My hands were bored.

Watching Colton across from me puffing his cigar, I remembered that we used to sit opposite each other like this and smoke. Kyle liked cigars too. They stirred old nostalgia; when Colton gave me a box, I would leisurely share them with comrades.

“Those old days?”

Was there a time before I met Colton? Trying to recall made my head throb again. I exhaled a thin sigh and gave up on groping for a past that would not surface.

Instead, with my eyes half lowered, I offered a greeting.

“It’s good to see you again.”

At least your face.

“It feels strange to see a familiar face. Until a few months ago I didn’t even know what I was.”

“Do you now?” Colton asked slowly.

I suppressed the urge to lift an eyebrow.

That bastard. Asking lazily even though he knew the answer—nothing had changed there.

I replied sullenly.

“I do not remember everything.”

“Tragic news.”

“Then tell me.”

No beating around the bush. There was nothing to be gained by dithering. The information gap was too great.

He had not called me here to mock a man with amnesia. He was not that inefficient. He had a purpose for seating me at this table.

The others present would be spectators to our exchange. Erich and Yekaterina made no move to break the silence, and I paid them no special attention.

Colton opened his mouth at leisure.

“I do not know how much you remember. It seems you have not forgotten me entirely.”

“Actually, you had forgotten me too.”

I admitted frankly and shrugged.

I did not feel sorry. I knew perfectly well he would not be hurt.

“You remembered when you entered the social club hall today. Even so, not everything came back.”

“Touching.”

“Indeed.” I replied and let out a low laugh.

It was ridiculous—my first familiar face since I fell from the portal was Colton Wiseman, not Kyle or any other person.

When memory returned, the rush of gladness, contempt, admiration, and revulsion that hit me felt absurd. Could such contradictory feelings exist at once? Well—looking back, I had always felt ambivalence toward him.

A bond I thought would break soon had been stubbornly long-lived.

I kept a faint smile and brought up mutual acquaintances.

“Kyle woke up, I heard.”

Colton exhaled gray smoke slowly.

“The problem is that I can’t properly remember Kyle either. I hear he wants to capture and kill me—the traitor to our kind—but I do not even remember how or why I betrayed our kind.”

“How did you learn he had woken?” Colton asked.

“From Badgers outside the Core.”

I did not know how much to reveal. Yehyeon did not stop me, and Colton did not press deeply.

Instead, the friend sitting at the pinnacle of power asked a strange question.

“You only learned after you heard it?”

I failed to grasp the intention.

I blinked twice and looked around the mahogany-scented room. People watched me silently, awaiting my answer. Feeling their sharp gazes, I thought hard.

But I could not understand what he meant. Was it a reproach that I should have guessed from the situation? Or something else?

He did not usually reproach like that...

Unable to divine his intent, I chose honesty again.

“Yes, I learned after I heard about it. Why ask?”

“You have truly forgotten a lot.”

Colton’s remark sounded more like muttering than an answer.

“That used to be your greatest feature.”

“What on earth do you mean?”

At his blunt answer, shattered fragments of memory popped up.

“Even the things you hid before the war.”

They knew nothing.

See? The vitality that seemed about to explode at any moment. The sense of connection. The clear sensation of life flowing through the body.

Kyle’s voice surged and blurred my perception. I struggled to accept the flood of returning fragments.

Yes, we hid that until the war began. Until the war, no one knew that trait.

But how exactly did we sense each other?

I closed my eyes against the stabbing pain and rubbed my temples with my fingertips.

I wanted a cigar.

I brought a finger foolishly to my mouth, realized my fingers were empty, and let them fall with a hollow feeling.

From the left, Erich chuckled softly.

“You smoke?”

“A cigar.” My headache had not eased, so my answer came shorter than intended.

Seeing me frown, Erich signaled the red-haired man at his side.

“Shashinsky. Give him one.”

The red-haired man approached without a word.

A case of cigars clicked open before my eyes—neatly lined like long chocolates. The man called Shashinsky expertly cut the cigar I chose and even struck a match to light it.

“Thank you.”

“You are welcome.”

Erich received my thanks with an elegant smile.

“Let us converse comfortably.”

Right. We were talking.

