When I opened my eyes, I was in the infirmary.

The sound of people whispering with hushed voices tickled my ears. All I could see was the white ceiling. When I turned my head slightly, the backs of people’s heads came into view.

My injured arm and leg were dull, without pain. They must have given me medication.

As I blinked, someone came to my bedside.

“You’re awake?”

At the doctor’s voice, the people surrounding me all turned at once.

I felt embarrassed under the sudden flood of stares.

“Yes. Ah, did I fall asleep?”

“You didn’t sleep, you fainted. You lost quite a bit of blood.”

“Are you okay? How do you feel?”

The doctor answered, and Ami stretched her head forward and asked.

I pushed myself up with my elbow.

The familiar room entered my view. A spacious white room, strange medical devices. People sitting on round stools, beds lined up against the wall.

It was Doctor Samuel Han’s infirmary. The place I had come to yesterday.

Large gauze pads covered my forearm and ankle. I could not see the wounds well because of them, but they did not look shallow. Yet I felt no pain at all. Probably painkillers.

In any case, it was a miracle that I had come out of that facing only this much injury.

I checked the people surrounding my bed. Ricardo and Ami sat on stools. Standing with a troubled expression was a handsome man with braided hair.

Samuel was looking at his pad.

I nodded and massaged my neck with my uninjured hand.

“It doesn’t hurt at all. Thank you. For saving me... I feel like I’ve been nothing but a burden since yesterday. I’m really sorry.”

“What did you do wrong~?”

“Ric. Don’t be sarcastic. It’s a bad habit.”

“You shouldn’t walk as much as possible for a week.”

At the doctor’s words, I turned my head.

The man called Doctor Samuel Han put down his pad on the desk. He slid his hands into the pockets of his coat and looked at me.

In his clear blue eyes was the confidence and experience of someone assured in his work.

“I’ll do my best.”

Though I had no idea how I was supposed to live for the next week.

Maybe he read my thoughts, because Ricardo laughed. With his sly smile, he poked the braided-hair man’s side with /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ his elbow.

The man looked quietly at Ricardo and then pushed his elbow away.

Then he took a step closer to me.

“Mr. Hilde.”

“Yes. Ah, Hildebert Taleb.”

“Forgive the late introduction. I am Ska Owen, aide-de-camp.”

What.

This man was the aide? My eyes widened as I observed the man standing before me.

The one who had just rushed out and saved me.

He had been handsome upside down, but straight on, he was even more striking. Pleasant bronze skin, braids falling to his shoulders. A fitted suit, several silver piercings along his ear, the faint smell of cologne.

Ska Owen was a beautiful man, looking like he was in his mid-to-late twenties.

The aide, whom I had encountered like this by chance, spoke.

“First, let me apologize.”

Why is he apologizing?

“I realized too late that you were bleeding. Since you said you had an enhanced body, I assumed you would already be healing... it was my oversight.”

“No, not at all. If you hadn’t saved me, I wouldn’t even be alive right now.”

“Rescuing civilians from such creatures is my duty.”

As expected, these were not people living ordinary lives. But whatever they were, he was the one who had saved my life.

Before I could reply, Ska continued.

“And the meeting with the Commander will be delayed. This is the first time two creatures appeared simultaneously so close to Headquarters. No one died, and you were the only one injured, but the media is in an uproar. It will probably take at least a week to settle down.”

“Ah. That’s fine. Right now... as you know, I have no home, no memories, nothing to do or obligations to fulfill. So I’m in no rush.”

I had originally planned to have brunch with Ami and Ricardo.

But the sudden monsters had ruined that. Thinking of food now, my stomach growled painfully.

What time was it?

“Right now...?”

“Twelve-ten!”

Ami blinked and said.

“You must be hungry.”

I nodded awkwardly and glanced around.

The sunlight streaming through the windows painted the room. Beyond the door came the sounds of busy people. The midday bustle filled my senses.

It was hard to believe I had almost been killed by monsters just now.

The doctor suddenly held out chocolate.

“Eat this.”

“Thank you.”

“Find him a place to stay for the week. Put him in a wheelchair and take him there. We’ll recheck once his body’s healed.”

“Do I still have strange parts in me...?”

Did I have any normal parts at all?

I muttered bitterly, and Ricardo’s smile widened.

The doctor picked up his pad and explained.

“Normally, enhancement of regenerative ability and aging-halt has to come first before enhanced bodies are successfully implanted. But you already have an enhanced body without the matching level of recovery ability.”

Heh.

“Not quite an ordinary person’s regeneration, but still lower than standard Badgers. It seems the aging-halt is functioning fine. Either way, your healing ability is weaker than most Badgers. So come back for another check in a week.”

The doctor spoke lightly, tapping on his pad.

I watched him recording something, a hollow laugh escaping me. I was dumbfounded. Strange things about me kept coming up one after another.

After jotting something down, the doctor raised his head and declared.

“For now, go rest. It’s not urgent.”

Chewing the chocolate, I nodded.

But I still had no idea what to do. I wasn’t in pain, but my limbs were sluggish. Since they wanted me in a wheelchair, I probably wasn’t ready to walk properly.

With one arm and one leg intact, I thought maybe I could move if I found a wheelchair.

