Black Badger - Chapter 431



Only Noblemtl

431. April Fool’s Side Story – Each One’s Lie

“Why on a day like this?”

The Titan asked.

Eve looked up and saw the man staring at her.

Bright yellow eyes were staring at him intently.

Eyes filled with wonder.

Eve laughed heartily.

“Why do we have days like this?”

April Fool’s Day was coming to an end.

It was their first April Fool’s Day since they came to Earth. Eve introduced the man to April Fool’s Day this morning. She took the bewildered man for a walk and played a small April Fool’s Day prank with the other researchers.

Hildebert was initially bewildered by their light-hearted antics, such as walking around in reversed clothes or eating cakes shaped like electronic devices.

But later on, he laughed and accepted the joke.

“That was funny.”

When faced with an elaborate prank, he would express his admiration using words he had recently learned.

Of the three Titans that come out to face the researchers, this one is the most approachable.

A guy who clearly takes on the role of the ‘good cop’ among the ‘bad cop’, ‘neutral cop’, and ‘good cop’.

People said that about Hildebert.

Eve thought the rating was too harsh.

When she saw Hildebert, he wasn’t playing the ‘good cop’ role, but he really liked people. If you spent even a little time with him, wouldn’t you know it? He was a really non-aggressive, people-loving guy.

Hildebert is a very harmless person.

A person that everyone likes… .

“I don’t know. I’ll look into the origin. But isn’t it fun?”

Hildebert now understood what she was saying to some extent.

The handsome man with white hair smiled broadly.

“fairly.”

He expressed his feelings in one word again today.

“End today?”

This was a call to go in.

It was to go back to the ‘bad cop’ and the ‘neutral cop’, the black-haired man and the white-haired man. Eve also knew very well that Hildebert really liked them.

Currently, the only one who interacts externally with Eve and the researchers is Hildebert, and whenever he enters, a man with long black hair and short white hair always comes out to greet him.

Every time he saw their faces, Hildebert smiled so brightly.

Envious of that bond, Eve often made a promise to herself that she would become as close to Hildebert as he was.

Of course, I’ve also heard many times that it’s not a good idea to get too close to your research subjects.

But I’m not studying sociology or psychology, so what’s the harm in becoming close to someone on a personal level?

Eve nodded, hiding her regret, and promised to meet again next time.

And as usual, I walked to the place where black-haired and white-haired people were waiting for me like ghosts.

Those who came out to welcome Hildebert today as well.

The moment she saw them, she couldn’t resist the urge.

The moment Hildebert looked at them and smiled brightly, Eve suddenly said.

“Hilde.”

Hildebert, who was walking towards the men, suddenly stopped.

Eve looked up at the golden eyes that were looking back at her with a puzzled look.

“I want to become closer to Hilde like those people.”

Golden eyes opened wide.

But I’ve held on well so far.

Is it because I’ve seen Hildebert laugh so often today?

“Could that be true? Hilde likes us too?”

Hildebert looked down at Eve with surprise in his beautiful golden eyes.

The man who had been strangely looking down at her for a long time finally smiled faintly.

A laughter whose meaning cannot be known.

A man who was gradually learning English answered without erasing it.

“yes.”

It was a slow answer.

“Okay then.”

Hildebert blurted out his answer and disappeared with his compatriots without looking back.

***

Colton Wiseman checked his wardrobe.

We finally got here.

A few days later, he will set foot on the rumor mill. He got a definite answer from his superiors yesterday. It is time to introduce them to you. He will contact you in two weeks, so wait.

The one who said that added at the end, ‘You can’t even imagine who they are.’

That wasn’t true.

Colton had some idea of ​​their identities.

Born with a natural inability to empathize, but not lacking in the ability to understand situations. Colton has been gathering information since he was in boarding school. The powerful loved his unvarnished flattery. Even if he couldn’t hear everything, he had no difficulty guessing their origins.

The guess wasn’t all that difficult, since he had a special joker card that he didn’t reveal to anyone.

A being in the shape of a woman approached.

“self.”

The smell of Chanel perfume tickled my nose.

“Don’t you love me?”

