Bermuda [bl]

"Can't we move any faster?"

When they entered the 2nd Mana Control Zone, Andreas, unable to hold back any longer, spoke as if urging them. Although they had moved a considerable distance even at this slow pace, they still had a long way to go to reach the Council headquarters.

As they went deeper into the Imperial Capital, it became increasingly difficult to control the citizens, and traffic was becoming paralyzed.

Just because of this one guy, the Council's personnel had been continuously providing massive support, and now the time was being delayed much longer than expected. Even people unrelated to the matter were getting caught up in the commotion, and voices of discontent were growing louder.

However, even at Andreas' urging gaze to hurry, Hugo firmly shook his head.

"We can't let any impact reach inside the iron cage. We need to move as slowly as possible."

"I understand, but... at this rate, we have a long way to go."

Andreas looked around and spoke, trying hard to suppress his frustration. Initially, the members were lined up in single files on either side as they entered the capital, but now, as they moved further in, the pressure from the crowd had intensified, necessitating almost a double line of human barricades to keep them at bay.

It was heartbreaking to see the members struggling to hold back the citizens, but even in this situation, the Imperial Army Command still turned a blind eye and didn't even send belated support.

"Don't throw objects! Everyone, please step back!"

"It's dangerous! Please cooperate for safety!"

The strained voices of the members shouting at the citizens, the cheers for the Council for capturing Leonardo Blaine, and the murmurs of criticism and condemnation towards him echoed throughout the vast square of the Imperial Capital.

The sound was so loud that it bounced off the walls of the buildings surrounding the square, sounding like a single echo.

And that echo violently shook the hearts of the people at the scene, and as if the emotional turmoil gained strength, the people near the escort procession in particular went wild as if they were about to rush toward the iron cage transporting Leonardo.

In fact, hardly any words of encouragement for the Council were heard from them. They were solely pouring out fierce criticism and curses at Leonardo, filled with all sorts of emotions.

Flynn silently held the horse's reins and walked towards the straight path stretching ahead. With a determined face, he looked only at the path ahead as if he couldn't hear anything.

Although it was a short time, Flynn had built a bond with Tergio and even struggled with his inner self to believe in him, so he was greatly shocked to learn that Tergio was actually Leonardo Blaine.

He was still very dazed, and his disappointment in Leonardo for deceiving him was indescribable, but on the other hand, Flynn began to wonder, 'Did Leonardo Blaine really do something wrong enough to deserve all this humiliation?'

"Die!"

"Kill him!"

"Execute him!"

As if tainted by collective madness, cries of hatred and loathing for Leonardo Blaine resounded throughout the square.

"Murderer bastard!"

"Demonic scum."

They pointed fingers at him and tore apart his existence as if he were the root of all evil.

Amidst the cries echoing throughout the Imperial Capital today, Flynn was reminded of that morning when the most beloved war hero of the empire had miserably fallen. On that day, countless people had also come out to the streets like this, and they had most wretchedly decorated the end of the hero who had betrayed everyone's trust.

Other regions were relatively less severe, but there was a specific reason why the citizens of the Imperial Capital cursed him so much.

In the battle against the Turandos Empire, in which he had last participated three years ago, he had disobeyed orders due to personal feelings and failed to capture the final high ground that could have led to the defeat of the enemy, resulting in numerous casualties.

At that time, Raina Logia had been repeating a cycle of war and truce for nine years with Turandos, which shared a border to the west of the central region in terms of territory. As a result, the imperial citizens near the western border suffered from frequent air raids, were extremely poor, and lacked even immediate food to eat.

Those who survived amidst gunpowder and rusted iron weapons always lived smelling the scent of burning flesh and had to evacuate as a habit.

And during that period, the place where the residents of the border zone, who had suffered the most severe damage, had migrated in large numbers to escape the air raids was none other than the outskirts of the Imperial Capital.

Their wish was only one. For the war to end quickly.

The people who had to offer all their food and clothing to the soldiers on the battlefield, when victory in the war was within reach, upon learning that it had failed due to the disobedience of the trusted war hero, poured out all their anger at him.

During the nine years of war, the two empires suffered countless casualties every year, and the imperial citizens endured the pain of losing their homes and families, hoping only for the war to end with a thread of hope.

The longer the wartime situation lasted, the more they sent pathological joy, delight, and praise to the soldiers who returned victorious, hailing them as heroes.

On the other hand, when the hero who had disobeyed orders in the battle that caused the largest number of casualties in history was defeated and returned alive, they drove him away with harsh abuse and rejection, believing that he had insulted the warriors who had met an honorable death in the previous wars and that death might have been better.

The public had no interest in what state of mind he had disobeyed the order or what kind of order he had disobeyed.

