“What the hell.”

I froze in confusion when I saw the seniors approaching with grim expressions.

Before I could even say anything, Ami sprinted straight at me and grabbed my arm so tightly that I flinched.

“Hilde!”

“Ami?”

I called her name in a daze.

“What were you thinking?” 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

“Why are you worrying about how we’d feel! Don’t ever do that again! We couldn’t even see Kyle in the first place!”

“If you’re gonna make that face, you should’ve just cried instead~.”

Ricardo stopped beside me and thumped my back a few times.

I just stood there taking the blows, still unable to understand what was happening.

Only after I nearly pitched forward did I barely regain my senses and turn to look at him.

“Rick?”

“Instead of holding it in, just cry....”

“I....”

I was about to ask why I needed to cry.

But the moment I opened my mouth, something surged up from deep inside me.

So I shut it again.

With my lips pressed tight, I tried desperately to calm the emotions that were trembling inside me.

Seeing that, Ami and Ricardo frowned at the exact same time.

“Lie down!”

Ami yanked on my arm.

“Hilde, lie down and cry!”

“Ami. I’ll just finish the watch.”

“So you told him to leave because of us.”

Sophia rose from her seat and walked over to me too.

“You don’t need to worry about our feelings.”

I was forcibly shoved into the sleeping bag.

I struggled, but it was useless.

They took the sword strapped to me, confiscated my communicator, and even pulled off my jacket and shoes.

Swept along by the seniors’ hands, I ended up cocooned inside the sleeping bag like a chrysalis, staring blankly up at the ceiling.

“Why are you worrying about us?”

Ami muttered from beside me as I blinked in a daze.

“You were happy to see Kyle, Hilde. You even told him not to go, so why did you force yourself to tell him to leave?”

“...Kyle probably wasn’t simply happy to see me.”

I murmured while staring at the ceiling.

“Every time he remembers Rei, he’ll hate me. And the seniors too... isn’t that only natural?”

“I hate that bastard, sure, but that’s my feeling.”

Sophia crossed her arms and looked down at me.

“That’s not your feeling. Just because you’re happy to see him doesn’t make me hate you.”

“But....”

I kept staring at the ceiling.

“But if the people I care about got too close to someone I hate, I think I’d feel a little hurt too.”

I knew very well that people were multifaceted.

But hurt was still hurt.

I wasn’t broad-minded enough to peacefully watch someone I liked get along with someone I despised.

And Kyle wasn’t even someone who could be explained that simply.

How were the seniors supposed to feel, knowing he actually existed in the same space?

“And if it were the seniors, I think I’d just stay hurt by myself and never even bring it up....”

“You’re narrower-minded than I thought.”

Sophia suddenly let out a small laugh.

I blinked slowly.

As I blinked at the tears threatening to well up and kept looking at the ceiling, Carl spoke this time.

“I doubt he hates you. If he did, he wouldn’t have talked with you that long.”

“Kyle was moody even when he was in his right mind.”

I answered quietly.

“He might just have been feeling especially tolerant toward me today.”

“Kyle might have wanted to see you too! Why are you deciding what he feels on your own!”

“That could be true. But that’s not the point.”

“Hilde~.”

I heard Ricardo’s voice.

I was trying so hard not to cry that I couldn’t bring myself to meet his eyes.

I took a long breath to steady myself before answering.

“Yes, Rick.”

“No matter what I say, you’ll still insist that looking out for us was the right thing, won’t you....”

Because it really was.

“So if he shows up again... don’t tell him to leave. Just go somewhere you’re comfortable, or tell us to get lost for a bit~.”

Will he even come back?

The thought crossed my mind for a moment.

But I couldn’t be sure.

I still didn’t fully understand how that strange out-of-body kind of interaction had worked.

It seemed like one side had to be asleep while the other stayed awake, but there was probably more to it than that.

Besides, I had no idea whether Kyle could choose not to return, or how he had taken my words when I told him to go.

I don’t really know Kyle anymore.

At this point, it would be more accurate to say I know almost nothing.

Even when we reunited in that bizarre form earlier, I never really got to ask about him.

I want to know.

If I ever fall asleep and end up drifting into his world, then next time I need to keep my head clear and look around properly.

Just silently looking around and coming back should be fine.

It didn’t seem like he could stop me from coming.

Hadn’t he even gotten angry and told me to show up at the right time and place?

So if I ever get the chance to go there, just for a little while...

I’ll secretly see how Kyle is doing....

Someone lifted my sleeping bag.

“Yun?”

I blinked in confusion.

“What are you doing?”

With perfect calm, Yun flipped me over in one motion.

Then he set me back down on the ground.

A blanket filled my vision.

I had now become an upside-down Badger sealed inside a sleeping bag.

My nose was pressed painfully into the floor.

Still utterly dumbfounded, I asked,

“What are you seriously doing?”

“If I leave you like this, there’ll be tear stains on the blanket.”

I heard Yun’s voice.

There even seemed to be the faintest trace of amusement in it.

