Chapter 115

The sound of the bonfire burning mixed with the savory aroma of mushrooms being grilled. Kenis picked out a few well-roasted mushrooms and placed them on a plate. Then, after sprinkling a little seasoning he had, he brought the plate to Leonardo.

"Mr. Blaine, please eat some of this."

Leonardo, who had been staring intently at only one place with fierce eyes, glanced at Kenis, who had timidly approached him in a small frame that didn't match his physique and shyly held out the grilled mushrooms and a fork. However, it was only for a moment before he fixed his gaze forward again and said,

"I don't like that. You eat it."

"What? But you haven't eaten anything... Please try a little."

Even though he mustered the courage to ask again, the answer that came back was a flat refusal. Kenis couldn't hide his crestfallen expression at having the mushrooms he grilled instantly rejected. However, it felt awkward to offer it again when he said he disliked it, and the expression on his face as he glared at the scholar was so scary that Kenis didn't dare to ask again.

Leonardo was leaning against a shaded wall, sitting at an angle with one knee raised and his arm resting on it, solely glaring at the unidentified man who had introduced himself as a scholar. There was no way the scholar couldn't know about the gaze fixed on him, but he still had a quite relaxed demeanor. He was ignoring the persistent scrutiny and focusing only on his own tasks.

What he was doing was marking something on a map with a protractor and ruler. Leonardo, who had briefly glanced at the map earlier, vaguely guessed that he was searching for something based on the X marks in each section.

Judging from the items he had and his actions, he seemed to fit the role of an archaeologist, but to Leonardo, who had seen the depths of human nature quite a bit while living a rather eventful life, albeit short, there was something fishy about him. A guy far from honesty or integrity.

The scholar's backpacks that Leonardo had found suspicious all had the same brand attached to them, and except for the degree of wear and tear, the material and appearance were almost identical to the bag the outsider had.

And the reason for that was very obvious. The bag the outsider had was also the scholar's.

A little while ago, as soon as the dagger touching his neck moved slightly away, the scholar first let out a big sigh and introduced himself as Simon. He said that the research he was conducting was related to the peninsula, so he had been very interested in it for a long time and had often snuck in for investigation before.

Then, when he heard the news that the Council was subjugating the peninsula, he was concerned that things with long historical value would be damaged, and judged that he could no longer delay the investigation of things he had not yet discovered, so he made full preparations and entered the peninsula again.

Afterward, the scholar explained the situation, saying that he had already heard from Kenis about the appearance and attire of the outsider Leonardo mentioned and the minerals and eggs in the bag. The scholar stated that he was the original owner of the bag and that the contents were what he had intended to take for his research.

And he added that he had only briefly accompanied the outsider inside the peninsula for the purpose of protecting himself, and in a moment of distraction, the outsider had stolen the entire bag and ran away.

The reason the outsider knew about the value of the minerals and the explosion was because the scholar had informed him of the contents he had learned while researching, and he had taken the eggs because they were unfamiliar eggs he had never seen on the peninsula before. In addition, he politely apologized, saying that it seemed the two of them had been put in danger because of him.

Kenis seemed to trust him greatly, as he couldn't be held directly responsible and yet politely apologized and even took care of them. However, Leonardo still didn't believe those words at face value.

First of all, to point out the most basic thing, that scholar shouldn't be so boldly in front of a Council member like this. The fact remained that he was also an outsider who had illegally trespassed on state-owned land and attempted to take out state-owned property.

And the reason such a person could be so relaxed was that in exchange for treating and taking care of Leonardo and Kenis, who had been unconscious, he had received a promise from Kenis not to inform the Council of his presence on the peninsula.

It was called a promise, but Leonardo thought that a guy who made a deal with the Council, and at that, using people's lives, could never be a good fellow. And the point that the reason for accompanying the outsider was for self-protection, and the point that he also didn't know the details about the eggs, were all answers that were not convincingly satisfactory.

Moreover, his appearance was also untrustworthy. Putting aside the fact that his constant smiling and occasional glances this way were not believable, it felt unpleasant. Of course, this was just that he didn't like the guy, leaving objectivity aside.

Leonardo looked at Kenis, who had made such a promise with that kind of guy, with disdain once again. As he looked at him, Kenis, who was still next to him, blinked his eyes and held out the grilled mushrooms to him.

'If Kazad finds out, he'll catch this guy before that one.'

