WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Natty

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Black Badger ◈

Chapter 7: Commander-in-Chief (1)

──────

I opened my eyes in a hospital room.

The sound of people whispering in low voices tickled my ears. All I could see was a white ceiling. When I turned my head slightly, I saw the backs of several heads.

My injured arm and leg felt numb, but there was no pain. They must have given me something.

When I blinked, someone came over to my bedside.

“You’re awake?”

At the doctor’s voice, everyone around me turned at once.

All those eyes on me made me feel awkward.

“Yes. Ah, was I asleep?”

“You weren’t asleep. You were unconscious for a while. You lost quite a bit of blood.”

“Are you okay? How do you feel?”

The doctor answered, and Ami leaned forward to ask.

I pushed myself upright with my elbow.

The familiar room came into view. A spacious white room, strange medical equipment, people sitting on round stools, and beds against the wall.

It was Dr. Samuel Han’s infirmary. The place I had come to yesterday.

Large pieces of gauze covered my forearm and ankle. I could not see well because of the gauze, but the wounds did not look shallow. Still, they did not hurt at all. Had I been given painkillers?

In any case, after coming face-to-face with that thing, it was a tremendous relief that I had gotten away with only these injuries.

I looked over the people gathered around my bed. Ricardo and Ami were sitting in chairs. The handsome man with braided hair stood nearby, looking troubled.

Samuel was looking at a pad.

I nodded and rubbed my neck with my uninjured hand.

“It doesn’t hurt at all. Thank you. For saving me... I feel like I’ve only been causing trouble since yesterday. I’m truly sorry.”

“What did you do wrong?”

“Ric, don’t be sarcastic. It’s a bad habit.”

“Try not to walk around much for a week.”

I turned toward the doctor.

Samuel Han set his pad down on the desk. With his hands tucked into his lab coat pockets, he looked at me.

His clear blue eyes held firm confidence in his work and the poise of long experience.

“I’ll try.”

Though I had no idea how I was supposed to live for the next week.

Maybe Ricardo had read my thoughts, because he laughed at length. Wearing a sly smile, he poked the braided-haired man in the side with his elbow.

The man looked silently at Ricardo, then firmly pushed the elbow away.

Then he stepped closer to me.

“Hilde.”

“Yes. Ah, I’m Hildebert Taleb.”

“My introduction is late. I’m Ska Owen, the Assistant.”

What?

This man was the Assistant? I widened my eyes and studied the man standing before me.

The man who had rushed out and saved me.

He had been handsome even upside down, but standing properly before me, he looked even more striking. Pleasant bronze skin, braids falling to his shoulders, a tailored suit, several silver piercings in one ear, and a faint scent of perfume.

Ska Owen was a handsome man who looked to be in his mid to late twenties.

The Assistant I had unexpectedly met spoke again.

“First, I owe you an apology.”

Why was he apologizing?

“I noticed your bleeding far too late. You said you had an enhanced body, so I naturally assumed you had already healed... It was my oversight.”

“No, not at all. If you hadn’t saved me, I wouldn’t be alive right now.”

“It’s my job to save civilians from things like that.”

As I had expected, these people did not do ordinary work. But whatever they did, it did not change the fact that he had saved my life.

Before I could answer, Ska continued.

“And it seems your meeting with the Commander-in-Chief will be delayed quite a while. It is the first time two creatures have appeared near headquarters at once. There were no deaths, and you are the only injured person, Hilde, but the media is in an uproar. I think it will take at least a week for things to settle down.”

“Ah. That’s fine. As you know, I currently have neither a place to live nor memories of one... I don’t have anything particular to do, or even know what I should be doing.”

I had originally planned to go have brunch with Ami and Ricardo.

But the monsters had suddenly appeared, and we never got to eat. Thinking about food made me desperately hungry.

What time was it now?

“It is currently...”

“12:10!”

Ami said, blinking.

“You must be hungry.”

I awkwardly nodded and looked around.

Sunlight streamed through the window, bathing the hospital room. Through the door came the sound of people moving busily about. It was a scene full of the everyday bustle of noon.

It was hard to believe I had almost been killed by a strange creature just moments ago.

The doctor suddenly held out a chocolate bar.

“Eat this, at least.”

“Thank you.”

“Show him where he can stay for the next week. Put him in a wheelchair and send him there. Once he’s fully healed, we’ll check the unusual things again.”

“Are there more unusual things about me...?”

Was there even anything normal about me?

When I muttered that in a weary voice, Ricardo’s smile grew wider.

The doctor picked up his pad and explained.

“Yes. Normally, enhanced regenerative ability, including halted aging, needs to come first for an enhanced body to be implanted safely. But you have an enhanced body implanted, while your regenerative ability isn’t nearly as exceptional.”

Well, well.

“It’s not an ordinary person’s level of recovery. Your aging also seems to have been halted properly. Still, it’s true that your recovery is slower than that of ordinary Badgers, so let’s examine you again in a week.”

The doctor spoke casually and tapped his pad.

I let out a hollow laugh as I watched him write something down. I was so dumbfounded by myself that I had nothing to say. I had no idea why strange details kept coming to light.

After recording something on his pad, the doctor looked up and spoke firmly.

“For now, go rest. The examination isn’t urgent.”

I nodded while chewing the chocolate.

But I was not quite sure what to do. I was not in pain, but my limbs felt numb. If he was telling me to use a wheelchair, I probably was not in a condition to walk normally...

One leg and one arm were fine. If I found a wheelchair, couldn’t I move around on my own?

When I turned to get out of bed, the people around me reacted.

“Hilde, wait. Ric, the wheelchair.”

“Hey, don’t move around like that!”

“Yes? Ah, yes. Sorry...”

