By Zephyria It was always the case that the Council was looking for Leonardo Blaine, but the news that Commander Hugo Agrizendro was going to catch him was enough to elicit a stir from many people.
The fact that he, who was called the strongest ice-attribute mage, was stepping in himself meant that Leonardo’s appearance might really be revealed to the world again this time.
In the meantime, Hugo had been performing the duties of the Council’s corps commander, as well as political affairs, taking care of the territory, and so on, and there were so many places that needed him and things to be handled that he had no time to directly pay attention to Leonardo Blaine. But now he judged that he could no longer leave the matter of that guy to the members alone.
Anyone who did not respond to the Council’s call was subject to arrest, regardless of their status. It was possible to know how ridiculous the Council’s status had become in the world just by listening to the widespread stories of how they had failed to catch such a person.
Hugo thought that once this matter was over, he wanted to stop paying attention to that guy forever, and climbed the stairs of the vast Council headquarters.
After passing through the hallway and turning the corner, he arrived in front of a large door. After knocking a couple of times, he heard a deep male voice from inside.
“Come in.”
When he opened the door and entered, the owner of the voice greeted him as if he had known in advance that he would come.
The man sitting in the large chair had hair and a beard that were streaked with gray, but his imposing physique and extraordinary spirit were remarkable. The sense of authority emanating from him made it clear that he held a high position in the Council.
“What wind has blown you to insist on going yourself?”
As Hugo stood before the desk with a nameplate, a deep, weighty voice cut to the chase. The smile on his face suggested he was quite pleased with the situation.
“Isn’t this what the Commander wishes?”
Hugo replied dryly, as if it were obvious. Though he maintained a formal tone, to others, it might have seemed disrespectful. However, the man called Commander simply smiled, as if used to it.
“Well thought out. Both the higher-ups and you must have realized a lot in the meantime. That it has to be you.”
“…I don’t think it has to be me. I simply wish for my subordinates to stop returning injured.”
The Commander of the Council. His name was Abraham Lancaster, Hugo’s mentor and a man who had long held a keen interest in Leonardo Blaine.
He had once said that the reason he was interested in Leonardo was similar to how he felt when he first saw Hugo, who was full of thorns.
Hugo had not taken kindly to Abraham’s comparison of him to that guy, and even now, he didn’t bother to pay much attention to his words. Rather, he couldn’t understand Abraham’s continued interest in Leonardo Blaine even after he had rebelled against the Empire’s orders.
However, like Hugo, Abraham didn’t seem to care much about what had motivated Hugo’s decision. He spoke as if he had already known this situation would arise, and was simply quite pleased that Hugo was now personally stepping up to arrest Leonardo.
“It’s not a pleasant feeling to have your subordinates injured, but don’t bring him back too roughly. He’s still young, so you’ll be able to guide him well.”
“That depends on how he comes out.”
“Perhaps your mind will change once you meet him in person.”
Feeling that this conversation, which seemed to force positivity, was no longer necessary, Hugo paused for a moment before concluding with a nod. Then, he turned and headed straight for the door, saying,
“I am interested in his strength, but that is all.”
Watching his receding figure, Abraham smiled contentedly.
“Come back safely.”
Hugo had gone to give a routine report, so he hadn’t intended to pay attention to Abraham’s words in the first place, but he had always disliked how he subtly linked him and Leonardo Blaine.
One of the reasons Abraham said that was probably because he, Leonardo Blaine, and Hugo were all from the same ‘Bermuda.’
Hugo had worked tirelessly to shed the prejudiced view of being from Bermuda. That was why he couldn’t look favorably upon Leonardo Blaine, who had highlighted the stigma of being from Bermuda and incited public distrust.
He felt that as Leonardo’s reputation fell, malicious perceptions of those from Bermuda within the Empire were spreading.
However, apart from his negative feelings towards Leonardo, it was true that he was interested in his strength. As the saying goes, the strong are drawn to the strong, and for Hugo, who was known as the strongest mage, the emergence of a new strong figure was quite stimulating and refreshing.
