Chapter 4 - Black Badger (4)

The head of HR, the man called Zhu, did not arrive right away.

Before he arrived, Riccardo stepped out to take a call. When he returned, he told Ami and me that the aide had called, and relayed their conversation.

“It looks like the commander-in-chief and the aide won't be able to make an appearance until tomorrow,” he drawled. “They asked me to apologize for the delay...”

“Of course,” I replied politely.

Even so, I was thinking that I wasn't particularly eager to meet the higher-ups. Being around the person at the very top would be uncomfortable. Hadn't I appeared out of nowhere and dumped a problem in his lap? There was no way he would look kindly on me.

Not that I could avoid meeting him altogether. For now, satisfied that I wouldn't have to meet him today, I popped the rest of the burger into my mouth.

As soon as Ami saw that I'd finished my burger, she spoke.

“Hilde, you should stay here in the headquarters building tonight!”

Come to think of it, I didn't even have anywhere to sleep.

No money, either. No knowledge of this place. No acquaintances I could ask for help, and no memories. I simply had nothing. You'd be hard-pressed to find someone with less.

What the hell had my past self done?

I had no idea whether my memories would return, but if I ever recovered them, I would never make this sort of mistake again.

In any case, I was grateful to be offered a place to sleep. I bowed my head to Ami.

“Thank you.”

“You don't have any clothes, either, do you? Sleeping in those would be uncomfortable, so I'll buy you some pajamas or something. Just tell me your size!”

I couldn't remember what size I wore. Thinking about it more deeply, I realized something horrifying: I couldn't remember what I looked like.

I felt sick, as though all my organs had dropped inside me. Could someone really forget even their own appearance?

This felt truly awful.

I reflexively looked down at myself. I'd caught a glimpse earlier, but fortunately, I was wearing ordinary clothes. A white shirt, black suit trousers. Black dress shoes.

After staring at them, I slowly raise my head.

I must have looked unwell. The others were watching me closely, their expressions changed. Just as when I'd opened my eyes a few hours earlier, I could feel the gazes of the people around me flying toward me and piercing me.

Even faced with those expressions, I couldn't bring myself to say I was all right. Unable to compose my face, I stared ahead.

“Um...”

They waited patiently for me to continue.

“If you wouldn't mind... Uh... Could I have a mirror?”

Realization flashed across their faces. They quickly brought me a mirror.

I took it slowly and looked into it, making a point of not checking their reactions.

An unfamiliar face appeared in the mirror. Someone who looked to be in his mid-twenties. Bronze skin and white hair. Well-defined features, made all the more striking by golden eyes.

Was this what I looked like?

The face in the mirror was unfamiliar. The fact that a face that had to be mine could feel so strange made my guts twist.

Even the fragments of memory that surfaced now and then were too mundane and dull to piece together the life of a man named Hildebert Taleb.

What sort of life had I led to end up in this situation? Knowing the names of Earth, countries, and foods while forgetting even my own face was abnormal by anyone's standards.

I barely manage to suppress a despairing sob.

At that moment, the infirmary door slowly opened.

“Kang Zhu!”

Ro, who had been playing a game on his phone, sprang off the bed.

“Hey! You actually came back to work!”

“Holy shit, that's fucking amazing!” Ro let out that blunt exclamation, then raised his phone with a toothy grin.

Everyone turned at his shout. Even I, caught up in my misery, turned blankly to look where Ro was looking.

CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK.

Ro snapped pictures of the man coming in like a madman. His phone flash goes off furiously in the white infirmary.

The man walked in, serenely ignoring the reception.

(Presumably) Kang Zhu, head of HR.

... He looked completely normal.

I blinked at the Asian man in a black suit. He was approaching me, ignoring even Ami's cry of “Ro! Get the clock in the shot with him! Got it?”

I studied the subject of all those odd remarks.

He wasn't short. His face looked mid-twenties at most. Black hair and black eyes. Kind eyes with rounded curves, crinkling in a smile that felt quite different from Riccardo's.

A radiant smile that seemed as though it would graciously accept whatever foolish thing some ignorant person might say...

The head of HR stopped a comfortable distance away. From his appearance, “kindergarten teacher” seemed a far more fitting title for him.

He smiled at everyone.

“Hi.”

His first words came in a pleasant, clear voice.

“Have you shown Hilde where he'll be sleeping?”

Had we even introduced ourselves yet?

He asked so casually that it threw me. The others looked at the head of HR with equally startled expressions. A brief silence fell.

Riccardo was the first to recover.

“We were just about to show him,” he drawled.

“Good.”

Zhu, the head of HR, smiled gently.