I rolled the smoke in my mouth and turned my gaze forward.

The heavy aroma cloaked the headache as I reviewed the fact that had just surfaced. There was a reason creatures hunted down my location and knew I had returned. Though I had forgotten how we felt linked.

“It’s a strange trait. I can’t quite remember what it felt like.”

“Then we will help you recover that part as much as possible.”

“Ah?”

I blinked at the unexpected offer.

“Is that possible?”

“We will try.”

“What kind of effort?”

Every time you say that, nothing good ever follows.

I shot him a suspicious look. Colton snorted but offered no explanation. I made sure my astonishment showed plainly.

Anyone with a conscience—no, not you, but anyone with intelligence—would tremble uneasily at such a suggestion.

“Can I refuse first, even without knowing what it entails?”

Colton showed no surprise.

Without looking my way, he set his cigar in the ashtray.

“You will regret it.”

Damn.

His imperious manner remained. The worse part was that he did not speak empty words. He was not the sort to boast and spin fiction.

No need for posturing now.

“At least explain properly.”

The white-haired man obliged my request.

“Kyle will come to kill you in the near future. Probably in person. But we cannot repeat the horrors of the First War.”

Ah. I could see where the conversation was going.

Yet I found it hard to believe. I had not fully grasped everything. I took the cooling cigar back to my mouth and stayed quiet for a moment.

Then I asked.

“You want me to stop him?”

“If you do not wish to die by your kind’s hand.”

“But is it possible? Has it been possible? I can’t even shoot a gun now.”

Eyes turned to me. Jaeyeon, standing behind Colton, raised an eyebrow. Erich’s retainers blinked, perhaps surprised by my answer. Yekaterina’s retainer—where had I seen him before?—narrowed his eyes and glanced at me.

Even Erich and Yekaterina looked at me as if to ask whether my statement was true.

Only Yehyeon and Colton showed no surprise.

Colton answered as if it were nothing.

“You never could shoot well.”

“Really? I thought as much.”

“What is his current skill level?”

This time, the question wasn’t directed at me.

Colton turned his head left toward Yehyeon. Yehyeon, who had been sitting with legs crossed and fingers clasped on his thigh, met Colton’s gaze.

My superior spoke in his husky voice.

“I can’t say for certain since I’ve never sparred with him directly, but I’ve been told it’s inconsistent. His memories don’t align with his body, and even his memories themselves are incomplete.”

“And his activity inside the Core?”

“We haven’t had him do any yet.”

“Why don’t you make him train more?”

Colton tossed me the rebuke as if it were nothing.

His nagging didn’t hit me hard, but Yehyeon’s cold assessment did.

I didn’t want to talk back to my superior, so I looked at my friend instead, forcing a sheepish smile.

“Yes, yes. I’ll try harder.”

“When the Commander’s approval comes down to let you operate in the Core, we’ll talk further.”

Colton set down his cigar.

At those words signaling the close of the talk, I blinked.

The meeting was over? I still had so much to hear.

But it was obvious the meeting was ending—the other Elders were already preparing to leave.

It wasn’t hard to understand my old friend’s stance. What use was there in telling the whole truth to someone who couldn’t even perform properly yet? Memories coming back wouldn’t magically raise my ability, and it wouldn’t stop Kyle, who was coming to kill me. Colton meant: change the situation first, then we’ll talk. His typical practical, pragmatic approach.

One after another, they stood, straightening their black coats.

I sat quietly, watching Erich and Yekaterina rise at leisure. Kyle and Colton—two names I had recalled.

Kyle, who mocked humanity’s ignorance. And the man with cold blue eyes, fingers interlaced, who once looked at me and said—

“You are the ace in my hand of victory.”

As the others began to move, I broke the silence.

“Colton.”

They stopped and turned toward me.

“So in the end, was I truly your ace?”

Colton looked down at me without a word.

I smiled faintly, waiting for his reply. I didn’t remember how or why I betrayed my kind, but it was clear now that I had sided with humans. That the one I had raised my hand for was not Kyle, but Colton.

Not the comrade who laughed brightly at me, but the one who always scolded me not to waste my time.

My old friend finally broke the silence.

“You were.”

