Chapter 194

Leonardo's shoulders heaved heavily due to his uneven breathing.

A gray wasteland tinged with despair. A golden flame flickering precariously there.

In the captain's figure, unsteady as if about to lose balance yet still firm, Nero encountered an indescribable emotion.

He had always respected his will and admired his beliefs. But the emotion that welled up inside him at that moment was not the enthusiasm or pride to follow the captain's intentions.

It was anger towards a foolishly consistent human being, to the point of simplicity.

Nero asked back with a bitter laugh.

"People we must protect?"

White hands rose from the muddy ground, grasping Leonardo's legs and pulling him into despair. Wanting to shake off the curses and blame those phantoms were pouring on him, Nero unconsciously closed his eyes tightly and then opened them.

However, the unpleasant whispers echoing in his ears persistently circled around, and the face of the upright hero, frustratingly steadfast, gradually blurred and became distorted.

Even though he was torn, cut, and reduced to rags, he spoke of the empire's citizens before his own well-being.

Nero sneered at this image of the captain. Eventually, he wrapped his hand around the hot fist touching his left chest, gripping it so tightly that the veins in his forearm stood out, and said:

"Stop pretending to be cool."

Leonardo's eyelids moved slightly. Nero's lowered voice fell to the ground along with the flowing rainwater.

"Those damn citizens, those damn citizens! What have those precious citizens done for you in the past 3 years? They criticized, cursed, and condemned you. What else have they done for you besides that!"

Nero's twisted anger overflowed uncontrollably, as if venting long-suppressed resentment. The resentment and anger mixed in his trembling breath erupted like an active volcano along with his piercing emotions.

"Really, ...I'm saying this because it's so frustrating. Have you ever seen me this angry at you before? How desperate must I be to act like this--"

"...Hey."

"What have you gained from protecting the citizens of the empire? That trash-like restriction that says you'll be executed if you meet your comrades? That creepy collar that cripples your perfectly fine mana? Is that what we've been fighting for all this time? It's not. I'm saying that you are more important to me right now than this damn empire that only gives us such things!!"

The blazing red eyes burned fiercely as if about to devour the person standing before him. In the passionate, heavy breathing and the strength gripping his own hand, Leonardo faced Nero's resentment that was raging on his behalf.

These were words they both knew but never openly expressed for each other's sake.

Normally, he would have punched him on the head for being disrespectful, or coldly warned him for crossing the line. But now, he couldn't say or do anything. He didn't have the energy to distinguish whether it was because of Nero's strength holding him, or because everything he was saying was true.

Leonardo forcibly swallowed the bitterness lingering in his mouth.

"In the past, I wouldn't have said such things. Because you're much smarter and stronger than me, Captain, I would have followed you without a word even if I felt uneasy. ...But look at you now. Captain, you really look like you're about to collapse. I'm going crazy with worry, afraid that if I take my eyes off you for even a moment, you might faint somewhere without anyone knowing."

Nero's words poured out painfully, as if trying to scratch his pride. But knowing that wasn't his intention, Leonardo kept his mouth shut.

As he remained silent without responding, the strength in Nero's hand covering his fist gradually loosened. Then suddenly, wide-open arms approached and, without context, hugged Leonardo tightly.

In fact, it would be more accurate to say that he was the one being hugged, but to Leonardo, it felt like a young subordinate wanting to pour out his frustrations had come into his arms. Perhaps because of this, although he wore a surprised expression for a moment while trapped in the warm embrace, he didn't particularly push him away and slowly patted Nero's back.

The tightening force made his ribs ache again, but he only slightly furrowed his brow without showing it. It was because the breath echoing in his ear was trembling pitifully.

"Please, I'm begging you. Let's leave this place together."

Nero's voice, sounding desperate once more, blended well with the sound of rain. Leonardo helplessly melted into the warmth, using that damp music as a backdrop, and absently looked up at the sky over the other's shoulder.

He moved his limp wrist to stroke the back that had grown broader than his own, and gently ran his blood-soaked hand through hair redder than blood. The heartbeat felt through their touching chests shook his troubled heart, but from the moment he first heard the suggestion to run away until this moment that would be the last. Leonardo's resolve had not wavered even once.

"Nero."

Because of the rainwater gathering in the corners of his eyes, Leonardo blinked slowly. The two arms embracing his waist and shoulders loosened slightly upon hearing his name. Leonardo grabbed Nero's shoulders and pushed him back just enough to see his face. Then he spoke in a calm voice.

"You're right."

Hope momentarily colored the red eyes looking at Leonardo. The stubborn gaze that refused to listen to anything else softened for a moment.

But the words that followed from the other were a little different from what Nero had expected.

"As you said, I've become weaker than before. Miserably so. I can't use mana as well as I used to, and living as a civilian has dulled my agility and senses. That's probably why I was caught by the mere Council and ended up here."

What followed were only self-deprecating words, as if mocking his own reality, so Nero looked quite bewildered as he listened.

"...No, Captain, I didn't mean-"

"But from the time I was released on parole from Amphitrite, every moment we met occasionally. And until just before I was taken into custody by the Council, I kept living while running away."

