“...Did I do something wrong?”
Sensing the unsettling air in the room, I muttered cautiously.
Why do they both look like that?
Ricardo’s eyes narrowed with unmistakable fury, doubling the ominous feeling in my gut. I quickly started running through possible reasons in my head.
But before I could even finish thinking, the answer came.
Ricardo’s low voice echoed through the meeting room.
“Did you write that will yourself~...?”
Right. That.
I’d been writing it when Yun called, so I stepped out for a while. I had just returned after dropping off the person who’d been sleeping motionless the whole way home.
Maybe he’s angry because I left the will out in the open instead of rolling it up neatly.
I nodded and spoke.
“Yes. I apologize for leaving it open. I didn’t expect you both to arrive so soon.”
“That’s all? That’s the end of your will?”
The sharp question cut straight across my reply.
Ah.
They read it.
And judging from their faces, it made them angry.
I pressed my lips together in a thin line before carefully answering.
“Yes.”
Ricardo gave a short, incredulous laugh.
That laugh was heavy with suppressed rage. Carl, standing beside him with arms crossed, didn’t look any happier as he gave me a cold once-over.
No matter what I said, it would probably only make them angrier, so I just kept quiet and watched their expressions.
Then the green-eyed senior’s cold voice snapped out.
“Call Ami~.”
“Excuse me?”
“Show that to Ami, too....”
...Why?
Exactly which part of this made them so angry? Was it that I carelessly left my will out? Or that it was too short?
Could be both.
Either way, I didn’t want to make things worse by resisting, so I obediently followed Ricardo’s words.
I felt bad for Ami, but she’d just texted saying she finished her report. She was still inside headquarters, so she wouldn’t have to come far.
Sure enough, as soon as I contacted her, Ami came running to the meeting room.
She burst in cheerfully, probably excited about dinner, but when she saw the grim atmosphere, her eyes went wide.
“What’s going on!”
I gave a sheepish smile as she stepped inside.
The others didn’t bother explaining—Ricardo simply pulled his hand out of his pocket and pointed silently at the will. Carl uncrossed his arms, stepped back, and gave her space to read it.
A heavy, frigid silence filled the room.
Ami blinked.
“Hilde’s will?”
She waved her arm and walked toward my seat.
“Are you mad because Hilde left it open like this?”
She bent over the desk where the paper lay.
“But reading someone else’s will without permission is—”
Her voice broke off.
I quietly watched as Ami’s eyes scanned the document.
Silence pressed down, thick as glass around the meeting room.
She froze for a long time before finally looking up.
“This is all?”
Standing by the doorway, one hand on the frame, I nodded quietly.
I probably didn’t show much expression.
“Yes.”
Ami stared at me blankly.
I said nothing, waiting for the seniors’ reactions instead. Admittedly, the will was concise—but it contained everything necessary. It’s not like I had anyone around who’d need assets divided up anyway.
Simple and neat. Isn’t that good enough?
As I thought that, my jaw went slack.
Ami suddenly began to cry.
“Huuuuh....”
Like someone who’d been trying hard to hold it in before it burst out, Ami bowed her head, biting her lips.
“Hilde, you’re so mean....”
What?
What...?
Why? Why are you suddenly crying? What’s so mean?
Why are you crying out of nowhere?
Too startled, I hurried over to her and looked down at my senior, who was now shedding big, fat tears.
Tears splashed onto the meeting room floor.
Ah.
“Ami.”
I called her hastily.
“Ami. Why are you crying?”
“Be—because... to Hilde, we’re nothing....”
Her trembling voice broke as she spoke.
“I was just... just a passing acquaintance... The people from your past were so precious that we mean nothing to you now....”
“That’s not true.”
No.
Why would you think that...?
No.
But a will isn’t a letter, is it?
Still, I couldn’t bring myself to say that aloud.
I wasn’t that oblivious. Besides, seeing someone who was always bright and cheerful suddenly cry like this—my brain just short-circuited. Especially knowing I was the cause of it.
Completely at a loss, I bent down toward her.
Look at me.
“Ami. That’s not what I meant.”
“Th-then why’d you write it like this...”
She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, voice breaking.
“Like you’ve got nothing left to hold onto, like you don’t care about anyone...”
“That’s...”
I opened and closed my mouth a few times.
“It’s not that I thought our bond was meaningless...”
I needed to explain properly—but that wasn’t easy.
How should I put this?
I hadn’t put that much thought into it.
I just didn’t want anyone to be inconvenienced by what I left behind when my atonement was over. I wanted things clean—so that the scar left by my absence wouldn’t be too deep.
The truth is, I don’t have a choice in whether I live or ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ die.
This was one thing where I couldn’t grant my seniors’ wishes. My remaining life would be decided by the last surviving member of my own kind.
It wasn’t that I didn’t recognize the care, affection, and trust these people had shown me.
And the affection I felt for them wasn’t any less than what I’d once felt for my old kin.
If anything—
“They’re not fleeting bonds. I just want to go and finish what I need to do.”
I whispered, not taking my eyes off Ami.
“We’re the ones who dragged this calamity in, after all.”
