Andreas, leaning against the gate’s wall, blew cigarette smoke into the purple sky. He had long since grown tired of watching the clouds drift by at their leisure. At his feet, over a dozen burnt-out cigarette butts were already rolling around.
One of the guards, unable to stand it any longer, swept the cigarette butts away with a broom while shooting him glare after glare. His expression seemed to ask whether Andreas understood how sacred and great this place was. Yielding to the pressure, Andreas stubbed out his cigarette, embarrassed, and stepped aside, apologizing.
Having lost his only source of amusement, he sauntered toward the stone gate. What kind of grand farewell were they making that it was taking this long? The Commander hadn’t come out for over an hour.
‘Are they kissing or something?’
Anyone who had seen the two of them would find that quite plausible. Of course, given the Commander’s personality, such a thing would never happen, but...
Andreas chuckled to himself at the silly thought. Right on cue, light began to pour out from the stone gate.
“Oh, it’s moving.”
“Everyone, gather!”
The exhausted members all turned toward the stone gate at once. With a strong wind came the sound of rock splitting—pssst.
Stone fragments scattered, and as the gate shook, the gap in the center slowly widened. Andreas, who had been right in front, furrowed his brows and turned his head away, taking the brunt of it.
Loren, who had been sharpening her sword with a whetstone, quickly got up and dusted herself off. The scattered escort team and guards assembled in unison, forming ranks in four columns.
A moment later, a blurry figure gradually became clear through the opening, just wide enough for one person to pass. Hugo, who had returned after crossing the waiting room, appeared in front of his comrades, brushing back his hair.
“Commander!”
“You’ve arrived!”
Flynn was the first to run up and greet him. The thunderous shouts of the guards echoed once again in front of the stone gate.
Andreas, wearing a displeased expression, put his hands in his pockets and leaned in.
“Why are you so late? The sun’s about to set.”
Hugo, straightening his loosened tie, checked his watch in response to his colleague’s complaint.
“Was I gone that long? I’m sorry for making you wait.”
By habit, he started to wipe the watch face, noticing faint fingerprints on the glass, then stopped short. Regardless, Andreas, tired of waiting, sneered at him without restraint.
“It felt like half a day. I thought you two were sleeping together or something.”
For a moment, the guards’ eyes flashed coldly. It was a look that said they wouldn’t tolerate any more disrespectful remarks toward their lord.
Sensing the mood, Andreas trailed off and muttered quietly.
“I’m just saying... can’t say anything around here.”
“Did you send him off?”
Loren, who had sheathed her sword, also came up and asked. Hugo made a small gesture as if to say he’d finished it well. But his expression was far from relieved for someone who had ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ wrapped up a three-year task.
“One big task is done. We probably won’t run into each other for a while now.”
“...Well, I suppose so.”
Loren had meant it as encouragement, but a bitter smile briefly spread across Hugo’s face. He looked as though he had a story to tell, as if he had only just pulled himself together after being overwhelmed. Loren scanned his disheveled navy hair and crumpled uniform jacket, then casually added:
“But it seems the wind was quite strong over there.”
Just then, the stone gate closed tight with a heavy sound. Andreas and Flynn also scanned Hugo’s appearance at her remark.
With all three sets of eyes on him, Hugo cleared his throat and called the guard captain, pretending to have business.
“Captain, come here.”
“Ah, yes!”
“Um... lift the control around the gate in about 30 minutes. And make sure to brief the personnel rotating at other gates about what I mentioned.”
“Yes, understood!”
Hugo’s white cape, revealed as he half-turned his body, was crumpled as if someone had clutched at it. It wasn’t the sort of mark the wind would leave. Andreas slowly turned his head toward Loren.
He seemed curious about why she had brought it up. However, Loren flatly ignored his pointed gaze and approached Hugo.
“Commander, I have something to report briefly.”
Hugo, who had patted the guard captain’s shoulder, turned around with a gesture as if to dismiss him.
“What is it?”
“We received a call from headquarters earlier. The nearby passages were clogged with citizens and newspaper employees. It’s been alleviated now that control has been completed, but I hear the internal atmosphere is still unsettled.”
Hugo furrowed his brow, looking tired.
“I expected it, but... they’re really quick to respond in times like these. Has the return route been secured?”
It was a sarcastic remark about the council members who had been dragging their feet on Leonardo’s release. Loren nodded in agreement and twisted the button on her uniform sleeve cuff 180 degrees. It was a type of concealed artifact.
“That’s not the problem, but before the escort team departed from the imperial capital, we subdued a newspaper employee who was lurking nearby. We confiscated his belongings under the pretext of preventing information leaks, and found this.”
Loren reached into the small interdimensional space and pulled out a photograph. Hugo, who naturally received it, looked down, puzzled, and then visibly reacted.
“This is...”
“I was going to submit it as an official report, but hearing that things were unsettled internally, I thought it would be better to deliver it directly. I hope I didn’t do something unnecessary.”
With that, Loren took a step back and crossed her arms as if she had completed her task.
Hugo’s pupils trembled slightly. He couldn’t take his eyes off the photograph for a while.
Andreas glanced at him, examining his unfamiliar expression. He seemed a bit surprised, and his emotions looked complex. Wondering what was causing it, Andreas leaned in and sneakily looked at the person in the photograph.
“Oh, this.”
The person’s eyes were filled with melancholy, gazing off into the distance. And the Commander looking at the photograph wore the same expression. Andreas clearly remembered this scene.
