Chapter 96

"I'm not trying to scold you for intervening. However, if someone else had used that level of mana in an exhausted state like you, they would have gone into shock. I think it would be better to pay a little more attention to your condition."

Hearing those words, Leonardo stared at Hugo for a while, then frowned. Eventually, he pulled his hand out of Hugo's grasp as if shaking it off and took a step back to create distance. Then, with a sharp gaze, he said sarcastically,

"The person who is so concerned about my condition, why did he only watch at that time?"

At the cold answer, Hugo flinched.

"That's-."

At that moment, as if representing Leonardo's mood, lightning struck again in the middle of the plains. Hugo thought he shouldn't leave it like this and gestured towards the vortex floating in the sky, scattering the gathered clouds in all directions.

As the clouds dispersed and the storm slowly dissipated, the strong wind and the discharge phenomenon in the sky gradually subsided. However, a sound like weak thunder still rumbled.

As the sky calmed down a bit, Hugo shifted his gaze and spoke solemnly to Leonardo, who was glaring at him.

"I'm sorry. I promise that won't happen again."

At Hugo's action of apologizing again without any particular excuse, Leonardo stared at him intently for a long time. Then, he soon let out a deep sigh alone.

It was because his own actions felt very childish as he acted like that.

Did he want him to become emotionally weak? That wasn't it.

It was just that this situation, even excluding his existence, the current situation of him standing here was too tiring. It seemed that his tension and pushing himself in the situations that had swept over him since before coming to the peninsula had exploded at that very moment.

Once it exploded, there was no room for composure. Objectively speaking, he was an upright person, fulfilled his own responsibilities, and even made a perfect apology in the midst of it. But right now, he had too little room to accept that apology.

Leonardo, who had slightly lowered his head without answering Hugo's words, covered half of his face with one hand and gently rubbed the area around his eyebrows.

This humid and hot air, dry eyes, rough swallowing, tense nerves and unstable mana, and the various and numerous gazes looking at him like that. It felt like everything around him was poking at him.

'I'm tired.'

Leonardo closed his eyes tightly, then opened them and raised his head. Then, he saw Agrizendro slowly examining his mood and condition with eyes filled with regret and apology.

Leonardo shifted his gaze from him and looked up at the sky where bright light was coming down through the scattered clouds, thinking blankly.

'I want to get out of here.'

Hugo couldn't say anything more because Leonardo's face looked too fatigued and exhausted when he raised his head. His white skin looked paler than usual, and his sunken eyes were anxious and precarious.

As the hot and humid wind passed between the two, for some reason, Hugo was reminded of Leonardo on that day when he was immersing his body in the steam of the cave. The playful smile from that time, which was quite different from now, seemed to be reflected on the face standing in front of him now.

As the thought of that time lingered, Hugo unknowingly brought his hand gently to the particularly desolate-looking pale cheek.

Leonardo, who had been looking at the sky, suddenly stared blankly at his large hand slowly approaching his face and the eyes looking at him.

Hugo paused his approaching hand for a moment and observed his expression. He didn't seem to have any intention of stopping him.

Just like that, right before Hugo's hand touched Leonardo's cheek.

Suddenly, an urgent voice was heard from the radio Hugo was carrying.

Chik―.

―During the arrest of an unauthorized outsider, a swarm of Dermocas has rushed in, and we are in a situation where our feet are tied. Please send support! The coordinates are...

―Delta, D7. Approaching.

As the request for support rang out, the voice of another member within the communicable area immediately responding was heard.

"Commander, there is an urgent matter to report―."

At the same time, apart from the content of the radio, two liaison officers from the Southern Branch approached to find the commander to deliver a report.

Leonardo turned his head towards where their voices were coming from.

Then, the liaison officers who had been hurriedly approaching noticed the two people standing quite close to each other and suddenly stopped. Leonardo glanced at Hugo's face and his paused hand again, then turned his body and took a few steps back to create distance.

Hugo intently gazed at him as he moved away, scanning the pale cheek he couldn't touch with his eyes. Then, he lowered his hand that had been about to brush against it, as if nothing had happened.

The two liaison officers felt a strange atmosphere lingering and hesitated to finish their words while being mindful. Eventually, Hugo turned his eyes to the liaison officers from the Southern Branch who had approached and calmly asked,

"What's the matter?"

"Ah―, just now, a large number of Dermocas were discovered at the ruins near the border of the eastern and southern parts of Elder Millie. According to the initial discoverer, the creatures were observed engaging in behavior that seemed to be calling their kin, so we thought it would be necessary to prepare and wanted to report, but..."

The liaison officer delivering the message trailed off again after seeing the devastated sight of the plains beyond the ridge. Hugo slowly turned his head, following their gaze, and replied,

"We were just in the middle of cleaning up."

As his eyes reached the plains, water poured from the blue magic circle spread in the sky and quickly cooled the boiling ground.

And before long, huge golems came running from the right side of the plains and started trampling the remaining monsters, and members who seemed to belong to the 6th Battalion joined forces to deal with the fleeing creatures.

