Black Badger - Chapter 336



Only Noblemtl

336. Confrontation (2)

Even after the door to the hospital room was closed, Kairos remained glued to the door and did not move.

It seemed like he couldn’t decide whether he should approach me or not. He was studying me intently with his orange eyes, but he couldn’t bring himself to take a step forward.

A surge of regret came over me.

I was so flustered at the time that I shouted at him not to come near me. You probably remember what I said.

But Kairos is not guilty.

It wasn’t the first time I had ever had an emotional transference with him. Thinking back on that time doesn’t make me feel any better, but I still felt more comfortable talking to him than with people who had never had an emotional transference conversation before.

“sorry.”

I looked at the minister standing like a stone statue and laughed bitterly.

“Don’t just stand there. Come and sit down. I won’t eat you.”

“What’s the status?”

Kairos came to the bedside at once.

“Ami said that the inflammation levels aren’t measured….”

“That’s right. I don’t know the exact reason. But the frequency of fevers has definitely decreased, so I think I’ll be able to be discharged soon.”

“ah.”

A small sigh of relief escaped from the man caught.

“That’s fortunate.”

I looked at my opponent with a grin.

A red-faced man sitting on a chair next to the sickbed. In the Empire, his own people, who had maintained a proper distance, were the only ones he could honestly talk to about the damaged veins.

I had to talk to him. I had to talk, I had to try, I had to figure out what to do next.

There was a mountain of work to do.

I need to figure out what the elders are up to. I need to hear how the seniors are doing amidst all this chaos, and I also need to find out what Kyle has been up to since that day.

It means that you can’t run away any longer.

I put orange irises in my eyes.

“Kairos.”

When I called his name, Kairos returned my sharp gaze.

“First of all, I’m sorry.”

“I knew you would say that.”

ok?

Kairos frowned as he was surprised by the unexpected answer.

I was surprised by the rare painting called the Low Pressure Dragon Pearl, and the other person said.

“That emotional transference was never your intention. Are you going to ask children who unintentionally transfer their emotions to apologize?”

“No! What nonsense are you talking about?”

“Then you shouldn’t say sorry.”

The man spoke in a more determined voice than expected.

“Isn’t that so?”

I kept my mouth shut.

I glanced at Kairos for a moment.

I understood what he meant. I knew he wouldn’t like it if I apologized.

Still, I couldn’t help but apologize.

I opened my mouth which had been shut for a long time.

“I said that to put my mind at ease. It probably wasn’t a good feeling to receive it. I didn’t even realize what kind of emotion I was conveying.”

“I wasn’t offended at all, so don’t worry about it.”

“Then that’s fortunate… .”

“I guess you don’t trust me as much as I thought?”

What does this mean?

“no.”

He quickly denied the minister’s question.

It was even scarier because he didn’t seem upset like when I apologized. It seemed like he was just accepting the nonsense as fact.

This is an absurd misinterpretation.

“What nonsense are you talking about? It’s the opposite. If I didn’t trust you, I wouldn’t have called you here now.”

It would never have occurred to me to tell him.

Maybe Youga knows more, but I chose the servant to confide in.

I felt more comfortable around him when I was in the Empire because he was neither my superior nor my subordinate.

We’re all roughly the same age.

I looked into the opponent’s left eye.

“Eyes?”

“I can see it with my right eye, so I can’t really tell the difference.”

“I heard from the doctor that you get tired easily.”

“Not really. You don’t have to worry too much about it.”

Kairos smiled broadly.

“Thank you for saving my life.”

I didn’t answer because it was something I didn’t want to think about again.

Just thinking about Kairos, who was on the verge of death, made my stomach turn. I quickly went over the memories of that time and tried to recall what happened next.

“How did you get so emotional?”

I muttered, looking into the empty space of the hospital room.

Since I was prepared, I asked sensitive questions without hesitation.

“Will this kind of thing happen more often in the future?”

“I’ve been wanting to tell you this story for so long.”

Kairos answered without hesitation.

I turned my head in surprise and saw the minister with slightly scrunched eyes.

The man explained as if he had been waiting.

“Humans rarely have their veins broken. On the other hand, did you know that it happens quite often to monsters?”

I didn’t know.

As I shook my head, the minister added an explanation.

“Not all species are like that, but their leaf veins are more fragile than those of humans. Since they live a harsher life than humans, their leaf veins are sometimes damaged. And as I said before, I used a method called emotional transfer to tame my servants. Did you know? Although it is considered a superstition in the Empire, there are monsters that know how to transfer fragments of their emotions to humans.”

“what?”

That sounds like a total superstition.

“Does that make sense? I’ve heard that missionaries can transfer emotions to monsters while performing their duties. But isn’t it generally accepted that the opposite isn’t true?”

“That was the accepted orthodoxy in the Empire. But I know of a counterexample.”

“What is paper?”

“dragon.”

I opened my mouth wide.

He must have a stupid expression on his face.

“Your fire dragon?!”

My voice reflexively grew louder.

“Noya?!”

“that’s right.”

A moment of longing appeared in the missionary’s orange eyes.

“I used to have emotional changes every time there was a final.”

“Is Hwa-ryong’s intelligence as great as Bing-ryong’s…?”

