

My heart sank at my mentor's matter-of-fact explanation.

"I showed it to you and got your permission."

Ah....

So that's what they researched. The neck of "that" person in the sterile room. The man's face, half-covered in wood due to aftereffects.

The memory I'd forgotten resurfaced, making my stomach churn. It was nausea incomparable to what I'd felt upon hearing about the territory reclamation.

I blinked several times to hide it.

From the way Ye-hyeon and Ska narrowed their eyes, it seemed they'd noticed.

Still, it was a relief that my voice didn't waver when I spoke.

"It's no wonder you two are called geniuses. To create something like this from just that one sample...."

"To be fair, it was research that started before you appeared. Back then, we failed due to a lack of accurate samples."

"That's not the important part."

Ye-hyeon cut into our conversation.

I turned my head from staring at the ceiling with troubled eyes.

My superior, hands in his pockets.

The commander was right. In fact, the development process of the "titan detector" wasn't information I really needed to know. And there was no reason for them to consider my mental state. I was grateful just that they'd given me advance notice here. Especially now, with the official announcement imminent, they must be the busiest people.

Ye-hyeon fixed his gaze on me as I replied with a simple "yes."

"We're planning to distribute these to units going out beyond the core, but we have no intention of revealing your identity to everyone."

Was that possible?

"We'll disclose your identity only to select badgers, and you'll operate solely with them."

Ah.

I instantly understood his judgment.

It was a reasonable decision. If I were Ye-hyeon, I'd have made the same call.

Hiding the existence of humanoid creatures was now impossible. Kyle had awakened, and the awakened Kyle was burning with vengeance toward me. He'd probably be gathering the kin who had been hiding and surviving beyond the core. Inevitably, the badgers would encounter more titans.

So, they needed to distinguish titans from humans.

And they'd provided the means to do so. Golden eye was a trait, but not all titans had yellow eyes. They couldn't just issue a half-hearted order like "If the eyes look yellow, shoot them roughly."

The problem was that the device reacted strongly to me as well.

Ye-hyeon had solved that by limiting disclosure of my identity to select badgers.

It was essentially forming a small task force.

"This device won't be used inside the core. We'll retrieve it the moment you return to the core."

"Understood. So, outside the core, I should only move with the badgers who know my identity."

"That's right. The outside is vast, so your paths won't overlap much."

"That's good."

I smiled at my superior.

"I'll do that. Thank you for your consideration."

Ye-hyeon stared at me again.

Reading the inner thoughts of Ye-hyeon working as supreme commander was impossible. No expression showed on his pale face.

He's a good leader.

Thinking that, I organized the information he'd conveyed in my mind.

No matter how I thought about it, this was the best approach in the current situation. I didn't know how long I could avoid detection.

Who would my identity be revealed to?

The moment I opened my mouth to ask the question nagging at me, someone knocked on the door.

Ye-hyeon said to come in, and the door opened.

"It's about time to depart."

Ska turned off the TV with the remote.

Ye-hyeon nodded. The aides headed toward the hospital room door. Yoon pocketed the device and bowed his head to the departing high command members.

Before stepping away, Ye-hyeon turned back to me.

"Sorry. You'll have to hear the rest from Yoon."

"No. Thank you so much for telling me personally."

"Take good care of yourself."

Sorrow flickered in Ye-hyeon's eyes as he offered his advice.

For a fleeting moment, his professional demeanor cracked.

"You'll have a scar...."

I smiled at him as he furrowed his brow.

"It's fine. I passed the exam."

"Drink lots of water."

"Yes. Safe travels. I'll be watching on TV."

He gave a sad smile as I waved my hand, lifting only my elbow.

Then he vanished from my sight.

To make the announcement that the whole world was focused on.