Black Badger - Chapter 370



Only Noblemtl

370. Memories of that day (2)

You were in the middle of a Q&A session.

I became even more frustrated after realizing the situation.

So this is where I jumped in.

And at this very hour of all times.

I opened and closed my mouth while holding onto Jaeyeon’s clothes.

The gaze that flew in and stuck to me was so stinging that I couldn’t make a rational decision for a moment. I didn’t know whether I should bow my head and leave or bow again and apologize.

Your gaze makes my skin hurt.

With my hands gripping the back of my neck, I thought to myself that it was a blessing that Jae-yeon was still a man.

If I were a woman, what kind of misunderstandings would have arisen?

“Hilde.”

Scar’s voice brought me back to my senses.

“Is there any problem?”

Straighten your back.

“Yes. Not at all.”

“That’s great. Can you step out for a bit?”

“Yes. Sorry. I’ll have to leave right now.”

“No, don’t send me out, sir. It would be easier if I answered myself.”

“Why are there civilians here?”

Someone raised their voice.

People’s heads turned. I also widened my eyes and looked at the face of the person who raised his voice.

The first Badger was glaring at me and Jaeyeon.

Badger crossed his arms and furrowed his brow.

“Could it be that he brought civilians here?”

hmm?

That’s a point I hadn’t even thought of.

It’s not a restricted area, so there shouldn’t be a problem, right?

Seeing my senior looking so upset, I forgot for a moment the thought of dragging Jae-yeon and leaving the place.

She glared at Jaeyeon and me.

“How far will you go in making trouble?”

I see the C-suite, the HR chief, and my favorite Badgers opening their mouths to say something.

But before that, Jae-yeon reacted.

Jae-yeon got annoyed.

“hey!”

People jumped at the loud shouts.

“What kind of civilian is a civilian!”

“ah?”

“Fuck, these days, there’s a kid who doesn’t even know what war is, talking nonsense! I’m a veteran, you punk! Don’t you guys these days know that there’s a war hero who’s been on a really long leave of absence?!”

What the heck is this?

I looked at Jaeyeon in a dazed state.

I turned my head to look at Badger, who was pointing out the angry Jae-yeon. Badger, who had heard a single curse, seemed surprised and had a blank expression on his face, just like me.

But the faces of the badgers next to her quickly hardened.

Judging from the fact that Ye-Hyeon sighed but didn’t point it out, it doesn’t seem like Jae-Yeon made up a story out of nothing.

In other words, it seems that there are badgers who are truly in a state of ‘long-term care’.

Well, Jae-yeon isn’t really the Badger in long-term care.

It was a convenient excuse. No one outside of HR would know how many Badgers were on long-term leave… .

“A bastard who wasn’t even born during the First War!”

“Hilde.”

Yehyun’s cool voice made me come to my senses.

I grabbed Jaeyeon tightly and pulled her towards me.

“Yes, Commander.”

“Take care of your senior and go outside.”

“Yes, I’m sorry.”

“Wait a minute. Is that a war hero?”

Gregory suddenly joined the conversation.

He is a person who is more familiar with the nickname Samjin than Gregory.

It felt like it had been a long time since I last saw you. I don’t think we had seen each other since you got beaten up by Ro.

He looked back at Ye-Hyeon, frowning.

“How can you be sure that it’s not some kind of parachute like that? Prove to yourself that you’re a war hero.”

“A fucking punk.”

This time, Jae-yeon responded.

“Confirmation? Confirmation? Oh, okay, let me confirm it. Where the hell were you? Where’s the last unit?”

“Where have you been?”

Samjin looked back at Jaeyeon and expressed his displeasure.

“There must be few people who have fought in battlefields as much as I have.”

Then Gregory revealed the name of the unit, which no one except Jaeyeon was particularly curious about.

I watched in a dazed state as Jae-yeon was surprised and asked, “What?”, and then asked, “Were you there too?”

I was also amazed to see them suddenly start telling each other stories about the incredible events of the First World War.

People who suddenly become lost in their own world in a place where there are a lot of people.

Fortunately, Ye-Hyeon sighed and ended the conversation.

Jae-yeon and Gregory shut their mouths as he snapped his index finger and thumb, making a loud snap!

Yehyun made a tired voice.

“We’ll talk about Saddam later.”

Jaeyeon straightens her body that was tilted.

Samjin crossed his arms with a satisfied expression on his face.

“You are a war veteran.”

This is ridiculous.

