By Zephyria Thin streams of water flowed little by little through the keyholes of the handcuffs. Coiled like threads, they filled the internal space without gaps, fitting perfectly with the uneven grooves of the key pins.
The streams of water disguised as keys had already filled up to the entrance of the hole, forming a convex surface tension. Hugo pulled the end of it out long and tightly wrapped it around his hand, then emitted cold air to freeze it in an instant.
As the cold air below 0 degrees Celsius brushed against his red and swollen wrist, Leonardo winced, feeling a momentary sting.
“Does it hurt?”
“It’s okay.”
It wasn’t okay, but his face said it was bearable. Hugo, who had paused, continued to let water flow along the thin ice in order to finish it in one go.
Because the rotating cylinder inside the hole was quite tight, the ice keys had broken in half in the previous two attempts. This was the third attempt, and the water that flowed over the surface was recooled, so even if cracks formed in the ice, it quickly filled the grooves.
As the hardness of the strengthened key reached a stable orbit, Hugo carefully gripped the handle of the master key and slowly began to turn it. 45 degrees, 90 degrees, 135 degrees. The moment the rotating key reached the final 180-degree mark, with a click—the shackle fell open.
“Huh? It’s unlocked.”
Leonardo looked at his freed wrist with wide eyes. Flynn and Gabe, who were watching from the side, applauded with admiration. Hugo, having roughly grasped the knack, then targeted the other handcuff in the same way, and after about 30 seconds, he succeeded in unlocking all the locks without much difficulty.
The heavy Magic Stone handcuffs clattered as they fell to the floor, and only then did Leonardo lean back against the sofa as if relieved. As he stroked his swollen wrist and stinging hand, Hugo grabbed his hand and pulled it towards him.
“Let me see.”
He clicked his tongue, noticing small scratches on the skin. Even so, he gently caressed Leonardo’s skin, gradually healing the injured areas.
Leonardo was inwardly worried that he would ask about the scratches, but Hugo didn’t mention them, assuming they were caused by trying to remove the handcuffs.
Instead, after roughly finishing the treatment, he picked up the ointment and applied it intensively only to the parts where the wounds had not healed. Only after Flynn put on a bandage did he heave a sigh of relief and release the hand he had been holding.
“Your injuries never seem to end.”
His blue eyes narrowed as he murmured in a scolding tone. Leonardo seemed embarrassed and lowered his gaze for no reason.
Only then did Hugo sigh and pick up the handcuffs that had fallen to the ground.
“So, you touched these because they felt strange?”
Leonardo, who had been fidgeting with the bandaged area, raised his head sharply at his question.
“What, you believe me?”
“I figured you wouldn’t do it for no reason.”
He had been rambling about the reason earlier, but Hugo had only stared at him with a dumbfounded expression, so he had been feeling unfairly treated, thinking that he had done something stupid on his own, and had kept his mouth shut. But unexpectedly, at the remark that implied he had listened properly, Leonardo hesitated for a moment before conveying it clearly once more.
“It felt different than when I wore them before.”
“Felt?”
“Yeah. You wouldn’t know since you don’t usually wear handcuffs, but each handcuff feels a little different.”
Hugo’s eyebrow rose at the ambiguous expression. Even so, he glanced down at the handcuffs in question.
These handcuffs were sent by the Great Mother. He didn’t know what ill feelings she had towards Leonardo, but since she was the one who ordered the detention, it wouldn’t be surprising if there was a separate device in the handcuffs.
That was why he didn’t dismiss Leonardo’s words that something was wrong. But even after examining them carefully with suspicion, Hugo’s senses didn’t detect any particular anomalies.
“How did it feel different?”
“Um… for example.”
Leonardo compared the handcuffs to a kind of drain. If the handcuffs he had been wearing until just now were a drain where water slowly drained through a small hole, the ones he had worn before felt as if the ground itself was sinking downwards, and Magic Power was pouring down like a waterfall, he explained.
Hugo was silent for a moment at the extreme explanations. Then, to get more clues, he asked again.
“We once wore handcuffs together, one on each of us. Did it feel different then too?”
“What? Ah, when we went out to eat together?”
“Both then, and just before entering the Peninsula.”
Leonardo recalled the times Hugo was talking about one by one. Once was when the provided meal was not tasty, so he had called the Legion Commander and went to a restaurant together, and another time was just before entering the Peninsula, when he had just gotten off the baggage cart and was arguing with him.
“Um, no. It felt similar then, I think….”
Leonardo gradually trailed off, as if he didn’t know even as he dredged up his memories. He had raised the question himself, but he couldn’t give a definite answer, so he wondered if he had brought it up for nothing.
On the other hand, he was also worried that his obsession with the handcuffs would seem strange. But he couldn’t show the note from Alex Siles, who had first proposed the hypothesis.
As he spoke vaguely and hesitated, Hugo handed the handcuffs to Loren, who was standing behind him.
“Take a look.”
Loren, who had been crossing her arms, took the handcuffs and began to examine the exterior, just as Hugo had done.
Leonardo looked up at her with an uncomfortable expression as she followed Hugo in and naturally joined the room. He also glanced at a man next to Flynn. He was said to be Agrizendro’s adjutant, but frankly, he was being more careful in case he let a word slip, surrounded by people he didn’t know.
Because of that, silence fell in the room for a moment, and only the sound of Loren’s handcuffs clattering could be heard.
Hugo asked without turning around.
“Do you feel anything?”
“Well, I don’t see anything strange either.”
Hugo leaned towards the judgment that there was no problem with those handcuffs, as Loren’s answer was also similar. Even so, he recalled the example Leonardo had given earlier, comparing the handcuffs. He felt as if a vast amount of Magic Power was pouring down like a waterfall, and unconsciously reached out and gently rubbed Leonardo’s wrist without hurting him.
