Chapter 140
Chapter 140
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 140
Chapter Title: Original Sin (2)
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"It's not just a little unresolved."
I replied gloomily.
Leaning against the wall, I briefly explained what had happened yesterday. I glossed over anything that might need to be hidden in case there were listening ears.
In any case, Ami understood without issue.
The damp smell unique to the underground.
The senior stayed silent until I finished explaining.
Then, once I was done, she spoke carefully.
[You need to wait for Rick's head to cool off.]
"It doesn't seem like it will. This reaction is only natural. Even I..."
[It's because I haven't heard your side fully.]
Ami cut me off firmly.
[He can't wrap his head around the fact that you betrayed and sided with humans.]
"Well. In any case, the fact that we were the seeds of tragedy hasn't changed. On top of that, I don't regret coming here, and I have no intention of pretending to regret it falsely."
[Because you didn't come here with malicious intent.]
Ami said in a voice full of conviction.
[You just wanted to survive.]
It wasn't wrong.
But that didn't make my sin disappear. I looked down at the floor gloomily and let out a bitter laugh, my gaze fixed on my shoes.
There are irreversible things in this world.
Matters of life and death.
"Someone who lost their family has the right to resent everything that provided the cause."
I closed my eyes and smiled.
"How dare I ask for forgiveness."
Hadn't I done the same?
Hadn't I failed at forgiveness? I resented those who burned the temple and took the lives of the priests. I resented the army that couldn't stop them, the lord, the king, the gods. And more than all that combined, I resented my powerless self in the face of the disaster. The burning emotion from back then was still vividly clear, as if I could grasp it in my hand.
That's why I couldn't beg my senior for anything.
Because I could guess even half of the emotions he felt in front of the collapsed building.
Because I had seen with my own eyes that those past wounds hadn't healed.
Ami spoke from beyond the phone.
[I won't go to Rick and tell him to understand your situation or whatever.]
Her voice had lost all its usual playfulness.
[But you don't need to carry that death on your shoulders. And I don't think Ricardo will hate you forever.]
"He probably doesn't even want to see my face right now."
[The timing was pretty bad too.]
The senior muttered like she was talking to herself.
[Yesterday was probably the anniversary of his comrade's death.]
Ah, shit.
That's why he was dressed so sharply in a suit. When I asked where he'd been, he didn't answer. He usually wore suits, but I'd never seen him in such a pitch-black one.
I'd scratched his wound.
My mood plummeted to rock bottom.
Perhaps sensing it even over the phone, Ami spoke softly.
[It's not your fault.]
"I must have hurt him."
[It was mutual.]
A neutral voice came through.
[You got hurt too, Hilde. Stop blaming yourself. What did you do wrong?]
I...
My fault was...
The moment I bit my lip, something touched my ribcage.
What?
I blinked and looked down at my chest.
A long object entered my view.
A hand holding the object.
I grasped the situation immediately.
The moment I did, my body tensed up rigidly.
Wow.
"Yoon."
"Why so tense?"
The tip of a sword in its sheath was touching my chest.
It was the sword Yoon was holding. The one that would be given to me. The master was holding a fairly large sword wrapped in cloth, the scabbard not even visible.
But I was distracted by the sword tip against my chest rather than the greatsword.
This guy is actually insane.
"What's wrong? Take it. Ah, I heard why you're especially low-energy today."
[You're with Oppa?]
"You really have bad taste in hobbies."
Trapped between the wall and the sword, I looked at Yoon.
Yoon raised one eyebrow as if to say what was that supposed to mean. In fact, he wasn't stabbing me painfully on purpose. He had just lightly placed the sword tip against my chest.
Most people would think it was just lighthearted teasing.
But I knew the position the sword tip was aiming at.
"If you thrust it in like that, you can pierce the heart right behind the sternum and the front ends of the ribs."
As I spoke slowly, Yoon gave a faint smile.
"You handled a Ray, a humanoid creature, but why do you know about this spot?"
"I have to take the graduation exam."
Yoon made a strange noise.
"You're finally decent enough. You need proper sparring to graduate."
"I passed the promotion exam."
"I can't graduate you in a state where you can't even cut the hem of my clothes."
Yoon flipped the sword around with a flick and offered me the hilt.
A shortsword that fit perfectly in my hand.
As I carefully took it, the man then offered the longsword as well.
Once his hands were empty, he turned his body without hesitation.
"To the training ground."
He completely ignored Ami shouting over the phone, 'Oppa! Hilde's not in good shape right now!'
He hopped up the stairs and vanished from sight.
