By Zephyria It seemed that he and his comrades had been separated from the Captain for too long. He never thought he would hear such a thing from someone who was strong, smart, and wise.
“Captain…”
Nero was filled with pity beyond shock. Because of that, he couldn’t be as angry as he was when he saw the Legion Commander’s handkerchief.
Instead, he blamed himself and his comrades for not storming in and rescuing the Captain sooner. Leonardo Blaine was a person with outstanding abilities that could not be matched by anyone in the world. But in fact, his inner self was a human being who was unnecessarily sentimental and soft. So, he must have fallen for the kidnapper who kidnapped him so easily because he was a little nice to him.
“Captain, …I’ll do better.”
Nero rationalized that Leonardo Blaine had only leaned on that guy for a while because he was lonely in a mentally difficult situation. Otherwise, there was no way he could have evaluated the leader of the Imperial Faction as a ‘good person’. It was because he knew the Captain’s cynical reaction and the complicated ideology when he mentioned that person in the past.
At Nero’s voice, which was tinged with gloom, Leonardo Blaine looked at him with a puzzled look.
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
Nero didn’t add any excuses, but moved his butt and sat next to him. In that way, he pressed his body against Leonardo Blaine more than necessary.
Leonardo Blaine’s body, which had been sitting with his arms on his knees, was pushed by Nero and tilted to the side. He barely supported himself on the grass and asked in a bewildered tone.
“…Why are you sitting so close?”
“We’ve been apart for a while, can’t we sit close?”
“No, there’s a limit. It’s been creepy since earlier.”
“What’s creepy? Me? Wow, hurt.”
“That’s not—”
The sight of two adult men sitting close together in the middle of a wide cemetery was quite ridiculous. Leonardo Blaine said it was annoying and deliberately poked Nero’s shoulder. But Nero stubbornly sat still and didn’t even budge. Rather, he leaned his head toward Leonardo Blaine and bit into the remaining sandwich.
As the strong intention not to fall was conveyed through his heavy head, Leonardo Blaine was dumbfounded but stopped giving Nero a look. It was because he was worried that he might get indigestion if he bothered someone who was eating. However, he quietly stared at Nero’s expression, which looked somewhat gloomy.
Looking at the red eyes that had been burning brightly and then calmed down, he seemed to know why the guy leaning on him was acting like this. But he wanted to make this clear, so Leonardo Blaine continued in a calm tone.
“The Legion Commander, I really mean it when I say he’s a good person. He’s the one who helped me get the acquittal in the trial.”
Nero, who extremely hated others interfering in their solid relationship, deliberately avoided Leonardo Blaine’s eyes as if pretending to look at the front.
“That’s what that guy should have done. Did the Captain do anything wrong? No, he didn’t. Rather, they should be grateful that you fought for them at the risk of your life.”
He should be grateful that it changed from ‘that bastard’ to ‘that guy’. Leonardo Blaine frowned at Nero’s constantly grumbling tone, but stopped trying to warn him.
“Well, that’s true. But that person also risked his life. I might have died in the peninsula if it wasn’t for the Legion Commander.”
“……”
“Of course, your help was great in defeating the core. But there was a bit of a problem inside the barrier after that. I don’t remember it well, but it occasionally comes to mind in fragments. That person’s voice calling my name as he chased after me until the end. His desperate face shouting to wake up and not give up.”
At Leonardo Blaine’s voice, which was quietly reminiscing, Nero slowly lifted his neck, which had been bent at a 90-degree angle. Then, he stared silently at his sorrowful profile.
“I’m not trying to rank who was more helpful. We’ve already saved each other and fought together many times, so it’s not a relationship that can be compared to anyone. But when you think about it, that person was a complete stranger who had nothing to do with us. But even so, he used his life, status, power, money, everything to release me, and in the end, he made it possible for me to meet you again.”
Leonardo Blaine’s gaze, which had been wandering in the blue sky, returned to Nero.
“You know that’s not an easy thing to do. Besides, that person knew about you, but he kept his mouth shut and even silenced the people around him.”
“…What?”
Nero, who had been listening silently, asked back with more surprised eyes than ever before.
“Besides the Legion Commander… is there anyone else who knows about us? And the Legion Commander silenced them? You said earlier that he didn’t say anything.”
“It’s a long story… the Legion Commander didn’t say it directly, but Meterion Kleinder, that guy, told me. You know him, right? The 3rd Legion Commander.”
At the sound of the familiar name, Nero’s head went blank for a moment. He started to touch the back of his neck with a grimace, as if the back of his head was getting tighter and tighter.
It was because the existence of the 3rd Legion Commander, who suddenly appeared the moment the Captain, who had escaped from the barrier, lost consciousness in front of him, had been unsettling all along. The person he had borrowed his face from was also from the 3rd Legion, and when he was chased out of Fidele Territory by the Legion Commander, he had vaguely felt a similar aura to the 3rd Legion Commander nearby.
Seeing Nero’s appearance as if he had something in mind, Leonardo Blaine sighed inwardly. Then, rather than blaming him for doing his best, he stroked Nero’s back with his palm in the sense of overcoming the future situation together.
“It’s true that the Legion Commander is also a target of vigilance, because he’s still an outsider who knows about our contact. But Meterion Kleinder is more of a problem. He’s the one who directly threatened me by mentioning you.”
“That bastard threatened the Captain?”
“Yeah. One good thing is that I also have one of his weaknesses… but honestly, my side is more disadvantaged. Our lives are at stake.”
