Black Badger - Chapter 335



Only Noblemtl

335. Confrontation (1)

I shut my mouth straight.

I thought it wasn’t noticeable enough that even I didn’t notice it.

I couldn’t bring myself to avoid its sharp green gaze.

I slowly put my hands, which were outside the blanket, back into the blanket.

“…It will get better with time.”

Now, it’s like I can look in the mirror somehow.

“Please wait a moment.”

“…You really don’t want to get counseling~?”

As soon as I admitted it, the senior’s voice softened.

I laughed bitterly.

“I’ll try it when I have time.”

“You’re saying you’re not going.”

Scar said.

“You and Jonathan always talk like that. And yet you never go to counseling. Rick. Now is the time to grab your successor’s hand and go for counseling together.”

“I’m not like him… I told you he can’t even hold hands with someone right now~?”

“Is it because of the reckless driving?”

Scar asked while sitting on the sickbed.

Neither Ricardo nor Izana are allowed to escape.

I turned my head towards him, complaining.

“I think so.”

“No one is afraid of you, so just stop digging… It ended well~.”

“I’m glad it ended well.”

“Why don’t you want to make contact?”

Isn’t it obvious?

I was afraid that I might accidentally absorb someone. I knew it was an irrational fear, but I couldn’t control it.

The fact that I had attacked my superiors in an unreasonable manner hit me hard.

I was so out of it that I didn’t realize what was happening until Yoon told me.

Once I realized the situation, everything came rushing back.

But I didn’t want to explain it in such detail, so I just answered awkwardly.

“It was a shocking experience. It must be one of the trauma reactions. It will get better with some rest. I have had strange habits before, but they have improved with time.”

“What was it…?”

“It’s a secret.”

For a moment, a blue vein seemed to appear on Ricardo’s temple.

But I didn’t reconfirm it. Instead, I quickly changed the subject. I asked how everyone was doing after the mission and what the atmosphere was like at headquarters.

Scar laughed and replied, ‘I don’t know.’

Ricardo didn’t talk about the atmosphere at headquarters.

He didn’t delve any further into my strange reactions. He looked down at me and let out a deep breath.

“When will I see the faces of my subordinates…?”

What’s wrong with this guy, he just pokes at the sore spots.

I moved my gaze to the corner of the sickroom.

“I don’t know.”

If I feel a little better… .

“…Jack is still down there?”

“Let me know when your condition improves~.”

We had a conversation.

I turned my head and Ricardo snorted.

“I’ll contact you by cell phone then….”

I immediately reached for my cell phone.

I must have had lunch. Now I had the right to look at my phone.

But it was taken away.

Ricardo snatched it away.

“Rick!”

It’s not like your condition will get worse just because you look at your phone a little bit, so why is everyone like this?

“Please give it back!”

“You’re not going to tell me what the pattern is… .”

Why tell me that?

I wasn’t doing anything special, but I still kept it locked. I couldn’t show my phone to just anyone because I had conversations with my subordinates and my elders.

He held out his palm to indicate that he wanted it returned.

Ricardo let out a heavy sigh and placed his cell phone next to Scar’s bed.

“no….”

“Black hasn’t contacted you yet~. I’ll let you know right away, so see you then… .”

And then he really didn’t hand it over anymore.

In the end, I couldn’t check my phone that day either.

***

Every day dedicated to recovery.

While I was sleeping, taking medicine, and sleeping again, Lee Ho came to visit me in the hospital.

He was hospitalized briefly, but fortunately he recovered and was discharged.

He said he is receiving counseling for mild PTSD symptoms.

The reasons for my PTSD were complex. First, it was because of the trauma from the combat and kidnapping, and second, it was because of what I experienced while being kidnapped.

I listened to Lee Ho’s story while rubbing my chin with my hand.

“I don’t remember the details.”

Today, too, the man with dark circles under his eyes rolled the drink cap back and forth in his hand.

“It wasn’t meant to be torture. They usually put us to sleep and do something to us. When we woke up, parts of our bodies had turned ashen. Fortunately, only my arms had changed, so I can move without any problems. I still don’t know exactly what they did. It seemed like they didn’t want us to see it.”

What are you doing?

It was clear that they were trying something. It seemed to be along the same lines as kidnapping Shu.

The problem is that I have no idea what they are trying to do.

Lee Ho and the other Badgers who had been kidnapped were all examined, and no abnormalities other than calcifications were found.