His gentle smile felt different from Riccardo's. Where Riccardo's held an unmistakable slyness and sharpness, Zhu's carried something like the affection of a kindergarten teacher watching adorable children.

Still smiling, he turned his gaze to me.

“Wow.”

Zhu smiled at my frozen form.

“You really are handsome. It's such a pleasure to meet you, Hilde.”

“Ah, yes. It's a pleasure to meet you, too. My name is Hildebert Taleb.”

My voice dwindled to almost nothing by the end of my reply. Unsure what to add, I fell silent.

Had he even heard about the enhanced body transplanted into me? He just kept smiling down at me.

Ro and Ami were busily taking pictures of Zhu again.

“Is that really you?”

Ro spoke amid the frenzy of his phone flash.

The head of HR ignored him completely.

“You don't have any clothes, either, do you?”

“No, I don't.”

“I'll buy you pajamas and underwear. Is there a particular design you'd like?”

What?

My eyes went wide.

Zhu smoothly ignored... my reaction, too.

“I already know your size, since you've had a physical. But that doesn't tell me your personal tastes, so I was wondering whether there's a design or cut you prefer.”

“No... Anything is fine, as long as it fits.”

Design, fine, but why was he asking about the cut?

“I'm grateful that you're buying them for me at all. Really.”

“How about these? I think they'd go well with your eyes.”

Zhu took out his phone and held the screen in front of me. I stared at a shopping page for a jet-black silk pajama set.

Until a moment ago, Riccardo and I had been talking about pistols without serial numbers and missiles... Yet the head of HR, who had come after hearing about an unidentified person with an enhanced body, was asking me what kind of pajamas I liked. Telling me to let him know if there was a cut of underwear I preferred.

I was utterly bewildered, but worked hard not to let it show. As a result, my face went rigid. Keeping my mind blank, I nodded.

“They look very nice.”

“Don't they?”

“They look fucking awful,” Ro said, thrusting his head forward to inspect the pajamas.

“Why pajamas in the first place? Just tell him to throw on a T-shirt and shorts to sleep. I'd chuck these straight in the trash if someone gave them to me.”

“They certainly wouldn't suit you, Ro.”

“Hey! I'm not the problem! The pajamas themselves are shit!”

“Would these be all right for underwear?”

Just buy whatever... Please.

Of course, I couldn't say that. I gave him an unnatural, mechanical smile.

“Perfect.”

Zhu's smile brightened like a flower about to bloom.

“Then I'll order these two. I hope you like them even better in person than in the pictures.”

Of course I would.

“You have excellent taste. I'm sure I will.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

“Hey. You okay? You're acting kind of weird. Not that it's easy to stay normal when you're dealing with this bastard.”

Ro examined my face from different angles. Riccardo was chuckling with his head bowed, his shoulders shaking slightly. Ami was also studying my face, her eyes round.

Unconcerned by the reactions around him, Zhu continued.

“I'll have these delivered to where you'll be sleeping, then. Go relax in the lounge for now.”

“Huh?” Ami piped up. “We can just leave it at that?”

Zhu turned to Ami and smiled. He had been bending down to show me his phone; now he slowly straightened and explained.

“Of course. At least as he is now, without his memories, Hilde isn't the sort to let something slip or cause trouble. He's telling the truth, and if we ask him to keep a secret, he will. So, Ami, could you show him to the sleeping quarters for senior leadership?”

“Has the commander been informed of this?” Riccardo asked in his drawl, his legs crossed.

Zhu smiled at the green-eyed man.

“Of course. Yehyeon gave me full authority.”

How strange.

What had the head of HR seen to form such a favorable opinion of me? Even I had no idea what sort of person I was. We hadn't had a proper conversation, or even introduced ourselves.

Of course, he had probably reviewed the security footage of me since I'd fallen out of the portal. Even so, that was far too short a time to get a measure of someone.

“Ro, you can head home now.”

But no one openly voiced any objections. They didn't seem particularly worried, either. The moment Ro heard the head of HR's instruction, he vanished without so much as a goodbye.

“Riccardo, you should hurry home, too. There's no telling when a creature might turn up, so you need to get some sleep while you can.”

Riccardo gave a long laugh, then rose languidly, clapped me on the shoulder, and left.

As I bowed to Riccardo, the head of HR stood beside me and turned his gaze to Ami.

“Ami.”

His gaze met her round eyes.

“Show Hilde to the temporary sleeping quarters for senior leadership.”

“Yes.”

Ami answered firmly, then turned to look me in the eye.

“Hilde, the sleeping quarters are three floors up. I'll show you the way.”

I followed Ami without protest.