Bermuda

Cordelia, who had delivered the news with great tension, couldn’t help but read the room in the strange silence that followed.

She had expected His Excellency to be surprised, or at least to question her, but he just stared at her in silence, without moving.

As she met his lowered blue eyes, she shivered slightly, as if feeling a chill. It was unclear whether that was due to the silence that filled the watchtower, or the cold emanating from the man before her.

"..."

Not even the slightest change of expression crossed his sharply featured face. Because of that, Cordelia was confused about what he was thinking now. Could her decision to relay this information to him have been a mistake? The prolonged silence made her take a step back with a thousand thoughts.

As if answering her tangled feelings, Hugo, who had turned his head for a moment, slowly rubbed his chin and asked:

"So?"

A cold voice echoed through the secluded room with just the two of them.

At his voice, which sounded particularly emotionless, Cordelia’s eyes were instantly tinged with bewilderment.

"...Pardon?"

Hugo, who had been slowly touching his lips, lightly scanned the lamps hanging on the wall with his eyes. Eventually, his gaze returned to Cordelia, and he calmly asked her, who looked quite surprised:

"Are the Imperial Knights coming here supposed to be some kind of problem?"

Cordelia was at a loss for words. Confusion, along with a question mark, rose in her mind. It was a reaction that seemed too nonchalant, making the time she’d spent worrying and hesitating feel meaningless.

"Y-Your Excellency. ...This matter."

Her wavering gaze turned to the newspaper Hugo had set down. She quickly picked it up and turned a page, then held up the article in front of Hugo, as if trying to persuade him.

"The atmosphere in the imperial capital is not normal right now. The news that Blaine is here has spread not only to major government agencies but also to the press. Meanwhile, the surveillance network of the Imperial Army headquarters has been paralyzed. Isn’t it strange that the Imperial Knights are coming this way as soon as the report was published?"

Hugo, listening to her words, folded his arms, his face still emotionless. Yet he slightly bowed his head and slowly read the article Cordelia was holding out.

The content was that the military’s surveillance network was currently paralyzed due to some incident, external interference was suspected, and it would take about three to four days for normal reactivation. Given the timing, Hugo couldn’t help but naturally associate it with “him.”

‘The surveillance network shut down? ...Is this related to Leonardo?’

The military, as an organization, is inherently closed. Especially the Imperial Army of this Raina Logia was extreme in that regard. To ensure the confidentiality agreements of affiliated soldiers and veterans under management, they meticulously tracked their movements through surveillance for a certain period.

Of course, for most, it ended with asking about their movements or contacts for a set period. But rumors were rampant that the surveillance of those who held key positions was far more thorough. They would follow every move, and in severe cases, even attach tracking devices to their bodies.

So at first, he had wondered if the choker around Leonardo’s neck was for such surveillance purposes. After all, he had been part of the military’s special elite unit, Armsilver, and was a war hero known to all.

However, at the Council’s grand conference held in the imperial capital, the announced analysis results didn’t include any such content. Leonardo himself had also said the military couldn’t put such things on him.

In any case, the paralysis of the surveillance network created to prevent confidentiality leaks was a serious and rare occurrence even within the military. The fact that this happened at such a time was like a red light flashing for Leonardo and the Council’s return. The military would suspect the Council, who had taken Leonardo to the peninsula, as being behind the incident.

He couldn’t be certain whether it was mere coincidence or someone’s machination. However, his “intuition” pointed the arrow toward it not being a simple coincidence. In other words, there was a possibility that some agency or group had intentionally tampered with the surveillance network, targeting Leonardo, to turn the arrow toward the Council while achieving their own goals...

As he developed that thought, Hugo’s eyes twitched slightly for a moment.

‘Member of the military’s special elite unit Armsilver.’

As he kept mulling over that sentence, the image of a certain fellow who had hovered around Leonardo during the recent battle came to mind. The one who dared to stage a kidnapping in front of him, tore the mother body’s forelegs with bare hands, and used techniques with motions similar to Leonardo’s. A fairly strong, cold fire mage.

He had hidden in the dust throughout the battle, assisting Leonardo, and although he pretended not to notice, he was nearby even at the moment when the mother body was defeated. Moreover, he was closest when Leonardo collapsed—showing a strange obsession toward him, and hostility toward Hugo.

He was wearing the Council’s uniform.

‘But what if that fellow is from Armsilver?’

"...So it was like that."

As he laid everything out, it felt like it was all coming together into a single knot. As a small change appeared in Hugo’s expression, Cordelia quietly lowered the newspaper and looked up at him.

Due to the nature of their work, Armsilver would know the military’s top-secret information better than anyone else, and the intensity of surveillance and management that followed them would be no less severe. For them to contact someone officially branded as a criminal of the empire, they would surely need to avoid the military’s surveillance network.

While quickly organizing the situations in his mind, Hugo placed his hand on the edge of the table and asked Cordelia again.

