“When you go outside, there will be a liaison officer from the border zone stationed within three miles. Meet him quickly, report the current situation, receive a response about the estimated arrival time of reinforcements, then return here.”
“Understood.”
“And—”
The member, about to move at once, halted at Hugo’s voice, which carried something left unsaid. Seeing this, Hugo lowered his tone and added,
“Don’t mention the discovery of the two people’s traces yet. For now, let’s keep that between us.”
“Ah... yes.”
The member who received the order looked curious at the added caution, but gave no reply beyond his answer. Bowing his head to Hugo, he immediately headed toward the passage leading outside.
Watching his back, Hugo turned to another member standing nearby and asked,
“Is the cleanup nearly finished?”
“Not yet, sir. Since some were caught trying to escape, we estimate a few more have already slipped away.”
The miners from the team, handcuffed, were dragged out one by one by the 1st Battalion and packed into the natural cave prison, sealed with bars of ice.
Most walked along quietly, but a few were dragged unconscious—perhaps fainted from being forcibly subdued. Now and then, one or two were brought in half-naked, claiming their clothes had been stripped away.
Even at a glance, their numbers were overwhelming, and ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) at the words that more had escaped, Hugo cast a weary glare toward the imprisoned.
As his cold eyes swept over them, the workers, who had been murmuring, instantly fell silent and huddled together in a corner.
By Hugo’s leg, the captured outsider knelt with hands cuffed and bound by rope, watching the workers with the hollow face of a beaten man. He served well as an example of obedience.
Seeing the endless stream of captives, Hugo pressed his temple firmly. Searching for the two missing people was already stretching him thin, yet now, with an organized illegal mining team under arrest, the workload piled higher and his head throbbed.
When the Central Branch subjugation force had first entered the peninsula, Delua, who commanded the rear line, had reported that unidentified personnel seemed to be trailing the procession.
Even before then, Hugo had occasionally heard from Southern Branch liaison officers that illegal intruders were being caught.
But at that time, he had to watch Leonardo, whose behavior might prove unpredictable at the start of the subjugation, keep an eye on Meterion, who kept tripping him up and trying to fall back, and at the same time fight monsters while leading the procession safely. He had no room to weigh Delua’s unconfirmed, speculative report.
Now, he regretted brushing it aside.
“I should have cut off all sprouts back then.”
The workers shuddered at the quiet mutter, his eyes fixed on them from beyond the bars.
As the prison grew crowded, Hugo drew up new ice pillars, sealing the gap where workers had been led inside.
Moments later, more pillars shot up beside it, creating another cell to contain the steady flow of captives.
This was already the fifth such prison. The 1st Battalion alone lacked the manpower and time to arrest them all. Frustrated, Hugo brushed back the hair clinging to his forehead, then checked the watch on his wrist.
It had been around midnight when they found the two people’s footprints near the swamp. After searching the area all night, they reached this cave and discovered a huge structure. There they found traces suggesting the two had stayed, but not the people themselves.
At daybreak, they shifted their search toward apprehending the outsider and interrogated him, hoping he knew of their movements. He claimed to have had no contact with them after the collapse, but revealed instead the base of this vast and organized illegal group.
What Hugo thought would be a quick cleanup had now dragged on for more than two hours. Reinforcements had been called, but he had no idea how long they would take to arrive.
Meanwhile, with his hands tied here, he could not know what choices the two missing people would make, how they would move, or what might befall them. The anxiety gnawed at him.
“Commander.”
Lost in thought, Hugo lifted his head at the call. The 8th Platoon Leader had approached at some point.
She glanced at the outsider kneeling beside him, then met Hugo’s eyes again.
“I’m referring to the explosive mineral the culprit mentioned. There were many that looked similar in size and shape, so we examined them one by one. But none seemed capable of exploding.”
Hugo’s gaze dropped to the outsider.
“Then, in the end, the explosion in the ravine was his doing alone, unrelated to the minerals?”
The outsider, listening, flinched and stammered, as if to protest.
“Th-that’s n-not—”
But under the cold stares of Hugo and the Platoon Leader, he shut his mouth at once. She turned back to Hugo and continued,
“It’s true the mineral he threw caused that explosion. After interrogating other managerial-level workers, we learned this team handled a mineral called etaide, which acts as a catalyst for explosions. Some time ago, a few ran off with a small quantity during internal strife.”
“Etaide?”
“Yes. Since it’s only recently become known, even among dealers, it’s unofficially called that. The original owner of the mineral the culprit used was also a worker who escaped with them. So the mineral was certainly kept here.”
“But it wasn’t found among those examined.”
“That’s right.”
Hugo’s brow furrowed. If only Flynn had brought someone more knowledgeable about minerals—but he was away carrying out other orders.
“In my judgment, either our members haven’t found it yet due to the complex terrain, or—judging by the drag marks on the dirt floor—some of the minerals, including etaide, were already taken by the missing managers.”
“...”
“I had the other managers list the items they handled and compared them with what remains. The valuable ones are mostly gone.”
“...The estimated time of escape for those managers?”
“They said everyone was present until last night’s personnel check, so it’s presumed they fled at dawn, before you and we arrived, Commander.”
“At dawn...”
Hugo murmured, rubbing his chin and lips slowly. The timing was uncomfortably close.
This mining team had clearly existed for quite some time. Judging from its hierarchical structure and the hidden base, it must have been established over many months. Their number far exceeded expectation, and the volume of minerals they had mined was immense.
Logically, intruders of such scale would need to enter and exit the peninsula regularly to secure food, replenish manpower, and export the minerals.
So how had they never once been caught by the Council?
Hugo’s cold gaze swept slowly across the imprisoned one by one. Those who met it quickly turned their eyes away.
His scrutiny lingered on their faces, then stopped suddenly at a meaningless point.
Is there a mole?