So, Hugo thought that he would rather that guy be strong enough to contend with him. Only then might the ‘thought’ that Abraham Lancaster spoke of change.
* * *
Hugo decided to depart lightly, accompanied by only one of his adjutants. He didn’t think it was necessary to dispatch a large-scale Council force, and deep down, he believed that he wouldn’t need to exert much effort to capture him.
Feeling that there was no need for grand formalities, he only greeted Abraham before entrusting his duties to the deputy commander and saying he would be back soon.
Leonardo Blaine appeared and disappeared so unpredictably that it was difficult to track him down, with reports of him being seen at opposite ends of Laina Rogia within days of each other.
The last place he was reportedly seen was a region called Frost, which could be reached by passing through two portals and riding a horse for a full ten days across unpaved terrain from where he had previously encountered Council members.
It was located in the far north of Laina Rogia, a sparsely populated area nestled in the mountains and bordering the coast to the east.
Based on his past experiences, Hugo believed that it would be more effective to find him by moving quickly and swiftly with a minimal number of people, rather than forming an exploration team and spending months in hiding and pursuit.
Therefore, he followed the rumors of sightings, which might have been false, and tracked Leonardo using magic detectors and his own sense of detecting others’ magic. However, just when he felt like he was about to sense something, the energy would disappear, and Hugo and his adjutant had been making inquiries about Leonardo for days.
At this point, he somewhat regretted not bringing a pursuit team, but he shook his head, thinking that moving in large numbers would only be advertising that they were coming to capture him.
“Have you seen a man who looks like this?”
“Huh? I don’t know…”
“Wouldn’t someone like that have stood out? It’s not like blonde hair and gold eyes are common.”
When Hugo showed the townspeople Leonardo’s military photo from his personal information document, the responses were similar.
The colder the region, the lower the temperature, and most of the surrounding scenery and people living there had appearances that were close to monochrome. If a foreigner with blonde hair and gold eyes appeared in such a place, it would naturally attract attention.
Of course, he didn’t think that he would be walking around openly with that face, but he had no other way than to show people the photo and ask. The only information he had about him was the contents of the document, the attached blurry photo, and the appearance he had seen from afar years ago.
Hugo asked the woman who was looking at the photo with a puzzled expression once again.
“Then, what about someone who covers their face or acts suspiciously?”
“This place is so cold in the early morning and at night that there are many people who bundle up. Suspicious people… well, I don’t know?”
“I see… Thank you.”
There was no meaningful information in the people’s answers.
However, the magic detector he had brought was periodically detecting magic in the area, and the fire energy, which was known to be one of Leonardo Blaine’s main magic attributes, was also strongly felt here.
As Hugo gave a light greeting and walked away, the woman he had spoken to watched his retreating figure and said to her companion,
“But isn’t that man cold? Wearing only such thin clothes.”
The companion didn’t give a particular answer. They simply couldn’t take their eyes off his tall, receding figure.
* * *
“Did you find out anything?”
“Not at all. Instead of finding clues, it seems like we’re only raising the wariness of the locals, as if they don’t welcome outsiders.”
“It’s not a place with frequent exchanges with the outside world, so that’s understandable.”
“Is it really right to walk around showing Blaine’s face like this? If they know this face, it seems strange that they wouldn’t recognize him.”
Flynn Levernill, Hugo’s adjutant, raised a fundamental question about the direction of the investigation, as there had been no progress for days. He seemed to be losing energy because there was no progress. Sensing that nuance, Hugo said firmly.
“If we make the villagers recognize his face, we might encounter new clues. Let’s keep it this way for the time being.”
“Hmm…”
However, Flynn scratched the back of his head, as if he wasn’t sure anymore, and held back his words.
The current investigation method was simple. Show people a photo of Leonardo’s face and ask if they knew this person.
