By Zephyria Leonardo frowned deeply and roughly pulled his wrist away from Hugo’s grip.
“Do you think I can’t even tell if there are people there or not?”
He rubbed his wrist and retorted, not hiding his displeasure.
“It’s true that I went a little strong, but it wasn’t that bad. It’s more like I got surprised because you grabbed me and that’s how it happened.”
Hugo silently stared at him before shifting his gaze to the smoke rising from the distant peak. Soon, he turned his head back to the front and pointed behind him, opening his mouth.
“It seems quite strong for that.”
“…….”
“I’m only saying this in case, but it’s natural for your control to become unstable suddenly since you’ve been wearing shackles for so long. So, if you feel like it’s too much for you, you must report it to me. That way, I can control you.”
At Hugo’s words, Leonardo looked up at him with a slightly dumbfounded expression. Then, with a dissatisfied face that seemed to have a lot to say, he moved his lips, and then let out a short sigh as if to relieve his emotions.
“I know what you’re saying, but there’s nothing for you to worry about.”
Leonardo said that and then gestured towards the opposite peak.
“In the end, they all ran away, right?”
As he said, the demon beast’s cries were no longer heard. It seemed that all the demon beasts nearby had fled due to the large explosion a moment ago. However, Hugo then looked at the base camp below and said.
“Yes. That’s fortunate, but as a result, everyone seems to be awake.”
At that, Leonardo also looked down. Quite a few people were out of their tents, looking at this place where they were standing and the peak where the attack had just flown with a distant gaze.
Leonardo frowned slightly. He also knew very well how much waking up once in the early morning would affect his condition the next day, and that it would slow down the march.
Leonardo, meeting those gazes directed at him, furrowed his brow and closed his eyes tightly before opening them.
“Ah— okay, okay. My bad.”
Replying as if suppressing his emotions, he bit his teeth and headed straight for the base camp. Hugo immediately followed behind him.
Leonardo, who had gone down, didn’t even glance at the members who were gathered and looking at him, and went straight into the tent first. Soon, just as Hugo was about to follow him in, Meterion Kleinder approached him.
Hugo honestly wanted to ignore his face, which looked like he wouldn’t say anything good with that cold expression. However, Meterion, who didn’t seem to have any intention of backing down, looked at the distant peak that was smoking as if he had been waiting for this moment.
“Was Leonardo Blaine the cause of that?”
Hugo was silent for a moment before opening his mouth.
“There was a Dermokas nearby.”
“If it appears twice, it will even erupt a volcano.”
Meterion let out a sneer as if mocking him.
“You said you couldn’t control him, but it seems that you are the same.”
“…….”
Hugo replied to him with a slightly tired look.
“There won’t be any problems, so I’ll be on my way.”
Meterion stared at him with eyes as if he was watching, and then returned to his tent. However, behind him, even more members were looking this way with confused eyes. Hugo let out a sigh without showing it and ordered them.
“There was a bit of a commotion, but it’s nothing to worry about. We’re marching early, so everyone go back and rest.”
“Yes, understood—.”
The members who answered Hugo’s words immediately scattered to their places. As most of the people went back into the tent, Hugo also lifted the entrance of the tent and went inside. Naturally, he glanced at the left bed and saw Leonardo lying on the bed with his back to the entrance.
Hugo stared at his back for a moment.
Perhaps it was something he didn’t want to admit at all, that he, who was a powerful mage and possessed such great control that he could perfectly conceal his magic, had unstable magic control. Moreover, he must have a strong pride in his magic.
However, Hugo hoped that he wouldn’t cause any problems by asserting his pride. Apart from the fact that he was responsible for the problem, it was because the negative perception that the members had of Leonardo could worsen.
Hugo wanted to continue the conversation inside, but looking at the atmosphere around him, it seemed better to just leave him alone for now. Hugo slowly blinked his eyes and then returned to his place without saying anything.
Then, sitting back on the cot, he said quietly to Leonardo, who was lying with his back turned.
“Good night, Leonardo.”
