By Zephyria ‘Should I have brought him?’
Hugo, who had made eye contact with Leonardo who was looking this way, wanted to concentrate on the meeting again because he had averted his gaze first, pretending not to notice. But since making eye contact, he had started to worry about the direction where Leonardo was.
Hugo didn’t call him to the meeting today because he thought the commanders’ gazes towards Leonardo wouldn’t be very good due to the commotion in the early morning. But as he was sitting alone and looking uncharacteristically dejected, he couldn’t get that face out of his head.
In fact, it was just his guess that he was dejected, but usually, even if his tension dropped, his eyes wouldn’t die and would be sharp, or he would have that unique relaxed smile. But today’s appearance was neither of those.
It’s ridiculous to think, but it’s like he’s looking here pitifully….
“Commander, what should we do?”
Hugo, who had been looking down at the table and thinking about something else for a while, suddenly raised his head at the voice of the company commander calling him.
Looking around, all the commanders were looking at him as if waiting for an answer. In response, Hugo kept his mouth shut, but soon admitted his actions and said.
“…Sorry, I was thinking about something else for a moment. Where were we?”
At his words, the commanders blinked their eyes as if quite surprised. This was because Hugo hated the behavior of someone not concentrating during a meeting the most.
But since he said that he had done it himself, the commanders couldn’t help but feel unfamiliar. However, since the only person who could criticize him, who held the highest position here, was at most Meterion, the company commander who had asked Hugo for his opinion immediately answered his question.
“Ah…. A historical site has been discovered at coordinates 1402, 109, 2675 in the eastern area of Eldermilli, where the Southern Branch is currently located. Geologists have conducted a simple investigation first, and they say it’s an ancient historical site that’s at least 700 years old. Thanks to the volcanic ash, it seems to be well preserved, so it’s said to have high historical value.”
“Ancient historical site?”
Hugo frowned deeply at those words as if he had a headache. It was not welcome news at all from Hugo’s point of view that a historical site with historical preservation value had appeared when he was already busy worrying about demon beast subjugation. It was just one more thing to worry about.
As the company commander stopped speaking at the sight of the commander’s noticeably cold appearance, the messenger from the Southern Branch rolled his eyes and opened his mouth directly this time.
“Yes, and how they got in… poachers and archaeologists who were privately hired as mercenaries were around there, so we arrested them first. They said they were going to leave soon, but they couldn’t leave and were hiding because the Council’s battalions were advancing and blocking their retreat.”
Hugo frowned at the story that was getting worse and worse. Soon, he closed his eyes tightly and rubbed his brow, saying.
“…First, transfer those who have been arrested to the temporary headquarters in front of the Fidele Territory Gate, and the historical site….”
Hugo paused for a moment, sighing as if he kept thinking of things to think about even as he continued to speak. However, since all the commanders were waiting for his answer, he immediately opened his mouth again.
“As soon as the historical site is discovered, leave a mark around it so that it can be clearly identified, and only check to see if there are any outsiders or demon beasts inside. Once the confirmation is complete, the location will be continuously transmitted and shared through the messengers. However, our top priority is subjugation.”
“Yes, understood.”
“Is there anything else to convey?”
Hugo asked the messengers from the Southern Branch.
“No, there isn’t.”
“Then the messengers from the Southern Branch will return to the existing march, and the Central Branch will stay for a moment.”
At Hugo’s words, the messengers from the Southern Branch quickly disappeared after saluting, and only the commanders from the Central Branch remained and looked at Hugo again. Hugo opened his mouth again.
“A Dermokas appeared around the base camp last night. And the road we have to take today is also a frequent area for them to appear. The more people there are, the less risk of being attacked, but it’s easier to be exposed and the march slows down that much. So today, we will try to reach the second target spot as quickly as possible, and after that, we will move in company-sized units.”
“Yes, understood—.”
“Wait a moment.”
Meterion cut off the flow when everyone was answering. Hugo raised one eyebrow and looked at him as if asking what it was again.
As all eyes were focused on him, Meterion continued.
“Why aren’t you announcing the cause of the commotion that happened in the early morning?”
At the question that was clearly meant to make him say Leonardo’s mistake with his own mouth, Hugo stared at him with an unpleasant look. However, the other commanders were also curious about it, so they didn’t agree with words, but they were waiting for the commander’s answer.
Seeing those gazes, Hugo had no choice but to open his mouth.
“The landslide that occurred in the early morning was caused by Leonardo Blaine attacking the Dermokas that appeared on the opposite peak and experiencing a problem with unstable magic control.”
At his words, one of the company commanders, who had been waiting for this matter, looked around and opened his mouth.
“Then, shouldn’t we put the shackles back on?”
Silence flowed over the table at the company commander’s statement. Even if they didn’t say it, it seemed that about half of the commanders agreed with it. As this story finally came out, Hugo remained silent.
In the meantime, another company commander added.