“That’d be kind of funny.”

“Oppa! What are you doing to Hilde!”

“Didn’t I cover him so he can cry as much as he wants? Once you’re done crying, flip yourself back over.”

“No.”

For a moment it felt like the absurdity dried my tears right up.

I stared blankly into the pitch-black darkness and muttered,

“What are you seriously doing?”

“It feels like you need a good cry before you’ll be able to explain what just happened.”

Sasu explained it as casually as if it were the most natural thing in the world, then walked off somewhere.

Judging by where his footsteps stopped, he had probably gone back to the chair I’d been using for watch duty.

“Mark where your eyes are on the blanket.”

No, why would I do that?

What kind of thought process even led to flipping me upside down so I could cry freely?

Hearing the explanation only made it more ridiculous, but I couldn’t even argue.

I just lay there with my nose buried in the softness of the blanket, too stunned to do anything but marvel at the absurdity.

I even found myself thinking that I understood Yun less than Kyle.

And I’d actually thought I was finally starting to read him.

How does he keep managing to shatter every expectation like this...?

....

I shouldn’t have spoken so coldly.

With my nose buried in the blanket, I thought that to myself.

When I told him to go, I should’ve said it more gently.

“Yeah.”

The moment tears finally started falling, Ricardo’s low voice drifted over, as if he somehow knew.

“That’s better. Cry like that instead.”

Following Yun’s words, I buried my face and finally started crying.

Someone stroked my back.

Unable to say thank you, unable to say sorry, I cried for a long time.

I made no sound, but the tears kept coming.

And as I did, a heavy drowsiness washed over me.

Exhausted from crying, I fell asleep.

***

I woke to the sound of water sloshing.

Pale sunlight was spilling into the room.

I blinked, met the washed-out light, and squinted.

The smell of a dust-covered blanket and morning sunlight.

As my half-open eyes slowly adjusted to the brightness, the situation came back to me bit by bit.

A familiar ceiling came into view.

That pattern I had stared at so intently.

So I didn’t see Kyle while I was dreaming.

That was my very first thought as my heavy eyelids fluttered.

Before falling asleep, I’d briefly thought maybe I’d be able to meet Kyle.

But that wish hadn’t come true.

As I recalled last night, I tried not to sink into the rising grief and guilt, and the repeated sound of sloshing snapped me back to attention.

Where is that water sound coming from?

“You awake.”

It was Sasu’s voice.

I turned my head and saw Yun sitting in the folding chair beside me.

He was in a short-sleeved shirt, a jackknife in one hand.

“Yun.”

I shot upright.

After clearing my sleep-thickened voice, I quickly looked around.

“What time is it? I’m sorry. I think I slept way too long....”

“Nine.”

“Nine?!”

I shouted in shock.

Judging by the sunlight coming through the window, it really did look about that late.

The seniors’ sleeping bags were empty.

On the fifth-floor supply depot lobby, with blankets spread across the floor, only Yun and I remained.

As I struggled to break free of the sleeping bag, I hurriedly said,

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t even finish the night watch yesterday....”

“That’s not the problem right now.”

Yun said it coolly.

I stared at him blankly.

“Huh?”

Yun looked evenly into my face.

But because he didn’t say anything right away, I couldn’t tell what was happening.

“Did something go wrong?”

“Yeah. So dealing with your dimension-crossing reunion can wait until later.”

“Does that really need solving?”

Even as I muttered that, I strained my dulled senses to figure out the situation.

The rain had stopped.

But it didn’t look like anyone was preparing to leave.

The blankets were still spread out, and the sleeping bags had been left open as if they’d be used again.

People who had spent years as soldiers wouldn’t leave their gear spread out like this if they were about to move.

“There is.”

When I looked back, Yun was still studying me.

With his fingers interlocked, Sasu kept watching my eyes as he continued.

“But first, the problem right in front of us.”

“Yes.”

“It flooded.”

“...What?”

“The supply depot flooded.”

I stared at Yun blankly.

I sat there stupidly for a moment before the meaning finally sank in, and I sprang to my feet.

“That sloshing sound—is that what it is?!”

“Yeah.”

Yun answered simply.

“It’s underwater up to the third floor.”

I practically leapt toward the stair landing.

Then I ran down the stairs and spotted the seniors.

All four of them were standing on the staircase leading to the third floor, staring down below.

The smell of water hit me the moment I got close.

The ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) sound of sloshing.

Reflected light from the water rippling across the walls.

The seniors turned to look at me.

I stared blankly at the rising water before shifting my gaze to their faces.

“I’m sorry. While all this was happening, I slept like the dead....”

“Hilde’s eyes are kinda puffy.”

Ami muttered in a gloomy voice.

“Are you feeling a little better now?”

“We let you sleep on purpose.”

Sophia added.

“Would waking you up have solved any of this?”

That was true.

Sadly, I had no room to argue.

Flooding.

I turned my gaze back to the murky, swirling water.

This mission really isn’t easy in more ways than one....