Black Badger

Chapter 97

What about the contaminated shape-shifting weapon?

Amid the pouring cheers, I alternated my gaze between the weapon and my senior. The iron bars made of electricity had already vanished.

I doubted they'd let us go easily, so why had they removed the bars?

That question didn't ring out loudly in my mind right then.

Trembling with fear, I watched my senior approach slowly.

"Is it... really expensive...?"

I looked at him as he stopped beside me and gazed down at the contaminated sword.

Ricardo had his hands shoved into his pockets, his eyes fixed on the blade without moving.

"Hmm~?"

"Th-that shape-shifting weapon... Is it really expensive? Even so, if it's written off as a loss, the company should issue a new one, right?" "This isn't the company's—it's mine...."

I was screwed.

A chill ran through me. If it had been company property, there might have been some leeway.

I had no memory of Ricardo removing this ring-shaped weapon from his finger. Of course not. Back in my previous world, I never let go of my own sword either.

But now, his cherished weapon had been damaged by his junior. What terrified me more was not knowing how much it cost.

I gauged the balance in my account and spoke up.

"Um... I'll buy a new one."

"Hm?"

Ricardo blinked and turned his head.

I swallowed hard as I met his inscrutable green eyes.

"The weapon... Just tell me where you bought it, and I'll get a brand-new one, Senior."

"This one?"

Ricardo chuckled without pulling his hands from his pockets.

The cheers and heat continued to echo through the arena. The announcer seemed to be excitedly declaring the betting results, but it didn't reach my ears.

I nodded solemnly.

"Yes."

"Do you even know how much this costs~?"

That was the scariest part.

I swallowed again as I looked at my senior, who was smiling faintly.

"Thirty million won?"

"Over a hundred million...."

The world spun.

Cold sweat soaked my back. A hundred million... A hundred million. Even though the currency value had depreciated compared to when I lived on Earth with Colton, a hundred million was still a huge sum.

At least, it was enormous for me.

So this was how one became a debtor overnight.

Still, it wasn't an amount I couldn't repay at all. If I worked hard, I'd earn it eventually.

I pulled my wandering mind back together.

"Uh, somehow, I'll get a new one."

"Oh... Got some money, huh?"

"I have a little saved up."

"Yeah~? How much~?"

I had crashed a scooter and bought some games thanks to Hesi, but my steady paycheck meant my expenses hadn't been too high.

Recalling the last time I'd checked my account, I muttered.

"About thirty million won...."

"Hahaha!"

Ricardo burst into laughter.

It was the first time I'd seen that man laugh so heartily.

I stared blankly at my senior as he threw his head back and laughed.

The wound on his neck was no longer bleeding but still swollen red. Bits of colored confetti fell onto his black hair. The creature's corpse reeked strongly.

I gazed at all of it in a daze.

Why was he laughing like that....

My senior laughed heartily for a while before turning to me.

"I'm kidding...."

What?

"It's true that it's worth over a hundred million, but you don't need to buy a new one.... It's not completely ruined~."

"Yes?"

"I should take it to the science department to check, though...."

My senior pulled a lighter from his pocket.

He brought the small flame to the blade embedded in the corpse.

I watched, speechless, as the red veins covering the sword blackened and burned. They didn't fully detach, but at least the dangerous red glow burned away with a strange smell.

The weapon became covered in scorch marks.

Once the purification by fire was done, Ricardo pocketed the lighter.

The silver sword had turned into a pool mixed with silver and black.

"Fortunately, neither of them is in too bad shape...."

Ricardo said, his eyes on the weapon as it jerked oddly.

"Let's get out of here first.... Not sure if they'll let us go easily, though."

"Yes."

I was relieved it wasn't completely broken.

I'd already guessed from his expression that Barbie and Asil weren't in bad shape, so I was most relieved that the shape-shifting weapon hadn't been utterly destroyed.

Perhaps sensing my inner thoughts, Ricardo chuckled again.

"You're such a weird guy...."

"Me?"

Wasn't that a natural reaction?

Anyone would have acted like this if they damaged their senior's cherished weapon.

I stared at him sullenly, but he didn't take back his words.

Instead, as he turned his body toward the stands, he added,

"As I said, when we get back, I'll work you like a dog~."

"No."

Don't say it so seriously.

Wasn't that just something you said in the heat of the moment when you handed me the sword? I followed my senior, who was rolling the silver liquid mixed with black swirls, wearing an incredulous expression.

The liquid rolled toward the stands in time with Ricardo's strides.

It wasn't flowing like water but advancing in jagged bursts, so it must have been a bit off.

Still, seeing it move as Ricardo intended eased my mind.

Until my sharp hearing caught a familiar voice.

"Prometheus."

It was a bright, innocent girl's voice.

"You've worked hard."

Marie.

I turned my head and saw her.

She stood in the passage where the creature had emerged.

In the dark passage, she smiled like a Buddha statue.

The dead elder's retainer.

His final struggle.

The fear coiling around me doubled when I saw the switch in her hand.

"Ricardo!"

I whipped my head to call my senior.

"I'm just trying to fulfill the order given to me, like you did."