While Hugo and the liaison officers were watching the scene, the ground they were standing on suddenly shook weakly. As the vibration was felt again, the liaison officers stepped back, becoming highly vigilant.

However, the cause of this vibration was not a monster attack. Soon, a small-sized golem made of soil and rocks poked its head out from the shaking ground and popped up in front of them.

Leonardo watched it with his arms crossed. If the golem of the 6th Battalion Commander Delua was reduced to a small size, it would look just like that.

The golem that had emerged from the ground opened its mouth-like part wide and took out the letter inside, holding it out to Hugo. As he took it with familiarity, the small golem, as if its purpose was to deliver the letter, made a motion as if saluting and then went back into the ground.

Hugo immediately scanned the contents of the paper in his hand and spoke to the liaison officers.

"The rest will be handled by the 6th Battalion of the Central Branch led by Battalion Commander Rivera. Go and inform them."

The liaison officer, who had been blankly staring at the hole created by the golem's entrance, came to his senses at Hugo's words and replied,

"Yes, understood. Ah, before that, there are a few more things to report."

The liaison officer from the Southern Branch reported that some platoons of the 9th Battalion at the vanguard of the eastern entrance had encountered a swarm of Dermocas at the ruins and suffered casualties while fighting.

Upon hearing the report, Hugo's face turned extremely cold, and Leonardo, who was listening to their conversation from a distance as if enchanted, also turned his head at the mention of casualties.

"Casualties?"

"Yes."

Hugo spoke to the liaison officer with a serious face.

"Report the current suppression situation and the exact number of casualties."

"Support troops were immediately deployed, and the on-site suppression is almost complete, but quite a few of the creatures have also escaped. Among the five members of the 4th Platoon under the 3rd Company of the 9th Battalion of the Southern Branch, who were the initial discoverers, two have died and one is seriously injured."

"..."

"However, only one corpse was found, and according to the testimony of the member who came to request support, a Dermocas was holding the corpse of the other member who had died first. So it is presumed that the 4th Platoon Leader chased after the creatures to recapture the corpse."

"Presumed?"

When Hugo narrowed his brows and asked back at the uncertain word 'presumed,' the liaison officer carefully continued.

"Well... Currently, the exact location and whether the platoon leader is alive or not is unknown."

Chik―.

'Requesting additional support. The number is more than expected.'

'Sigma, E13. Approaching. Please restate the location.'

"...For now, the top priority is to locate the corpse taken by the creatures and the platoon leader. Has a tracking team been formed?"

"First, under the 9th Battalion Commander's orders, members of the same platoon are currently tracking. And eggshells were discovered at the ruins where the incident occurred, but they were already empty, perhaps hatched. An investigation is underway to determine which individual's eggs they are."

Chik―.

'Coordinates (345, 525, 2034). However, it is located on a mountainside, so it is impossible to move with a teleportation device, and the coordinate error range is also large. After moving to a nearby lowland, you will need to visually identify it directly from the air.'

Leonardo listened to their conversation and then focused his gaze on Hugo's radio, which kept ringing intermittently. Judging by the oddly awkward way of speaking and the rambling situation delivery instead of short and concise radio terminology, he felt like he could tell who the requester for support was even without looking.

It seemed that other members were continuously going there to provide support, but the number of creatures didn't seem easy to handle, and the situation sounded quite urgent.

Leonardo shifted his gaze from the radio back to Hugo. However, looking at his face, it seemed like the situation on the other side of the radio wasn't one he could pay attention to.

Hugo, who had become noticeably serious after hearing the words of the Southern Branch liaison officer, pondered for a moment and then opened his mouth.

"It would be best to go together and check."

"Yes, understood. It's not far from here."

As they seemed to be about to move immediately, Leonardo called out to them.

"Wait a moment."

At his voice, Hugo and the two liaison officers from the Southern Branch simultaneously looked at him. When the attention was focused on him, Leonardo pointed to Hugo's radio with his chin.

"That keeps ringing."

Hugo glanced at his radio once, following that gaze, then raised his head and said to him,

"Other members will be going to support. Leonardo, you come with me."

As he said that, Hugo held out his hand to Leonardo. However, Leonardo didn't easily take the offered hand as always. He stared blankly at Hugo's hand and seemed to think for a moment, then soon shook his head.

"What will I do there? I want to hunt monsters."

After finishing his short words, he immediately turned around and tried to move somewhere. Then, Hugo hurriedly approached him and grabbed his arm. As Leonardo frowned and turned his head at the strong force stopping his arm, Hugo held him and said,

"Where are you going when you're exhausted?"

"..."

"Don't overdo it. You need rest now."

Hugo spoke as if persuading Leonardo in a firm but gentle tone as much as possible.

Then, Leonardo unfolded his furrowed brows and stared at Hugo's eyes with a subtle expression. It was the same piercingly cold color as usual, but somehow, even though it was the same blue color, the temperature felt a little different now.

While feeling unfamiliarity and a strange feeling that he hadn't felt before in that gaze, Leonardo felt an inexplicable rebellious mentality towards Hugo, who was saying such things at this point.

So, instead of giving the answer the other person wanted, he replied firmly in a cold tone.

"I'll handle it myself."