By Zephyria “Hah, hah—.”
The impersonator, who had been confronting the brown-haired man, used magic to escape to the outside, but that exhausted his last remaining magic power, and he was now running around without being able to fly.
The Council members, who were suspicious of his behavior, chased after him, but he managed to escape and was hiding here and there.
He ran straight towards the frost territory’s teleport zone. If he went outside through there and hid, no one would be able to find him. He used the name Leonardo Blaine, and no one knew his real name, so he thought that if he could get out of here safely, he could live as if nothing had happened.
He hid in the alleys and moved busily, taking advantage of the gaps where there were no people. Still, he had been living here for the past few months, so he had a rough idea of the geography in his head.
The mountain path was probably already occupied by the Council guys digging up demon beasts, and the Council would be blocking the other teleport zones as well.
Then there was only one place to go.
There was a teleport zone in the frost territory that had been closed and was not in use, and he had clearly confirmed with his own eyes that the portal there was still alive a while ago. This was a fact that only he knew, so if he passed through the portal there, he would be able to escape quietly.
He smiled victoriously even as he was out of breath, gathering all the strength he had left.
“Hah— hah…. Fools, no one will know about this place.”
The footsteps he took beyond the corner were difficult but light. The image of the empty teleport zone was clearly drawn in his head.
‘If I just turn this corner…!’
The impersonator, already immersed in emotion at the thought of succeeding in escaping, turned the corner and ran straight out onto the main road.
However, contrary to his expectations, he had no choice but to gradually slow down as soon as he exited the alley. At the sight that unfolded before him, a metallic taste filled his mouth as he swallowed hard between gasps.
“…No way.”
In front of the closed teleport zone that should have been empty, Council members were lined up in two rows, waiting in formation? And in front of them, a figure who looked to be of considerable rank stood with his hands behind his back, glaring fiercely at him as he suddenly appeared.
The unfortunate imposter, who had been running as if he would fall forward, instinctively stopped, overwhelmed by the intense gaze and aura. Then, denying reality, he took a step back.
This couldn’t be happening. No one should know about this place.
As he turned to flee, the crimson-haired figure with a greatsword, who had been standing with his hands behind his back in his field of vision, instantly moved behind him and plunged the greatsword into the end of his cloak.
“Where do you think you’re going―.”
“Ugh, aaaaaah!”
The imposter screamed in shock as the person who had been in front of him just moments ago was now behind him. The crimson-haired woman in silver armor over a dark, deep navy Council combat uniform scrutinized him.
She, with a rather splendid insignia like Hugo’s and a fluttering cloak that was particularly extravagant, had a considerably muscular build and sharp eyes.
“You, are you a fire mage?”
“H… Haa―, get away!”
The imposter frantically swung his arms to push her away, but she easily dodged and instead grabbed his insignificantly flailing arm, twisted it, and broke it.
“Aaaaaah!”
“Answer the question. Are you a fire mage?”
Screams filled the air, but the crimson-haired woman didn’t care and asked about his identity. Then, someone approached them and said.
“Battalion Commander, if you keep doing that, he’ll only scream instead of talking.”
He was also wearing the Council’s combat uniform, a man with white hair and an overall impression of being pure white. He sighed as he looked at his superior officer, who was twisting the arm of the suddenly appearing fellow.
“Is that so?”
Soon, she released the arm she had been twisting, and the imposter collapsed forward. Screaming, he tried to crawl away with tears and snot streaming down his face, but he couldn’t move forward because of the greatsword stuck in his cloak.
“Tsk, Lieutenant Flynn Levernill clearly said he would come this way. Is this guy really that fire mage?”
“First of all, the detected attribute is indeed fire, but it seems he can’t use his power properly because he has severely depleted his mana.”
“Quite disappointing…. Should we just beat him up a few times and take him away?”
“That won’t do. The Supreme Commander ordered us to report immediately upon discovery. I just contacted him, so he will be here soon.”
The imposter was lying face down, tears streaming down his face. The two people who had been talking looked down at him silently at his sobbing.
“Hey…. Are you crying? Did I do it too hard?”
“How many times have I told you not to break the suspect’s arm first?”
The crimson-haired woman made a sulky expression at her subordinate’s words of blame and retorted.
“This guy tried to attack me first.”
“You know you wouldn’t have been touched anyway, right?”
While the two Council members were bickering while looking at the sobbing imposter, someone soon appeared before them via teleportation. The two who had been talking snapped to attention as if nothing had happened and saluted him.
“Loyalty. Moria Hallipega, Commander of the 3rd Battalion of the Council’s Northern Branch, reporting to the Supreme Commander.”
“Loyalty. Haron Spencer, Deputy Commander of the 3rd Battalion of the Council’s Northern Branch, reporting to the Supreme Commander.”
