Black Badger

Chapter 240: Round Tower (2)

I jumped up and ran out into the hallway.

The moment I flung open the door, Carl and Ricardo also opened their doors.

We found Ami at the far end of the hallway, throwing punches at something flickering.

A wraith exactly like the one Chen had described.

Ami was throwing jabs at the wraith.

“I finally saw a ghost!”

She strangely sounded delighted as she threw a straight punch.

Carl and Ricardo narrowed their eyes and approached her with careful steps. Both were ready to respond immediately if the situation escalated.

I was the only one who chuckled and headed toward the senior who was delivering follow-up punches.

“Unfortunately, Ami. That’s not a ghost.”

“Huh?”

Ami widened her eyes and looked back at me.

“This isn’t a ghost?”

“Yes. It’s not.”

“Then what is it? It’s transparent and looks human.”

“You know what this is~?”

Ricardo turned his head toward me.

Carl asked with his eyes. I nodded, then stood behind Ami.

I gently grabbed the shoulders of the senior who was leaning back, then pushed her aside and drew my sword.

Whip—

“Ah!”

The wraith was sliced diagonally like a curtain and collapsed.

Ami grabbed my left arm and yanked hard.

“What did you do?!”

“I was just about to explain.”

I bowed my head to meet Ami’s eyes and gave a faint smile.

Since communication seemed to work here, I was planning to report it to HQ. Now that I had confirmed it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t need to say “presumably” in the report.

I should call Sophia as well, then ask Yun to teach me how to contact HQ.

Ah.

“But I don’t know what the face on the ceiling was. Do you by any chance know what that was?”

“Face?”

Ami’s expression went blank.

“What face? What ceiling?”

Hmm.

I explained to the seniors what I had seen as I walked back to my room.

Ricardo, Carl, and Ami all followed behind me in a cluster.

We gathered around the doorway and looked up at the ceiling all at once.

“There’s nothing there~....”

“I’ve never heard of a face appearing on a wall.”

“Hilde, were you half asleep? You must’ve been dreaming.”

“That could be true. I didn’t sleep well.”

I rubbed my neck awkwardly.

Still, just in case, I planned to ask Trevor about it later as I scanned the now spotless ceiling.

Only after lowering my gaze from the ceiling did I notice the seniors staring at me. They were all silently studying my face.

When our eyes met, Carl asked in his husky voice:

“Hilde. Do you sleep well?”

“Yes. Are you asking because my dream wasn’t good? I just had a silly dream, that’s all. It wasn’t anything meaningful.”

“Don’t bluff.... You even talked in your sleep in the truck~....”

“What?”

Shocking.

“I talked in my sleep?”

The three seniors looked at me with strange expressions.

Why is nobody answering? This is making me nervous.

Feeling embarrassment creeping up, I asked again.

“Do I talk in my sleep every time? Have you all been waking up because of my sleep-talking? Was I the only one sleeping comfortably without knowing?”

“Not often! Sometimes, yes.”

“It’s not loud enough to wake anyone.”

Ami answered, and Carl added with his arms crossed.

But their scolding-like tone didn’t comfort me at all.

I never used to be like this. I used to sleep so still, like a corpse, that my subordinates would get scared and hold a finger under my nose to check I was breathing.

So how did this happen?

“You should’ve woken me up!”

“How could we. And you quiet down pretty fast.”

“This is embarrassing.”

“You don’t do it loud enough to be embarrassing, so don’t worry too much.”

“But what do I even say?”

No one answered.

Everyone shut their mouths at once and stayed silent.

I gave up asking. I wasn’t even sure whether I really wanted to know.

They were clearly trying to protect what dignity I had left—no need to dig deeper....

Feeling a bit gloomy, I checked the time.

2:48 p.m.

“For now, let’s call the other two and I’ll explain everything I know.”

The seniors silently nodded.

***

Trevor did not look pleased that I was calling Yun out.

Yun had been half-disassembling some machine and thinking about something. Trevor sat beside him, politely, but the moment I said we had a squad meeting, he flashed a glare.

A man who looked like his massive arms wouldn’t fit down a chimney even if he tried to deliver presents approached me.

“Rookie.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Do you know how great your supervisor is?”

I mean, I don’t....

But I obviously couldn’t say that, so I smiled with my eyes curved.

“He’s brilliant. He’s the scientist the Center Core takes pride in.”

“That’s not all. His decisiveness is extraordinary too.”

...What? I thought he liked Yun for fixing machines well.

Trevor jammed the shovel he was holding into the dirt. The shovel shook back and forth.

With his hands now free, the senior grabbed both my shoulders and shoved his face close.

“Do you know what your supervisor’s famous quote is?”

“Yun has a famous quote?”

“‘Oh, mistake.’”

I didn’t understand.

What do you mean, mistake?

His famous quote is ‘Oh, mistake’?

Unbelievably, I had understood correctly.

Trevor—clearly oblivious to the concept of personal space—gave a grim explanation.

“There are people who became Badgers just because they survived the war. Do you know how much harm those trash heaps caused to the organization, to society, to Earth? You try to fire them but they never do anything that leaves evidence. But normally, they spew sexual harassment, shirk on the field, dump every dangerous, filthy task on juniors and hide behind their authority.”

“Well... people like that exist everywhere.”

“Do you know how much damage those corrupt types cause on the battlefield?”

“Of course.”

“That’s why your supervisor made the decision.”

No way.

My stomach dropped as I suddenly understood the meaning behind Yun’s famous quote: Oh, mistake.

I really hoped I misinterpreted it—but it didn’t seem like I had.

Ah....

Shit.