The being that hugged Colton from behind gently rested its head on Colton’s shoulder.

Long blond hair flows over the collar of his black suit.

Colton finished straightening his right sleeve with his left hand.

The moon has already changed.

The month when flowers bloom beautifully.

That first day.

“of course.”

Colton turned around to face the woman, tucking his dazzling blond hair behind his ear.

The blue diamond earrings I bought her shone.

“I love you. Forever.”

Colton kissed the back of her hand.

An unidentified entity that he picked up on the street several years ago.

The strongest pack he’s saving.

It’s about time to give this thing a new name.

To the being who showed me that other worlds, or something unbelievable, actually exist.

This time, I really wanted to give it a name that would be useful for a long time.

Colton walked out of the room with what looked like a brightly smiling woman, wondering if there was anything suitable.

Preparing to meet the ‘ageless, superior beings’ that are floating around.

***

Quite some time has passed since World War II.

The collapsed core firmly covered the sky again, and Commander-in-Chief Ye-Hyeon and his aide Saul now seemed to have settled down somewhat. The chaotic period passed and a strange stability came into the organization. The reclamation work and patrol work went on without much friction.

And luckily, Ricardo, Scar, and Jonathan were all assigned to patrol the power center core.

Since we each patrol with different partners, our passwords matched perfectly.

It was said that the time they had to meet and hang out with each other had increased significantly. The three men, who knew that they would definitely not be able to hang out as often after the transfer, started eating dinner together the night after their night shift whenever there was nothing else to do.

I would close my eyes, wake up, and leisurely decide where to have dinner. Sometimes I would eat out, and sometimes I would go to someone’s house.

Today we gathered at Ricardo’s house.

The languid air after a meal.

Scar muttered.

“Oh. By the way, today was April Fool’s Day.”

My friend muttered as he put down his wine glass and looked at his phone.

“I wondered what Ami was talking about all of a sudden.”

Ricardo smiled slightly.

Then he leaned back lazily in his chair and brought his wine glass to his lips. The little senior still had a childlike side. He had also received a playful message from Ami a few minutes ago.

“When on earth will Roh remember April Fool’s Day?”

Scar muttered as if talking to himself.

Ricardo snorted.

“You have to wish for what you want~.”

I’m sure you still believed Ami’s lies today.

Ricardo briefly imagined the bickering between his two seniors, something he could clearly recall.

As I was lazily wandering around, thinking of people whose associations I couldn’t believe, I suddenly looked at the chest of drawers.

revolver.

April Fool’s Day….

“They’re not producing bullets anymore~….”

Ricardo told an April Fool’s joke without thinking much about it.

“I guess I’ll have to leave it as an empty cylinder… .”

Scar and Jonathan suddenly looked up.

Ricardo found their immediate reaction quite funny.

He hadn’t really thought about it until then, since he’d had some wine. He just chuckled at his friends’ immediate reactions.

Scar looked at himself with wide eyes, then suddenly and aggressively tapped the screen of his phone until his fingers suddenly stopped.

That is, until the handsome guy said in an emotionless voice:

“Are you saying this as an April Fool’s joke?”

The drunkenness went away in an instant.

The dark emotions that had come over me while I was patrolling last night were all swept away.

“Are you kidding me?”

Instead, a cold fear comes.

Ricardo straightened his upper body.

“sorry.”

“That’s right.”

Scar answered in a hard voice.

“Don’t ever do that again.”

Ricardo nodded with his mouth shut.

Jonathan jumped up from his seat and walked over to the dresser. He picked up the revolver that had been placed there without permission and skillfully pulled out two bullets.

A motive that looks at oneself after putting the bullet in the pocket.

Jonathan said.

“Reflect on yourself.”

“yes….”

Normally, Jonathan would have told him that he didn’t want to hear that kind of thing from him, but now he had nothing to say in return.

It was part of the Black Joke, but I missed it.

“I made a slip of the tongue… I’ll reflect on it, so please forgive me~.”

My colleagues are laughing at me.

Ricardo walked to the wine cellar to convey his apology to them.

***

Army loved April Fool’s Day.