Then, Hugo, who appeared with a bright light, also lightly returned their salute and said.
“Loyalty. Is this guy the fire mage?”
“Yes, that’s right. We were informed by Lieutenant Flynn Levernill that he would come to the teleport zone here. After waiting here for several hours, this is the only one who came.”
“Flynn did?”
He didn’t know how Flynn knew that he would come to the closed teleport zone, but his assurance meant that there were definite circumstances or evidence.
Hugo grabbed the nape of the neck of the guy sprawled on the floor and lifted him up with one hand. Then, Moria, who had fixed the guy’s cloak with the greatsword, pulled out the sword so that the Supreme Commander could lift him up more comfortably(?).
“It wasn’t this bad when I sensed it at the Count’s estate, but his mana is terrible.”
“It is presumed that he teleported to a warehouse, set it on fire, and repeatedly fled, causing his mana to be almost exhausted.”
At Haron’s words, Hugo lifted the imposter up a little more, making him stand on two feet. The imposter looked up at him with trembling legs and then gasped. At that, Hugo raised one corner of his mouth and said.
“It seems you know me.”
“…….”
“So, were you the one who participated in the demon beast burial and committed arson last dawn?”
“…I, I was wrong. Please spare me….”
As soon as he faced the person who had grabbed his nape, the one whose magic he had felt at dawn and who had come to the Count’s estate and made him feel a chill to the bone, the will to resist completely disappeared.
Until now, he had been putting on a brave face and trying to run away, but every cell in his body felt that such bravado would not work on this person. He had to beg for his life no matter what.
Hugo looked down at the trembling guy with an indifferent gaze. Looking at the guy’s mottled brown and yellow hair and dark green eyes, it matched the description of the fire mage he had heard while interrogating the water mage Ardel.
This was the guy who had called himself Leonardo Blaine, deceived the Count, and partnered with him.
However, the faint energy he felt from the guy was completely different from what had made him flinch earlier.
He had briefly wondered if the fire mage, who was impersonating him, had something to rely on, but the mana of the guy trembling before his eyes was terribly poor.
As the guy cried and begged, Hugo said to Battalion Commander Hallipega, who was next to him.
“Battalion Commander Hallipega.”
“Yes, Supreme Commander.”
“Immediately hand this guy over to the transport squad, have him taken to headquarters, and order them to identify him by comparing his fingerprints and magic components.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Moria took over the guy’s nape from Hugo and bowed her head in response. Soon, Hugo looked around at the members waiting nearby and said.
“Thank you all for waiting. Please stay in your positions a little longer until Delberg’s merchants are taken care of.”
“Yes, we understand―!”
At his words, not only the Council members but also Moria and Haron answered loudly. Hugo immediately nodded slightly and disappeared from the spot again using teleportation. Haron stared blankly at the place where the Supreme Commander had disappeared and said.
“Wow…. That, that’s the first time I’ve actually seen the Central Branch Supreme Commander. That aura and charisma… He’s more amazing than I imagined. I heard he was quite cold and scary, but it doesn’t seem like that’s all there is to him. He seems like a more caring person than I thought.”
As Haron spoke with sparkling eyes as if sending almost praises, Moria scratched the back of her head and made a lukewarm expression.
“Well, caring… I guess he is.”
At the ambiguous answer, Haron asked her with a questioning face.
“Battalion Commander, you don’t seem to be convinced?”
Moria let out a hollow laugh, shook her head, and said.
“No, it’s not that. It’s because you haven’t seen the Supreme Commander use his power.”
“Yes?”
“You know what unit I was in when I first joined the Council army, right?”
“Yes. You were in the Central Branch….”
Moria spoke with a slightly troubled face as she thought about the old days.
“At that time, when I was the 5th Squad Leader of the 1st Battalion, I participated in a subjugation operation with the Supreme Commander.”
“Wow, if the Corps Commander went with you, the scale must have been enormous.”
“Yes, at that time, there was a large-scale subjugation operation to catch them because the number of Ancient Dragons suddenly increased. But I saw a dragon running away from a person for the first time in my life.”
Haron said with an incredulous face as if the words sounded like a bluff.
“Are you saying that the dragon ran away after seeing the Corps Commander? Hey, I heard that Ancient Dragons in particular are highly aggressive, so they would fight to the death rather than run away. That’s why they say to avoid them at all costs if you encounter them….”
“Yeah, I thought so too.”
Moria shuddered as if recalling something she didn’t want to think about.
“It was the first time in my life that I felt sorry for a dragon.”
At her words, which seemed to be sincere, Haron simply stared at his superior officer, who seemed like he wouldn’t know fear. And the imposter, who was listening to the words in Moria’s hand, thought that he had done well to beg in front of him earlier.