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Bermuda Chapter 41
🕑 Added 2024-04-07 13:39:19 +0000 UTCChapter 41
"If you let me smoke a cigarette, I'll answer."
Flynn and the investigator from the Northern Branch, who had been concentrating, let out a small sigh as if deflated as soon as they heard Leonardo's words. However, unlike the two of them, Investigator Eckison in particular seemed to feel that his behavior was a challenge to him, showing a considerably unpleasant expression.
"...This bastard-."
At Leonardo's playful attitude, Eckison muttered in a low voice and glared at him with even fiercer eyes.
However, Leonardo stared back at him in the same way, not losing his typical arrogant expression and composure. At that, the investigator spoke to Leonardo in a somewhat coercive tone.
"Leonardo Blaine. You don't seem to understand your current situation. You are already subject to the charge of aggravated destruction for causing a disturbance in the Imperial Square. Do you think you, a criminal, have the right to demand something here?"
"Ah, you know that battalion commander who came to catch me earlier? The one who uses wood magic? His scent seems to be the same as what I smoke, so if possible, I'd like his-."
"Blaine!"
When Leonardo lightly ignored him and said what he wanted to say, the investigator, angered by his behavior, slammed the desk and jumped up from his seat. Thanks to that, a brief silence fell inside the interrogation room.
"How long are you going to be so arrogant? Be aware of your position."
Leonardo, who faced Eckison's blatant gaze filled with anger, could guess why he had been strangely getting on his nerves since earlier.
As much as he provoked him, Leonardo also acted as if he was above the law, getting on the other person's nerves in return. Leonardo discovered the 'contempt' directed towards him that had been lingering in Eckison's eyes from the beginning.
The person who should be fair and objective as an investigator was wearing a mask of petty justice and slandering him. In an instant, this entire interrogation felt ridiculous to him.
At the gaze of the investigator looking down on him, telling him to be aware of his position as if he were some huge flaw, the faint smile on Leonardo's face slowly disappeared.
"My position..."
He had thoroughly ignored the emotions expressed towards him by people who didn't know him for some time now.
Because there were too many people who knew about his brilliant yet gloomy past, he was already burdened enough by shouldering the resentment and curses that followed him from battlefields and various missions.
And he knew very well that if he didn't ignore them, he would go insane.
Leonardo saw this investigator in front of him today for the first time. However, he was not generous enough to consider the circumstances of this investigator's emotions, who showed clear hostility towards him, and there was no reason for him to do so.
Having already framed him as a criminal, Leonardo no longer felt it was worth cooperating with the other party and expressed the hostility that had just arisen in him without hiding it.
Soon, his eyes narrowed, his golden pupils shone fiercely, and his gaze turned into a ferocious one. As his demeanor changed in an instant, no one inside the interrogation room made a sound.
The reason that silence was broken was that Leonardo had jumped up from his seat.
At the sudden movement, everyone inside flinched. As he made a motion as if he was about to rush forward, the door of the interrogation room was roughly opened at the same time, and armed members entered, pointing their capture guns at him.
Leonardo's body was tied to the iron chair fixed to the floor, so he couldn't fully stand up. However, even in that state, he exuded a sufficiently threatening aura. Then, as if the guns pointed at him and the armed members were of no concern to him, he ignored them all and glared only at Eckison, speaking in a murderous voice as if making the other party chew on his words.
"Investigator Luke Eckison, listen carefully. You call my actions aggravated destruction, but from my perspective, it was self-defense to protect myself."
"..."
"If you want to charge me with a crime and talk about rights, you should put me on trial and make a verdict first. I don't care about that petty hatred of yours."
At his words, the investigator's expression noticeably distorted. Leonardo looked at Eckison like that and let out a cold sneer, then spoke again with a fierce momentum.
"Do you think you, who only have a suspicion that I helped the grand master escape, have the right to arbitrarily charge me with a separate crime, treat me as a criminal, and force me to cooperate with the investigation?"
With Leonardo's words, silence fell inside the interrogation room once again. A chilling atmosphere lingered around, and Eckison and Leonardo's gazes fiercely stared at each other as if they wouldn't back down.
And at that moment, through the open door and among the armed members filling the interrogation room, a familiar mana energy flowed in towards Leonardo. The owner of that cool mana spoke to Leonardo in his weighty and low voice.
"That's enough, Leonardo."
At the solemn voice, the investigators and clerks, including Flynn, turned their heads, except for the armed members.
"Commander, loyalty."
"Loyalty."
"Loyalty."
When Hugo revealed himself inside the interrogation room, Eckison saluted him with a slightly flustered expression. Those who were sitting also all stood up and saluted him. However, Hugo didn't respond to their salutes and only stared at Leonardo.
Leonardo stared at Eckison with a cold face, then glanced at Hugo, who was expressionlessly gazing at him, and turned his gaze away, letting out a sneer.
As expected, it was clear that he had been watching everything from outside, just as Leonardo had predicted.
Being watched from all directions and having his expressions, actions, tone of voice, and even the reason for his existence being scrutinized one by one while pretending not to know, Leonardo found this situation extremely irritating, so he sat back down on the hard chair with a frown and gritted his teeth as if chewing on his words.
"That damn Commander."
At the words clearly meant to be heard, Hugo's brows furrowed subtly.
Nevertheless, Hugo didn't say much, but rather, Eckison's face turned red as if he had heard an insulting remark at Leonardo's words. Then, he leaned his body forward as if he was going to grab Leonardo by the collar.
"This bastard, what kind of disrespect to the Commander―!"
"It's alright, Investigator Eckison."
