Chapter 445: Escort (1)

“What?”

Someone muttered.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

The air tightened instantly.

Perhaps I was the only one smiling in this situation. The men in crisp suits stood in the aisle beside the seats with their hands clasped behind their backs, silently looking down at me.

But I had no intention of getting up first.

As I waited for them to make the first move, someone in the front row sprang to his feet.

It was Leeho.

“On what charge?”

Ah. They should have taken me when he wasn’t looking.

I genuinely felt sorry toward Leeho.

Nana had just passed the test in such spectacular fashion. He must have been in a wonderful mood.

“You don’t just escort someone away without stating a proper charge. What charge is it? I can’t even guess.”

“He is a suspect in an attempted Core overthrow.”

Conway spoke as CIS’s representative.

“A warrant has been issued. Please stand, Mr. Taleb.”

Voices erupted from all directions.

I couldn’t make out every word as the sounds burst out simultaneously. But I knew the seniors who had just sunk back into their seats after watching the promotion test were rising all at once.

“What the hell is this supposed to mean?”

“Who are they? Wasn’t access to the media room restricted to outsiders right now?”

“They said CIS.”

“CIS?”

Anger and disbelief mixed in the voices around me.

“What are they doing here?”

It wasn’t as if I had never looked into them.

Back when borders still existed, each nation’s intelligence agency had aimed to protect national interests. Now that living zones were divided not by borders but by Cores, CIS officially handled counterterrorism, counterintelligence, inter-Core organized crime, and drug trafficking.

They almost never intersected with Black Badger.

Relations between the organizations weren’t exactly good, though. CIS had long argued that they too should be granted the right to operate outside the Cores. They claimed smugglers and organized criminals sometimes left the Cores and had persistently requested authority to pursue them.

Each time, Black Badger had responded that “those who leave the Core relinquish their status as Core citizens and are under no obligation to be arrested or rescued.”

Of course, that was at the organizational level.

In practice, we rarely encountered each other, so working-level staff neither liked nor disliked one another.

There had never been enough interaction to form a real judgment.

Until now.

Ami, Yun, and Ricardo roughly knew what was going on.

If Ro were here, I had assumed he would be the first to raise his voice.

I was spectacularly wrong.

“What kind of nonsense is that?”

It was Hesh who shouted.

“What does an attempted Core overthrow have to do with Hilde? Didn’t you see him throw himself in to stop the rampage?!”

“If he is innocent, he may clarify matters after coming with us.”

“On what authority are you even escorting him?!”

“What makes you think we’d hand him over to you?”

After Hesh’s shout, Leeho spoke in a voice boiling with anger.

“You think I don’t know how this plays out?”

Conway didn’t spare him a glance.

Neither did the others. They simply stood behind Conway with their hands clasped behind their backs like statues.

When I still didn’t move, Conway stepped forward.

Dry laughter drifted from several places.

The irritation and anger in it were unmistakable.

“Please extend both hands.”

Anthony Conway did not look afraid, even surrounded by enhanced-body humans.

“I would prefer not to escort you roughly.”

A few people laughed outright.

Open mockery. A civilian saying something like that to enhanced humans.

Some lifted their brows in displeasure. Most wore expressions that seemed to say, Let’s see how far you go.

Whether the agents were provoked or had simply decided they could not wait any longer, Conway flicked his hand.

Two men behind him drew stun guns.

At the same time, several seniors shouted.

“You bastards!”

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

“Where do you get off drawing weapons here?”

“Who paid you off to come here?”

“Hilde!”

Anger from them hadn’t been outside my expectations.

The last one, however—

Hesh roared my name.

Then, fists clenched, he started charging up the steps toward me.

I panicked.

I had only meant to drag things out and irritate them a little!

I shot up from my seat and thrust out my palm toward Hesh.

“Hey, hey!”

He’s going to hit someone at this rate!

“Calm down, Hesh! Calm down!”

“Put the stun guns down!”

Hesh Lyle, the runaway locomotive of justice, didn’t seem to hear me.

For a moment, [N O V E L I G H T] I had forgotten that among those who knew my past, my peers were the ones least inclined to listen to me.

What does it matter to us that you’re over a hundred?

We’re still classmates, aren’t we?

You’ve lived a complicated life—must’ve been tough. But seriously, want to join the basketball club?

A stalker? You’re busy, so we’ll catch him!

Missed your call? Sorry, we were playing basketball.

But really, won’t you join the club?

You’d be good at it!

Wham!

I practically threw my upper body forward and caught Hesh’s punch.

At least he had some sense—he had aimed at the stun gun, not the agent holding it. His fist was blocked by my palm.

Damn, he swung hard.

Bracing my right hand against the back of the front-row seat, I angled my left hand and gripped his fist.

Then I said in a tired voice as he turned to look at me,

“If you hit with that force, you’ll wreck not just the stun gun but the hand holding it....”

And then what kind of mess would you be dragged into?

“I’m fine. Just calm down.”

