Chapter 153

"..."

Flynn said that this might not simply be a coincidence of Meterion's prediction, but an "intentional situation" created by someone leaking the movements of the 1st Battalion to the outside.

Of course, if his eyes and ears were in someone else's territory, he had to fully consider the possibility that someone else's eyes and ears were also in his territory. However, Hugo shook his head at Flynn's opinion.

"Except for the members who went with you, the entire 1st Battalion moved with me all along. When they were out of my sight, I had them move in groups of three. So even if there was an opportunity for individual action, there would have been far too little time to contact or convey a message to someone else."

"Hmm..."

"And Flynn, you know it too, right? The 1st Battalion undergoes a stricter process in unit formation compared to other battalions. So the probability of an insider being there is slim. Even more so for the possibility of them being under Meterion."

"But... Commander, you were too busy to pay much attention to the formation of this subjugation force. The Deputy Commander was in a similar situation, having returned from an inspection not long ago."

Flynn answered worriedly, but as if realizing his mistake, he hastily added,

"Ah, of course, I'm not saying that there must be an insider. It's just that this time, there were members who were urgently deployed at the discretion of the officers due to the sudden scheduling. So..."

"Members who were urgently deployed? Who are you talking about?"

"Uh... From the 1st Battalion, it's Melanie Ross and Adrian Howard, who were on standby. And Kenis Weber, who was a probationary member."

Hearing Flynn's words, Hugo narrowed his eyes.

"Are you suspecting that they, who suddenly participated in this subjugation, could be the insiders who leaked the situation of the 1st Battalion to the outside?"

"Hmm... To be honest, I don't think there's no possibility."

Thinking about the possibility of an insider close by always came with a sense of skepticism and bitterness. Especially from the perspective of a commander. Flynn seemed to speak carefully, knowing that, but on the other hand, his eyes showed that it was something that needed to be addressed.

"Then, among the three, is there anyone you suspect?"

At Hugo's question, Flynn pondered for quite a long time before opening his mouth.

"Earlier, Commander, you said that the 1st Battalion members wouldn't have had enough time to contact or convey a message to someone, right? Actually, I don't think it's completely impossible. Because there's never a 0 or 100 in probability."

"..."

"But as you said, if we set the presence or absence of situational and time constraints as a premise for judging an insider, there was only one person in the 1st Battalion who was free from that. The one who was out of your sight..."

"Kenis Weber?"

"...Oh, yes. Did you already suspect him?"

"No, it's not that..."

The 1st Battalion was under the direct control of the Commander and Deputy Commander. That's why, when Hugo had to go out in person, like for the peninsula subjugation, he tried to familiarize himself with the faces of the 1st Battalion members who moved with him, if not all of them.

However, the three people Flynn had mentioned earlier were not on the official list because they were urgently deployed without the approval of Hugo and Shorendo, so their faces were not familiar, and among them, Kenis Weber, who was said to be a probationary member, was a face he was seeing for the first time on the peninsula.

The first time he properly recognized his existence was on the night they spent at the crater. When he found him dozing off while standing guard, honestly, if he were to infer the possibility of an insider, he had no choice but to suspect him, who had the least time to get to know him.

"Rather than suspecting, Kenis Weber was the only one whose face I saw for the first time on this expedition, so if I had to choose, I thought he had the highest probability."

"I see, that's right."

"But Flynn, to rephrase what you said, he was free from constraints, which means he wasn't in a situation to find out the movements of the 1st Battalion up close. He was also unaware of our whereabouts. And if he had been close enough to figure out our whereabouts, I would have noticed first."

"Ah, that's true. But I don't think we can underestimate his ability when it comes to figuring out someone's movements or location. I don't know him well, but I heard from the 8th Platoon Leader that his hearing and sense of smell are extremely sensitive compared to the average person. That's why he was able to participate in this subjugation despite being a probationary member."

Flynn added solemnly,

"He may be able to see further than we think is common sense."

"..."

"And the footprints in the swamp. Couldn't that actually be one of the means to know the direction the 1st Battalion would move? I think anyone could have predicted that if they found the footprints, they would follow."

Hugo sighed, looking at the sky with increasingly complicated feelings. Then, he looked at him again and continued with a slightly tired face.

"Flynn, I believe that this illegal mining team has nothing to do with Leonardo. But Kenis Weber was with Leonardo. At least from the time of the ravine collapse to the point when they left footprints in the swamp, and to the point when they found the deceased's belongings, the two were definitely together."

"..."

"In other words, if Kenis Weber had colluded with someone else during the period of disappearance, Leonardo cannot avoid that suspicion either."

"Ah, of course, I don't think Blaine has anything to do with the mining team or the 3rd Battalion Commander either. For Blaine, all the situations so far would not have been his intention at all, so it's even more difficult to see him as being involved. I'm considering it as Kenis Weber's individual action."

"If that's the case, they were together anyway, so Leonardo's eyes would also be a constraint for Kenis, if it can be called a constraint. Do you think he had a chance to secretly collude with someone else while avoiding those eyes?"

"Yes, first of all, the two weren't together when they were found. I don't know exactly when they started moving separately, but if there was even one situation where the two were apart around dawn when the superiors of the mining team escaped, I think there was enough opportunity."

Hugo, who had been thinking deeply about his words, soon rubbed his chin and slowly nodded, answering,

"...I see. Then, I'll ask Leonardo directly about that. Exactly when they started moving separately."

"Yes, then I'll consider the possibilities of the other two people I mentioned earlier. Because nothing is certain yet."

The conversation with Flynn ended like that. It was all suspicion stemming from circumstantial evidence, and there was not a single piece of solid evidence.

Afterwards, Hugo returned to the tent and directly asked Leonardo the question that had come up in the conversation with Flynn, and Leonardo answered that he had somehow become separated from Kenis about an hour before meeting him, and that they had been together all along before that.

Even if it was an hour before meeting him, it was well into the afternoon, long past noon, so if that was the case, Kenis would have an alibi for the dawn, and Flynn's speculation would be off the mark.

However, Hugo couldn't completely exclude Kenis from the list of suspects. It was because he hadn't seen the situation at that time with his own eyes, and he had no confidence in whether Leonardo's answer was really true.

Leonardo seemed somewhat flustered when he heard the question. It could be because he asked suddenly, but to Hugo's eyes, who had quite a lot of interrogation experience at one point, Leonardo's gaze that he had momentarily caught didn't look very natural.

However, his answer that came out soon after was so comfortable and natural in voice and expression that it was hard to see it as a lie.

Moreover, when cross-checked with what Kenis had told the 8th Platoon Leader, it matched, and he also thought that there was nothing for him to gain by lying, and above all, the feeling of not wanting to suspect him kept tilting his objectivity to one side.

Hugo, who had a headache from constantly thinking about the situation at that time, just like Leonardo, took his eyes off the tent used by Meterion at some point and looked up at the huge peak beyond the base camp. Then, as if trying to relieve his complicated thoughts, he let out a deep sigh.

At the sound of that sigh, Leonardo, who had been sitting on the edge of the hill and blankly staring into the void, suddenly raised his head towards Hugo beside him. A face that was clearly filled with worries and looked frustrated came into view.

He had no intention of striking up a conversation, but seeing the face he had turned to look at upon hearing the heavy sigh, he felt like he had to ask.

"What are you thinking about that you're sighing like that?"

Hugo, who had been looking into the distance, glanced down at him at the sound of his voice. Then, staring intently at him, one of his biggest concerns since entering the peninsula, he spoke in a dry voice without much thought.

"Thinking about you."