In the meantime, they couldn’t utter his name, ‘Leonardo Blaine,’ because Hugo had instructed them not to mention it, as he might run away if he heard the news. However, as the investigation progressed, Flynn was increasingly questioning whether this method was correct.
That was because Leonardo’s appearance in the photo was one that could never be forgotten once seen. A considerably handsome face with blonde hair and gold eyes, which could hardly be called common. If he had been around here or had contact with people, Flynn thought that it was impossible that he wouldn’t have stood out.
Even if he wore a wig or dyed his hair to hide his distinctive appearance, there was no way to hide his eye color in this empire.
No matter how bundled up he was, people basically went around with their eyes exposed, so the biggest clue to finding him was his gold eyes. However, in this monochrome city, the only gold Flynn remembered was the light of the bulbs that illuminated the darkness.
Hugo, who had been staring at him as he was lost in thought with a tired face, looked up at the sky, which had already darkened due to the short daylight hours in the Arctic, and opened his mouth.
“We’ve been walking around since early this morning, so it seems like it would be good to wrap up around here.”
As if it was welcome news, Flynn replied with a smile on his face.
“Yes, I understand.”
The two of them immediately moved near the town’s main street to find a new lodging for the night.
As rumors spread throughout the town that two men from out of town were looking for someone, Hugo and Flynn heard the most interesting story since they had arrived here.
* * *
After securing a room, the two went down to the tavern on the first floor of the inn for dinner. It was a slightly noisy atmosphere, but it was a cozy space to grab a seat in the corner and have a meal.
Hugo sat down on the chair that Flynn had pulled out for him and slowly scanned the interior, which was more crowded than he had expected. Most of the customers were locals, so the main scene was groups of acquaintances gathering to share drinks and chat.
Amidst that, a small table in a corner across the room caught his eye, where a guest wearing a hooded black cloak was sitting alone.
“Is this seat okay?”
Hugo turned his gaze at Flynn’s question and nodded lightly instead of answering. Then, he tried to look back at the somewhat out-of-place guest from before, but his view was blocked by the innkeeper who came to ask what they would like to order.
Flynn ordered a simple meal along with a strong liquor for his superior to drink. Then, as he took out a handkerchief and meticulously wiped the small dust particles off the table, he inadvertently overheard the conversation of the men sitting nearby.
“There’s been another trace of fire behind the mountain again?”
“That’s right? But it seems like someone put it out before the fire spread this time too. The ground was damp.”
“It’s the dry season now, and even though it’s getting chilly, it’s not really the season for wildfires to break out this often…”
“Could it be… the work of a demon beast?”
“Hey, man! Don’t say unlucky things like that. This area isn’t a demon beast outbreak zone.”
“But didn’t you hear the story about the demon beast corpse that was in a box a while ago?”
“Th, that… It was burned black, so they don’t even know if it was really a demon beast or not, right?”
‘Fire? Demon beast?’
Hugo and Flynn naturally turned their heads in that direction. Four men were talking with faces flushed red, as if they had drunk quite a bit of alcohol. Their voices were so loud that the people inside glanced at them, but they didn’t seem to care much.
Flynn whispered in a small voice.
“Could it be related to Blaine?”
“I don’t know, we’ll have to listen a little more.”
One of the men hurriedly downed his glass, as if he didn’t want to think about it anymore, and said,
“I don’t care, I just hope nothing dangerous happens. I heard that some unfamiliar guys are stirring up the village these days, looking for someone, and I’m worried that we’ll get caught up in something strange.”
“Ah, you mean that tall… cold-looking guy? He’s quite imposing, so he definitely looks dangerous. But, if that’s the guy he’s looking for, isn’t he something even more dangerous? Is such a guy in the village right now?”
“That’s what I’m saying, it’s so unlucky.”
At that moment, one of the group of men who were talking about the outsiders made eye contact with Hugo.
“Anyway, if I see either of those guys―.”
“H, hey. Be quiet.”