Ch.51It’s really not me?

# 1.

Mercenary Union Institute Branch.

As usual, numerous mercenaries were chatting on the first floor.

“Have you heard the news?”

“What news?”

“My goodness! You’ve been wandering outside the Institute for too long, and now you’re this slow with information! Open those dull ears of yours and listen carefully, it’s about…”

Like any typical group, their conversation topic was the most shocking recent event.

And the most shocking event in the past week was obviously…

“The Heroes of Light have declared they’ll subjugate the ‘Black Wolf’!!”

“I-is that true!?”

After one drunken mercenary’s shout, a momentary silence fell over the entire first-floor tavern.

“…Those crazy bastards.”

“Don’t look at them. We might get caught in the crossfire.”

“Their liver must be hanging outside their body.”

And for good reason—hadn’t he recklessly spoken the name of the ‘Black Wolf’ aloud?

A few days ago, everyone would have rushed to scold him, warning him to watch his mouth unless he wanted a short life. But now that Light had declared subjugation…

“Hey, why are you all being so cautious!? It’s Light, the Light!! With four heroes who fought against demon tribes, why fear mere criminals!?”

Now was a time when such bold statements carried weight.

“Yeah, you cowards!! Don’t you know Lady Selena can immediately locate them if she steps in!? And you call yourselves mercenaries!?”

“Tch. So noisy. Well, what would D-rank losers know anyway?”

“What did you just say, you bastard!?”

Thanks to this, fights broke out almost daily at the Mercenary Union Institute Branch.

“Seeing how loose your mouth is, you’ll be dead soon, so let me just kill you myself!!”

“Ha! Try it!! You’re too scared to even speak, but you think you can handle this!?”

THUD!

CRASH!

“What the hell!! Why throw it at me?!”

“Get him!! Just beat him up!!”

The chaos intensified as even bystanders joined the fray.

Despite being in the middle of this chaotic scene, Dallan remained motionless as he asked:

“So, what do you plan to do now?”

His conversation partner was the Yellow Dragon.

As if trying to gauge his reaction, Dallan quietly asked within a barrier he had already deployed:

“If Light personally intervenes as rumored, won’t attacking the Aria Church be difficult?”

The Hero Party – Light.

Each member strong enough to overwhelm any Black Wolf member—truly the protagonists of this ‘Babylonia’ world.

Right after the recent banquet, their leader Asha had declared the subjugation of the Black Wolf.

Because of this, Nahan thought:

‘This is seriously unfair.’

We didn’t even attack them, so why take it out on us?

We saved Hestia and let her go.

We let them talk with the Progenitor.

We even found a way to maintain the barrier.

‘We did everything for them!!’

‘So why are they only coming after me…’

Instead of answering, Nahan shifted his gaze.

[WARNING.]

[Hero – <Asha Mirabel (SSS)>’s hostility toward <Black Wolf (Ex)> has exceeded the limit threshold.]

[Bad Ending 7. – The difficulty of <Fanatic’s Rebellion> has increased exponentially.]

A system window that appeared sometime earlier, showing Asha’s extreme hostility toward Black Wolf.

‘The episode of finding the <Demon Worshippers> hiding in the Aria Church is already a mid-to-late game boss-level difficulty.’

As if the situation wasn’t difficult enough, an even harder problem had emerged.

“Commander? What are your thoughts?”

“……”

What else could he do?

‘If I want to live, I have to succeed.’

Nahan gathered his thoughts inside the Yellow Dragon’s armor before speaking briefly:

“No changes. Proceed as planned.”

Though wearing the Yellow Dragon’s armor, the contents were still Black Wolf.

“Yes, Commander.”

Dallan bowed his head in acknowledgment of his resolute tone.

At the same time, he thought:

‘As expected, the Commander has everything planned out.’

Similarly, Nahan rose from his seat thinking:

‘What should I do first…’

He had only recently managed to sleep more than six hours a day, but it seemed he would have to return to sleeping just three or four hours for the time being.

# 2.

Several hours later.

“You may go now. I’ll head to the relocated hideout before breakfast.”

“Yes, Commander.”

Returning to Ian Red’s base, a shabby church, Nahan collapsed on the bed, still transformed with only his artifact activated.

‘The Fanatics’ Rebellion.’

An episode where the Babylonian Empire’s hero, <Asha Mirabel>, eliminates the <Demon Worshippers> deeply rooted in the Aria Church.

It begins when Asha, waiting at the Aria Main Church – Institute Branch to recruit the Saint, accidentally follows a trail.

‘What happens next is predictable.’