A weighty answer.

“If you recover the skill you once had, you will be someone’s ace again.”

“What?”

“Only....”

Colton took a step, dragging his words.

“If you don’t remain in this state—unable to sense even something like this.”

KWHAAANG!

Three walls collapsed and creatures stormed in.

There were four of them. Their muzzles split wide like grotesque horses. Their faces were huge enough to smash through the elegant walls, which crumbled helplessly to reveal the bluish night outside.

The intruders were slaughtered instantly.

I watched as the Elders’ retainers massacred the creatures without blinking. Erich’s men moved like mirror images. Yekaterina’s retainer turned his head casually, then drove his right hand into a weak point without a single wasted motion.

Jaeyeon drew his gun and blew out an eyeball.

But the gunfire didn’t stop. The shots continued until the creature’s pupil caved in completely. Then he shoved his hand into the hollow and pulled the trigger several more times. I stared, appalled, as chunks of flesh and blood splattered onto Jaeyeon’s immaculate suit.

When his venting was finished, Jaeyeon stripped off his gloves and shoved them into his pocket. He slicked back his black hair, unconcerned by the ruined suit.

Then he turned and grinned at Yehyeon.

Yehyeon sighed, while Colton didn’t spare him a glance.

“Stay well, Prometheus.”

Unfazed by what had just happened behind him, Erich draped his coat over his shoulders with a smile.

All three Elders were terrifyingly calm. They moved unhurriedly, letting the night wind blow in through the broken walls.

I exhaled smoke with a bitter laugh and answered his farewell.

“Yes. Thank you for the fine cigar.”

“You must have liked it. I’ll send you a box as a gift. You may be dull, but you are an important man.” 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

What a truly perverse person.

Erich and his retainers left first. I returned their parting bows, then glanced at my old friend passing me by.

Colton walked past without looking, eyes fixed ahead. Behind him followed Jaeyeon, his gaze burning with malice.

I was about to bid them farewell when Colton spoke quietly.

“Congratulations on surviving.”

I smiled faintly at his back.

“Yes.”

“I’ll make sure you get the right help. Adapt quickly.”

He said it as lightly as if promising to make a call, then left the reception room. The polished sound of his shoes faded into the distance.

Oh right. I had meant to ask for his number anyway. I muttered lightly to myself, but only realized after his footsteps faded—

Wait. Didn’t he say earlier he’d help me recall the sense of being connected? I said I refused, didn’t I? That didn’t go through?

Why hasn’t he changed one bit?

Still exactly the same. Staring in disbelief at the doors he’d left through, I felt Yekaterina brush past on my right.

Her strong green eyes flicked toward me.

“I hope we meet again very soon. I trust you’ll devote yourself earnestly to training.”

Her retainer followed.

He never relaxed his frown as he swept me with his gaze. Our eyes met briefly, but he turned away without a word.

Ah. Even that gesture struck with déjà vu. Not close, maybe, but definitely someone I had met before.

Where had I seen him....

Ah.

A shard of memory surfaced. He was there, across from me, clad in the same black combat suit as my comrades.

Yes, I had met him. But I could not recall his name or details. The strange familiarity did not fade.

What was it?

It was like a word stuck on the tip of my tongue. I glared at the spot where he had vanished, furrowing my brow. If I thought a bit harder, the answer would come. Unlike ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) other memories, this one felt right in front of me.

While I struggled, someone stopped beside me.

“Hilde.”

It was my superior’s voice.

“Let’s go too.”

I turned my head toward Yehyeon.

And at the same time, I realized the source of my déjà vu.

“Commander, do you have a brother?”

Yekaterina’s retainer had looked shockingly like Yehyeon.

“That man who just left....”

But I could not finish the words.

Because the mask of Yehyeon’s impassive expression slipped away. Because his gaze blurred with a depth of sorrow I had never seen in him. Because his eyes, shaking, could not hold the weight and dropped downward.

Silence wrapped around us.

A silence made of my shock, the night wind seeping in, and Yehyeon’s grief.

At last it broke.

“I have no brother.”

His voice was faint, like a candle guttering out.

“That man is my father.”

I could find no words in reply. I only stared at Yehyeon for a long time.