The sound of footsteps moving away without waiting.
Sensing it, I let out a sigh of resignation.
"I guess I have to go. Thanks for calling, Ami."
[Yeah. Don't be too depressed.]
Ami comforted me to the end.
[I'll tell the HR Director for you.]
Thanks. It hurt too much to explain it myself.
Would they reform the team...?
I gave a dejected thanks and hung up.
***
I arrived at the training ground.
Still a cool, quiet place. Not a place with good memories.
The master who dragged me to this wide space hadn't wasted time on the way here, true to form. He explained the official Black Badger duties. From now on, Tom, Hessi, and I would live according to the schedule.
The schedule was largely divided into two.
Schedules outside the Core and schedules inside the Core.
Black Badgers called outside-Core schedules 'Reclamation' and inside-Core schedules 'Patrol'.
Depending on the Black Badger's inclinations, the balance between Reclamation and Patrol varied.
Those addicted to the freedom outside the Core coordinated with HR to fill their schedules with Reclamation duties. They went out every time and stayed out long. Some barely entered the Core, only coming in when they needed to report.
Reclamation duties were usually done in teams.
But capable ones often moved solo.
The duties were incredibly varied. From basic supply runs, to maintaining safehouses, installing portal machines, building and repairing infrastructure like power, communications, railroads, to subjugating packs of Creatures.
Mission durations varied wildly depending on the task, and pay did too.
They said it was work where studying never ends if you study. Get certifications useful for duties, and your pay goes up accordingly.
"Just out of curiosity, what's the certification that pays the most bonus?"
"Portal device-related certifications give the highest bonuses."
Yoon explained.
"But those missions aren't assigned often."
In any case, the core of Reclamation duties was freedom.
Freedom, but without enjoying the benefits of civilization.
Patrol duties were the opposite.
Work within civilization, but not as free as Reclamation. Patrol duties operated in pairs. It was missions patrolling assigned areas according to the timetable. Basic 4-shift rotation, but schedules could flex based on Creature appearances.
"You."
Yoon told me to stand in place, then walked to the opposite side.
"You'll start with Patrol duties."
"Ah."
Did the HR Director foresee this mess?
Or was it another reason that happened to align?
I watched him stop, holding two swords.
The place where I once faced the mushroom.
In that cool space stood Yoon now, instead of the mushroom.
"It's got nothing to do with Sordi."
Reading my mind, the man said flatly.
I pushed the shortsword far away and unwrapped the cloth from the longsword.
After removing the cloth, I prepared to draw the sword.
I flipped the sword this way and that, muttering.
"Why did Patrol duty come to me first? I thought you said Patrol requires seniority."
"It means you have the skill for it."
"I thought we'd form a TF and head straight out."
"Out where?"
Yoon asked me as I checked the hefty blade.
"Out where? Just out?"
"...Well, yeah. Roughly toward where I sense my kin."
Nice sword.
It was very similar in width and weight to the one I brought. It seemed made copying the sword Ye-hyeon had. It looked preserved without much use, but who made this sword?
I was curious, but anyway, having a usable sword now was good.
If I go to the obsidian in the cabin, it could be even better.
I drew the sword and placed the tip on the floor.
Then I raised my head.
"I can't just let a bomb like you loose outside carelessly."
A neat face.
The master was observing me in his unchanged stance.
Instead of answering, I gave a bitter smile.
"You'll get orders to scout the outside situation first, then go out at an appropriate time."
"Yes. Understood."
"Your first Patrol partner is Jonathan Kudo."
Ugh.
"I heard it starts in two days, so he'll contact you on his own."
Why him of all people.
I'd heard they pair rookies with skilled partners. But there were others skilled too.
I blinked at the uncomfortable fact.
It's not that I disliked him.
It's just that Kudo was friends with Ricardo.
He already had no interest in me, and now working together would be even more awkward. I'd see Ricardo's anger, so no way he'd have a good impression of me.
The timing too...
....
Timing?
Boom!
The reflexive sword strike I launched collided with the training ground wall and scattered.
I leaped back and took a stance for the second strike.
To counter the attack.
More precisely, to counter Yoon, who was emitting sharp killing intent.
Yoon now held a shortsword in his right hand.
The sword reflected the light sharply.
"Last lesson."
The man chuckled lowly.
"No need to hold back now."
Killing intent choking my breath.
A stance ready to charge at any moment.
A mad bastard with no holds barred.
From the leaking killing intent, people would think this was hunting, not a lesson.
The moment I thought that, Yoon vanished from my sight.