By Zephyria Leonardo, with a blank face, was being dragged around with his arms stretched out when a group of people wearing combat uniforms suddenly approached Hugo and him. When Hugo stopped walking, the one who seemed to be the highest ranking saluted Hugo and said.
“Loyalty, Bruno Amos, Deputy Commander of the Southern Branch of the Council. I greet the Supreme Commander.”
“Loyalty, it’s been a while.”
Hugo responded to him and returned the salute. The Deputy Commander of the Southern Branch, who was large and thick and gave the impression of being a bear overall, continued to speak to Hugo with a slightly nervous look.
“Commander Hazelnut said he would come back and boasted about it, so I thought he would come… I didn’t expect the Supreme Commander to come himself.”
Hugo chuckled softly.
“Well, there were various circumstances.”
Bruno, the Deputy Commander of the Southern Branch, looked at the handcuffs tied to Hugo’s hand and Leonardo, who was connected to him and standing a little behind with a very dissatisfied face, and carefully opened his mouth.
“Then that person is….”
Hugo also glanced at Leonardo and then turned his eyes back to Bruno and nodded.
“Yes, it’s Leonardo Blaine.”
Bruno, who had been sparing his words, took a step towards Hugo, lowered his voice, and said with a slightly worried face.
“…Supreme Commander, are you really planning to have him participate in the subjugation?”
At the words filled with various concerns, Hugo made an effort to make a look that there was no problem.
“I’ll take responsibility if there’s a problem.”
‘I can hear everything, you bastards.’
Leonardo was annoyed by this situation where he was being treated as a person of interest even after coming all the way here. Moreover, Hugo Agrizendro was acting like his guardian, saying he would take responsibility, so he just wanted to give up everything and run away.
But since he had received a promise that they wouldn’t look for him again if he helped with the subjugation, he thought that staying still and pretending not to hear was the way to get out of the situation quickly, and eventually blamed his situation and turned his head away.
Hugo looked around Bruno and asked.
“Where are the battalion commanders of the Southern Branch?”
“Currently, all three are inside the peninsula. Two battalions are positioned near the northern mountain range, and only one battalion has partially opened the eastern road and succeeded in entering the Seventh Peak. However, there is a demon beast nest nearby, and the surrounding other peaks are undergoing subtle volcanic activity, so further entry is blocked.”
“Hmm….”
Hugo, who was lost in thought for a moment, asked again.
“The adjutant? I want to hear more details. Is there a planned entry route?”
At Hugo’s words, Bruno looked back and gestured, and one of those waiting behind hurriedly approached.
“Loyalty, Gray Scott, Deputy Commander of the 12th Battalion of the Council’s Southern Branch. Currently serving as the operational aide for the Eldermilli Peninsula subjugation operation.”
“Report on the current progress and future direction.”
With Hugo’s words, a makeshift table was immediately placed in front of them by the soldiers, and an operational meeting unfolded, with data analyzing the terrain of the Eldermilli Peninsula and the appearing demon beasts marked on a map.
And Leonardo, too, stood a little behind Hugo, as far as the slack in the connected chain allowed, listening to the planned route the operational aide was describing.
“There is a ‘Sigal’ nest near coordinates 827, 34, 1129 in the eastern area of Eldermilli. Sigals do not tend to form groups, and they don’t have great resistance to high temperatures, so they are among the demon beasts with the fewest individuals residing on the peninsula.”
“……”
“Currently, the vanguard of two companies from the Southern Branch’s 9th Battalion have approached near this Sigal nest. We plan to first eliminate them and then use the location of the nest, which is in a dormant volcano area, to set up an intermediate base camp and move from there.”
“Sigal, huh…. They’re violent and dangerous, so it will take some time. What’s next?”
“We must pass through the active volcano area beyond this to enter the next section. The ‘Drok’ herd that inhabits that area has a good sense of smell for blood, so we plan to lure them with animal blood and then eliminate them on the coast. Droks are numerous but vulnerable to water, so if we surround them on three sides and drive them towards the water….”
Moving the model horses on the map, operational aide Gray Scott and Southern Branch Deputy Commander Bruno Amos continued their heated explanation. However, Hugo, as if something about their plan didn’t sit right with him, listened but didn’t show a consenting expression.
“Then is the western area empty?”
“Paren’s army is stationed in the western plains, cooperating in demon beast extermination, but the path to enter the interior after passing through the plains has more demon beasts and active volcanoes than the east, so they also seem unable to enter rashly.”
“Paren’s army?”
As Hugo narrowed his brow and asked again, Deputy Commander Bruno, looking a bit cautious, continued.
