WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Natty

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Black Badger ◈

Chapter 43: Expulsion Order (3)

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“No.”

Ye-hyeon answered simply.

“I’ve never met you in person.”

I stayed silent.

I needed time to suppress an emotion I could not quite name. I had no idea why that flat answer churned my stomach so badly.

Perhaps my expression gave me away, because Ye-hyeon’s gaze softened.

“But it’s a good question. If I had answered yes, it would have cleared things up neatly from your perspective.”

That was true.

If I had met Ye-hyeon before, it would prove I had stayed here. It would also explain why someone named Jae-yeon had deliberately mentioned December 26, and why Ye-hyeon possessed information about me.

But with that answer, all my speculation returned to square one.

I felt a little depressed. Not because I had failed to solve the mystery of the message.

I was simply disappointed.

“Jae-yeon’s reason for hating me has nothing to do with you. They probably just think it’s more efficient to screw over two people at once. Hilde, don’t lose heart just because you can’t understand Jae-yeon.”

“Yes. No, that isn’t why I’m feeling down.”

Ever since I had encountered Ye-hyeon sleeping on that sofa. Ever since he had said he would give me a sword.

There was something I had hoped for.

I just...

“I was hoping the person I used to be knew you, Commander-in-Chief.”

Ye-hyeon looked at me in surprise.

Silence fell over the office. It was the sort of silence that made it feel as though everyone had been too startled to speak.

The hum of the computer suddenly rang loudly in my ears.

I regretted revealing my feelings so honestly.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

My senior partner broke the silence, raising an eyebrow.

“Why would you say that in this context?”

“No, it’s just... the Commander-in-Chief is a good person....”

“That’s exactly why I’m asking why you brought it up.”

“Why are you picking on the kid?”

Ye-hyeon looked at Yoon in confusion. Meanwhile, Ska stood with his arms folded, quietly snickering.

The Assistant, whose silver piercing gleamed brightly, spoke with all the unease gone from his voice.

“It makes sense. If I were in his place, I’d rather his forgotten connection was Ye-hyeon instead of Jae-yeon.”

Yoon scoffed.

I stared blankly at him as he scoffed. As we looked at each other with equal indifference, the quiet brown-haired man addressed me for the first time.

“Rookie, you and Yoon are getting along, right?”

Ska burst out laughing.

Ye-hyeon also relaxed his businesslike expression into a faint smile. I watched Yoon raise an eyebrow at the brown-haired man, then answered politely.

“I’ve been getting by well enough with Ami’s help.”

“I spoiled you too much. You’re getting awfully bold.”

“I’m learning a great deal under such an exceptional senior partner.”

When I immediately changed my tune, Ska let out a small laugh.

The brown-haired man wore a faint smile as well. I watched the people smiling gently, then turned my gaze to the Commander-in-Chief.

The city beyond the window had grown darker. It looked as though it was well past midnight. A perceptive junior would end things here, but I was not ready to finish this conversation.

There was one more thing I wanted to ask.

“I’m sorry for getting off track, Commander-in-Chief. There’s just one more thing I would like to ask.”

“Ask as much as you want. I’ll answer only as much as I need to.”

“Is Jae-yeon a Badger?”

The office froze.

The faint smiles lingering on everyone’s lips vanished like ghosts. Even Yoon’s indifferent expression, which had calmly endured my teasing, disappeared completely.

Ye-hyeon stared at me without a word.

“You always get straight to the heart of it.”

At the quiet reply, I lowered my head slightly.

“Thank you.”

“What do you think?”

He returned the question. It seemed he intended to judge my answer after hearing it.

Fortunately, I had already considered it, so I did not panic.

“I don’t think Jae-yeon is.”

“Why not?”

“You spoke as though Jae-yeon’s whereabouts had been unknown until now. Ricardo said each Badger is tracked like a gun with a serial number. My recruitment was also considered a potential problem in that regard, so I thought there was no way a place that handles every employee so thoroughly could have a malicious employee whose whereabouts were unknown.”

“Exactly.”

Ye-hyeon praised me calmly.