“It doesn’t seem like a good idea to put him in the rear either.”
Those who spoke were all company commanders belonging to the 3rd Battalion under Meterion Kleinder. As they were creating an atmosphere to force Leonardo to be re-arrested, Dellua, who had been showing a bright appearance all along, answered with a serious expression at those words.
“When Droc and Sigal approached the rear ranks of the Central Branch, it was Leonardo Blaine who perfectly eliminated those demon beasts. He is fulfilling the role of rear guard more faithfully than anyone else, and rather, the members of the 6th Battalion were protected by him. So there is no reason to put shackles on him.”
Dellua’s resolute words brought silence once more. Hugo quietly watched Dellua, then nodded as if to give her strength.
“Squad Leader Rivera is right. His magic control is unstable, but he is making a significant contribution to the protection of the column and the speed of the march. Shackling him here will only worsen the situation. Therefore, we will continue to monitor him, but we will depart today without any changes to his treatment.”
Based on Dellua’s experience with Leonardo, Hugo made a decision to quickly conclude the situation and put an end to it. In this kind of situation, it would normally be right to follow the majority opinion, but he didn’t think putting the shackles back on him was a good idea.
Once the Legion Commander made his conclusion, no commander dared to object. Afterward, he dismissed the meeting and disbanded the commanders.
As the commanders scattered to their positions for the final preparations before the march, Hugo briefly called Dellua, who was about to head to the rear, to a halt. Then he quietly instructed her.
“Dellua, keep a close watch on Leonardo’s magic control. If you see any signs of instability, inform me immediately.”
Dellua responded with a bright smile, as if to say he could leave it to her.
“Yes, I understand!”
* * *
As soon as the base camp was cleared, the march resumed quickly.
The column encountered demon beast packs three times on the way to its destination. The Dermokas they had faced at dawn did not appear, perhaps frightened by Leonardo’s attack, but when dealing with the last demon beast pack, the scale was so vast that more than half of the column had to participate in the battle.
When dealing with the demon beasts that followed in the rear, Leonardo tried to deal with them using only close-range attacks. He wasn’t sure what the output would be if he used long-range attacks.
It was like feeling a tremor when trying to do delicate work with a lighter hand after holding heavy things for a very long time.
Because of that, Leonardo’s mood wasn’t very good all day, but Dellua, who had been watching him closely, kept praising him extravagantly, saying that she couldn’t use that much magic even if she tried.
Leonardo noticed that she was trying to comfort him, chuckled, and tried not to show his feelings.
After successfully overcoming the threat of the demon beasts, the column encountered two more bone graveyards. As the column passed by the bone graveyards, Leonardo could feel the members becoming acutely tense.
He stopped for a moment, picked up a bone fragment, and examined it closely. Yesterday, he had only glanced at them as he flew quickly to catch up with the column after defeating Sigal, but today, upon closer inspection, he could see something dried on the surface of the bone fragment, and it was covered in scratches.
It felt less like being cut by a blade and more like being scraped continuously by something sharp. These scratches were not just in one or two places, but on every bone fragment. As if they had been gnawed on from several places.
He put the fragment back down and followed the column, and the path, which had been hollowed out before the bone graveyard, suddenly became steep, like climbing a mountain.
The path, which required a lot of physical strength, noticeably slowed down the column’s movement speed, and to make matters worse, the ground was muddy. Leonardo felt suffocated by the soil that was gradually absorbing water and the humid air inside the cave.
Nevertheless, he silently moved forward, then suddenly turned around.
There was nothing in the dark path the column had passed through, but Leonardo, narrowing his eyes, stopped and stared at it. A strange sense of unease had brushed past him.
Soon, he turned his head and called out to Dellua, who was walking a little ahead.
“Squad Leader Rivera.”
“Huh? Did you call me?”
It was almost the first time Leonardo had called her by her full name and title, so Dellua was inwardly surprised and gladly asked back. When she looked at him, Leonardo gestured behind him with his chin and said.
“Someone is following the column.”
Dellua glanced at the dark back of the cave and nodded slightly.
“I felt it too.”
Leonardo looked at her with a look that asked why she was letting it go, and Dellua smiled and added.
“The ground has become much weaker than before. If a battle breaks out here, the weak ground could collapse, so unless there’s a big movement, I think it’s better to leave them alone for now.”
Since she was manipulating inanimate objects, she seemed to be sensitive to the quality and condition of the soil. And Leonardo also felt that the ground had become much softer, so he nodded in agreement with Dellua’s words.
At that moment, a crackling sound came from the radio Dellua was carrying, and Hugo’s voice was heard.
—Squad Leader Rivera, to the front of Diaz’s unit.
Dellua answered into the radio.
“Yes, I understand.”
Soon, she smiled and said to Leonardo.
“I’ll be back in a bit.”
Leonardo nodded lightly, and Dellua went to the front with Marlene. Leonardo watched them go, then crossed his arms again and stared at the back of the cave.