Hugo stopped the investigator with his words. Eckison immediately shut his mouth, but his eyes were still glaring at Leonardo.
On the other hand, Leonardo leaned his body diagonally against the iron chair as if he didn't care at all. At his defiant behavior, Hugo let out a small sigh and calmly said,
"I'll let you smoke one."
At those words, when Eckison was about to say something in surprise, Hugo showed his palm in front of Eckison as if to stop him and sent a cold gaze.
Faced with the silent gaze, Eckison soon lowered his head without a word. Hugo turned his eyes again and continued speaking to Leonardo.
"Also, as you said, until the disposition is decided, we will treat you as a person of interest limited to the Frost territory incident."
"..."
"In return, promise that you will faithfully cooperate with the interrogation again after smoking."
Leonardo didn't answer, keeping his gaze turned away. However, Hugo didn't rush him and waited for him like that.
Leonardo stared at the files spread out on the table with meaningless, hazy eyes as if thinking about something.
From the moment he returned to the Imperial Capital, he had to deal with all kinds of emotions directed at him, and he was exhausted both physically and mentally, becoming quite sensitive. However, the fact that this situation was not good for him was something he knew better than anyone else.
He closed his eyes for a moment as if his head hurt, lowered his head, and ran his tied hands over his face as if washing it. He rubbed his sharp eyebrows, blinked his tense eyes a few times, and then suppressed his agitated momentum to some extent. Doing so seemed to alleviate the throbbing headache.
Eventually, he raised his head again. Then, looking at Agrizendro, who was still waiting for his answer, he spoke with a tired and complicated expression.
"I promise."
*
Hugo took Leonardo out of the interrogation room and headed to the terrace on the top floor of the western building of the Council's annex. It was because Leonardo had insisted on smoking there.
However, to prepare for any situation, more than a dozen armed members and the 3rd Battalion Commander Meterion accompanied them.
When they reached the front of the terrace railing, Hugo briefly untied the strings of Leonardo's restraints. Leonardo, whose arms had been fixed in the same position for a long time and were now free, rubbed his left arm with his right hand as if it was numb.
Seeing that, Hugo gestured with his chin to the member behind him, and an armed Council member approached Leonardo and held out a cigarette. Leonardo took it, examined it, and then spoke to the member with a disappointed face.
"This isn't what I smoke."
Then Hugo looked down at him and coldly said,
"Be grateful that I brought you out here."
Leonardo made a slightly displeased expression, but compared to the attitude of that investigator, Agrizendro's treatment was definitely better, so he didn't argue any further.
Soon, he put the filter in his mouth, ignited a small flame with his fingers, and lit the cigarette.
At that, Meterion, who was holding the chain connected to the shackles on Leonardo's right wrist and ankle, tried not to show it, but had a quite surprised expression. It was unbelievable to him that Leonardo used mana even while wearing these thick mana restraining shackles.
However, Hugo seemed to have expected that he could use mana to some extent even in his current state, so he stepped aside without saying anything. Then, he also held the chain connected to the shackles on Leonardo's left wrist and ankle and leaned against a pillar.
With Leonardo in the middle, Hugo and Meterion stood on either side of him, holding the chains and watching him, and the armed members lined up in a single row behind them, waiting.
Leonardo leaned against the railing, rested his arms on top, inhaled the filter, and exhaled a long trail of smoke.
The sky of the Imperial Capital was already filled with a vast expanse of red and orange twilight. The smoke he exhaled scattered towards the scenery of the Imperial Capital, over which the red sunset was draped. The sunset shone on his face, dyeing his appearance entirely in a crimson hue.
He stared at the distant sky for a moment, then lowered his head slightly and slowly looked around the Imperial Capital spread out before his eyes.
The reason he had insisted on being brought here was that, unlike near the main building surrounded by a vast courtyard, this place had the best close-up view of the streets of the Imperial Capital.
As if nothing had happened, the earlier commotion was nowhere to be seen, and the Imperial Capital still had a peaceful appearance.
People moved busily between the visible buildings, and their long shadows adorned the streets. The setting sun reflected on the windows, emitting a sparkling light. Even though he frowned because of the glare, Leonardo never took his eyes off the scenery.
With his lips slightly chapped and stinging from fatigue, he held the cigarette in his mouth, exhaled smoke mixed with many emotions once again against the backdrop of the vast Imperial Capital.
Fluttering flags and towering spires, the sound of bells ringing from the huge clock on top. Listening to the sound of the constantly moving trams and the hoofbeats of the carriages passing by, he smiled a bitterly sweet smile welling up from his heart and said,
"Really, nothing has changed at all."
The sunset fell on his long eyelashes, casting shadows like stripes over his eyes, and smoke lazily spread out between his red lips. The slightly curled-up corners of his mouth and his finely furrowed brows, squinting from the glare, were contradictory.
Hugo, who was watching that contradictory smile from the side, thought that this scene before his eyes, with Leonardo's eyes dyed red like the twilight, was so cruel yet undeniably beautiful.
However, even amidst that picturesque scene, the appearance of Leonardo, who had become the most perfect subject, somehow looked deeply sorrowful to him.
His captivating lips were clearly smiling, but under his graceful eyebrows, though furrowed, his eyes were dyed red by the sunset, making it seem as if he were crying.
Comments
Jesse Gibson
Ah I’m so upset he was caught, I just can’t get over it
Tgcf_fan
"However, even amidst that picturesque scene, the appearance of Leonardo, who had become the most perfect subject, somehow looked deeply sorrowful to him. His captivating lips were clearly smiling, but under his graceful eyebrows, though furrowed, his eyes were dyed red by the sunset, making it seem as if he were crying." - 😭😭
