For a moment, I was left speechless.

Ami’s eyes widened too, as if she was equally surprised.

The truth was, I had vaguely noticed ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ it myself. It was hard to explain clearly, but I could feel that the atmosphere had changed a little.

I could faintly see the same kind of shift I had once seen in those who stepped in to fill the void left by a predecessor.

The old Trevain would probably have placed more emphasis on simply enjoying the sports festival itself.

Now, though, it felt less like enjoyment and more like he was focusing on smoothly commanding the team.

“Does it really seem that way?”

Ami looked up at me and asked quietly.

“You feel it too, Hilde?”

I gave a bitter smile.

Every member of the first generation uses honorifics with Richard Green.

I knew that even Yehyeon, in private settings, had always spoken to Richard with strict respect. He was the kind of person who deserved that. Do you know how difficult it is to live a life of constant struggle while holding onto convictions that never bend?

He was someone you couldn’t help but respect, and a senior you couldn’t help but rely on.

Everyone must have been floundering in their own way, swept up in the aftermath of Richard Green’s death.

Jason Trevain...

“Yes. I do feel it, actually.”

Did he know how desperately I had struggled to save Kyle?

“I think only a handful of people have noticed.”

And in the end, I really had succeeded in saving Kyle.

“It’s not such a drastic change that just anyone would notice. The atmosphere is just... subtly different.”

“I see....”

Ami answered in a voice thick with thought.

I looked at Yehyeon and Ami as well, sinking into my own thoughts.

The truth was, I had been too afraid to ask the seniors anything until now.

I had often wanted to ask whether they resented me for saving Kyle at the very last moment. I should have asked Ricardo too. Whether he knew he had almost died because of me, and whether he knew I had ultimately succeeded in saving Kyle.

I should ask Sophia, Leeho, and Ruta Ayer too.

The Black Badger seniors, including them, may have accepted me after seeing me fight our enemies.

But I had saved the leader of the enemies they ground their teeth in hatred toward. And with a desperate wish for him to live happily, I had thrown him into another dimension.

If it were me, I would deeply resent the person who spared the killer of someone precious.

Sometimes it was strange that no one had come looking for me yet.

I couldn’t tell whether everyone simply didn’t know how actively I had worked to save Kyle, or whether they were deliberately not showing those feelings in front of me.

I was too scared to ask anyone even now.

Maybe no one really knows.

If they did, surely someone would have come.

Especially Trevain. The moment he found out, he definitely would have come running over and punched me in the face...

“So does that mean he no longer goes into convulsions every time he hears your name?”

Yun broke the silence as he took a sip of tea.

All three of us turned our heads at the same time to look at the scientist working remotely.

For some reason, Sasu seemed to find Trevain’s change rather amusing.

“That bastard used to live for talking behind your back.”

“That’s different from this.”

Yehyeon replied.

“Wouldn’t he still hate me?”

“Why is it different? If he’s going to take over Green’s role, shouldn’t he overcome even that obsessive rage he had toward you?”

“It doesn’t matter much. I’m not in command anymore....”

“But if Jason doesn’t hate you anymore, that’s good for you too, isn’t it, oppa!”

Ami suddenly cut in after listening to the two of them.

Yehyeon blinked.

“Mm, no? I don’t really care.”

...Good thing that didn’t hit him.

“But Hilde, your complexion doesn’t look very good. Don’t push yourself and get some rest.”

“Please show a little interest in Jason, Yehyeon oppa....”

“If I show interest, won’t he hate me even more...?”

“Just leave it alone, Choi Ami.”

Yun added with a crooked grin.

“It’s fun to needle him every now and then.”

The conversation ended with Yehyeon glaring at Yun before forcibly making me rest.

Whether it meant lying down on the sofa—seriously, why the sofa?—or going back to the cabin to rest, I obediently followed his words.

After slowly making my way back to the cabin, I dutifully filed a report in the Black Mamba group chat.

[Black Mamba / Me: I just went and tested the waters, and it seems certain that the team name was leaked.]

[Black Mamba / Me: But they absolutely refuse to tell me. If I learn anything else, I’ll report it.]

I didn’t check the seniors’ replies.

After roughly typing that out, I fell asleep.

***

I dreamed of a mounted tournament.

Out of the three of us, Kyle had always had the highest win rate in mounted tournaments. There simply was no one better at riding horses.

“See, idiot? It’s closer to a spear than a sword.”

There was a time when we had to travel all the way to the western edge of the Empire because of a mission.

Naturally, we weren’t given nearly enough travel funds. But halfway there, we ended up needing money, so we entered a mounted tournament under false names.

This was before we had even risen beyond the rank of common knights.

Long before Swordmaster, before we could even properly unleash a sword strike.

“The reason both of you lost is because you tried to swing it like a sword, and the length wasn’t enough.”

Kyle looked down at Rei and me after our utterly humiliating defeat in the mounted tournament.

“And pay attention to the horse’s temperament. The timid ones will twist away or hesitate right before collision.”

“How are we supposed to know the other horse’s temperament?”

I remembered Rei grumbling.

“Not everyone knows horses as well as you do.”

Even back then, Rei knew horses better than I did.

The Count’s household had several steeds famous enough to be called legendary horses. But the temple had none, and while my master Gale had taught me how to ride, I wasn’t nearly as skilled as those who had ridden since childhood.

