I wanted to see Ami and Yehyeon so badly it hurt.

I took a step back from my mentor.

And, ready to bolt at any moment, I asked, “If I play the game, I won’t have to get on the operating table, right?”

“Then I’ll just have to push back the schedule,” he said.

Was canceling not even an option?

It was ridiculous, but not surprising—and that was the sad part. I’d been under Choi Yun’s instruction for nearly three months now, and I’d grown accustomed to the man.

Keeping my guard up, I answered, “I’ll play it.”

“When,” he asked.

“Well, tomorrow I have dinner plans with Aide-de-Camp Ska.”

Ska Owen was my savior.

Yun raised one eyebrow. I clung to the dinner that had been postponed from last week because of Ska’s schedule as if it were a lifeline.

“I’m meeting him at 6:30 p.m., on the 45th floor of G Tower.”

“Just the two of you?”

“Yes. He said he’d treat me.”

Why, I had no idea.

In any case, it was an excellent excuse. As long as that appointment stood, Yun couldn’t possibly use an operating table tomorrow. He respected Ska to a certain degree.

As I expected, Yun thought for a moment, then said, “Then finish the game over the weekend.”

“Yes, sir.”

If I delayed it any longer, I really would be in trouble.

Well, it was something I had to play eventually. Now that it had come to this, maybe I could use my mentor’s threat to muster some courage.

Snapping to attention, I squinted and stared at his face. “You’re canceling the operating table reservation, right?”

“Well, can’t be helped.” Yun shrugged casually.

“I’ll just have to book another day.”

Don’t.

I’d known he was serious, but not this serious.

A sudden chill ran through me; I trembled.

Even if I begged him not to, he’d just let it go in one ear and out the other—he’d ignored Yehyeon’s nagging, too.

Now, before the danger caught up with me, I’d have to tattle to Yehyeon or Ami.

When are those two coming home?

Thinking that, I bolted from my mentor’s sight.

***

Friday evening.

The moment training ended, I sprinted to the showers and changed quickly into the suit I’d worn at the social gathering. Then I escaped from Yun—who was muttering regretfully about how hard it was to book operating tables—as fast as I could.

G Tower wasn’t far from headquarters.

The building’s exterior was so sleek and extravagant I’d never thought to go inside before.

I stepped into the polished lobby and headed up to the 45th floor.

“You’re early.”

Ska was waiting in front of the elevator.

As always, he was impeccably dressed. The silver piercing on one ear caught the light.

The Commander’s right hand. The man who would one day take Yehyeon’s seat.

He greeted me with an easy smile. “Come on. You must be hungry.”

Of course, we were shown to a private room.

As I sat down, my gaze drifted to the window. Beyond the glass wall stretched the Center Core at dusk. Among the endless lights of the city, the towering Black Badger Headquarters drew the eye.

Night was falling faster these days.

Ska’s voice pulled me out of thought. “Sorry for arranging such a stiff meeting.”

“Not at all,” I answered sincerely. “You’re my savior.”

“What?”

He blinked, not understanding. When I gave him a brief account of yesterday’s events, the confusion on his face turned to speechless exasperation.

Wiping his hands with a wet towel, he wore a look that said that man hasn’t changed a bit.

“You’re having a rough time under Yun.”

“To be fair, aside from the part where he wants to cut me open, he’s a good mentor,” I said.

Especially considering my peculiar situation.

Whether or not he picked up on what I’d left unsaid, Ska nodded silently.

After a short pause for thought, he set the towel down and gestured toward the table.

“Eat. I didn’t know what you like, so I ordered something neutral.”

I thanked him and began eating.

Salmon salad, buttered scallops, cube steak—no clear national theme, but all of it was delicious.

We made small talk for a while: my training, the cabin and dormitory, my fellow rookies.

Then, only after the ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) waiter brought the main dish, did Ska get to the real topic.

“You’re going out on a mission with Ricardo at the end of the month, right?”

I knew it would be this.

He wouldn’t bring up my past when Yehyeon wasn’t around. The only reason he’d call me separately was surely because of his close friend.

I set down my utensils and nodded. “Yes.”

“Have you been told what kind of mission it is?”

“No, sir, not at all.”

Ska leaned back in his chair. His face gave nothing away.

When he spoke again, his tone was careful.

“Capturing or killing creatures—those jobs all fall under the Black Badgers. In whatever form.”

“Yes.”

“There are people raising creatures illegally inside the Core.”

That wasn’t particularly surprising.

It would be stranger if there weren’t such people. I took a sip of red wine and listened.

“There are crime syndicates breeding them, and some individuals too. The individuals aren’t the real problem—their operations don’t get big. They usually end up as corpses when they try to scale up.”

“They raise them for illegal colosseum fights, don’t they?”

Ska nodded in affirmation.

“Illegal implant users against illegally bred creatures. They move from one Core’s outskirts to another like a traveling carnival, holding matches. Buying a ticket alone can get you jailed for a major crime—but the seats are always sold out. Enormous sums are wagered on the outcomes, and some illegal implant users become celebrities from it.”

