Igor twisted his mouth and swung his sword.

The blade wave that flew out cleanly split the drone in half, just like he’d said it would. The backlash from the explosion whipped past the bodies of the people on the roof.

The three of them ducked and let the shock roll over them.

The moment the ripple faded, Yoow resumed firing.

“Still not enough!”

“Shut up!”

At the strategist’s evaluation, Igor snapped irritably.

Rose and Yoow kept shooting. Only the people who’d rolled around and rolled around in real battle were up on the roof. The ones who’d melted into modern society and hadn’t stood on a battlefield in a long time, or ones like George—who kept working out consistently but weren’t warriors—took positions on the lower floors.

Because there was more cover, it was safer than the roof.

Of course, that didn’t mean bullets wouldn’t fly in there. And Hildebert wasn’t here, and neither was a healer. If a single bullet grazed you wrong, that was the end.

That was what a battlefield was like.

Right now, they were in a fight they couldn’t retreat from.

No one held onto the idiot hope that it’d be nice if not a single person died.

No one asked Yoow about casualties.

Igor checked the time while watching the incoming swarm of combat drones.

[TIME LEFT : 1HR 30MIN]

They were currently in X District, where Colton’s estate was.

This place was about an hour and twenty minutes away from Harlem, where Hildebert and Lin were.

If they didn’t leave soon, they might not even make it into the Core.

And it would probably take longer than usual to get there, too. X District was a battlefield right now. At the moment, they were at Vertex 1, and at Vertex 2 was Yekaterina’s force, and at Vertex 3 was Erich Erhart’s force.

The sky embroidered with the routes of combat aircraft, the trajectories of tracers and bullets.

Originally, all of X District belonged to Colton.

It meant that this huge expanse of land that didn’t get captured properly on internet maps was all Colton Wiseman’s property. Which was why civilians never came in here.

It was close to a miracle that they’d been able to install Core devices safely inside a district under ironclad security.

If Choi Hyunjun’s side hadn’t produced the new Core devices, the plan itself would never have been established.

Devices installed with painstaking effort.

Colton’s side poured down bombardment to remove the devices driven in like nails across the district.

The spare Core devices hurriedly installed by Yekaterina’s side and Erich Erhart’s side had all been destroyed long ago.

Even among the four devices Rose had obtained, one of them no longer functioned.

But the remaining three were still intact. And at this rate, unless one side got completely pushed back, another Core would be born inside Center Core.

“Where the hell is he right now!”

They were fighting to hand Hildebert a solo stage.

He knew that—no, one way or another, Hildebert would arrive in time.

If he didn’t, then they had to consider it a loss against Colton, in practical terms. If the Core closed while Hildebert still hadn’t arrived, then they’d be trapped in the enemy’s main base—the enormous enemy named Colton.

“He’ll be coming.”

Igor muttered.

“The Captain always kept his promises.”

How hard must it have been to keep those promises?

As Igor displayed the swordsmanship he’d learned from Hildebert back when he’d stayed at that ill-mannered scientist’s residence, he thought of Hildebert.

Hildebert Taleb was originally someone who didn’t think deeply.

Outside of swordsmanship, their Captain was a simple man who didn’t know how to be greedy at all. Back in the Empire, when he was the White Knights’ Captain, whenever he had time he’d simply lounge around and enjoy leisure. He liked looking at the fruits that poked their heads out anew as the seasons changed, and he’d sit in the shade of a tree “to avoid the sunlight,” only to fall asleep as-is. He’d say silly things like he’d carefully carved a weird shape through frozen ice and tried drawing a “thief snowflake,” and he often observed snails that came out after the rain.

For a man that plain to have this much weight dumped onto him—how difficult must it have been.

Not showing it, and not trying to throw the burden off—those were both so very Hildebert.

The knight they’d been waiting for, give or take, fifty years...

BOOOOM!

“Huh—what the hell.”

Yoow blurted out in fluster after seeing Igor’s sword strike.

“It’s really about to happen, isn’t it?”

“The Captain did everything he could.”

Beside the startled Yoow, Igor said firmly.

“No one else could’ve pulled off that much.”

He sent another sword wave.

More refined than the last one.

It was a blow that had nearly reached the realm of a Swordmaster.

***

A total of five.

They weren’t high-quality, but their skill probably wasn’t completely trash. If they started suspecting us—then first, you had to smack the muzzle of the closest guy’s gun upward.

Then use him as a meat shield, snatch a gun, threaten them, and open distance...

Since they were civilians anyway, you could subdue them without killing them...

I was building that kind of scenario when Lin cut in.

In a swaggering voice, he said,

“Start by telling me what unit your mom’s in, you little fuck.”

And then he set the old spider down on the floor.

After handing my sword to the information broker with that unknown smile—there’s no way an ordinary old person could carry that weight—he slung an arm over a nearby soldier’s shoulder and lifted his right hand.

“You guys gonna stay this stiff?”

“It’s weird you’re reacting like this just because we asked your unit.”

“Is that granny really a local big shot?”

The soldiers who’d been snickering started furrowing their brows one by one.

“When we told you to get out earlier, why didn’t you leave—what were you doing in there?”

“What unit are you!”

“Take off the balaclava. If you can’t, take off your pants at least.”

“Tell us your unit and call sign.”

“Hey, ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) friends.”

Lin twisted his body and turned his back to me.

I saw him hunch his shoulders and rummage around in his pocket.

I didn’t need to see it to know what it was.

I pretended I hadn’t noticed earlier when he’d hidden that leftover chunk of drugs so damn neatly.

