Bermuda [bl]

Hugo glanced at Flynn, who was examining the detector, and spoke to the count again.

"That's enough for the gratitude. However, Count Servia, if you are the lord of this place and have jurisdiction over the nearby towns, such delayed responses should not occur again in the future."

"Yes, yes, you're right. I suppose we need to re-establish the system for when a fire breaks out—"

"Your detector is quite an outdated model. How about applying to the Council and getting a new mana-powered thermal detector?"

"Pardon?"

The count responded with a dumb sound. However, Hugo didn't seem to want to hear an answer, as he stood up from his seat as if there was nothing more to see.

"I apologize for the sudden visit and any rudeness. Thank you for your cooperation."

"No, not at all. Of course, I should help. It's a matter of the Council, isn't it?"

"Yes, that's right."

Hugo smiled slightly as he looked at the count. However, Count Servia was terrified to see it. He thought he had handled the situation appropriately, but Commander Agrizendro's smile seemed like an ominous sign.

"Flynn, put that down and let's go."

"Ah, yes. Count, thank you for showing it to me. I had a good look."

Flynn returned the detector he had been examining to the count and also smiled. The count felt extremely uncomfortable with both of them suddenly barging in, interrogating him about this and that, and then smiling. However, he couldn't continue to be with these two.

He had to quickly inform the grand master of the merchant group about this and firmly tell that hooligan to lay low.

"We'll be on our way. There's no need to see us out."

"Yes, please be careful on your way. If there's anything else you need, please let me know. I will cooperate diligently to catch the arsonist."

"Excuse us."

The count politely bowed to Hugo, but Hugo only nodded his head. Instead, Flynn, feeling embarrassed, bowed his head to the count.

At that moment, he suddenly noticed black footprints on the headrest of the sofa where the count had been sitting.

'Footprints?'

It was quite strange that there were footprints on the sofa in the count's residence, as if someone had stepped on it. There shouldn't be anyone in a noble's mansion who would do such a thing. However, as he was looking at it, his superior quickly went outside, so Flynn had to leave with that fleeting suspicion in mind.

A servant guided them outside the mansion, and as soon as the two of them stepped out of the main gate, the door was firmly closed. When the heavy iron door slammed shut, Flynn pouted and said,

"No matter what, it's too much to close the door so hard as soon as people leave. Isn't it almost like being kicked out? Even if that's the case for me, what do they think the Commander is!"

"Flynn, don't get excited. The count must be quite anxious right now."

"Hmm... that's true. Then, should we look for the grand master of the Delberg Merchant Group now?"

At Flynn's question, Hugo looked at the tightly closed mansion of the count and opened his mouth.

"Before that, what was the reason you asked the count to show you the detector earlier?"

"Ah, that? When you mentioned the outdated detector, Commander, I thought you already knew."

"Roughly. I just made a guess."

"The detector the lord had was quite old and outdated. It's the HD-197 version, which literally can only detect natural temperature changes. It's a model that's hardly used in the central and southern regions these days, so it's a bit surprising that they still have it."

"In short, according to what you're saying, that detector can only detect naturally occurring heat."

"Yes, that's right."

"Since it can't measure the heat emitted by mana, even if the fire spread to a certain extent last night, it couldn't detect it."

Flynn, who had been nodding at Hugo's words, suddenly paused. After mulling over the words a few times, he asked as if he had realized something.

"Huh? Then... are you saying that the fire yesterday was created by magic?"

"Yes."

Hugo took out his thermal detector from his artifact and showed it to him. The model he used was a high-end model that was only supplied for investigative purposes and was not distributed to the general public. It could only be used by authorized individuals in government agencies such as the Council.

It could detect not only natural heat but also heat generated by mana. If there was one drawback, it was that it couldn't distinguish well between the two because it focused on detecting subtle heat.

The thermal detector he had was currently detecting quite a strong heat energy, and the sensor light was on. At that, Flynn's eyes widened, and he stared intently at the detector.

"Why is heat being detected all of a sudden? The lord's detector clearly didn't detect anything earlier..."

"It probably couldn't detect mana."

"Then, if it's being detected by your thermal detector now, Commander...!"

"When we were in the mansion earlier, the detector showed an even stronger reaction than now. If that's the case, it seems to mean that someone with fire element mana is inside."

Flynn swallowed and looked up at the mansion. If someone with fire element mana was inside, there was only one person that came to mind.

"Then, inside there... is Blaine?"

"Based on the circumstances, yes. But there are still too many unresolved things."

As he said that, Hugo recalled the energy he had felt inside the mansion.

