Black Badger

Chapter 418: Memorial Service (2)

Eyes poured toward him.

People who couldn’t tear their gaze away from the gold irises.

Hildebert stood amid the flood of stares and swept his eyes across the chapel.

From the golden eyes, in which neither discomfort nor fear could be found, people read nothing at all.

And so a chill silence settled.

The one who broke it was a husky voice.

“Come in.”

That was all.

At the Supreme Commander’s brief instruction, Hildebert did not reply.

The leadership, looking at the bronze urns covered in linen, did not turn around either.

Pure white linen and flickering candlelight.

A music box placed before organ pipes that rose straight up to the ceiling.

As Hildebert and Jack Black found their seats, the people’s gazes returned forward one by one.

The memorial service began.

***

The eulogy was read by Kang Ju as he stepped forward.

There was no one who knew all the fallen Badgers better than Kang Ju. As always, the Personnel Director’s eulogy was flawless. He genuinely cherished every Badger, and that sincerity seeped into his words.

Every one of the fallen had lived and died as a Black Badger.

Even if the world forgot them, the organization would remember.

Some shed tears.

Ami cried without stopping. She curled her lips inward and made no sound, but tears kept spilling from her bloodshot eyes.

Dante, who had been in the same intake as a Badger who died in the park without even a body, wiped his tears away with his thick forearm.

Tom Husson, who had entered alongside Hildebert, let fall tears like chicken droppings.

A single tear slid down from Carl Dow’s blue eyes as well. It was the first tear he had ever shown at a memorial service.

The skin revealed where his mask had been removed was pale.

The tear that ran down his cool, light-colored skin fell to the chapel floor. That was the end of the tears he shed. Carl did not cry any further, and instead placed a hand on the back of the office worker who had buried his face in his hands and couldn’t lift his head.

Listening to the eulogy, they prayed for Jin Silver’s rest.

All time wounds, and the last thing kills.

The Badger recalled an old Roman proverb he liked.

Someday, the final time would come for him as well.

Ding—

When the recitation of the memorial text ended, a requiem rang out.

Amid the resonating organ notes, the leadership and Hildebert looked at the urns without expression. It was hard to guess what they were thinking.

It was the same with Jack Black standing beside Hildebert—no emotion could be read from him either.

Still, throughout the memorial service, there wasn’t a single reporter who crossed the line far enough to set off flashes, and the ceremony proceeded without incident.

When the music ended and even the moment of silence passed, the service concluded. People turned their bodies and walked out of the chapel.

Shaaah....

Rain was still falling, and a light mist blurred the view.

The Badgers who came out one after another opened their umbrellas.

Clickclickclick!

As Hildebert followed them out, flashes exploded noisily.

“The funeral procedures are not finished yet.”

It was Ju, stepping forward, who blocked the microphones the reporters thrust out.

“Please be considerate until the funeral is over.”

Knowing public sentiment, the reporters took a step back.

The microphones lowered, but lenses diligently tracked Hildebert.

The viewfinders captured scenes of the gold-eyed man apologizing to the Personnel Director, and the Personnel Director smiling gently as he nudged him along.

The Personnel Director moved his steps along with the Badgers who had appeared late.

The younger Badgers didn’t know the way to the cemetery, but most of the Badgers knew its location.

Carl Dow did as well. After seeing the office worker off to his family, he followed the procession of Badgers.

Leaving the chapel grounds, they climbed a green sloping path.

A procession moving in respectful silence.

Only after the raindrops clinging to the grass thoroughly soaked everyone’s ankles did they arrive at the cemetery.

Flashes continued to go off, but no one thrust out a microphone. Standing among seniors and juniors, Carl Dow took in the urns being set down, and beside them, the Black Badger insignia and blue ribbons.

And he stood in silence until the funeral bugle sounded.

The final procedure of the funeral.

Until it was over, Hildebert remained in place without saying a single word.

***

Some Badgers did not leave right away.

Instead, they remained in front of the cemetery and talked with those gathered there in black uniforms.

They paid no mind to the reporters lingering about.

The longer one’s career, the better one learned how to ignore the press....

“Hildebert!”

“Mr. Taleb! Please give us just a moment!”

“Supreme Commander!”

“Ms. Ami, could we have a brief interview?”

But that was a luxury granted only to some.

Once the funeral ended, the reporters no longer held back. They finally swarmed Hildebert, who had at last appeared, like a cloud of bees.

The one who smoothly peeled that crowd away, like swimming through it, was Jack Black.

The red-haired man gently pushed Hildebert out of the reporters, smiling faintly.

Without blinking even once in front of the exploding flashes, he kept widening the distance between the reporters and Hildebert until they vanished into the open field.

“Are you running away?!”

“Blackjack! Since when have you known Mr. Taleb?”

“What is your relationship? Why did you come together?”

“Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Taleb! At least accept our words of thanks!”

“Where are you staying right now? We heard you filed for medical leave—are you really in bad condition?”

“Commander! Please say a word about the special recruitment of Hildebert Taleb!”

Without answering, they headed for their respective vehicles.

Ricardo stood holding his umbrella, quietly watching those figures recede.

