Black Badger

Chapter 199: A Zone (3)

Retreat had failed.

Because everyone except me insisted on going to the Seed Storage. And, well, it was not as if their reasoning was completely unsound. We were already inside the Thunder’s territory anyway.

But I wanted to get out of the territory as quickly as possible.

If I squared up properly, sure, I could kill it. If I burned through absorption and poured in all my strength, I could probably win. But there was no guarantee the squad would remain unharmed in the meantime.

However, the seniors argued like this:

“It does not attack unconditionally, right?”

Only if it is hungry or bored, sure.

“Road or mountain, both are dangerous anyway, aren’t they?”

“But climbing means going deeper into the Thunder’s territory.”

“You said you sensed one of your kin in the Seed Storage.”

Right. Bringing that up was the problem.

As I only nodded silently to Carl’s dry remark, Yun snorted while wiping his gun barrel.

“At least look at his face.”

Ha.

That is how we ended up climbing the mountain.

Of course, I wanted to go to my kin as well.

All the more because I had a vague idea who he was. He was not a combatant. With this team, capturing him would not be difficult.

Not an exceptional warrior, but one who had been granted eternal life.

He was the Frontier Count.

More accurately, he had once been the Frontier Count.

“But why is a man who used to be a noble alone in the Seed Storage?”

Ami asked, slicing branches away with the knife in her hand.

“Inside such a dangerous dragon territory?”

“He may have come to retrieve seeds.”

Even now he seemed to be moving around inside the storage.

“He managed his domain extremely well.”

I faintly recalled something about how he had discovered the secret of farming.

I could not remember the method, but I did remember how he had earned fame by turning barren land fertile.

“Then we definitely should go to the Seed Storage.”

Yun’s voice came from behind.

“To cut off the enemy’s supply even a little.”

Yes. That is the textbook of war.

I swallowed the bitterness on my tongue and nodded. I knew well that he was right. I had long been prepared for that part anyway.

“Yes. If we encounter him, I will capture him.”

Responding, I checked the state of the darkening mountain.

I had expected this, but it seemed we would have to spend a night here. Night descended rapidly on the mountain. Continuing upward through a mountain swallowed in darkness was too dangerous.

Not as if we had ever thought we could climb a mountain of this height in half a day anyway.

The seniors knew this as well and still insisted on climbing. It was a team made entirely of people with skill and experience.

Time to search for a campsite....

“You said you will capture him if we encounter him?”

Just as I was about to announce it, Sophia’s chilling, low mutter reached me.

“Not kill?”

I stopped walking.

With my hand braced on a tree, I turned toward the senior behind me.

Half-submerged in bluish gloom, she did not avoid my gaze.

“He is a civilian.”

My voice had no emotion.

“Killing civilians violates the law of war.”

“Civilian means a human who is not a soldier. A humanoid Creature is not human.”

Sophia replied in a cold voice.

“The law of war applies only to humans.”

“Sophia.”

Carl, walking behind her, finally spoke.

The other seniors slowed their steps as well.

There was faint annoyance in Yun’s eyes. Knowing his personality, he had endured for a long time already.

To prevent the conflict from escalating, I spoke calmly.

“Then let us do this.”

Tracing the faint presence of my kin.

“By order of the squad leader, the humanoid Creature will be taken alive.”

A rain of eyes fell upon me.

I smiled faintly.

Even if they did not like the order, what of it? It was not as though I could not provide a reasonable explanation.

Ami and Carl actually nodded as if they accepted it.

Sophia, of course, shot me a look fierce enough to devour me whole.

I did not wipe away the smile at my lips.

“I cannot kill civilians.”

The cold night wind scraped through the leaves.

“To you seniors they may be nothing but Creatures, but to me, they are people.”

“I cannot accept that logic.”

Hearing her quiet reply, I gave a low laugh.

“Then you should have been squad leader.”

Silence fell.

Everyone stared at me. To be exact, everyone except Yun stared at me. Yun was adjusting his clothes with a crooked grin.

Ami blinked her round eyes; Ricardo let out a dry laugh.

Carl stood unmoving, eyes fixed on Sophia.

The rustle of leaves was sharp.

And standing within that sound, Sophia, after quite some time, walked past me.

We climbed the mountain in silence for a while.

***

Bang!

Ricardo’s bullet burst open the skull of a Red Riko.

An ape-like creature with its red brain exposed.

A whole swarm had rushed us earlier. I had never seen such life-forms. I had not even sensed them approaching.

They were clearly not Creatures. When I asked if they were originally from this world, the seniors stared as if I had said something absurd.

“They do not seem like Creatures or animals from our side. I cannot be certain, but....”

“They might have rolled here from an entirely different world.”

Yun muttered, staring down at the crushed red brain matter.

“Do not rely too much on your sixth sense.”

A good point.

After wiping out the Red Riko swarm, we moved on.

After a few more minutes we found a site suitable for camping. A space where the steep incline disappeared abruptly. A wide clearing big enough for six people to sleep with room to spare.

