By Zephyria “Suddenly disappeared?”
“Yes, the smell and presence, everything just disappeared.”
As soon as Kenneth came into the tent and sat down on the chair, the first thing he brought up was what had happened while Leonardo was deliberately stalling for time while luring Hugo and the 1st Battalion.
Immediately after being separated from Leonardo, Kenneth headed to the location where the tunnel was likely to exist with Alex Siles as he had been told. The place where they were originally was in the middle of a vast forest, so they had to move quite a distance to get to the entrance of the tunnel, which was only located at the foot of the mountain.
On the way, steep cliffs and waterfalls with strong currents appeared again, and for some reason, the Illaptors that had occasionally appeared after the loud noise were not seen. However, Council soldiers were wandering around in various parts of the forest, so they had to prostrate themselves several times and hide in the bushes.
In that way, they managed to overcome the difficult obstacles and successfully reach the entrance of the cave leading to the tunnel.
Kenneth was worried about whether Alex, who had almost no Magic Power, would be able to get out of the dark cave, so he was thinking of going with him a little further, but he said it was okay with a carefree face, handed something to Kenneth’s hand with a short greeting, and immediately went inside alone.
Kenneth, who was staring blankly at what was in his hand, realized that he had disappeared only a few seconds later and hurriedly followed him inside, but in the dark cave, he could not find Alex’s presence or smell. As if he had evaporated.
At those words, Leonardo made a puzzled expression. A person with no Magic Power suddenly disappeared? That cleanly?
“I think he probably used a Teleportation Device. When someone uses Teleport to move to another place, the smell suddenly disappears like that.”
“But can that be done in that short amount of time? It takes quite a while to use the device, from setting the coordinates to casting.”
“Well…, actually, I was thinking the same thing, but it’s probably because the Scholar has a lot of weird stuff…?”
Leonardo pondered Kenneth’s words, which trailed off as if he wasn’t sure, and nodded in agreement to some extent. Indeed, Alex Siles’s bag and Artifacts contained many things that were thought not to exist in this world.
Come to think of it, even when they made the contract, he said he would find his own way back, so he must have already prepared a way to escape on his own from then on. That confidence wouldn’t have come from nowhere.
He was a suspicious guy, but he was also thorough in taking care of himself, and above all, he was so calculating that it didn’t seem like he would be caught easily. He had been in and out of the peninsula several times in the past, so he must have his own know-how.
Thinking about this and that, Leonardo decided to put aside his worries about his whereabouts for a while. There was still a lot to hear.
After that, Kenneth said that he had been looking for the missing Alec, but he was worried that his seniors might sense his presence and come to search the cave, so he moved as far away from the cave as possible. On the way, he unfortunately encountered three demon beasts and was chased by them until he was rescued by Squad Leader 8.
He added that he had reported to the Squad Leader about his whereabouts in general, leaving out anything about Alex Siles, and that both of them had been unconscious for almost a day and a half after the collapse, so they had problems with Magic Power operation and didn’t have the ability to send a rescue request signal.
In addition to this, he said that he had been moving secretly inside the tunnel to avoid danger, except when he went out to check the situation in the swamp… He said that he had explained it as plausibly as possible.
“And on the way back, Blaine left for a while to check for a safe path, but I was waiting alone and ran into a demon beast and ran away, so we got separated.”
Hearing his words, Leonardo tilted his head and bit his lip, “Tsk―.”
“Did the Squad Leader believe that?”
“Uh… yes. Is something wrong?”
Kenneth asked, feeling anxious at Leonardo’s reaction. He thought that his excuse was quite airtight. Leonardo looked a little ambiguous at Kenneth’s question, but soon shook his head.
“No. You did well.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
In fact, if you were to dig into every detail, there would definitely be some loopholes, but he answered quite well for a clueless guy I knew.
Anyway, it didn’t seem like he said anything that was too inconsistent or problematic. However, I wasn’t sure if Squad Leader 8 really believed it or just let it go.
After hearing the situation and matching the words, Leonardo was able to breathe a sigh of relief. Kenneth felt relieved as he felt that he was relieved. However, one more thing that had been bothering him popped up right away.
“Um, Blaine… When the Battalion Commander asked me where I found the relics earlier, was it okay to just say it?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Actually… I’m so sorry to the Battalion Commander, but I pretended not to know on purpose.”
Leonardo’s brow furrowed slightly.
“There might be traces of us there, and we didn’t match our words… There might be a problem. So I didn’t answer on purpose.”
Then Leonardo remembered being puzzled when he saw Kenneth answering that he didn’t know at the time. Even if he didn’t remember the exact coordinates, he had outstanding senses, so he thought it wouldn’t be difficult for him to find the place.
But now that I see it, it wasn’t because he really didn’t know, but because he was thinking of me. In case he made a mistake and I got into trouble.
Realizing that, Leonardo stared at him silently, at a loss for words. I was surprised and grateful that he had thought that far.
But on the other hand, this guy would have wanted to tell his colleagues more than anyone else where he found the relics, but I wondered how he felt when he said he didn’t know. And I felt bad when I thought that the reason he acted that way was because of his promise to me to keep the secret.
Leonardo sighed softly. Somehow, I felt like I had made a really bad thing to do to a kid who didn’t know anything.
“Well, there’s a moral obligation to the dead and his comrades. It would have been better to say that… Still, being careful isn’t bad. I didn’t even think that far.”
“Ah…”
“I’m sorry for making you lie.”
“Huh?”
“You pretended not to know because of me, didn’t you?”
At Leonardo’s sudden apology, Kenneth blinked blankly and waved his hand.
“Oh, no! It’s definitely not Blaine’s fault. I just decided to do that on my own.”
Leonardo smiled bitterly at Kenneth’s flustered appearance, trying to relieve his burden. Then, thinking that he should relieve his worries even a little, he opened his mouth.
“…Don’t worry about the traces. The shoes that Alec was wearing don’t leave footprints. Guys who hide always care about that kind of thing. And… I haven’t said anything yet, so there’s nothing to say that’s different from you.”
“Ah, that’s a relief then.”
Seeing Kenneth’s appearance, who was noticeably relieved as if it were his own business, Leonardo felt more bitter in his mouth. In fact, from the moment Kenneth got involved in this, I was worried about how to reliably shut up this guy, who could be said to be the biggest source of anxiety.
But at the same time, I hated the situation where I had to suspect and be wary of the few people who were kind to me here, and I hated myself for that. In other words, I was sorry to Kenneth.
Because of that, Leonardo lowered his eyes slightly and said.
“You must be busy just following your seniors around since you’re a rookie, but I’m sorry for putting a strange burden on you.”
At those words, Kenneth was startled once again and replied.
“Burden? I’ve never thought of it that way! Rather, you saved my life, so if I can repay you in any way like this―.”
At that moment, Kenneth heard people chattering in his ear. It wasn’t right nearby, but it was definitely a sound coming from inside the base camp. However, it was a distant and subtle sound that Leonardo couldn’t hear, so he looked at Kenneth, who suddenly stopped talking, with a puzzled look.
Kenneth, who had been holding his breath, turned his head and looked towards the entrance of the tent. Leonardo, who didn’t know what was going on, also instinctively tensed up at his appearance, lowered his voice, and asked.
“Why? Is someone coming?”
“It seems like the meeting is over. It’s getting noisy outside.”
The two of them, who had been looking at the entrance for a while, jumped up from their seats without either of them saying anything first. Leonardo created a subtle wind to erase the footprints on the dirt floor, and in the meantime, Kenneth hurriedly took something out of his pants pocket and handed it to Leonardo.
What he handed over was a small glass bottle, and there were round things inside. Seeing that, Leonardo raised his eyebrows slightly.
“What is this?”
“This is what the Scholar gave me before he disappeared. He told me to give it to Blaine.”
“…To me?”
“Yes, I haven’t opened it, so I don’t know what it is… Oh, he also said that this would be absolutely necessary. I didn’t hear anything else besides that.”
Leonardo narrowed his eyes and took what Kenneth handed him. I don’t know what it is, but since it was given by that guy, it felt somehow ominous.
In the meantime, Kenneth, who was showing signs of impatience, turned around a few times and suddenly opened his mouth as if he had to say this.
“Um, and Blaine. I was the one who insisted on being taken with you back then, so you don’t have to feel sorry at all. I’m just doing it because I want to help in any way I can. So… um… I, I’ll be going now before the Commander comes!”
“Uh, uh, okay.”
Leonardo was flustered and answered blankly to the rambling words. After that, Kenneth immediately approached the entrance of the tent, opened it slightly to the sides, and looked around.
After confirming that there was no one nearby, he turned around one last time and thanked Leonardo. Then, he ran out as if he was running away, as if someone would see him.
Leonardo blankly watched the back of him as he rushed away in a frenzy. He withdrew his gaze only after he had completely disappeared from his sight, turning around the perimeter of the tent in front of him.
After thinking about what he had to do for a while, Leonardo erased the remaining footprints nearby, thinking that Agrizendro might come at any time, and closed the entrance tightly again. He also put the chair where Kenneth was sitting back in its original position and tidied up the surroundings as if he had been alone all along.
He even chuckled in the middle. At first, he couldn’t even make eye contact properly, but now he was quite good at giving plausible comfort.
After roughly tidying up, he took off his magic robe top and hung it casually on the head of the cot. Then, he plopped back down on the bed and looked around at the suspicious thing he was holding in his hand.
‘He said this would be absolutely necessary?’
A small glass bottle, not even half the size of his palm. Inside were a note and three or four oval solids, red and white. They looked like pills.
The moment he recognized them as ‘medicine’, he remembered the guy’s words that he needed an experimental group for the medicine he had developed, and he felt sick again.
Leonardo, with his eyes narrowed, stared intently at the glass bottle in his hand, and then carefully opened the cork stopper of the bottle, thinking that he should at least check the contents of the note. He even held his breath in case there was any reaction, took out only the note inside as much as possible without touching it, and quickly closed the stopper and put it in his magic robe pocket.
The note was made of a fairly thin paper texture, and after unfolding it, it was quite large, as if it had been folded several times. However, no letters were visible between the densely lined fold marks. Only empty space.
Leonardo stroked the surface of the note with his thumb. Some parts were rough and some parts were smooth, so it was clear to anyone that it wasn’t just a blank piece of paper.
After thinking for a while, he lifted the note here and there and suddenly brought it in front of the lamp. Then, faint letters were visible through the light, but it was somewhat unclear to understand the contents, so it didn’t seem like it was the method intended by the questioner.
Leonardo’s eyebrows gradually narrowed as he pondered what Alec had intended. His expression soon crumpled as he considered various methods.
“He was already annoying with his roundabout words, and now he’s making me annoyed with this too.”
I already wanted to stop using my head, but I felt bad when I thought that Alex Siles, who I couldn’t even see in front of me, would have been chuckling while making this. A heat rose in the hand holding the note momentarily.
Whatever the guy gave me, I had a momentary impulse to get angry and burn it, but I couldn’t do that when I remembered that he said it would be absolutely necessary. Even being swayed by those words was annoying, so Leonardo threw the note he was holding carelessly on the cot.
It was then that he found the answer.
The lower left corner, which he was holding in his hand, was somehow slightly scorched and discolored. And in the middle of it, there was a part that wasn’t scorched. It was a clear letter.
Same
Leonardo immediately picked up the note again with sharp eyes. He hadn’t applied enough heat to scorch the paper, but it was strange that the color had turned yellowish. Just in case, he grabbed the end of the paper where the letters were visible and slowly swept the surface horizontally.
Now that I see it, this note was made of a very flammable material. The ignition point was so low that it would catch fire with just a little heat, so it seemed like a kind of safety device to prevent information leakage.
Finding the appropriate temperature on that boundary, Leonardo began to precisely apply heat to the lower part of the note. As his fingers passed by, clear white letters gradually appeared. The eyes that saw the newly appeared word twitched.
As his finger traversed the horizontal line of the note and reached the right end, the last sentence at the very bottom caught his eye first.
Alex Siles was saying this to me.
Between those from the same Bermuda, we should help each other and live.