By Zephyria The sound of water falling from the ceiling echoed inside the quiet cave. There was only Flynn and Leonardo there.
It seemed that they had gone quite far away from the procession by going through the side paths of the cave in the middle. He had left a sensor at the gathering place so he wouldn’t get lost, but Flynn was worried about whether he should stop Leonardo, who was going deeper and deeper.
Leonardo floated balls of blazing flames on both sides and lit up the darkness. Then, he took out a piece of paper from his inner pocket and compared it with the minerals embedded between the rocks, constantly searching for something.
Occasionally, he would draw the dagger he had on his waist and stab it into the wall to mine the minerals, and then mark it on the paper he was holding. Flynn was quietly watching him and following him.
‘Huh? The sound of footsteps….’
Suddenly, Flynn realized that the sound of footsteps echoing in the cave was only from one person. When he stopped walking for a moment to check, Leonardo was indeed walking forward, but his footsteps were not heard at all.
Instead, when the presence that had been following him stopped, Leonardo turned around for a moment. He didn’t seem to care at all, but he must have been listening to the sound of footsteps all along.
He cast a silent gaze, and then walked forward again. Flynn also sped up and followed him as he moved away.
‘They say Dark Silvers don’t make any noise… Amazing.’
Just as he was inwardly amazed, Leonardo suddenly stopped walking and stood still. Flynn also stopped in his place.
A smile briefly appeared on Leonardo’s lips and quickly disappeared. His gaze was fixed on the blue mineral that emitted a subtle light among the many minerals embedded in the wall.
He immediately approached the wall, took off the glove he was wearing on his right hand, and then grabbed the dagger. Then, he floated his body in the air and stuck close to the cave wall, stabbing the blade into the rock wall as it was.
After stabbing the wall forcefully a few times, the deeply embedded blue mineral fell onto his hand.
Leonardo, who had mined the mineral, lightly jumped down from the cave wall to the floor, and then shone the mineral on his flame floating in the air. The blue mineral, which was translucent and subtly sparkling, was something Flynn had seen before, and as far as he knew, it was a rare substance.
It seemed that Leonardo knew from the beginning that this rare mineral was here. He had said that he had been to the peninsula several times before, and that seemed to be true.
Leonardo immediately took out a pen from inside his magic robe, made a simple note on the paper he was holding, and then put the mineral in a small pouch tied to his wrist. Then, he suddenly looked down at the pen in his hand and turned his gaze to hand it to Flynn.
“I used the pen well. Thank you.”
“Ah…. Okay.”
That pen was the pen that Flynn had given to Leonardo when he was explaining the operation. Flynn nodded blankly at the words ‘thank you’ as he received it.
It was the first conversation they had almost ever had since they came here alone. His hand, which had touched him for a moment as he received the pen, was still warm.
Leonardo picked up the paper again and looked around, going deeper inside. Flynn followed him and asked cautiously.
“What are you going to use the minerals for?”
Leonardo Blaine, who had been walking while looking at the wall, stopped and glanced at Flynn. When Flynn only blinked, a smile seemed to appear on his pretty face, but it quickly returned to an expressionless one.
“Why do you want to know?”
Flynn’s expression soured a little. He had plucked up his courage to speak, but all he got in return was a smiling face that seemed to draw a line. It felt as if he was the only one quietly feeling intimacy, only to be suddenly rejected. It was a moment when he slightly regretted giving him the pen.
Flynn still had unresolved feelings towards Theo, who had deceived him in frost territory, that is, Leonardo Blaine.
He knew very well that the situation he was in forced him to deceive him, but he wanted to believe that he wasn’t the only one who felt that they had gotten closer in that last moment when they said goodbye in the plaza.
However, Flynn couldn’t clearly distinguish how much of Leonardo’s actions as Theo were acting and how much was genuine.
Besides, he couldn’t understand why the Commander had put him and Leonardo together. He honestly couldn’t say he wasn’t awkward, because he never thought he would continue to see him like this, when he thought he would be saying goodbye there.
When the cold answer came back, Flynn turned his head, vowing never to speak to him first again. Leonardo, even after seeing him like that, didn’t say anything and focused on finding minerals again.
After taking a few more steps, his gaze still wasn’t directed at Flynn, but Leonardo spoke in a rather loud voice, as if for him to hear.
