Bermuda

Creak—

The door to the private room, separated by a modest partition, swung open. A wave of loud chatter and drunken laughter spilled in from outside. Through it, two men in black hoodies appeared.

“Oh? Well, look who it is.”

Gillian, who had been about to take a swig of beer, paused and turned his head. He quickly wiped his mouth and waved with a grin.

“Alright, everyone, wake up. Our busy guest has arrived.”

Behind the man leading the way, a familiar face peeked in. Ero, who had gone to escort him, pushed Leonardo forward and called out to the team.

“We’re here—!”

“You finally made it?”

Orca, who had been sprawled on the sofa, shot upright at the sound of his voice. Beatrice, who had been slumped with her head on the table, also lifted her head groggily.

“Leo—, mmph!”

Sensing danger, Gillian quickly clamped a hand over her mouth again. But Beatrice bit down hard on his thick fingers and shook him off, snapping irritably,

“What took you so long?!”

“Hey, hey, missy. What are you, a dog? Stop biting me.”

Clicking his tongue, Gillian shook out his hand and scolded her when he saw the clear bite marks. Judging by the several marks already there, he had been doing his best to prevent any slip-ups. Morvan, who had been lying beside his owner, barely lifted his head and nodded.

Stepping into the alcohol-heavy scene, Leonardo swept his gaze over his sprawled-out teammates and removed the hood he had been holding closed.

“What, you’re already done?”

“Done? We’re just getting started—!”

Beatrice raised her glass and shouted loudly. The beer sloshed over and spilled onto the leftover food, but no one cared. Watching the chaotic scene with a grin, Ero closed the door and leaned in to whisper to Leonardo.

“They’ve been like this for a while now. They’re basically zombies.”

“What a sight.”

“Hehe, it’s lively thanks to that. Boss, come sit over here!”

He deliberately guided Leonardo toward the center seat at the table, trying to keep distance from Orca. But right then, the killer whale bounded over eagerly to greet the lion.

“I thought you weren’t coming. Did something happen?”

“Hey, Orca! Didn’t you promise not to cling to him?”

Whatever agreement they had made was instantly rendered meaningless. Orca grabbed Leonardo’s wrist and pulled him toward himself.

“I’ve been waiting a long time. Sit next to me. I have many questions for the lion.”

“Making a lady wait... disqualified as a man... urgh.”

“Hey, don’t throw up here!”

Swept into the chaos, Leonardo found himself dropping into the center seat on the sofa. Orca and Ero took positions on either side of him. In the end, the three settled into sitting side by side. He wasn’t particularly fond of being pressed up against other men, but it was tolerable.

Just then, the waiter—who had been watching for more arrivals—opened the door at the perfect moment and took their order.

“Alright, one bottle of orange juice here, and... boss, what would you like?”

“Any kind of meat.”

“The pickled herring is good too. I’ll treat you, so make sure you try it.”

As if proving the point, Orca’s plate already had about a dozen soft fish spines piled up from salted herring. With that, they added orange juice, roasted chicken legs, mashed potatoes, six beers, and pickled herring—kicking off round two.

Since the order was so large, the room was practically treated as VIP, and even the owner personally came to serve. Empty plates were cleared, only to be replaced by new ones piled high. As soon as the door closed again, Gillian snatched three beer mugs for himself.

He downed one in a single gulp, then asked casually,

“Man... when you’re someone like Lion, do the staff just bow their heads if you book out the shower room?”

It wasn’t clear whether he meant it seriously, but at the sharp question, both of them flinched. Beatrice, resting her chin on both hands, nodded along and added,

“I thought you got dragged off by The Council... at least give us a heads-up!”

As Leonardo paused, searching for an excuse, Ero—whose eyes had been darting around—grinned broadly and smoothly jumped in.

“Ah, well—earlier, boss said his arm was feeling stiff... so he went to take care of that and ended up a bit late. Ahem, our boss, not even letting his team know...! He told me not to say anything, but I just had to! Aren’t we a team?”

“Oh, so that’s what it was? If you’re hurt, you should say something—.”

“Lion, were you injured?”