“Then why write it like that?”
Ami began crying again, tears dripping one after another as she looked at me.
I appreciated that she was meeting my eyes, but seeing them reddened and wet like that made my chest ache.
“Why do you write like you’re always ready to let go? Like we don’t weigh on your heart at all?”
“That’s not it, really.”
It’s just that I know the time will come when I’ll have to make a choice.
And when that moment comes, I’ve never wavered in my resolve to grant my kin’s wish. But that doesn’t mean humans come second. If that were true, I wouldn’t have tried to kill my own kind.
If the bonds I’ve made here were truly lesser, I wouldn’t have raised my sword against the Titans—I’d have begged them to hide among humans or run off beyond the Cores.
Honestly, I sometimes dream about it.
Dreams where those left outside change their minds and come into the Core to live with us.
I met Ami’s eyes and tried to soothe her.
“I just didn’t have anything more to add to the will.”
“That’s so cruel.”
Ami kept crying.
“Really cruel!”
Why...?
“Why don’t you have more to write!”
Ami broke down completely, sobbing like a child.
The sound of her wailing echoed painfully through the room.
What do I do.
Frozen in place, I just stood there blankly, thinking stupidly. What do I do now? How do I calm her down? How do I apologize?
I never meant to upset her like this.
After standing there uselessly for a while, I came to my senses.
First, apologize.
Noticing Ami sobbing and the men standing still, I reached out.
I gently pulled the hiccuping Ami into an embrace.
“I’m sorry.”
It was addressed to everyone in the room.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t think it through.”
Ricardo rolled his eyes toward the ceiling.
I guess that was his version of an answer. Carl exhaled a long sigh and finally uncrossed his arms. He clearly had plenty to say but held it back since I admitted fault.
I kept alternating my gaze between them and apologizing.
Eventually, Ami’s sobbing began to subside.
Listening to the sound of my life’s light and salt finally calming down, I fell into thought.
I hadn’t imagined a will could cause this much commotion.
I kept thinking that if Yun had seen it, he would’ve brushed it off casually—but that’s definitely something I shouldn’t say aloud. And saying that long wills don’t make loss any easier wouldn’t be a good idea either, would it?
As Ami finally calmed down, I patted her back softly and stepped away.
“I’ll write more.”
Ami wiped her face and stared up at me.
“I’m sorry. I’ll add more. But I won’t show it to you.”
“You’d better not...”
Smack!
Ricardo’s hand landed cleanly on the back of my head, bringing the whole scene to a close.
Apparently he interpreted my last sentence differently. What I meant was “don’t expect to see the extra notes,” but I guess he heard “I’ll outlive you all.”
Well. Since it sounded positive enough, I didn’t bother correcting him.
Ah...
Still, I’d better try hard to stay alive—at least until I have to raise my sword against the last of my kind.
As I walked toward the will, that thought crossed my mind.
***
“I wanted tempura omakase tonight...”
“I’m sorry.”
I pushed the golden, crispy chicken toward Ami and lowered my eyes.
“I’ll treat you next time for sure....”
Inside the meeting room.
Because the earlier incident had eaten up so much time, we ended up ordering delivery for dinner. Originally, we were going to get pizza and chicken, but since Ricardo despised franchise pizza, that plan fell through.
So the combination became chicken and burgers instead.
It was the same burger brand I’d eaten the day I first dropped into this world.
“I’ll pay for this, too.”
I glanced nervously at the two male seniors across the table.
“You’re both... not angry anymore, right?”
“Just eat your damn food~.”
“Yes, sir.”
I dropped my gaze immediately.
“I’ll enjoy it.”
After dinner, I hurried to clean up all the trash.
When Ami, eyes swollen from crying, tried to get up and help, I pushed her gently back into her seat and did it myself. When she mistook the seniors going out for a smoke as an attempt to leave me cleaning alone, she tried to stop them—so I had to explain frantically.
Only after hearing, “We’re just going for a smoke~,” did I manage to relax and see them off.
After all that commotion, it was already time.
The TF was scheduled to gather at 7 p.m.
We were waiting for Sophia Kalak.
“For reference, the squad leader this time is Supreme Commander Yehyeon.”
Carl Dow’s voice was low and steady.
“As expected, he’ll give all the orders—but it’s still good to learn each other’s combat styles.”
“Yes.”
I nodded promptly.
“Especially since I—”
Click.
The door opened.
A woman stepped into the meeting room.
Her hair was jet-black, falling to her shoulders. Her skin was as pale as Yehyeon’s, and her eyes—also black—were filled with something Yehyeon’s weren’t.
Hatred.
A cold, burning fury.
She stared straight at me with those blazing dark eyes.
I met her gaze and rose from my seat.
“Good evening, Senior Kalak. I’m Hildebert Taleb, new recruit.”
“I don’t shake hands with Creatures.”
When I offered my hand, the reply came back like a shard of ice.
“That man’s got a strong stomach.”
She must mean Yehyeon.
I gave a small, polite smile and lowered my hand.
Whatever she intended to say about him—well, I’d just have to hear it.