Since there’s no chance of winning with normal warfare, they’ll try to catch us off guard with magic or something. Like the space teleportation seeds scattered inside the core.

Those who were kidnapped did not remember the calcification process.

Sleeping pills were used, and as if that wasn’t enough, their memories were also erased with magic.

It’s not that the seniors don’t remember all the violence they suffered there.

The badgers attempted to escape and rebelled.

I bet you wouldn’t have tolerated it.

Black Badger was trained to deal with creatures, but he had no idea how to deal with the violence wielded by a malevolent human – or, as it seemed, another species.

“I’m sorry. I should have come to the negotiating table earlier.”

“Hey.”

Lee Ho put his hands in his pockets and leaned his upper body against the back of the chair.

“If no one had come back, I would have just written a letter of resignation. I would have quit because I was unqualified.”

“…Senior.”

“If you rebelled, you got beaten. But if you didn’t rebel, they just threw you in a corner. Sometimes, they would tell you to come out, and you’d come back after a good night’s sleep.”

It looks like he’s fiddling with a bottle cap with his hands in his pockets.

The sound of the bottle cap crumpling and unfolding was heard repeatedly.

Anxiety contained in obsessive sounds.

Lee Ho looked at me with dark eyes.

“But what happened to you?”

I was surprised by the question that came without any hesitation.

“What happened to you after being taken away that you still haven’t been discharged?”

I smiled bitterly at the guilt and fear in my senior’s eyes.

Although he speaks roughly, he is a very kind person.

He must have known that if the conditions had not been met, I would not have gone to the negotiating table. Even knowing this, he felt a heavy sense of guilt toward me.

“It’s because I have sepsis. You know by now that my recovery is slower than that of a normal Badger.”

“… They sometimes talk about you.”

The senior looked through the sickroom floor.

“Even though I told them not to listen, they tore us apart often. I didn’t have time to convey my message. And I was the one who was called out the most rarely. The other kids were called out and had long conversations with the enemy, got food from them and distributed it, and gave them clothes, but I never had a chance to meet all of the kidnapped squad members.”

“Because you were trained, senior.”

I, too, could tell like a ghost who was trained for this and who wasn’t. Who was properly trained and who wasn’t.

How vulnerable a person becomes when he loses his freedom and everything is at the mercy of his enemies.

It was completely different from dealing with a monster that couldn’t speak.

Moreover, most of them would never have encountered a humanoid enemy.

Many of them must have collapsed.

If they took their words, they would have made me the target of hatred and anger.

That way I could endure it.

“I’m sorry. I can’t treat you like a lifesaver.”

“Because they are untrained and don’t know anything about me. That’s understandable. And the enemy is an expert in that field.”

“Tell Jack too.”

ah.

“Your real name is Kairos, right?”

For the first time, I wiped the smile off my face.

I didn’t even know he had told his story.

It was fortunate that he had some level of recognition. He was a prominent figure in the center core, so it wouldn’t be easy to mess with him.

“You even talked about Kairos.”

“Huh? You didn’t guess? That’s why I thought you were distancing yourself from him.”

Lee Ho’s words pierced my heart sharply.

I couldn’t stand it anymore and swept my face once.

“…Is he still killing time in the hospital lobby?”

“That’s what it was like today.”

A kid who just won’t listen to anyone, except in really weird places.

The forgotten anxiety came rushing back to me.

I’ve had him sitting in the hospital lobby for almost a week now. If you count the days he was out of his mind, it’s been almost ten days.

None of the people who came to visit me allowed me to look at my phone, so I couldn’t contact them.

Who would have thought that in a situation where your sixth sense is cut off, even cell phones would be banned?

“You were tortured.”

I came to my senses at the sound of Lee Ho’s voice.

“That’s why you don’t want to see your subordinates’ faces. Because something happened to you.”

I smiled bitterly for the umpteenth time.

“For some reason or another… Oh, so I was going to send you a message on my phone anyway. Could you please hand me the phone over there?”

please!

After asking naturally, I controlled my facial expression.

I wish it sounded like something casual, like asking for a water bottle.

Lee Ho narrowed his eyes.

A sharp, scrutinizing gaze.

It seemed like he had noticed something, but thankfully he didn’t show it.

It’s a good thing Scar was discharged from the hospital a day ago.

Lee Ho gave me his cell phone.

“Don’t do it for too long.”

“thank you!”