It wasn’t entirely wrong, and thanks to Ero’s full-commitment acting, a convincing alibi was formed. Beatrice, slurring her words, and Orca, looking concerned, each chimed in. Sensing the shift in mood, Leonardo cleared his throat and spoke.

“Ahem... it doesn’t affect the match.”

“Boss, that’s not the point right now. Everyone was worried about you!”

Ero pressed on, sounding genuinely upset, encouraged by the team’s reactions. The others chimed in from all sides.

“Yeah, yeah.”

“You don’t have to hide it. A killer whale does not ignore an injured comrade.”

“The condition of our main force matters.”

At the natural flow of the conversation, Leonardo glanced at Ero. He was now leading the atmosphere as if he had seen and heard nothing at all.

Their eyes met, and Ero winked playfully.

“See, boss?”

About thirty minutes earlier.

After changing in the Locker Room, Leonardo had sent Hugo off first, since he had an important schedule. Following his instructions, Leonardo waited ten minutes before heading out himself. At first, he thought it was to avoid suspicion that they had been together—but in front of the door, someone was already standing guard.

“Huh?”

Peering through the crack cautiously, he found Ero with an awkward smile.

“Boss—.”

For a moment, Leonardo hesitated, unsure what to say first. Sensing his confusion, Ero quickly changed his expression and greeted him naturally.

“Let’s go. I’m here to escort you. Everyone’s waiting!”

After that, even as they boarded a suspiciously luxurious carriage and left the stadium, Ero didn’t ask a single difficult question. Only when they reached the alley behind the tavern did he speak first, as if he understood everything.

“I didn’t see anything, so you don’t have to worry. I should’ve handed over the medicine... but suddenly my stomach started hurting, you know? I couldn’t exactly stay there and turn into a kidult.”

A guy who didn’t seem to have any noble connections had boarded the carriage stiff as a board, claiming he saw nothing. It wasn’t exactly convincing. Sitting across from him in the carriage, Leonardo let out a deep sigh.

Despite being told not to interfere, it seemed Hugo had already taken action first.

“Hey, um...”

“Aren’t I your errand boy? This place sees and hears a lot, but everyone here keeps their mouths shut tight. Tongues get cut off otherwise. Haha, so don’t worry! I’m your loyal partner, after all....”

Ero kept rambling, smiling but clearly struggling to survive the situation. His face was flushed from forcing such an overly bright tone. Seeing his effort, Leonardo reached out without thinking.

“Anyway, don’t let the others—”

“Hey.”

At the warmth on the back of his hand, Ero flinched and stopped talking.

“Y-yes?”

Leonardo quietly reassured him, then spoke simply, without embellishment.

“Thanks.”

Ero’s eyes widened. Quick-witted as he was, he seemed to understand immediately without needing further explanation. Then he broke into a wide grin and answered energetically,

“Just leave it to me!”

“The bones are soft, so you can eat it whole. The sauce is good too—try it together.”

“Hey, hey, the owner said the secret is adding distilled liquor to the sauce! No alcohol allowed!”

“This much should be fine, no?”

“The next match is definitely! A thinking game... sigh, how am I supposed to climb up with these idiots....”

“You’re the biggest problem here. Fix your wig first.”

Leonardo’s attention returned to the lively celebration. Everyone talked over each other without pause, and that chaotic atmosphere somehow suited this team perfectly. It made him feel at ease—and even happy.

It felt like coming here, even late after sending Hugo off, had been the right choice.

“Oh right, my wig! Damn it, killer whale, just die already. What if this makes the news?!”

“What now, are we starting this again?”

As the blame shifted toward him, Orca protested in an unusually exasperated tone. Morvan wiped his lady’s mouth and shook his head, then held up five fingers.

At least five more months of this, it seemed.

Watching the doll act like a separate personality was oddly amusing. Perhaps because of that, Leonardo let out a quiet chuckle as he observed his already tipsy teammates.

“Do you guys act like this even when I’m not around?”

“Don’t even get me started. When you’re not here, it’s even wors—”

Ero, who had been jokingly shuddering, trailed off mid-sentence.

Because Leonardo, speaking with a faint laugh, casually removed the hat he was wearing and pulled down his mask.

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