WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Natty
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Black Badger ◈
Chapter 6: Black Badger (6)
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It felt as though my organs were floating.
I had no time to look at the city in broad daylight. My throat closed up, and my eyes shut on reflex. Violent wind swept past my body. It felt like I was falling. Like I would fall forever. All the way to the ground...
A powerful force pulled me from behind.
When I opened my eyes, I saw green ones.
“Got you.”
Ricardo pulled me close and smiled.
“Thought I was going to miss you~.”
I stared blankly upward.
Ricardo was holding a wire in one hand. Its end stretched from the window of the floor I had fallen from. The building rose overhead, its windows smooth and gleaming.
The bizarre creature was still clinging to the wall of windows.
Ami was on top of it.
Still held by Ricardo, I gaped.
“Ami...”
“It’s fine~. She may not look it, but she’s skilled enough to have survived the First and Second Wars...”
The man held me more tightly.
He smelled pleasantly of woodsy cologne. The moment I thought that, my body, which had been suspended in midair, suddenly dropped.
Gasping on reflex, I grabbed Ricardo’s arm.
Holding the wire, Ricardo descended at tremendous speed.
The ground drew closer. People screamed and fled from the building. The gray asphalt below grew larger.
The gray asphalt was coming closer!
Aah! I’m going to hit it!
The asphalt rushed up at me.
Ricardo pulled me close and rolled across the ground.
“Th... thank you.”
“When you land, don’t look at the ground~.”
Ricardo stood and held out a hand to me.
He pulled me up in one swift motion, then smiled brightly.
“If you ever have to land again, look as far away as you can...”
I really hoped I would never have to land again.
But I had no time to say it aloud. Ricardo shoved my back as soon as I stood on the asphalt.
“Run.”
His voice was cold.
“Get away from that.”
I was not foolish enough to argue.
A man looking upward while gripping the wire, and a woman cutting the horse head with a blade.
Black blood fell onto the asphalt with the sound of steel cutting flesh.
I nodded and immediately turned.
“Thank you!”
No answer came back.
I ran without looking behind me. The terrified screams of people pierced my ears. Just moments ago, everything had been peaceful.
People in business casual clothes and white lab coats. Employees running beneath the blazing sun. All of them fled in the same direction, their faces full of fear.
Where should I go?
The grounds were larger than I had expected. It was good that the space ahead was open, but I had no idea where to run.
The others seemed to know where they were going, scattering in every direction.
As for me...
I did not know, so I needed to get as far away as possible.
As far from that thing as I could.
I put strength into my legs and sped up. The cool wind pleasantly scratched across my cheeks.
Ah.
As I ran, I saw the edge of the grounds. Beyond it was a road where cars went Honk! Honk! Several people had leaped out of their cars and were frantically running to the other side.
I should run there too...
Thud!
The asphalt shook.
A heavy sound came from behind me. I lost my balance and staggered. I could not bring myself to look back. I quickly planted my raised foot firmly on the ground and steadied myself.
People’s screams rose, then faded away.
A child running ahead of me tumbled noisily onto the asphalt.
“Ow!”
They fell so hard that it hurt just to watch.
Ignoring the presence I felt behind me, I ran to the child.
“Are you okay? Can you run?”
The moment I knelt beside them, a shadow covered us.
My stomach dropped coldly. I grabbed the child’s arm and looked up.
I came face-to-face with something new.
It was different from the one I had seen before. It was larger, and it had wings.
Its wings were a faded bluish gray, ragged and miserable like old rags. It reminded me of someone in a Gothic dress. Thick tentacles stood where its limbs should have been, while the part resembling a dress hem was made of writhing fur.
A tentacle split into five strands gripped a massive sword made of bone.
The moment it raised the sword, I snatched up the child and rolled across the ground.
Boom!
The asphalt cracked.
We had avoided it by a hair. When I opened my eyes with the child in my arms, I saw the bone sword.
A sword that had split the asphalt like a cookie.
“Mom!”
The child burst into shrill tears.
As I hurriedly got myself together and stood, the ground shook. The creature was slowly pulling its sword from the crack in the asphalt.
I changed direction and ran.
Now that it had spotted us, I could not run toward the main road.
I ran along the wall separating the grounds from the road. The child cried as though they were about to collapse from exhaustion, but I had no time to comfort them.
What the hell were those things?!
I didn’t think the Earth I remembered had anything like that!
I ran at full speed, strength pouring into my legs. Thud! Thud! The sound of the sword slamming down came from behind me, but I did not look back.
The wind shoved hard against my back, and the road tore apart. It was easy to tell that the sword was striking just behind me.
If I can’t dodge it, please let it hit me right in the head! Let me die instantly, without pain.
I stumbled as I ran.
The corner of the wall appeared ahead. Holding the child, exhausted from crying, I rounded the plain building.
Then I knew we were screwed.