"Was there nothing in the messenger’s news about the reason for the Imperial Knights’ movement?"

"...Pardon? Ah, they say it’s to assess and provide relief for the damage caused by monster appearances, but... Your Excellency knows as well. This is the Imperial Family that hasn’t listened despite my numerous requests for help. And now they suddenly say they’re coming to check on the damage situation at this time. To be honest..."

"You're saying it's sophistry." 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

As Cordelia trailed off, uncomfortable with saying it outright, Hugo finished for her. «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» Cordelia carefully nodded while reading the atmosphere. Another moment of silence followed.

Tok, tok-

Hugo’s long fingers tapped the table regularly, as if organizing his thoughts. The sound felt like a judgment on her, and though Cordelia stayed silent with him, the back of her neck was tightly tense.

Tuk.

Just then, Hugo’s fingertips caught on a thick stack of papers. His blue eyes slowly rolled down to look at it. Cordelia pushed aside the widely spread newspaper and held up the stack of papers that had been underneath, in front of Hugo, saying:

"It’s a petition. I brought it just in case. ...Because Your Excellency might think my words are nonsense."

"..."

Hugo didn’t give any answer. However, one eyebrow rose, as if to ask what she meant. Cordelia, observing the reaction closely, pulled out one letter from the front of the stack. Then she handed it to Hugo, saying:

"It’s a petition appealing the dishonorable discharge verdict of Leonardo Blaine. Many military executives, including myself, sent this petition along with a signature document urging an investigation into the truth about his disobedience of orders to the military court."

"A petition? ...Are these all?"

"Yes, that’s right."

Hugo, showing an uncharacteristically surprised expression, received the letter and the rest of the stack of papers Cordelia handed over. Setting aside the sudden appearance of a petition, the thickness and quantity were enormous enough to feel quite heavy. The dates stamped on the covers all pointed to three years ago. It was a very strange thing.

‘There was a petition?’

Hugo’s expression, which had been trying to maintain composure, subtly crumpled. It was because he’d heard a fact he knew nothing about at a time he never expected.

Three years ago would have been when Leonardo’s court-martial was held, but there was no mention anywhere of military officials sending petitions at that time. No—rather, it was the opposite. He had even been ridiculed for not having a single person among his numerous comrades write a petition.

The signatures of military officials written on the envelope covers were mostly of colonel rank or below, who directly deployed to the field. In other words, it meant they had no power. It meant they didn’t have the power to bring the existence of this many accumulated petitions to the surface.

"Huh-"

Hugo let out a small laugh, but stared at Cordelia with sharp eyes. As if anticipating the question to come, she immediately opened her mouth.

"Why the existence of the petition didn’t come to light—just as Your Excellency is questioning, we at the time were the same. After the trial, no retrial was held, and the colleagues who participated in the signing were, one by one, assigned to remote areas, suspended, or dismissed for various reasons."

"..."

"I had already left on my own before that... but if I had continued serving in the military, I too would probably have been dismissed, tangled up in some ridiculous reason. To be frank with you now, I think the entire process of Blaine becoming a dishonorably discharged person was a sloppy play carried out hastily, without any chance for rebuttal."

The blue eyes listening narrowed. However, Cordelia continued without hesitation.

"Just the fact that the existence of the petition was hidden from the world should be enough for Your Excellency to guess that some force was involved in this incident. The Imperial Knights unusually appeared directly at the military court at the time. Now that they are coming here, do you really think there’s no problem with that?"

Cordelia, who had been speaking without pause, heaved her shoulders as if out of breath right after throwing the last question. Her eyes, heightened with emotion, gazed at Hugo desperately, as if there was nowhere else to retreat.

Hugo stared down at her while firmly rubbing his chin. Summing up her words, that arrow comprehensively reached one conclusion. But knowing that, Hugo could only remain silent for a moment. To cool his slightly complicated mind, he brushed back his fallen hair.

"I should say your courage is admirable..."

His eyelids, shadowed as he organized the situation, slowly closed and opened. He carefully scanned the lamps hanging on the wall while muttering incomprehensible words to himself with a small sigh.

At his voice, which sounded rather chilling, Cordelia instinctively flinched.

The blue eyes flickering in the lamplight somehow looked strangely different from usual.

"My lady."

Eventually, Hugo’s gaze reached Cordelia again. The cold, firm call made her body stiffen.

"Yes?"

Something felt different about His Excellency up until now. Feeling that, Cordelia’s steps retreated halfway. But Hugo instead took a step closer, narrowing the distance. Then, lowering his gaze to meet her eyes, he slowly opened his mouth.

"As someone who has been in this noble group a little longer than you, let me give you one piece of advice."

A large hand gently rested on Cordelia’s shoulder. Although almost no force was applied, the pressure Cordelia felt at that moment was truly enormous.

Hugo slightly bent his waist to match her height. Then, gazing over Cordelia’s shoulder, he murmured softly.

"You’ve just made a big mistake."