Hugo, having just escaped from the familiar semicircular desk, emerged from the meeting room with an expression that suggested he was fighting off a headache. As soon as he closed the door behind him and let out a sigh of relief, Loren, who had been waiting, unfolded her arms and straightened up from where she’d been leaning against the wall, saying:
"You came out earlier than expected."
Delua, who had been waiting in the corridor on the Commander's summons, flinched for a moment at Loren's words. Hugo also stared at her intently, as if he’d heard something he shouldn’t have. He was about to retort, "Did you want me to get scolded more?" but, struck by a sudden déjà vu, he decided not to bring it up.
Instead, he glanced at his watch, ran his hand through his hair, and replied in a tired tone:
"As you said, it ended early. Just about 30 minutes."
"...If it sounded like I was being sarcastic, I apologize. I expected you wouldn't hear anything good since the Commander exercised his veto power against the Upper House's orders."
"Good words, huh? When have they ever had good words to say? Anyway, we achieved the goal of subjugation, and today they seemed to only want to hear the report, refraining from unnecessary words. The Upper House members even sent their staff instead, so I didn't have to face them directly."
"That's fortunate."
Loren had intended to share some internal situations with Hugo as soon as his report was over, but seeing his somewhat exhausted appearance, she wondered if it was right to bring it up now. Meanwhile, Hugo, looking around, asked Delua beside him:
"Where's Meterion? I told him to wait."
"Ah, well... that..."
Delua, also sensing that Hugo was not in a good mood, hesitated as she looked up at him. Noticing her awkward expression, Loren spoke up instead:
"He said he'd go ahead since it seemed to be taking long. Said he had a lot to sort out."
Hugo's brow furrowed.
"...How long did he wait?"
"About 10 minutes."
In fact, it hadn't even been five minutes, but Loren lied just enough for the sake of peace on both sides. Hugo wasn't particularly pleased with Meterion's arbitrary departure, but knowing how precious ten minutes could be in a busy situation, he accepted it and moved on. Instead, he apologized to Delua, who had continued to wait:
"You must be busy. I'm sorry for making you wait so long."
"Ah, no. It's fine."
"It's nothing else, but I'd like the 6th Battalion to compile a list of casualties internally. As we just discussed inside, the human casualties from the peninsula subjugation are at an unprecedented level, so even though we succeeded in the subjugation, it will be difficult to avoid external criticism."
"Indeed... I see."
"But I'll cover that point well, so don't worry too much. It's not something a commander who did their best should be concerned about. Rather, we need to hurry with the burial of the fallen and consoling the bereaved families, which is the common intention of myself and the higher-ups. Um... your heart must be heavy due to Marlen's and your subordinates' injuries, so I'm sorry for giving you work right after returning. You must be tired today, so organize things moderately and rest, and please deliver the list as soon as possible if you can."
"Yes, I understand."
"Please convey the same to the 3rd Battalion Commander."
"Yes!"
As Hugo continued to give instructions while seeming apologetic, Delua deliberately answered more vigorously. Finally, at his gesture to go, she bowed her head and was about to turn the corner of the corridor when she hesitated.
"Commander—"
Hugo, who was still watching her, gestured with his eyes as if asking what it was. Delua clenched her fists with a bright smile on her face.
"If you ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) have anything else to ask, please let me know anytime!"
Hugo's eyebrows, which had been stiff, lifted slightly, and then he nodded lightly. Only then did Delua turn and hurry off. Loren followed her retreating figure, then shifted her gaze to Hugo, looking faintly surprised.
"You two seem to have gotten quite comfortable. Although Battalion Commander Rivera has a good personality... I thought she was a bit intimidated by you."
"When you go through life and death together, you tend to get closer."
"Do you trust her?"
"Well, more or less."
Seeing Hugo readily agree to the word 'trust', Loren wondered if his relationship with Leonardo, whom she had seen earlier, might be similar. Meanwhile, Hugo continued to Loren:
"I don't want to bring political views into it, but I'm glad she's not from a noble family with divided factions."
"Why?"
"Because it would be harder to trust someone with opposing ideologies."
"...Then I suppose things are still the same with Meterion."
Her comment earned her a disapproving glance from Hugo. His expression was so clearly displeased that Loren chuckled, but quickly corrected herself and changed the subject:
"The monthly reports will probably be postponed for a while too. You'll have to visit the Commander-in-Chief right away."
"It's late today, so tomorrow. He would understand."
"I see. Then, I'm sorry to bother you when you're busy, Commander, but could we move somewhere and talk for a moment—"
"Commander!"
Just then, a voice came from the other end of the corridor. Hugo and Loren turned around at the same time.
A familiar face was approaching with hurried steps from far away. Hugo's eyes narrowed.
"Gabe?"