I slowly closed and opened my eyes. I did not think I had made some brilliant deduction. They were things anyone could figure out with a little thought.

And since becoming a Black Badger, I had often thought about Badgers. Before going to sleep, I would mull over the stories Ye-hyeon, Ricardo, and Yoon had told someone who knew nothing.

After all, I had little else to mull over.

“Then what do you think Jae-yeon is?”

From here on, it was just a string of one-sided speculation.

But I could not refuse to answer when the highest-ranking person at work was asking.

I simply said what I had been thinking.

“Assuming Jae-yeon is human, I think they have an enhanced body. You said it would be difficult for me to escape on my own.”

“And?”

“And if that assumption is right, then someone who is not a Black Badger possesses an enhanced body. From here on, this is truly wild speculation, but....”

I tried to organize the thoughts I had formed while everyone had been debating where to attach a tracking device to me.

As I sank into thought, my senses dulled. I ran a hand along my jaw.

“I thought it might be one of three cases. First, a rare case of successfully receiving an illegal enhanced-body implant. Second, an official organization exists to keep Black Badger in check, and Jae-yeon belongs to it. Third, this may be me letting my imagination run away with me, but Aging Suspension and exceptional healing ability are awfully tempting, aren’t they? They are things humanity has long yearned for. So perhaps there is a privileged class that secretly received enhanced-body implants and enjoys the privilege of agelessness while avoiding society’s scrutiny....”

“Stop.”

The firm voice brought me back to my senses.

My blurred vision cleared. The sounds that had seemed distant became distinct again.

I widened my eyes, blankly taking in the rush of sensation. Silence struck my ears. The office had gone deathly quiet. No one moved or made a sound.

I lowered the hand that had been unconsciously stroking my jaw.

Ye-hyeon looked at me with an unreadable expression.

“You’ve gone too far.”

“...I’m sorry.”

“Be careful. Once you leave this office, there are ears everywhere.”

I shut my mouth.

My heart began beating faintly. My hands felt strangely numb, and I opened and closed my fists.

For the first time since entering this office, I was worried about something. I could not explain exactly what was making me uneasy.

But if I was not completely off base, if I was not being oblivious.

Jae-yeon was neither the first case nor the second, but someone for whom it would not have been strange to know my contact details, whatever means they had used....

“Would it be all right if we implanted a tracking device?”

The Commander-in-Chief asked in a calm voice.

I blankly stared into the eyes of the handsome man standing before me.

“What? Yes. Of course, yes.”

“Good. Then we’ll do that. You already know this, but do not tell anyone what we discussed here.”

“Yes.”

“Not even Ami or Ricardo.”

“Understood.”

“Mm.”

Ye-hyeon lowered his gaze to his desk as though to write something.

Then he slowly rose.

I remained dazed as I watched the Commander-in-Chief stand and walk around the desk. Ska and the brown-haired man also rose from their seats.

Were they getting ready to leave work? It was late.

Was I supposed to return to my hospital room now?

“Good work.”

After giving Ska a brief instruction, Ye-hyeon turned to me.

Then he smiled gently. It was the same smile he had worn when he handed me banana pudding with sleepy eyes.

“You did well. Impressive.”

“...Me? Thank you. I’m not sure what I did, though.”

“Go rest. Sorry for keeping you so long.”

I would hear my schedule from tomorrow onward from Yoon. At his gentle words, I could only nod eagerly. Then I remained rooted to the spot while the three leaders prepared to leave.

Ye-hyeon gestured for Ska and the brown-haired man to go first. My two seniors told me I had worked hard and left the office. I greeted them as they departed and waited quietly. I intended to follow once my senior partner left.

When the Commander-in-Chief started walking, Yoon moved as well. Ye-hyeon’s farewell brought the meeting to a complete close.

It was a farewell strong enough to blow every thought about Jae-yeon from my mind.

“Get better soon. You need to go outside the Core.”

I squeaked out a yes.

* * *

Hilde returned to the hospital room.

