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Bermuda Chapter 76
🕑 Added 2024-04-28 11:04:32 +0000 UTCChapter 76
The facial muscles of the woman, who had her long black hair tied up high and wore an armband signifying a platoon leader, twitched slightly.
She was the 8th Platoon leader of the 1st Battalion who had pursued Leonardo for a long time before Hugo went to chase after him. As the time she had spent trying to catch him was quite long, she couldn't look at this man in front of her eyes, who was smiling at her, with a favorable gaze at all.
Moreover, as a result of Leonardo's recent interrogation, it was revealed that his appearance during the relentless pursuit wasn't because his traces were found, but it was a strategy to draw in the Council, so she had to feel countless doubts. Because she had gone through unspeakable hardships to catch him.
Seeing the 8th Platoon leader's stiff face, Hugo felt a little sorry. Originally, he had planned to give her a reward vacation for her hard work after bringing Leonardo to the capital, but the schedule for the peninsula was set right away, so the situation wasn't favorable.
It was because her tracking ability was essential to find and subjugate the hidden monsters.
However, as the subtle tension between the two gazes that clashed in front of him seemed to continue, Hugo intervened between the two to break that flow.
"Leonardo, from now on, you lead the way."
"...What? Me?"
Leonardo asked back as if he had misheard. When he talked about his mana control being unstable and whatnot, and now he was telling him to lead the way, trusting him for who knows what reason, he couldn't understand his thoughts at all.
However, as he was getting bored of just following the tail of this slow procession from behind, Leonardo changed his dumbfounded expression and soon said indifferently,
"I won't wait even if you can't keep up."
Leonardo glanced at the members waiting behind Hugo and then shifted his gaze back to him. Seeing that, a faint smile spread across Hugo's lips.
"You seem worried that the members won't be able to keep up, huh?"
Feeling like he was trying to tease him by deliberately using the word 'worried', Leonardo frowned. Eventually, instead of answering that, he turned his eyes to the central entrance.
He grabbed the back of his neck and moved his head leisurely from side to side. Then, a brutal cracking sound came from his neck, and at the same time, a faint wind blew as if the surrounding air was being preheated.
After simply stretching his body, Leonardo looked at the 20 or so people who were looking at him one by one. Then, he conveyed to them in a clear voice,
"We're going at full speed."
Hugo lightly nodded his head.
"I'm looking forward to it."
*
Thud-thud!
At the continuous impact sounds echoing inside the cave, Delua stopped walking and stood still. Then, Marlen, the deputy commander, and the members also stopped in their tracks following her.
As Delua focused on the shaking of the ground for a moment, the irregularly ringing vibration quickly subsided.
Thinking it was a temporary phenomenon and about to depart again, the loud sound from earlier rang out once more.
It seemed to pass by, flaunting its presence right next to the path where the 6th Battalion members were standing, and gradually disappear into the distance. At that sound that heightened the tension, Marlen said in a slightly worried tone,
"The cave won't collapse, right?"
Delua answered while scanning the ceiling and walls of the cave with her eyes.
"Hmm... I think it'll be fine. The soil is a bit soft, but it's based on rock for now, so it won't collapse as long as we don't use long-range attacks. Blaine seems to know that and move accordingly. Above all, the Commander is there, you know? If something happens, he'll take care of it."
Marlen still had an anxious face, but she seemed to agree with the words that the Commander would take care of it if something happened. After the sound completely ceased and was no longer heard, Delua pondered something for a while and asked Marlen,
"You know, about the Commander. What do you think the Commander wants to do with Blaine?"
At the sudden question, Marlen tilted her head and asked back,
"What? What are you talking about all of a sudden?"
"No, actually, I was too busy saving my own skin with the reporting issue earlier to think about it. I thought the Commander trusted him since he kept Blaine next to us and didn't put handcuffs on him. But then, seeing him ask me if I could control him, it seems like that's not the case either..."
"..."
"Or does he have another intention? I just can't figure him out."
Marlen, who had been listening, thought for a short while and then answered as if asking something obvious,
"Isn't it obvious that regardless of whether he trusts him or not, if Blaine's mana control is unstable, it could endanger other people, so that's why he said that?"
"Hmm... I guess so?"
Delua still had some lingering thoughts, but she seemed to have sorted them out as she moved her steps and muttered,
"I thought the Commander also wanted to go with Blaine."
Then, Marlen, who had heard it well, frowned her eyebrows and soon let out a chuckle as if it was absurd.
"Do you think the Commander is like a battalion commander?"
