Black Badger - Chapter 359



Only Noblemtl

359. Emperor (3)

Shock appeared on the badgers’ faces.

The seniors looked at Hilde, speechless.

It was Ye-Hyeon who broke the silence.

He rolled his eyes and spoke in a cautious voice.

“Why do you want to take a leave of absence?”

The commander took a step closer to Hilde, who had a complicated expression on her face.

“Be honest with me. Is it because you can’t prioritize Black Badger’s orders?”

“I am….”

Hildebert lowered his gaze, his voice distraught.

The white-haired man standing in the middle of people’s gaze pauses as if he is gathering his thoughts.

Then, with great difficulty, I broke the silence.

“In fact, I have never been able to read the Emperor’s mind properly. So I cannot guarantee that the worst will not happen.”

“so?”

“It seems like it’ll be hard to get a mission. I guess I’ll have to stick around the whole time.”

“ah.”

A faint sense of relief appeared on Ye-Hyeon’s face.

Those who had been looking at Hildebert with faces that seemed as if they couldn’t believe what they had just heard also instantly showed expressions of relief.

Ricardo turns his head and sighs deeply.

But Hildebert did not brighten his face.

Yehyun also didn’t completely fall for those words.

The commander in chief asked.

“But you didn’t answer my first question. About command.”

“I want to remain a Black Badger.”

In those short words, relief appeared on the faces of the people gathered in the control room.

Ami’s face brightens and Sophia smiles faintly.

You and Deltey with their mouths dropping.

The white-haired man raised his head and looked at Ye-Hyeon.

“In the current situation where Kyle is moving under the surface… I don’t want to get lost in the confusion of control. Especially since I don’t even know if the author is the real emperor.”

“If he were the real me, would the answer be different?”

“no.”

The two Titans flinched at the clear answer.

Igor, who was standing behind, crossed his arms and smiled, while Kairos just quietly studied Hildebert’s face.

Hildebert looked at his superior with clear, golden eyes that seemed to glow.

“The most important thing right now is to finish the fight with Kyle. I will make sure that there are no obstacles to our path to victory.”

“What if the Emperor makes a different decision?”

“… I will not accept it.”

Hildebert answered with difficulty.

“When the moment comes to choose.”

“good.”

Ye-Hyeon muttered, letting out a sigh of relief.

“Thank you for clarifying.”

Hildebert smiled faintly.

It was a laughter mixed with sadness and pain. The eyes of the scribe who witnessed that laughter distorted.

The commander-in-chief also looked at his bitter smile.

“Is disobedience difficult?”

“That’s the law of caste system.”

Hildebert answered with a faint smile.

“I don’t like him that much… but he was my only lord. My loyalty has never been directed elsewhere.”

“It’s fortunate that I didn’t like the emperor.”

Hildebert lets out a small laugh at Yehyun’s answer.

Yehyun asked a question.

“Was it cruel?”

“No. He was called a saint. However, I have never once looked into his true inner self. Even though I have been his guard for decades.”

“They’re a dangerous group.”

The commander-in-chief turned his head to the screen.

“I’m asking for time to observe such a being for a while.”

“Yes, please.”

Hildebert spoke in a heavy voice.

“I know this may seem like a presumptuous request.”

“at all.”

The commander in chief answered briefly.

The Emperor reflected on the screen was motionless. He stood there, just as he had been before Hildebert arrived.

A person who has the faint traces of time, but whose authority as if he was born with it never fades.

“Let’s move and talk more.”

The man turned and looked at the Black Badgers.

Yehyun glanced at the TF members standing still and then turned her gaze to Ricardo.

“Sordi.”

“Yes, Commander.”

“We’ll just watch the situation until we get back, and then report back to us everything that happened.”

“yes.”

The green-eyed man answered politely.

Yehyun nodded her head once, then turned her head to the other side to look at Kairos.

“black.”

“yes.”

“I should also ask you about the chain of command. I heard you were under the Emperor for a long time.”

