Chapter 2 - Black Badger (2)

I stared at Ami, dumbfounded.

Beside her, Ro tipped his head and broke the silence.

“You’re seventy, Peanut?”

“Yep.”

“I’m about that age too.”

What?

I stared blankly at the people across from me. They all still looked youthfully attractive. Even Ami’s voice sounded young. Ro looked to be in his early to mid-twenties. The green-eyed man with the drawl looked the oldest, but even he only looked to be in his late twenties or early thirties.

How could they possibly be that old?

They didn’t seem to be joking...

For now, I decided not to think too hard about it. I had woken up somewhere completely unfamiliar with no memory of anything but my name. Who was to say something even more surprising couldn’t happen?

I decided to take life as it came. Otherwise, I felt like something inside me might break.

Ami looked at the curly-haired man and said, “Ro, you’re seventy-two.”

“Yeah, that sounds about right.”

“Huh?”

The bewildered sound escaped me before I could stop it. Wide-eyed, I looked between Ro and Ami.

“So there’s only a two-year age gap between you?”

“Hey. That’s a weird thing to be surprised about.” Ro raised his eyebrows. “Shouldn’t you be shocked by our ages? Why are you surprised I’m only two years older than her?”

“No, that’s not what I meant. It’s just...”

The green-eyed man burst out laughing. He bowed his head, his shoulders shaking with silent laughter. Apparently, he found my reaction funny.

Ami blinked repeatedly, while one of Ro’s eyebrows rose high enough to touch the ceiling.

Flustered, I waved my hands, making the chains clatter through the room.

“I didn’t mean anything negative by it. Ami just looks quite young.”

“Aha.”

Ro understood at once. He grinned, bouncing the leg he had crossed over his thigh.

“True enough. She looks and acts like a kid. Sometimes I can’t believe she’s older than Riccardo.”

Who was Riccardo?

“That would be me.”

The green-eyed man smiled and waved a hand loosely.

My eyes nearly popped out of my head.

What? Ami was older than that green-eyed man?

“Am I really that much of a kid?”

I looked back and forth between Ami, who was muttering as if to herself, and the green-eyed man with his relaxed smile. I still found it hard to believe.

My feelings must have shown on my face, because the green-eyed man—Riccardo—chuckled.

“I’m sixty-eight. The name’s Riccardo Sordi.”

“Ah... I’m sorry for all the trouble, Mr. Sordi.”

“Just call me Riccardo.”

He waved a hand, his eyes curving in a smile.

I nodded meekly. Of course, I didn’t rush to use his first name. My mind worked away as I tried not to offend the people guarding me. They didn’t seem to have any intention of doing anything to me right now, but there was no telling when they might change their minds.

Let’s think this through. Ro was seventy-two, Choi Ami seventy, and Riccardo Sordi sixty-eight.

They had said they were on the older side. And those certainly weren’t young ages.

They had also said that although nationality was now a thing of the past, all three of them had originally had one. Riccardo and Ro were from Italy. Ami was from Korea.

Then...

“So national borders disappeared during your lifetimes?”

My offhand question was met with silence. I faltered under their sharp gazes.

What was it this time?

I really couldn’t remember. Frustrating as that might be, I had no choice but to ask stupid, obvious questions.

An uncomfortable silence stretched on. The three people whose ages didn’t match their faces seemed to be struggling for a response.

A chilly stillness settled over the spotless conference room.

It was Riccardo who answered.

“There were wars... Two major ones.”

That was news to me.

“The borders disappeared after the first war... I take it you don’t remember any of that either?”

“No. Nothing at all... This is the first I’ve heard of it.”

“Are you even from here in the first place? I don’t even know if you’re human. Seriously, where did you come from? Where the hell did you suddenly pop out of?”

Ro demanded answers, waving his hands in exasperation. The absurdity of the situation seemed to be getting on his nerves.

But I wanted to know the very same things...

I apologized, cautiously watching his reaction.

Ami rapped Ro on the head with her small fist.

“Ow! What was that for?”

“Don’t get angry. Imagine how baffling this must be for him.”

She looked at Ro with her round eyes.

“Think about it. You wake up with no memories left. You’re somewhere you’ve never seen before, and the moment you open your eyes, people are yelling at you, demanding to know where you came from. Before you know it, you’re in handcuffs. Put there by complete strangers.”

Her gentle words filled me with gratitude and emotion. Perhaps it was because I had no one to turn to, but that small kindness meant a great deal to me.

“And on top of that, those strangers are you two!”

“That’s harsh, Ami... I’ve been nice to him this whole time, haven’t I?”

“Huh? What’s wrong with me?”

Ro’s reply was surly as he picked his ear with his pinky.

Ami stared blankly at his behavior, then clicked her tongue in disapproval. In response, Ro poked his tongue out at her mockingly.

Seriously, what did these people do?