While Flynn, one of his adjutants, mainly handled personal order execution, meetings, and schedule management like a personal secretary, Gabe handled communication with the outside, document and financial management, and various administrative tasks while stationed in the Commander's office. The fact that Gabe had come to find his superior in person suggested that the matter he brought was no ordinary business.
With a sudden sense of unease, Hugo's legs moved on instinct to meet him. Thanks to his quick pace, the two met in the middle of the corridor.
Gabe, after catching his breath, asked Hugo abruptly:
"Commander, have you finished all your reports?"
"Yes. Is something wrong?"
"Ah, that's good. Flynn asked me to bring you as soon as you finished your business."
One of Hugo's eyebrows rose.
"Flynn?"
"Yes, he said it was related to Leonardo Blaine—"
At that moment, before Gabe could finish, Hugo passed by him in the blink of an eye.
Normally, actions like running were prohibited in the Council's corridors to maintain order. However, Hugo, uncharacteristically hurried, disappeared around the curve in an instant.
Gabe and Loren remained in place, staring after him in a daze, but soon chased after him urgently, thinking something serious must have happened.
*****
"Hey, is it not done yet?"
"I told you to wait a bit, didn't I?"
Meanwhile, the protagonist of the news Gabe had delivered was currently bickering with Flynn in Hugo's personal room.
"Do you know how many dedicated keys there are for handcuffs? Anyway, why did you put these on—. If we can't find it among these, we'll have to go to the manufacturing facility to cut them off. But, hah... we might not even be able to go outside right now..."
After saying one thing and getting five words of nagging in return, Leonardo quietly watched Flynn's reaction, drawing his neck back and closing his mouth. He had his arms stretched out toward Flynn with both hands bound by mana-restraining handcuffs. Flynn, while focusing on what he was holding, continued to nag as if he had a headache.
The situation had come to this because Leonardo, who had been alone earlier, had caused an absurd accident(?).
While fiddling with the handcuffs along with Alec's note, he had placed both wrists on the handcuffs to accurately judge their restraining power. Then, after loosely closing the ring part, he tried to gauge the difference from the handcuffs he had worn before. However, the problem was that the Council's handcuffs had a function to lock automatically to some extent when the rings engaged, to prevent a suspect from escaping.
He had only intended to check briefly, but he hadn't expected the rings to close with a click just like that. Panicked, Leonardo had struggled to forcibly release them, but as he applied more pulling force, the toothed part of the handcuffs tightened, painfully pressing into his skin.
Flynn, who had come to care for Leonardo on instructions, immediately discovered the situation, ran to the supply room to bring a bundle of handcuff keys, but still hadn't found the right key.
"I hope we can get them off before the Commander arrives... He's in a bad mood right now. He even refused the Council member's instructions to avoid putting handcuffs on you, so why did you—"
"Really, I told you I just touched them because something seemed strange. Did you think I did this on purpose?"
The bundle in Flynn's hand had about twenty to thirty keys attached to each ring. And with seven more such bundles spread out on the table, it was a task to try each of the hundreds of keys in the handcuff's hole one by one.
Meanwhile, as Leonardo snapped back as if getting angry, Flynn, who had been handling him carefully, glared at him and yanked hard on the handcuffs he was holding.
"Ah! Hey, that hurts!"
"That's why I told you to stay still. I'm getting confused about which ones I've tried."
"I was staying still, you know?"
Leonardo retorted with a furrowed brow, as if wronged. But Flynn soon fell silent, focusing again.
Just as he was grumbling internally, wondering if this guy was doing it on purpose, Leonardo's lips, which had been sticking out to hide his embarrassment, suddenly pulled back in.
He quickly raised his head and stared at the door. As an intense presence drew closer, Leonardo muttered with a sour face:
"He's here."
"Huh?"
Just as Flynn questioned the incomprehensible words, about a second later, the door of the personal room burst open as if it might break. Flynn flinched and quickly turned his head. Hugo, who looked like he had rushed over, strode into the room.
"What happened?"
"Commander?"
He walked straight toward Flynn and Leonardo without even taking time to tidy his disheveled hair. He scanned the room unnecessarily along the way but didn't find anything that could be a problem.
Just as he was about to ask again what had happened, the situation hidden by the sofa where the two were sitting came into Hugo's view.
As soon as he saw the handcuffs on Leonardo's wrists, his expression noticeably hardened.
"...What's going on here?"
Flynn glanced at Leonardo with an awkward expression. Leonardo also looked up at Hugo, tense.
Hugo, twisting his eyebrows, asked in a deliberately cold voice:
"Who put these on?"
Leonardo somehow found it difficult to speak.
Suddenly, an overwhelming sense of embarrassment washed over him. How could he say he had put them on himself in this situation?
He kept his mouth shut for a while, then lowered his eyes and stammered:
"Well, you see..."