“Please, let’s not be so tacky. Fuck, do you know how I managed to get this....”

“Ah, you bastard.”

I watched the soldiers’ attitude soften in an instant.

“You get punished for being greedy, huh? Don’t you know comradeship?”

After that, it was smooth sailing.

Lin shared the drugs with the soldiers and shook hands with them cheerfully. He got pats on the back and well-wishes from people who’d become accomplices in an instant. Naturally, the unit and call sign became something that had never happened.

“Loyalty!”

After saluting, Lin came back to me with ease. Then he started walking alongside me as I carried the old spider.

“Let’s go.”

Until we reached the front door of the old spider’s house, he kept up that delinquent-soldier attitude.

Maybe because his face was covered by a mask—he really did look like some slouchy soldier.

Only after Lin stepped inside the familiar front door did he finally let the tension drain out of his body.

My subordinate let out a sigh so deep it felt like the floor might cave in.

“Ha....”

He looked genuinely depressed.

“Because of those worthless pieces of shit.... Do you know how much all that was, fuck....”

“Is there a car or a motorcycle?”

But I didn’t have time to soothe Lin.

There were about 1 hour and 20 minutes left until the Core completed.

Meaning it could be too late even if we left right now. Old spider, drugs, whatever—first we had to get something to ride and step on it.

If she acted like she couldn’t give us anything, we’d have to threaten her or bolt out and steal a parked car.

There wasn’t time.

So I hoped she’d just lend it to us without making this annoying.

“There is.” 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

“Oh! Then I’ll—”

“Granny.”

My words—“I want to borrow it”—got cut off.

“Where’ve you been, and only now you’re back?”

A man came out from inside.

He was huge. And it was a face I knew.

Someone I absolutely hadn’t expected to be here.

William Walker.

Someone we treasured beyond measure.

A descendant who’d left us with a heavy guilt, and my capable workplace senior—he appeared at the end of the hallway.

I almost threw the information broker onto the floor.

I barely held it together, but I was still so shocked I couldn’t speak for a while.

We’re fucked.

With a balaclava and lenses on, normal people wouldn’t recognize me right away.

But the other person was William Walker.

This senior I treasured and respected wasn’t just “sharp.” Even though we weren’t particularly close, he was the only one who’d always guessed my identity with pinpoint accuracy. He also always found the holes in my arguments with absurd perfection.

I’d never once seen that Badger look surprised. If anyone was going to be surprised, it was me, because of William.

To put it bluntly, sometimes I felt like he was sharper than even Yun and Ricardo.

Personnel Director Ju hadn’t gone to him for nothing and pulled that stunt with a recruitment contract. And it wasn’t like Yehyeon had accepted him for no reason, either, even after a hire like that.

He’d definitely known it was me the moment he saw me....

In the first place, he probably hadn’t believed the news of my death for even a second.

“Guests?”

William Walker looked at me and Lin, then broke the silence.

“There are still guests who come looking for a retired information broker, huh.”

Lin glanced at me.

Among the kin who’d stayed at the residence Yun provided, a subordinate who—like Rose—had never had any interest in William. This was Lin’s first time actually meeting William.

Of course he wouldn’t know what to do.

Honestly, I couldn’t even decide how I should react, either.

Why are you here...?

“They’re not my guests.”

The old spider broke the stillness.

“They’re just deserters who pulled me out of the subway. They’re looking for transportation that can get them out of here quickly.”

“With the alarm issued, it won’t be easy to leave.”

The former problem-solver spoke in a calm voice, like he was making small talk.

“Unless you have a special status like a Black Badger. If you’re soldiers, it’ll be even harder.”

Ah....

I got it immediately.

William was trying to help me.

Pretending he didn’t recognize me on purpose.

Thanks.

“Could you take us out?”

Since he was a Black Badger and, once upon a time, a famous information broker here, he wouldn’t get caught at inspections even if he tried to leave.

“We’re in a hurry.”

“How much.”

Huh?

When I blinked, the former problem-solver answered.

“I have to get paid.”

Oh....

For a moment I wondered if he really didn’t recognize me.

But that seemed unlikely. Even if my build wasn’t obvious, there was no way he hadn’t noticed my sword wrapped in cloth.

...Isn’t this going to be a conflict of interest?

That thought flickered through me briefly.

Didn’t matter.

“Can we do payment after?”

“If it’s post-pay, the amount goes up.”

“I don’t mind.”

I didn’t have money right now.

When I said I wanted to proceed post-pay no matter what the fee became, William nodded like he understood.

“Which direction should I escort you.”

And then he immediately switched into perfectly polite information-broker mode.

“Just so you know, if the person behind you rides as well, an additional fee will be applied.”

“We have to get to X District within 1 hour and 20 minutes—after we exit the controlled zone, can we borrow a vehicle?”

“In that case,”

“Pay the extra fee.”

“It’s possible.”

“Then after you get us out of here—”

“I can cut it to 1 hour and 10 minutes to X District.”

William stood there filling the hallway and spoke in a professional voice.

With one hand, tidying the sleeve of his suit.

“Additional fee applied.”

“Let’s go.”

He’d played problem-solver for a long time, so even if he wasn’t as good as Kai, he could probably drive well enough.

And if it was William, he could drop me off in X District and still get back safely.

What mattered was arriving within the time limit!

“Where’s the car?”

Within a minute, I was sitting in a car with William Walker and Lin.

A pitch-black sedan that suited my senior perfectly.

It began to sprint forward at a terrifying speed.

Deciding I’d think about the details later, I hurriedly gripped the handle first.