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Bermuda Chapter 74
🕑 Added 2024-04-27 11:05:40 +0000 UTCChapter 74
'Should I have brought him along?'
Hugo, who made eye contact with Leonardo who had been looking this way, tried to focus on the meeting again as Leonardo turned his head first, feigning nonchalance. However, from the moment their eyes met, the direction where Leonardo was began to subtly bother him.
Hugo didn't call Leonardo to the meeting today because it seemed the commanders' gazes towards him wouldn't be very good due to the commotion in the early morning. However, seeing him sitting alone, looking uncharacteristically sullen, that face wouldn't leave his mind.
In fact, his sullenness was Hugo's own assumption, but even when his tension dropped, Leonardo's eyes usually remained sharp or he would show that characteristic leisurely smile of his. But today's appearance was neither of those.
Although he thought it was absurd, it seemed like he was looking this way pitifully...
"Commander, what do you think is best?"
Hugo, who had been lost in thought for a moment while looking down at the table, suddenly raised his head at the voice of the company commander calling him.
As he looked around, all the commanders were looking at him as if waiting for an answer. At that, Hugo kept his mouth shut for a while, then soon admitted his own action and said,
"...I'm sorry, I was thinking about something else for a moment. Where did we leave off?"
At his words, the commanders blinked their eyes as if quite surprised. It was because not concentrating during a meeting was the behavior Hugo disliked the most.
However, when he said he had done it himself, the commanders couldn't help but find it very unfamiliar. But since the person with the highest position here who could reprimand Hugo was at most Meterion, the company commander who had asked for Hugo's opinion immediately answered his question.
"Ah... Currently, at coordinates 1402, 109, 2675 in the eastern zone of Elder Millie where the Southern Branch is located, ruins have been discovered. The geological investigators conducted a preliminary simple investigation, and they say it's ancient ruins that are at least 700 years old. Thanks to the volcanic ash, it seems to be well-preserved, so it will have high historical value as well."
"Ancient ruins?"
At those words, Hugo narrowed his brows as if he had a headache. In a situation where he was already short on time to focus on monster subjugation, the fact that ruins with historical preservation value had appeared was not at all welcome news for Hugo. It simply meant one more thing to worry about.
As the company commander stopped speaking at the noticeably colder appearance of the Commander, this time the liaison officer from the Southern Branch rolled his eyes and directly opened his mouth.
"Yes, and somehow... We have arrested grave robbers and archaeologists who privately hired mercenaries and entered the vicinity. They were about to leave right away, but they couldn't get out and were hiding because the battalions of the Council are currently advancing and blocking their escape route."
As the story became increasingly complicated, Hugo frowned. Eventually, he closed his eyes tightly, rubbed his brow, and said,
"...First, transfer the arrested individuals to the temporary headquarters in front of the Fidele Territory gate, and as for the ruins..."
Even as he continued speaking, it seemed thoughts kept coming to mind, so Hugo briefly sighed and stopped talking. However, since all the commanders were waiting for his answer, he soon opened his mouth again.
"As for the ruins, leave a clear mark around them as soon as they are discovered, and only check the extent of whether there are outsiders or monsters inside. Once the confirmation is complete, continuously spread and share the location through the liaison officers. However, our top priority is subjugation."
"Yes, understood."
"Is there anything else to convey?"
Hugo asked the liaison officers from the Southern Branch.
"No, there isn't."
"Then the liaison officers from the Southern Branch return to the original procession, and the Central Branch stay for a moment."
At Hugo's words, the liaison officers from the Southern Branch quickly disappeared after a salute, and only the commanders of the Central Branch remained, looking at Hugo again. Hugo opened his mouth once more.
"Last night, Dermocas appeared around the base camp. And the path we have to take today is also their area of appearance. The more personnel there are, the lower the risk of being attacked, but we will be easily exposed and the marching speed will be slower. So today, we will reach the second objective spot at maximum speed, and after that, we will split into company-scale units and move."
"Yes, understood!"
"Wait a moment."
When everyone was answering, Meterion cut off the flow. Hugo raised one eyebrow as if asking what it was again and looked at him.
As all the gazes focused on him, Meterion continued,
"Why don't you announce the cause of the commotion in the early morning?"
At the question clearly intended to make him say Leonardo's mistake with his own mouth, Hugo stared at him with displeased eyes. However, the other commanders were also curious about it, so although they didn't verbally agree, they were waiting for the Commander's answer.
Seeing those gazes, Hugo had no choice but to open his mouth.
"The landslide that occurred in the early morning was caused by Leonardo Blaine experiencing an unstable mana control problem while attacking the Dermocas that appeared on the peak across."
At his words, one of the company commanders, who seemed to have been waiting for this issue, opened his mouth after gauging the reaction.
"Then, shouldn't the handcuffs be put back on?"
At the company commander's remark, silence flowed over the table. Even without saying it, about half of the commanders seemed to agree with that. In the end, as this topic came up, Hugo remained silent.
In the meantime, another company commander added,
"It doesn't seem like a good idea to keep him in the rear either."
The ones who spoke were all company commanders belonging to the 3rd Battalion under Meterion Clinder. As they steered the atmosphere towards restraining Leonardo again, Delua, who had been showing a bright appearance throughout, answered seriously at those words.
