BMD 25

“Commander?”

Flynn, who was following behind, stopped urgently and looked up at Hugo, asking in confusion. However, he stood still in his place for a while.

“……”

Hugo had been thinking about Leonardo Blaine all night last night.

Forbidden magic was literally forbidden magic, so there was not much that had been passed down to this day, so much so that even he did not know it in detail.

But now that there was a small possibility that that guy, who was Dark Silver, might be able to use forbidden magic, there was no guarantee that he would not use it. No? Rather, if he were him, there would be no reason not to use it.

In the morning, while receiving the investigation report, Hugo learned that the origin of these demon beasts was Perion in the Middle East, where a large number of Quamer corpses had been found before, as expected.

Burnt demon beasts on a massive scale, the news of Leonardo Blaine, the remote northern region he was tracked down to, the man impersonating him, the low-ranking merchant who informed the outsiders about the demon beasts, the most crucial tip in catching the impersonator, and how strangely, he knew too much.

And the unidentified man who distinguished between beasts and demon beasts, whom no one but that merchant had seen.

“Flynn.”

Hugo called out, glancing sideways, and Flynn immediately responded.

“Yes, Commander.”

“Do you remember the incident where a large number of Quamer corpses were found in the Middle East?”

“…Ah, yes. I remember. They were found en masse on the Perion coast. I was informed that most of the demon beasts here were transported from there.”

“Right, then let’s hypothesize that Leonardo Blaine was the cause of that incident.”

“Pardon?”

Flynn tilted his head in confusion at the incomprehensible words, but soon followed his lead and hypothesized that Leonardo Blaine was the cause of the incident. Quamers were demon beasts vulnerable to fire, and they were found burnt, so situationally, it was a plausible hypothesis.

“If the merchant guild had a contract with him to hunt Quamers, there would have been no need to hire a fake. Therefore, the merchant guild and that guy are not in a hiring relationship. The merchant guild secretly transported a large number of demon beasts from there to hide them here, but they were eventually discovered. And at the same time, the fire mage who was impersonating Leonardo Blaine was also caught.”

Hugo, who had been rattling off the situation without pause, looked down at Flynn and asked.

“Then, in this incident, who benefits the most?”

“……”

Flynn stared blankly at him for a moment. Then, after a short while, he barely managed to open his mouth.

“Leonardo… Blaine.”

“I thought so.”

Hugo immediately turned around. Terzio was still looking this way.

Theo looked slightly puzzled when his eyes met Hugo’s. Flynn also turned to look at Theo, but soon realized Hugo’s intention and hurriedly continued.

“Commander, Theo doesn’t have any magic power. He only looks similar to the Leonardo Blaine in the picture in terms of age, but he looks completely different.”

“Who has given you the most help, directly and indirectly, in this incident?”

“…Terzio has. But―”

“He might be able to use magic to change his appearance.”

“…Pardon?”

Flynn looked at Hugo with surprised eyes. Hugo said no more and left Flynn behind, walking towards Terzio again.

Terzio saw Hugo approaching him but did not avoid him. Rather, he smiled at him with an almost brazen naturalness.

“What’s the matter? Do you still have business with me?”

“I didn’t get a chance to say hello.”

Hugo held out his hand to him. Terzio once again stared silently at the hand in front of him. Seeing that he seemed hesitant to take his hand again, Hugo raised one corner of his mouth, just like yesterday, and asked.

“Will I have to wait a long time again for you to take my hand?”

At his words, Terzio, who seemed to hesitate for a moment, took Hugo’s outstretched hand without any reluctance. Then, unlike yesterday, he looked up at him with a relaxed face and replied.

“As long as you don’t pull me in too close again.”

Hugo watched him carefully, as if gauging him, for taking his hand relatively easily. And he, too, was now gazing at Hugo without averting his eyes.

‘I don’t feel anything.’

He really couldn’t feel even a trace of magic power from him. It was so perfect that it was hard to believe it was possible, no matter how well he hid it. Moreover, if he had changed his appearance and concealed his magic power, it would be truly awe-inspiring. Because this Hugo Agrizendro couldn’t feel anything.

The only thing he felt now was that, even considering that his hands were cold, Terzio’s hands were unusually warm compared to those of ordinary people.

As the time they were holding hands grew a little longer, people around them began to stare. Terzio seemed to want to escape this situation, as he released his strength and tried to pull his hand away, but Hugo held his hand even more firmly and wouldn’t let go.

As his relaxed face gradually turned to anxiety, Hugo, on the contrary, dragged out the time with a leisurely expression, saying to him.

“Your hands are warm.”

“…I hear that often. But, won’t you let go now? Quite a few people are staring….”

Terzio looked around, seemingly conscious of the people’s gazes. Then, as if he didn’t want to prolong this increasingly noticed situation, he kept trying to get away. Hugo carefully examined each of his actions.

“Let go.”

Terzio looked at Hugo and clearly expressed his intention. At that, others found it strange that Hugo was still not letting go of him, but no one stepped forward because of who he was.

Hugo was momentarily lost in thought, wondering if he should let go of this hand now. He clearly didn’t feel anything, but the ‘feeling’ that had brought him here was pulling at his reason, telling him that he shouldn’t let go of this hand now.

Hugo himself couldn’t understand why he, who had always considered himself rational, was caught up in such thoughts.

However, he decided to take a gamble, just one last time.

If he was wrong, he would have to detain an innocent citizen and pay the price for using magic.

The probability of catching Leonardo Blaine was close to zero unless he appeared before his eyes. But in order to catch the guy that no one had ever caught, Hugo had to believe that the probability was close to 0, but not necessarily 0.

Hugo decided to trust his gut feeling and prepared to freeze his hand completely, along with Terzio’s hand. Then, he instantly concentrated extreme cold on the hand he was holding with Terzio.

Then, at that moment,

Terzio forcefully shook off Hugo’s hand, which had been holding him tightly to prevent him from escaping.

Slap―

Silence flowed all around, and a taut tension lingered due to the increasingly cold air, and the bustling plaza seemed to have stopped in time. Everyone was suddenly paying attention to Terzio, who had rejected the Commander’s hand, and Hugo, who was standing in front of him.

Terzio covered his right hand, which had shaken hands with Hugo, with his left hand, and, startled, gradually backed away from him with a frozen, wary face, without taking his eyes off him.

Hugo, too, with a surprisingly shocked expression unlike his usual self, raised his rejected hand and looked at it. A chill that had not yet been activated was lingering in his hand, and Hugo felt that it had not even touched Terzio’s hand.

If he had been an ordinary person, he would have only felt a fleeting chill and would not have reacted so quickly and sensitively.

Hugo turned his gaze to Terzio, who was clearly hostile towards him.

It was only for a fleeting moment, but he had felt a ‘heat’ that could threaten him from the hand he was holding with Terzio. As he recalled that sensation, his conversation with Gabe last night quickly flashed through Hugo’s mind.

‘I know that opposites feel each other better than those of the same kind.’

‘If I feel him, he’ll feel me too.’

Soon, a smile spread across Hugo’s lips. At the sight of that smile, Terzio’s gaze wavered with utter confusion, and he gasped for breath. Blue light glared at him with sharp eyes that seemed to freeze everything around him.

Hugo saw in him, who was covering his hand with a bewildered face, the eyes of a fierce beast staring straight at him, not the prey that had been placed before him yesterday and held its breath.

And the moment he saw it, Hugo was able to clearly confirm that he, too, had felt the same thing in the fleeting moment when he shook off his hand.

“Found you. Leonardo.”