Three years ago, at that time, all institutions, newspapers, and media outlets only wrote sensational articles about Leonardo's disobedience as a soldier, the empire's defeat and casualties, and the endless war, without mentioning anything about the content of the order.

Flynn was occasionally curious about the inside story, but that incident was a top-level military secret that couldn't even be speculated about, and no one would know except for the military officials, executives at the time, and the person involved, Leonardo Blaine.

* * *

Usually, many noble sons served as soldiers for a certain period to prove their family's glory and loyalty to the empire. Hugo had also been in the Imperial Army for several years before joining the Council.

When he was part of the Imperial Army, it was before the war with Turandos broke out, but even then, the relationship between Raina Logia and Turandos was at its worst, so Hugo was well aware of how important that war was considered between the two empires from a soldier's perspective.

So when he heard that the one who was part of the Imperial Army and the empire's most brilliant Arm Silver had disobeyed orders in the most important battle and had not accepted the verdict handed down by the military court, causing a disturbance and setting fire, Hugo also came to view the protagonist of that story in a very unfavorable light.

His actions in the past deserved criticism. He was a soldier belonging to the military, and the military was a place governed by a strict hierarchy of orders and obedience.

In such a place, disobedience to orders was an act that shook the very foundation of the military, and regardless of the reason, he should never have acted on personal feelings in that battle that day. The conclusion of the war that the entire empire so desperately wanted was in his hands.

Of course, that thought hadn't changed much even now. The fact that Leonardo had committed a crime in the past remained unchanged, but at least Hugo could see that the citizens were under some kind of misunderstanding.

The guy had been dishonorably discharged at a military trial three years ago, imprisoned, and released on parole six months later. The reason for the relatively short period of imprisonment was that his disobedience was not known to have been intended to deliberately harm or betray his own forces, and above all, he had made countless remarkable achievements in previous battles and various missions.

However, just as the downfall of the hero who had been like that was now receiving a baptism of anger from the public, people always remembered only the end, and he was ultimately left as a criminal.

Although he was restrained strongly to the point of being excessive in preparation for any situation during the transfer, the real reason the Council was transporting Leonardo Blaine now was to allow him to live as a properly registered ordinary mage, no longer a fugitive criminal, and to conduct further investigations into the unresolved case of the monster smuggling in Frost.

But the citizens were under the great misconception that he still hadn't paid the full price for his crime back then.

And as Hugo listened to the hateful voices of the people directed at him, right behind the iron cage where the guy was, he directly felt the reason why he had to hide his mana, hide his appearance, and live as if he were dead, hidden from the world.

Creak-

As if the guy inside had grown tired of listening, the creaking sound of the iron cage gradually ceased over time. Hugo looked at the iron cage with coldly sunken eyes and thought as if speaking to the guy who would be hearing all these sounds inside.

'You probably thought you had paid for all your sins the moment you were released from prison. But in the first place, you, especially as someone from Bermuda, should never have disobeyed the empire's orders.'

Verbal abuse, surging cries, hatred bordering on madness.

All of these were too cruel for the young Leonardo to endure. And no one would have the right to say with certainty that he had done enough wrong to have to endure all of this.

But at the same time, Hugo believed that only when he stopped running away from the past and took responsibility, a new path forward would open up for him.

The public's evaluation of Leonardo Blaine was extremely biased. That was precisely because he was from "Bermuda," a subject of both attention and aspiration as well as persecution and contempt in past history.

Now, it was not difficult to find people from Bermuda around, and their numbers had increased compared to the past, seeming to have blended in as proper members of society, but discrimination and unfounded hatred towards Bermuda natives still existed.

And the excessive anger towards Leonardo Blaine was providing an excuse to express that hatred. Some people took advantage of the hatred towards Leonardo Blaine to openly display their hatred towards Bermuda natives without hesitation.

"He boasted about being from Bermuda, and look at him now!"

Amidst the cries resounding from all directions, a few voices penetrated Hugo's ears. For a moment, he turned his head with a cold expression, but the person who had said those words had hidden in the crowd, making it impossible to find out who it was.

Hugo's expression rapidly stiffened. It sounded as if those words were not only directed at Leonardo Blaine but also applied to himself.

However, the notion that someone from Bermuda would boast was something only those who knew nothing would say. Among those from Bermuda, there would be no one who could "boast" about their origin.

Hugo eventually looked back at the iron cage that had quieted down. The creaking sound was no longer heard.

'People easily sympathize with the anger expressed by emotional individuals, believe in it, and are easily incited. The stones they thoughtlessly throw are the weight of your sins.'

Although he thought that way, Hugo tried to manage his expression as he felt his mood becoming noticeably worse.

The atmosphere was overheated, and people's excitement was rising.

At that moment, one of the Council members was pushed by the citizens, and the barrier he had been maintaining collapsed.