Black Badger - Chapter 353



Only Noblemtl

353. Physical Test (4)

Wouldn’t it be a pain?

This is something I’ve been thinking about for a while now.

Laura might not be able to remember the date of the appointment well enough.

No, I think that’s much more likely.

You’ll probably forget about it once the physical test day passes!

I smiled faintly, feeling a surge of hope.

“It’s okay since it won’t happen anyway.”

“Didn’t you just make an appointment?”

“You’ll forget, right?”

Jonathan’s question was answered quickly.

“You wouldn’t remember.”

“I guess I’ll have to hope so.”

Jonathan’s words reassured me.

If this taciturn senior is this worried, what on earth happens when he drinks with the head of human resources?

“I don’t want to imagine it,” I muttered. “There’s no way you’ll remember this.” Ricardo snorted.

“I told you to put it off, but you insisted on coming to the training grounds, and now this is what happens~.”

Ricardo bent down and scolded me.

“You haven’t acted yet?”

“I just did it.”

I smiled bitterly.

“I guess it won’t work.”

If I looked at it like this, I really didn’t think I would be able to pass.

It had been less than ten minutes since I had decided that I would have to go to Jin or Shu during the physical examination period. It was okay if Mullen didn’t pass, but if I didn’t, there would be a problem.

There is no need to take unnecessary risks… .

My seniors stopped nagging me because they were satisfied with my choice.

I’ve been watching my seniors exercise for a while.

Tom and Hesi were relieved to see that I wasn’t in too much of a mess and went off to do some shooting practice together.

John Mullen was picked up by Law, who returned a few minutes later after remembering his presence. Law said he remembered Mullen’s presence while eating dinner.

When you see the cactus in the taco place, you remember leaving him behind?

Anyway, after seeing off the scientist who was being dragged away on Ro’s shoulders, I continued to loiter around the training grounds.

I lay sprawled out on the mat until the three seniors finished their workout.

Ricardo and Jonathan must have come together, and Yoon just happened to have the timing right.

Of the three, Yoon was the first to finish exercising.

The shooter came over, still having finished showering, and stopped next to me as I leaned against the mirror in the training room.

“What are you doing?”

I looked up at the shooter and smiled.

“Senior, I’ve been waiting for you. I have something to ask you.”

“What is it?”

“What’s going on with ARMY?”

It was serious.

I wanted to contact her again after that day, but Ami was out on a mission so I couldn’t ask her directly.

I couldn’t even visit their house. I can’t believe it, but I had a fever over the weekend. It wasn’t a low-grade fever, so I couldn’t even go out properly. My fellow countrymen locked me in the hut and even took my cell phone away.

I was really curious so I asked Kairos, but the kid just laughed for a long time and didn’t give me a clear answer.

‘Take it easy and relax. You seem to be a bit impatient lately.’

‘Aren’t you worried about your shooter? I’m totally against this relationship.’

‘What should I worry about? My shooter will make the decision she wants. Whether she’s dating or not, she’ll make the decision that’s right for her.’

‘The only right decision here is not to date.’

He spoke firmly, looking at Kairos, who was changing the towel on his forehead.

‘We have to cut it off in the bud.’

Then what did Kairos say?

I think he laughed and said, ‘But my shooter will do whatever he wants.’

Even though I explained the rumor about the HR manager’s affair, his expression didn’t change much. It wasn’t that he didn’t care about Ami, but rather that he thought Ami was a similar type to him.

It’s not a wrong judgment, but… .

As I recalled the memory of the evening two days ago, Yoon answered dryly.

“First of all, I have obtained Ye-Hyeon’s permission.”

I didn’t quite understand what Yoon was saying.

“What permission?”

“Just enough so that it doesn’t interfere with work.”

ah.

That’s a noble way of saying to let it go.

Of course I understood. It made sense. It made sense enough. I still couldn’t quite believe that the HR manager was really talking to Ami.

Yoon let out a small fart.

“Army isn’t giving a clear answer.”

“No, why?”

I was relieved by Ye-Hyeon’s permission, but I was startled by Yoon’s next words.

“There was only one answer in the first place!”

“I said that too. He never listens to me.”

