Bermuda

"Your Excellency."

Cordelia called out softly to Hugo as he was about to leave after finishing their conversation. When Hugo stopped at the door and turned around, she opened her mouth after a moment of hesitation.

"Why... aren’t you punishing me?"

He had made quite frightening threats, even mentioning the safety of her family and colleagues, but it felt strange—and deeply unsettling—to end it like this without any actual measures. Because of this, Cordelia kept her distance and stared at him with wary eyes as she asked the question.

Hugo, who had been staring at her blankly, grasped the handle of the iron door and answered plainly.

"The words of gratitude I expressed on my way here were all sincere. Consider it repaying a debt."

It sounded like he meant he would quietly let it pass since she had provided accommodation and helped treat the injured. Hearing a more generous response than expected, Cordelia stood there with her eyes wide open, dumbfounded.

Hugo turned his body toward the door to continue leaving after averting his gaze. Then he paused for a moment, as he remembered something else he needed to say.

The cold energy emitted from his hand formed ice crystals that covered the surface of the iron door and filled the grooves at the edges. Having blocked any gaps for sound to leak through, just in case, Hugo turned around again and added:

"Ah, and. Restore the disconnected portals to their original state as soon as possible. Make up a suitable excuse to outsiders that they were arbitrarily cut off for gate maintenance and portal inspection. It will take another week for full recovery anyway, so it will end up being as you wished."

Cordelia showed an expression of incomprehension toward him, who was even kindly providing an excuse for her to escape. However, she carefully nodded her head in agreement, and decided to clearly ask one more thing she had been curious about.

"Your Excellency, then... what will happen to Blaine now?"

"..."

It was a question she had already asked once after entering this place, but the meaning was slightly different now than then. In a situation where they had shared some secret parts, if not all. She was asking how he would deal with Leonardo Blaine as a loyal subject of the Emperor.

Furthermore, it was like asking what he would do if Leonardo was truly the purpose of the Imperial Knights coming here.

Hugo, not unaware of that meaning, idly turned his gaze toward the lamp. His voice, recalling memories, echoed faintly.

"Nothing will change."

Cordelia’s lips parted slightly, then closed again. Hugo looked into her eyes once more and continued.

"When we return, he will be free."

His firm assurance sounded as if it would really happen that way. But even though she had heard the answer she wanted, Cordelia couldn’t erase her puzzled expression.

If that happened, he would be at odds with the limbs and will of his lord. It would mean betraying the loyalty he spoke of. Yet she wasn’t sure why he would still release Leonardo despite that, or whether she could trust those words.

As if noticing her doubt, Hugo muttered softly.

"I swore on my name, after all."

The low voice echoing in the secluded room sounded somewhat muffled. Because of this, Cordelia doubted her ears for a moment, wondering if she had understood correctly.

But before she could question him, Hugo turned his head away as if he had nothing more to say. It was then that he lightly grasped the frozen door handle to go outside.

'Leonardo.'

"..."

Although there was no wind inside the secluded room, Hugo’s hair fluttered eerily. At the same time, his blue eyes, as if he had seen something, widened gradually.

The canary he had released in the cabin had returned to him, chirping noisily in his mind and urging him to hurry.

With too much information coming in at once, Hugo stood still for a moment as if overloaded. Then soon, while spreading a chilling energy around him, he unconsciously uttered one clear word.

"...Leo."

Clank-!

He grasped the iron door handle and pushed outward. But it only rattled with a creaking sound. When the door wouldn’t open, as if blocked from the outside, Hugo, suddenly flustered, released cold mana and shook the handle roughly.

Seeing this, Cordelia recognized the situation and hurriedly approached him.

"Your Excellency, let me open it for you. This door has a somewhat unique structure, so a few more locks need to be undone."

This watchtower was designed so that latches in the wall gaps would engage as soon as the iron door closed, allowing those inside to hold out if surrounded by enemies. Although there was no intention of confinement, fearing His Excellency might misunderstand, Cordelia flung open a box where various facilities were gathered beside the door.

But it quickly became useless. Because Hugo kicked the thick iron door.

Kwaaang-!

The center of the solid iron mass caved in and flew outward in an instant. Moreover, as the wall gap where the latch had engaged was torn out with it, the lower part of the brick-built watchtower was destroyed as if hit by a bomb.

The loud sound of the iron door rolling on the ground startled everyone nearby. As outside air and sounds came in directly, Cordelia looked at His Excellency, who had smashed the door, with a dumbfounded expression.

