Bermuda [bl]

A thin stream of water flowed slowly into the keyhole of the handcuffs. It coiled like a thread, filling the internal space perfectly and fitting snugly into the grooves of the bumpy key pins.

The water stream, disguised as a key, eventually filled up to the entrance of the hole, forming a convex surface tension. Hugo stretched out its end, wrapped it tightly around his hand, and froze it instantly by emitting cold.

As the sub-zero chill brushed against his reddened and swollen wrist, Leonardo's eyes twitched momentarily, feeling a sting.

"Does it hurt?"

"It's fine."

His face said it wasn't fine, but it was bearable. Hugo hesitated for a moment, then continued to let water flow along the thin ice to finish it in one go.

Due to the extremely tight rotation cylinder inside the hole, the ice key had broken in two on the previous two attempts. This was the third attempt, and the water flowing along the surface froze again, quickly filling the grooves even when cracks formed in the ice.

When the hardness of the key, strengthened in this way, reached a stable state, Hugo carefully grasped the handle of the master key and slowly began to turn it. 45 degrees, 90 degrees, 135 degrees. When the rotating key reached the final 180-degree point, there was a click, and the ring fell off.

"Oh? It's open."

Leonardo showed his freed wrist with wide eyes. Flynn and Gabe, who were watching from the side, clapped in admiration. Hugo, who had roughly grasped the technique, attacked the other handcuff in the same way and succeeded in unlocking all the locks without much difficulty about 30 seconds later.

The heavy mana-restraining handcuffs clattered to the floor, and Leonardo finally leaned his shoulders against the sofa backrest as if collapsing, looking like he would live. As he was rubbing his swollen wrists and sore hands, Hugo grabbed his hand and pulled it towards himself.

"Let me see."

He clicked his tongue when he noticed small wounds on the skin. Nevertheless, he gently caressed Leonardo's skin, gradually healing the wounded areas.

Leonardo was internally worried that Hugo might ask about the scratch marks, but Hugo didn't mention them specifically, perhaps thinking they were caused by trying to remove the handcuffs.

Instead, after roughly finishing the treatment, he picked up some ointment and focused on applying it to the parts where the wounds hadn't healed. Then Flynn even put on bandages, and only then did Hugo release the hand he had been holding, seeming to feel relieved.

"Somehow, your injuries never seem to end."

His blue eyes stared intently as he muttered in a somewhat scolding tone. Leonardo lowered his eyes, seemingly embarrassed.

Hugo finally sighed and picked up the handcuffs that had fallen to the ground.

"So, you said you touched these because they seemed strange?"

Leonardo, who had been fidgeting while touching the bandaged area, quickly raised his head at his question.

"What, you believe me?"

"You wouldn't have done it for no reason."

Earlier, when he had been rambling on about the reason, Hugo had just stared at him with an exasperated look, making Leonardo feel wronged and keep his mouth shut, thinking Hugo believed he had done something stupid on his own. But at this unexpected statement suggesting he had actually listened, Leonardo hesitated for a moment before conveying it clearly once again.

"It felt different from when I wore them before."

"Felt different?"

"Yeah. You probably don't know since you don't have much occasion to wear handcuffs, but each pair feels a bit different."

Hugo's eyebrow raised at the vague expression. Nevertheless, he glanced down at the handcuffs in question.

These handcuffs were sent by the Grand Madam. He didn't know what grudge she might have against Leonardo, but as she was the one who ordered his detention, it wouldn't be surprising if the handcuffs had some special device. 

That was why he hadn't dismissed Leonardo's words about something being strange. However, even when he examined them carefully with suspicion, Hugo's senses didn't detect anything particularly unusual.

"How did it feel different?"

"Well... for example."

Leonardo compared the handcuffs to a kind of drain. If the handcuffs he had just been wearing were like a drain where water slowly leaked through a small hole, the ones he had worn before felt like the ground itself was sinking, with mana pouring out like a waterfall.

Hugo was silent for a moment at the contrasting explanation. Then, to gain more clues, he asked again:

"We've worn handcuffs before, sharing one side each. Did it feel different then too?"

"What? Oh, when we went out to eat together?"

"Then, and also right before entering the peninsula."

Leonardo recalled the times Hugo mentioned one by one. Once was when they had gone to a restaurant together after Leonardo had called for the Commander because the provided meals tasted bad, and another time was just as they had gotten off the wagon and were arguing before entering the peninsula.

"Hmm, no. I think it felt similar then..."

Leonardo trailed off as he searched his memories, seeming unsure. He felt like he shouldn't have brought it up since he couldn't give a definite answer after raising the question himself.

On the other hand, he was also worried that his fixation on the handcuffs might seem strange. But he couldn't show the note from Alec Siles, who had first raised the hypothesis.

As he spoke vaguely and hesitated, Hugo handed the handcuffs to Loren, who was standing behind him.

"Take a look at these."

Loren, who had her arms crossed, took the handcuffs and began examining their exterior as Hugo had done.

Leonardo looked up at her with an uncomfortable expression, as she had somehow followed Hugo in and naturally joined them in the room. He also glanced at the man next to Flynn. Although he was said to be Agrizendro's adjutant, Leonardo became more cautious, afraid of saying something wrong with unfamiliar people surrounding him.

Because of this, silence fell in the room for a moment, with only the sound of the handcuffs rattling in Loren's hands.

Hugo asked without turning around:

"Do you sense anything?"

"Well, I can't really tell if there's anything strange either."

As Loren's answer was similar, Hugo leaned towards the conclusion that there was no problem with those handcuffs. Nevertheless, he recalled the example Leonardo had given earlier when comparing the handcuffs. The feeling of vast amounts of mana pouring out like a waterfall made him unconsciously reach out and gently rub Leonardo's wrist.