A day that comes once a year. She never misses it and plays pranks on the people around her. Pranking Yoon and Ro was the most fun. There was something different about it.

It was impossible to deceive Yoon in the first place.

So, I played a colorful prank every time.

“oh!”

This time, I changed Yoon’s wardrobe to all warm-colored clothes like pink and red.

Unfortunately, it looks like Yoon isn’t coming to work today.

Yoon came out of the bedroom wearing short sleeves and smiled calmly.

“Have a nice day at work.”

“profit!”

Ami, who realized that she had failed in her goal-scoring, glared at her older brother for his mocking laughter.

She often followed Yoon as he walked leisurely to the kitchen and shouted.

“Wear a pink t-shirt!”

“no.”

Yoon started boiling water.

“Go to work. Your precious April Fool’s Day will be over.”

After admitting defeat, Ami went to work.

And I had a great day. I managed to prank Ro again. I wanted to prank Tvein too, but unfortunately he is out of the core.

Ye-Hyeon has been busy filling the empty spot left by the late Chief Secretary Saul, so she didn’t bother to visit him this time.

Ska, who was promoted to senior secretary a few days ago, must also be out of his mind.

Ricardo is….

“Ami~.”

“Ugh.”

Amy jumped in surprise.

“It’s Rick.”

“Yeah… It’s me~.”

Ricardo approached lazily.

Ami stood blankly in the hallway and watched him approach.

It didn’t look like he was on a mission. Was he here to write a report that had piled up, or was he at the headquarters training ground?

Either way, Ami had no intention of messing with him this time.

Actually, she was a little scared now.

“How have you been…?”

It wasn’t long before he got into trouble for cooking at his house.

That day, she saw Ricardo smiling while holding back his anger. How scary was that murderous smile. She finally understood why her juniors had been so nervous in front of Ricardo.

She was also aware that I made a bit of a mess in the kitchen while I was cooking.

Because Yoon would say a word or two every now and then.

But Yoon just kept grumbling and complaining.

Ricardo is….

“How have you been~.”

Ricardo rolled his eyes and grinned, seemingly unaware that he was scared.

“Did you have a fun April Fool’s Day~?”

“Yeah. The juniors’ reactions were funny.”

“That’s good~… Did you eat dinner~?”

“No! But I want to eat arancini. I’m going to look for a store nearby that sells it.”

“Ah~.”

The Sicilian man made a noise of understanding.

“That’s delicious… but the ones sold around here are terrible~. I’ll make it for you, so do you want to come over to my house~?”

omg.

Ami felt the fear she had experienced that day rushing back to her.

The sight of her holding back the urge to complain while cleaning up the messy kitchen.

The hands that were quickly organizing the things that I had laid out next to me as I was diligently cooking.

That sinister smile.

Ricardo standing in the kitchen is scared!

Ami, who had been rolling her round eyes, lied reflexively.

It was fortunate that it happened to be April Fool’s Day.

“Actually, I decided to eat with Yehyun oppa!”

Ricardo was constantly uncomfortable with Commander-in-Chief Ye-Hyeon.

I asked him the reason before, and he said there was no particular reason. He just said that he was uncomfortable because he was his boss and that our personalities didn’t match.

Even to ARMY, the two were overly polite whenever they interacted with each other.

Ami took full advantage of that fact.

“Rick is uncomfortable with Yehyun oppa, right!”

Ricardo smiled in an unknown way.

He looked down at her with an unreadable face for a while and then spoke slowly.

“Well, that’s right… .”

“What a pity! Let’s eat together next time!”

Well then, I’m off! Ami quickly said goodbye and quickly left the place.

Ricardo didn’t catch her.

Thank goodness my excuse worked!

Ami thought as she ran away in a hurry.

Thank goodness it’s April Fool’s Day!

***

April Fool’s Day.

I briefly recalled the lie I had told Eve that first day after coming to Earth.

Sitting on a bean bag and blankly watching TV.

While I was caressing Milk and watching a movie that was playing, the bookworm who came down from the mezzanine made a dull voice.

“What are you looking at?”

“hmm?”