“I’m sorry for the misunderstanding. I didn’t know that this person was on leave.”

Sometimes, when I look at Gregory, I feel a strange sense of empathic shame.

To put it simply, people become a bit more reserved.

“If we had met during the war, we would have gotten along very well.”

It’s hard to watch… .

I must continue to work hard to avoid it in the future.

anyway.

Where did it go wrong?

I couldn’t hold back my urge to go out on the road.

I stood there staring into space, suddenly tired.

Was it a problem that he came down from above without any problems? Should he have been handcuffed until he was dragged out of headquarters?

Or was it a mistake to dress Jae-yeon in the emperor’s attire?

I thought about it for a long time, thinking that it would be useless.

Then he sighed and this time he finally caught Jaeyeon properly.

But questions followed.

“So, Taleb fought in the First War? If everything you said is true.”

People’s heads turned.

Ah. That’s the senior I saw at the year-end party.

A senior who only knows the name and appearance, but no details.

His furrowed brows were now filled with suspicion.

“Then why did you become the Black Badger only a few years ago?”

The senior who was looking at the leadership was pointing at me with his finger.

“Where was Taleb in the meantime? Well, I can believe that he participated in the First War. But why did he show up now? It doesn’t make any sense.”

uh.

I can’t answer this one either.

I felt the blood rushing to my face drain away.

I shut my mouth straight. I looked at the questioner and the leadership, trying not to bite my lip.

Ye-Hyeon and her aides maintain surprisingly calm expressions even when asked surprising questions.

The head of the human resources department, Joo Man, tilted his head slightly.

That’s probably because he doesn’t know.

The problem is, I don’t know either… .

“If you were going to become a Black Badger, you could have done it after the First War ended. Like the senior veteran sitting next to you.”

“Hildebert has been missing since the end of the First War.”

Yehyun answered in a husky voice.

“He’s back, so I recruited him to the Black Badgers to put him back on the battlefield. Unlike before, now you have to have the title of Black Badger to go outside the core. In fact, he’s contributed a lot to the organization, just like you guys.”

“So what was he doing before he showed up at headquarters?”

“He lost his memory of that period.”

Yehyun answered without even looking at me.

“It was probably a portal accident, but when he first came out of the portal, he only remembered his own name.”

Protests erupted.

It was a simultaneous outburst of discontent. I listened blankly to the jeers people were heaping on the leadership.

I know full well that leaving at this point would be nothing more than telling you to go fuck yourself.

Even if I had to leave, I had to answer that question before I left.

Many seniors expressed their intention with various gestures to indicate that this was a valid excuse.

Overlapping audio.

“If you came out with a brain abnormality due to the portal accident, I would understand.”

The brown-haired senior raised both palms to the sky and shouted.

“But Taleb doesn’t have memory problems! I’ve never heard of anyone losing their memory, even though there have been cases of memory problems!”

“Do you believe that? Your memory has disappeared? What excuse is more convenient than that?”

“Surely you have believed me without questioning me even once until now? You have not asked me what I have been doing for nearly 50 years since the end of the First War?”

“It is said that those who disappeared inside the portal still have memories of disappearing inside the portal. Isn’t it too convenient of an excuse to say it was a portal accident?”

“50 years!”

“What did you do?”

For the first time, someone spoke to me.

The commotion suddenly stopped.

The gazes flying towards me again.

The person who spoke to me did not take his eyes off me.

“What were you doing after the First War ended?”

I don’t remember.

I really don’t remember.

But even if I tell the truth, it doesn’t seem like it will work. So, feeling at a loss for an answer, I shut my mouth.

At that moment, a dry voice was heard from behind.

The voice of the shooter.

“You were dying at the end of the First War. Someone must have thrown you into a portal.”

When I turned my head, I saw Yoon standing next to Kairos with his hands in his pockets.

Yoon stared straight into my golden eyes.

“There’s no way you, who was dying, would have walked into the portal on your own.”

“Right… .”

“How can you believe that he was dying?”

Someone pointed out.

The one who answered was William Walker, who was standing ominously in the corner.

“Then who would have captured the leader of the humanoid creatures during the First War?”

There was a pitifulness in his thick voice that he didn’t try to hide.

“I mean the one with the black curly hair. He wouldn’t have been sleeping in his house all through the First War. Who else but Hildebert could have caught him?”

“I don’t know. Maybe he got down on his knees and begged to surrender to that guy in the end, and then he came back safely.”

“Then, after kidnapping the Badgers, you threatened to hand over Hildebert?”