Leonardo frowned and waved his hand as if telling him to put it away properly.

Perhaps one of the types Agrizendro particularly disliked was a guy who tried to negotiate with the Council. And the guy under him had eagerly taken the bait, so it was natural for the illegally entered fellow to be so calm.

Moreover, while he was unconscious, it seemed Kenis had spilled everything to that scholar guy, mentioning his name and what had happened, as if complaining, so the scholar already knew that he was not a Council member, and that he was the very "Leonardo Blaine".

In fact, he didn't really care whether the scholar got caught while investigating or not, but if he hadn't made that so-called promise, he could have pretended to be a Council member and used the threat of snitching to find out this and that, which made him a bit regretful.

However, that didn't mean he actually had any intention of ratting out that scholar to the Council.

First of all, that scholar would be the one who truly knew the location where the minerals were discovered, and even though he didn't trust him, if it was really thanks to him that they were alive, he intended to keep his duty. Moreover, he was currently in a position of being dragged to the Council himself, so he had even less intention of assisting the Council's official duties other than subjugation.

However, there was one thing that was questionable.

At the moment of falling, Leonardo had mustered his last strength to temporarily levitate Kenis and himself, who had been plummeting. Thanks to that, he was able to reduce the acceleration to some extent, but even so, he couldn't completely block the impact.

In fact, now that he thought about it, he couldn't properly recall the situation at that time, that's how out of his mind he was then. He barely protected his head and just kept running toward some space he saw in front of him... After that, he couldn't remember well.

If he had to recall the sensation, it was that just before losing consciousness, a very warm hand had grabbed him.

Leonardo, who had been blankly resting his chin, rolled his eyes and stared at the scholar.

'Is it that guy? He doesn't look that agile though.'

The guy with light purple hair and pale skin had a decent build, but he looked like someone who would have been cooped up in a lab doing only research. His eyes were a bit different, but at least outwardly, that's how he seemed. Anyway, a guy like that rescuing Kenis and himself amidst the pouring rocks... It was quite an absurd story.

As Leonardo's gaze continued to be directed at the scholar, the scholar suddenly turned his head and his eyes met Leonardo's. The snake-like eyes still smiled with a grin as they stared at Leonardo. His eyes always had a slight curve, making it look like he was smiling, but it wasn't a sincere smile. In the midst of the strange staring contest, the scholar opened his mouth first.

"Pretty boy, if you keep staring at me like that, I might misunderstand that you're interested in me."

A brief silence followed. Rather, the one who was startled by the scholar's words was Kenis. Leonardo, who had been quietly resting his chin, frowned without any particular comment.

'Is he a weirdo too?'

Eventually, instead of responding to the words he had heard earlier, he brought up the question he had.

"Hey, you. About you saving the two of us at the collapse site. Is that true? You don't seem like the physical type, so how did you get out of there?"

"Hm?"

The scholar tilted his head with his signature annoying smile and said,

"What are you talking about? I didn't even go there?"

Leonardo's face was filled with question marks upon hearing the scholar's words. He looked at the scholar for a moment, then turned his eyes to Kenis and asked again,

"What? Didn't you say he saved us?"

"What? Ah, that's—."

"Saving you is correct. I used all the medicine I brought for myself on you guys. But I'm not the one who saved you at the collapse site. When I arrived here, you two were already collapsed here."

The scholar interrupted Kenis's words and answered instead.

At the mention of being collapsed here, Leonardo's eyebrows rose slightly as if not understanding. Seeing him, Kenis asked Leonardo,

"Didn't you bring us here, Mr. Blaine? I thought that was the case..."

"...I don't remember well either."

Leonardo thought that perhaps Kenis, who had woken up in the middle, had moved him, but this guy thought he had brought him. At that, Leonardo furrowed his brow and tried to recall his memory.

'I came here on my own? Did I move unconsciously?'

The scholar, seeing them looking confused, slightly raised the corners of his mouth and then drew a line on the map with a ruler. Then, he gestured as if telling them to come closer.

"Do you want to take a look at this? I'll show you how far that collapsed place is from here."

At those words, Kenis, who had been alternately looking at the scholar and Leonardo, got up and immediately approached where the map was.

Leonardo sat there with a doubtful face, but he too soon got up from his seat and slowly walked toward the scholar. The scholar smiled as if he had expected him to come and slightly pushed the map in his direction.