I answered dryly without looking back at You.

“It just… doesn’t look that bad.”

“The story of a man who ran away, abandoning everything, including his name?”

Youga muttered, as if he had been listening to the flowing sounds.

“…Do you want to do that?”

“No way.”

I smiled faintly and told a little lie.

“What would change if that happened?”

Even though I know that, I still have dreams like that sometimes.

I didn’t tell him that I sometimes dream of running out of the core and running to Kyle, or that I jump into a portal with the wrong coordinates.

I didn’t even say that I sometimes felt like I was being crushed by the weight of what I was carrying.

Instead, I just blankly watched TV until another movie introduction started, and then I gave Milk a kiss.

Then he faced the men who were rushing in.

These people all come in together as if they had made a promise.

“Hilde! I bought Lexic!”

“what!”

really?

I jumped up from my seat, but was stopped in my tracks by the simultaneous bursts of laughter from Deltey, Igor, and Kairos.

Then he looked at his subordinates blankly.

no way?

April Fool’s joke?

“See. I told you I would be fooled.”

The black knight looked at Deltey with a grin.

Delte covered his mouth and laughed.

She sees the expression I’m making only later.

The saintess ran over to me without even being able to suppress her laughter.

“Sorry!”

“I hate all three of you.”

“I’m sorry, sir. I ordered chicken for you instead, so don’t be mad. It’s April Fool’s Day.”

“Chicken? Chicken??”

Lexic noodles with just chicken?

When I showed him a look of disbelief, Kairos audibly laughed and walked towards me.

“I bought you a game title too. Sorry. Your reactions are always funny.”

“I haven’t had time to play games lately. Lexic Noodles were my dopamine stimulant… .”

“I’ll buy it next time! For sure!”

Then, as an apology, Deltey handed me a jelly.

I snorted at my subordinates who were smiling and telling me not to be upset.

After that, I pretended not to be able to win and started preparing dinner with them. I made a grumpy expression at their giggling reaction.

Still, I was grateful that you bought the game title.

The jelly looks delicious too…

Eww!

“sour!”

“oh.”

Deltey jumped up next to me, startling me.

“I’m sorry. I forgot that I bought it to tease you.”

“It’s too much!”

Dell!

Next to me, as I was causing a ruckus, my large subordinates collapsed and held back laughter.

Even You, who had been watching this farce from a step back, let out a snicker.

Seriously, how could this be…

I finally got my subordinates to promise to buy me some Lexic noodles that day.

And then I put some distance between them and slept with Milk.

I had a dream last night.

I had a dream where shortly after we arrived on Earth, another portal opened and threatening creatures poured out.

So, it was a dream that we and humans joined forces to subdue them.

Due to their lack of imagination, the invading beings were still called creatures, and the unit created by mixing humans and us was called the Black Badgers.

There was a first war, but the enemies were not fellow humans, but only creatures.

There is no such thing as a humanoid creature, and I fought alongside Kyle and Ray.

With the help of our help, we have the assistants who have received enhanced bodies transplanted below.

Even in a world that was falling apart, we continued to go about our daily lives.

Under me were Yoon and Ricardo, and under Kyle were Yehyun and Scar.

Ray taught Jonathan, Gene Silver, and Giacomo Law.

Kairos is the army and the Lord.

Eve with John Mullen.

I couldn’t relax all the time and society didn’t do its job, but I was still happy.

There were times when I had to worry about what I would eat the next day, but I survived happily.

Ray and Kyle cherished their subordinates. Sometimes, when the three of them were having a drink together, they would argue about which subordinate was better.

Later, we fought back to back. Yoon and Ricardo grabbed me as I rolled down the cliff, and Yehyun ran over carrying the addicted Kyle, who was grumbling and complaining about being a fuss, with a face that was on the verge of tears. Law didn’t listen to Ray’s “You crazy bastard, I’m recovered!” and ran towards the monster that hit Ray.

That’s how we survive in struggle… .

I wish that were true.

I woke up laughing while watching Kyle and Ray argue, and then I noticed my eyes were wet.

It was a dream.

Still, it was an incredibly happy dream.