“If I try to persuade you, will you listen to me?”

“I don’t usually listen to others, but try talking. I like you so much that I think I’ll listen to you a little.”

Contact ARMY right away.

I took out my phone and went into the message window.

And then I typed in a message that got straight to the point. Of course, I never thought that Ami would actually date Joo, but I wanted to eliminate even that one possibility.

What Tvein said keeps lingering in my head.

I thought about the emoticon after sending a message that I thought was not real, even though I’m sick of hearing it already.

As I was thinking seriously, Ricardo and Jonathan, who had just finished exercising, approached me.

“Senior.”

I sent a bouncing sheep emoticon, then looked up and called my senior.

“Please tell me that I don’t think you are the head of the personnel department.”

Ricardo did not answer.

Instead, he turned his head with a faint smile and nodded his chin.

There was an Ami coming into the training grounds, humming in the direction he pointed with his chin.

A senior came in humming and widened his eyes at us.

The timing is perfect.

“oh!”

Ami found us and came running to us often.

“Everyone is here to prepare for the physical test!”

Ami, who came over and naturally handed the water bottle to Yoon, turned her body towards me.

She looked me in the eye and asked.

“How are you, Hilde? I heard you were sick over the weekend!”

“I feel a lot better, senior. My fever has gone down too.”

“Did you have a fever?”

Jonathan looked at me, frowning.

Ricardo looked down at Ami next to me, smiling awkwardly.

He said as soon as she raised her head, noticing his gaze.

“Ami~… Are you still answering the phone from the HR manager~?”

Ami nodded.

“Yeah, that’s true.”

what?

“Everyone is trying to talk me out of it, but we’re still in contact. We’re going to take some time to decide what to do.”

“Isn’t there a reason why everyone is trying to talk me out of it?”

Ricardo said softly.

That’s a really good point, Rick!

Ami tilted her head next to me as I shouted inwardly.

She looked up into his green eyes and replied.

“That’s true, but this is a matter of my heart, so I want to look at it carefully and make a judgment. For now, I don’t feel as much physiological resistance as when I was a low-level person.”

“Really~?”

“huh.”

This is driving me crazy.

“So I’m trying to listen to the voice in my heart.”

“Will that really lead to the right choice…? I’m skeptical~.”

“I think I’m quite rational.”

“Really~?”

“But I’m two years older than Rick!”

Amy grumbled.

“I guess I’m older than you!”

Ricardo chuckled.

He put both hands in his trouser pockets and looked down at Ami.

Then he spoke slowly.

“Why… When we first met, didn’t you say, ‘I was in a coma for two years, so we’re basically the same age, right?’?”

Ami’s mouth was shut tightly.

Ami, who was looking up at Ricardo with a shocked face, said, “I want to go exercise,” and took the water bottle from Yoon before disappearing into the training ground. She left Jonathan and I, blinking, Ricardo laughing, and Yoon snorting.

please.

I hope ARMY makes the right decision.

I came out of the training ground with my seniors, begging earnestly.

While listening to the nagging from both sides, telling me to please stay in the cabin and be quiet if I’m not feeling well.

***

It’s going to be cancelled anyway.

How much alcohol can the HR manager drink?

After much thought, I sent a message to William Walker.

Without adding any specifics, I just wrote, “I ended up having a drink with the HR manager, but is this always a drinking party?”

The reply came right away.

The moment I was about to put my phone down, it vibrated.

[William Walker: How did it come to that?]

Before I could even provide further explanation, messages arrived one after another.

[William Walker: I don’t think you made a bet or anything.]

[William Walker: Don’t just bet on the amount. Whatever you imagine, it will be more than that.]

[William Walker: If you don’t want to bet, then don’t worry. I’m not the type of person to force you to drink.]

How well do you drink?

I replied with a slightly tired expression of gratitude.

It was a greeting sent to end the conversation. I thought he would not reply after seeing the brief reply, but surprisingly, Walker asked about my well-being.

When I briefly replied that I was waiting for my body to recover, he asked me to let him know when I recovered.

What is it?

I was curious, but I didn’t ask any further questions.

He simply replied that he would do so.

There are too many things to worry about right now.