Samuel’s grumbling and nagging could be heard from inside. Hilde replied in a shamelessly sweet voice, begging for forgiveness.

Yoon liked Samuel well enough. He also liked teasing the white-haired rookie assigned to him. Under normal circumstances, he would have enjoyed watching his cheeky junior get scolded by Samuel, exchanged a few words with the doctor, and gone home.

But he was not in the mood for that now.

He stopped walking as he watched Ye-hyeon head toward the car.

“Wait inside for a moment. Assistant Ska and I will go have a smoke.”

Ye-hyeon paused while opening the passenger-side door.

He stared fixedly at Yoon with wide eyes.

“You’re going to talk about me behind my back.”

“Yeah. Sharp. Lock the car door and sleep.”

Ye-hyeon obediently got in.

Yoon took a cigarette pack from his pocket and walked past the car. He did not answer Ye-hyeon’s words as the passenger-side door closed.

Ye-hyeon spoke in a low voice.

“Don’t worry too much. It probably won’t be as bad as last time.”

Instead of answering, Yoon put a cigarette between his lips.

He climbed the stairs in a corner of the underground parking garage and went outside. It was a city past midnight. A cool chill brushed across his cheek.

The glow of a cigarette flickered in the settled darkness, drawing his gaze. Shielding it from the wind with one hand, Yoon lit his cigarette.

He inhaled the acrid smoke and approached the Assistant, who was leaning against the building wall.

Ska exhaled smoke and turned to Yoon.

“Hilde did well.”

He spoke to Yoon.

“I heard from all sorts of people that he was a good junior, but I didn’t realize he was so sharp. If we train him well, we could take him on as our junior too.”

“He was probably never ordinary.”

Yoon replied in a dry voice.

“An ordinary person could not have become entangled with Jae-yeon and survived.”

Ska put the cigarette back between his lips.

His silence became an affirmative answer. The sound of the night wind filled the air. The two smoked in silence for a while. Even normally, few people came through this smoking area. Their cigarette embers swayed this way and that in the predawn darkness with the flow of the wind.

Ska spoke first.

“I don’t intend to sit around and watch Jae-yeon run wild, either.”

Yoon turned his head to look at Ska.

Ska looked down at the cigarette in his hand, then clenched his fist and crushed the butt.

“I’ll support the Commander-in-Chief well, so Yoon, keep a close eye on Jae-yeon’s movements.”

“Yes.”

“And look after Hilde.”

Yoon raised one eyebrow.

At his expression, as though asking why that had suddenly come up, Ska gave a bitter smile.

The Assistant opened his palm over the outdoor ashtray.

“He’s a rookie, after all. We don’t know his identity, but he’s likeable, and he’s your first trainee too....”

“He will be out of my hands for the time being. What is there for you to ask of me?”

Yoon replied dryly, taking another drag from his cigarette.

“I have no intention of leaving the Core.”

“Right. I didn’t think you would. We need researchers to keep watch over the Core, and someone who can stop Jae-yeon. The Head of Personnel will find suitable people to assign.”

“Won’t Ami go with Hilde? Of the people who know Hilde’s circumstances, only Sordi and Ami are any use, and Sordi is scheduled to patrol inside the Core for a while.”

“Probably. Ami, and likely Walker. Depending on the situation there.... Richard Green will ask for Hilde, but depending on the rotation, Tvein might be assigned. Aki is also a possibility....”

Ska muttered to himself, then faintly furrowed his brow.

After being lost in thought for a while, he eventually voiced sincere pity for the unusual rookie.

“He’ll have it rough.”

Yoon silently agreed.

Quiet fell again. One still-long cigarette rapidly burned down, while another cigarette, reduced to pitch-black ash, fell into the ashtray.

No conversation took place until the long cigarette had burned down.

Yoon and Ska always kept an appropriate distance from one another. They did not share personal stories, but neither took the other’s words lightly.

At last, after finishing his cigarette, Yoon walked to the ashtray.

He stubbed it out and spoke evenly.

“If the brat comes back alive from outside the Core, I’ll look after him.”

Ska answered with a broad smile.

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