It felt strange that there was a time when it was natural to put handcuffs on this wrist, and even though his head knew it was natural, his heart didn’t feel good. In that instant, Loren, who had been rubbing her chin, suddenly asked into the air.
“By the way, did you say you experienced Magic Power instability in the Peninsula?”
Leonardo, who had been looking down at the large hand, turned his eyes to her at the familiar word. Hugo also massaged his swollen wrist and glanced back.
“I did. Why do you ask?”
Loren put the handcuffs back on the table and continued.
“I was wondering if the difference in ‘feeling’ might be a difference from the old-fashioned handcuffs.”
“What?”
Hugo’s question was cold in an instant. As his expression noticeably hardened, Leonardo subtly rolled his eyes as he grasped the situation.
‘Old-fashioned handcuffs?’
At the same time, his memory re-examined Alex Siles’s remarks that he had heard while walking near the structure together.
The inevitable control instability of prisoners who have been wearing restraints for a long period of time has been a problem for a long time, and the Council has mostly solved the problem by changing the material composition used in the restraints.
In the meantime, Leonardo intuitively realized that the ‘old-fashioned handcuffs’ that the 2nd Division Commander was talking about were the handcuffs that Alex Siles had mentioned as a problem. However, Hugo, who was organizing his thoughts, shook his head firmly. He soon retorted in a calm tone.
“…That’s unlikely. Weren’t all the old-fashioned handcuffs discarded before the audit period to prevent accidents from recurring? Even new-style handcuffs can cause control instability due to sensory confusion immediately after being released from the handcuffs, especially for those with a large amount of Magic Power. But that’s a very natural sensory recovery phenomenon, and it gets better over time, so it’s not a big problem.”
“…….”
“And I’ve already worn handcuffs with Leonardo twice. If there were any old-fashioned handcuffs mixed in, there’s no way I wouldn’t have known.”
Loren seemed to be retracing her thoughts, and didn’t add anything, perhaps agreeing to some extent. Hugo was even more convinced by her appearance and pushed the ominous hypothesis into a corner.
He really didn’t want to think about that possibility. Leonardo’s control instability problem was due to wearing old-fashioned handcuffs?
The handcuffs in question had already been completely discarded, so that couldn’t be the case, but if, if that were the case…. The problem of suspicion and trust that had plagued him and Leonardo throughout the subjugation may have been caused by someone’s mistake.
Or, a conspiracy deliberately manipulated by someone trying to cause problems.
“…….”
Hugo’s Adam’s apple slowly rippled. The back of his neck felt cold, and his fingertips turned cold.
Either way, if someone was involved in the incident, it was not something to be easily overlooked. Perhaps that was why Hugo faced his desire to deny it even more. He didn’t want any more conflicts surrounding Leonardo. He gave a little strength to Leonardo’s wrist, which his unconsciousness had been caressing.
At that time, Gabe, who had been listening quietly, cautiously raised his hand as he assessed the atmosphere.
“I’m… sorry to interrupt, but the old-fashioned handcuffs probably weren’t ‘completely’ discarded.”
At his remark, the eyes of all four people in the same room were fixed on Gabe. It was a new hypothesis that penetrated the situation, and Hugo’s contracted pupils pierced Gabe.
Gabe, slightly nervous, straightened his back and began to convey the facts he remembered.
“The official documents in the organization state that they were completely discarded, so I think most people probably know that, but originally, Magic Stone handcuffs for S-Class Mages are quite expensive compared to other handcuffs, and the quality is also exceptional, right? So, even during the audit, there was a lot of talk within the Council about budget issues, wondering if complete disposal was really the only answer.”
“…….”
“In the process, most of them were eventually disposed of, but I heard from the person in charge at the time that some were sent back to the workshop for reprocessing. Therefore, if limited to within the Council, it is true that all the old-fashioned handcuffs have disappeared… but it is difficult to see it as complete disposal.”
Gabe’s remarks were enough to fill Hugo’s spacious private room with silence. Hugo stared at Gabe, who had delivered the final blow, with a gaze that had lost focus due to the subtle shock.
Tick-tock. The sound of the second hand was unusually loud, and then the eyes of the four people shifted to Hugo.
As the suffocating silence slowly caused the pulse around his neck to fluctuate, Hugo’s tightly closed lips opened with difficulty.
“Are you sure?”
“…Yes.”
Gabe’s answer was clear, though half a beat late. Hugo, whose lips twitched slightly, frowned and turned to Leonardo next to him.
Leonardo was just looking at Hugo with a face that showed he hadn’t yet figured out what was going on, sensing the situation. Seeing that, Hugo’s pulse quickened even more. He felt as if the blood was rushing backwards.
“Ha.”
Instead of being at a loss for words, he let out a bitter laugh and checked the watch on his wrist. It was already sunset and slowly approaching night, but everyone in this place would guess that tonight would be long.
“Gabe.”
“Yes.”
“Go to the workshop right now. You need to check the restraint outflow list. Every word, including the date.”
“Yes, I understand.”
“And Flynn, you go through all the equipment management rooms and find out if there are any old-fashioned handcuffs mixed in among the handcuffs for S-Class Mages, and if the quantity is insufficient. If someone intentionally inserted old-fashioned handcuffs, there must have been an attempt to destroy the evidence.”
“Yes, I understand!”
Following Hugo’s quick instructions, two people jumped up from their seats. They immediately bowed and went around the sofa, hurrying out the door.
Leonardo followed their busy figures, then stared again at the opponent in front of him, from whom a cold aura was emanating. A chill was emanating from around him, suppressing his cold anger, filling the room. Hugo gave his last instruction to Loren.