Chapter 131 - Promotion Exam (2)

When my fellow recruits asked what had happened, I brushed it off with a vague explanation that something had come up, then changed clothes with them. I changed quickly so they wouldn't see the brand on my abdomen, then shook out my hair.

The exam would take place over a single day. Airborne training and climbing in the morning, followed by marksmanship and basic physical fitness testing in the afternoon, with sea swimming last. Apparently, bad weather sometimes meant postponing the airborne portion, but fortunately, they said they would have no trouble getting the helicopter up today.

What a relief. I wasn't confident I could endure this for two whole days.

I left the tent with my fellow recruits. As the view opened up, I lifted my head—and spotted something hovering in the sky.

"What's that?"

"Hm?"

When I pointed, they looked up too. Tom was the one who answered, sounding puzzled.

"A broadcast drone. They're livestreaming the promotion exam to headquarters, remember?"

"What?"

"They said any seniors who are interested will be watching."

"What did you say?"

What was this now? I turned to my fellow recruits, staring stupidly with my mouth hanging open. But Heshy and Tom apparently already knew.

Choi Yun. You didn't tell me about this either.

If I went and confronted him, he'd only ask what difference knowing would have made. His efficient teaching made him a good training officer, but it also made him a bad one.

Where was he now, and what was he doing?

In any case, I wanted to hear more about where it would be broadcast and who would be watching. But instead of explaining, my fellow recruits scrutinized me.

"Why do you look so rough?" Heshy asked, his eyebrows arching.

I gave an awkward smile.

"I'm nervous."

"You?"

"I didn't know they were livestreaming this to headquarters."

"You don't get nervous about this kind of thing, do you?" Tom asked, equally puzzled. "You don't get nervous at all, for that matter."

Yes, I do.

Especially around my training officer. That was a daily occurrence. I had no idea how they'd gotten that impression of me. I offered a quiet protest, but it did no good. Heshy nodded as if he agreed with Tom.

Both of them gave me narrow-eyed looks. I turned my head and changed the subject along with it.

"I see some people in red caps over there."

Swallowing down the pain, I started walking.

"Let's go. Let's get through this and pass."

"You're walking kind of funny too."

"There are several drones."

Keeping my eyes fixed on the drones, I continued to pretend I didn't notice their stares. The sea air tickled my nose. The exam was about to start, but being out of that gloomy place had lifted my spirits.

I had to keep myself together until the exam was over.

Ignoring my fellow recruits' piercing looks, I muttered, "Who goes out of their way to watch something like this?"

* * *

Shu entered the media room in high spirits. It was unusually crowded today. Normally, it was hard to find even one person here, but now the place was packed. All the best seats were already taken, so she searched for somewhere to sit, salt-and-vinegar chips and a zero-sugar cola in hand.

Badgers sat in small clusters, waiting for the exam to begin. Spotting Ami peeking out from among them, Shu walked over.

"I thought you'd come to watch."

"Yep." Ami grinned. "Watching the little chicks is fun."

"But are there usually this many people? I heard hardly anyone watched mine live, so I haven't worried about it all this time."

"No. There are a weird number of people this time." Ami tilted her head at the crowd of Badgers. "There was barely anyone here last year or the year before."

Shu sat in the aisle seat beside Ami and opened her bag of chips. Their distinctive vinegary scent wafted out. She glanced around with her blue eyes as she pulled the folding tray out of the armrest.

"Richard's brought a whole crowd of his favorite juniors again."

"Yep. Richard never misses these."

The two Badgers glanced toward Richard and the group who followed him with such deference. They had claimed the front row. Richard and his followers—people privately called them the "Richard faction." Made up mostly of heavily muscled men, the group took both gym training and raising new recruits seriously.

They always occupied one corner of the headquarters gym and frequently went out for meals to build camaraderie. So much so that someone had once complained, asking whether they weren't forming a private clique. Yehyeon, the commander-in-chief himself, didn't mind, though.

"Even if they pass the promotion exam, Richard will have something to say if they don't meet his standards, won't he?"

"Nobody meets Richard's standards." Ami laughed, crunching on a chip Shu had handed her. "Don't worry. It wasn't just you."

"I feel sorry for the juniors."

Ami giggled again. For a while, they quietly watched the drone footage of the new recruits: three men walking toward an instructor after changing clothes.

Ami was gazing absently at their heads when she spotted someone walking down the aisle. Her eyes widened.

"Ric!"

Riccardo stopped. The tall, handsome man turned his head, then looked down and found the two small Badgers. His mouth stretched into a broad smile, his dark green eyes curving into crescents. He approached with his characteristic easygoing saunter.

"Ami~..."

"I've never seen you come to watch this before, Ric." Ami blinked at him as he draped an arm over the back of the seat in front of Shu. "You never watch these. You said there was nothing fun about watching little chicks fumble around."

"Ah~... Had some time to kill today~..."

"Hello, sir," Shu greeted him politely.

Riccardo waved a hand in acknowledgment.