“Wait a moment. I’ll find something for you to ride in...”

Assistant Ska reached out to stop me from putting my good foot on the floor. Perhaps startled by my sudden movement, the doctor raised his voice. Ricardo stood up and went to find a wheelchair.

With Ami holding my arm as she hurried over, I awkwardly nodded.

“Thank you.”

Ami looked up at me.

“How do you feel?”

“I’m fine, except that I’m hungry.”

“Good. You remember the room you slept in yesterday, right? I’ll take you there. I already ordered brunch so we can eat when you wake up.”

“Thank you so much. And please speak casually.”

I did not know my age, but I was probably younger than seventy.

Ricardo brought a wheelchair from somewhere in the hospital room.

I put strength into my uninjured foot. Ami firmly supported my arm.

Her grip was incredibly strong.

“Okay. Then I’ll speak casually.”

Ami practically lifted me and placed me in the wheelchair in an instant.

“Let’s go eat brunch!”

Ricardo and Ami wheeled me away.

Before long, they led me to the room right beside the one I had stayed in. There was the brunch Ami had bought, along with clothes Ricardo said had been delivered. Clothing products Joo had gifted me.

Ricardo left the room, saying he had work to do.

Only Ami and I remained in the new room.

“You have to rest here for a week.”

Ami strolled over and opened the brunch packaging.

“I’ll come visit often this week. Let’s get to know each other better while you recover here.”

I realized I would have to stay quietly confined here for a week. It was probably related to the enhanced body implanted in me. It must also be connected to the fact that I had suddenly appeared in the portal zone.

And perhaps my incomplete regenerative ability... as well as the two strange life forms that had unusually appeared at headquarters.

But no answer would come from worrying about it now.

I slowly nodded as I watched the young woman bustle about.

Then I set aside my complicated thoughts and ate brunch with someone I had met only yesterday.

*　　　*　　　*

The week I could not leave the room was more peaceful than I expected.

I would not have been able to go around much anyway because of my injured leg. Since things had turned out this way, I decided to enjoy the situation.

It was an environment I could enjoy well enough. Ami and Ricardo took turns bringing food, and all I had to do was eat it.

I ate meals, read the books they bought, or passed the day chatting lightly with them.

“I’m living the good life thanks to you.”

On the evening of my third day confined there, Ricardo said that with a cheerful smile.

“Watching over an unregistered enhanced-body holder who appeared in the portal zone. I can barely tell whether I’m on vacation or on duty...”

I felt a little relieved. The fact that I was being a burden had been weighing on me. Even while laughing and talking with Ricardo and Ami, guilt had made me feel uneasy inside...

Even if it wasn’t true, I was grateful he said it.

Time passed as I ate foods I remembered and foods I had never seen before. They were all astonishingly delicious.

I spent seven days immersed in an environment like the languid air of noon.

It was a week in which I could not learn any particular information.

There was no television or computer.

“This is where the higher-ups rest.”

When I asked whether this world had no television, Ami answered.

“It was made with almost no outside stimulation, so people can completely switch off and rest.”

I nodded and did not ask further questions.

It probably was not a lie. Still, I could guess that it also meant I was not allowed to watch television.

Sometimes, I thought, it was wiser to remain silent than ask questions. Once my leg healed, I would slowly begin asking all the questions I had held back. After I had earned more trust from Ami and Ricardo.

And after the Commander-in-Chief, the person with the highest decision-making authority in the organization, had decided what to do with me.

The Commander-in-Chief was not mentioned at all during that week. Assistant Ska visited once while I was confined, and Joo, the head of Personnel, also showed his face, but neither said a word about the Commander-in-Chief. I had almost forgotten he existed.

Drunk on the lazy schedule, I passed my days without thinking about what lay ahead.

Then, after a week, I came face-to-face with the Commander-in-Chief.

*　　　*　　　*

“Hilde.”

The Commander-in-Chief called my name in a husky voice and turned his head.

“I am truly sorry our meeting was delayed.”

The person who turned from the window to face me.

As I walked into the office, I stopped where I was.

I stared stupidly at the man standing before the window. The sunlight made his appearance stand out clearly.

Skin as white as though it had no pigment. Jet-black hair. His large eyes curved gently, and his features were delicate. If not for his tall frame, slender build, and fitted black suit, I might have mistaken him for a woman at first glance.

This was the person with the highest authority here.

“Hello.”

An indescribable sense of pressure left me speechless.

“I am Hildebert Taleb.”

After greeting him, I did not move from where I stood.

It was not an authoritative gaze that made me tense. Of everyone I had met, he seemed to have the gentlest air about him.

But those eyes.

Though he visibly looked to be in his twenties, his eyes left no room to doubt that he had lived a long time. As I faced the sorrow, resignation, and the experience born from them in the Commander-in-Chief’s large eyes, I lost my words.

That was where the pressure he gave off came from.

The eyes of someone who had endured a life steeped in pain.

“My name is Lee Ye-hyeon.”

The man spoke gently and briefly looked over my leg and arm.

“It is a pleasure to meet you. Are your injuries doing better?”

“Yes. Thanks to everyone... I was just told I have fully recovered, and the gauze and bandages have all been removed.”

“That is a relief. Please make yourself comfortable in that chair. We have much to say to each other.”

“...Yes.”

I walked toward the chair before the large desk.

When I sat in the soft chair, the man watching me began moving slowly as well. He walked over, pulled out the desk chair, and sat down. Then he cleared away the holographic windows hovering over the desk.

He raised his head and looked at me.

“May we begin?”

Ye-hyeon spoke politely, his expression impossible to read.

I slowly nodded.

“Yes.”

My meeting with Commander-in-Chief Lee Ye-hyeon had begun.

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried