By Zephyria “Quickly, quickly wash it off.”
“B, Blaine, I’ll do it! It’s hot!”
Kenneth frantically waved his hands with a stiff face at Leonardo’s actions, who was grabbing his head and trying to push it into the steaming stream.
However, the stream water was not normally hot for an ordinary person to put their hands in, so he hesitated, repeatedly putting his hands in and taking them out. Annoyed by his sluggishness, Leonardo neurotically fixed the back of his neck and began to roughly rub his face with water using one hand.
It was to wash off the poison on his cheeks and neck, but the hot water touched the skin that was already covered in red blisters, causing Kenneth to writhe in pain.
His two hands trembled, unable to do anything, but Leonardo was not in a situation to consider each and every one of those pains right now. Because he had used Attack Magic on the ground, not in a tunnel, pursuers might be following.
His gentle touch, which was almost devoid of delicacy, scrubbed Kenneth’s face as if washing off a dirty object.
Meanwhile, Alec was looking at the southern mountain peaks with binoculars, searching for the source of the huge roar that had just echoed throughout the peninsula. When he heard Kenneth’s pitiful groans from the side, he turned his head and casually said,
“Be gentle. You’ll kill him.”
“If you survived, just shut up, you―.”
Leonardo glared at Alec with sharp eyes when the baggage 2, who was no different from the baggage 1 being washed in terms of combat ability, gave him advice from the side.
Then, he suddenly stopped talking and flinched, stopping his movements. His eyes, which had grown large, were filled with sharp tension. Thanks to that, Kenneth, who had been holding his breath and struggling, barely managed to remove Leonardo’s hand from his face.
When he squinted his stinging eye, looking like a wet mouse, Leonardo suddenly stood up from his seat as if he had sensed some kind of energy. Then, he held his breath and looked around, stopping his gaze in one direction and tensing up.
“…….”
Kenneth, who was looking up at him with a puzzled expression because his demeanor looking at that distant place was unusual, suddenly smelled a familiar scent brushing past his nose. Soon, his expression also hardened with tension, and he stared blankly at Alec next to him.
Alec was already packing his backpack and taking out his pocket watch to check the time. When Kenneth’s gaze reached him, he put the watch back in his pocket and smiled at the two people in front of him, saying,
“It’s an earlier farewell than I thought.”
At Alec’s words, as if he had sensed something, Kenneth also wiped his wet face with his forearm and hurriedly got up from his seat.
Soon, Leonardo, who was staring into the distance, opened his mouth.
“It’s coming.”
His face, as he turned around, was quite solemn.
He made eye contact with Kenneth and Alec, who were looking at him, and then spoke in a low voice, as if telling them to keep it firmly in mind.
“Listen to me carefully from now on.”
Hugo stepped on the scorched earth and placed his hand on the broken structure.
Traces of Magic Power that stretched out in a straight line remained intact in front of him. The embers, still retaining heat and occasionally crackling, suggested that ‘he’ had been here until recently.
Hugo, who had been stroking the smooth surface of the structure that the Magic Power had pierced through, closed his eyes and stood still in that spot.
There are things that can only be felt when the vision is blocked. The rustling carried by the wind or subtle changes in temperature. And things like instinctive attraction.
After a while, the closed eyelids slowly opened, and a dark red twilight fell on his blue eyes. The mysterious color calmly stared straight ahead as if it had found the answer, and the pure white steam that rose around him completely extinguished the embers flickering on the ground.
Hugo, staring at the chilling heat with cold eyes, thought silently.
‘I will never let him go this time.’
Letting go of that hand was enough for once. There would be no second time.
Hugo, who had quietly resolved, moved to another place again.
The place where he reappeared with a bright light was in the middle of a dense forest. The tall trees met the sunset and turned red, and the thin fog in between scattered the light, making it dazzling.