"The one who perfectly dealt with the Drocs and Sigals when they approached the rear procession of the Central Branch was Leonardo Blaine. He is performing the role of the rear escort more diligently than anyone else, and rather, the members of the 6th Battalion were protected by him. So there is no reason to put handcuffs on him."
At Delua's resolute words, silence flowed again. Hugo quietly watched Delua like that, then nodded as if to support her.
"Battalion Commander Rivera is right. Although his mana control is unstable, he is making a significant contribution to the protection of the procession and the marching speed. I think putting handcuffs on him here will only worsen the situation. Therefore, we will continue to keep an eye on him, but for today, we will depart without any change in treatment."
Using Delua's words, who had directly experienced Leonardo, as a basis, Hugo made a decision and wrapped it up quickly in order to settle the situation for now. Usually in such situations, it was right to follow the opinion of the majority, but he thought putting handcuffs on Leonardo again was definitely not a good method.
As the Commander reached a conclusion, no commander objected to his words. Afterwards, he adjourned the meeting and dismissed the commanders.
As all the commanders dispersed to their positions for the final maintenance before marching, Hugo briefly called Delua, who was about to go to the rear, and quietly instructed her.
"Delua, keep a close eye on Leonardo's mana control. If you see any signs of instability, report to me immediately."
At his words, Delua replied with a refreshing smile as if to leave it to her.
"Yes, understood!"
*
As soon as the base camp was organized, the march quickly resumed.
The procession encountered three groups of monsters on the way to the target point. The Dermocas they had encountered in the early morning didn't appear, perhaps because they were frightened by Leonardo's attack, but when dealing with the last group of monsters, the scale was so vast that more than half of the procession had to participate in the battle.
When dealing with the monsters following the rear, Leonardo tried to handle them with close-range attacks as much as possible. It was because he wasn't confident in how the output would be if he fired long-range attacks.
Just as one feels a tremor when trying to do delicate work with hands that have become much lighter after holding heavy things for a very long time, the feeling of instability persisted.
Because of that, Leonardo's mood wasn't very good all day, and Delua, who had been keeping an eye on him, kept praising him exaggeratedly, saying that she couldn't use that level of mana even if she tried, next to him.
Leonardo realized that she wanted to comfort him and smiled, trying not to show his mood.
Afterwards, the procession that had successfully overcome the threat of monsters encountered two more bone graveyards. As the procession passed by the bone graveyard, Leonardo could fully feel the members' tension rising sharply.
He stopped for a moment, picked up a bone fragment, and carefully examined it. Yesterday, he had flown quickly to catch up with the procession after dealing with the Sigals, only seeing it in passing, but today, looking closely, he could discover that something was dried up on the surface of the bone fragments and there were numerous scratches.
Rather than being cut by a blade, it felt like it had been repeatedly scraped by something sharp. Such wounds existed not just in one or two places, but on all the bone fragments. As if they had been torn and eaten in many places.
Putting down the fragment and following the rear of the procession, the path that had been sunken starting from the bone graveyard suddenly became steep as if climbing a mountain.
On a path that required a lot of physical strength, the procession's speed noticeably slowed down, and to make matters worse, the ground was muddy like clay. With the soil gradually absorbing water and the cave interior becoming humid, Leonardo felt suffocated.
Nevertheless, as he silently moved his steps, he suddenly looked back once.
There was nothing on the dark path the procession had passed, but Leonardo, who had narrowed his eyes, stood still and stared at that place. It was because he had felt a strange sense of unease.
Eventually, he turned his head and called out to Delua, who was slightly ahead.
"Battalion Commander Rivera."
"Huh? Did you call me?"
It seemed to be the first time she heard Leonardo calling her properly with her name and title, so Delua asked back with surprise and delight. As she looked this way, Leonardo pointed behind him with his chin and said,
"Someone is tailing the procession."
At his words, Delua looked at the dark back of the cave once and soon nodded slightly.
"I felt it too."
At the answer that seemed like she already knew, Leonardo looked at her with an expression asking why she was leaving it alone, and Delua added with a bright smile,
"The ground has become much weaker than before. If a battle breaks out here, the weak ground may sink, so unless there's a big movement, it's better to leave it alone for now."
Indeed, as someone who controlled inanimate objects, she seemed to be sensitive to the quality and condition of the soil. And Leonardo also felt that the ground had softened a lot, so he nodded in agreement with Delua's words.
At that moment, a static sound came from the radio Delua was holding, and Hugo's voice was heard.
-Battalion Commander Rivera, Deputy Commander Diaz to the front.
In response, Delua answered the radio,
"Yes, understood."
Eventually, she said to Leonardo with a smile,
"I'll be back in a bit."
As Leonardo lightly responded with a glance, Delua went to the front with Marlen. Leonardo watched their retreating figures, then crossed his arms again and kept an eye on the back of the cave.
Comments
Monmon
Bruh Meterion finna catch these fucking hands like damn dawg why you barkin so loud
Arilyn Hanagoori
I’m guessing that the region full of volcanoes and the ancient ruins is the reason for his unstable mana control
Jesse Gibson
The whole mana control thing is really bothering me.. sigh
Jesse Gibson
It could probably be all three, but he’s definitely gunning for Leo we just don’t know if it’s for causing harm or because he wants him for himself. It’s super frustrating
Katsura Kureha
Meterion is getting on my nerves. What is his goal? Sabotaging the mission, discrediting Hugo, or framing Leo as an uncontrollable menace?
