Bermuda

Felix rolled his eyes in confusion and silently pleaded for help from the sentries with his gaze. However, the two watching were also perplexed, so they just hesitated without taking any particular action.

With no other choice, Felix met the golden eyes and asked Leonardo in a small voice.

"Um... why are you..."

His ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) distinct features looked as if he had some emotion towards Leonardo, no matter who saw them. Moreover, the tremendous strength that forcibly straightened his upper body was so threatening that it was hard to believe it came from a beautiful person with fine features.

As Felix trembled and remained motionless, Leonardo, who had been silent for a while, moved his eyelids.

"Ah-"

He softened his expression and finally let go of Felix. In fact, it was more accurate to say he dropped him rather than let him go. This was because his arm in its cast fell down with a thud, as if it had crashed.

Startled by this sight, Felix quickly put down the backpack he was holding. Then, unable to grab it, he looked back and forth between Leonardo and his arm in bewilderment and asked:

"Are you alright?"

The golden hair and eyes that shone even in the darkness were undoubtedly the talk of the members in this gathering place. Having luckily encountered Leonardo Blaine face to face, he might become a great sinner if he accidentally aggravated the arm injury.

Because of this thought, Felix was particularly submissive, but Leonardo didn't care at all about what happened to his arm. He was just inwardly bitter as he watched Felix's appearance, which was becoming increasingly certain not to be Nero.

'No. This is good.'

The guy who should have left long ago had held out and left belatedly. So the fact that Nero wasn't here was extremely natural and fortunate.

Yes. It was certainly a good thing, but... facing the reality, he felt the strength draining from his entire body. Feeling a moment of dizziness, Leonardo closed his eyes tightly and waved his hand at Felix.

"Sorry. I made a mistake."

His voice, mixed with a sigh, and his sorrowful face were deeply tinged with emptiness. Sensing this, Felix was overcome with a feeling that he had done something wrong, even though he didn't know why.

"You said you were leaving. Go now."

Soon, Leonardo granted him permission. Even as he said this, he wore an expression as if Felix shouldn't leave.

Because of this, even after picking up the backpack, Felix couldn't easily leave his spot, watching for cues. One of the watching members looked around and urged him in a lowered voice, as if frustrated:

"He said to go. Hurry and leave before the Commander comes."

"Ah, yes! I understand."

Felix, suddenly coming to his senses, bowed his head to the sentry. Then he bowed deeply to Leonardo as well, adding a "Thank you."

Leonardo's eyes, which had been watching him with lingering attachment until the end, flinched at that moment as if discovering something. But whether he knew this or not, Felix left as if fleeing, lest he be caught again.

"..."

Leonardo, who had been standing still like a statue, stared at the retreating figure with a serious expression. Then his gaze lowered to his own wrist, which had become noticeably thinner over the past few days.

'Surely not...'

At that moment, one of the sentries beside him approached quietly and spoke in a voice completely different from before:

"Um... in principle, you shouldn't come out. As you know, for safety reasons..."

While he had spoken somewhat authoritatively to the departing member, the sentry now spoke carefully as if not wanting to offend Leonardo. Leonardo glanced at him and then stared again at where Felix had disappeared. Soon, Leonardo narrowed his eyes and turned his body lightly.

"I'm going in."

The direction Leonardo was heading was not towards the tent. The two sentries who didn't understand his intention met eyes again.

"I'm going back to where I was originally."

Realizing that no footsteps were following him, Leonardo added a word without looking back.

The members, realizing that the place he was referring to was the cabin, hurriedly followed to escort Leonardo.

*****

"The current water level is quite high, almost overflowing. We can only review the stability after opening the floodgates."

"Then can you open the floodgates and complete the review within two days?"

"Ah, that's... it's a bit difficult for us given our circumstances. We need to check if the embankments around the waterway can withstand the water pressure, and we also need to send advance warning notices to the self-defense groups in charge of residential areas near the river..."

"So it's difficult right now."

At Hugo's voice, which sounded rather cold, the dam managers gathered in the large tent of the peninsula subjugation temporary headquarters couldn't readily continue speaking.

The answer given by those who had come to discuss the waterway passage permit was that, in the current situation, it was impossible to review the stability itself. But because they were speaking to such a high-ranking person, they tried to convey it in a roundabout way, and when Hugo pinpointed the main point, they could only remain silent.

Although he had expected it, Hugo let out a low sigh as things were not going as well as he had thought.

From the managers' standpoint, they naturally wouldn't permit something that could lead to a dangerous situation. Knowing this, he had considered giving forceful instructions, but there was nothing more impolite than exercising command authority using one's position in someone else's territory.