“They’re slapping ridiculous charges on you! How am I supposed to calm down?!”

My ears rang.

“They even pointed a stun gun at you! You were just sitting there!”

Bzzzt!

A violent sensation wrapped around my body.

I had been hit.

Amid the rising uproar, I let out a small groan and staggered.

The roar that followed shook the entire media room.

I didn’t have the bandwidth to process it. Ricardo grabbed one of my arms firmly, keeping me from falling.

Using all my strength, I yanked Hesh back.

“You bastards!!”

“Hesh! Hesh!!”

Fortunately, sensation returned quickly.

With my tingling hand, I hauled Hesh back again.

“For God’s sake, calm down! Why don’t you ever listen!”

“Why should I listen to you?!”

Oh.

At that completely unexpected answer, my eyes widened.

He was trembling with fury.

“They shot you in the back with a stun gun while you were blocking a punch for them!”

That must have been the breaking point.

I couldn’t distinguish all the furious shouts that poured out around us.

I only knew that Hesh wrenched his hand free with tremendous force.

You idiot—!

Smack!

Something flew through the air and struck Hesh square between the brows just as he was about to swing again.

His head snapped back.

For a split second, I feared he would lose balance and crack the back of his skull on the floor.

Instead, he caught himself against the wall and dropped safely to one knee.

From the back row, Yun rose and spoke.

“Sordi. Not going to discipline your junior?”

Ricardo, still gripping my arm tightly, let out a grand sigh.

“You there with the brown hair~... what’s your name again~?”

“No, Yun.”

As Ricardo roughly pushed past the CIS agents and descended toward Hesh, I turned to look at Yun—the one who had flicked a button at Hesh’s head.

That wasn’t a button. That was a bullet.

Enough force to be lethal.

“If that had hit a civilian, it would’ve caused a concussion.”

“And he’s not a civilian.”

Yun replied calmly.

“And I politely prevented a riot.”

That much was true....

If Hesh had smashed the stun gun in his impulsive rage—even if it were only the stun gun—CIS would have raised an issue about Black Badger regulations.

In the worst case, they might have even demanded disposal of an enhanced body.

Still... which one shot me? The bald one or the bearded one?

Ah. The bald one.

Even amid the chaos, I glanced at the agents who still stood like statues, stun guns unwavering.

“Your hands, please.”

Conway was impressive.

Still holding handcuffs in one hand, he urged me to extend both hands.

“This is a lawful procedure. We request your cooperation. I would prefer not to escalate the disturbance.”

“Lawful procedure my ass!”

The seniors shouted immediately.

“Bought-and-paid-for scum!”

Some were ready to leap forward.

“Aren’t you ashamed?!”

This had escalated far more than I expected.

I had assumed that because many disliked me, it wouldn’t spiral this much.

Some would get angry, yes. But others might whisper, That Creature could’ve planned something like that, and stand aside.

That was why I had smiled casually in my seat.

“Enough! Just call the higher-ups!”

“Yeah, call Ska, call Yehyeon! You stay right there! What? Core overthrow? A Black Badger overthrowing a Core?”

“I’ve lived long enough to see this nonsense....”

“Richard! Are you just going to let him be escorted away like this?”

A small laugh escaped me.

What should I do.

Thinking of what I was about to do—and what would happen because of me—my chest ached.

But regret would change nothing now.

There was no retreat. I could only push forward with the decision I had made.

I did regret not saying proper goodbyes to more people in advance....

“Taleb. What are you involved in?”

“I’m fine.”

As Richard Green stood and fixed his gaze on me, I extended both hands toward Conway.

Then I turned my head and took in the seniors filling the media room.

“I’m innocent. It won’t amount to anything.”

So many faces.

People I contacted often. Those I contacted occasionally. Those I only met on missions. Those I had never even properly introduced myself to.

And yet—all of them had just laughed and cheered with the same heart.

For nearly three years, this had been my organization.

“Apologies for the disturbance.”

Click.

The handcuffs snapped shut.

The seniors inhaled sharply.

“Thank you for your cooperation.”

“I’ll be back.”

I bowed my head.

The media room fell silent.

They stared at me—and at the gleaming handcuffs around my wrists.

If I had had more time, I would have gone to see more of them.

If I had never become a Black Badger, I wouldn’t need to worry about the safety of so many people.

But I did not regret becoming one.

I smiled down at them.

“We will meet again.”

“Hilde, don’t do anything reckless. Just wait.”

Leeho stepped closer.

“Even if they don’t let you out, we’ll get you out soon enough.”

I smiled instead of answering.

Lowered my eyelids.

Murmured quietly to myself.

“If only I could keep all of you within the reach of my blade.”

Since I cannot, I have no choice but to trust in your ability to survive.

“Stay safe.”

I turned.

Conway stepped through the media room door as if he had been waiting, and I followed him out.

Several called my name.

I did not look back.

***

“Jack.”

Luke called out to the red-haired classmate.

“Why do you look like that?”