“Wasn’t this right before the arrest in the northern grand plaza?”
Loren nodded. The person in the photograph she had handed over was Leonardo after he had saved a child during the fierce battle in the imperial capital’s grand plaza.
He was probably watching the child and the child’s mother safely escape from the battlefield. Though it was unclear how they had managed to take a picture in that chaos, the distance between the photographer and the subject wasn’t too far. Amidst the completely ruined, colorless background, he alone shone in gold there.
Hugo suddenly felt a burning sensation in a corner of his chest, as if it had been scalded. Others might not, but for him, who had witnessed this moment firsthand and been deeply shaken, it was an unforgettable sight.
A bittersweet smile spread across his lips as he briefly lost himself in the memory. He gently, yet firmly, rubbed his thumb over the photograph as if caressing it.
“...To think I’d see this image again.”
A low sigh escaped him. Hugo, who had quietly lowered his eyes, quickly smoothed the expression he didn’t want to show as a superior.
“The film, was it confiscated?”
“We’ve handed over what was found at the scene to headquarters for now, and we’ve sent an investigation team to search for the remaining film and photographs.”
“I see, well done. He still needs a little more time. If his face becomes known to the public right away, it will be an obstacle to him living freely in the future.”
Both Loren and Andreas nodded in agreement. Leonardo Blaine’s appearance was so striking that once seen, it could never be forgotten. The fact that he was a handsome man with golden hair and golden eyes had become known to the world through this incident, but there was a big difference between word-of-mouth descriptions and having his face plastered all over the newspapers.
Hugo once again looked at the man in his memory, with the now-darkening sky as a backdrop.
The sun of that day, the wind of that day, vividly brushed his skin and carried him back to that moment.
“Until perceptions change... we need to put in a little more effort.”
Although it was inevitably revealed to the Council’s internal personnel and citizens who attended the trial, for Leonardo’s safety, there was a need to protect him from further exposure to the public. He was strong, but there were still unhealed wounds inside him. Even though they were apart, Hugo wanted to be a safe and reliable fence for him to lean on while he tended to what wounds remained.
“I’ll handle this photograph. Gather all the films confiscated from here on and deliver them directly to me. And send investigation teams to thoroughly check not just here, but all other newspaper companies as well.”
If this went up as a report item, the photograph would be classified as material for the agency itself to review and would belong to the Council. He didn’t know if Loren had taken it out knowing this, but Hugo gratefully slipped the photograph into his inner pocket, appreciating her judgment.
“We’ll do that.”
“But... even if a verdict has been reached in this situation, will perceptions really change? Honestly, I’m worried about my own livelihood now.”
Andreas sighed, complaining, recalling the uproar in the courtroom. Hugo smiled faintly and patted his shoulder.
“If you get suspended, I’ll use you in my knightly order in the meantime, so don’t worry. And perceptions don’t change by waiting. They change because we change them.”
“...What do you mean?”
Hugo put his arms around Andreas and Loren’s shoulders and led them to where the escort team was gathered.
“Leonardo faithfully completed his mission as instructed, so he has done his best to make amends. Now it’s our turn to make amends. Come on, let’s go back right away and prepare for tomorrow’s press conference. Send urgent letters to all the journalists. Tell them there’s a scoop.”
“What? No, we’re about to get disciplined, and you want us to go and do more work?”
Andreas argued in an exasperated tone. Hugo gripped his forearm tightly and smiled gently.
“Do you still not know your superior’s style?”
“...”
“And as battalion commanders of the Council, we should be prepared to work day and night for the imperial citizens. Our heroes fought risking their lives on the peninsula.”
“Ugh... Commander, I think I need to rest for a while.”
“Ah, this would be a good article title.”
Ignoring Andreas’s complaints, Hugo recited a couple of article titles he had in mind. Loren seemed to think they weren’t great, but she didn’t bother to object.
After all, once tomorrow passed, the phrases that flowed from his mouth would be splashed across the front pages of newspapers throughout the empire.
The two, pushed by their superior, mounted their horses again with slightly tired faces. Following the commanders, the escort team quickly prepared to depart. Finally, with the Commander-in-Chief on his white horse at the lead, the escort team turned their horses toward the imperial capital.
*****
The Council’s main building was quiet, yet somehow noisy. Outside the walls, crowds following the control measures stretched out in a long line. Armed members were safely guiding citizens trapped in the passageways after arresting certain individuals who were inciting disturbances.
Gazing at the chaotic scene briefly revealed through a gap in the curtains, Meterion murmured into the communication magic tool in his hand.
“Yes, they’ve left.”
He tapped the pipe in his other hand to shake off the ash accumulated in the bowl. Leaning against the wall in his vest, he took a short puff of smoke and then exhaled it slowly.
“By now, they should have passed through the gate... I think. Either way, we’ve laid out pursuit teams, so we should get word by tonight.”
His deep green eyes stared at a picket sign flickering among the crowd.
‘Fair Trials Now!’
Meterion snorted derisively. The person on the other side of the magic tool must have asked why, because he was about to take another puff of his pipe but stopped to answer.
“It’s nothing. Just saw something amusing. Anyway, as soon as we manage to make contact with the guy, we’ll get in touch from our side. Let’s discuss the details then.”
With the brief conversation over, he tossed the now-silent magic tool onto the table. The magic tool rolled across a map before stopping midway. It was a map marking all the routes connected to the gates of the Agrizendro territory.
