By Zephyria As Hugo’s brow furrowed slightly, Ardel said urgently, fearing that another ice spear would fly at him.
“There is a mage who set fire to the land where the demon beasts were buried, but that person is not this person.”
“Then who is it?”
“…He calls himself Leonardo Blaine, but he’s a different person. I don’t know his real name.”
Hugo asked back as if he didn’t understand Ardel’s words.
“He calls himself Leonardo Blaine, but he’s a different person?”
“He claims to be that person, but he was a completely different person from the Leonardo Blaine I know.”
At that moment, Hugo’s eyes flashed sharply.
“The Leonardo Blaine you know? So you’ve actually seen the real Leonardo Blaine?”
“Yes. I was in the military for a short time… I saw him then. Isn’t the person in this photo Leonardo Blaine? But the person who set fire to the mountain is not this person. It’s a different person who claims to be Leonardo Blaine.”
“…….”
Hugo felt like he had been hit on the head. The methods were sloppy for Leonardo Blaine, who had been cleverly escaping every time, and his magic power was ridiculously weak for such a famous guy. He thought it was strange, but it turned out to be a different guy.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t considered the possibility that the whereabouts of the guy he had been chasing were just fake rumors. But when the situation he had been worried about became a reality, he couldn’t help but feel empty.
There were always false rumors mixed in with the work of chasing him. And when he thought that what he had been chasing was one of those things, Hugo felt a sudden sense of fatigue.
He sighed softly and rubbed around his eyebrows, saying to Ardel.
“So, the fire mage who was in business with you is a guy impersonating Leonardo Blaine.”
“As far as I saw… that’s right.”
“Does the Count know this fact?”
He could feel the magic power that a fire mage would have in the Count’s mansion. So he guessed that the guy was hiding inside the mansion. He wondered why he would bother to protect a fake so much, not the real Leonardo Blaine.
“…No. He doesn’t know.”
“Doesn’t know? Aren’t you under the Count’s command? Why didn’t you say anything?”
“That’s… even if I had said something, there was probably nothing I could have done right away. He was arrogant and always acted as he pleased, so he was already difficult to control.”
“…….”
“And the Count is a very timid person. Even if he knew he was a fake, he probably wouldn’t have taken any action since he had signed the contract. I thought it wasn’t a good idea to make things worse and cause all sorts of worries.”
“A man who is so timid is also involved in this illegal activity. Using his territory as a storage for demon beast carcasses.”
Ardel was silent as Hugo poked at the contradiction. He had become involved in illegal activities according to the Count’s instructions, but he still seemed to be a little worried about the Count, perhaps because he had some affection for his employer.
“Then, who told the Count that a foreigner was looking for ‘Leonardo Blaine’? According to you, the guy the Count knows and the person in the photo I showed you are different. But the Count knew the name of the person I was looking for exactly.”
“Ah…. I was the one who told him.”
“You? …You’re seeing this for the first time. Explain in detail what happened.”
“Yes.”
Ardel took a small deep breath and continued.
“While I was tailing you and your party according to the Count’s instructions, I saw you conducting an inquiry with the townspeople and approached that resident to ask what you had talked about. I didn’t see the photo directly, but… when the resident said that ‘they were looking for a beautiful young man with blonde hair and gold eyes,’ I intuitively felt that you were looking for the ‘real’ Leonardo Blaine.”
“You thought that we heard the rumors about the fake and came here thinking he was real.”
“That’s right. So I didn’t tell the Count that he was a fake, but I told him that foreigners were looking for Leonardo Blaine, so it would be good to be careful. If that fake got caught, everything could be exposed.”
“You told the Count….”
The Count said that he had heard the story from the guild leader, and Ardel was saying that he had told him.
He couldn’t judge whether the Count had lied or whether he had really heard the story from Delberg’s guild leader as well.
However, this brought him closer to the conclusion that the two low-ranking guild members of Delberg who had talked in the tavern might have known Leonardo Blaine’s face but pretended not to know and told the guild leader.
In fact, it might not be important now who conveyed the fact, but somehow this process remained quite unsettling for Hugo.
It could be that someone accidentally saw Leonardo Blaine’s real appearance, like Ardel Rinter, but on the other hand, Hugo thought that there might be someone in the middle trying to hide him.
Hugo got up from his seat, opened the door of the interrogation room, and went outside. As soon as he came out, his communicator rang.
It seemed that it was ringing now because the magic wave did not pass through the interrogation room, so it had not rung all along. The caller was Flynn.
“What’s going on?”
―Chief, where are you now?
Contrary to Flynn’s voice, which sounded urgent as if he was very excited, Hugo replied calmly.
“I’m in the interrogation room at the Northern Branch Headquarters of the Council.”
―C, Chief, there’s something I need to tell you!
“What is it?”
―That guy with the fire energy who was in the Count Serbia’s family, it’s not Leonardo Blaine!
“Yes, I know.”
―You know?
“I interrogated the water magic user who worked as a subordinate in the Count’s family. You figured it out well too.”
―Ah…. I see. Oh, and one more thing! And all the demon beasts seem to be buried in the ground, in the ground!
Hugo moved the communicator away from his ear a little at Flynn’s shouting voice that was about to burst his eardrums. Then, he praised him for his efforts in the investigation.
“Good job, Flynn. Now, we have to do our job, right?”
* * *
Clang―.
All entrances, gates, and teleport zones entering the frost territory were blocked with iron bars. In front of them, many members of the Council stood guard, maintaining strict security to prevent anyone from coming and going. This was a method mainly used by the Council when conducting large-scale suppression operations.
Currently, a battalion-sized force dispatched from the Northern Branch of the Council was inside the frost territory. In addition, tents to be used as temporary investigation headquarters were set up throughout the territory, and the movement of residents was also controlled.