“I’m going to make magic stones for amplifiers.”
Flynn turned his head again and looked at his back. There was no one else here but him and himself, so that remark must have been directed at him.
“You’re making an amplifier?”
“Yeah.”
Leonardo answered, looking around carefully, and then approached the cave wall as if he had found another one. Then, he pried a mineral out of the rock and threw it to Flynn. Flynn hurriedly caught the small mineral flying towards him with both hands.
“Take good care of that. It’ll probably be really expensive if you sell it outside, you know?”
Leonardo smiled brightly and quickly moved to the other side. Flynn blankly stared at the blue mineral he had thrown, then grabbed it in his hand and followed him.
An amplifier, to put it simply, was a type of booster. The object of amplification could be current, sound, or even magic power. And Flynn guessed that the energy Leonardo was trying to amplify by making magic stones for amplifiers was magic power.
In the meantime, many scholars in the world had been conducting long-term research to amplify magic power, but there was a limit to the amount because the catalyst used for the amplifier usually broke quickly.
Besides, if it was an amplifier that lasted a little longer, its price soared ridiculously. Because of that, there were some people who directly obtained minerals, cast magic on them to manufacture magic stones, and then used them as amplifiers.
Flynn thought that Leonardo might be one of those people. That was because, as he said, this mineral was mainly used for amplifiers. However, although its instantaneous expansion power was good, it couldn’t act as a solid catalyst, but it was still quite rare, so it was quite expensive.
But Flynn thought there was something contradictory in Leonardo’s words. He couldn’t resist his curiosity and impulsively asked.
“But why are you trying to make an amplifier? Your magic power is strong enough that you don’t need something like that.”
Leonardo, who was moving a little further inside, paused and glanced at Flynn again. He pondered something for a moment, then tapped the black choker around his neck, hidden by the collar of his magic robe, and replied.
“Because of this.”
Seeing that, Flynn couldn’t continue the question any further.
Flynn also knew to some extent about the information about the black choker that Leonardo was wearing, because he had attended the briefing in the assembly hall. And even though he hadn’t mentioned that fact, Leonardo seemed to have already guessed that Flynn knew about the choker.
It was presumed to have been put on him by the military. It wasn’t as good as a magic stone, but it suppressed magic power.
“If I have this, I can’t use my magic power properly.”
It was a nonchalant tone, but Flynn was unconsciously aware of him, knowing that it was a very sensitive topic. As if he felt that, Leonardo, who was looking at Flynn’s eyes, smiled and approached him. Then, he suddenly put his arm around his shoulder as if giving him a shoulder.
“That’s all for the questions. I’ve answered a lot, so don’t be sulking now, okay?”
Flynn was very embarrassed by Leonardo’s sudden action and wore a dumbfounded expression. At the distance between him and him, which was so close that it was almost intimate, he felt a fluffy scent that smelled like well-dried laundry in the humid and damp air of the peninsula.
Flynn, who was inwardly admiring the long eyelashes and transparent skin right in front of him, quickly came to his senses, repeated his words, and flared up as if he was dumbfounded.
“When did I ever sulk?”
“When did you sulk? You’ve been sulking ever since Agrizendro put me with you.”
When he hit the nail on the head, Flynn’s face turned red as if he had been caught with his innermost thoughts that he was trying not to show. Leonardo smiled slightly as if he was amused.
Looking at his pleasantly raised lips, Flynn was reminded of the smile Theo had shown him when he said his last goodbye in the plaza of frost territory. The pretty eyes that curved softly as he smiled brightly at him.
Flynn stared at it for a moment, then made that sulky expression and looked straight ahead. It was because he had no choice but to admit it.
He sincerely hoped that Theo would be well wherever he went, and he hoped that they would meet again if they had the chance in the future, and that feeling was the same for Leonardo now.
So Flynn had no choice but to admit his heart that wanted to get along with him.
“……”
At that time, a strange sound suddenly came from deep inside the cave. Flynn and Leonardo paused at the unidentified reverberation that couldn’t be distinguished whether it was the sound of a demon beast or something else.
Flynn, who was quietly watching the darkness, eventually lowered the arm placed on his shoulder and stood in front of Leonardo.
“We should go back now.”
Leonardo glanced at the inside of the cave once, then nodded obediently at Flynn’s words.
“Okay.”