Chapter 176
Chapter 176
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 176
Chapter Title: Farewell (2)
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“Why do you think that?”
My heart leaped.
I tried not to harbor any false hope. If it turned out the other person’s words weren’t true, it would hurt too much.
The room was covered in footage that changed every second.
Ye-hyeon continued.
“Simple. If their safe return wasn’t guaranteed, you wouldn’t have joined hands with Falcon.”
He didn’t know anything more.
I thought I hadn’t held out hope, but apparently I’d started expecting it without realizing. I couldn’t control my expression.
The Supreme Commander didn’t mind.
“You’re not trusting yourself enough right now, so you can’t make an objective judgment.”
“Pardon?”
“Think about it, Hilde. You didn’t join hands with Falcon because you like humans.”
I widened my eyes.
My boss continued in his husky voice.
“Of course, you liked us more than Kyle. But your top priority was always your own kind. If you could win the war—if you were certain that victory would secure your people’s safety—you would have made humans grovel at your feet.”
My mouth opened and closed soundlessly.
Ah...
I couldn’t refute it.
Ye-hyeon’s words were true.
As I recovered my lost memories, I realized how deeply I cared for my own kind. Of course, I grew fond of Eve and the other scientists with her. I was devastated by their deaths. I trembled with guilt. I loved the world they stood on—Earth.
But my top priority was always my own kind.
In a way, it was only natural.
“…You could see that?”
I asked hesitantly, and the Supreme Commander chuckled lowly.
“Of course.”
He gave an official smile that revealed nothing of his true feelings.
“I would have done the same.”
His unexpected answer made me blink several times.
“Hildebert. You weren’t really trying to build true friendship with Falcon.”
“Ah, yes. In fact, I remember sincerely trying to kill him several times but failing each time.”
“Exactly.”
Gilbert and Yoon looked at me.
The stunned gazes of my two seniors stung. It had been a while since I’d seen that expression on my master’s face.
It wasn’t that shocking a story. I’d bet anything this man had tried the same at least once.
He probably stopped for political reasons.
“You joined hands with him because there was something Falcon could offer.”
I turned my head back to Ye-hyeon.
“It wasn’t just persuasion. Nor was it just threats. If he’d only threatened you without giving anything, you would have fought to the death alongside Kyle. But Falcon isn’t that stupid. He must have promised to guarantee your people’s safe return. You wouldn’t have turned your back on your own kind based on sweet words alone.”
Colton protected my people?
I couldn’t react quickly. My mind wasn’t working as sharply as before. I didn’t know if it was because my body hadn’t fully recovered or if the shock of the reclamation battle lingered.
In any case, my boss’s words were logical.
But if that was true, why did Kyle choose war?
He was always more aggressive than me, but not a warmonger.
And...
“I can’t sense my people’s presence inside the Core.”
I muttered in a hoarse voice.
“If they were in there, I would have detected them.”
“Do you remember the injection from Jaeyeon?”
Ye-hyeon asked back.
Of course I did. The day I reunited with Colton.
The social gathering had ended, and I was heading home when I woke up kidnapped by Jaeyeon. He’d given me some unknown injection. My sealed senses opened up after that shot.
I’d never thought deeply about it until now.
Hearing Ye-hyeon, I wondered how he’d even made such a thing.
“Falcon is a very thorough man.”
I snapped back to attention at the Supreme Commander’s voice.
“No one handles things as thoroughly as he does.”
“…Are you saying he hid my people from me without me knowing?”
I tried to ask calmly.
“That they’re living inside the Core, mixed in with humans?”
“It’s just my guess. But it’s not without basis…”
Ye-hyeon answered like that, then suddenly wore a hint of distress on his face. Not understanding the emotion, I stared blankly at my boss.
What.
You were talking so well, why stop now.
“What’s wrong?”
“…I’m wondering if I should say more.”
Hm?
“…I can’t decide how much about him I should tell.”
Who?
I lost the thread of the conversation. It seemed only I had.
Gilbert the Aide and Yoon already knew who Ye-hyeon meant by “him.”
It didn’t feel like it was about Colton.
As I tried to think, Yoon, who’d been silent, suddenly broke the quiet.
“Let’s stop. She’ll flip out and charge again.”
His characteristic low tone carried displeasure.
“It can’t get much worse than this, but.”
Ah.
“You’re right. There’s no worse it can get. And I was planning to tell Hilde that story soon anyway.”
“But it doesn’t have to be today.”
Gilbert calmly joined the conversation.
“You have many official appearances coming up lately.”
It’s about Jaeyeon.
