Chapter 39

The staff members sat around a semicircular table with Hugo and Andreas placed in the center, each voicing their opinions and engaging in heated debates.

In fact, the main content of their conversation was the fear of offending the imperial family with this incident and the concern about the damage repair costs being billed to the Council, which would eat into the Council's budget and external reputation.

Unlike Andreas, who was expressing his frustration with a crooked posture at the unproductive discussion, Hugo was just patiently listening with a calm demeanor. However, as time passed, he also felt his ears getting tired and his temper gradually rising from their loud voices.

As he quietly tried to cool his heated head, the surrounding air became cold enough for everyone to feel. The high-ranking officials and staff members who had been fervently spitting out criticisms suddenly cleared their throats awkwardly, sensing the drastically lowered temperature inside.

"Ahem, how do you plan to resolve this matter?"

As one of them spoke with a much more subdued voice while rolling his eyes, Hugo's gaze, which had been quietly directed downward, slowly shifted upward.

Seeing them repeating the same words and returning to square one, it seemed they had a desired answer in mind. Hugo, who had grasped their intention, opened his mouth with the meaning that he no longer wanted to listen.

"Since I brought him in, I will take responsibility. Please bill 50% of the amount required for damage repair to me. I will bear it with my personal funds."

As soon as he finished speaking, the room fell silent.

The amount for repairing the damaged facilities in the Imperial Capital square was a considerable sum that would be difficult for an individual to bear, even if it was only half.

However, they were well aware of Hugo's background, and as if they had wanted a similar answer from the beginning, they nodded their heads carefully in agreement with his words. Then, they each chimed in, glancing at each other.

"Well, if you go that far..."

"Since the Commander says he will take some responsibility, let's overlook the disciplinary matter. What do you think?"

"I agree."

"I concur."

"However, you should consider submitting an incident report and a salary reduction."

At their words, which were absurdly quick to agree while still asserting their authority until the end, Hugo felt fed up.

In the end, it was money. The quickest way to shut those mouths...

As the disciplinary matter seemed to be resolved like this, Hugo intently gazed at the three people who had particularly raised their voices at him.

They were all from noble families of factions opposed to him. Even though they were pretending not to avoid his gaze by clearing their throats awkwardly as the situation was settled with his remarks, their true intentions were obvious.

'Did I catch them in the act?'

Political performances and influences were intricately intertwined even within the Council. Perhaps because of that, despite the situation, they were particularly eager to mention Hugo's mistakes and find fault with him.

Watching them push him based on political sentiments, putting aside the incident in the Imperial Capital, Hugo thought they were no different from those who had cursed Leonardo in the northern square.

Since it was obvious that they would latch onto any word he uttered here, the answer was to throw them the appropriate words they wanted and maintain a cold gaze.

After being grilled for a while, the two of them, who were finally told they could leave, immediately turned their backs and headed outside. As soon as the heavy door of the conference room closed, Andreas, who had been holding back the entire time, opened his mouth first as if he had been waiting.

"Hugo, it's not your responsibility to bear. Why did you say you would cover the billed amount? Even if it's me, they wouldn't have been able to impose disciplinary action on you anyway."

As he poured out his words in a distressed tone, Hugo smiled slightly as if it was no big deal, knowing his feelings.

"It's nothing. I just didn't want to be caught on technicalities. For my family, honor is more important than money."

"But if you keep covering for them like this, they'll think it's natural."

"Well, to some extent, it's also my responsibility. It was my duty to safely escort Leonardo Blaine. But thanks to that, you also avoided disciplinary action."

At Hugo's words that sounded carefree, Andreas looked at him with a dissatisfied expression. However, as he said, Andreas had also naturally escaped being subject to disciplinary discussions, and it became difficult to add more words when his family was mentioned.

Andreas, who had unbuttoned one button on his neck out of frustration, shook his head and said,

"Really... I don't know if I should be grateful for this or scold you for being foolish."

"Hurry up and go get treated. Don't go around bragging about your injured arm."

Hugo placed his hand on Andreas' uninjured shoulder and patted it a couple of times. Then, he immediately moved his steps toward the opposite corridor. At that, Andreas asked, quickly catching up to him with his long legs.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to observe Leonardo's interrogation."

Hugo answered matter-of-factly, lightly waving his hand.

Seeing him going straight to work even after being shattered by scolding inside, Andreas made a disgusted expression.

* * *

Once again, mana restraining shackles were placed on Leonardo's arms and legs. Even though he had been courteous when the medical team approached him immediately after being escorted to the Council and healed the wounds on his cheek and ankle with recovery magic...

As expected, they put shackles on him that were incomparably thicker than before and made him wear a restraint suit, completely blocking the movement of his arms.

Transferred to a sealed interrogation room, he sat on a hard chair and carefully looked around.

Seeing the opaque glass in front, it was clear that there would be people sticking to it and observing him from the other side. However, from the inside, he couldn't sense the presence of those outside at all, probably because this place was specially designed to block mana.

As he changed his posture and sat with his legs crossed, the shackles connected to his ankles dragged along the floor with a clanking sound. The shackles were so heavy that even lifting his legs felt strenuous, making Leonardo feel absurd.

Even while staying still, the unpleasant sensation of mana draining away brought extreme fatigue, so he closed his eyes for a moment and tilted his head back. The accumulated exhaustion from fighting Agrizendro and being captured for several days also contributed to his lowered condition.

As he was indulging in the rare tranquility, completely relaxed and motionless, at that moment, before even 5 minutes had passed since he closed his eyes, the sound of a heavy door opening was heard from the right side.

Looking in that direction with his head straightened, five members of the Council wearing uniforms were entering.

They seemed to be investigators, holding various files in their hands, and the last one to enter, with black hair and silvery green eyes, was someone Leonardo was also familiar with.

Three of them sat in order on the chairs opposite Leonardo, facing him across a wide metal table, while the remaining two, who seemed to be clerks, moved to a table on the side. Leonardo leisurely leaned back and slowly scanned their faces one by one with narrowed eyes.

As their gazes met, the one on the far left lowered his head, looking slightly frightened, the one in the middle stared at him sharply, and Flynn looked at him with somewhat complex eyes.

The one in the middle of the three was the first to break the uncomfortable silence and spoke to Leonardo.

"Nice to meet you, Leonardo Blaine. I am Luke Eckison from the Special Investigation Team of the Council's Central Branch."

At his words, Leonardo just stared at him silently without answering. And he continued speaking as if he wasn't expecting an answer either.

"To your left is an investigator from the Northern Branch in charge of the Frost territory case. You already know the one on the right. He is Adjutant Flynn Levernil. The reason we have entered now is to interrogate you about your whereabouts and involvement in the monster distribution and smuggling case of the Delberg Merchant Group in the Frost territory."

"..."

"If you respond to the questions honestly and diligently, it can be taken into consideration, but if you try to hide the truth or make excuses-."

"Enough with the introduction, let's start quickly. I ran around on two feet because of the incompetent Council."

As Leonardo interrupted, the investigator in front of him paused for a moment and glared at him, wriggling his eyebrows. Then, he immediately opened a file, read a few lines, and stared at Leonardo even more fiercely, as if daring him to try, and opened his mouth.

"Alright, let's begin."