Bermuda [bl]

In the temporary tent of the Council's Investigation Headquarters set up in the central square of the territory, the members of the Delberg Merchant Group were being interrogated and investigated one by one.

As time passed and night fell, when all the traces of burning in the mountains were thoroughly searched, boxes containing the buried corpses of monsters were piled up endlessly.

The people of the Count's family had already been transferred to the Northern Branch, leaving the mansion empty, and the residents were confused to hear that the lord of the territory had been involved in illegal activities in the once-quiet territory.

Frost was now literally a crucible of chaos.

As stabilizing and protecting the residents was also the Council's job, many members seemed quite busy, each doing their own tasks of guiding and investigating the residents.

Meanwhile, Flynn discovered something strange while looking at the list of Delberg Merchant Group members. Tergio's name, who had talked with him and provided many clues, was missing.

However, there were some cases where the names of the low-ranking members hastily recruited by Delberg were not listed, so Flynn thought Tergio was one of those people.

"Inspector, have all the people on the list been located?"

"Ah, we have a bit of a problem."

"Pardon? What kind of problem?"

When Flynn asked the inspector in charge of the merchant group members, the inspector spoke with a somewhat troubled expression.

"We have completed most of the identification by comparing the list with the actual people, but we are currently unable to locate the most important person, the grand master."

"What? Then has she already escaped from Frost?"

"In case of that possibility, we have requested investigative cooperation to control all the nearby gates connected to Frost and have arrested the executives, but we have not yet found anyone matching the description of the grand master."

"Then... she must still be inside."

"We have searched almost everywhere, but for residential areas, we will have to seek cooperation and search one by one, so it will take some time."

"I see, understood. Please hang in there a little longer."

At that moment, the sound of men shouting was heard nearby. Turning his head in that direction, he saw the executives of the merchant group who had been caught trying to escape, struggling and resisting.

"Where is the grand master! Bring that woman first!"

"Don't make a fuss and stay still!"

"She barged in here, ruined everything, and ran away by herself!?"

It seemed to be a story referring to the grand master.

Flynn had been looking at the list of merchant group members for a while and thought that the scale was quite small for the Delberg he knew. Moreover, if it was a female grand master, her name should have been on the list he roughly remembered, but the name written on the list was completely different.

Delberg was a fairly large merchant group, so there were several grand masters in each region, and among them was Filione Delberg, the chief grand master who oversaw them all.

Filione Delberg's main area of activity was the southern region, the old Raina area. And most of the female grand masters of Delberg that Flynn knew had good business acumen, having survived the rough merchant group work, so they had already been recognized for their abilities and had a firm grip on the major cities in the central and southern regions.

In other words, there was no need for them to take risks and come all the way to the north.

However, the Delberg Merchant Group that came to Frost this time was quite small in scale, and judging by the fact that they hastily recruited low-ranking members who were not on the list, it seemed that they were organized in a short period of time and lacked a well-established system.

It was presumed that the current grand master was a different person from the female grand masters of Delberg that he had known before.

'Barged in here... Has the grand master been newly replaced? Or was this Delberg Merchant Group that came to the north hastily formed?'

While Flynn was lost in thought, the inspector added, thinking that he had not understood the situation.

"It seems the grand master abandoned the executives and ran away alone."

"Ah, is the grand master a woman by any chance?"

"Yes, that's right."

"If it's a female grand master of Delberg, I should know most of them..."

"As a result of interrogating the members, they said that a new grand master was selected within Delberg for the distribution of monsters in the north. She was originally one of the members, but she stood out for her quick work and gained the trust of another grand master, so she was newly appointed as the grand master this time."

"Based on the current situation and internal structure, it felt like it was hastily organized overall, and they even went out of their way to appoint a new grand master in the midst of that?"

"Yes. Because of that, there were many inexperienced members, and they lacked coordination, so there were some loose ends."

"They're doing illegal monster distribution, and even if they send experienced members, it wouldn't be enough, but they recruited people with little experience who have never done merchant group work, hastily formed a group, and sent them... This is somehow unsettling."

"It seems you also think so, Deputy Commander. It's probably 'cutting off the tail'."

Cutting off the tail literally means the same action as a lizard cutting off its tail and running away.

It was usually a method used by large organizations, foundations, or groups to split their scale into several parts, and when something unsavory occurred, they would either blame everything on one small part or silence related personnel by kidnapping or killing them.

It was also used as a way for the central managers to feign ignorance and clean up their image. And these situations often occurred when large-scale merchant groups attempted something profitable but things didn't go well.

Feeling a headache coming on, Flynn suddenly thought of the low-ranking members who were unexpectedly recruited in the middle without knowing these circumstances. Thinking about the guilt they would feel for being involved in illegal activities, he felt pity for them, and at the same time, he thought of Teo, who had been of great help to him.

"Ah, by the way, was there anyone named Tergio among the members who were investigated?"

"Tergio, you say? Hmm... I don't think there was a name like that..."

"What? There wasn't? Even if his name isn't on the list because he's a low-ranking member, he should have been investigated."

The inspector tilted his head and said he would look for him, then entered the temporary tent used as the investigation headquarters. It was already dark at night, and the whereabouts of most of the members had been identified, so it was a bit strange that Teo still hadn't shown up.

'Could it be related to the missing grand master?'

For a moment, Flynn had a fleeting suspicion. However, even when he talked with Teo earlier, he didn't show any signs of having ulterior motives or being anxious about having done something wrong.

Rather, didn't he implicitly tell Flynn many things and hint that the merchant group seemed to be doing something suspicious, saying that wrongdoings should be corrected?

Thinking about the conduct Teo had shown, Flynn soon shook his head.

Didn't he just exchange a quick greeting and part ways because he thought he needed to report to the Commander quickly? So Teo might still be unaware of the situation, Flynn tried hard to rationalize. He wanted to believe in Teo, even if it was like that.

'Yeah, that can't be. Rather, he's someone who helped me.'

But many members had already entered the territory, and the situation had been announced throughout the entire territory using voice amplifiers, so was it possible not to know?

If, just if, he was really connected to the missing grand master...

Flynn unknowingly added flesh to the hypothesis he didn't want to think about. At that moment, when he was conflicted between the uncertain circumstances and his trust in Tergio, there was a beep sound as the signal of the location tracker was cut off.

Flynn immediately took out the device from his inside pocket and checked. However, the tracker was silent, as if it had lost the tracking target and its light was off.

The sensor he had thrown near the underground storage of the Delberg Merchant Group, as Teo had told him, had either lost power or something was wrong.

Flynn stared at the disconnected device. As if cold water had been poured on his head, a calm and chilling sensation settled around him, as if pressing down on his shoulders.

He then picked up the radio. Pressing the button on the left, he used the delegated command authority and issued an order in a quick and calm voice.

"Tracking 4th Platoon, please move to Frost coordinates 739, 278, 12 right now. Please thoroughly search the surrounding area, and if there are any people, you must capture them alive."