The fact that there was a time when putting handcuffs on these wrists was natural suddenly struck him as unpleasant, even though he knew it was obvious in his head. At that moment, Loren, who had been rubbing her chin, suddenly asked into the air:

"By the way, didn't you say you experienced mana instability issues on the peninsula?"

Leonardo, who had been looking down at the large hand, turned his eyes to her at the familiar words. Hugo also turned his head slightly while massaging the swollen wrist.

"Yes, we did. Why?"

Loren continued as she put the handcuffs back on the table.

"I wonder if the difference in 'feeling' might be the difference from old-style handcuffs."

"What?"

Hugo's question was suddenly cold. As his expression noticeably hardened, Leonardo subtly rolled his eyes, assessing the situation.

'Old-style handcuffs?'

At the same time, his memory re-illuminated Alec Siles' statement as they walked near the structure together.

The inevitable control instability of inmates who had worn restraints for long periods had been raised as an issue before, and the Council had mostly solved the problem by changing the combination of materials used in the restraints.

Meanwhile, Leonardo instinctively realized that the 'old-style handcuffs' mentioned by the 2nd Battalion Commander were the handcuffs that Alec Siles had said were problematic. However, Hugo, organizing his thoughts, shook his head firmly. He then calmly refuted:

"...The possibility of that is slim. Weren't all the old-style handcuffs disposed of during the audit period to prevent accidents from recurring? Even new-style handcuffs can cause control instability due to sensory confusion immediately after release from the handcuffs, but only for those with high mana capacity. However, that's an entirely natural sensory recovery phenomenon, and it improves over time, so it's not a big problem."

"..."

"And I've already worn handcuffs together with Leonardo twice. If any old-style handcuffs had been mixed in, I would have known."

Loren seemed to be reconsidering her thoughts and didn't add anything more, apparently agreeing to some extent. Hugo, seeing her reaction, became even more confident and pushed the ominous hypothesis to a corner of his mind.

He really didn't want to consider that possibility. That Leonardo's control instability problem was due to wearing old-style handcuffs?

Although those handcuffs had already been completely disposed of, so it shouldn't be possible, if, if that were the case... it would mean that the issue of doubt and trust that had plagued him and Leonardo throughout the subjugation might have been caused by someone's mistake.

Or, it could be a conspiracy intentionally manipulated by someone trying to cause problems.

"..."

Hugo's Adam's apple moved slowly. The back of his neck went cold, and his fingertips chilled.

Either way, if there had been someone's intervention in that incident, it wasn't something to be taken lightly. Perhaps that's why Hugo faced his own desire to deny it even more. He didn't want any more controversy surrounding Leonardo. He unconsciously applied a little pressure to Leonardo's wrist that he had been caressing.

At that moment, Gabe, who had been listening quietly, carefully raised his hand after observing the atmosphere.

"Um... I'm sorry to interrupt, but the old-style handcuffs probably weren't 'completely' disposed of."

At his statement, the gazes of all four people in the room focused on Gabe. It was a new hypothesis that cut through the situation, and Hugo's contracted pupils pierced Gabe.

Gabe, slightly tense, straightened his back and began to relay the facts he remembered.

"Although it's recorded as complete disposal in the official documents within the organization, so most people probably think that's the case, weren't the S-grade mage-use mana stone handcuffs considerably more expensive and of higher quality compared to other handcuffs? So I understand that even during the audit, there was constant discussion within the Council about budget issues, questioning whether complete disposal was really the only answer."

"..."

"In that process, while the majority were eventually disposed of, I heard from the person in charge at the time that some were sent back to the manufacturing facility for reprocessing. Therefore, while it's true that the old-style handcuffs have all disappeared from within the Council... it's hard to say they were completely disposed of."

Gabe's statement was enough to color Hugo's spacious personal room with silence. Hugo stared at Gabe, who had delivered the final blow, with unfocused eyes filled with a quiet shock.

Tick-tock. The sound of the second hand seemed unusually loud, and then the gazes of the four people shifted to Hugo.

As the pulse near his throat began to throb slowly in the suffocating silence, Hugo's tightly closed mouth opened with difficulty.

"Are you sure?"

"...Yes."

Although half a beat late, Gabe's answer was clear. Hugo, his mouth twitching slightly, furrowed his brow and then turned to look at Leonardo beside him.

Leonardo just looked at Hugo, his face showing that he hadn't yet grasped what the situation was about. Seeing this, Hugo's pulse raced even more. It felt as if his blood flow was surging in reverse.

"Ha."

Instead of being at a loss for words, he let out a bitter laugh and checked the watch on his wrist. Although the sun had already set and it was gradually turning into night, everyone present could guess that tonight would be a long one.

"Gabe."

"Yes."

"Go to the manufacturing facility right now. We need to check the list of restraints taken out. Down to every last detail, including the dates."

"Yes, understood."

"And Flynn, you go around all the equipment management rooms and check if there are any old-style handcuffs mixed in among the S-grade mage handcuffs, and if there are any shortages in quantity. If someone intentionally inserted old-style handcuffs, there must have been attempts to destroy evidence."

"Yes, understood!"

Following Hugo's swift instructions, the two stood up abruptly. They immediately bowed, went around the sofa, and hurried out the door.

Leonardo followed their busy retreating figures with his eyes, then turned his gaze back to the person in front of him, from whom a chilling aura was emanating. Cold air poured out around him as he suppressed his cold anger, filling the room. Hugo gave his final instruction to Loren.