Hearing that, Delua stopped walking again and looked at Marlen. Then, with a refreshing smile, she asked sharply,
"What's that supposed to mean?"
*
"Commander, is it okay to let him run wild like that? If the cave collapses by any chance..."
"It's fine. He'll be more mindful of that."
Although the 8th Platoon leader asked urgently, Hugo answered leisurely. Currently, all the personnel who had gone through the center were traversing the inside of the cave with high-speed flight. Leonardo was already out of their sight.
He was far ahead of them, and his speed was so fast that only the sound of him beating up a few monsters could be heard occasionally, and it was difficult to even see the end of his cloak. If he had brought ordinary members with him, they would have had a hard time keeping up with Leonardo's speed.
When Hugo glanced back, Flynn and the two healer personnel, who weren't combat personnel, seemed to be having a bit of a hard time, but they were still following well.
After traversing the cave swiftly like that for who knows how long, finally, the sound coming from far away subsided, and Leonardo's mana was felt nearby again.
As Hugo stopped flying and set foot on the ground, the other members all landed on the ground as well. At the end of the cave visible in front of their eyes, Leonardo was standing still with his hand on the wall.
As he was the one who made a path even where there wasn't one, Flynn, who had followed with difficulty, found his appearance strange, but he hoped Leonardo would stop for a moment as he was out of breath. On the other hand, Hugo seemed to know why he had stopped.
Hearing the sound of footsteps, Leonardo, who had been staring at the cave wall, turned his head and looked at them. Hugo asked him with a faint smile,
"Do you feel water?"
Then, Leonardo, who had nodded, pointed to the wall in front of him.
"It's filled up ahead."
At Leonardo's words, the members, including Hugo, approached where he was.
Flynn found it fascinating that the two of them could feel 'water' itself, not mana. Even if the Commander was like that because he was a powerful ice and water mage, Leonardo was the opposite, fire, but in the end, it seemed that what the two of them felt was the same.
However, as they approached the wall where he was standing, the ground became increasingly muddy to the point where their feet sank.
Flynn thought it was strange. According to Leonardo, it was filled with water ahead, but in his opinion, this place was at a fairly high altitude and wasn't a place where water would be. Moreover, this sticky mud was also somewhat unnatural to be inside a cave created by volcanic activity.
With a question in mind, he asked into the air,
"The lower part was definitely a cave made of basalt and limestone, so why is there wet soil piled up on this side?"
Hearing him, Hugo put his hand on Flynn's shoulder as if it was a good question and answered,
"The cave wall in front is closer to hardened sediment rather than a wall."
"Sediment?"
"Yes. The things piled up under the water are blocked like a wall, and once in a while, they get punctured and flow into the cave along with the water."
At Hugo's words, the 8th Platoon leader asked,
"If there's a vast amount of water enough to fill the wall... Should we go back?"
Instead of answering her, Hugo looked at Leonardo. As his gaze fell on him, Leonardo slightly raised his eyebrows.
"Why are you looking at me?"
Comments
Jesse Gibson
Ah, because Iโve read ahead quite a bit, I donโt want to give anything away but Iโll just say thisโฆ your view on Hugo was much more positive than he deserved haha ๐ but I also get where your opinion came from. Also to these people, Leo is not a hero, heโs a criminal. That treatment and their fear of him is what he has to deal with. Itโs super frustrating. Anyway.. thanks for commenting! I always enjoy talking about our views. Yours are much more positive than mine ๐ Iโm also just ranting too so I do agree with some of what you say too just grudgingly bahahaha
Monmon
But that's Hugo's purpose? He's literally pushing Leonardo to the forefront with the intention of letting him do what he does best. This has the added benefit of helping rewrite the negative perception among the battalion units that Leonardo is an overwhelmingly dangerous individual that can't be trusted and doesn't belong among them. That's partly why he probably had him stay at the back of the procession in the first place, he's actively pushing Leo into area's where his expertise and strength are needed. (Also under normal circumstances, putting Leo in the back with no cuffs or limiters on him is already a gamble because if he suddenly dips during a fight, there's not much anyone can do about it.) Plus it's shows a level of trust in his character that he will do the right thing even without Hugo's constant surveillance. Leo is already a hero, and this whole mission so far is showing his competency for everyone to see, Hugo's only trying to facilitate this, not take credit or act like a dominant force. He's honestly being a lot more reasonable than plenty of other so-called "cold duke-like" MLs would in his situation. (At least that's how I'm understanding his actions)
Jesse Gibson
Sigh, I just want our Leo to be the hero and not because of Hugo. His character frustrates me so much I still have a strong urge to punch his face.