In reality, the Pope and several high priests were <Demon Worshippers>, but the Light group overcomes adversity and emerges victorious—a common story.

Just as Nahan was about to consider how to resolve this situation…

“…Huh? Wait a minute.”

Realizing something, he rechecked the episode’s content and muttered:

“I don’t even need to get involved in this, do I?”

To reiterate, the protagonist of <Babylonia> is not <Black Wolf>, but <Light>.

Therefore, <Black Wolf> doesn’t appear in several episodes.

And this mid-to-late game episode, the Fanatic’s Rebellion, is one of them.

Originally, Black Wolf would be hunting down and killing <Viscount Gapelt> at this point, but…

‘I already killed him ages ago, didn’t I?’

Which means, while Asha is beating down the <Demon Worshippers>, Black Wolf has nothing to do.

“I have nothing to do?”

Of course…

[Main Scenario – <Those Who Cannot Be Saved – Playboy & Mirabilis> has begun.]

[“Your enchanting self is my eternal, unchanging love.”]

He would need to resolve the newly created main scenario of Playboy & Mirabilis, but based on what he learned from resolving Luna & Mother…

If he somehow resolves the tragedy Playboy experienced in the past, that should suffice. Couldn’t he just sit down and provide counseling?

After all, he already roughly knows what tragedy occurred through the reward he obtained earlier, <Memories of Black Wolf Members>.

“…Right.”

Honestly, he’s been through a lot lately.

This isn’t just taking the easy way out…

No, everyone needs a breather sometimes.

Nahan smiled unconsciously as he straightened the blanket on the shabby bed.

With the burden lifted from his mind, even the bed that had been more uncomfortable than a military cot felt as soft as a cloud.

“……”

As his mind and body found peace, a fact he had been ignoring came to the forefront.

‘Come to think of it, doesn’t Selena…’

‘Die in this episode?’

She definitely died in place of Asha, killed by the corrupted Pope.

‘…Should I save her?’

But how?

As mentioned earlier, this episode features the hero party—the protagonists of this world—struggling.

If even these monstrous individuals are having trouble with the corrupted Pope and priests, what could he, Black Wolf, possibly do?

‘I’d just get caught up and die.’

Adding another opposing force would only create more chaos.

‘They’ll handle it themselves, so I shouldn’t worry.’

They’re the hero party, after all.

‘Since I’ve twisted many things from the original story, maybe she’ll survive.’

Of course…

‘…The chances of her dying are still higher.’

Due to an inexplicable uneasiness, Nahan squeezed his already closed eyes even tighter.

‘What is this?’

He’d never even met her directly like the other Light members, so why was he so concerned?

And why did she feel so familiar?

“…Selena?”

Finally, out of frustration, he unconsciously muttered her name.

From beneath an unusually dense shadow, someone’s voice was heard:

“…So you did know.”

Oh shit, that scared me.

‘Why is she appearing here?’

Barely suppressing a scream, he looked toward the source to see a gloomy woman revealing herself.

Ash-gray hair,

Ash-gray eyes,

A sharp gaze.

After pondering where he’d seen this appearance before, he finally recalled:

‘Mother.’

She looked exactly like Mother would have when she was at level 10.

‘…No way.’

Could it be that Selena, Mother’s biological daughter, had become Selena of Light?

‘That’s impossible.’

In the memories Mother showed, Selena clearly had an incurable disease.

As if answering his doubts, Selena asked the silent Nahan:

“I’ll be brief. What did you do with my mother… no, the criminal Mother?”

Realizing she was indeed the same Selena, Nahan clasped his hands together and asked:

“Why are you asking me that?”

“Ian Red. I can sense that energy from you.”

…So she doesn’t know he’s Black Wolf yet?

“You’d better answer properly. Even though Asha has grown fond of you, I might snap your neck depending on your answer.”

She definitely doesn’t know.

He had worried she might see through artifacts or handmade disguises, but it seems the artifact Ruby gave him was of good quality.

Realizing he could still use the ‘Ian Red’ identity, Nahan quickly smiled.

Let’s say he helped her soul—not Mother herself—find peace.

It was just a lingering attachment after all.

Mother had passed away long ago, so it wasn’t even a lie.

“I sent her off without regrets.”

“The body… What did you do with the body?”

“There wasn’t one to begin with.”

After answering these questions simply, he was about to add more explanations when…

…Crack.

Black energy flowed from her ash-gray eyes as she stared directly at Nahan and warned:

“I don’t know how, but it’s clear you killed my mother.”

“…What?”

“I’ll kill you.”

“…What?”

I swear it wasn’t me!