"My-My Lady!"

The two knights waiting in front of the watchtower immediately drew their swords and peered inside, thinking something had happened. But Hugo, disregarding them, walked out between the two knights with a huge greatsword in hand, taking long strides.

Due to his ominous gaze and fierce atmosphere, the knights facing him instinctively parted to both sides. Afterward, as soon as Hugo passed, they entered and urgently checked on their lady’s condition first.

"My Lady, are you alright?"

Cordelia didn’t answer her subordinates’ questions for a while. She stared blankly at the fallen door and wall.

'How am I supposed to explain this...’

She recalled her father’s pleased smile as he proudly spoke of the fortress that had stood for two hundred years. Confused about how to explain the scene before her eyes, Cordelia followed the retreating figure of the man with her gaze.

Meanwhile, Hugo, holding his greatsword, cut down the tall undergrowth with a fierce expression as he headed toward the accommodation. On the way, he encountered members of the 1st Battalion who were stumbling backward in shock among the cleanly cut leaves falling all around.

"Co-Commander!"

The 8th Platoon Leader at the front raised both hands at the chill of the greatsword passing right in front of her nose. As Hugo paused and looked at her and five or six members, the 8th Platoon Leader opened her mouth with an urgent expression, as if to explain.

"We were worried about you moving alone when you’re not feeling well... We followed without permission. We’re sorry."

Thinking the Commander’s fierce aura was because they’d been caught spying, the °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° members, including the Platoon Leader, were very tense.

As she bowed her head first, the 1st Battalion members behind her also bowed their heads in unison. Among them, Kenis, who was looking around alone without grasping the situation, hurriedly lowered his gaze and head to the ground when he made direct eye contact with Hugo.

Hugo’s eyes narrowed as he looked at him, but there were more urgent matters at hand.

"Russell."

"Yes?"

"Lead your platoon members to find Flynn immediately. Have him brought to the accommodation where Leonardo is. And gather the medical officers to examine Leonardo’s condition once more. Tell them to bring medical equipment as well, in case he might have woken up."

"Ah, yes. Understood!"

Although the sudden order could have been bewildering, the 8th Platoon Leader quickly responded and gestured to the members behind her. Then she turned to look at her superior in front again, but by then, the Commander’s figure was nowhere to be seen.

*****

Chwaaak-

Nero cut through the branches with flames wrapped around his right hand, crossing the dense forest as quickly as possible.

The thick trees, grown easily seven to ten meters or more, were perfectly suited for a fleeing Armsilver member to hide. But even while moving swiftly and quietly, Nero couldn’t let go of the tension.

A chilling cold that made his back shiver tightened his breath more and more. Although he didn’t know exactly where the other person was, he could tell with his eyes closed that they had followed him to this vicinity.

'What should I do now?'

Nero bit his lip as he leaped, using branches as footholds. Unlike his body, moving nimbly as if from habit, his head was a jumble and couldn’t sort anything out at all.

He should have left this place right away when he overheard that the Captain’s treatment had ended well, but he didn’t know things would get this big just because he greedily wanted to confirm it with his own eyes before leaving.

The Council’s Commander, the Sword of the Empire, Hugo Agrizendro. If he discovered the fact that Armsilver members had contacted each other, it was dizzying to think what kind of snowball this incident would become. He had seemed quite friendly toward the Captain, but that was just a fragmentary impression he had seen briefly.

He had considered kidnapping the Captain for a very short moment when the blue bird disappeared, but that would only draw more attention and might prevent him from rectifying this situation. Because of that, Nero, who finally chose to flee, barely hid in the gaps between trees and moved while shaking off pursuit, as he too didn’t have much mana left.

Then he saw an old castle wall ahead and lightly jumped over it. Just as he stepped on the edge of the structure and was about to hide in the bushes beyond the wall, an ice pillar like a skewer rose at a terrifying speed, blocking his way.

Kwaaang-!

"..."

Nero, who had managed to avoid it reflexively, threw his body behind a large tree. As soon as he pressed his back against the trunk, he heard footsteps approaching steadily.

Nero swallowed hard and tried to put on Felix’s face again while calming his entire body. But perhaps reflecting his unstable mind, his face kept distorting, and in the meantime, the slowly approaching footsteps stopped abruptly not far away.

As if replacing the halted footsteps, a cold voice pierced his ears.

"Come out. Before I cut you down where you are."