Bermuda [bl]

Hugo suddenly raised his head, startled by the strange energy he felt. He immediately approached the window, flung it open, and stared outside.

As the cold air from outside entered the interior, the Council members investigating the mansion looked at the Commander standing in front of the window.

"Commander, what's the matter?" the member next to him asked cautiously, seeing his unusual expression. Hugo, who had been concentrating on what he had just felt, opened his mouth.

"Did you not feel it just now?"

"Pardon? Feel what, sir?"

The member's face was full of confusion as he answered. He seemed to not understand what his superior was talking about. His response brought confusion to Hugo's perception, which had reacted nimbly in that fleeting moment.

Just a moment ago, Hugo had felt an extremely powerful energy that he had never detected here before. However, it was literally only for a moment, so he himself couldn't be sure what it was or if he had properly sensed it.

He tried to focus and detect it again, but the sensation that had stimulated his senses for a split second was no longer felt. After staring out the window for a long time, Hugo turned his head and spoke.

"...Never mind."

As he took his gaze away from the window, the member who had been watching him immediately closed the window through which the cold air was entering.

Hugo turned his body and stood with his back to the window. He crossed his arms, stroked his chin, and slowly mulled over the sensation he had felt.

It was a very small amount, but it had been extremely intense and explosive. However, before he could even pinpoint its location, it had disappeared remarkably cleanly, and it seemed that not a single one of his capable subordinates in the area had felt that energy.

While Hugo was deep in thought, the investigation team forcibly tore down the wall in the Count's study. Then, the contracts and transaction ledgers of the Delberg Merchant Group and Count Servia's illegal monster trade, which had been hidden deep inside, began to reveal themselves one by one.

The large quantity of magic stones produced from the Quamare was also found sealed in a safe.

As evidence emerged one after another, Hugo temporarily put aside his thoughts about the energy he had just been thinking about and observed the situation.

When a member brought him documents presumed to be ledgers and transaction contracts, Hugo read them and narrowed his eyes. The contracts had the signatures of the Count and the grand master of the merchant group, but not the signature of the chief grand master of Delberg.

"Using the same trick again, Filione Delberg."

Hugo clicked his tongue and handed the contract back to the member. The member who received the contract put it in an envelope, sealed it, and took it to where the evidence was being collected.

Currently, the Count and his servants had all been arrested and transported to the Council's Northern Branch, and the traces of the illegal contracts remained intact in the Count's castle, which had lost its owner.

Perhaps reflecting the Count's timid personality, or perhaps unexpectedly simple, the contracts and ledgers were hidden inside the walls of the mansion. The investigation team was tearing down all the walls and ceilings of the mansion to look for any other possible evidence.

Hugo watched the search process with his arms crossed, then spoke to the Council's investigator beside him.

"There was a fire mage involved. What about his whereabouts?"

"We haven't found him yet, but traces and circumstances of using a teleportation tool have been discovered here at the Count's residence. However, judging from the remaining amount of mana left on the tool and the fact that he has not been found in the border zone, it is certain that he is inside the territory."

"...I see. He impersonated Leonardo Blaine. Although it's impersonation, the extent of his skills has not yet been ascertained, so he may possess somewhat dangerous abilities. Report to me immediately upon discovery."

"Yes, understood!"

***

The person who had impersonated that Leonardo Blaine fainted for a moment from the shock he was experiencing for the first time in his life, then suddenly opened his eyes.

He sat up, touching the left part of his jaw, which felt numb rather than throbbing, as if he had no sensation at all, and looked at the ceiling with a dazed expression. Blood flowed from his mouth, perhaps from biting his tongue when he was hit.

As he raised his head, spitting out blood-mixed saliva, the man who had punched his jaw was still looking down at him with a fierce smile.

The mage, now fully awake, grabbed his sore jaw and stood up as if having a seizure. Then, he stepped back and spoke.

"Wh-who the hell are you?"

As he asked fearfully in a slurred voice, the brown-haired man in front of him retorted as if dumbfounded.

"Who am I? Hey, that's what I want to ask. Who the hell are you? Why are you impersonating someone else when you have nothing better to do?"

The man kicked the broken planks at his feet and took one step at a time closer to the fire mage. The mage trembled his lips in fear and shouted.

