By Zephyria Thanks to Leonardo’s storm-like performance, the new demon beast species was completely wiped out, even down to their nest. Hugo sent two squad members as messengers to call the exploration teams and investigators from the other squads to collect and investigate the demon beast species.
In the meantime, messengers from the Southern Branch and other squads were constantly coming and going to report to Hugo, and it seemed that more traces of ruins were being discovered than expected, and the reports were mainly about that.
And Leonardo, who was a little away from Hugo, also heard the report.
‘Ruins?’
This was also his first time entering the Elder Milli Peninsula in earnest, so he had never seen any ruins. In the first place, Leonardo wasn’t there when the messengers from the Southern Branch first reported about the ruins, so this was the first time he was hearing about it.
Afterwards, the messenger also mentioned the unidentified cave that Hugo had seen when he annihilated the teratoma demon beast. Similar formations to those where food was piled up seemed to have been discovered in several other places.
As Leonardo listened to the messenger with his arms crossed, he suddenly met Hugo’s eyes when he turned his gaze. Leonardo didn’t avoid his eyes and stared at him intently, then soon unfolded his arms and went somewhere else.
Hugo also looked at him for a while, then turned his gaze back to the messenger.
* * *
Flynn was actually very worried that Leonardo would go on a hunger strike after that incident.
However, contrary to his expectations, Leonardo actually ate better than usual. When he spent the night at the base camp and the day dawned, he was the first to wake up and pack his things without anyone else having to wake him up.
In battle, he was the first to step forward and defeat the vast number of demon beasts, and he didn’t do any individual actions such as silently leaving or straying from the formation. When he went somewhere else for a while, he always said why before leaving, and reported briefly when he returned.
On the surface, unlike his early appearance, where it was hard to tell where he would bounce, he now seemed to be acting like a perfect member of the subjugation party, perfectly following the rules, but Flynn felt that it was even more precarious, as if he were standing on thin ice.
This was because he was following the rules so perfectly that there were fewer things to talk to him about. No, it was right to say that they had almost disappeared.
His appearance, which had changed drastically from the time of that incident, from the number of words he spoke to the atmosphere, was like seeing a flawless soldier who had participated as a mercenary. He acted without any major flaws, but there was an invisible, solid wall, and he acted as if there was no reason to get involved anymore except for the common ground of demon beast subjugation.
It was as if he had closed his heart.
And what Flynn felt was, of course, something that Hugo couldn’t help but feel as well.
* * *
Late that night, which they were to spend in the middle of a tropical rainforest a little away from the active volcano zone, it was drizzling. Around the time when most people had almost finished preparing for bed and were inside their tents, a figure approached Hugo, who was sitting on a makeshift chair looking at a map.
Hugo could tell who it was without even lifting his head, but perhaps because he knew it was him, his head turned involuntarily.
Leonardo stood in front of Hugo with a blank expression and said.
“Give me a cigarette.”
In the past, he would have said it casually and just left, but now he got permission every time he went out. The way he spoke felt more like a notification than asking for permission, but he didn’t move until he heard an answer, so it was closer to permission.
Hugo nodded lightly once and replied.
“Go ahead.”
As soon as his permission was granted, Leonardo went straight out of the cave without delay. As if he didn’t want to be in front of him for even a second.
Hugo watched Leonardo’s retreating figure, then unfolded the map again. Since that incident, Hugo no longer followed him when he went out alone. It was because he didn’t want to give him any more reason to think that he didn’t trust him, since he already thought that he didn’t trust him.
‘You said you’d try to trust me.’
The face that occasionally came to mind and the slightly trembling voice were quite bothersome. He didn’t seem like he would pay much attention to his words, but Hugo had a lot of thoughts because of his words, which seemed to be more meaningful than expected.
Hugo, who was carefully reviewing the route and selecting the path to take tomorrow, folded the map he was looking at. Then, he sighed and rubbed around his eyebrows as if he were tired.
“Why do I feel more uneasy when you listen so well?”
Hugo thought that he would get emotionally angry a few more times after that. He thought that he would act more recklessly, try to scratch his nerves more, and act more uncontrollably. But he always did things that were beyond Hugo’s expectations.
On the contrary, he followed the rules more thoroughly than before, and there were no more instances of him not eating or not cooperating with the subjugation out of a pointless rebellious spirit.
If he was spoken to, he didn’t ignore them, although he was cold, and he answered in his own way. However, the cold gaze that told them to only say what they needed to say made it difficult to continue the conversation for more than two words.
That’s right. He was perfectly blocking any situation where someone could talk to him.
Hugo never thought that he would ever describe someone else as ‘cold’ in his life. Perhaps because he had only ever seen a burning flame-like figure in him, his current appearance was particularly cold. His voice, and the way he looked at him, too.
Thanks to that, the subjugation was going smoothly, but in reality, no one would say that this atmosphere was good. Leonardo seemed to want to finish this work quickly and get out of the peninsula. It was clear to everyone else as well.
Hugo didn’t regret the actions he had taken to test him back then. It was something that was necessary at least once. He could have directly mentioned his control issues and issued an order to restrict his actions, but he thought that that method wouldn’t have been smooth either.
