By Zephyria Hugo flinched at the sudden feeling of a mysterious energy and raised his head. He immediately went to the window, threw it open, and stared outside.
As the cold air from outside entered, the Council members who were investigating the mansion looked at the Commander standing in front of the window.
“Commander, what’s wrong?”
The member next to him asked cautiously, seeing his unusual expression. Hugo focused on what he had felt a moment ago and opened his mouth.
“Didn’t you feel it just now?”
“Yes? What… are you talking about?”
The answering member’s face was full of doubt. He didn’t seem to understand what his superior was saying. His answer brought confusion to Hugo’s perception, which had reacted sensitively in an instant.
A moment ago, Hugo had felt a very powerful energy that he had never sensed here before. But it was only for a moment, so he himself was not sure what it was or whether he had felt it correctly.
He tried to sense it again by concentrating, but it had disappeared as cleanly as it had stimulated his senses in an instant, and it seemed that none of the capable subordinates in this space had felt that energy.
Hugo, who had been staring out the window for a long time, turned his head and said.
“…No, it’s nothing.”
As he took his eyes off the window, the member who had been watching him immediately closed the window through which the cold air was entering.
Hugo turned his body and stood with his back to the window. He crossed his arms and rubbed his chin, slowly savoring the sensation he had felt.
A very small but very intense and explosive feeling. But before he could even pinpoint the location, it had disappeared surprisingly cleanly, and it seemed that none of the capable subordinates in this space had felt that energy.
While Hugo was deep in thought, the investigation team forcibly tore down the wall in the Count’s study. Then, the demon beast smuggling contracts and transaction ledgers between the Delberg Guild and Count Serbia, which had been hidden deep inside, began to appear one by one.
A large amount of magic stones produced in Kuamer were also found in a sealed vault.
Hugo put aside his thoughts about the energy he had felt until just now and watched the situation as the evidence came out one after another.
When a member brought him a document presumed to be a ledger and a transaction contract, Hugo frowned as he read it. The names of the Count and the guild leader were signed on the contract, but the name of the Supreme Guild Leader was not.
“He’s using the same trick again. Filione Delberg.”
Hugo clicked his tongue and handed the contract back to the member. The member who received the contract put it in a document envelope, sealed it, and took it to the place where the evidence was collected.
Currently, the Count and his servants have all been arrested and taken to the Council’s Northern Branch, and the traces of illegal contracts remained intact in the Count’s castle, which had lost its owner.
Whether it was a reflection of the Count’s timid personality, or whether he was surprisingly simple, the contracts and ledgers were hidden inside the walls of the mansion. The investigation team was tearing down all the walls and ceilings of the mansion to find any other evidence.
Hugo watched the search process with his arms crossed, and then said to the Council investigator next to him.
“There is a Fire Magician involved in the work. What about his whereabouts?”
“We haven’t found him yet, but traces and circumstances of using a teleportation tool have been found in this Count’s residence. However, judging from the amount of magic power remaining in the tool and the fact that it has not yet been found in the border area, it is certain that he is inside the territory.”
“…I see. He impersonated Leonardo Blaine. Although it is an impersonation, his skills have not yet been identified, so he may have somewhat dangerous abilities. Report to me as soon as he is found.”
“Yes, I understand!”
* * *
The protagonist who impersonated Leonardo Blaine was momentarily stunned by the shock he was experiencing for the first time in his life, and then his eyes flashed open.
Scanning the ceiling with a blank look, he touched his left jaw, which felt numb and throbbing, and got up. Blood was flowing from his mouth, as if he had bitten his tongue while being hit.
Spitting out blood-mixed saliva and raising his head, he saw the guy who had punched his jaw still looking down at him with a gruesome smile.
The magician, who had come to his senses, grabbed his throbbing jaw and jumped up as if he were having a seizure. Then, he stepped back and said.
“You… what are you?”
As he asked in a frightened voice with slurred pronunciation, the brown-haired man who was looking at him retorted as if he was dumbfounded.
“Identity? Hey, that’s what I want to ask. What are you? Why are you impersonating someone else without anything to do?”
The man kicked the broken planks that were in his way and approached the Fire Magician step by step. The magician trembled his lips as if he was afraid and shouted.
“D-Don’t come closer! Do you know who I am!?”