“No. I don’t think so. Hwa-ryong didn’t have intelligence comparable to a human. Because he didn’t use language.”

“Maybe they used their own language? Well, then you would know….”

“Many people believe that humans are arrogant and have mistakenly concluded that animals and monsters do not speak to each other. This is an illusion. Animals of all known species, and monsters of all known species except for the rarest species that speak Imperial, do not use languages ​​of human complexity. This is beside the point, though.”

The story certainly went in a different direction.

Kairos turned the story around.

“The point is, Hilde. I have witnessed the emotional transference of a dragon whose leaf veins were damaged.”

“When were the veins of Noya’s leaf damaged?”

“When the world falls apart.”

“ah.”

I knew that Noya had fallen while fighting against pollution until the end.

I remembered Kairos struggling with a sense of loss right after he came to Earth.

It appears that the veins of the dragon’s leaf were damaged before being swallowed by the blue fire.

“Hilde. That’s why I know that even if the veins are damaged, my emotions won’t run wild unless my physical condition is at its worst.”

Kairos spoke with strength.

“So don’t be too afraid. If you take good care of your body, something like last time won’t happen again.”

I understand what you are saying.

Thank you for sharing. I’m sure it wasn’t an easy story to bring up.

I knew that the minister was deeply shaken by Noya’s death. For a while, even hearing Noya’s name was painful to him.

The loss will never be healed.

You must have gotten used to living with a hollow dragon-shaped hole in your heart.

“thank you.”

I barely managed to see Kairos’ eyes.

“Now I can face you guys again with peace of mind.”

The other person smiled faintly.

He didn’t seem to jump for joy. It was as if he knew I still had something to say.

right.

Some of my fears were somewhat allayed by what he said, but my biggest fear was not faced.

To face it, I thought I’d ask him a favor.

and.

I’m really speechless.

“Kairos.”

When his name was called, the man nodded silently.

He didn’t rush me, he just waited for me to open my mouth again.

I appreciated his calm demeanor, but it still took him a really long time to speak.

It took more courage than when I revealed my identity to my superiors.

I finally managed to force out my voice after the sound of the medical bots gliding down the hospital hallway had faded away.

“transition….”

“say.”

“Emotional transference.”

Before I knew it, I was muttering in a voice that was crawling like a hawk.

“Am I completely incapable of emotional transference?”

It was nice that it was quiet.

However, the fact that I might never feel the feelings of my own kind made me anxious. Even as I was about to fall asleep, I woke up to this worry.

I can see that you can’t sense Kyle’s feelings from far away.

Does that mean I can no longer receive emotions from those close to me?

I don’t want to be human… .

He bit his lips and whispered.

“Can you transfer your emotions to me for once?”

I wanted to check.

Whether the other person can transfer emotions to me. Whether I can feel the transferred emotions.

Is it completely broken, or is it possible to detect even fragments?

If you don’t face reality, fear will remain in a corner of your heart forever.

I will continue to harbor absurd hopes for as long as I can.

I couldn’t ignore reality while holding onto such things. I wanted to clearly recognize the situation I was in. I was going to get frustrated enough to shake it off and get up.

To do that, I mustered up my courage and made an outrageous request.

It was a shameless remark that could have made the other person feel offended or ashamed.

But somehow I had a feeling that this person would neither be ashamed nor surprised… .

It may be an arrogant thought.

A rude request… .

“of course.”

As I looked down at the blanket, I heard Kairos’ answer.

It was a softer voice than ever.

“Do it right now.”

I can’t bear to look you in the eye.

I lowered my gaze.

I waited for the emotions to ebb.

No, I hoped so. That the feelings I had felt before would come rushing back in waves.

A wave of emotions so vivid and intense that I was left speechless for a while after being swept away.

Even if it’s not as strong as last time, I wish the current would wash over me… .

… … .

There was no such thing.

I didn’t feel that overwhelming feeling I remember.

Instead, there was a faint warmth.

It was a sensation so subtle that I wouldn’t have noticed it if Kairos hadn’t told me to start.

The warmth of holding a hand warmer that has cooled down as much as it could.

The warmth you feel when you put your hand behind someone’s hood in the middle of winter.

It felt like a blanket had been wrapped around my body… .

I covered my face with both hands.

“ah.”

Tears poured out that I didn’t even know I was holding back.

The voice cracked and broke.

ah.

It’s not completely broken.

I can feel it a little bit… .

“Hilde.”

Kairos grabbed his shoulder.

“Hilde.”

Could not answer.

All I could do was suppress the sobs that were bursting out.

My heavy emotions paralyzed my body.

A sense of loss that I will no longer feel the intense emotions I felt back then. A sense of relief that not everything is lost.

I missed the dazzling emotions my partner had shown me.

I was frustrated with my situation, where I was neither a complete compatriot nor a human being.

I was grateful to Kairos for insisting on transferring my emotions before going on a mission, knowing that I wouldn’t be able to feel that vivid sensation for a while.

But even though it was twisted, the leaf veins remained… .

I am….

“It’s done now.”

Faced with reality.

“It’s okay now… .”

Now all that remains is to accept it and move on.

Even if I limp, I will be able to walk again.

I cried for a long time, leaning on my partner’s arm.