So, I put my doubts about Walker’s strange reaction aside and turned my attention to You.

To be precise, to the compatriots in the cabin.

Aren’t You and Deltey feeling suffocated in this cramped cabin?

Even I still didn’t know where You’s house was. Deltey had been going back to his house three days a week, saying he was recording, but You, like Igor, was staying in the hut and not moving at all.

Don’t go apologize to your classmates about that topic.

One day, I will definitely catch you and drag you in front of my classmates.

“I thought about it for a long time, but I think the gist of it is this.”

But it is not yet time for that either.

I put aside my desire for a three-way meeting between Hesi, Tom, and You and listened to You’s explanation.

The bookseller said gloomily.

“Kyle is trying to neutralize the core.”

“Well, if you don’t do that, you won’t be able to attack in the first place.”

“They say they are planning a preemptive strike.”

When Igor asked in a voice asking why he was talking about such an obvious thing, the bookkeeper shot back a rebuke.

Igor raises an eyebrow.

I waved my hand to prevent any argument that might ensue.

Igor immediately shut his mouth and You turned your gaze back to me blankly.

The bookseller projected a hologram.

“I heard you’ve already seen it in person. It’s a flower that the warlock made bloom in his nest.”

“Oh, right. That’s right. Do you know what this is?”

“I don’t know exactly either.”

A giant flower that was used to store the kidnapped Shu.

In the center of the flower was a pond of water. All the flowers on Kyle’s side had water rippling in the center.

Kairos looked at the hologram and confirmed once again that this flower looked exactly like the flower he had climbed before.

Then he explained again what had happened at that time.

The puddle of water that had formed in the center of the flower was said to be emitting a soft light.

It was also said that Shu’s body, half-submerged in water, appeared double-layered like a faulty liquid crystal display.

Even if you see the memories of someone other than yourself.

As if I was possessed by the voice of a dream.

“It seems like when Kyle pushed Shu into that flower, some of Kyle’s memories got mixed in.”

I muttered as I recalled the conversation I had with Shu at the time.

“So I think that flower might be some kind of memory-related magic.”

Kairos and Sugar, who had entered the flower water, also heard something at the same time.

‘You want to lock me in this hell so that you can be comfortable alone?’

I thought about this sentence sometimes.

Who said that?

Was this said by one of my own people on Kyle’s side? Or by one of my own people? Or was it said by a human?

When I was pondering a question that had no answer, memories flowed like water, and I often found myself thinking about Shu or Kyle.

Born with a portal singularity, Shu is kidnapped by Kyle and decides to cut off his immobile leg.

Then I can run again.

My senior used to smile at me and say, ‘But you didn’t turn to ash.’

I was woken from my reverie by You’s voice.

“I know differently. The flowers of the Warlock’s Nest are known to be commonly used in teleportation magic.”

“Teleportation? But teleportation magic doesn’t look like that. I’m sorry I don’t know much about magic, but what exactly is teleportation magic?”

“It is only natural that you are ignorant. How exclusive they are. Even I, the Emperor’s strategist, have no knowledge of the basics of magic…”

You looked at the hologram with gloomy eyes.

“I don’t have the knowledge to explain it exactly. However, I think those flowers are related to teleportation magic. Otherwise, why would I be growing so many of them?”

“So the leadership is planning to strike the enemy before they use that unidentified thing?”

“yes.”

“What about the research on that flower?”

“I’m looking through what survived from the materials I brought back from the Empire. There hasn’t been a proper harvest yet…”

“Ah. Are there any survivors among those brought from the Empire?”

I thought it had disappeared in the flames of war or that Kyle’s side had taken it all.

It was a casual question, but suddenly everyone in the cabin nodded at the same time.

I was a little taken aback by those who expressed their vehement affirmation.

I was even more confused when I heard Deltey’s somewhat sad voice.

“I kept your old clothes and documents well.”

“Really? Thanks.”

I didn’t think deeply about it.

Actually, I half-listened to it. I was more concerned about the information You gave me than the fact that there was anything left.

Let Kyle get back in shape before he makes his move.

I pleaded with the severed leaf veins and listened to the scribe’s subsequent explanation.

***

The day of the physical test.

I came to see Shu.