Bermuda [bl]

Inside the rattling wagon, Leonardo sat with his legs crossed, leaning against the sparsely stacked luggage as a hard cushion. When he closed his eyes, he felt as if he was placed in the midst of the cheering sounds coming from outside.

The path where the large expedition force of the Council was departing was once again filled with numerous citizens lining the streets, just like the day he was captured. However, this time, instead of criticism and curses, cheers were heard, glorifying and supporting the Council's expedition.

Although Leonardo was not completely restrained like before, he was still hiding inside the wagon with thick handcuffs on both hands to avoid exposing himself to the citizens.

With sunken eyes, he blankly stared at the thin crack of light seeping through the window. As the sound was particularly loud coming through there, he was overwhelmed by the urge to fling the window open.

Just a little, just a tiny bit. He thought that he wanted to see the citizens cheering instead of denouncing him, even if only a little.

After a long contemplation, he slightly raised his body and approached the small wooden sliding window in the swaying wagon. Standing in front of it, he quietly gazed at the light through the window crack, then fell to his knees and slumped down as the wagon jolted heavily.

Constantly struggling, he laboriously lifted one hand bound by the handcuffs and brought it close to the window. At that moment, the voices of the citizens brushed past his ears.

"Long live the Council!"

"Have a safe trip!"

His hand, about to open the window, stopped. The fingertips that couldn't reach lingered in the air for a long time.

Eventually, the hand fell limply down along with the heavy handcuffs. He looked at his crumpled hand with eyes filled with bitterness.

The waves of cheers and fervent shouts he once received, the praise and blessings sent by the citizens of the capital, were no longer directed at him.

He then closed the already shut window even tighter, leaving not even the smallest crack. Then he got up again, approached the pile of luggage where he had been sitting earlier, and plopped down.

Leaning his body against the hard luggage, he brushed his hair back, smiled wryly, and spoke self-deprecatingly.

"Making up for it, my ass—."

Even though it was only for a brief moment, the word "opportunity" that Agrizendro had spoken while looking at him, despite knowing how contradictory that sympathy was, he found it ridiculous that he had wanted to grasp it. And at the same time, he felt extremely pitiful.

Leonardo clenched his fists tightly. He had to pretend he was fine. Even if the whole world cursed him, he had to believe in himself. Because if even a small crack appeared, his precariously supported mind would collapse.

Outside, the cheers still didn't cease, but as the window was tightly closed, he only felt the rumbling sound and the swaying of the wagon. In front of his eyes were only dust-covered piles of luggage and pitch-black darkness.

The feeling of being left alone in this dark space. It was a sensation he had become accustomed to by now.

* * *

The expedition procession formed by the numerous members of the Council reached the gate of the capital amidst endless cheers. From there, the procession passed through several teleport zones and portals, heading south as quickly as possible.

After a considerable amount of time had passed, the expedition procession, which had entered Fidele Territory without rest, finally reached the gate of the last border zone leading to the Elder Millie Peninsula.

From the moment the wagon entered Fidele Territory, Leonardo felt the instantly changed atmosphere around him. The humid and hot air and the occasional subtle vibrations shaking the ground let him know that he had arrived right in front of the Elder Millie Peninsula.

Since he had come here a few times before on Armsilver's missions, he could immediately sense that the situation had become much more serious than before.

Even though they hadn't fully entered the peninsula, the presence of monsters was already lurking everywhere, and judging by the overall rise in temperature, it seemed that the volcanic activity beneath the ground had become more active than before.

From outside, murmuring sounds could be heard, and various mana energies were mixed together, indicating that a considerable crowd had gathered. It seemed that in addition to the troops from the Central Branch who had set out, other troops were also stationed there.

"Unload all the luggage, finish arming yourselves here, and all personnel stand by until the order to enter the gate is given."

"Yes, understood!"

The voices of the members answering loudly to someone's command were heard. Afterward, with the sound of busy footsteps, the members seemed to disperse, so Leonardo just sat still and waited.