"Hi~. Here to watch your first juniors?"

"Yes."

"Your name was... Diamond, wasn't it~?"

"Yes. Shu Diamond."

"Sit next to me, Ric." Ami patted the seat beside her. Then, as something occurred to her, she craned her neck to look around. "Unless you've arranged to sit with someone else? Though I doubt Kudo would come."

"No way that bastard would come to something like this." Riccardo snorted, then excused himself as he passed Shu to take the seat beside Ami. He slouched lazily against the backrest.

His green gaze shot toward the screen. The new recruits were now listening to the instructor explain the airborne test procedure. All three stood at attention in uniform. Watching them, the seniors offered cheerful commentary.

"They'll all pass, right?"

"Who knows? At least the weather's calm today."

"Man, they've got it easy! Back in my day, it was so windy, you know? They said they couldn't even send up a balloon, never mind a helicopter!"

"That white hair really stands out."

"It sure does. Tall and handsome, too. Is it dyed?"

"Surprisingly enough, it's natural."

"Huh? What, he went gray early?"

"Ami."

Ami whipped around at the voice behind her. Its owner wasn't hard to find: the person who had called her name was standing right behind her seat. For the second time since entering the media room, Ami's eyes went wide.

"Sylvia!" She was even more surprised than she'd been to see Riccardo. "Don't tell me you're here to watch the promotion exam?"

"Yes."

The pale woman lowered her head, sending her cool silver hair spilling forward. Beneath neat, wispy bangs, her blue eyes gleamed strangely.

"Hildebert is taking the exam today, isn't he?"

"Yes, he is."

"Hello, ma'am."

"You actually remember juniors' names~?" Riccardo turned his head slightly to look at the chilly woman. "I thought you could barely remember your seniors' names..."

Sylvia didn't answer. Instead, she thanked Ami and calmly sat down behind her. Having ignored both her senior Riccardo's remark and her junior Shu's greeting, she turned her pale blue eyes toward the screen. Her gaze fixed on the white-haired new recruit and stayed there.

Ami watched Sylvia intently for a moment, then turned back around.

"Why is Hilde so popular with such unusual people?" she murmured to herself. Had Hilde heard her, he would have buried his face in his hands in misery.

"Are there so many people here because word's gotten around about Hilde?"

"I heard quite a few came to see Tom and Heshy too," Shu said, offering Riccardo the open blue bag of chips. As he declined with a smile and a wave, Ami opened her second sparkling water.

"Apparently, Tom disobeyed an order from Dawson to leave a puppy to die. Word's gotten around that he's got a stubborn streak despite looking so mild-mannered. Heshy was pretty well-known from the start because people heard his father's an army general, but he got even more famous after that huge fight with Jawad the other day. Unfortunately, unlike Tom, he seems to have gotten a bit of a bad reputation."

"Oh. I was worried people might get the wrong impression of Heshy. He's hotheaded, but he's really such a sweet guy."

"Yes. He really is." Shu readily agreed, then looked down at the blue bag of chips.

The commotion died down. Most people had taken their seats now, and the exam was about to start. The new recruits warmed up to the instructor's commands. A whistle echoed through the media room.

TWEET TWEET TWEET. TWEET-TWEET-TWEET-TWEET, TWEET-TWEET.

The seniors watched them with enjoyment. Listening to the murmur of conversation as she stared down at her chips, Shu suddenly spoke.

"All three will do well, right?" There was a faint note of worry in her voice. "I want them all to get promoted without any trouble, so we can relax a little and go out on our days off."

"Yeah. They're all good, so they'll be fine!" Ami gave her a smile. Tilting her head, she looked at Shu as fondly as she would a cute little sister.

"Do you hang out with the new recruits often? What do you do together?"

Shu looked up. Ami was smiling affectionately, while Riccardo spared her a brief glance of polite interest. Looking at their faces, she answered without much thought.

"The other day, we went to buy an indie game with a protagonist named Hildeberet Taleb."

Puzzlement entered both seniors' eyes. Neither Riccardo nor Ami understood what Shu meant. But just as Ami was about to ask what she was talking about, someone shouted at the top of their lungs.

"The training officers are here!"

The media room door opened, and Yun, Karl, and Angela walked in, one after another. Applause erupted at once. People whistled at the training officers as they entered with stiff expressions.

"Well done!"

"Thanks for all your hard work!"

"It's out of your hands now, so sit back and enjoy the exam!"

"That's strange." Ami tilted her head as she watched them take seats in the center of the third row, with the best view of the screen. "Why does my brother look so angry?"

The three training officers were soon seated, their gazes fixed unwaveringly on the screen. Various people tried to speak to them, but none of the three opened their mouths. They simply sat there staring at the screen, their expressions rigid.

More precisely, Angela's and Karl's eyes held worry, faith, and affection. Yun's held anger, irritation, and possessiveness. Something that could never be called affection. But an emotion infinitely far from indifference.

As Choi Yun glared at the screen with that irksome emotion in his eyes, the exam began.