* * *
The morning sun had risen, but the sky was covered in clouds and looked hazy. Leonardo, who was sitting on a folding chair in front of the extinguished bonfire, blankly looked at the opaque sky full of clouds, and then glanced at Flynn’s shadow that had approached in front of him.
“What are you looking at so intently?”
Flynn asked, looking back at the sky where Leonardo’s gaze was lingering. In response, Leonardo looked at the sky again as if it meant nothing and said.
“Just.”
Flynn had been wondering if something had happened, given the loud noise in the early morning and his seemingly low tension. But then, he belatedly noticed the breakfast in his hand.
“You emptied it all yesterday, but you didn’t eat much today?”
At Flynn’s question, Leonardo stared blankly at the meal in his hand.
“I don’t have much of an appetite.”
“Are you going to stop eating?”
“Yeah.”
There were many things he wanted to ask since the commander hadn’t really told him anything, but Flynn didn’t say anything because he didn’t seem to be in a good mood. Flynn collected Leonardo’s utensils without saying anything.
Leonardo watched Flynn’s back and then crossed his legs and subtly shifted his gaze to where Hugo was.
There, the commanders who had gathered for a meeting yesterday and the messengers from the Southern Branch who had come to the Central Branch’s base camp were gathered and holding a pre-departure meeting again. It seemed that there were urgent matters to discuss from the morning.
And the reason Leonardo was sitting here now was because Hugo hadn’t called him to come next to him today.
He wasn’t a commander of the Council, so he wasn’t a person who had to attend the meeting, but he felt strange being left here alone today after being there until yesterday. It felt like he had been deprived of something.
As Leonardo ruminated on the unpleasant feelings, he looked at the place, and Hugo, who had been listening to someone else’s words at the meeting place, suddenly turned his gaze. Thanks to that, Leonardo, who had been looking at that side, made eye contact with him.
Hugo slightly raised one eyebrow as the drooping golden eyes were directed at him. Leonardo paused at the unexpected situation and then averted his gaze naturally, pretending not to notice.
After watching the other members tidying up their tents for a while without any meaning, he subtly turned his head and looked again in the direction of Hugo. Then, Hugo was holding a meeting with the people in front of him with his head turned to the front as if he had never looked this way.
As he stared blankly at the scene, Leonardo suddenly turned his gaze to his hand and repeatedly clenched and unclenched it several times.
The magic that had flown towards the distant peak yesterday, it was true that it had flown strongly because he had grabbed his wrist, but as he said, it was also true that it had gone out stronger than expected because it was not controlled.
It was clearly his mistake, and it was a problem that he himself had been worried about, so he should be grateful to Agrizendro.
However, Leonardo was upset not because he didn’t want to admit it, but because of Hugo’s actions to take responsibility for all of his problems.
His words that he would control the problem of his unstable magic made him feel as if he was treating him like a child who couldn’t do anything without him, or a heavy burden that he had no choice but to carry.
But he couldn’t blame him alone for that. Perhaps no one here would treat him that way.
Leonardo, whose thoughts had reached that point, quietly raised his head and looked again at the group in the distance who were in the middle of a meeting.
The fact that he could stand there yesterday as if it were natural. And the fact that he could say what he knew and thought. Leonardo suddenly realized that all of that was because Agrizendro had called him, stood him next to him, talked to him, and asked for his opinion.
With so many thoughts intertwined, he quietly examined the commander’s profile. And somehow, he felt that it was unfamiliar.
The reason why it was unfamiliar was because he had hardly ever seen his profile because he always turned his gaze and made eye contact with him when he looked at him.
At that moment, from the actions that he had thought were subtly lenient to him since the Imperial Capital, to the incomprehensible actions of suddenly releasing the shackles and entrusting him with the rear, the things he had done just before departure, such as calling all the people in front of him and telling him to give a direct operation briefing, quickly flashed through his mind.
In the meantime, the last thing that came to mind was,
‘I’ll give you a chance.’
He thought it was a paltry and contradictory sympathy,
‘Make up for it. In this expedition.’
It was a chance he was giving him in his own way.