Hugo, who frowned slightly because of this, kicked a tree root that was caught in his foot to the side and walked about five steps before suddenly stopping in that spot. When he looked down at the ground, there were traces of artificial cutting on the tree root that his military boots had kicked.
His unusually blue eyes, which had been quietly looking at it, slowly scanned between the rising trees. Through the fine water droplets scattered in the air, a very subtle and cautious movement was felt.
Perhaps ‘he’ doesn’t know, but for him, this foggy forest was like a home ground where he had spread out every single nerve.
Hugo’s right hand, holding the Greatsword, gradually gained strength.
He had to aim for just one chance.
If he carelessly touched it, this agile and cunning fellow who was making his insides rot would surely be startled and run away.
Thinking that, he was slowly turning his head when Hugo’s gaze was fixed on a rocky hill hidden between the trees.
In an instant, he disappeared with a flash of light.
Kwaaaang―!
A thick Ice Pillar soared in front of Leonardo’s eyes, who was hiding behind a huge rock and passing by quickly. Startled by the coldness felt right in front of his nose, as if it would graze his face, he barely stopped in mid-air, shook off his embarrassment, and immediately changed direction.
However, before he could get out of that position, sharp Ice Bars soared diagonally from the rock next to him, surrounding him on all sides as if trapping him in a fist, making it impossible for him to move.
The Ice Pillars, which rose more densely than the dense forest of trees, blocked Leonardo’s view, and the sharp tips of the pillars gradually narrowed like the neck of a funnel, gathering in one place. And at the end of it, a single narrow exit was visible.
The direction of that exit was facing slightly downwards, and Leonardo could not rashly go out there because he felt the presence of someone walking up from below. Because he already knew who he was, even without seeing him.
Leonardo, who was intermittently gasping for breath, stopped moving and quietly stared at the only open exit, listening carefully.
The elegant gait told by the sound of footsteps on the ground conveyed a will to never miss him and a heavy composure that made it seem possible, further heightening the tension.
The footsteps grew closer and closer. Soon, black military boots appeared in his sight, stepping on the soil covered with soft fallen leaves. Seeing that, Leonardo swallowed hard, leaning his back against the rock while holding the cold pillar with his hands.
Hugo slowly took a breath and approached the Cone-shaped Trap he had created.
If it was him, he would have broken the pillars and escaped by now, but it was too quiet, which was even stranger.
Hugo, who had stopped walking for a moment to explore the energy of the guy inside, took a few more steps without letting go of his tension. Then, he raised his head and looked up at the narrow entrance, which seemed to barely fit three people.
Hugo’s eyelids twitched. His Adam’s apple slowly moved up and down.
Because he saw Leonardo looking down at him from inside.
The Gold Eyes that were looking down at him seemed quite surprised, so Hugo immediately lowered his body, knelt on one knee on the ground, and slowly placed the Greatsword in his hand on the ground to ease his wariness.
Even in the midst of that, his gaze never left him.
“Leonardo.”
Leonardo also flinched when he heard the cautious voice calling his name.
The Gold Eyes that had been staring down briefly turned to the left, unseen, before returning to their original position. Seeing his appearance, Hugo quietly stared at him with tense eyes, hoping that he would not have any foolish thoughts.
In the middle of the silent forest, the wind, like when falling just before a collapse, pathetically circled between the two confronting each other.
Hugo relaxed his eyebrows, which had become increasingly strained. Then, he reached out his right hand towards him, who was looking at him, with a rather earnest expression.
Leonardo’s gaze reached Hugo’s carefully extended hand and then turned back to his eyes. His face seemed to have deteriorated a lot in the meantime.
Maybe that’s why, but he had the illusion that his eyes, which were always cold and rational, looked pitiful. But that couldn’t be.
However, the voice that followed made him realize that it was not just an illusion.
Hugo gazed at Leonardo with softened eyes. Soon, he reached out his hand a little closer, hiding his impatience and speaking gently.
“Come here quickly.”