Chapter 12 - Training Officer (4)

Of course there was nothing normal about getting thoroughly thrashed by mushroom tentacles for three hours.

I watched through haggard eyes as Ami began shaking Yun violently. He looked down at his younger sister without the slightest change in expression.

“He's fine. Just tired.”

His matter-of-fact reply infuriated Ami.

“What if you traumatize him? I'm telling Yehyeon and Mr. Zhu!”

Ami really was the only person I could count on. As I stood there, deeply touched, Riccardo approached.

“You okaay?”

“Oh. Yes, I'm fine.”

I took in the man beside me and the unfamiliar faces that looked decidedly shocked. Still smiling, Riccardo looked me up and down.

“You look a mess...”

“I was an even bigger mess a few minutes ago. I made quite a spectacle of myself trying to kill that one thing.”

“Were you scaared?”

“I was annoyed.”

“Really? You must have a knack for this.”

Riccardo's eyes curved as he smiled. It occurred to me that he was unreadable in a different way from my training officer. Even with these encouraging words, I couldn't quite tell whether he was being sarcastic or sincere.

Not wanting to overthink it, I dipped my head.

“Thank you for the compliment.”

“You're welcome. So, what do you think? You'll be doing this for the rest of your life... Will you be all right with that?” Riccardo asked brightly.

I felt everyone's eyes turn toward me. There was an edge to the question. My first impression that he looked nasty hadn't been entirely wrong.

Meeting his green eyes, I answered slowly.

“I'm not sure.”

Riccardo watched me, his smile unchanged.

“I don't think guessing now would mean much. But I didn't have many options, so I doubt I'll regret this choice later.”

As I gave my earnest reply, I became aware of all the stares.

I'd blown it. I should have just said, “Of course I'll be fine. I'll work hard, sir!”

Just as I tried to smooth over my answer with an awkward smile, the wide-eyed man cut in.

“Is this the new recruit everyone's talking about?”

Word had already spread?

“Yes! Hildebert Taleb!”

“Wait. Didn't you say he was only officially assigned today?”

“That's right!”

“And he's already functioning this well?”

I didn't understand what he meant. Eyes wide, I studied the unfamiliar man. He looked somewhat tired. His skin was dark, as though tanned by the sun, and he had a thin mustache. He wore comfortable-looking black pants that could have been hiking gear and a gray anorak. At a glance, he looked to be in his early to mid-thirties.

He spoke again, unable to hide his astonishment.

“It should take at least three months to adjust to the body.”

“A valid point. He's an unusual case...”

“And he killed this thing? An actual creature? It's been less than a day since he started the official program. Aren't recruits supposed to wait six months before facing a creature?”

“That part is entirely Yun's fault,” Ami pointed out.

The stranger looked at Yun, still plainly incredulous. Yun merely met his gaze without so much as blinking.

“It ended without incident, so stop making a fuss. He managed fine without my help, and he's perfectly sound mentally.”

“But, Yun, sir...” the man protested in bewilderment.

Yun didn't respond. Instead, Riccardo, who stood beside the man, planted a hand on his shoulder and looked at me.

“You two haven't introduced yourselves, have you?”

I nodded awkwardly. “No, we haven't.”

“Iho Chang. He's your senior. Iho, this is the new recruit you've heard about, Hildebert Taleb.”

“Hello, sir. I look forward to working with you.”

“Huh? Oh.”

Iho turned away from Yun to answer me. After staring intently at me, he began to speak.

“But how on earth did you...”

“Oh! Hilde's giving his introduction next week! They'll explain what's unusual about him then!” Ami's clear voice rang through the training room.

As my male seniors turned toward her, I panicked. What was this now?

“But the head of HR will do most of the explaining. You don't need to look like that.”

“But I'll still have to say a few words, won't I?”

“Yes.”

Aaargh.

Beside me, as I sank into despair, Riccardo tilted his head.

“When is it? I haven't heard anything official yet.”

“Probably next Friday!”

Shit. One week away.

“Is this an official event? Was it the head of HR's idea?”

“The commander-in-chief's. Apparently, he'll tell all Badgers who aren't busy to make sure they attend if possible.”

“The commander-in-chief?”

Iho was horrified. So was I. This couldn't be good if it was turning into a big deal. My memories were completely gone, but some strange instincts remained. Like the gut feeling that the more higher-ups got involved, the worse things became. I must have worked somewhere before, however briefly. Why else would I be shuddering with dread like this?

Couldn't I just kill another mushroom instead?

“Do I have to go too?” Yun asked flatly.

“Of course! You're Hilde's training officer.”

“Yun is Hilde's training officer?!” Iho exclaimed in horror again.

Ami nodded, her eyes round. Riccardo watched with amusement as the man's jaw dropped.

Iho looked between me and the impassive Yun, then asked in a stunned voice, “Are you okay?”

I had to answer this one carefully. Mustering every last bit of strength, I gave him a beaming smile.

“Yes! He's been very good to me.”

“It's too late. He's already afraid of upsetting you.”

“Oh... They've only known each other a few hours, and the poor kid's already...”

“Seriously, what was the head of HR thinking?”

Believe me! Or at least pretend to, you people. Couldn't they see I was trying to get on my seemingly emotionless training officer's good side?

Contrary to my expectations, however, Yun didn't take much offense. He stood there dourly with his arms folded, then jerked his chin when our eyes met.