“Currently, they are also suffering severe damage from demon beasts crossing the border, so a portion of their army has entered the peninsula. In fact, it’s difficult to clearly divide the border within the peninsula right now….”
Bruno trailed off.
Even though it’s abandoned land, he knew that talking about receiving help from another country’s army that has entered the territory in front of the Supreme Commander, especially Duke of the Empire, was not the right thing to do.
Hugo glanced at them with eyes that seemed to have a lot to say, and the Southern Branch commanders all lowered their heads as if they had committed a crime.
Seeing that, Hugo sighed softly. How could he blame them alone for the situation? If there was a problem, the biggest issue was that the Imperial Army, which should have been the first to rush to protect the border, was shirking responsibility and absent from this place.
Hugo crossed his arms and stared silently at the map. It seemed like there could be a better plan, but it was difficult to rashly issue operational orders because the peninsula’s terrain and the types of demon beasts were not fully understood.
At that moment, a voice came from behind Hugo.
“Rather than that, how about doing it this way?”
Turning his head, Leonardo stood behind him with his arms crossed and a dissatisfied expression.
As all three people who were in the operational meeting looked at him, Leonardo abruptly walked to the table, stood next to Hugo, and opened his mouth.
“The reason Sigals remain on the peninsula despite not being resistant to high temperatures and having a small population is that they have the strength and size to survive by preying on other types of demon beasts. If it were me, I would avoid the Sigal nest and go to the active volcano area, luring the Drok herd, which has a good sense of smell for blood, to the Sigal nest.”
He continued his explanation, moving the model horses on the unfolded map.
“While the two groups are biting and tearing at each other, if you pass through the Drok’s habitat, which will be empty, you can cross the active volcano area quickly without much effort, right? And the west side of the peninsula has many plains in the early stages of entry, making it convenient to approach, but it is vulnerable to defense because it is open on all sides, and it is difficult to control the demon beasts. However, Paren has many well-trained cavalrymen, so they show excellent abilities in battles on the plains rather than in the mountains.”
“……”
“So, if some companies of the Council drive the demon beasts out from the foothills of the western region, I think a joint operation in which the Paren army wipes out the demon beasts at once on the plains would save time and be helpful to both countries.”
After finishing speaking, Leonardo crossed his arms again and looked at the map as if reviewing the operation he had just described.
In the meantime, he suddenly felt that the surrounding atmosphere, which had become quiet, was strange and raised his head.
The three men who had been having an operational meeting until just now were staring at him silently.
Leonardo blinked, not knowing why they were making such bizarre expressions, and then frowned and said as if he couldn’t understand.
“What’s with those eyes?”
All three men stared intently at Leonardo’s face. And first, Hugo, with a lot of strength in his handsome eyebrows, grabbed his arm firmly and asked with a serious face.
“Leonardo, have you ever been to the Eldermilli Peninsula?”
Leonardo glanced at Hugo’s hand, which was tightly gripping his arm, and nodded reluctantly.
“A few times for missions in the past.”
“Why didn’t you say so earlier?”
At his question, Leonardo made a dumbfounded expression.
“You only asked me if I knew the Eldermilli Peninsula, but you didn’t ask if I had been there.”
At that, Hugo looked down at Leonardo with a slightly displeased face, but since his words were true, he didn’t pursue it further. Instead, he turned to the operational aide, Gray Scott, and asked.
“What is the adjutant’s evaluation of the operation this guy mentioned?”
Gray Scott, who had been staring at Leonardo with a blank face, quickly came to his senses at Hugo’s words and lowered his head again, silently staring at the map for a few seconds. He seemed to be in deep thought, but after a while, as if he had made up his mind, he raised his head and barely opened his mouth.
“It’s innate.”
He said, as if referring to Leonardo himself, not the operation Leonardo had mentioned. At Scott’s exceptionally generous praise, Deputy Commander Bruno turned to look at him with a slightly surprised face. It was because he knew very well how meticulous the operational aide was.
“I’d even like to recruit him into the operational command.”
Leonardo, who was being openly praised in front of him, only blinked and made a slightly awkward expression. However, he quickly changed his expression as if nothing had happened, smiled, and said.
“Of course, how high-quality of a resource do you think I am?”
Hugo, looking at Leonardo, who had quickly become arrogant, was a little dumbfounded but soon smiled and replied.
“You’re such a high-quality resource that it’s difficult to recruit you, but I guess we can get help.”
Then, he commanded the personnel waiting behind in a solemn voice.
“Commanders of each unit, gather in front of me, all of you.”