Though I did think they were cute.

Far more intelligent creatures than sheep could ever compare to.

And because they were that delicate, I kept entering mounted tournaments and losing for quite a long time.

It wasn’t until I was about to rise beyond the rank of common knight that even Kyle stopped having things to say about my riding.

But even after I became Knight Commander, I could never match Kyle’s ability with horses.

Even horses as brilliant as they were foul-tempered—almost as nasty as Jaeyeon—fell into discipline under Kyle’s hands.

“A horse.”

So it’s a relief there are horses in the world you fell into too.

You like horses, after all.

“It is a horse, right?”

Now I was standing beside Kyle, staring at a life-form that was presumably a horse.

Kyle, standing beneath the blue sky and examining it carefully, suddenly turned his head.

His golden earring jingled.

“Isn’t it a horse? Though something is sticking out of its head.”

Guess I’m too sleepy to judge properly.

“Huh?”

But it also looked like something I had seen before in Earth’s media.

“Could it be a unicorn?”

“Hildebert.”

Kyle’s brow furrowed.

With a bizarre expression, he stared at me silently for a moment. I blinked and met his bright yellow gaze.

Why are you looking at me like you’ve seen a ghost?

Instead of doing that, why don’t you try riding that horse that already seems tamed to you—

“Are you dead?”

“What are you talking about?”

How absurd.

“You just barged into someone else’s dream and now you’re saying weird things.”

“A dream?”

Kyle’s eyebrows twisted even more sharply.

He looked a little angry.

“What do you mean, a dream!”

So the way he gets angry in dreams has changed a bit lately.

Before, he used to burn with rage and come charging at me, shouting that he’d avenge Rei.

“You show up in broad daylight and call it a dream? Someone else’s dream, at that?”

“Why are you getting angry at this specific part?”

“If you’re going to appear, appear where everyone can see you! Don’t suddenly make me look like a lunatic talking to empty air!”

Kyle fumed.

“And show up regularly! So I can at least predict it!”

What kind of ridiculous demand is that...?

“Have some sense of time and place!”

Thud!

“Argh.”

I woke up by falling off the bed.

“What the hell. It really was a dream.”

After opening my eyes and taking in the situation, I muttered to myself.

Kyle had been so furious in the dream that, for a moment, I had actually let myself hope it wasn’t a dream.

But I had awakened exactly where I had fallen asleep, and the small clock on the windowsill informed me that I had taken about a three-hour nap.

The familiar ceiling of the cabin came into view.

I really want to stop waking up like this every time after letting myself hope in a dream.

“And I got yelled at unfairly, too.”

Grumbling to myself, I got up and headed downstairs to do the laundry.

Thinking it really had been a long time since I last rode a horse.

***

“Nana was in tears saying she couldn’t find the mole.”

Time passed quickly.

As I rested, trained, and spent time watching the Black Mamba group chat periodically explode, Kairos came to visit the cabin three days before the sports festival.

Startled, I tore my gaze away from Milk.

“It’s not a problem even if she can’t find one, right? Is she really that stressed?”

“So I calmed her down to some extent. She seems like the type whose baseline anxiety is just a bit high.”

“She’s doing well, right?”

Once my health recovers a little more, I definitely want to visit her and go over her swordsmanship.

“I really want to help her with the sword.”

“I passed the message along.”

I doubt she was thrilled to hear that.

With a bitter smile, I asked,

“She probably didn’t like that much.”

“She’s just intimidated by most seniors in general. But for someone that scared, she doesn’t back down, so she’ll be fine.”

True.

She did seem like that type. The kind who trembles in advance saying she can’t do it, then suddenly goes into overdrive and gets it done when the moment actually comes.

I had subordinates like that too.

Separate from that disposition, her talent itself was sharp enough that it couldn’t be overlooked.

Anyway, after giving me an update on the sixty-third class, Kairos began talking about his own matters.

First, the Ice Dragon.

“It seems it’ll be coming to Center Core soon. It said it wanted to see your face when it does.”

“So it’s in another Core right now?”

“No. It’s outside the Core.”

Then how did they even get in touch?

Of course, it wasn’t that surprising. They probably made contact briefly while out on land reclamation work. Last time, I had even heard that seniors who knew absolutely nothing about F1 still ranked Kairos as their number one choice for land reclamation partners.

There weren’t many people who could roam outside the Core that freely, after all.

As I thought I should be ready not to be surprised no matter when the Ice Dragon showed up, Kairos added more news from outside the Core.

“And do you remember the unidentified Creatures I organized and presented right before the Remnant Wraith operation?”

“Yeah. A few upper-rank monsters and some unidentified life-forms.”

“There are resources needed in the place where that thing stayed, so I think we’ll be going to verify it soon.”

I want to go out too.

That was the thought that crossed my mind as I listened to Kairos, but I knew perfectly well it was still too early.

At the very least, I planned to apply for reinstatement after recovering enough to fire off a sword strike.

I’d have to achieve my goals slowly, one stage at a time.

For now, I set my first goal as surviving the dodgeball match at the sports festival.

And the day to accomplish that goal came quickly.

Because before I knew it, the day of the sports festival had arrived.

***

“Break them!”

Oh.

“BREAAAK THEM!!”

The reaction is way too heated.

Returning to headquarters for the first time in a while, I was taken aback by the explosive heat in the air.