Black Badger - Chapter 361



Only Noblemtl

361. 1 shift full work (2)

I thought the question was painful.

It really hurts like being stabbed with a knife.

But even as I was thinking about that, my mind was still working hard. I don’t know how many times I’ve thought about this, but I kept feeling uneasy about not having a ring.

The Emperor’s Red Ring.

It was said to be a ring that resonated only with the souls of the royal family.

I heard that the great wizard created it, but I forgot the wizard’s name. Anyway, it was something with the essence of magic in it.

In fact, it could be considered the imperial seal. When worn on the hand, it gave off a soft red light, proving its legitimacy.

The prince and princess were waging a war of nerves to get their hands on it.

Kyle had to get down on his knees and kiss her.

I once found Kissis staring intently at the ring. The expression on the face of the man who used to wear a sharp edge of slyness and caprice was gone.

It’s that symbolic… .

The question the Emperor just posed was actually one that could be reenacted.

It was also a question that I could answer honestly, no matter who the other person was.

Apart from the pain.

After gathering the courage to speak, I answered.

“He passed away.”

The emperor didn’t show any particular expression.

One of his defining characteristics was his iconic poker face.

Kairos, You, and Deltey were kneeling nearby, bowing their heads.

The emperor looked down at me for a moment in silence, then turned to look at those who were bowing their heads alongside him.

“Go and see.”

He said calmly.

“It seems like the story is not short.”

The three of them greeted each other with impeccable etiquette. Without saying a word, the sound of footsteps going down to the first floor struck my ears.

As I was preparing myself mentally while listening to that sound, a question came flying at me.

“What happened?”

Ye-Hyeon said that she could explain everything, but asked that she refrain from going into detail about the nuclear issue.

“Tell me what happened.”

You have to explain it as objectively as possible.

I can’t say for sure that I can explain it objectively, but I still had to try.

Without falling into emotions and the temptation to defend myself.

I opened my mouth, preparing myself.

“I will tell you.”

I started catching up on the story.

***

Long story.

But when I organized it for reporting, the story became shorter than I thought.

I kept my mouth shut. And I waited in silence. The Emperor did not break the silence for a while. He just had a thoughtful expression on his face.

It was the way he usually looked when he heard a serious story.

The silence was broken when I began to feel really sick.

The emperor said.

“So the leaf veins were damaged in the process?”

“It was damaged during the confrontation with Kyle.”

“How mean.”

There was no emotion in the muttering voice.

“Looking at the condition… it looks like Clyde hasn’t finished the removal process.”

“Yes.”

“I guess you’ve come to know that the organ that perceives the sixth sense is behind your ear.”

As he spoke, the emperor’s gaze fell on my mastoid bone.

I felt the blood rushing to my face.

How fortunate it is that direct eye contact is not the norm.

The Emperor muttered to himself after a moment of silence.

“I’ve given you too much of a burden.”

ah.

“You’ve taken on a task you’ve never done before, so it’s admirable that you’ve accomplished this much.”

Those words made my heart ache.

I don’t think you meant to criticize me.

It was heartbreaking to realize once again that things would have worked out better if he had come instead of me.

That’s why Youga was angry with me.

Past mistakes that cannot be undone.

These are things that might not have happened if someone hadn’t arrived late.

I can’t help but feel resentful.

“Since you were the one who handed over the authority to Kisis, you should have declared yourself the leader as soon as you arrived here.”

The emperor said.

「Of course, that doesn’t mean that this wouldn’t have happened. Your long friendship with Kyle would have hindered the establishment of authority. It’s much more likely that you would have ended up splitting up like you are now… Forget what I said before. That’s just a pointless soliloquy of regret. Don’t be discouraged, because I’m not saying that all this happened because you didn’t assert the legitimacy of authority.」

It wasn’t as easy as it sounds.

Even though I know that there is truth in everything the Emperor says.

As the conflict with Kyle intensified, I tried to convey Kissis’ last words to him.

It was no use.