“Well, I came from a defeated tribe. When I made Hilde my leader, I felt loyalty for the first time in my life.”

Deltey covered his mouth with both hands and let out a terrified sound.

You frowns and bends down to look at Kairos.

Hildebert blinked, seeming a bit surprised by Kairos’ words, and turned to look at the man in question.

Kairos looked at Yehyeon with a smile.

“Obedience is something I have worked hard for for decades.”

“… Thank goodness. I thought you were still loyal just because you had to kneel.”

“It’s a familiar protocol. Of course, it’s not easy for me to disobey orders. Even I, who grew up thinking of the Imperial Nation as an enemy, am like this, so it must be even more so for my fellow countrymen. The majority of the Imperial people respect and sincerely follow His Majesty the Emperor.”

“But it seems like you, like Hilde, didn’t like the emperor that much.”

“That’s true. My father died in the war against the Empire.”

The Titans’ eyes lit up with shock at the cool answer.

Even Igor, who was never surprised at all, looked back at the missionary with his eyes wide open.

Yehyun’s eyes shook.

“Sorry.”

Hildebert also had a speechless look on his face.

The yellow eyes that couldn’t leave Kairos shook wildly.

The minister standing at the center of attention smiled faintly.

“It’s a thing of the past. You don’t have to worry about it.”

“Still, I’m sorry for asking lightly.”

“No, you don’t have to worry about the chain of command.”

“okay.”

Ye-Hyeon answered and glanced at the screen again.

A being that has not shown any sound or movement since Hildebert left.

His black eyes rolled around and looked into his orange pupils.

“I would like you to take care of the Emperor’s affairs while I am away for a moment.”

Kairos nodded.

“All right.”

“It may be a cruel instruction, but….”

“I volunteered to wear the Emperor’s leash like my skin. Don’t worry, really.”

“Okay. I won’t ask you again. Thank you. We’re going to move for a bit. Yoon, you come with me.”

“yes.”

“Please continue interpreting.”

Yehyun turned towards You and said.

“I know you have no obligation to do so.”

“… Go and come back.”

You replied gloomily and turned away.

“I will keep my seat.”

“thank you.”

The meeting ended with Ye-Hyeon’s answer mixed with relief.

People moved about to do their own work.

***

The armor is suffocating.

I undressed the rest of my armor before leaving the control room. I handed the undressed armor to Rose, who was trembling, and then left the control room with the leadership and the shooter.

As I followed the people in silence, at some point a white conference room appeared.

A stuffy space with no windows.

I was the last to cross the threshold and close the door.

The soundproofing was so good that I felt like the air was blocked as soon as I closed the door.

Yoon looks back at me and the leaders sitting down.

Yoon said.

“It’s at the level of the Kim family.”

“no.”

How could you say such harsh words?

I looked at the shooter with dumbfounded eyes.

“Not to that extent.”

“What? Why do you understand?”

“I understand. That was a nuclear state.”

How could I not know them?

Yoon arched his eyebrows and laughed in disbelief.

I don’t fully understand what exactly is so absurd.

There was no time to ask any more questions, because as soon as Ye-Hyeon sat down at the head of the table, she started talking as if she had been waiting for it.

It was a tight fastball.

“Hilde, are you thinking of hitting the Falcon?”

My jaw dropped.

Surprised by the completely unexpected question, Ye-Hyeon continued speaking without hesitation.

“Well, I guess so. I would have been like that too. We had a rough idea.”

“No. Yes…? Suddenly?”

“That’s why I think it’s a reenactment.”

The words came out faster than usual.

“If Jaeyeon were to disguise himself as the Emperor, and the Emperor were to issue an order that did not deviate significantly from the Black Badger’s direction, you would obey without question. Then, you would naturally fall under Falcon’s influence.”

“Ah… I thought about that too.”

First, I got into the conversation in a state of confusion.

I understand what Ye-Hyeon is trying to say.

Plus a ring.

I kept worrying about the ring.

I didn’t bother to bring up the story of the red ring to the leadership.