But lately, when he looked at Leonardo’s appearance, it was true that one corner of his heart was quite uncomfortable because it seemed like he was putting up a wall and enduring it alone.
Hugo had wanted him to follow his words well since before he came to the peninsula, but it was clear that the appearance he had wanted was not like this.
After thinking about this and that, Hugo finally got up from his seat. It was to have a conversation with him.
* * *
Leonardo was sitting on a large tree root, blankly exhaling cigarette smoke slowly.
Because it was in the middle of a dense forest, the large tree leaves were roughly blocking the drizzle, but his hair, face, and shoulders were gradually getting wet.
Leonardo was lost in thought, unable to pay attention to such things, with a cigarette in his mouth.
‘It’s going relatively smoothly, so if we go at this pace, it might end sooner than I thought.’
However, as he thought that, he lowered his gaze again with a complicated expression.
‘But there will be more demon beasts ahead, so won’t it take longer…’
A drop of rain fell on the corner of Leonardo’s right eye and trickled down. He stared silently at the darkened forest.
Occasionally, the sounds of insects and birds could be heard, and the drizzle brushed against the broad leaves, creating a strangely regular rhythm. Leonardo listened to the sound and stared blankly at the air, thinking.
‘Should I run away?’
As he was thinking that, the rain that had been falling on him stopped, and the area nearby became a little brighter. Leonardo raised his head and looked up.
A blue barrier was spread out widely above him, as if it were acting as a roof. Leonardo frowned and turned his gaze, and Hugo was approaching from beyond the faintly shining light ball. Hugo examined his figure sitting on the tree root, then tentatively spoke to him.
“You seem to be smoking a lot these days.”
He didn’t know why he was smoking in the rain like a pathetic person when he was a powerful mage, but the sight of him being a little wet from the rain made him feel strangely more concerned. The raindrops falling on his eyes, wetting his eyelashes, and flowing down were especially so.
Leonardo got up from his seat as soon as Hugo approached. Then, he burned all of the remaining long cigarette with his hand. He brushed past Hugo and said coldly.
“I’ll reduce my individual actions if you need me to.”
Hugo paused at Leonardo’s cold appearance, sighed softly, and turned his body in his direction.
“That’s not what I meant, Leonardo.”
However, Leonardo’s steps didn’t stop. Hugo narrowed his brow, swept his hair back, and immediately followed him.
Leonardo, who was getting closer to the entrance of the cave, was about to go straight into the tent. But at that moment, he came face to face with a squad member who was standing at the entrance. Leonardo paused, and the squad member also looked noticeably surprised, as if he hadn’t expected him to suddenly appear.
Leonardo glanced at the squad member and tried to pass him. At that moment, the squad member grabbed Leonardo’s arm urgently.
“Th, there―.”
Leonardo was startled and reflexively slapped his hand away.
The squad member, whose hand had been slapped away with a smack, stood there holding his hand with a bewildered expression, and Leonardo was even more bewildered. And Hugo, who had followed him, also saw the scene.
Leonardo looked back and forth between the squad member’s face and his hand, then nervously ruffled his hair and said brusquely.
“What?”
“Ah….”
The squad member put aside his surprised heart for a moment and tried to say something to him, but he was startled by the appearance of the Captain, who had appeared behind Leonardo, and stammered.
Leonardo frowned, then passed him again. The squad member, who had been hesitating, became anxious as he watched him enter and struggled to speak.
“I, I heard that you saved me when I fell into the lake and lost consciousness. But I haven’t been able to thank you since then… I wanted to say thank you. I’m sorry for grabbing you so suddenly.”
Leonardo stopped walking. He stood there silently, then turned back and looked at the squad member who had spoken to him.
The squad member, who was still looking around, not knowing what to do, had a bandage wrapped around his arm. Only then did Leonardo realize that he was the squad member who had been caught in the lake after being grazed by a poisoned needle on his arm last time.
And in his memory, this guy was the same bumbling guy who had been dozing off while standing guard at night, which had allowed him to slip out easily.
He didn’t seem to have any discipline, even though he belonged to the 1st squad, which was supposed to be full of combat personnel, and his way of speaking was too soft. It was clear at a glance that he hadn’t been here for long.
Leonardo stared at him silently, then met Hugo’s eyes, who was watching him and the squad member from behind. After staring at him for a moment, Leonardo turned his gaze away again, sighed deeply, and said to the squad member.
“Hey.”
“Ye, yes?”
The squad member, who couldn’t even make eye contact and was looking down, hurriedly raised his head. Then, he made eye contact with Leonardo’s golden eyes and lowered his head again. Leonardo said coldly with a deeply sunken gaze.
“Don’t be grateful.”
“…Yes?”
He raised his head again and asked back with a flustered expression. Leonardo turned around and walked inside, as if he had nothing more to say, and said.
“Because I won’t save you anymore.”
He went straight into the tent. The squad member could only blankly stare at his tent door, which had been closed.
Hugo sighed quietly. Then, he approached the squad member who was standing silently and placed his hand on his shoulder.
“Your feelings have been conveyed enough. Don’t worry.”
The squad member looked up at Hugo with a tearful face.
The drizzle that had been falling outside had turned into a heavy downpour that soaked the ground.
The sound of the rain grew louder, and the rain continued to fall all night.