“Go shower next door. Take a fresh set of workout clothes from over there.”

“Oh, yes, sir.”

“Yun. You're buying Hilde dinner, right?”

“He'd probably rather eat alone.”

“Hilde doesn't have any money!”

That cut deep.

But where was “over there”? When I turned my head to look for the workout clothes, Riccardo and Iho both pointed to the same spot. Following their fingers, I spotted a basket. I hadn't noticed it before, but it sat to the left of the firmly shut training-room door.

I bowed my head in thanks, then hesitated a moment. Still gripping her brother by the collar, Ami turned just her head and smiled.

“The showers are outside to the right! You'll see them right away. Go have a quick shower.”

“Yes. Please excuse me for a moment.”

“Good work.” Riccardo gave a lazy wave.

Iho nodded too, giving me a long once-over.

“You look pretty all right, considering what you've been through. You sure you don't need the hospital?”

“Oh, I'm fine. I'm perfectly all right now.”

I smiled awkwardly, said goodbye, and turned away. My legs heavy with aching muscles, I headed for the main door.

Behind me, I heard Ami scolding her brother. “You brought him an easy creature? Yun! That creature is poisonous! Neutralizing it doesn't make this okay!”

THUD THUD THUD

Pretending not to hear the heavy blows, I grabbed the largest size of clothes from the basket. Then I fled the training room without looking back.

The sun must have gone down while we were in there; it felt like early evening. Sunset light seeped into the pallid corridor. I headed for the showers, thinking how hungry I was and how badly I wanted to wash quickly and eat dinner.

* * *

I had dinner with my training officer.

Since I couldn't remember what foods I liked, he treated me to expensive beef, something almost everyone enjoyed. We took his car to the expensive beef restaurant. Following his long strides, I spotted a black car, and my lips parted slightly when I recognized the make of the sleek vehicle.

Wasn't this an insanely expensive brand?

“Your car is... impressive.”

“You remember car brands?” Yun asked as he got into the driver's seat.

“Lamborghini.”

“Looks like you were an Earthling, at least.”

“... Did I not look like one?”

“I'm not even sure you're a normal human.”

He spoke matter-of-factly and started the car. The jet-black vehicle pulled away smoothly, navigating out of the underground parking garage without my training officer even touching the steering wheel.

“The fact that you've adapted to an enhanced body without trouble despite your poor healing is bizarre in itself.”

“... Bizarre? It's that bad?”

“I'll have to open you up sometime.”

That was an exceedingly strange thing for Yun to say.

... Open what up? What? How? Questions bubbled up, but I made no effort to voice them. I didn't want confirmation that he meant what I thought he meant.

Instead, I forced the corners of my mouth upward.

“As you saw, I'm harmless enough to get the shit beaten out of me by a mushroom.”

“We'll see.”

Yun didn't even turn to look at me.

“Even you don't know what you used to be.”

“... No, I don't.”

“You're compliant, at least,” he observed in a low voice devoid of any particular emotion. “That's a good attitude.”

Once we reached the restaurant, he gave me a brief explanation over dinner: tomorrow's schedule, how Black Badger recruits were trained, and so on. Apparently, recruits normally spent six months adjusting to their enhanced bodies. But strangely, I'd already adapted to mine, so there was no need to worry about that. He said he'd train me on the assumption that my adjustment was complete.

“There was a mountain of things to teach you, but not everyone has the stamina to charge in that mindlessly for three straight hours. Some of your reactions during those charges weren't a beginner's, either.”

“My reactions?”

“One or two physical responses.”

How had I reacted? I wasn't going to find an answer by dwelling on it. All I remembered were the writhing tentacles, the giant mushroom stalk, and the strange smell it gave off.

But my training officer changed the subject without elaborating.

“Don't put too much effort into the introduction. This is unprecedented, so I don't have any particular advice.”

“Isn't it something all new recruits do?”

“They do book the auditorium and introduce recruits to their seniors under the head of HR's supervision. But this is the first time the commander-in-chief has ordered every available Badger to assemble for it.”

My stomach twisted at that. Yun added something even more unsettling.

“Looks like Yehyeon's really set his mind on this.”

Aaargh.

The more I heard, the more anxious I became, but there seemed to be no escaping it. Still, there was nothing I could do to prepare right now, so I pushed the looming introduction into a corner of my mind.

After dinner, we took Yun's car back to headquarters. At his instruction to fetch my belongings, I hurried up to the rest room, crammed everything into a bag I'd set aside, and came back down. I made sure to take the bag of medicine I'd found in the shower room before I was dragged off to face the creature.

After climbing into the sleek Lamborghini, I showed it to my training officer to fend off my mounting drowsiness.

“Someone left this medicine in the shower room. Do you happen to know whose it is?”

And for the first time, I saw my training officer look surprised. He turned his head, and the eyes that had glanced indifferently at the medicine I held out widened a little. His expression wasn't as obvious as most people's, but the faint surprise in his eyes was unmistakable.

The surprise soon gave way to an oddly weary, angry look. He let out a long sigh and took the medicine from my hand.

“I'll pass it on.”

To whom? I didn't have the nerve to ask.

Silence settled over the car again. We sat in it until we reached our destination.

Home sweet home.

My jaw dropped at the sight of the cabin my training officer had given me for free.