Chapter 155
Chapter 155
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 155
Chapter Title: Chivalry or Boomer Energy (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Stop wasting energy and just sit down already….”
Ricardo said lazily.
The tension flowing between her and me loosened for a moment. Sophia’s black eyes rolled sideways. I turned my head from the scene and sat back down.
By the way, between the sword guy and Sophia, who’s the senior? Forgot to ask ahead of time.
While lamenting my own idiocy, Sophia took a seat.
Ami was the first to speak up.
“Hello, Sophia.”
No reply.
“You heard who our squad leader is this time, right?”
Still no reply.
Instead, Sophia sat motionless, quietly staring at Ami.
The emotion in her gaze was anything but friendly. It was the first time I’d seen a Badger show outright hostility toward Ami like this. Even Jason Tvein, who hated Ye-hyeon, had been civil to her.
Well, the weight of the hatred is different, I suppose.
The uncomfortable silence was broken by Sophia’s husky voice.
“I hear you got my story from Jin Silver.”
She was talking to me.
Was this her way of saying she’d completely ignore Ami?
I glanced at the Badger in the head seat and gave a faint smile.
“Yes. Sorry about that.”
“But why’d you accept me without a second thought?”
Her voice was cold and sharp.
Ricardo rolled his eyes. Karl let out a sigh. Ami blinked.
Pretending not to notice the reactions, I stretched my lips into a longer smile.
“You mean me?”
“You must know I despise the very existence of you and your boss.”
Right.
“You never considered that my gun might end up pointed at you and your boss?”
Karl Dow’s brow furrowed.
Ricardo raised an eyebrow as he stared at Sophia. Ami, who hadn’t taken her eyes off Sophia until now, wiped the expression from her face.
In the meeting room, I was the only one smiling.
I met her gaze steadily.
“I heard you’ve been serving exemplarily since that day.”
“The HR Director doesn’t make things up.”
“I heard you’ll serve excellently on this mission too.”
A faint wrinkle creased Sophia’s brow.
Her large, clear eyes narrowed. I pretended not to notice the change.
“As Jin said, you’ve served steadfastly until now. I have no doubt you’ll continue to do so, Senior. I know it’ll be uncomfortable, but please take care of me going forward.”
“I guess you didn’t hear that I haven’t had to serve alongside creatures or Ye-hyeon since then.”
Her reply came laced with a sneer.
“Your faith must be pretty loose, huh?”
“Sophia.”
Karl called her name.
Sophia didn’t respond. Beneath her long, thick brows burned black eyes.
Eyes that hated herself and everything else.
Meeting that gaze head-on, I let out a small laugh.
What.
“It’s not loose faith—it’s just what’s natural.”
I couldn’t hide my faint irritation.
The seniors turned to look at me, surprised by the emotion in my voice.
I ignored the stares boring into me.
“Isn’t it natural for soldiers on the battlefield to obey their superiors’ orders without question?”
Disobedience means execution.
“Do we really need to start with the basics?”
If you’re going to make a resolution, don’t do it halfway.
If you wanted to kill Ye-hyeon with your own hands, you should’ve fired then. If your gun was taken, you should’ve drawn your sword. No sword? Then throw punches.
Or quit the Black Badger and come back with a gun pointed at him.
But if you chose to swallow your hatred and stay in the Black Badger, then obeying the top commander’s orders was the natural course. Hiding your boiling rage and showing the back of your head was the way of things.
Didn’t you make that decision and steel yourself when you lowered your gun that day?
I took in the stiff seniors and flashed a grin.
“We’re soldiers, after all.”
From the start, I hadn’t liked how much she hated Ye-hyeon.
But I’d planned to hold my tongue about that. I didn’t know exactly what had happened. I only had a rough idea of the order Ye-hyeon had given.
So hold it in, Hildebert Talib.
Hold it…
“And did Ye-hyeon kill them? It was the things my kin dragged in that did the killing.”
I couldn’t hold it.
I tossed my patience aside.
“If you’re going to point a gun, point it at me. Don’t go after innocent people.”
“Innocent people?”
Her reflexive words dripped with grievance and anger.
“Innocent? Who was it that shoved him into a zone where death was certain!”
“Was that order based on a personal grudge? Was it so unreasonable that no one could accept it?”
She bit her lip at my sharp retort.
A bead of blood formed on her well-shaped lips. She clearly knew the answer to the question I’d thrown at her.
I knew there were plenty of people like this.
There had been so many around me before. But because the target was Ye-hyeon, I couldn’t respond as calmly as usual.
Go ahead and lash out at the real culprit—me.
To keep from getting any hotter, I let out a long breath.
“Fine. The Supreme Commander only moves during reclamation battles, so just endure it then.”
If she snapped, I’d cut her throat without hesitation.
“You can point your gun at me whenever you feel like it. But as a soldier, don’t commit mutiny.”
“This fucker’s spouting nonsense again~…”
“Hilde! Why’re you saying it’s okay to point a gun at you again!”
“It’s just words. Just words.”
Though I really didn’t care.
“That’s the explanation. We’re junior and senior, after all.”
Ami and Ricardo glared at me.
Only Karl Dow was watching Sophia intently. It was clear he wasn’t her junior. They seemed like the same generation, or maybe he was her senior.
Felt more like same generation.
“Sorry, but I don’t know how to turn cold like you.”
Her subdued voice drew everyone’s attention.
I’d been smoothing my hair, which felt like it was stabbing my eyes, but I turned my gaze to her.
“I can’t betray my kin coldly and stab them in the back without hesitation, like you.”
There aren’t many as much a yes-man as me.