“So that he wouldn’t have to bother with a military tribunal, he personally eliminated the cause of the human and material losses that would surely occur in the future!”

“Please don’t describe murder like that, sir.”

“It’s not murder! It’s garbage disposal—cleansing the Earth!”

I fought the urge to cover my face and slowly lowered my gaze to the floor. I wasn’t surprised. I had suspected that outside the Core, this kind of thing happened frequently. There were no CCTVs, and no witnesses who could report violence. Any unexplained disappearance or death could be blamed on Creatures.

Now it also made sense why so many “war heroes” had bad reputations. Back then they implanted enhanced bodies into all kinds of people. Criminals or priests—anyone who fit the conditions got an enhanced body and was thrown onto the battlefield.

Meaning there must’ve been dozens of people far worse than Dawson.

I also agreed with cutting the throats of such people.

But the fact that ‘Oh, mistake’ was Yun’s quote....

I could painfully imagine what had happened.

With dried, dead eyes, I stared at the floor—then the owner of the quote approached me.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes....”

I murmured weakly, and my supervisor raised an eyebrow.

“What’s with you.”

“It’s nothing. Just....”

What was I supposed to say?

“Let’s go, Yun.”

Thankfully Yun followed me willingly.

As expected, Trevor didn’t come. He only told me to come back after the meeting so we could get some work done before dinner.

We went up to the meeting room at the top floor of the Round Tower.

It was the kind of place where a ghost could pop out and I wouldn’t even be surprised. We brushed off the dust, pulled our chairs into a circle, and started the meeting.

Since the communication room was right next door, we could report immediately after.

Skipping unnecessary details, I informed them that the thing appearing here was a wizard’s spell.

The squad members stared at me blankly.

“A wizard~?”

“Yes. A wizard... that’s actually a real thing where I’m from.”

“Hilde, can you use magic then?”

Ami’s eyes sparkled.

I smiled slightly.

“No.”

“...No?”

“I don’t have even a hair’s worth of talent for magic.”

“But you sliced it~?”

Ricardo, lounging with one leg over the other, asked.

I nodded, then drew my sword.

“It’s because this sword works on most magic.”

“That’s strange.”

Sophia muttered while looking at my sword.

“Only that sword works? Why?”

Explaining this story would take a while.

But since I figured I’d have to explain eventually, I gave them a summarized version of my past.

There exists a World Tree, and something called the Divine Trees. If you cut a Divine Tree, you receive its curse. To undo the curse, you must go to the World Tree standing in the ruins of a fallen city and beg forgiveness.

I cut a Divine Tree to make a sword. There were things that could only be cut with the Divine Tree’s core.

At that, everyone stared at my sword.

“But the blade isn’t made of wood.”

“You put the core in the handle, sprinkle the ashes of the burnt Divine Tree on top, then offer a prayer, and it works.”

“So you broke the curse?”

Carl asked with folded arms.

“Yes. I went to the World Tree and broke the curse.”

“You broke it? I thought the ‘eating a dragon and absorbing it’ thing was part of the curse.”

“You’re sharp.”

A smile spread across my face at Sophia’s puzzled question.

Since things had come this far, I might as well explain the major things in one go.

I cut away every unnecessary detail and explained.

Ami suggested using the board, so I dragged it over and lectured while writing.

1. World Tree

– Object of faith. Supports the world.

– Can lift the Divine Tree’s curse.

– Became contaminated → world destruction.

2. Divine Trees

– Trees blessed by consecration. Cutting them invokes a curse.

3. Children of the World Tree

– Survivors of the Divine Tree’s curse. Level 10 / current Creature leaders / I belong here.

– Capable of “absorption” and “transfer.” Call it transfer for convenience.

– “Transfer” is safest between kin with similar skill levels.

– If done excessively, or if the transferring one is too powerful, the recipient may stiffen, or be overtaken by wood and die.

– Can “rampage.”

– The catastrophe of the First War was caused by a Level 10 rampage.

4. Wizards

– Only those born with magical talent become wizards.

– They enabled “dimensional travel.”

– The “teleportation” incident was also their doing, though teleportation spell is easier than dimensional travel.

– “Clones” are spells wizards often use for reconnaissance.

– Clones turn transparent in sunlight; normally semi-transparent and hard to spot.

– Whether they can enter a Core is unknown; likely depends on the wizard’s skill.

5. Clerics

– Usually raised in temples.

– Perform consecration.

6. Tamers

– Those who handle monsters.

– Blackjack.

“Your explanations get lazier the longer you go.”

Yun pointed out.

I pressed the tip of the white marker against the board and looked back at Yun.

“You noticed?”

“And what is that doodle. What did you draw? Is that supposed to be recognizable?”

“It’s a tree.”

“A tree? Not a sheep?”

“It’s a tree.”

“Question~.”

Ricardo, who had been lounging silently, suddenly raised his right hand.

Ignoring Ami’s whisper of “That is a tree?” I pointed to Ricardo.

“Yes, go ahead, student Rick.”

“That curly-haired guy we ran into last time—he’s the current Creature leader, right~?”

I slowly nodded.

Ricardo continued:

“His name was... Kyle, right~?”

“That’s correct.”

“Then why didn’t he rampage during the territory recovery war~?”

The ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) senior lowered his voice and muttered like talking to himself.

“Yehyeon was right in front of him.... Opportunities like that don’t come often....”

I quietly looked into his green eyes.

Then turned my head and wrote:

7. Rampage

I had been avoiding this, but I would have to explain it eventually.

How Rei died.

And perhaps someday, when Kyle and I face each other again—

the final measure we might have to use.