[And that's the end of today's match!]

At the same time, a loud noise drowned out Marie's whisper.

[Please exit through the rear! Don't forget to purchase tickets for the next event before you go!]

"There was one last order you left behind."

I had no intention of dying alone.

The voice of the dead man that I'd brushed off resonated in my head.

The voice of the former elder, who had died torn in two.

Everything happened almost simultaneously.

I shouted to protect the fallen seniors. Ricardo swiftly turned his head and used the shape-shifting weapon to erect a defensive barrier over them without a word. The announcer excitedly called out the next event schedule.

And Marie pressed the switch.

I rushed toward Ricardo, who had stopped to assess the situation.

KABOOM!

I should have anticipated it.

I shouldn't have dismissed his final words so lightly. Even chained and sitting behind the iron bars, I should have remembered he was an elder.

In the midst of the crashing explosions, I grabbed Ricardo and ran toward the passage where Marie was, berating myself.

You idiot.

You missed it again. The warning right in front of you.

Something you might have avoided if you'd paid a little more attention.

I'd failed again, flailing desperately against the encroaching reality. Dragging others down with me.

Again....

THUD!

Screams erupted and the building collapsed.

The moment I dashed into the passage where Marie stood, the entrance caved in, and my consciousness cut out.

*

A scraping sound echoed.

The noise of something thick being cleared away. The faint sound grew clearer, rousing my mind.

Only after feeling the cool air on my upper body did I lazily open my eyes.

It felt like I'd been through something similar before.

Back then, it was the sound of cutting debris with a blade from the front.

Anyway, it seemed I'd survived this time too.

Lying on my side, I thought blankly. Surviving two building collapses was impressive. Even with an augmented body, death was possible. We just didn't age, but we could still die.

That was why everyone handled bombs with care.

As I lay there thinking, my senses returned, and I slowly turned my head.

And met green eyes.

"Ricardo."

My senior looked down at me with a stiff expression.

"Are you okay?"

I remembered protecting him before losing consciousness.

Losing awareness after that made me anxious. The fact that he had a civilian-like body at that time fueled my worry. What if I'd crushed him while fainting?

No answer came.

I looked at my strangely silent senior and propped myself up on my elbow.

Darkness had fallen. With almost no light source, I could barely see around us.

Only the outlines of concrete chunks and my senior close by were vaguely visible. He knelt on one knee beside me, silent.

Buried in the settled darkness, he didn't move a muscle, but I immediately knew something was off about him.

Why did he look like that?

I pushed up my upper body with my elbow.

"Did you get hurt?"

"Don't move."

A curt reply came.

I just blinked.

As I twisted my upper body, my field of view widened. My eyes adjusted to the dark, and more came into sight.

A space blocked by debris trapped us in a not-too-wide passage. Rushing into the passage on reflex had been a wise choice.

The area around the passage had collapsed, and ceiling tiles had fallen, but the ceiling itself hadn't given way.

Since it was the creature's exit passage, it must have been sturdier than other areas. That judgment had been correct.

No immediate worry of further collapse. After taking in the situation, I also confirmed with my eyes that Ricardo's body had no visible wounds.

His expression still looked bad.

I looked at his rigidly set face and asked.

"Where does it hurt?"

"I said don't move."

"I'm sitting still. Just tell me where you're hurt."

Internal injuries?

As I leaned in to check his condition, Ricardo gripped my shoulder tightly.

If he hadn't taken the Green Dream, it would have crushed my shoulder with that grip strength.

"Can't you see your lower body?"

Ricardo said sharply, frowning.

"Don't move and stay put."

"My lower body?"

Why my lower body....

Looking down, I found my calf pinned under debris.

A thick concrete slab the size of a table was pressing down on my left foot. Amid the other rubble, it stood out massively, holding my leg down.

The pinned leg must have been swollen.

But it wasn't impaled or anything; I just needed to clear it. Walking might be tough for a while, but I could feel sensation, so it wasn't severely injured.

A civilian couldn't lift it, but I could manage.

Was he overreacting because of the Green Dream?

But at this point?

I quietly observed my senior as he slowly cleared the debris covering my body.

Then I noticed his hands were trembling.

His two hands shook faintly.

I grabbed Ricardo's left wrist.

"Ric."

Ignoring him as he jerked his head around, I looked down at his hand.

"Did the debris hit you?"

"Let go."

Ignoring his strained voice, I persistently checked his state. The unrelenting tremor in his hand, the chill from his gripped wrist. The cold sweat on his palm.

I realized his entire body was trembling harshly.

His irregular breathing too.

Ah.

This was hyperventilation.

"Senior."

I bowed my head and leaned toward my panting senior.

"Senior, cup your hands and breathe into them."

Ricardo didn't lift his head.

He just knelt on one knee, breathing raggedly. He covered his mouth with his right hand, but it had no immediate effect. The irregular breaths continued. His body trembled faintly.

I advised him softly to breathe in and out slowly.

Pushing aside other worries as I leaned in closer.

I knew these symptoms all too well.

Post-traumatic stress disorder.

He was experiencing PTSD right then.