“So I kept my distance. Deliberately keeping distance was my best effort. But this mission’s made all that effort for nothing.”
“Please just serve well during the mission.”
“Sorry, but the anger that surges up sometimes—it’s uncontrollable.”
Sophia glared at me with burning eyes.
“The moment it rises, my vision goes white.”
“That’s a shame.”
I meant it.
It was a textbook symptom of PTSD. Her words weren’t lies, either. I sincerely pitied my senior, thrashing about in the grip of intense trauma.
But good intentions don’t excuse every action.
Without making any particular expression, I stared at the empty space across from me.
Gazing at some spot on the wall, I said,
“Direct that anger at me if you can, and make sure you don’t point anything at the Supreme Commander.”
“I thought I explained that it’s not up to me.”
“Then there’s nothing for it. I can only pray you don’t lose your mind and get your throat slit.”
I muttered like I was talking to myself, lowering the hand that had been adjusting my bangs.
I raised that hand and emotionlessly drew it across my throat.
“Thunk.”
Decapitation happens in an instant.
The head stays alive for a few seconds after. Back in the old world, there was a guy who tried to confirm exactly how many seconds a severed head lives. He’d go to the guillotine every time, counting how many times the condemned blinked.
I snapped back to reality after that useless train of thought.
Everyone seemed pretty shocked by my reaction.
Ami muttered in a surprised voice.
“First time seeing Hilde pissed off.”
Me?
I’d been a bit irritated, but I didn’t think I’d gotten angry.
I turned to Ami, who looked flustered.
“Sorry. Did I raise my voice?”
“Nope. But the opposite is scarier.”
“Well… Harmonious meeting’s already sailed, so let’s just do what we need to~.”
Gratefully, Ricardo broke the stalled atmosphere.
He leaned back long in his chair and looked me straight in the eye.
“We gotta know each other’s main weapons before heading out, right~?”
No one objected to his words.
***
The small sparring session ended quickly.
Even a light warm-up improved my mood. With a clearer picture of what lay ahead, my head felt refreshed. Now I had a rough gauge of Karl and Sophia’s skills. They weren’t quite on par with Ricardo or Ami, but both were fine soldiers.
No need to worry about getting swept away powerlessly by my kin’s attacks.
I lightly set the tip of my swung sword on the training floor and gave a faint smile.
“Good work.”
Then I noticed everyone staring at me in shock.
What now.
“Hilde!”
Ami, hovering in the air in her boots, hopped across the training ground.
“When did your skills get that good!”
“Thanks.”
I grinned and gave Ami a light high-five.
“About time, huh.”
It had been almost a year since I fell.
Even living like a fool in the meantime, I hadn’t skipped training. I was an enthusiastic student, and Yoon was an efficient teacher. My recovery speed was bound to be fast.
Ami didn’t know what I used to be like, so it was natural for her to be surprised.
“Almost like Ye-hyeon oppa.”
I’d taught Lee Seung-hyun, and he’d taught Ye-hyeon, so it was only natural.
But I couldn’t say that far, so I just grinned at the surprised Ami.
Until the round-eyed senior shouted brightly.
“At this level, you could really take Sophia’s head!”
Hm?
Why’d she say it with that nuance, like it was just a figure of speech?
I was serious.
And isn’t that the common-sense response? Mutiny alone is a huge deal, but Ye-hyeon was both squad leader and top superior. There are degrees to mutiny.
Why did saying I’d remove someone who loses reason and points a gun at the top superior sound like a joke?
I looked down at Ami with puzzled eyes.
Then realization gradually dawned in Ami’s eyes as she looked up at me.
Her mouth fell open.
“Hilde.”
Karl was the one calling my name this time.
“Didn’t know you were this skilled.”
“Thanks… That’s praise, right?”
“If something unexpected happens, cut off the gun hand.”
The senior pointed at me with his pale blue eyes and his sword blade.
“With your skill, it seems plenty possible.”
“Ah.”
If Sophia were a sword user, that’s how I’d respond.
I’d sever her wrist and make her drop the sword hand. But a gun was too fast. The moment the trigger’s pulled, it’s usually over. Even at my peak, I couldn’t slice a flying bullet midair.
I could brute-force it away with a sword strike, but…
But I didn’t like that we were even discussing this.
I glanced at Ricardo, who was smirking crookedly at me, and Sophia, who stood there eerily, dissecting me with her eyes.
Then I focused my gaze on Sophia.
“Have you ever joined a reclamation battle?”
“Of course.”
“You know the dangers better than I do.”
Her eyes narrowed.
Sophia peered into my eyes with pupils shadowed by her lashes.
I laughed off the gaze full of wariness.
“During the reclamation battle, just focus on the ultimate goal. Then you won’t even notice the superior’s presence.”
“How many times do I have to explain that it’s not up to me?”
“Are you saying you’ll let personal feelings blind you and put the entire Center Core at risk?”
I hated people with this half-assed resolve.
I hadn’t despised them this much before. Probably a twisted mix of “I’m pulling it off, so why can’t you?” and self-loathing projected onto it.
Either way, this senior grated on me.
“With that half-assed resolve, you won’t succeed at revenge or salvation.”
*Click*
A gun muzzle pointed at me.
At the same time, the tip of my sword touched the muzzle.
The wind from my quick movement tousled Sophia’s hair as it whipped past.
Tension instantly filled the sparring room.
I stretched my mouth long as I looked at my rigidly tensed opponent.
“Reclamation battle.”
The fight to reclaim lost land, on the day the sky sealed by Breath opens.
“Please take care of me, Senior.”
Sophia kept me in her sights for a long while.