It was too late to tell him. When I closed my eyes tightly and took out the words I wanted to keep to myself, Kissis’ words had long since withered and lost their luster.

Why did I keep it so stupidly locked away?

“There are so many uncontrollable variables in life, and the path you have walked in the past is no exception. Looking back and regretting the past won’t change anything. Don’t think too deeply. You tend to be too self-absorbed, so before you learn anything from your past mistakes, you will find plenty of reasons to hate yourself.”

It was his nature not to reprimand me, and it was his nature not to tell me his decision.

Maybe you haven’t made up your mind yet.

I muttered a polite thank you.

The Emperor’s gaze fell again on my crushed mastoid bone.

A part that did not recover despite absorbing countless living and dead things, including the executioner.

The moment the Emperor’s fingers touched there, my body flinched.

“Knowledge about leaf veins is shared only by a very select few.”

He said after wiping away the part that had become smooth like a human’s.

“The way it works, the way it gets removed, the way it heals.”

My heart skipped a beat at those last words.

If it had not been against etiquette, I would have raised my head and looked up at the Emperor.

It’s fortunate that it was against etiquette.

If etiquette had not prevented me, I would have certainly looked up at the Emperor with a very desperate expression.

It will probably contain emotions that the viewer cannot help but feel sympathy for.

I thought it was fortunate that I didn’t show those feelings to anyone, whether they were my lord or Jaeyeon.

The emperor continued speaking.

“That’s why the executioners put so much effort into removing the leaf veins.”

The man seemed to be groping for knowledge about leaf veins that must have been shared with the royal family.

“There is a way to heal even the twisted veins of a leaf.”

I tried not to shiver.

“May I ask you something?”

“That’s what I was going to tell you.”

A deep sense of relief spread through my heart.

But my heart sank at the emperor’s monotonous words that followed.

The emperor was the one who ruled, and he did not need to choose his words by looking into the feelings of those under him.

“You will receive a large amount of mana comparable to that of a dragon.”

The tone was as if telling me to pick up some snacks over there and eat them if I was hungry.

“They say that if five archmages rush in, you’ll usually be healed.”

I guess I should go to the dragon.

Kairos or Ami would like it… .

***

I prepared a change of clothes.

He gave me my clothes in a hurry. Since I was bigger than the emperor, the clothes did not fit me. The emperor was surprised by the modern clothes, but he changed them without saying a word.

The man tightened the elastic band, looked over the clothes, and commented:

“There isn’t much color.”

I laughed bitterly.

“It’s because the neutral colors are easy to choose and wear. I’m sorry for giving you clothes that don’t fit you. I’ll ship them to you in the near future… I’ll prepare something suitable.”

“You don’t have to worry about it too much. You’re not sitting on the throne, so anything is fine as long as it functions properly.”

I don’t know what you’re really thinking, but it’s a relief to hear you say this.

He also expressed satisfaction with the bed. Although it was small, he said it was not lacking.

The problem started after that.

Simply put, a meal.

“I don’t think you’ll like the food I make.”

“I can’t answer without trying it.”

“There is no food that tastes exactly like imperial cuisine. The ingredients taste different… I will select some of the best dishes and serve them to you, so please tell me which one you like the most.”

I couldn’t call Georges.

He hated the emperor. It wasn’t that he hated the imperial family itself. He thought he owed a favor to the princess who recognized his abilities.

However, the emperor, who suspected the Renuir family of treason, trembled with hatred.

I couldn’t bring myself to ask you to come and cook for me.

I should call Ricardo and ask him where a good restaurant is.

I satisfied my light hunger with the fruits in the refrigerator.

And I gave a brief explanation about the bathroom.

“It looks very hygienic and nice.”

The emperor understood fairly quickly.

Satisfied that the perplexing process was over, the man looked around the cabin.

“How do you clean? Do you have a maid?”

“ah.”

This is kind of fun to explain.

“I’ll show you something amazing.”

Cordless robot vacuum cleaner.