Originally, the lord’s approval was required before carrying out an operation order to surround the entire territory like this, but since the lord, Count Serbia, was judged to be involved in illegal activities, the Council suddenly blocked all passages leading out with its authority.
Thanks to this, civilians were very embarrassed by the sudden arrival of the Council legionnaires.
―The corpses of demon beasts illegally distributed are buried in the vicinity of the current frost territory! For a quick resolution, we ask for your cooperation even if it is somewhat inconvenient for the residents! I repeat! The current frost territory….
As a member of the Council announced the current situation throughout the territory with a huge voice amplifier using magic, the sound echoed throughout the frost territory. The residents of the territory who heard this gathered in groups of three or five and expressed their anxiety.
“No, the corpses of demon beasts? Is that really true?”
“Ah, I told you, I was right!”
“So, we’ve been living on land where demon beasts are buried!? Won’t there be any problems?”
The bearded man and the skinny man who seemed timid, who had been drinking with Hugo and Flynn last night, were also startled when they heard the sound.
Suddenly, Council people rushed into the entire village, saying that no one could leave from inside until the investigation was over, so they began to realize that the rumor that the corpses of the demon beasts had been found was really true.
This was the first time for this person to experience such a thing in the polar region, so he was very nervous. At that moment, someone approached them and said.
“Don’t worry. Just because the corpses of demon beasts are nearby doesn’t mean they’re harmful to your body.”
“…Who are you?”
The one who approached with a smile was Flynn. The men scanned him up and down with bewildered eyes.
Unlike the appearance he had last night, Flynn was wearing a white uniform with emblems embroidered in gold and dark blue. As he walked, the silver epaulettes on his shoulders sparkled in the light, and his white cloak fluttered. It was the uniform of the Council.
“Hello, I’m properly introducing myself now. I’m Flynn Levernill, from the Central Branch of the Council.”
“C, Council??”
The two men’s eyes widened so much that they almost popped out. Flynn had black hair and subtle greenish eyes, and his eye color was unusual in this area, so the men clearly remembered him.
The person standing in front of them was definitely the person who had been drinking with them and introduced himself as a private investigator.
As they stared at him with disbelieving eyes, Flynn scratched the back of his head as if he was a little embarrassed by the gaze.
“I couldn’t tell you my real identity because it was a kind of undercover investigation. But don’t worry, I’ve found out almost everything about the corpses of the demon beasts. We’re responsible for the safety of the residents.”
“Flynn, you’re… the Council, no, a Council official….”
“Oh, don’t call me an official.”
“Wait, then Flynn is the Council―”
The bearded man felt a chill for a moment and slowly raised his head. Then, he saw a man with a white uniform like snow, with much more brilliant emblems on his solid chest than Flynn’s, walking towards them with an overwhelming presence.
His glossy dark navy hair and beautiful, neat eyebrows, under which his piercingly blue eyes shone subtly, creating an atmosphere of a cold handsome man.
The epaulettes decorating his strong and sturdy body and broad shoulders, which could not be hidden even by the Council’s uniform, made it clear at a glance that he was a very high-ranking person.
Even though he had felt it at the tavern before, seeing him again in broad daylight wearing a uniform made his dangerous yet noble atmosphere even more prominent, making him an unapproachable presence. The sight of him with his fluttering white cloak as a backdrop was so perfect that even the same man would exclaim in admiration.
As Hugo walked over with his long legs, the men involuntarily took a step back. Hugo glanced at them and then turned his gaze to Flynn and said.
“Flynn, there’s no time to slack off.”
“Chief, slack off? I was performing the Council’s official duty of reassuring the residents.”
Hugo looked at the men who were very nervous in front of him and thought that they didn’t seem very reassured. However, he immediately reminded himself of the purpose of coming here and continued to speak.
“It’s good to reassure the residents, but you have something to do.”
“What is it?”
“I’ll delegate some of the command to you, so gather all the Delberg merchants scattered throughout the territory. We’ll interrogate them one by one on the spot.”
“Yes, I understand!”
Flynn, who answered Hugo’s words with a powerful voice, immediately saluted and ran somewhere. As he left without looking back, the men who were suddenly left alone in front of Hugo looked around and sized him up.
They didn’t think much of it last night because they were drunk, but now that they saw him, he didn’t seem like someone they could easily talk to.
As if sensing their uncomfortable expression, Hugo, who had been looking at where Flynn had run off to, eventually turned his gaze to the men and nodded briefly. Then, as if he had nothing more to do, he turned his body and headed somewhere.
Feeling an unknown sense of intimidation from him, the two men, who had been sticking close to each other without realizing it, looked at each other’s faces in surprise and then fell away as if disgusted. Then, they dusted off their clothes as if nothing had happened and said.
“That man was also from the Council…. I knew there was something unusual about his atmosphere.”
“Flynn kept calling him Chief, so isn’t he a very high-ranking person? Looking at the epaulettes on his shoulders, he seemed to be at least a battalion commander.”
“…A battalion commander or higher?”
The skinny man pondered his cold atmosphere and then opened his mouth as if he had realized something.
“Could it be that, the Khazhad of the Council that I’ve only heard about?”
“……”
A cold silence flowed.
The two men, who couldn’t shake the feeling that that thought was correct, lost their words and looked back at where he had walked. Then, ‘he’, who they thought had gone quite far, was staring at them with very fierce and cold eyes, as if he had heard the conversation.
The skinny man, who met his eyes, was startled as if he had made a slip of the tongue and covered his mouth. He seemed to have vaguely heard that the protagonist of that nickname hated that word very much.
Then, the Council’s man, who had been sending a cold gaze, disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye, whether it was fortunate or unfortunate.
However, the men could not move for a while due to the cold chill he had left behind.