Leonardo bent his knees, sat down, and carefully examined the map. There, a single straight line connecting two points was marked in red pen. One point was the collapsed mountainside, and the other point seemed to indicate this place now.

Seeing that, Leonardo couldn't help but be a little surprised. It was because the distance from the collapse site to here was much farther than expected. Even if taking the shortest route, it was absolutely not a distance that a person who was about to lose consciousness could move unconsciously.

'Then who?'

As Leonardo, whose confusion had deepened, was quietly looking at the map, the scholar glanced at him right next to him and casually changed the subject.

"By the way, you had a lot of interesting things."

At the scholar's words, Leonardo's eyes instantly turned cold.

He slowly turned his head and leisurely placed his hand on the column next to the scholar's head, who was looking at him. The scholar stared at his arm reaching out next to his head for a moment, then met eyes with Leonardo again.

It was quite threatening, even though he hadn't struck with his fist.

"Did you rummage through my artifacts?"

His voice was different from before. The scholar seemed to instinctively know that if he made a mistake with his tongue, it would be big trouble, so he smiled leisurely but slightly avoided his head to the side.

"Hey, how could I rummage through something that has multiple layers of locks? I just roughly looked to see if there were any usable medicines or something while taking off the uncomfortable-looking things."

"..."

"Come to think of it, the dagger you put to my neck earlier wasn't an ordinary item either."

Leonardo quietly listened to him rambling on and thought,

'He tried, this bastard.'

It seemed he had looked through some of his belongings, although he couldn't open the locked artifacts.

Leonardo glared at the scholar and tried to discern the truth of his words.

If what the scholar said about roughly seeing them while trying to take care of the injured was true, although his actions weren't very mannerly, Leonardo didn't want to react sensitively and arouse curiosity for no reason. And in fact, the things he had were all expensive and hard-to-obtain items, so it was understandable for someone who knew to take an interest in them. It was just unpleasant that the one taking interest was this guy.

Also, when he had counted earlier, nothing else was missing, and it occurred to him that someone who had seen or stolen something wouldn't mention it and stir up trouble for no reason.

However, finding out that this guy was the one who had taken off his mage robe top and attached bandages to his shoulders and arms made him feel annoyed rather than grateful.

Leonardo, who had been making eye contact with the scholar, lowered his hand that had been placed next to the scholar's head. It meant he would let it slide. However, the scholar looked at Leonardo with his elongated eyes and grinned.

"But you wouldn't let me touch what's in your pants pocket. What's in there that you're so protective of it?"

At the scholar's words, Leonardo slowly straightened his bent knees and looked down at him with an expressionless face.

"You have too much interest in other people's belongings."

There was a suitable warning in his gaze and voice. Leonardo immediately turned his body and walked away somewhere.

Then Kenis, thinking Leonardo was angry, fidgeted anxiously and hesitantly got up to follow him. The scholar watched their retreating figures with an intrigued expression.

'Pocket?'

Leonardo's steps quickened as he got farther away from them. He turned the corner of the structure, took a few more steps to distance himself, and then plopped down, leaning against a standing column.

The fact that there was something in his pocket was unknown even to him. However, he had deliberately hidden his puzzled expression in front of the scholar.

Leonardo fumbled the upper part of his thigh. Then, he really felt something in his left pants pocket.

He put his hand in the pocket and felt inside. Then, a refreshing and cool sensation of metal touched his fingertips.

Leonardo had a hunch about this sensation he was feeling now. It was because it was something he was familiar with.

What he felt was a ring. However, when he had checked his belongings, all the rings he originally owned were still there. Then, this ring would not be something he originally had.

He swallowed dry saliva once with his hand stuck in his pants pocket. Then, he carefully took out the ring and visually confirmed it.

"..."

His lips parted slightly.

The ring was quite thick, and the outer surface was decorated with delicate engravings on a silver background. As expected, this ring was not his, but it was an extremely familiar object. He had the same one, but he had left it behind along with everything else on the day of his court-martial.

Leonardo concentrated on his fingertips and slowly caressed the inside of the ring. He felt another engraving.

On the inside, deep letters were engraved. He slightly twisted the angle of the ring he was holding to check the engraved letters.

'NERO'

His face, which had been stiff the whole time, gradually softened.

"...Ha."

A pleasant chuckle flowed out.