Bermuda

Leonardo grabbed Ero by the collar and slammed him hard against the wall. Ero flailed his hands and desperately tried to prove his innocence, but the golden eyes staring back at him were filled with distrust.

“Hey, you bastard. Speak straight. Did you really ask that without knowing?”

“Hey, hyung! You were staring right at them, so I just figured you must’ve taken a liking to that side! How could I possibly know the relationship between the three of you?”

“Then how did you know it was me? We didn’t even make eye contact. How did you recognize me?”

Among the countless people in the crowd, the fact that Ero had recognized him instantly made Leonardo deeply suspicious.

After the lesson he learned from being chased by reporters once the Division One match ended, he had gone out of his way today to avoid standing out. Like before, he wore a cloak and a hood pulled down over his head, but since wearing something that looked like mourning clothes on a bright day might appear strange, he wrapped himself in fabric of a dark beige tone.

Reluctantly, he had even pinned his hat in place with the pin Judy had given him so it would not fly off during combat. On top of that, based on his earlier experience, he had added a waterproof function to the mask Mirail had made for him. In other words, it would not be an exaggeration to say everything except his eyes was covered.

And yet this guy suddenly appeared out of nowhere, waving his hand in greeting, so from the perspective of someone who had prepared so thoroughly, it was inevitably baffling.

“Well, it’s because you’re wrapped up so tightly like you came from some lawless wasteland! League participants wear mascot suits, masks, all kinds of crazy things—but outfits that scream ‘leave me the hell alone’ like yours aren’t exactly common!”

Ero protested bitterly that he was only greeting someone he knew after fighting together in the previous match, so it felt unfair to be suspected like this. Gillian, who had been watching the two from nearby, cut in partway through.

“He’s right about that. I told you you were overdoing it. If you’re overly paranoid, it just makes you look strange.”

Perhaps sensing the possibility that Gillian might take his side, Ero quickly rolled his eyes toward him and nodded with a pitiful expression.

“Th-that’s right! Beast hyung knows what he’s talking about—”

“You could’ve just disguised yourself with magic. Why bother with all the trouble of a cloak and mask and all that junk hanging off you....”

Beatrice, who was standing crookedly while inspecting her nails to see if they had been damaged, added a comment of her own. At the forbidden word, Leonardo frowned and turned to look at her. Gillian wrapped an arm around her neck and clamped a hand over her inelegant mouth from behind.

“Mmmph—!”

“Miss, no one can compete with you when it comes to ‘hanging junk everywhere,’ so how about you stay quiet? At this point I’m afraid of what might come out of your mouth.”

Beatrice, whose muffled protests sounded like she was shouting curses, flashed a vicious glare. Then she grabbed Gillian’s forearm and drove her sharpened nails into it. The silver parts attached to the tips of her black nails easily pierced through the fabric of his clothes.

But Gillian did not budge. Instead, he merely coaxed her like it was time for her medication and dragged her toward a corner to calm her down. Watching the parade of eccentrics unfolding before his eyes, Ero held his breath. Then he turned his trembling gaze back toward Leonardo and gave an awkward smile.

“Haha... as expected, the people around you are just as strong and beautiful as you are, hyung...”

The reason his sentence trailed off was because Leonardo was still glaring down at him with a murderous look.

Between Ero accidentally lumping the three of them together and Beatrice’s foolish tongue, the fact that they—including Leonardo—already knew each other had been exposed to someone else.

Granted, that someone else was only Ero.

Even if he did not know the exact details of their partnership, Leonardo could not help worrying whether this might ruin their plans later or cause problems for their activities. Meanwhile, the two over there seemed to treat it lightly, as if thinking, We can just pretend to be friends. What’s the problem? Excessive caution and suspicion only made things look more suspicious.

Since it was not entirely wrong, Leonardo found himself wondering what he should do with this guy from now on. Meanwhile, wanting to escape the uncomfortable situation, Ero cautiously grabbed Leonardo’s wrist and pushed it away.

“Hyung, didn’t I tell you? I’ll devote myself to you during the League...! Ack—so I don’t know what exactly you’re worried about, but please trust me! And I’m starting to suffocate here, so could you—whoa!”

Leonardo abruptly released the collar he had been holding, flinging it to the side. The force sent Ero stumbling forward. After barely regaining his balance like a wobbling toy, he complained with a wounded expression.

“Come on, hyung! My face almost got scraped off!” 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

“The test match will begin in ten minutes. Participants, please complete your identity verification and gather at the waiting area immediately!”

Right then, the League operations staff announced that the match start time was approaching. Leonardo shot Ero a sideways glare, shoved his hands into his pockets, turned around, and walked alone into the crowd.

Ero stared after him with a miserable look, then suddenly snapped back to his senses. He glanced back toward Gillian and Beatrice, who stood some distance away. They seemed to be watching this direction as well, but only briefly.

The two groups separated and lined up along different lines leading past the tents.

As if they had no intention of joining hands.

Blinking repeatedly while hesitating about which direction to go, Ero finally hurried after Leonardo.

“Lion hyung! Aren’t your companions coming with us?”

“They’re not my companions.”

“Huh?”

“I said they’re not my companions.”

Just moments earlier, they had been whispering things like why are you here and you came without saying anything, their closeness obvious to anyone who saw them. Because of that, Leonardo’s firm denial that they were companions sounded rather strange.

“We just know each other a bit. So don’t talk to them. Don’t get tangled up with them and start drawing attention.”

“Uh...”

“Did you already forget? Want reporters chasing us again?”

“Well, no, but—”

“More hangers-on just get in the way. I can pass alone anyway. It’s a hassle.”

His voice, muttering beneath the brim of his hat, sounded unusually cold today. Sensing Leonardo’s foul mood, Ero quietly shut his mouth.

The words “hangers-on” and “in the way” made him feel awkward, perhaps because he already knew that someone like him—who had been lucky enough to meet Lion in the very first match—was exactly that kind of existence to Leonardo.

He had shamelessly planned to board the battleship again this match and ride along, but it seemed hyung preferred being alone.

Scratching his cheek, Ero glanced at Leonardo and forced an embarrassed smile. So this is where we part ways, huh. Just as he swallowed his bitterness and regret—

“So stop overthinking and stick next to me. If you start looking elsewhere again saying you’re gathering collaborators, I’ll kill you.”

Leonardo’s intention was simply to keep Ero—who had witnessed his connection with his partners—close so he could keep an eye on him.

Besides, the information Ero possessed was still useful.

But to Ero, who had been sinking into the sentimental emotions of a man who had just been used and abandoned, it sounded slightly different.

“Got it?”

Leonardo raised one eyebrow as he asked and strode forward along the shortening line.

Ero stood there blankly with wide eyes. Caught off guard by the sudden question, he failed to respond properly until the people behind him started complaining, snapping him back to his senses.

Then he hurried after the cloak dragging along the ground in front of him.

“Ah—yes! Of course!”

The corners of Ero’s lips, which had been drooping, slowly rose with the surge ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) of joy rushing over him. It seemed hyung preferred elite small teams after all.

If you wanted the two of us to go around together, why say it in such a scary way?

Rather than the people who had known him before, perhaps he trusted Ero more—the one who had shown perfect teamwork with him in the first match. Feeling ticklish with the thought of being acknowledged, Ero rubbed the back of his neck repeatedly with his palm.

Even so, he hurried after Leonardo so he would not lose sight of the steps of the man who seemed embarrassed.

“Hey, hyung! Let’s go together! Are you really going to leave your one and only partner behind like this?”