The surroundings were unusually quiet.

Well, of course.

I let out a wry smile at the massive chunk of limestone sitting in one corner of the clearing.

“Wow!”

Ami, following my gaze to the rock, raised her voice.

“This rock looks strange.”

I grabbed her wrist just as she reached her hand toward the rock.

“This is dragon excrement.”

“Screech!”

Ami shrieked the moment I grinned at her over my shoulder.

Those preparing camp lifted their heads.

I happily watched Ami run to Yun and wipe her palms aggressively on his uniform.

“You touched that?”

“Nope.”

Even as she denied it, Ami kept wiping her hands on Yun’s clothes.

“Ugh—.”

“But why are you doing that?”

“It feels dirty.”

“Do we really have to camp next to that enormous heap of excrement~....”

Ricardo groaned next to Yun, who was looking down at her.

I gave a wry smile at his wrinkled brow.

Understandable disgust, sure.

“It is calcified enough that there is almost no smell. This place will be safer than others. Dragons will not come near where their excrement lies, and other Creatures will not approach either.”

“What if this is the dragon’s bathroom or something?”

“Dragons do not designate a separate bathroom like cats.”

Well, behaviors vary greatly depending on the type of dragon. But this was a rule that applied to all dragons.

“So you need not worry. And I will sleep beside it.”

I had no aversion to sleeping next to calcified dragon droppings.

By using my body as a barrier, the seniors’ discomfort would lessen. They gladly accepted my suggestion. Even Sophia made no objection.

We prepared to camp.

The personal tents really did resemble cocoons, just as Ami had described.

“Does this not roll around?”

“You can anchor it.”

She showed me how to secure the white oval tent. I had no idea how the mechanism worked, but when I followed her movements, the tent clung tightly to the uneven ground.

Carl and Sophia had already finished setting up and were preparing dinner.

Yun was drinking water; Ricardo was checking the composition of the surrounding air.

“Think the Frontier Count will slip away overnight?”

Ami asked casually.

I shook my head.

“It is surprising he even climbed that high alone. He will not come out into a mountain swallowed by night.”

“What about the dragon?”

“No movement yet.”

The fact that no storm clouds had appeared was a blessing.

If storm clouds had been visible, we would never have come up here.

It seemed unlikely rain would fall soon either, which was a relief. Once we confirmed nothing was immediately dangerous, we ate dinner by minimal light and assigned watch shifts.

Everyone had excellent physical condition and solid skill; nothing special needed to be considered when arranging the order.

Thinking that a team like this would be hard to come by again, I fought to secure the middle shift.

Losing a full night’s sleep was agony, after all.

And it was only natural for the squad leader to take the hardest rotation.

“Please take care of us.”

After greeting Sophia, who had first watch, I buried myself in the cocoon.

“Have a peaceful night.”

“Good night~....”

“Good night!”

Heads disappeared into cocoons.

And we all jolted awake around five.

Because a Creature estimated at level 6 had appeared while Carl Dow was on watch. It was something like a giant mop handle. I recognized the Creature, though I could not recall what it had been called in the original world.

In any case, it shattered in an instant.

I looked down at the ash-gray tendrils covering the ground.

“The Frontier Count’s doing?”

“Seems so.”

I answered Carl briefly.

“To capture him, we will need to climb quickly.”

The Personnel Director truly had assigned excellent people.

We reached the summit faster than I had expected.

The Frontier Count had arrived earlier than anticipated, so we did not need to chase him. He was stumbling around inside the storage, confused.

He had not expected us to arrive so quickly.

We had climbed with astonishing speed.

Ami, Ricardo, and Yun were among the top ten Badgers, so that was normal. The other two turned out to be exceptional assets as well.

If someone like Dawson or Kwon Lucia had been in the mix, we would not have reached the top today.

I fully understood now why Ju had allowed Sophia—who had once pointed a gun at Yehyeon—to remain.

“At this rate, I almost feel a baseless confidence that we could even take down the Thunder.”

I muttered as I looked at the entrance to the Seed Storage.

“Feels like we concentrated too much firepower in one place.”

“This is the team that will face humanoid Creatures on the front line.”

Yun spoke quietly and walked to the door.

“Are we going in?”

The door opened quickly.

With a bit of gunfire and some force, we shoved the door aside and stepped into the Seed Storage—lights still horrifyingly on.

Bootsteps echoed.

A long white corridor.

Once Ricardo ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) entered last and closed the door, the mountain’s sounds faded. I took the lead and walked down the transparent corridor.

Until the familiar presence was within arm’s reach.

The figure unmoving against the wall.

I pushed open the door at the end of the corridor.

It opened without resistance, revealing old experimental equipment.

And a familiar face.

“Frontier Count.”

I spoke in a low voice, seeing the man gripping something bomb-like in one hand and a massive burlap sack in the other.

“Long time no see.”

“Taleb.”

His raspy voice answered.

“A coward who surrendered to humans without even fighting dares to show his face.”