“……”
“He probably hasn’t said anything because he doesn’t intend to. No, actually, I don’t know what he’s thinking. Sometimes he approaches me secretly as if he’s trying to win me over, and other times he gets on my nerves and acts like a prick. People should be consistent. What the fuck does he want?”
Leonardo Blaine recalled the unpleasant situations he had been involved in with Meterion, and ground his teeth. One moment he was telling him to join his side, and the next he was sticking ‘eighteen’ armed tails behind him.
Leonardo didn’t bother telling Nero that he had fought off the followers Meterion had sent. As expected, murderous red eyes poked out and asked cautiously.
“Shall I kill them for you?”
The grip on his arm was careful but conveyed sincerity. Leonardo glanced at Nero’s gleaming eyes. He flicked his arm away and shook his head.
“Don’t make a big deal out of it. If you attack now, he’ll be sure it was me.”
“Why? Did the Captain try to kill him first and fail?”
“No, it’s just something.”
Leonardo brushed back his hair, cutting off the conversation. Nero’s lips twisted at the Captain’s cryptic answer.
“Let’s just watch for now. We have to undo the magic on Felix Montero, the guy who got caught up in this.”
“Ah.”
With a short sigh, Nero scratched the back of his head. He remembered that he had cast a spell on Felix’s tongue to keep him quiet while borrowing his face. He felt a pang of guilt, realizing he hadn’t cleaned up the mess he’d made, and his spirits sank.
He had tried to help the Captain, but it seemed he had only held him back. He should have left the peninsula without looking back as soon as he had dealt with the core, but his desire to stay by the Captain’s side had ruined things, and he felt terrible.
Perhaps because of this self-reproach, Nero’s words decreased sharply, and Leonardo subtly examined his brother’s darkened complexion. He put his arm around his shoulder as if to say not to worry about it, and they leaned their heads together. His fingers rummaged through the red hair, ruffling it roughly.
“You did well, though. It was the best you could do at the time.”
“……”
“We can think about what to do next together, step by step.”
Nero’s face, which had been hard to tell whether he was sulking or depressed, was dyed with an unexpected look. He leaned his head and stared at Leonardo sideways, asking.
“Captain, why are you being so warm?”
“…What?”
“You should have punched me by now, that’s what you usually do.”
“Want me to do it now?”
“No.”
A giggle leaked out from Nero’s answer that quickly followed. Leonardo chuckled along with the sight of the guy laughing for no reason.
However, Nero’s next question immediately hardened Leonardo’s softly loosened lips.
“Captain, then… can’t we keep thinking about it here, with me, step by step?”
“……”
“Can’t you not go there? You’re going back to those people again now, aren’t you?”
Nero straightened his head and turned to face Leonardo directly. He gripped the other’s angular shoulders without hurting him and held his gaze with earnest eyes. He knew where he was going next.
“Can’t we just live quietly? You told me, hyung, that you didn’t want to run away anymore.”
The moment Leonardo heard Nero’s words, he recalled a scene he had seen on the peninsula. It was what he had said to Nero, who had chased him to the middle of the wasteland where the battle was raging, urging him to run away with him.
Gold Eyes stared at his comrade with a bitter and pitiful look. After a moment of silence, Leonardo clicked his tongue and lowered his eyes to his feet.
“Nero, you know.”
Leonardo covered Nero’s hand on his shoulder with his own. Then he subtly raised his eyes and added quietly.
“It’s something only I can do. They need me.”
“……”
“And it’s for us too.”
Nero moved his lips, then closed them tightly. His eyes glared coldly at the other, filled with resentment.
His mouth was full of bitterness. In the end, the Captain was going to leave him again and go to them. He always glossed over it when he asked him to stay with him, but only gave a confident answer at times like this.
Even though he was upset, Nero didn’t want to ruin the mood today. He slid his hands down Leonardo’s shoulders. He grabbed the Captain’s wrist, which seemed like it would scatter like light, and muttered in a resigned voice.
“I admit that the Captain is stubborn now. You’re worse than me.”
“……”
“You’ve been saying it for a while, so I won’t stop you now. But instead of going, stay with me for today. I’ve found a nice place to stay. There aren’t many people there.”
Leonardo smiled loosely at Nero’s actions, who was holding his wrist tightly as if he wouldn’t let go even if he refused.
“Okay.”
“And today―.”
“Let’s sleep together today. Let’s talk about the old days for a while.”
As Leonardo was about to get up, he added a word, and Nero’s face quickly brightened.
“Really?”
Nero put strength into his hand and gently pulled Leonardo. Led by the force, Leonardo naturally got up from the lawn. Nero carefully dusted off the Captain’s clothes with grass on them, took his hand and the backpack that had been lying around, and led him in the direction of the accommodation he had looked at in advance. An uncharacteristically innocent smile never left Nero’s lips.
“It’s not far from here.”
A face that was hard to believe belonged to a Dark Silver member known as a terrifying existence to the world. His footsteps ahead on the grass were very light. Nero waved his arm, urging Leonardo.
“Captain, do you want to wash together for the first time in a while?”
“Are you crazy? What do you mean wash together?”
“Ah, why―. We used to do it often.”
On the hill of memories where the fresh sunlight shone, two tombstones stared at the two people moving away. Leonardo turned his head and looked at the tombstones, even as he replied indifferently to Nero. The wind that fluttered there wrapped around his golden hair and gently swept it back.