Bermuda

Arms crossed, Loren silently watched the clock standing at one side of the conference room. The current time was 4:55 p.m. by Imperial Capital standard.

Since the Central Branch's senior commanders' meeting usually had the Legion Commander, who held final decision-making authority, arriving about five minutes early, the attendees also tended to gather as early as possible to match. The briefing materials had already been prepared and distributed thirty minutes ago. Aside from those who were away and unable to attend, most of the seats were nearly filled.

Some complained that a meeting with no telling when it would end had been scheduled so late in the day, while others busily reviewed the agenda and sorted out the timeline.

Their behavior differed, but they all had one thing in common: they were preparing for the meeting that was about to begin. Then the tall man with his hands in his pockets opened the front door of the conference room and walked in.

"Hey, the food today was pretty good."

The second hand had just passed the number one, leaving a little over four minutes. At the carefree remark from the Fourth Battalion Commander as he entered, the commanders' gazes turned toward him.

Holding a steaming mug, Andreas slowly swept his eyes over the room.

"The Legion Commander is not here yet?"

With a stack of papers tucked under one arm, he gave the conference room door a light nudge with his hip.

"I told you, did I not? He is going to be late today, one hundred percent."

As the heavy door slid halfway shut, his voice echoed even louder. At that confident attitude, Ninth Battalion Commander Maria Angel replied with a worried look.

"You ate at a time like this? What would you have done if the Legion Commander got here first?"

"He is in a good mood today, so he would have let it slide. And I am not late anyway."

Andreas waggled his brows in a sly tone. Then he walked over to the conference room clock, which was almost as tall as he was. Looking at his handsome reflection in the dark glass, he finally took a hand out of his pocket and swept back his hair.

"I do pretty well with younger men too... He acted like he was not interested, but his skills are impressive."

"Stop talking nonsense and sit down."

The vague mutter with its omitted subject was neatly cut off by a cool voice. Andreas looked back at Loren, shrugged, and headed without complaint to the seat beside her. Even Benum, the Eighth Battalion Commander, and Meterion, the Third Battalion Commander, who sometimes clashed with him over trivial matters, merely watched the Fourth Battalion Commander in silence today.

Andreas pulled out a chair, dropped into it, leaned back, and crossed his legs.

"Anyway. It is a festival outside right now, so let us relax a little too. The betting money has doubled compared to usual, so the higher-ups were thrilled, yet why is the mood in here like this?"

The one who sent him a puzzled look at that remark was Fifth Battalion Commander Verity Shalma.

"Relax? What nonsense are you suddenly spouting? At a time like this..."

Still scanning the outline, she muttered in a reproving tone. Watching, Deputy Commander Shorendo smoothly stepped in with a tactful smile.

"The meal was good today, was it not? I suppose headquarters put in a bit of effort since it was the preliminary round."

"Exactly. I would have no complaints if they served food like this every day."

"But senior, why did you say the Legion Commander would be late?"

It was because the last person to have been with the Legion Commander was the Fourth Battalion Commander, so perhaps he knew something. Even if his conduct looked loose and improper, he was not the kind of man whose words carried no weight.

"Did you hear something?"

"Oh, what is this. You all still do not know? Well... I cannot be the one to announce it first."

Andreas worked his itching mouth for a moment, then made a gesture like patting his own palm.

"I owe the Legion Commander quite a lot, so I cannot go spreading things when the man himself is not here. Ask him directly when he arrives."

He gave them a smile that was sly and, unlike him, strangely fresh.

He dangled suspicion everywhere, then pulled back in the end. It was exactly what everyone expected from him. His colleagues, already used to it, brushed it off with the thought, "He must be talking nonsense again because he does not want to work."

By then, the clock Loren had been watching showed a little under one minute until the hour. Right at that moment, hurried but heavy footsteps sounded through the gap of the slightly open conference room door.

"He is here."

Loren uncrossed her arms and let the words fall. At that, the scattered meeting attendees returned to their seats at once. Even those already seated hurriedly rose from their chairs.

Only Andreas, unable to grasp the situation, kept lounging for a moment before scrambling to his feet along with the others.

"He is here? Already?"

The heavy conference room door opened smoothly, and glossy dark blue hair came into view. Hugo, looking slightly short of breath, entered while adjusting his tie, with Flinn accompanying him.

"My apologies for being late. Let us begin at once."