“I don’t know exactly how far Jaeyeon’s mimicry abilities go, but I also know that he can swallow up the memories of the person he’s mimicking.”

“That’s right. If only he had faced the Emperor at some point… The problem is that I can’t imagine how he would have faced him.”

“But are you going to inform Falcon of the Emperor’s presence?”

I thought you’d keep this a secret.

Yehyun shook her head.

“no.”

“Oh, that’s good. I think that’s right too.”

“To tell you the truth, I don’t even want that being to know much about Earth.”

Yehyun leaned her upper body forward.

Is it my imagination that I seem less relaxed than usual?

I wonder if you were hurt when I hesitated to answer the question about the chain of command… .

They said they would decide as quickly as possible.

The hesitation itself might have been hurtful to him. Of course, he had no intention of explaining to Ye-Hyeon in detail how difficult it was to decide to become a trash knight who betrays his lord.

What’s the point of explaining that? It’ll just make the listener feel guilty.

The fact that I didn’t like the Emperor was also an added remark to make sure I didn’t feel any unnecessary guilt about my decision.

I’m being honest though.

That doesn’t mean my loyalty to the Emperor was false.

I’d rather have it be a reenactment.

Ye-Hyeon’s impatient words brought me back to reality.

“I rather felt relieved that you were the first to tell me that you would stick by the Emperor’s side. I wanted to eliminate the possibility of the author becoming a negative variable.”

“yes.”

“So, please block as much contact with humans as possible. And contact with modern civilization… It can’t be helped that it’s essential, but I’d like you to avoid showing me too much.”

“Okay, I will do that.”

I guess I’ll have to leave it in the cabin.

It’s a bit dizzying just thinking about it.

There was nowhere else to take him.

“thanks.”

Ye-Hyeon feels relieved.

“And I wonder if it wouldn’t be good if I could get help from him. After all, he said he favored you and Black… . He might be able to take care of your broken body or Shu and Jin’s bodies. He might even know something about the flower that Kyle bloomed.”

“Yes, I thought the same thing.”

That’s why I decided to take a leave of absence.

I hoped I could find at least one clue that would lead to victory.

I wasn’t confident that I could only lead things in a good direction. There was no lie in what I told Ye-Hyeon. I had never been able to see into the Emperor’s true intentions in my entire life. I never fully understood the decisions he made, and there were many times when I couldn’t accept them.

The story is that it is impossible to predict what attitude the emperor will take in the future.

What if he says he can’t kneel before humans like Kyle?

I know he was a saint. Few people could rule such a vast empire so well.

But at the same time, he was also the one who wrongly suspected that the Renuere family was involved in the treason.

Still incomprehensible, he is also someone who wants to ‘receive clean nutrients from someone who has hardly ever transferred before’.

Above all, he is the supreme being who has never knelt before anyone.

So I answered that I would remain a Black Badger.

For me, the most important thing is to ensure a peaceful life for my people who remain here.

I hadn’t forgotten the oath of loyalty I had recited while kissing the red ring, but there were more important things to me.

therefore….

“I’ll keep it by my side and get what I want.”

It’s funny how I, with the blood of my compatriots on my hands, talk about the honor of a knight.

“I will be away from the front lines for a while.”

It was decided to live in a cabin.

***

I relayed this sad news to my compatriots in the control room.

The badgers must have heard it too.

After hearing the story, Ami opened her eyes wide and looked back at us.

“Oh. The emperor next door?”

“What are you talking about, Captain?”

Meanwhile, Igor was terrified.

“You’re going to put that guy in that cramped house?”

“There is no other way. It will be inconvenient, so either move your luggage to Kai’s house or find another place to live. Why is your neck getting stiffer by the day? You can never live in the same house as His Majesty.”

“No, what’s so obvious… Where are you going to live, Chief?”

“I should be in the cabin.”

“You want to live with the Emperor?”

Igor raised his voice.

“24-hour protocol? Is the captain serious?”

Sadly, it was true… .