Only after they were out of sight did he turn his body and walk down from the cemetery with Jonathan.

The opposite side from where the rumored figures had parked their cars. The farther they walked, the quieter it became.

The two Badgers stopped beneath a zelkova tree at the start of the slope.

Yun was already standing there, smoking.

“We thought you’d gotten caught by the reporters....”

Ricardo spoke beside Jonathan, who dipped his chin in greeting.

Yun, smoking with a bored expression, rolled his eyes.

“Reporters?”

The man stared at Ricardo with reptilian eyes.

“At me?”

Ricardo let out a hollow laugh instead of answering.

Then he turned his head forward. Thinking about it, that was true. Who would dare thrust a microphone at Choi Yun and try to wring answers out of him?

Snorting at his own question, he pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

For a while, they smoked in silence. Jonathan didn’t smoke, but whenever Yun smoked, he usually stood beside him silently with an unreadable face.

People smoking thickly in silence.

The smell of summer rain mixed with the fresh scent of young leaves and cigarette smoke.

It was Ricardo who broke the quiet.

“I heard you gave him a safehouse....”

Yun understood the abruptly thrown words at once.

“Did he tell you?”

“Yes....”

“Verbally?”

“Yes, well.... He said communications couldn’t be guaranteed right now....”

“Looks like you got a home invasion too.”

“That’s not why I invited him over....”

One night, late and deep into the dark, he’d come out with a gun after sensing a presence, only to find Hildebert standing at the front door.

He hadn’t even dared to come inside, standing there with an expression that was truly apologetic.

There hadn’t been a sound of the door lock opening, nor even the sound of a window being opened.

And none of the many CCTV cameras installed around the house had captured Hildebert’s image.

Yet, astonishingly, the junior had appeared inside Ricardo’s house. Like a mushroom sprouting in front of the door.

With the addition of yellow eyes glowing in the darkness, Ricardo privately thought he might have aimed the muzzle if it weren’t for the distinctively frightened expression on Hildebert’s face.

‘Why do you look scared when you’re the home intruder~?’

‘I’m really sorry, Rick....’

At a single word, the junior bowed his head and glanced at him cautiously.

‘I apologize for entering without permission. Honestly, it would’ve been best not to come at all, but.... I debated it because there were things I needed to give you.’

The media situation wasn’t even that bad—what did that have to do with anything.

Was it strange for a senior and junior to see each other outside?

He didn’t ask. He wasn’t an idiot. He knew Hildebert had started getting entangled with people behind the curtain.

So instead of grumbling, he chose to turn his body.

‘Just come in first~....’

‘Ah, I’ll just leave what I need to give you and go.’

He’d tried to at least offer tea, but Hildebert stayed by the entrance.

Without even changing into slippers, he dumped a pile of weapons out in front of the door.

‘What is this....’

Whatever Hildebert thought Ricardo’s muttered words meant.

He made a small sound and started explaining the weapons.

Ricardo let out a sigh.

‘I know how to use them....’

‘That’s a relief. There are no legal issues with the acquisition process, but please store them somewhere out of sight. They’re absolutely not for missions.’

‘What are you even doing these days?’

The junior smiled bitterly.

He looked at Ricardo with golden eyes.

‘I’m sorry. I can’t explain properly, but you’re someone I’m close to, and you’re also close with Aide-de-Camp Ska. It seemed right to prepare in various ways.’

‘Where are you staying right now....’

‘My mentor gave me one of the safehouses.’

Hildebert disassembled the gun with a skill that made it hard to believe he was the same rookie who’d once forgotten to load a magazine.

After quickly checking the condition of other weapons, including tranquilizer darts, he restored them to their original state.

Watching him handle weapons the kind intelligence agents would use with such ease felt strange.

But regardless of that, Hildebert smiled when he saw Ricardo raise an eyebrow.

‘I’m doing well there, so you don’t need to worry. Please be careful for a while. Aide-de-Camp Ska is quite worried as well.’

‘Looks like the Supreme Commander really is planning to resign~?’

‘Personally, I think that might be better for Yehyeon.’

The junior turned his body after setting down what he’d brought.

‘I heard nothing’s been decided yet.’

After that, he rambled on about harmless things (like what he’d eaten for dinner at the safehouse yesterday), then tried to leave on his own.

As Ricardo sighed at the way he did whatever he wanted, the junior made an expression like something had just occurred to him.

He added this.

‘If you can’t avoid it, kill the intruder.’

When Ricardo stared at him, the junior showed a smile filled with apology and sadness.

‘I’m sorry, Rick.’

And then, up to today, he hadn’t shown his face even once.

That damn junior—so green and already so ill-mannered.

“Can you kill a human, at least.”

At Yun’s question, Ricardo answered without blinking.

“Yes.”

“Hang on to your life, if only for your intake.”

Yun said indifferently, exhaling smoke.

“If you don’t want to see a repeat ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) of what happened the last time an outsider sat in the top seat.”

And less than two days after hearing those words, Ricardo received a message from Ska Owen.

[Come pick me up.]

Going out personally to meet him as requested, Ricardo came face to face with Ska Owen looking utterly absent-minded for the first time.