I caught the flow again. The “him” Ye-hyeon referred to was Jaeyeon. The one who hated me for taking away Colton’s chance to die of old age. Strangely, he hated Ye-hyeon just as much as he hated me.
A few days ago, Ye-hyeon said he’d soon tell me why Jaeyeon hated him.
Is that reason connected to my people?
My bad premonition seemed spot on. From what Yoon and Gilbert were saying.
However, Jaeyeon’s irrational hatred toward Titan—toward Supreme Commander Lee Ye-hyeon—I couldn’t guess how they connected. To begin with, I didn’t understand why Jaeyeon had popped up suddenly.
But it was clear Jaeyeon and Titan were annoyingly tangled.
So the kid across from me bought Jaeyeon’s hatred because of my people?
Because of the people I dragged in?
My blood ran cold.
“Yeah.”
But I missed the timing to ask.
Before I could speak, Ye-hyeon broke the silence. His voice, resonating in the quiet room, mixed weariness and resignation.
“Let’s save that story for later.”
Now I couldn’t press him.
I’d hear about Jaeyeon next time. Thinking that, I absently stroked the hope that had bloomed in my heart.
It came from my conversation with Ye-hyeon. The small hope that my people might be safely living inside the Core.
I was afraid it would shatter, but I didn’t want to let it go.
“There might be some who died of old age.”
Ye-hyeon brought the talk back to the main topic.
“But not all of them avoided aging, I heard.”
“Yes. They’re all strong, as if they all had Enhanced Bodies. But not all were ageless. Only those who learned Beast Mastery could control Creatures. The technique to gain nutrients from corpses could only be used by those qualified to handle that skill.”
“Didn’t you say only about three people could use that, including you?”
“Ah.”
I recalled the conversation with Yoon on the rooftop.
I nodded slowly.
While carefully correcting the error.
“Yes. But it’s not certain. At the time, the only offspring of the World Tree I remembered were those two…”
“Well, whatever. If we can’t open it, what does the number matter.”
“The point is, hold onto hope, Hilde.”
Ye-hyeon grabbed the topic before it strayed.
I pulled out of my thoughts and met the eyes of the man sitting across from me.
“Just because you can’t sense their presence doesn’t mean you can conclude they’re dead.”
A voice full of conviction.
“I think the probability that some of them are alive is far higher than all of them being dead.”
Determined eyes.
I didn’t answer for a long time.
Heavy emotions surged in. I didn’t try to peer into them. But unlike the previous ones that crashed in darkly, this wasn’t purely dark. The previous felt like it would swallow me if I looked.
It felt like moonlight pouring over a pitch-black abyss.
Mulling over my boss’s point, I slowly replied.
“Thank you.”
I still had many questions.
“But as you said, I’ll try to hold onto hope. It’s a great comfort.”
Instead of answering, Ye-hyeon smiled faintly.
I quietly took in that beautiful smile. Until Gilbert mentioned it was time to go. The taciturn man stood and asked me to check the footage carefully, in case the Video Division missed something.
Of course.
I bowed politely to the command staff leaving the Video Center.
Then, Yoon and I began scanning the reclamation battle footage.
***
We were dying.
“I want to go home…”
Four days after discharge, commuting to the Center.
Actually, I didn’t go home yesterday.
I mumbled weakly, face buried in the table.
“Please just readmit me, Senior… No, I think I need to be readmitted. My eyes hurt so much.”
“Cut the crap and start from 35 minutes.”
Yoon replied in a gruff voice, running a hand through his hair.
“That’s your shift anyway.”
Irritation laced his voice.
I understood him. I understood him tossing his shortened cigarette butt onto the table. I even understood him pulling out a new one from his pocket. It was amazing he was only this irritated. I was just as fed up.
I want to quit.
Thinking that, I lifted my head.
I knew better than anyone how important this was. But hard was hard.
Why is there so much footage?
Not all the footage was in good condition. Focus shifted wildly in many, and plenty were covered in dust, barely visible.
“What’s even going to come of watching it all?”
“You’d know better than me.”
“I don’t have any guesses either…”
Muttering, I still clicked play doggedly.
The reclamation battle footage started mercilessly. 17:35 record.
18:00 record. 17:58 record. 35-minute record 2nd, drone footage. 35-minute record 3rd, unmanned aircraft footage.
Footage…
“Huh?”
Drowning in the flood of videos, I raised my voice at my vibrating phone.
“Spitfire?”
So glad.
I snatched the phone.
And without missing the chance to escape, I bolted out of the Center to answer the call.