Bermuda

"He suddenly disappeared?"

"Yes, his scent and presence, everything vanished."

As soon as Kenis entered the tent and sat on the chair, the first thing he talked about was what had happened while Leonardo was deliberately stalling for time by luring Hugo and the 1st Battalion.

Right after separating from Leonardo, Kenis headed toward a location where a tunnel might exist, as he had been instructed. Originally, they were in the middle of a vast forest, so they had to move quite a distance to reach the entrance of the tunnel located only at the foot of the mountain.

On the way, they passed a cliff that had been cut again and a waterfall with a strong current, and somehow, the Ilaptors that had appeared intermittently after a loud roar were nowhere to be seen. However, Council members were wandering around the forest, so they had to lie down and hide in the bushes several times.

Somehow, they managed to overcome the rough obstacles and succeeded in reaching the cave entrance leading to the tunnel.

Kenis was worried about whether Alec, who had almost no mana left, would be able to escape the dark cave safely, so he thought of going with him a little further, but Alec simply said it was fine with a carefree face, handed something to Kenis with a short farewell, and then went in alone right away.

Kenis blankly stared at what had been placed in his hand, and a few seconds later, he realized that Alec had disappeared and hurriedly followed him inside, but he couldn't find any trace or scent of Alec in the dark cave interior. As if he had evaporated.

At those words, Leonardo made a puzzled expression. A person with no °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° mana suddenly disappeared? That cleanly?

"I think he probably used a teleportation tool. When someone uses teleportation to move to another place, the scent disappears suddenly like that."

"But is that possible in such a short time? Using a tool would take quite some time, from setting the coordinates to casting."

"Uh..., actually, I thought about that too, but the scholar seems to have a lot of strange things..."

Leonardo pondered over Kenis's words, which trailed off as if unsure, and nodded in agreement to some extent. Indeed, Alec Siles's bag and artifacts contained numerous things that were considered nonexistent in this world.

Come to think of it, at the time of making the contract, he had said that he would find his own way back when returning, so he must have already prepared a way to escape on his own from then. That confidence didn't come out of nowhere.

Although he was a suspicious guy, he was also thorough in taking care of himself and, above all, calculative, so it seemed like he wouldn't be caught easily. As someone who had frequented the peninsula numerous times in the past, he would have his own know-how.

Thinking about this and that, Leonardo decided to put aside his worries about his whereabouts for a while. There was still a lot left to hear.

Afterwards, Kenis said that while searching for the disappeared Alec, he thought that his seniors might sense his presence and come to search this place, so he moved as far away from the cave as possible. On the way, he unfortunately encountered three monsters and was chased, but was rescued by the 8th Platoon Leader.

He reported to the Platoon Leader about his whereabouts in general, omitting the parts related to Alec Siles, and added that both of them had been unconscious for almost a day and a half right after the collapse, so they didn't have the strength to send a rescue request signal due to problems with mana operation.

In addition, he said that he explained as plausibly as possible that, except for going out to the swamp area to check the situation, they had moved secretly inside the tunnel to avoid risk factors.

"And on the way back, I told them that Mr. Blaine had briefly left to check for a safe path, but I got separated from him because I was waiting alone and encountered a monster and ran away."

Hearing his words, Leonardo tilted his head and clicked his tongue softly, saying, "Tsk."

"Did the Platoon Leader believe that?"

"Uh... Yes. Is there something strange?"

Kenis asked, feeling anxious about Leonardo's reaction. It was because he thought the excuse he had made was quite flawless. Leonardo made a somewhat ambiguous expression at Kenis, who asked if it was strange, but soon shook his head.

"No. You did well."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

In fact, if he were to thoroughly examine the gaps, there would definitely be some loose parts, but still, for the clumsy guy he knew, he had answered quite well.

Anyway, it seemed like he hadn't said anything that was greatly inconsistent or obviously problematic. However, it was doubtful whether the 8th Platoon Leader had truly believed it or had simply let it slide.

After hearing the situation before and after and coordinating their stories, Leonardo was able to relieve some of his worries. Kenis also felt relieved as he sensed that Leonardo was reassured. However, one more thing that had been on his mind suddenly surfaced.