Moreover, if this matter were to be known outside unnecessarily, it would do no good at all, which was why he had created this formal meeting... but the answer he received was not very welcome.

"Even if I take responsibility."

Hugo spoke firmly once again, but the managers looked troubled. At this, Cordelia, who had been watching, stepped forward in front of them. Cordelia asked Hugo as if she didn't understand the reason:

"Your Grace, if you need more passage routes for supplies, I will review additional gates and issue passage permits. However, as I've been saying, the waterway near the dam is not a frequently used path to begin with. Even we hardly use it unless it's unavoidable. If you have a plan in mind, I could somehow try other methods..."

Delua, who had stepped back, blankly watched Cordelia trying to persuade him and Hugo not backing down. Delua also didn't know Hugo's intentions, so she stood like a folding screen, barely grasping the context of the conversation.

At that moment, the sound of Council members saluting outside the tent was heard. As Delua turned her head in that direction, Hugo and Cordelia also stopped talking and turned towards the closed entrance.

The door of the tent, firmly fixed with metal poles, swung open. As Meterion leisurely appeared there, Hugo checked his wristwatch and said coldly:

"You're late."

Meterion also looked at his own watch and replied nonchalantly:

"I thought today's meeting was already over."

"In a situation like this, it's not over even when it's over."

Meterion's eyebrow twitched at Hugo's immediate retort. But seeing that he didn't argue further, Delua quietly thought it must be the result of having a greatsword stuck next to his head.

Meterion approached the table without answering, just nodding slightly. Hugo watched him with a displeased gaze, then looked straight ahead again and continued speaking.

"In any case, now that everyone's gathered, let's get into the main agenda."

The topic Hugo resumed was devising measures to prevent bottlenecks due to the concentration of troops when the Central Branch returns to the imperial capital. Although it was quite different from the content before Meterion arrived, it wasn't completely unrelated, so those inside naturally connected that this was what Hugo had intended to say from the beginning.

Only Cordelia questioned the subtly changed topic. Someone like His Grace, who deliberates on every action, wouldn't have brought up the waterway-related agenda for no reason.

However, with the meeting content flowing smoothly, no one mentioned the conversation they had been having until just before.

*****

The interior of the cabin was still warm and cozy. Unlike the relatively noisy outside, it was utterly quiet.

Leonardo, who had returned under the watchful escort of the members, leaned his back against the closed door and stared blankly at the floor.

'That bastard Nero.'

Leonardo's fist clenched. Along with it, a chuckle escaped through his clenched teeth. The reason he was so agitated in this silence was simple.

Just before the 3rd Battalion member left after greeting him, he had caught an ominous glint inside his mouth.

It was a trace that appeared for such a brief moment that one would miss it if not looking closely, but Leonardo, who had been intently examining the member's face, couldn't miss it.

What he saw on Felix's tongue as he said thank you. It was clearly a magic circle.

Moreover, it was quite a dangerous magic that they had promised not to use unless absolutely necessary.

"Hah... what are you trying to do."

Leonardo bowed his head deeply and pressed his forehead. It was certainly Nero's doing to cast magic on Felix Montero.

Usually, magic circles engraved on speech organs like the tongue have a 99.9% chance of being used for 'silencing'. It was magic created in the past to silence messengers, slaves, or those who knew secrets that shouldn't be revealed.

Of course, since its main use was in illegal trades or crimes in shady places, it was obvious what kind of ripple effect it would have on society. Therefore, this too was defined as forbidden magic, and today it's difficult to even find records of it, but at least within Armsilver, including himself, it wasn't hard to find those capable of casting this magic.

So the owner of the magic circle was certainly Nero... but a normal member wouldn't allow the creepy act of engraving a magic circle on their own tongue. Then it was highly likely that the 3rd Battalion member himself didn't know he was under magic.

And the reason it appeared in his sight was probably because the content he had to keep silent about was related to himself.

But this meant they had dragged another innocent person into their affairs. As the things he needed to clean up kept increasing, Leonardo felt his vision becoming distant.

'If he's letting someone under magic walk around openly, he must have left in quite a hurry'

This magic is extremely troublesome to clean up afterward. The procedure for perfect removal is also quite complicated. Since it was called a curse rather than magic in ancient times, one can gauge how infamous it is without having to experience it.

In other words, the one who cast this magic and the one it was cast on were bound by invisible chains. As long as both were alive, the effect would be maintained, so it was like being entangled in an unbreakable relationship of subordination.

Just like how he had made a contract with Alec Siles for the purpose of silencing and tracking, sharing one golden ring each on their wrists.

And just like how the black band on his neck that he couldn't take off at will had become a terrible collar oppressing him.