Soon after, the rear door of the wagon where Leonardo was opened wide, and light poured into the pitch-black interior. At the sudden glare, he squinted his eyes and turned his head for a moment.

As his eyes adjusted to the light and he looked straight ahead again, Hugo was standing in front of him.

Hugo extended a hand to him as he sat and said,

"Come out."

Leonardo looked at him with furrowed brows, then slowly pressed his hands on the floor and stood up from his spot. Even as he bent his body, walked out of the wagon, and stepped on the ground, he lightly ignored Hugo's outstretched hand without even glancing at it.

Hugo lowered his ignored hand silently, still seeing Leonardo's sharp eyes.

After getting out of the wagon, Leonardo slowly looked around. There were far more troops stationed in front of the gate than he had thought. They seemed to be using the endlessly stretched white tents as a temporary headquarters.

Some were maintaining various weapons and equipment needed for climbing, some were repairing the parts of the gate that had been damaged by monster attacks, and some were receiving treatment from the medical team after being injured.

'There are easily over two thousand...'

As Leonardo surveyed the surroundings, he suddenly made eye contact with those who were looking at him.

Among the busily moving navy blue combat uniforms, the ivory mage robe already stood out considerably, and when they saw him wearing handcuffs, the members immediately realized that he was the rumored Leonardo Blaine.

The members from the southern region, who were not yet accustomed to his blond hair, golden eyes, and unexpected appearance, stared at him with even wider eyes. As the gazes focused intensely on him, Leonardo fully revealed his discomfort in his expression.

"Sorry for having you hide in the wagon on the way here."

Hugo, who was beside him, subtly spoke to Leonardo, who was like that. Leonardo still answered in a cold voice,

"It's fine, the ride was very comfortable."

It was clearly sarcastic. Hugo didn't say anything in particular, but he couldn't deny that he found himself checking on Leonardo's mood without realizing it.

Eventually, Hugo lightly placed his hand on Leonardo's shoulder. As Leonardo flinched away and glared at him with a sharp gaze at that action, Hugo immediately removed his hand as if telling him to let his guard down. Instead, he slightly lowered his head and whispered softly,

"I'll remove the handcuffs once we enter the peninsula."

At that, Leonardo frowned deeply and confronted Hugo, whose face was quite close.

"Why? Take them off now. Everyone is staring at me with those eyes because I'm wearing these."

As he spoke while fiercely looking around, the members who made eye contact with him hurriedly turned their heads and went about their own business. At that sight, Hugo let out a quiet sigh.

He should have at least fed him delicious food before coming to put him in a good mood. It was quite worrisome that his mood had become the worst just before the expedition, and even in the midst of being busy, he couldn't take his eyes off him for a moment.

Meanwhile, even if they entered the peninsula, it was actually difficult to free him from all restraints, so he was even more worried. There would surely be voices of concern directed at him. That's why he deliberately spoke softly, but Leonardo's current mood seemed to not understand his intention at all.

Hugo looked at Leonardo, who had raised his thorns towards him, and took out the handcuff key hanging from his combat uniform pocket.

Leonardo, unexpectedly, thought his irritation had worked and that Hugo would immediately remove the handcuffs here, so he stayed still even when Hugo lifted his wrist.

Hugo unlocked the handcuff bound to Leonardo's left wrist. However, instead of unlocking the other handcuff, he reattached the mana-restraining handcuff that had fallen from Leonardo's wrist to his own left wrist. Seeing that, Leonardo's expression became quite a sight to behold.

"...What are you doing now?"

"Follow me. You can't be separated from me."

As Hugo said that and walked somewhere, Leonardo was dragged along due to the chain connected to the handcuffs, making an absurd expression.

"No, this makes them stare even more!"

He strongly protested, but Hugo, who was walking ahead, didn't even pretend to listen.

Suddenly finding himself in the position of having to follow the Commander around, he felt the gazes of those around him every time he said something to Agrizendro, so he shot fierce glares at them one by one... but soon, there were too many of them, so he eventually gave up and chose to keep his mouth shut.