When I shifted to get down from the bed, everyone around me reacted.

“Mr. Hilde, wait. Ric, get a wheelchair.”

“Hey, don’t just move like that!”

“Eh? Ah, yes. Sorry...”

“Hold on~. I’ll get something you can ride in...”

The aide Ska stopped me from putting my good leg to the floor. The doctor, startled by my sudden movement, raised his voice. Ricardo stood and went to fetch a wheelchair.

Ami came closer, holding my arm, and I tilted my head in thanks.

“Thank you.”

Ami looked up at me.

“How’s your condition?”

“Other than being hungry, fine.”

“Good. You remember the room you slept in yesterday? We’ll take you there. We already ordered brunch to eat with you once you woke up.”

“Thank you. And... please, speak casually with me.”

I didn’t know my age, but surely I was younger than seventy.

Ricardo rolled in a wheelchair from somewhere in the infirmary.

I put weight on my good leg, and Ami firmly supported my arm.

Her grip was incredible.

“Okay. Then I’ll talk casually.”

Ami practically lifted me into the chair in one motion.

“Let’s go eat brunch!”

Ricardo and Ami wheeled me out.

Soon we arrived in the room next to the one I had stayed in before. Inside were brunch Ami had bought and clothes Ricardo had had delivered. Ju had also gifted some clothing.

Ricardo left for work.

Only Ami and I remained in the new room.

“You’ll be resting here for a week.”

Ami busied herself tearing open the brunch packages.

“I’ll come by often. While you recover here, let’s get closer.”

I realized I would be confined here for a week. Surely because of my enhanced body. And because I had suddenly appeared through a Portal Zone.

And because of my incomplete regeneration. And perhaps because of the two creatures that had appeared unusually at Headquarters.

But there was no answer to be found in brooding.

Watching the young woman fuss about, I nodded slowly.

Then I pushed away my tangled thoughts and ate brunch with someone I had met just yesterday.

***

The week I was stuck in the room passed more peacefully than I expected.

I could not have gone around much with my leg injury anyway. I decided to enjoy the situation.

The environment made it easy. Ami and Ricardo brought food in turn, and all I had to do was eat.

We spent our days eating, reading the books they brought, and chatting lightly.

“Thanks to you, I’m living in comfort~.”

On the third evening, Ricardo smiled.

“Guarding an unregistered enhanced body found in a Portal Zone—feels like a vacation as much as a mission.”

That eased my mind. The guilt of being a burden had gnawed at me, even as I laughed and talked with Ami and Ricardo.

Even if it wasn’t true, I was grateful he said so.

Food I remembered, and foods I had never seen, all surprisingly delicious, carried the time along.

Seven days sank away in a drowsy midday haze.

A week passed without gaining much new information.

There was no TV or computer.

“This is a place for the top brass to rest.”

When I asked if there was no TV in this world, Ami answered.

“They set it up so there are almost no outside stimuli, so people can completely rest.”

I nodded and asked no more.

Probably not a lie. But it also meant I was not permitted to watch TV.

Sometimes silence is wiser than questions. I would save my backlog of questions for later, once I earned more trust from Ami and Ricardo.

And once the person with supreme authority, the Commander, decided my fate.

For a week, the Commander was never mentioned. While confined, I saw Ska once, and Personnel Director Ju dropped by, but neither said a word about the Commander. I almost forgot about his existence.

Soaking in the lazy routine, I lived without thinking ahead.

After a week like that, I finally faced the Commander.

***

“Mr. Hilde.”

The Commander called my name with a husky voice, turning his head.

“I am very sorry the meeting was delayed.”

He turned from the window to look at me.

As I stepped into the office, I stopped in my tracks.

I stared blankly at the man standing before the window. Sunlight poured in, etching his figure into my eyes.

Skin so pale it looked colorless. Jet black hair. Large eyes with gentle curves, delicate facial lines. If not for the tall height, lean frame, and fitted black suit, one might have mistaken him for a woman.

This was the highest authority here.

“Hello.”

The indescribable pressure of his presence stole my words.

“I am Hildebert Taleb.”

I greeted him but did not move from my spot.

It was not an authoritative glare that froze me. Among everyone I had met, he had the gentlest air.

But those eyes.

Though his appearance was clearly of someone in their twenties, the eyes betrayed a life lived through long years. In the Commander’s large eyes I saw sorrow and resignation, and the seasoned wisdom born of them.

That was the source of his overwhelming aura.

The eyes of one who had endured an existence steeped in pain.

“I am Yehyeon.”

The man spoke softly, his gaze skimming over my leg and arm.

“I am glad to finally meet you. How are your injuries?”

“Yes. Thanks to everyone... I just received word I am fully healed. The gauze and bandages are all removed.”

“That is fortunate. Please, sit comfortably in that chair. We have much to discuss.”

“...Yes.”

I walked toward the chair before the large desk.

As I sat in the soft seat, the man who had been watching me also moved slowly. He walked to the desk, pulled out his chair, and sat, erasing the floating hologram windows above it.

He lifted his head and looked at me.

“Shall we begin?”

Yehyeon spoke humbly, his expression unreadable.

I slowly nodded.

“Yes.”

Thus began my interview with Commander Yehyeon.