By Zephyria When Leonardo and Flynn returned to the base camp, most of them had already packed up their tents and finished their preparations. In the middle of the camp, the commanders were gathered and talking about the operation, and Meterion Kleinder, whom he had met a little while ago, was there.
When Hugo belatedly noticed the two who had appeared and gestured for them to come closer, the other commanders also turned to look at them. However, only Meterion didn’t turn his head. Leonardo thought that he probably didn’t want to make it known that they had talked.
The subjugation party, which had succeeded in capturing three adult Dermokas alive by shooting them with Sleep Pellets, first selected a scouting party to explore the interior of Seal No. 118, where Elder Millie was presumed to be sealed.
After the scouting party secured a low-risk entry point and returned, some of the commanders and elite personnel who would be at the forefront immediately attempted to enter the interior.
Their primary objective was to ascertain the exact location and condition of the core. The formation, divided into four groups, entered through different entrances in the east, west, south, and north, sharing the information collected as they advanced toward the center.
Leonardo, most of Squad Leader 8, and some members of other battalions were included in the first group led by Hugo.
However, Kenneth, who lacked practical experience, Flynn, a non-combatant, and the healers were excluded from the deployment. This was because even trained elite personnel could not guarantee individual safety in a place where a dangerous presence lurked, enough to render the energy detectors useless.
The interior of Seal No. 118 was filled with an unusually hot heat, a barren environment mixed with dirt and dust, and scattered unidentified bone fragments. Occasionally, an unpleasant stench pierced the nose, and bizarre sounds echoed.
However, not a single Illaptor, which they had expected to be swarming, was to be seen, which only made those who had entered the interior even more tense.
Three hours had passed since they began searching for the ancient demon, who was presumably bound somewhere underground, with utmost caution.
Hugo, walking through the pitch-black cave relying on Light Balls, suddenly stopped when he discovered a single sprig of grass growing in a crack in the Boulder.
Given the environment, it was rare to find any plants on the way here, and this single sprig of blue grass was the first to be discovered.
It had grown with difficulty, its stem short and its leaves small, resembling a miniature acacia leaf. Hugo guessed that this was likely ‘that plant’ that Leonardo had described.
Sweat, which he usually didn’t even break a sweat, ran across his forehead and eyes due to being armed from head to toe with heavy protective gear. He immediately frowned, wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand, turned his head, and called out to the guy who was probably following freely somewhere nearby.
“Leonardo.”
As the low voice echoed, the shadow reflected on the wall flickered from the far side of the cave. The flame guiding the figure floated and approached Hugo before its owner.
It circled around Hugo and suddenly flared up as if to surprise him. Although it was a small flame, the light it emitted in the dark cave felt excessively intense, and Hugo closed his eyes for a moment.
When he opened his eyes again at the sensation he felt soon after, the owner of the flame was already standing right in front of him.
“What?”
Leonardo, who had made a flamboyant entrance, was very light on his feet, unlike Hugo. He was only wearing his usual magic robe and cloak, saying that they would only hinder his movements, and he was not wearing any protective gear.
Perhaps that was why, or perhaps it was because he was a fire Mage, but Leonardo maintained a fresh appearance without a single drop of sweat in this humid and suffocating cave. Thinking that his judgment might have been wise, Hugo pointed to the sprig of grass at his feet and asked.
“Is that ‘Dregalianif’?”
Leonardo, who had followed Hugo’s hand and looked down, also discovered something small and blue and bent down slightly. He knelt down on one knee to take a closer look and then nodded.
“Oh, yeah. It’s so small that it’s hard to see, but you managed to find it.”
“If this is found, it means that there is definitely an Illaptor’s nest here.”
Hugo also knelt down and sat next to him. Then, he reached behind Leonardo and naturally groped for his waist, where a dagger was tied.
“I guess so… What?”
Leonardo, startled by the sudden touch, stopped talking, and Hugo quickly pulled out the dagger and showed him the blade.
“Lend it to me for a moment.”
Hugo, holding the dagger in his right hand, pried the blade between the cracks in the Boulder and pulled out the young Dregalianif leaf by the roots. Then, he lightly washed it with water he created from his hand and carefully dried it with a handkerchief he took out of his inside pocket so that the leaf would not be damaged.
After he returned the dagger, Leonardo, who had been blinking in bewilderment, put it back into its sheath without saying anything. He had missed the timing to say anything because Hugo had taken it so naturally.