"Excuse me, Mr. Blaine. You know... When the Battalion Commander asked me about the location where the personal belongings were found earlier, was it okay to just tell him?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Actually, I... I'm so sorry to the Battalion Commander, but I deliberately pretended not to know."

Leonardo's brows slightly narrowed.

"There could be traces of us there, and we hadn't coordinated our stories, so... There could be a problem, right? So I deliberately didn't answer."

Then, Leonardo recalled the memory of being puzzled when Kenis had answered that he didn't know well at that time. It was because he thought it wouldn't be difficult for him to find that place, as he had exceptional senses, even if he couldn't remember the exact coordinates.

But now, it turned out that he had answered that way not because he truly didn't know, but because he was thinking of him. In case he made a slip of the tongue and caused trouble for him.

Realizing that, Leonardo stared at him silently, at a loss for words. It was surprising and grateful that he had thought that far.

But on the other hand, this guy would have wanted to tell his comrade the location where he found the personal belongings more than anyone else, yet how must he have felt saying he didn't know despite that? And thinking that the reason he had acted that way was because of his promise to keep the secret, he felt really bad.

Leonardo let out a small sigh. Somehow, he felt like he had made an innocent kid do a really bad thing.

"There must be a sense of duty towards the deceased and his comrades. It would have been better to tell him about such things. ...Still, being cautious isn't bad. I didn't even think that far."

"Ah..."

"I'm sorry for making you lie."

"What?"

At Leonardo's sudden apology, Kenis blinked in a daze and waved his hands.

"Ah, no! It's absolutely not something Mr. Blaine should apologize for. This is just something I judged and acted on my own."

Seeing Kenis flounder to somehow relieve his burden, Leonardo gave a bitter smile. Then, with the thought of easing his worries a little, he opened his mouth.

"...You don't have to worry about the traces. The shoes that Alec guy was wearing don't leave footprints. Those who hide and move around always pay attention to such things. And... I haven't said anything yet, so there won't be anything different from what you said."

"Ah, then that's a relief."

Seeing Kenis visibly relieved as if it were his own business, Leonardo felt his mouth become even more bitter. In fact, from the moment Kenis got involved in this matter, he had been pondering how he could surely block the mouth of this guy, who could be said to be the biggest risk factor.

However, he didn't like the situation where he had to suspect and be wary of one of the few people who had shown goodwill to him here until the end, and he didn't like himself for that either. In other words, he felt sorry toward Kenis.

Because of that, Leonardo slightly lowered his eyes and said,

"It must be hectic enough for a newcomer to just follow the seniors around, but I feel like I've put a strange burden on you. I'm sorry."

At those words, Kenis was startled again and answered,

"A burden, I've never thought of it that way! Rather, you even saved my life, so if I can repay you even in this way—"

At that moment, the murmur of people brushed past Kenis's ears. It wasn't right nearby, but it was definitely a sound coming from inside the base camp. However, it was a distant and subtle sound that Leonardo couldn't hear, so he looked at Kenis, who had suddenly stopped talking, with puzzled eyes.

Holding his breath, Kenis quickly turned his head and looked toward the entrance of the tent. Leonardo, who had no idea what was going on, also instinctively tensed up at his behavior and lowered his voice to ask,

"Why? Is someone coming?"

"I think the meeting is over. It's getting noisy outside."

The two, who had been looking at the entrance for a moment, got up from their seats at the same time without anyone taking the lead. Leonardo created a subtle breeze to erase the footprints on the dirt floor, and in the meantime, Kenis hurriedly took something out of his pants pocket and held it out to Leonardo.

What he held out was a small glass bottle, and inside were round objects. Seeing that, Leonardo slightly raised his eyebrows.

"What is this?"

"This is what the scholar gave me before he disappeared. He told me to pass it on to you, Mr. Blaine."

"...To me?"

"Yes, I haven't opened it either, so I don't know what it is... Ah, he also said that this would definitely be necessary. That's all I heard."

Leonardo narrowed his eyes and took what Kenis offered. He didn't know what it was, but hearing that it was from that guy, he felt somewhat uncomfortable again.