Nicknamed Tig. I turned it on and briefly explained to the Emperor what it was. I told him not to be too surprised, because I would bring it to the second floor after cleaning the first floor.

I smiled as I stood next to the emperor, who was staring at the robot vacuum cleaner.

“Isn’t it pretty cute?”

“It looks like a bug.”

her?

worm?

How can you say something like that….

“It looks like a giant beetle.”

I decided to take some time to gradually adapt.

I know you must be confused, so let’s just focus on having a peaceful day for the time being. The Emperor nodded after hearing my cautious suggestion.

“You’re causing trouble.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Actually, there has already been a harvest.

I had no idea that I would be able to gain such useful pieces of knowledge from day one. This information alone seemed worth the effort.

Feeling a little better, as if my future efforts would not be in vain, I went back up to the second floor with the Emperor.

And then, naturally, he knelt down beside the Emperor, who was lying on the bed, and said:

“Do you need a transfer?”

The emperor looked up at the ceiling and answered.

“I guess we won’t need it for the time being.”

The tone was firm.

“You can’t ask a patient whose body is injured by damaged leaf veins to transfer.”

I was speechless for a while as I knelt down in response to that question.

Caught up in relief, shame, and doubt.

***

I don’t know the exact extent of Reenactment’s abilities, but I do know that there are limits.

First of all, even though Jaeyeon was disguised as a wizard, he couldn’t use any grand magic.

If that were possible, I would have let down Kyle’s defenses from the beginning. By mobilizing Jaeyeon. I had secretly confirmed the facts before the first war broke out. If there was nothing particularly different from then, Jaeyeon couldn’t use 3rd circle magic.

It’s kind of creepy that you can use up to 2nd circle magic.

It was not surprising that it could mimic the abilities to some extent, as it was a being that could accept the memories of the person it was imitating and change its body to be similar.

Like insects that pretend to be plants but actually become capable of photosynthesis.

I don’t know about the sixth sense.

I had tried to hide my sixth sense until the First War, so I couldn’t tell if Jae-yeon was imitating the sixth sense receptors while pretending to be a person or not.

I have doubts as to whether it is because I did not receive my previous impressions due to my intuition not being able to imitate them… .

I had a feeling that even a true emperor would not want to receive the throne from someone who had lost his veins.

“Hasn’t even a day passed?”

The moment darkness fell.

As I was standing outside the cabin smoking a cigar, a gunman in a black suit approached me.

I looked at him, blowing smoke out of my mouth.

“Where have you been? Why are you wearing a suit…?”

“Home.”

I didn’t understand for a moment.

“Oh, are you talking about ATAC?”

“uh.”

“I guess something came up.”

Yoon stared at me.

Then the shooter reached out and touched my forehead.

I smiled faintly, swiping the cigar’s pungent smoke away with my hand so that it wouldn’t get near him.

“Still, I take my medicine regularly.”

“It may seem useless, but.”

“Still, there was a harvest.”

Yoon raised one eyebrow and expressed his doubts.

I had a satisfied smile on my lips.

“There is a way to restore your damaged sixth sense.”

“What is it?”

“You just have to go to Yonghan and ask him to give you some mana.”

Yoon looked at me with his pitch-black eyes.

“Bingryong?”

“yes.”

I plan to bring this up with Kairos later.

“I want to leave as soon as this matter is sorted out in some way. It won’t get any better if I just stay in the cabin.”

“It’s useful. Even if it’s a reenactment, there’s no need to tear it out right away.”

“Yes. There are many more things to hear… Huh?”

I think I understood the meaning of the words too late.

maybe.

“Do you know how to solve the problem of reenactment?”

As I was asking that question, I remembered that Yoon and Jae-yeon were once engaged.

As I frowned, Yoon seemed to realize what I was thinking and smiled faintly.

He answered, taking a cigarette out from inside his suit.

“I’ve been there before.”

After a long laugh, he asked back in a low voice.

“Tell me?”