Instead, he casually asked, watching Hugo put the handkerchief-wrapped leaf in his pocket.
“Why are you taking that?”
“Just in case.”
Hugo, who had answered simply, tightened the fixing buckle strap on his pocket and stood up. Leonardo hesitated for a moment and then looked up at him and cautiously opened his mouth.
“Um… but that’s too small to have much effect, right? And there’s going to be a ton of it if you go inside anyway.”
His sharp chin pointed to the inside of the cave. Hugo glanced in the direction he was pointing, but then turned his gaze back. Then, he held out his hand to him, who was still kneeling.
“We might not have the leeway to take care of it like this if we go further inside.””
Leonardo quietly agreed with the reasonable words. He then placed his hand on the large hand that was being held out.
As if used to it now, he stacked his hand on top of his and raised his body, half-pulled by his strength. As his head followed and his gaze met the blue eyes, the distance felt particularly close. Meanwhile, his usually neat face was disheveled, unlike usual, which drew even more attention.
As if sensing the gaze, Hugo immediately let go of the hand he had grabbed as soon as he had helped Leonardo up and swept back his hair, which was wet with sweat and falling down. Leonardo suddenly realized that this environment, which felt stuffy even to him, must be several times more difficult for him.
He had forgotten that he was not showing his difficult emotions, but the heat of Seal No. 118 was almost like hellfire to him, who mainly dealt with ice and water.
The moment he understood his actions, which seemed to be hurrying while moving individually since entering this place.
Soon after, Hugo gestured to go, and Leonardo followed him and moved his steps side by side. The golden eyes that rolled slightly followed the neat profile that stole the forehead.
It was then that he felt a strange sense of incongruity in his wrist, which was moving around his handsome face.
“Uh―.”
Hugo’s gaze reached him again at the short sound as if he had found something. When he slightly raised his eyebrows as if asking why, the answer that came back was a little out of the blue.
“Where did your watch go?”
Leonardo asked with a slightly nervous look, as if he had lost his own belongings. He wondered why his wrist looked so empty, but his watch, which he had been wearing since coming to the peninsula from Zodiac, was not visible.
Hugo’s gaze naturally turned to his empty wrist. He then answered nonchalantly.
“I left it with Flynn before coming in.”
“Why?”
“It might get broken during the battle.”
Perhaps because it was such a natural thing to say, Leonardo let out a meaningless sigh, “Ah…”. The reaction was so bland for someone who had asked with such tension that Hugo turned his head back to the front as if it were nothing.
It seemed that the conversation-less companionship would continue for a while, but Leonardo, who had been thinking about something carefully, soon opened his mouth again.
“Then, was that why you didn’t wear your watch in frost territory either? Because it might get broken while fighting me?”
Hugo’s steps, which had been going about half a step ahead, suddenly stopped. His eyes, which immediately turned to the side, were filled with a slight surprise.
Leonardo already knew that he was watching him in frost territory, but the fact that he remembered whether he was wearing a watch or not was quite surprising. Come to think of it, his actions, which seemed to be subtly interested in his watch, flashed through his mind.
In fact, Hugo had not worn a wristwatch in frost territory. The reason was the same as Leonardo’s question, so if he were to answer his question honestly, it would be ‘yes’.
However, the reason why he could not answer the question that had suddenly come in so straightforwardly was probably because his relationship with Leonardo was quite different from what it was then.
If he were to admit that he had judged him to be a high-risk social group and had assumed that a battle would occur, he felt that it would somehow make him feel bad.
“…….”
Because of that, he automatically became silent, but as the time of silence lengthened, Leonardo seemed to be already half-convinced.
He didn’t seem to be displeased with his appearance, but the atmosphere was strangely uncomfortable.
At that time when the awkward silence continued, suddenly, the sound of footsteps running urgently came from inside the cave. The gazes of the two people, which had been cut off at a good time, turned to that place.
Someone was approaching at a fast speed in the darkness, and the protagonist who revealed himself with the Light Ball was Squad Leader 8. She seemed to be out of breath because she was wearing heavy protective gear, but her face was only slightly wet with sweat, and she came straight to Hugo without any signs of difficulty.
“Legion Commander, we have discovered a section where the energy level is increasing exponentially about 200m away. I think you should go.”
Hugo and Leonardo looked at each other at the same time after hearing her words. Soon, they decided to postpone the story for a while and hurried their steps following the squad leader.