Had this person always called me Hildebert before?
I thought he used to call me Taleb...
I decided not to dwell on small details. Hiding my surprise, I thanked him politely.
“Thank you.”
I received the latest model phone with both hands.
I still didn’t fully grasp what was going on, but...
I hadn’t expected him to actually come all the way here to hand it to me in person. Since I was off duty today, he must have been off duty too. Indeed, he wasn’t wearing the Black Badger uniform but a deep purple shirt.
The senior, to whom purple suited unbelievably well, looked straight at me.
“I also moved your SIM card over. Check if everything transferred properly.”
“Oh! Thank you. I think it should have copied fine.”
“You like the color and model?”
Kudo asked in his low voice.
My mouth fell open.
...What’s going on all of a sudden?
Flustered, my eyes darted uncontrollably. I should’ve been all smiles, saying, “Thank you, senior! I really love it, you’re the best!” — but I was so startled that I couldn’t react for a moment.
I came to my senses belatedly.
“Yes. I like both the color and the model. I’m not sure I deserve something this nice though...”
“Take it.”
The reply came firmly.
I pressed my lips into a line and lifted the corners into a faint smile.
I had no idea how to respond. I didn’t know what had gotten into him.
But after all this, refusing would have been rude...
Letting out a small laugh, I nodded.
“Thank you. I’ll use it well. Since I’m on duty tomorrow, I’ll see you again then. Ah, if you’re not busy, would you like to come inside for a bit?”
Thankfully, he didn’t come in.
After seeing my senior off, I returned home with a mix of gratitude and bewilderment. He must’ve gone back to the spot where my phone had dropped and picked up the SIM card for me.
I powered on the phone.
As the screen came to life, I waited for the activation to finish, then immediately opened the messages app.
Sitting on the beanbag, I sent messages to Shu, Ami, Yehyeon, and Yun. While typing, I found myself thinking that Jonathan Kudo had perhaps become a little softer after the “Ashen Mantle” incident.
That was a mistake.
***
He hadn’t become “a little” softer.
On the next patrol duty day, I was continually shocked by how drastically my senior’s behavior had changed.
It started around lunchtime.
After finishing the uneventful morning shift, it was time for lunch. I assumed, as usual, he’d head to one of those neat little restaurants he liked.
But instead of walking silently toward a familiar spot, Kudo turned to me and asked,
“What do you want to eat?”
...Excuse me?
I was caught off guard. It was the first time he’d ever asked me that.
I blinked twice.
“Uh, isn’t there anything you’d like to eat, sir?”
“Tell me what you want to eat.”
What’s wrong with this man?
I stopped in the middle of the sunlit street. My senior stood beside me, not moving until I answered.
The heavy, humid scent of summer filled the air.
I opened and closed my mouth a few times before managing to speak.
“How about kaisendon?”
We ate kaisendon.
But that wasn’t the end. His eyes — the ones that usually looked at me like I was a rock — were different now. They looked at me as if I were a person.
And he even made conversation.
When I brought up something trivial — swords, of all topics — he actually engaged. Not only that, he even said,
“Sword oil for maintenance? If you need it, I’ll buy some and send it to you.”
At that point, I got scared.
Why the sudden change?
It wouldn’t have been strange if it were anyone else, but... no, that’s not true. I would’ve been shocked regardless. He was being way too nice to me.
Still in disbelief, I started my afternoon shift — and something even stranger happened.
A Creature appeared in our district.
It was between class 2 and 3 — not especially dangerous. But the location was bad. The huge moss-green thing was writhing near a group of kids walking home from school.
It spat venom whenever anyone got close.
Kudo defeated it easily.
I was guiding the curious kids away, when a small problem occurred.
A group of boys, about thirteen years old, ignored the warnings and rushed forward.
“It’s a Creature!”
Splat!
“Ahhh!”
The fastest boy screamed.
The others froze in fear. A couple of them screamed too.
I lowered the hand that had blocked the boy’s face and smiled.
“You’re not hit.”
“...Huh?”
The boy, who had instinctively scrunched up his face, slowly opened his eyes.
“I’m not hit?”
“Right. And I told you to stay back, didn’t I? Why don’t you listen?”
I tilted my head at the frozen kids and the one nervously touching his face.
One by one, they started backing away from the Creature’s corpse.
I picked up the troublemaker — who was in the middle of washing his face with tears — and set him down next to his friend.
“Go on. And don’t do anything this dangerous again.”
After sending the kids off, I began cleaning up the area.
Until Jonathan Kudo suddenly grabbed my right arm.
“Ah.”
I looked at him awkwardly as he stared at the burn on the back of my hand.
“It’ll heal soon. My regeneration’s just a bit slow... I’m sorry for always being a bother.”
“You should go home for the day.”
“Sir?”
It was nowhere near quitting time.
Surely he wasn’t telling me to go home over a minor burn like this.
He was.
No matter how much I protested, he insisted I clock out. He even told me to go straight to the hospital afterward.
I argued that any normal Badger would heal a wound like this in under a minute, and that if I kept getting sent home for every little injury, I’d be useless as a Badger — but it didn’t work. Truly, his stubbornness was second to none.
Well...
He’s probably just overreacting because of what happened before. He’ll calm down eventually.
That, too, turned out to be a colossal misunderstanding.
***
A week later.
I went to Ricardo for help.
I demanded to know why Jonathan Kudo was acting like this.
“He’s acting weird!”
He was too kind to me.
His kindness was overflowing to the point of being unbearable. I wasn’t just overreacting — I’d already texted Ami multiple times about it.
Every time I explained, Ami was shocked.