“Do I need to know who you are? Oh, I guess I know you’re going to be caught soon.”
The man acted as if he knew that he was not Leonardo Blaine. The magician, sensing that his impersonation had been exposed, gritted his teeth. Looking at the guy’s actions, it seemed that the purpose of coming to find him in the first place was to mess with him.
He judged that he could no longer be swayed by such an unknown guy in a place like this, so he put his hands together and stretched them out towards the man, chanting a spell.
“Fire Spear!”
Then, a small magic circle was created in his hand, and spears made of flames came out and flew straight towards the man in front of him.
But that was only for a moment. The man looked at the flying objects as if they were ridiculous, and then twisted his body lightly and quickly, so fast that he couldn’t follow them with his eyes. As a result, all the magic fired from the impersonator’s hand flew to the place where the wooden planks were piled up behind and collided, making a loud noise.
The planks collapsed from the impact, and the warehouse caught fire and began to burn fiercely. The impersonator’s face was dyed with embarrassment as the man avoided his attack so easily.
The brown-haired man looked back at the burning warehouse, sighed, and said.
“Are you stupid? Are you trying to let everyone know I’m here?”
“You bastard—!”
The impersonator, enraged by the light mockery, took advantage of the man’s looking back and rushed at him, throwing a punch. But the man easily avoided it again, as if he had eyes in the back of his head.
Even though he threw punches with all his might, the man didn’t block them and just lightly brushed them off, as if he could see through all his movements.
‘He looks like a wimp, but what kind of movements are those…’
No matter how many punches he threw, he couldn’t even touch the man’s clothes, and the magician was exhausted all by himself. The man said with a pathetic expression.
“If I were you, I would run away while I still have some energy.”
“Shut up! Shut your mouth!”
He said it bravely, but it was definitely foolish to waste his energy against a guy who only dodged around with little magic power left.
Just when he thought it would be better to get out of here now, the fire in the warehouse grew bigger and bigger, and he began to hear people buzzing outside. The magician became anxious.
The brown-haired man seemed to have noticed his feelings, and he smiled at him with his eyes met. As he hesitated at the ominous smile, the man shouted loudly as if to be heard by the people outside.
“Leonardo Blaine is here!”
At that, Blaine’s impersonator was horrified, and then glared at the man as if to kill him, and said in as small a voice as possible.
“What are you doing, you crazy bastard—!”
“Please save me! He’s trying to kill me!”
Clang, clang—.
“Is there anyone inside?”
As a person’s voice was heard from outside the door, the young man smiled brightly as if he was enjoying it and shouted once again.
“Yes! I’m with the Fire Magician. Please save me!”
At the man’s shout, the sound of people kicking the door roughly as if they were trying to break it down was heard from outside the warehouse.
The impersonator, who had been acting slick until just now, rushed at the crazy guy in front of him to shut his mouth, as he suddenly shouted for help. But still, the man escaped from the impersonator with his nimble movements and acted even more realistically towards the outside.
If he stayed like this, he would be charged with illegal demon beast distribution, fraud, and attempted murder, so the impersonator finally decided to squeeze out the last remaining magic power and run away before people broke down the door.
“Damn it… Air Expansion!”
As he chanted the spell, the temperature around him became hot and a small whirlwind blew inside the warehouse. At the same time as the fierce flames wrapped around the outer wall of the warehouse, the impersonator jumped up using the force of the expanding air pressure as a stepping stone. Then, he broke the small window in the ceiling and threw his body out with all his might.
He was thrown out of the warehouse and immediately fell to the ground, but he forgot the pain and got up and started running through the alleys. There was a loud noise as the burning warehouse collapsed behind him, but he had no time to look back.
The young man who had been shouting for help stopped shouting and looked at the window through which the impersonator had escaped. The surrounding flames gained strength from the whirlwind that had occurred for a while and burned even more fiercely, approaching nearby, but the man didn’t seem to care much.
The brown-haired man took out a cigarette case from his back pocket, put one cigarette on his finger, and lit the cigarette with the flames that were surging around him. Then, with his hand in one pocket, he put the cigarette filter in his mouth in a relaxed manner.
He looked at the blue sky visible through the broken window and exhaled a long stream of smoke. Then, he let out a sneer and said.
“Idiot.”