If Lee Ho goes, he has to use his cell phone.

He smiled and picked up the phone.

***

Jonathan came right after and couldn’t do it.

While Carl, who had replaced Jonathan, was away, I turned on my well-hidden cell phone.

And I almost dropped my phone.

[Yoon: Oh, did you turn it on?]

“Eww!”

A message that pops up as soon as you turn it on.

I threw myself back with a small scream.

chin!

“Crazy human… .”

I barely managed to catch the falling cell phone after drawing a parabola in the air.

The LCD almost got shattered.

“What’s wrong with me looking at my phone…?”

Yoon probably won’t hear it though.

I muttered that because I felt hurt for no reason. Then I quickly pushed away the message from Yoon that was floating at the top.

I wondered how this one ended up at the top with such perfect timing, but decided not to wonder too much.

There was no time because I had to see the delayed messages before the knife arrived.

I hurriedly entered the message.

It was full of piles.

[Igor: Don’t be impatient, just call me when you feel like it. I know you’re alive and well, and you’re not going anywhere, so why can’t I wait?]

[Rose: If you have any orders, please let me know right away! I’m home. Just focus on getting better, Commander! If you want to hit the Hwa-ryong-ju more, please let me know♡]

[Deltay: Igor Gaejasonggi]

[Rose: I approve of everything about you, Captain♡]

[Deltey: Hilde! She keeps making me exercise!]

[Rose: Don’t worry about people like us and just go in the direction you think you should go… ♡]

[You: Delete all calls from unsaved numbers.]

[Daeja: I’m sorry I couldn’t show you my face because I’m busy. Don’t read calls from unknown numbers. Just focus on recovering. If anything happens, please contact me right away.]

[Army: (Video of sheep jumping around) They look alike.]

[Tom: Hilde. I heard you got hurt on a mission. Call me when you recover. Ignore Hesi’s message.]

[Hesi: I’ll clear up all the misunderstandings, so don’t worry and come out and rest comfortably!]

[(Anonymous): Creature Puppy Gross]

[(Anonymous): Hey, are you shameless? If you were a creature, you shouldn’t have avoided this place, but you should have tried not to get involved. What shame did you have to get a job here? I’m speechless at your shamelessness. Do you think this is cool to you? Is it some kind of sense of superiority? Do you feel joy by helping an uncivilized race?]

[(Anonymous): The creature’s number. The creature’s number.]

[Senior Karlak: Stay still, I’m taking them out one by one.]

What are you doing?

I blinked when I saw the first message from Sophia.

This isn’t a story about badgers, is it?

I moved my finger and replied, ‘What are you trying to do, sir?’

There was no answer. I checked the piled up messages without paying any attention.

So that’s why you keep stopping me from checking my phone.

But contrary to my seniors’ worries, I was not affected at all. The insults I received from strangers did not affect me at all.

Rather, I felt a little warmer when I read messages from people I had never met before.

I feel a little relieved now that I’ve been contacted.

Especially after reading the messages from my subordinates, I feel like I will live much longer… .

[Kai: Hilde.]

A new message alert has appeared.

I sat stiffly in my seat.

A message that flew to me as if it had been watching me.

[Kai: After the leaf veins were damaged, Noya would often have unintentional emotional transference when his condition worsened.]

The message contained the name of the fire dragon who had died while covered in flames.

Kairos brought up the story of his servant horse for the first time since arriving on Earth.

[Kai: Only if your condition gets so bad that you can’t control your body. You know what I mean.]

I think so.

I even wished that it were so… .

But I guess it would be better to hear it directly.

He would want that too.

It’s almost time for me to be discharged from the hospital.

“…I have to face it.”

I put my phone down.

He bent down, buried his face in his hands, and muttered to himself.

“You shouldn’t run away. I’ll try my best, Master.”

I called someone I had never called before since I came to Earth.

I think of someone who reminded me of the importance of having the courage to face problems.

I gathered my courage while recalling his memories for a long time.

***

Someone knocked loudly on the sickroom door.

It was an unusually urgent and rough knocking sound.

There must be a dent in the door.

“calm down.”

I raised my upper body while laughing.

“Don’t break the door. Come in quickly.”

Knock knock!

As soon as he finished speaking, the door opened.

Eyes that are shaking back and forth more than usual.

Bright orange eyes.

“Hilde.”

The owner of the eyes called my name desperately.

I met his gaze with a bitter smile.

“Kairos.”