A long, straight path. The road stretching ahead was long, but it ended at a wall. One side of the wall was blocked by the plain building.
It was over.
I had never imagined it would end so quickly.
Was there at least a way to save the child?
Despair made my heart sink, but I did not stop running. I would think about what came next when I reached the dead end.
Biting my lip, I kept running. I hoped there would be an escape route I could not see at the end.
Some small gap too far away to make out...
Crash!
A shockwave pushing against my back sent me tumbling forward.
White-hot pain wrapped around my ankle.
“...Run in there.”
The creature’s wing had cut my left ankle. A hot pain ran across it. I firmly pushed the child, who could not regain their balance after the fall.
There was a narrow gap beneath an apartment balcony.
“Get in there. Don’t make a sound, and stay still.”
The bone sword stopped in midair.
The child staggered away from me on all fours. I was relieved that they did not look back.
After confirming that the child had crouched beneath the balcony, I slowly turned my head.
I could see the sky.
A clear, lofty sky, high enough to make my chest feel open.
A massive bone sword blocking it.
Bluish-gray wings.
The worn-out wings flapped a few times, then stopped. The tentacle holding the bone sword did not move either. The blade’s tip was pointed directly at my face.
Ah. It was short, but I had a pretty good life.
As I felt the wingtip cut my right forearm, I thought blankly.
My life had been full of things I did not understand, and it had been astonishingly short, but I had still been lucky. I had met kind people, and received all sorts of things from them...
The vivid sensations of life. A confusing time, but not a bad one.
The small kindnesses we had exchanged.
I really should love people.
A voice dragged from beyond my memories overlapped with my own thoughts.
At the same time, the bone sword came plunging down.
Clang!
Something caught it.
I blankly stared at the person who had blocked the sword.
He wore an ordinary white shirt and black suit pants.
His sleeves were rolled up to his forearms, and he was barefoot. He must have rushed out while getting ready for work, but he held a massive spear in one hand. Sunlight backlit both the spear and the man.
When I blinked, his distinctive appearance came into view.
Braids fluttering in the wind.
“I’ll take the second creature.”
He spoke to someone.
The black spear tore through the wing. The creature let out a painful, chilling scream. Black blood splattered like ink, and its two-story-tall body staggered.
A long scream torn from a living thing.
Frowning at the blood and noise pouring over me, I narrowed my eyes.
“I’ll finish this quickly, so please hold on a little longer.”
The man with braids spoke without looking down at me. I tried to answer, but my voice was drowned out by a thunderous sound.
He swung the spear heavily and knocked away the bone sword. The white blade flew into the wall with a violent crash.
Bang!
As I flinched at the sound, the spear tore through the creature’s other wing.
Saliva burst out, soaking the man’s shirt and my body.
Ignoring the pain and unpleasantness all over me, I murmured,
“Thank you so much...”
“Hey! I’m firing!”
Ro burst out as a window in the building flew open.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
The continuous gunfire filled the area. It was loud enough to cleanly drown out even the creature’s screams. Even if someone had answered, I would not have heard them.
Ro rested the gun barrel on the balcony and fired mercilessly.
The bizarre creature was shredded by the rounds.
The man with the spear leaped backward and disappeared from my view.
I felt him crouch beside my head.
Soon, his arm slid beneath my armpits. I relaxed into the hand that gripped me and dragged me backward.
“I’m sorry.”
The man’s voice dripped with apology and self-reproach.
“It’s our job to prevent things like this... Yet we let you experience something like this.”
“Not at all.”
I gave a hollow smile. The pain in my forearm and ankle had not faded, and it hurt badly. But the relief of having survived was stronger than the pain.
I thought my life was over.
As my body was dragged farther from the monster, relief surged through me.
I watched the blue sky in my field of vision and let out a long breath. Raising my chin slightly, I looked upside down at the man pulling me.
I saw a handsome face full of remorse. Braids fluttering in the wind, a white shirt stained black, and silver piercings catching the light on his ear.
A pleasant breeze swept over me.
I really survived.
I met his eyes and grinned. Gratitude rose from deep in my heart.
“Thank you for saving me.”
His mouth curved into a smile. It was a sincere smile, without pretense.
“Don’t mention it.”
He whispered warmly.
“Thank you for saving the child. That was very brave of you.”
“No.”
It was only natural.
I lay there blankly, looking at the sky.
I did not move until Ro threw aside the empty gun, climbed onto the creature, and swung a hammer. Until Ricardo and Ami came running over. Until Ami’s eyes went wide and she screamed, “Hilde! Your wounds!”
The man with braids recoiled in shock.
“You have an enhanced body, so why aren’t you healing?”
Ricardo rushed over and carried me on his back.
I was taken to the infirmary, dangling from Ricardo’s back. The man with braids hurriedly tore his shirt and bound my arm while Ami called the infirmary.
Once I was treated, we could go have brunch again, right?
Surrounded by frantic people, that was what I thought.
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