Meanwhile, Kenis, who had been showing signs of impatience, looked back a few times and suddenly opened his mouth as if he had to say this before leaving.

"Ah, and Mr. Blaine. It was me who insisted on taking you there at that time, so you absolutely don't need to feel sorry. I'm just doing it because I want to help in any way I can. So... uh... well, I'll get going before the Commander comes!"

"Oh, oh, okay."

Leonardo answered in a daze, feeling rushed by the rambling words. Afterwards, Kenis immediately approached the entrance of the tent, slightly opened it on both sides, and checked the surroundings.

After confirming that no one was nearby, he turned back one last time and thanked Leonardo. Then, as if running away in case someone saw him, he hurriedly rushed out.

Leonardo blankly watched his back as he whirled away in a daze like that. Only after he had completely disappeared from view, turning around the perimeter of the tent in front of him, did he take his gaze off. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

After thinking about what he had to do for a moment, Leonardo first erased the remaining footprints nearby, thinking that Agrizendro might come at any time, and firmly closed the entrance again. He also put the chair Kenis had been sitting on back in its original position and tidied up the surroundings as if he had been alone the whole time.

He even laughed in the process. At first, he couldn't even make proper eye contact, but now he knew how to give plausible consolation.

After roughly finishing the cleanup, he took off the top of his mage robe and hung it over the head of the cot. Then, he plopped down on the bed again and examined the suspicious object he had been holding in his hand.

'He said this would definitely be necessary?'

A small glass bottle, not even half the size of his palm. Inside, there was a note and three or four oval-shaped solids in red and white. They looked like pills.

The moment he recognized them as "medicine," the guy's words about needing test subjects for the drugs he had developed came to mind, making him feel uncomfortable again.

Leonardo glared at the glass bottle in his hand with narrowed eyes, and decided to at least check the contents of the note first, carefully opening the cork stopper of the bottle. Just in case there was any effect, he held his breath and took out only the note inside, making sure not to touch it as much as possible, then quickly closed the stopper and put it in the inner pocket of his mage robe.

The note was made of a very thin paper texture, and when he unfolded it after it had been folded several times, its size was quite large, contrary to his expectations. However, no letters were visible between the densely lined folded marks. There was only blank space.

Leonardo rubbed the surface of the note with his thumb. It was rough in some parts and smooth in others, clearly not just a simple blank paper to anyone's eyes.

After pondering for a moment, he held up the note this way and that, and suddenly brought it in front of the lamp. Then, faint letters were briefly visible through the light, but it seemed too unclear to understand the content, not the way the creator intended.

Leonardo's eyebrows between his bangs gradually drew together as he thought deeply about Alec's intentions. His expression soon crumpled as he devised various methods.

"He talks in circles, and now he's annoying me with this too."

He really wanted to stop using his head, but thinking that Alec Siles, who wasn't even visible in front of his eyes, would have been grinning while making this made him feel really bad. For a moment, there was an impulse to crumple up the note in his hand and burn it.

No matter what the guy had given him, he couldn't do that when he remembered the words that this would definitely be necessary. Even being swayed by those words was annoying, so Leonardo threw the note he was holding onto the cot carelessly.

That was when he found the answer.

The lower left corner, which he had been holding with his hand, was somehow slightly charred and discolored. And in the middle of it, there was a part that was uniquely not charred. It was a clear letter.

Same

Leonardo immediately picked up the note again with sharp eyes. The paper had not been heated enough to char, so it was strange that the color had turned brownish. With a hunch, he grabbed the edge of the paper where the letters were visible and slowly rubbed the surface horizontally.

Now that he looked at it, this note was made of a material that burned very well. It had such a low ignition point that it would catch fire with just a little heat. It seemed to be a kind of safety device to prevent information leakage, as it would completely burn even if a small fire like a candle was brought close to it.

Finding the appropriate temperature at the boundary, Leonardo began to apply heat precisely to the lower part of the note. As his fingers passed, clear white letters gradually revealed themselves. The eyelids that saw the newly appeared word twitched.

As his finger traversed the horizontal line of the note and reached the far right end, the sentence at the very bottom caught his eye first.

Alec Siles was saying this to him.

As fellow Bermudans, we should help each other.