"D-don't come any closer! Do you know who I am!?"

"Do I need to know who you are? Ah, I can tell you're someone who's about to get caught soon."

The man acted as if he knew that he was not Leonardo Blaine. Sensing that his impersonation had been exposed, the mage gritted his teeth with a crunching sound. Judging from the man's behavior, it seemed that his purpose in coming to find him in the first place was to make a fool of him.

Deciding that he could no longer be swayed by such an unknown man in a place like this, he put his hands together, stretched them out towards the man, and chanted a spell.

"Fire Spear!"

A small magic circle formed in his hands, and spears made of flames emerged and flew straight toward the man in front of him.

However, it was only for a moment. The man looked at the flying objects as if they were ridiculous, then twisted his body very lightly and quickly, faster than the eye could follow, to avoid them. As a result, all the magic fired from the impersonator's hands flew toward the pile of wooden planks in the back and collided with a loud noise.

The impact caused the planks to collapse, and the warehouse caught fire and began to burn fiercely. As the man dodged his attack too easily, the impersonator's face was filled with bewilderment.

The brown-haired man turned around to look at the burning warehouse and sighed, then said, "Are you an idiot? Are you trying to alert everyone by saying, 'I'm here~'?"

"You bastard!"

Provoked by the light mockery, the impersonator charged at the man, taking advantage of the moment he was looking back, and threw a punch. However, as if he had eyes on the back of his head, the man easily avoided it again.

Even when he threw his whole body into a series of punches, the man simply deflected them lightly, as if he could see through all his movements.

'He looks like a gentleman, but his movements are...'

No matter how many punches he threw, he couldn't even graze the man's clothes, and the mage eventually ran out of energy and panted heavily. The man said with a pathetic expression, "If I were you, I'd run away while I still have some strength left."

"Shut up! Shut that mouth!"

Although he spoke boldly, it was indeed foolish to waste stamina against someone who only dodged without blocking when he had little mana left.

He thought it might be better to escape now, but as the fire in the warehouse grew larger, people outside began to murmur. The mage became anxious.

The brown-haired man seemed to sense his feelings and grinned as their eyes met. As he flinched at the ominous smile, the man shouted loudly as if for the people outside to hear.

"Leonardo Blaine is here!"

At that, Blaine's impersonator turned pale and then glared at the man as if to kill him, speaking in the smallest voice possible.

"What are you doing, you crazy bastard-!"

"Save me! He's trying to kill me!"

Clank, clank-.

"Is there someone in there?"

As a person's voice was heard from outside the door, the young man smiled brightly as if enjoying himself and shouted again.

"Yes! I'm with the fire mage. Save me!"

At the man's shout, the sound of people outside the warehouse kicking the door roughly as if trying to break in was heard.

The impersonator rushed at the crazy bastard who had been acting tough until just now and suddenly started screaming for help, trying to shut his mouth. However, the man still escaped from the impersonator with agile movements and acted even more realistically towards the outside.

Realizing that if he stayed like this, he would be charged with illegal monster distribution, fraud, and attempted murder, the impersonator decided to escape before the people broke down the door and entered, squeezing out the last of his mana.

"Damn it... Air Expansion!"

As he chanted the spell, the surrounding temperature became hot, and a small whirlwind blew inside the warehouse. As fierce flames engulfed the outer wall of the warehouse, the impersonator used the expanding air pressure as a foothold and leaped. Then, he broke through the small window in the ceiling and threw his body out with all his might.

He bounced out of the warehouse and immediately fell to the ground, but forgetting the pain, he got up and started running through the alleys. There was a loud noise behind him as the burning warehouse collapsed, but he had no time to look back.

The young man who had been shouting for help stopped screaming and looked at the window through which the impersonator had escaped. The flames that had risen for a moment due to the whirlwind gained strength and approached nearby, but the man didn't seem to care much.

The brown-haired man took out a cigarette pack from his back pocket, hung a cigarette between his fingers, and lit it with the flames that were swaying all around him. Then, with one hand in his pocket, he casually put the cigarette filter in his mouth.

He exhaled a long trail of smoke as he looked at the blue sky visible through the broken window. Then, he smirked and said, "Idiot."