Leonardo, who had bowed his head for a moment after interrupting, chewed his lips heavily.

"Running away to escape the law, running away to avoid criticism. I constantly ran from my past, my mistakes, my tarnished honor."

When he met Nero's eyes again, his expression was painfully distorted by memories of the past.

Suddenly faced with that expression, Nero's breath caught for a moment. He couldn't say anything to the other. Though he thought he had experienced the same pain, the weight of the pain he felt couldn't possibly be the same as that of the person directly involved. The deep emotion etched on Leonardo's face was far more bitter and heavy than what was in his own heart.

So as he remained silent, soon the red lips before him moved pitifully. What leaked out from between them was the captain's true feelings that he had been hiding all this time.

"Nero, I don't want to run away anymore."

The finely furrowed brow appealed with forced calmness. The voice added to it was so choked up that it reached Nero more desperately than any words could.

"...Captain."

After the painfully revealed true feelings, silence settled along with the rain.

They both had much to say, but neither intended to open their mouths. This was because their respective intentions had already been fully conveyed through the overwhelming emotions that had passed between them until now.

Seeing the captain who was as unwilling to back down as himself, and his heart that didn't want to run away. Nero sighed, roughly rubbing his eyes. He grabbed his wet hair as if to tear it out and closed his eyes tightly in complicated emotions, then opened them. As he did so, the captain's hand casually approached and tidied his disheveled hair.

"I don't want you to catch someone else's eye and put yourself in danger. There's no need for you to get hurt fighting that monster too."

Leonardo spoke while raising the collar of the battle uniform Nero was wearing and carefully fastening the buttons and zipper up to his neck. After affectionately adjusting his clothes like this, he pushed against Nero's chest and stepped back.

"So you should go back now. You've done everything you needed to do by rescuing me."

"..."

"Of course, I'm not leaving here. Not until I kill that thing."

Leonardo's fiercely burning gaze was directed towards the roaring monster in the distance. At first glance, it seemed to be boiling with frustration and desire for not having caught and killed the creature, but Nero, who had known him for a long time, glimpsed another emotion mixed in those shimmering golden eyes.

Perhaps it was concern for 'that person' who was confronting the creature.

Following the captain's gaze to the blue light spreading in the sky, Nero barely swallowed the curses about that annoying person. Then he turned his eyes back to the front and blurted out in an irritated tone.

"Captain, do you know something?"

Leonardo's eyes, which had been tracing Hugo's traces, returned to their place at Nero's question. As the golden eyes focused entirely on him, Nero pushed the now quite long golden hair behind his ear and said:

"You used to always tell me I was stubborn, but in my opinion, the really stubborn one is you, Captain."

The elegant eyebrows furrowed slightly at the sudden remark. Nero, taking in that sight, let out a big sigh in front of Leonardo. Having suppressed his emotions with consecutive deep breaths, he opened his mouth as if he had made a decision.

"If you're not leaving, I'm not leaving here either."

"...What? Hey, what have you been listening to all this-"

"But I'm not supposed to be here in the first place, right?"

Nero didn't give him a chance to argue back, fearing another stern rebuke might fall from the captain's lips. Since what followed wasn't exactly wrong, Leonardo, who was about to say something, hesitated for a moment and closed his mouth. It was because he couldn't quite grasp what the other was thinking.

"So give me one justification, Captain. A justification for me to be here."

Nero, who had been hesitating, grabbed Leonardo's hand. Then, with red eyes full of firm determination, he met his gaze steadily.

"A justification to stay by your side and fight together."

Faced with the sharply blazing gaze, Leonardo finally grasped Nero's intentions. Nero was urging him as if he had read his mind.

"Be honest. You need me, don't you?"

"..."

Leonardo hesitated for a moment between his true feelings and reason that were instantly mixed. Nero was speaking of the reality laid out before them right now.

As he said, it was uncertain whether this miserable situation could be resolved with just his and the Council's power. To be truly honest, he needed his strength.

But what if he was discovered while remaining here? What if someone noticed Nero's identity and reported him?

Unpleasant thoughts of what might happen sprang up randomly, and Leonardo bit his lip hard. It felt like he was being sucked into an endless deep contemplation. Because of this, as he closed his eyes tightly against the oncoming headache, the hand gripping his own squeezed even more strongly. It was a silent pressure not to think of anything else.

At the desperation no less than his own transmitted through that strength, Leonardo's trembling eyelids slowly opened. Soon, the golden eyes, wet with thoughts and shrouded by eyelashes, were revealed, and that sorrowful gaze grasped Nero's collar.

The lips that had turned purple by now moved faintly, and finally, in a voice that had become small, he painfully uttered:

"...Nero."

"..."

"Please help me."

As if he had said something he shouldn't have, his beautiful face crumbled heartbreakingly. Nero said nothing and just embraced him as the captain lowered his head.

Cradling the captain's head buried in his shoulder, Nero smiled slightly. Then, in the most reliable voice in the world, he simply answered the justification he had been given.

"Roger."