Chapter 171
Chapter 171
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 171
Chapter Title: Territory Reclamation Battle (2)
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Was I crying?
I swept my finger across my eyes, and it came away wet.
I stared blankly at my palm for a moment before lifting my head.
The sounds of battle filtered in over the temporary barriers surrounding us.
We had returned inside the barricade, to the seniors fighting the Territory Reclamation Battle.
"I'm sorry."
I mumbled, then wiped away the tears with my forearm.
"Why did you retreat?"
"Because I planted a tracker on Kyle."
The one who answered was Ye-hyeon, who had been standing there like a ghost, receiving reports over the communicator.
Even in my dazed state, I instinctively flinched. He had completely erased his presence, just like Lee Seung-hyun.
Ye-hyeon took his hand off the communicator.
"It was worth going out to face him directly. And our top priority right now is reclaiming the territory."
There was no personal emotion in his husky voice.
"Taking out the enemy's leader is secondary. While the bombardment continues, we'll regroup our forces, then head back out to the designated spot."
Ah.
He was trying to draw the enemy away from the most vulnerable defensive point.
I nodded, looking at our pale commander's face.
Then his next words made my eyes widen.
"Hilde, you're sitting this one out."
"Pardon?"
I asked dumbly.
"Wasn't I the bait?"
"Get treated first."
It doesn't hurt.
As I thought that and scanned my body, I belatedly remembered the bullet wound on my arm. From the grenade earlier. There seemed to be some minor scratches too, but nothing serious.
I could just tie on a tourniquet and go.
Perhaps he read my mind, because Ricardo roughly grabbed my good arm.
At the same time, Ami came running over.
"Hilde."
She hugged my chest tightly and mumbled.
Her face was buried in my body.
"I'm sorry."
"Pardon?"
For what?
"It must have been so hard. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
Karl twisted a tourniquet around my arm for hemostasis.
While he did that, I looked down at the one embracing me. All I could see was the round crown of her head. Black and round.
If I hadn't gone to stop Ray's rampage, Ami wouldn't have fallen into a coma.
I couldn't imagine what the young Ye-hyeon and Yoon must have felt when they heard the news.
I just stared at the crown of her head for a moment, then smiled.
"You could resent me a little, Ami."
The gazes of everyone standing inside the barriers poured over us.
Ami's eyes widened as she lifted her head.
"Huh?"
"I told you I was friends with Level 10. You said because of him, you slept for two years."
If we hadn't come here, she wouldn't have gone through that.
I glanced at my senior crushing me in her embrace and suddenly realized the reality. It hit even harder because I remembered that now my own kind weren't the victims. Of course, I didn't regret setting foot on Earth. No matter what happened, I couldn't regret it.
But the fact that I hadn't prevented the war weighed heavily on me.
The kid who wore gym clothes under her school uniform skirt and played badminton so innocently.
When the first war broke out, Ami was in high school.
"Why would I resent you for that?"
Ami's puzzled voice snapped me back.
"Shouldn't I be grateful to you instead?"
"But in the end, war broke out. Because of my kind."
"But you stayed on our side the whole time."
As she loosened her arms and stepped back a step, she kept looking up at me.
Her puzzled expression quickly turned to anger.
"You ended up taking our side, didn't you?"
"In the end, I failed to stop the war. If I had managed it, none of this would have happened."
"How could Hilde stop a war?"
"Because I was their leader."
Sophia sharply sucked in her breath.
I felt Karl's hands, checking my arm, suddenly stop. Ricardo, who had opened his mouth to say something, closed it.
The three seniors froze in shock.
Silence descended on the space made of barriers. The war outside was noisy, but this area became eerily quiet.
Even Ye-hyeon, receiving reports on the communicator, showed no movement.
Only Ami furrowed her brow sharply.
"What?"
"Pardon?"
"You were the Knight Commander, Hilde. Not the king."
"Uh... yeah. Pretty much."
What is she getting at?
"You've never done politics before, right?"
"Yeah, before coming to Earth. Though on Earth, I met politicians often..."
"A natural-born politician couldn't stop a war!"
Ami laid out some strange logic.
"How could Hilde stop a war alone!"
"What? Ah, well, on Earth, I was leading them, so if their leader had handled it properly..."
"You stood on our side to handle it properly, and you're still standing here now!"
Ami shouted as if she were about to throw a punch any second.
"Don't feel that weird guilt!"
The petite senior waved both hands wildly.
Then suddenly, she charged at me. Arms wrapping tightly around my body. The stronger pressure made me cough a couple of times.
That actually hurts quite a bit.
"If it was making you suffer more, you should have said something."
Ami mumbled, face buried.
"That's why you kept crying. I could never do what you did..."
What a warm person.
I thought as I watched the one hugging me and sniffling.
The person Ray had driven to the brink of life and death.