Earlier in the reception room, he had deliberately lowered the temperature to put out the bonfire so that it wouldn't interfere with sensing the presence of fire. After that, when he felt a certain amount of fire mana, he initially thought it might really be Leonardo Blaine. After all, that name had come out of Count Servia's mouth as well.

However, if he thought that the mana he had felt inside was really Leonardo Blaine's, it was extremely disappointing in a way. Not only was the mana weaker than he had expected, but it couldn't even be properly concealed.

Moreover, he couldn't tell if it was true or false that the count had heard about Leonardo Blaine from the grand master of the Delberg Merchant Group, but somehow, he had a gut feeling that the count was lying.

From the implausible excuse that the monster corpses were animal meat, each and every word the count said felt like a lie in some way.

As Hugo was reflecting on the count's words, Flynn suddenly spoke up.

"Commander, I have a question."

"What is it?"

"If the cause of last night's fire was setting it with mana, wouldn't oil have been unnecessary?"

"..."

"If they had just set the fire with mana without pouring oil, they could have passed it off as a naturally occurring fire. As a result, by pouring oil, we also became convinced that it was someone's arson, didn't we?"

Hugo, who had been quietly listening to his story, spoke in a low voice.

"Even if they hadn't poured oil, it would have been difficult to rule out the possibility of arson. Although Frost territory is an area where forest fires occur frequently, the ignition points were all in dry, leaf-filled mountains. They said it's rare for fires to occur near residential areas. So, rather, it seems that by pouring oil, they intended to exclude 'someone who can use fire magic' from the list of suspects."

"Ah!"

Flynn exclaimed in realization at his words. Then, after thinking deeply about something, he opened his mouth.

"Then, was the reason for setting the fire because of you and me, Commander?"

"Yes. Considering that this place has less influx of outsiders than expected, the count already knew about the presence of outsiders, even if he didn't know who we were. If the guy is related to the count, I don't think the one who set the fire would be unaware of our existence."

"Then, we can think that the fire was set to see how you and I would react, Commander..."

"Well, you could say that."

"Still, how could they set a fire..."

Flynn looked angry. Last night's fire had accelerated with the oil and could have spread to the residential area. Yet, just to find out the identities of those chasing him, he set fire to the town.

No matter how many rumors he heard about him, Flynn had tried not to judge people based on rumors alone. However, in a situation where that person was suspected to be the culprit of last night's arson, he could no longer have good feelings towards him. Unpleasant emotions welled up.

Hugo was also disappointed when he had to judge that the person in the mansion was Leonardo Blaine based on the circumstances and that he had set the fire. The guy who had been so resourceful and meticulous all this time had poured oil and committed arson just to avoid being a suspect? It was unlike him.

"Flynn, don't forget that there's one more thing we're chasing besides the guy himself."

"Ah, you mean the monster corpses? But the count was so nonchalant about it... To be honest, I don't know. If they're really animal corpses."

"Remember the guy who said he saw them in person at the tavern yesterday?"

"Yes, of course. Didn't he say that some man stepped forward and said they were monster corpses? Ah, come to think of it, that person is a member of the Delberg Merchant Group? He saw Blaine's photo too!"

At Flynn's words, Hugo nodded and said,

"Do you know what you need to do now?"

"Yes, I'll find that person again and talk to him."

"Alright, I'm counting on you. I have something else to take care of."

"Where are you going, Commander?"

Hugo looked at the quiet interior of the mansion and said,

"That water mage I caught at dawn. I think he might have some useful aspects."

* * *

While Hugo went to the northern branch headquarters where he had imprisoned the water mage, Flynn set out to find the young man with brown hair and brown eyes whom he had seen at the tavern yesterday.

This was the center of the town near the Servia County, and the town where he had met him yesterday was a place that required crossing a mountain.

It was a section that took quite a while for an ordinary person without mana to travel, so Flynn assumed that he would still be in that town or on his way here.

Just as he was thinking that he should fly to the neighboring town to find the man, he saw a horse-drawn cart entering the road leading from this town to the mountain path and abruptly stopping.

The cart had 'Delberg' written on it.

"Huh?"

Flynn approached as if enchanted, and a man lightly jumped out from behind the cart. It was none other than the brown-haired man he had drunk with last night.

"Hey, you there!"

As Flynn called out to him and hurriedly approached, the man who was about to unload a box from the cart raised his head with a puzzled look. Then, he seemed to recognize Flynn and greeted him with a bright smile.

"Ah, the private investigator from yesterday! Fancy meeting you here. Did you find the person you were looking for?"

He didn't show any signs of being flustered or wary. Rather, he seemed genuinely happy, as if he really didn't expect to meet him here.