Badger closes his mouth as if he is speechless at the calm remark.

Another person chimed in and refuted the claim.

“Hildebert might have won then!”

Is that a compliment?

“Even though I won, I couldn’t bear to cut off his head, so I didn’t confirm the kill and instead, I might have escaped through the portal alone!”

“That’s a question that makes me less intelligent.”

Yoon grumbled.

“Did you come here to do something like this?”

“No, well. Even without this explanation, it’s just too strange that he disappeared after the First War and has no memory of it!”

“Furthermore, after Taleb returned, humanoid creatures suddenly began appearing one by one outside the core.”

The comments, made in a calm voice, flowed into me.

“Something doesn’t seem right. From the enemy’s perspective, it would have been much more advantageous to move when Taleb went missing. Why did they start moving after Taleb returned?”

That’s a reasonable question.

“Isn’t the timing just perfect?”

The sounds poured out.

There were some ridiculous comments, but there were also many questions that Black Badger would have had. That made me feel sick. I also felt guilt that I didn’t need to feel.

I can see that the leadership is having a hard time because I can’t remember.

Because of this gap in memory, other suspicions were also amplified for no reason.

Those who returned after being brainwashed may have lit the fire, but these unclear parts are fanning the flames.

I stood there with a bitter feeling.

Even I find my amnesia very suspicious.

But since that’s true, I can’t explain it any further.

Even if I explained it, I didn’t think anyone would believe it… .

Whether they had made the same decision or not, the leadership gave me a signal with their eyes to take Jae-yeon out.

I nodded weakly.

“In the first place, does it make sense to die on the battlefield and then jump out through a portal? There’s no way there’s a portal device on the battlefield.”

“No, you have to make some sense so they at least pretend to believe you.”

“And the fact that he came back unharmed means that he didn’t fight his hardest. Normally, when they fight their hardest, the whites of their eyes burn and their skin crumbles like ash.”

Ignoring the crowd’s commotion, I let go of Jae-yeon’s neck and grabbed his wrist.

“Let’s go out.”

“The fact that he was dying seems like a lie. How could a person who was dying on the battlefield suddenly enter a portal?”

“Besides, they can recover like a ghost before they die. They can suck things out of the corpse.”

“I don’t believe in the portal accident from the start.”

He dragged Jaeyeon and turned toward the door.

“Where in the world is there such a thing as a portal in the first place?”

ah.

At that moment, something rolled out.

Memories came out so naturally, like transparent glass beads falling from a table.

A rolling memory bead.

From then on, things went smoothly.

A wave of memories came crashing down on me. It was a powerful wave. The torrent of enlightenment from a century that I had forgotten came rushing in quickly.

I was so swept away by it that I forgot to take a step.

I even forget what I was doing.

I had no idea how I got here or what I was going to do next.

I recalled only what was in the memory bead. It felt as vivid as if it had happened yesterday. I was lying on the floor with Kyle, dying. I felt Ray’s presence disappear, and we were waiting for death to come to each other.

Until the sound of footsteps was heard… .

The sound of footsteps approaching, thumping.

‘no.’

It laughed as if it was crying.

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

The view is turned upside down.

It was a transformation that occurred as my body flipped over. The sky disappeared from my sight and the ground appeared.

A body being dragged backwards.

‘Hilde!’

I remembered.

Now I remember. Kyle was rushing towards me and reaching out his hand. We were stupid, very foolish, stabbing each other in the face with our swords, and then trying to hold hands at the last moment.

So that I wouldn’t be dragged away from Kyle’s side.

Kyle is there to catch me as I’m being dragged away.

And indeed, we managed to hold each other’s hands.

I also remember that he never let go of the hand he was holding. That is, we were tied together like a chain, holding each other until it dropped my body into the portal pit it had prepared.

Squeezing out every last bit of strength I had left.

To go back to the good old days when I die… .

…who started the transfer first?

I guess I’ll never know for sure.

I didn’t even want to know the answer.

What I remembered was that I was in a previous relationship with Kyle before I was swallowed by the portal.

And I fell into the portal like a sack of gunpowder.

Without facing death.

Once again, people are left outside the portal, and this time they are forced into the portal again… .

Kwaaang!

“Eww!”

“what?!”

“It was you.”

A distant anger that seems to burn the brain takes hold of my mind.

I threw Jae-yeon against the wall, and before he could even get away, I approached him, grabbed him by the collar, and whispered.

“It was you who saved me.”

An uncontrollable rage swept through my body.