Just last night, I’d sent her this SOS:
[Me: Please help, Senior Kudo invited me over to his house today.]
[Ami: ?]
A few minutes later, another message:
[Ami: ??]
[Me: Please come with me!]
[Ami: Huh.]
Her next reply almost sounded like I could hear her voice.
[Ami: Huh???]
Anyway, that’s how things were going.
I grabbed Ricardo, who was about to go smoke, and explained everything. He’d bought me a new phone, he was overly protective, he kept offering to buy me whatever I mentioned liking or wanting...
Ricardo, who had been listening with a crooked smile, finally leaned against the building wall.
He burst into laughter, shoulders shaking, then lifted his head.
“You really don’t know why~?”
How would I know that?
I answered with my expression. Ricardo looked like he was having the time of his life.
“You’re more clueless than I thought~.”
Excuse me?
Me?
“This is too good, I’ll just stay out of it~.”
“Ah, come on, sir, please don’t be like that.”
“Did he not roll up your sleeve after that fight?”
I dropped my jaw.
Staring at him in disbelief, I asked,
“How did you know that?”
“Mm, it’s a habit of his~. He does that to all of us — like a grandma~.”
Grandma...
Mulling over the word, a bright idea struck me.
I grabbed my senior’s sleeve as he turned to go smoke.
He raised an eyebrow.
“Please come with me to his house!”
“Nope~.”
Rejected instantly.
“Go with Ami~.”
“Ami said she’d like to, but she’s worried Kudo might be uncomfortable...”
“Still, if you ask, he won’t refuse~.”
Ricardo smiled sweetly.
“Why don’t you give it a try~?”
***
So I went to Jonathan Kudo’s house — with Ami.
Ricardo hadn’t been wrong. When I asked Kudo if Ami could come along, he showed no objection. According to Ricardo, even if I’d said I was bringing Yehyeon or Yun, he wouldn’t have minded either.
That in itself was terrifying.
Why had he changed so much?
In any case, I was once again saved by the light and salt of my life.
“Wow.”
My senior with the round eyes murmured as she looked around Kudo’s house.
“It’s like a hotel.”
Indeed it was.
We were now inside Kudo’s home. Setting down our housewarming gifts, we took a look around. True to its owner, it was modern and spotless.
Simple and immaculate. Spacious, with not a speck of dust anywhere.
The furniture...
...was too neat.
There was barely anything at all. What little there was, came in shades of gray or black. Unlike Ricardo’s or Ami’s place, there was almost no sign of actual living here.
Does he really live here?
“I hate when guests try to do things.”
Kudo said as he took an Evian bottle out of the gray refrigerator.
I accepted it reluctantly.
“Make yourself comfortable, like it’s your own home.”
How could anyone relax in a place like this...
Even the water—
I stopped thinking before I went too far.
I smiled brightly.
“Yes! Thank you!”
“Hilde! Don’t lose your mind!”
Ami grabbed me and shook me side to side.
“Come back to your senses!”
I couldn’t.
We drank the coffee Kudo brewed himself, the tea he made himself, and ate the tiny, perfectly arranged confections that looked like they belonged in an art gallery. I remained tense, but Ami seemed to enjoy herself.
Thank goodness. Having her here was a huge relief.
If I’d come alone, I’d have suffocated from awkwardness and died on the spot.
Kudo’s thoughts remained a mystery, but he kept treating me kindly...
Could this... be permanent?
Could it?
It was — and it would continue.
I’d eventually have to accept that I had entered the circle of people he considered “within his line.”
***
By the way, the apples had ripened.
On one of my off days, I picked an apple in Samuel’s yard, where no one else was around.
It was separated from Yun’s house by only a low fence. The doctor’s yard, regularly maintained by a gardener, had a tree full of lovely apples.
Newton’s apples.
I picked a ripe one to make apple wine for the doctor.
I wanted to call Yun over, but he’d been spending long stretches outside the Core lately. They said he was being worked to the bone with territory expansion preparations.
It had been almost ten days since our last contact.
Even then, he’d been too busy to analyze “From K,” which I’d asked him to check.
[Me: 《A gift has arrived!》 — “Lexic Basic Noodle Delivery Coupon”]
[Choi Yun: Did your tongue rot while I wasn’t looking?]
[Me: How pitiful that you don’t know the greatness of this taste, senior.]
That was the last ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) conversation we had.
The Black Badger HQ was in chaos. As Foundation Day drew near, everyone grew busier. Those deployed outside the Core stayed out longer than usual; reporters filled the base; the civilian staff ran around with dark circles under their eyes.
The upper brass were impossible to see.
I, on the other hand, wasn’t that busy.
To be exact, I was grounded.
They said they couldn’t send out someone who might become a “bomb” during such a sensitive time.
“Just relax until orders come!”
That was what the Personnel Director told me.
So here I was, stealing apples. Even if guilt woke me up at night and impatience gnawed at me, life had to go on — and there were still small things to do.
Right now, that small thing was picking good apples.
It had been so long since I’d made apple wine...
As I was thinking that, I felt someone’s gaze land on me.
Who...?
Without thinking, I looked in that direction.
And froze.
Through the transparent window, sitting on a sofa and watching me, was Yehyeon.
He looked like he’d just woken up from a nap again.
“...Commander?”
“Hilde.”
The man rose from the sofa, sliding open the glass door, and called to me casually.
The hot summer breeze rustled his hair and T-shirt.
“Hello.”
“...Hello, sir.”
A strange sense of déjà vu.
Still holding the apple, I awkwardly stood there and looked up at my superior.