A perfectly crisp white shirt without a single wrinkle, pomaded hair swept back more neatly than usual. The cool yet weighty scent of his cologne spread through the conference room. From all sides came greetings of, "You are here, sir," as they welcomed their superior. At the same time, a few cast sidelong looks toward the Fourth Battalion Commander, who had been speaking so confidently.

"You are not late. You arrived on the hour."

Deputy Commander Shorendo corrected him while gathering the briefing papers. Hugo merely gave a short nod and took his seat at the head of the table without comment.

Following him, the attendees all sat down in a rush. Aside from the fact that his usual dark blue tie had been replaced with a gray one, there was little difference from the morning. Since the duke was so particular about cleanliness, even that was not especially strange.

After leaving in such a hurry, you are telling me nothing happened?

Only Andreas kept tracking Hugo with eyes that plainly said, There is no way.

It seemed his superior was far more ruthless than he had expected. Rolling his eyes, Andreas awkwardly sat down as well. Hugo, who had cast a brief glance in his direction, casually gestured toward the podium as if to say they should begin.

...A distinct handprint was visible for an instant on his exposed wrist, but unfortunately, no one noticed.

"The detailed autopsy results for Marcus Servan's body suggest that the cause of death was not suicide by tongue severance, as originally reported, but a stab wound inflicted through the orbital region. Along with conjunctival hemorrhaging, minute scar tissue was discovered on the inside of the eyelids."

Today's meeting had originally been scheduled to proceed from the monthly report into discussion of the agenda items. However, at Deputy Commander Shorendo's suggestion, it was agreed that Servan's autopsy results would be addressed first. The urgent report that had come in before the preliminary match began had once again thrown the internal investigation into deeper confusion. Since this had been one of the main causes of the recent gloom within The Council, there was little objection to his proposal.

"At the time of the initial investigation, it was judged to be a secondary finding caused by a sudden rise in pressure as the deceased bit through his tongue in the process of killing himself. However, during the autopsy, an irregular arrangement in the optic canal and superior orbital fissure was confirmed, and this appears to be a phenomenon that often occurs when soft tissue is injured and then regenerated through recovery. Therefore, we could not rule out the possibility that this was a clue left during an attempt to conceal the true cause of death, and based on that, we proceeded with additional investigation."

Listening to the coroner's briefing as a witness, Hugo absently touched the corner of his mouth, which still felt hot. Even so, from time to time he sharply watched the front and left brief notes on the summary paper.

Old-model shackles, Leonardo Blaine, instability in his magic control.

The start of the league, the sudden testimony, the witness's death, and even the attempt to conceal the cause of death. The tangled thread stretched long from his fingertips.

"As a result, we confirmed a small pool of blood inside the skull, extending in a straight line through the optic nerve from above the eyelid. Meanwhile, as previously mentioned, although a large quantity of blood was detected in the oral tissue, no vital muscle response has still been identified."

"In other words, based on what has been revealed so far, it is highly likely that the victim was murdered and then staged to look like suicide afterward."

"Yes, that appears to be the case."

Taking over the coroner's words, Hugo wrapped up the briefing with that short conclusion. The atmosphere in the conference room froze into something bleak along with it.

Soon, when the coroner stepped down from the podium, Shorendo took over and stood at the front of the platform.

"Based on the information received this morning, we met with the bereaved family of the late Company Commander Marcus Servan and shared the results of the initial detailed autopsy. The family expressed deep shock and grief, but unlike before, they also conveyed a strong will to uncover the truth of the case. In relation to that-"

"That will only be possible if they respond to requests for cooperation, will it not?"

The one who cut in midway in a cold tone was Meterion. As expected, the battalion commanders all turned their eyes toward the cold-blooded man who never failed to disappoint.

"If they continue with this sort of attitude, nothing that could be resolved will be resolved. I fail to see how they can demand that the truth be uncovered."

It was exactly the sort of remark that made someone an easy villain, but when it came down to it, he was not wrong.

Until now, the bereaved family had claimed, separately from Company Commander Servan's testimony about the import of old-model shackles, that his suicide had been the result of harsh pressure tactics during The Council's internal investigation. Because of that, even after his death, they had adamantly refused The Council's requests for cooperation in gathering evidence that might further damage the family's honor and standing.

So it was only natural that some reacted with visible satisfaction to Meterion's sharp exposure of that contradiction.

"Ah... regarding that point, there are some materials that were submitted today."

Right then, Deputy Commander Shorendo's adjutant, Erdin Shirley, responded to his superior's gesture by handing a yellow envelope to Shorendo at the front of the platform.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!