In that moment, a memory resurfaced. What I had thought when heading to the battlefield in the past. The resolve when I handed the sword to Jae-yeon to end the war and stepped out to kill Kyle.
The resolve while looking at the bodies of the innocent, good scientists I couldn't protect.
I really should love humans.
As much as I hated them for it. If slaughtering humans could save as many of my kind as possible, I would have cut them down without hesitation.
In the end, I did the opposite.
Since I made that choice, I really should love humans.
I faintly smiled and stroked Ami's head.
"I'm sorry. Now that you've done the hemostasis, I can head back out."
"No. Get treated by Samuel first, then join when you get the OK. We've got a long way to go, so don't rush."
Ye-hyeon commanded coldly.
I looked at my top superior.
"I'm sorry to ask twice, but if I don't play the bait, we can't lure Kyle..."
"Ah, this guy's still... You want to come to after passing out~?"
"If you become desperate bait, they'll carry out the op even if it means dragging your unconscious ass along."
Ye-hyeon spoke from beside the irritated Ricardo.
"I'm telling you to rest since you can. Don't be stubborn—go get treated."
Good.
I could feel Ye-hyeon strictly separating duty from personal matters. If needed, he'd use me as a card without hesitation.
That's reassuring.
Since I'm not needed for the op, I should follow orders and get treated.
As I nodded, someone entered the barriers.
"Commander."
It was Yoon.
"Level 10 is attacking Breath Device 14."
"Number One?"
"Different group."
My nerves tensed.
Kyle had split into teams.
The ones assigned to destroy the Breath devices must have set out later than Kyle. So I wouldn't catch them while focused on him.
In other words, Kyle had become bait to draw me and the humans' attention. Just like I was bait to draw in my own kind.
I heightened my senses to identify who was attacking.
At the same time, I looked at the commander.
"Commander."
"Yoon. Take Hilde to the medical tent. We'll handle the Level 10 on the devices."
"Yes."
"Rest properly in the tent, Hilde!"
Ami, reading my intentions, let go of me and yelled.
"Don't even think about heading to the battlefield before proper treatment!"
"See you later."
"Listen well~."
Karl said in his raspy voice, and Ricardo grinned and waved.
Everyone was strongly expressing they wouldn't let me go with them.
No.
I get that I'm a burden injured, but still, I should check who of my kind came and report...
As I opened my mouth to convey that, Ami's eyes went wide.
She sprang back, looking at something behind me.
"Oppa!"
My senior came running, palm outstretched.
"Wait a second!"
What.
Why all of a sudden.
***
?
I opened my eyes to see the tent ceiling.
"You're awake?"
Wow.
It was my master's voice.
No mistaking it. There couldn't be two owners of that cold, emotionless voice.
I was lying on a bed next to my master.
This is insane...
I was speechless for a while, staring at the ceiling in disbelief.
Then I rasped out.
"Did you knock me out and drag me here?"
"Yeah."
Yoon was staring at some incomprehensible machine screen.
True to form, he didn't even glance at me.
"You looked like rational persuasion wouldn't work."
"Did you even intend to try rational persuasion?"
"Who knows."
The man answered emotionlessly, then turned his head.
"If you hadn't been crying, maybe."
Cold black eyes.
The Black Badger in full combat gear was checking the core's status. He hadn't been out to the battlefield yet. Not a speck of dust on his combat suit that seemed to absorb all light.
Staying in the rear to monitor the core device?
With that small doubt, I shot him a sullen glare.
"Don't lie."
"Looks like your brain's still functioning."
"I've been treated, so I'll head back out."
Grumbling, I pushed off the bed with my good arm.
"Thanks for dragging me to the tent."
Whoosh!
Something flew at my face.
I freaked out and blocked it with my forearm.
I felt a sharp pain as I swatted the object away.
After knocking aside the silver object, I yelled at my smirking master.
"What the hell!"
"Faster."
Yoon grinned wickedly.
"You're more useful now. Once the transfusion's done, I can send you back out."
"I'll just go now. Staying here might make me feel worse."
"Don't be impatient. You'll be heading out beyond the barricade with me soon anyway."
Pardon?
I blinked at the unexpected words, and Yoon's cold smile widened.
The man's thick-knuckled hand tapped the bed rail: tap-tap, tap-tap.
"Bombardment costs money. As soon as it ends, orders are to go audience with the king. Ye-hyeon will head in."
"Ah."
"I'm going in your place."
"Understood."
"The reclamation battle's far from over. Rest quietly and prep for the next turn."
I nodded obediently at the barrage of words.
The explanation continued dryly.
"If I can grab the king on the way out, I will. If not, retreat via portal. Then aim for the next turn. Repeat. Explanation over. No questions?"
My master had a knack for making everything concise.
I nodded again. Though I hated to admit it, admiring the strange sense of security this man created.
Confirming my reaction, my senior returned to his work.
I rubbed my dry eyes, then sensed the presence of my kin approaching.
Presences so dear just to sense.