Earlier, I’d caught a passing mention of their having been comrades for forty years. Between the guns and the clothes, they were probably soldiers. They could be police officers, or employees of a security firm.

And I had suddenly appeared in their midst...

Five people surrounded me—the two behind me were so quiet it was unnerving—and I sat in the middle, defenseless and handcuffed.

I was a mouse in a cat’s paws.

I had better tread carefully.

Just as I made that resolution, Ami’s phone rang.

“It’s Ska!”

She started to dash out, then stopped where she was and took out her phone to answer it. Her clear voice rang through the room.

“Yes, Aide Ska!”

After listening briefly, she answered formally.

“Yes. All the portal management members are working on the investigation now.”

She fell silent again to listen.

“Yes. I’ve reported it to both the hospital and HR. Yes, yes. ... No. The head of HR says he isn’t coming. Yes. Me too.”

She went on answering “Yes, yes” to words I couldn’t quite make out, then hung up shortly afterward.

Slipping her phone away, she turned to face everyone. All of us except Ro looked at her.

“What did Ska say?”

“To send Hilde to the hospital first.”

The round-eyed woman approached me.

“They want your fingerprints taken, a DNA test, and a polygraph too. You did turn up in the portal zone, of all places.”

Could they learn something about me from my fingerprints and DNA?

That glimmer of hope made me straighten my back. I watched Riccardo rise lazily from his seat and Ro stare at his phone, apparently with no intention of getting up.

Having slowly risen, the green-eyed man stretched and said, “Should we let the two juniors in the back clock out? I don’t see any reason to keep them here...”

“Yeah. The three of us should be enough. Hilde doesn’t seem like the sort to suddenly go on a rampage.”

Of course. I would behave myself.

I gave a small nod, and Riccardo chuckled.

“You two can head home now.”

The tall man glanced at the people behind me.

“We’ll take care of the rest...”

“Good work, both of you! Go get some rest!”

“Thank you. We’ll be going, then.”

“Good night.”

“What? We can clock out?”

As I heard the man and woman behind me bow and leave, Ro raised his head from his phone, arching his eyebrows.

Ami sighed and looked at him.

“Not you.”

Then she came up to me with a gentle smile.

“Shall we go to the hospital, Hilde?”

“Yes.”

I answered readily and rose from the chair. The chain gave a clear clink. With my hands bound together, my posture remained awkward even standing, but no one seemed inclined to remove the cuffs.

Still, I was grateful they had been kind to me so far.

Having two fewer people there also put me more at ease. It seemed to mean they were less wary of me than before. I had the feeling that as long as I didn’t cause trouble, they wouldn’t hurt me first.

For now, that was enough.

Once I was completely safe, I would try to recover my memories.

With a faint smile, I followed Ami.

* * *

Nothing hurt.

I didn’t think about much as I waited after undergoing all sorts of tests. Apparently, the doctor would give me the medical examination results, while the DNA and fingerprint results would be sent to the aide’s phone. That must mean the person Ami had spoken to earlier.

Then I wouldn’t be able to learn the DNA and fingerprint results right away.

With that thought, I waited with the others on a purple chair. Sitting quietly, I listened in on the conversation between the two men and the woman.

On my right, Ami swung her legs as she spoke.

“Yun got the call just as he was taking off his shoes at his front door, so they dragged him right back. Apparently, he’s at the Science Department now, being worked to the bone.”

“Poor thing.”

Standing in front of Ami, Riccardo sounded anything but sympathetic.

“But we’re working overtime too, so... When an emergency hits, we’re all in the same boat.”

“Aren’t you hungry?”

Ro, seated on my left, muttered as he played a game on his phone.

“Peanut, you got anything to eat?”

“No. Besides, we ate dinner outside before coming back.”

“Ugh, those tasteless rations! Barely put a dent in my liver.”

“Your stomach, not your liver.”

Ami corrected him mildly, but Ro ignored her. Instead, he tossed aside his phone, now displaying “Game Over!”, and looked at me.

“You got anything?”

I blinked.

Ami and Riccardo stared at Ro in disbelief, but he paid them no mind. I stared at the curly-haired man, then searched my pockets with my bound hands.

Completely empty.

“I’m sorry. I don’t have anything.”

“Aren’t you hungry?”

Riccardo addressed me out of the blue. Startled, I raised my head to look up at him.

Those long, narrow eyes.

“No, I’m fine.”

I answered with a faint smile.

“Thank you for asking.”

One of his eyebrows rose.

But just as Riccardo was about to reply, someone burst out of a doorway at the end of the hall.

“Hey! What the hell is this?”

A person in a white doctor’s coat shouted at us.

Bright blue eyes and black hair. Unshaven stubble, and a face that looked to be in its mid-to-late forties.

The man, who looked every inch an exhausted doctor, stared straight at me and shouted.

“Get him in here right now!”