“And we’re going there to shut it down.”

“Exactly. Joint operation with the police.”

“So the police catch the criminals, and we handle the creatures inside the colosseum?”

“As expected, you catch on fast.”

Ska smiled in satisfaction.

I thanked him and waited.

He hadn’t invited me here just to give a simple mission briefing.

After a sip of wine, he rolled the crimson liquid in his glass, watching it swirl.

When he finally spoke again, his voice was low.

“Rick might be a little on edge during the mission.”

There it was. The real reason.

I straightened my back and looked him squarely in the eye.

“He despises those kinds of crime syndicates,” he said.

So he had some history with them, then?

I nodded to show I understood, then asked the question that rose in my mind.

“Then why was Ricardo assigned to this mission?”

“Oh, he’s assigned every time. Every single time.”

What?

I blinked. Ska gave a wry smile.

“There aren’t many Badgers who can handle those missions as well as he can.”

A flicker of realization passed through my mind.

It came with a memory—my first day, when I’d asked what country we were in, and the Badgers had looked at me strangely.

Then I remembered what Ricardo and Ro had said.

“Mafia?”

Ska froze mid-motion.

My guess turned into certainty. Tom and Hesh barely understood the concept of nations, but I remembered the pre-war Earth, and its countries.

And I knew Sicily’s reputation for organized crime.

I looked at the aide, who let out a quiet sigh.

“Asking whether he was a member or a victim would be crossing the line, wouldn’t it?”

“Right. I can’t answer that much. Honestly, if Rick even found out I told you this much, he’d explode.”

“Does the Elder Council accept tribute money from the syndicates?” I asked quietly.

Ska’s eyes widened. He clearly hadn’t expected that.

He stared at me, startled like a rabbit.

Seeing the unfeigned surprise in his gaze, I continued calmly, “That’s why you told me this much, isn’t it? You wanted to warn me—he’ll be sensitive, so be careful. You’re not the type to reveal something that would anger your friend otherwise.”

“You’re a damn impressive junior,” Ska said, suddenly laughing.

Strange thing to say. What was there to covet? I already worked under him.

Seeing my puzzled look, he laughed even harder, and only after he’d gotten it out did he explain.

“You’d do well sitting among the leadership.”

“Oh.”

He really just triggered my trauma switch like that.

My expression must have shown everything.

“I don’t want to sit above anyone ever again,” I said.

“That’s not always up to you.”

Ska’s words were chilling, though in a different way from Yun’s.

With an easy smile, he lifted his wineglass again. The ease itself made my unease deepen.

Why is everyone around me so terrifying?

My poor heart can’t take this.

“This particular match is more special,” he continued brightly, ignoring my fear.

“One of the Elders got expelled. The unlucky one will be in the arena soon.”

I stared at Ska Owen.

It couldn’t be Erich Erhart or Yekaterina. If either of them had lost power, Ska wouldn’t be here calmly having dinner with me. So it must be one of the lesser Elders, those who occupied the limited seats below the top ranks.

I didn’t know how many Elders there were in total, but—

Guessing my thoughts, Ska said quietly, “About ten. The names below fourth place change all the time.”

“The top four are solid, then.”

“There’s an old raccoon among them. Only cares about surviving.”

So, the type who focuses entirely on maintaining his rank.

Not an easy feat—especially among people like that.

I was thinking of the Elders and their underlings when his next words snapped me to attention.

Because they were the kind of words that demanded it.

“The one expelled this time wanted a checkmate.”

Wow. The type to bet everything on one move.

“And failed.”

“I see.”

“They’ll be in the arena at the end of November.”

For Colton, that was merciful.

Had he mellowed with age? Or had the coup failed so badly it wasn’t worth a cruel death? Either way, it wasn’t shocking.

Probably the latter.

Either way, Ska’s reason for calling me here was now clear.

“Don’t interfere with that person.”

His voice carried no emotion at all.

“Even if you save every other player there—leave that one alone.”

“Understood.”

A perfectly reasonable order.

He couldn’t tell Ricardo this. No way to frame it convincingly, no way Rick would understand—especially in his current, volatile state. He wouldn’t listen to such a strange command.

I understood Ska’s concern. He feared that Ricardo, in his agitation, might touch Colton’s prey even by accident.

And that was something worth fearing.

I slowly set my wineglass down.

“I’ll leave him alone. As naturally as I can.”

“Good. Thank you. I’m sorry for burdening you with this kind of delicate task.”

A faintly bitter smile spread across his face.

“No one will ever know what you’ve done.”

I saw many emotions mingle in that smile.

Not the resignation and heavy sadness Yehyeon’s smile held, but the exhaustion of someone who had faced too much and learned too much to ever find ease again.

The expression of a man who refused to look away from a bitter reality.

Ska Owen wore that smile as he murmured, “Still, maybe this much privilege is allowed.”

To protect a comrade from a danger they don’t even recognize.

Guessing the words he didn’t say, I stayed silent for a long time.