“Anyway, if anyone catches my eye—”

“Hey... quiet down.”

One of the men, still talking carelessly, was interrupted when his companion, the one who had made eye contact with Hugo, elbowed him sharply in the side.

“Why do you keep jabbing me?”

As the men kept muttering among themselves, the innkeeper approached, swiftly placing food down on Hugo and Flynn’s table.

“Here’s your order.”

“Ah, thank you.”

Flynn smiled politely, thanking the innkeeper. As a result, the men’s attention naturally shifted to their table.

In their eyes, Hugo stood out—a tall man with a solid, powerful build and a cold demeanor, just as they had heard described. On top of that, his sharp presence and an air of nobility didn’t quite fit with the rough surroundings.

“Thanks.”

As Hugo expressed his gratitude when the food arrived, a heavy silence fell over the men’s chatter. It became clear to them—the outsider they’d been gossiping about was sitting right there.

Unbothered by the sudden quiet, Hugo casually uncorked the bottle of liquor, poured himself a glass, and took a sip. He quickly drained it.

Yet, his brow furrowed faintly, displeased with the taste. Holding the glass, he turned his gaze toward the men, and when his sharp eyes met theirs, they flinched in surprise and quickly looked away, pretending they hadn’t seen him.

Setting the glass down, Hugo addressed them in an offhand manner:

“That story you were just telling—mind sharing it with me too?”

****

“So here’s the thing. For the past few months, signs of fire have been showing up not only here but all across the polar region. Sure, forest fires happen sometimes with the dry climate, but not this often,” the skinny man explained in detail to Hugo and Flynn, repeating the story they had just been discussing. With forest fires on the rise, the two men—currently tracking Leonardo Blaine—couldn’t help but think of him whenever such incidents occurred.

“What’s this about a monster?”

“Ah, that...”

When Flynn asked about the monster, the man, who had been talking animatedly a moment ago, hesitated and glanced around nervously. Sensing something odd, Flynn waited quietly for him to continue. But before he could, the large, bearded man beside him spoke up instead.

“Eh, what’s the point? Everyone around here knows about it anyway.”

The others nodded in agreement, so the bearded man kept going.

“This isn’t the kind of place where monsters show up often. Sure, it’s the polar region—small population, tough land—but we’ve got the northern border, and it’s too barren for monsters to find food. But about two weeks ago, there was word something strange turned up on a hillside.”

“Something strange?”

“Yeah. They found a burnt-up box filled with monster corpses.”

Since that was far from normal, Hugo, listening intently, raised an eyebrow and asked:

“How many corpses? What kind?”

“They say around ten... but I couldn’t tell you the type. By the time people found them, they were completely charred. No one could say if they were monsters or just animals.”

“Wait, if that’s the case, you can’t be sure they were monsters, right?”

The skinny man’s denial carried a nervous undertone, like he didn’t want to believe they were monsters at all. But at that moment, a younger man who had been quietly listening suddenly jumped in.

“No, they were definitely monsters.”

At his firm tone, Hugo and Flynn naturally turned their eyes to him. He was plain-looking, with brown hair and freckles dusting his face.

“Huh? How do you know that?”

“I was there when they found those corpses. While everyone was hesitating, unsure what they were, I saw a man walk right up and examine them. He said they were monsters not native to this region.”

At those words, Hugo’s eyes narrowed. If someone knew the monsters of this land well enough, they wouldn’t confuse animal corpses with monster corpses.

It gave weight to the claim—the remains people had discovered that day were truly monsters. Still, there were too many strange details: the corpses packed in a wooden box, ten of them at once, burned beyond recognition, and the unknown man who’d suddenly appeared.

“Who was that man? I’d like to meet him.”

“Uh... I don’t think he was from around here. Looked ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) like an outsider. He was wearing a hood, so I couldn’t see his face properly. Honestly, with all the commotion, I wasn’t paying much attention to him...”

“Where are the monster corpses now? Who took care of them?”

“The guards collected them and probably delivered them to the lord’s castle. All the mountains in this area fall under Frost territory. The main city’s in the heart of Frost, and the local guards handle public safety.”

Frost territory—one of the small regions scattered across the northern polar zone. It had a city, but compared to the major hubs in central and southern Raina Logia, it was little more than a town.

Places like this rarely saw travelers, with small populations, so the nearest lord typically governed the surrounding villages.

Normally, if monster corpses showed up somewhere monsters weren’t supposed to appear, no matter how many, the local branch of the Council had to be notified. Those reports would eventually reach the Central Council in the imperial capital—the core of Raina Logia.

Which meant... there shouldn’t be any situation where Hugo, as the military commander, hadn’t heard a word of this incident. But this was his first time learning about it.

In other words—the lord of Frost territory had gathered up the monster corpses a fortnight ago and failed to report it to the Council.

Hugo had only come here to apprehend Leonardo Blaine, but somehow, he was being drawn into increasingly suspicious events. Still, he had a gut feeling—these recent happenings weren’t unrelated to Leonardo.

“By the way... who exactly are you people? You’ve been snooping around town for days. You looking for someone?”

The bearded man asked boldly after eyeing them for a moment. The other men followed his gaze, curiosity written on their faces. Flynn looked momentarily flustered but quickly recovered, flashing a smooth smile as he delivered the rehearsed answer.

“Ah, we’re private investigators from the central region.”

“Private investigators?”

“Yeah. We take on jobs from guilds or government offices. Without middlemen fees, it’s cheaper for clients. You might not guess by looking at us, but it’s a popular profession.”

He spoke fluently, without hesitation, and though the concept was unfamiliar, the men nodded along, accepting it. Fortunately, the younger man added a comment that made Flynn’s story sound even more believable.

“I’ve heard about that too. They say there’s plenty of private investigators like that in the central and southern regions.”

“Oh, as expected—you know quite a lot working for a merchant group?”

“Haha, I only picked up bits and pieces here and there.”

“This guy actually knows a surprising amount about all sorts of things.”

Another man, dark-skinned with short hair and wearing a hat, chimed in as if praising the young man beside him. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Watching their exchange, Hugo quietly folded his arms. He did so because he couldn’t recall seeing any merchant group carriages passing through the nearby towns in recent days.

“I haven’t seen any merchant group carriages around here lately. Are you saying a merchant group arrived in town?”

At Hugo’s question, the man with the hat, who had just spoken, answered casually.

“Not exactly in town, but they’ve set up near the lord’s castle in Frost territory. Still, this area needs supplies too, so a few of us merchant group workers—myself and this guy included—occasionally deliver goods here.”

“So, both of you are with a merchant group.”

“Yeah, but we only joined recently. Still low on the totem pole.”

“Hey, speak properly. I’m your senior—I joined two days before you.”

Among the four companions, it seemed the two men—the dark-skinned one in the hat and the freckled young man with brown hair—were both members of a merchant group. The one in the hat boasted about his seniority, but judging by their youthful appearance, they had only recently signed on.

Hugo then asked:

“Which merchant group?”

“The Delberg Merchant Group.”

“Delberg?”

The moment the two men answered proudly and enthusiastically, Flynn’s expression shifted in mild surprise as he echoed the name.

Delberg was one of the larger merchant groups in central Raina Logia, their main operations concentrated in the central and southern regions. Though they occasionally ventured further afield to procure goods, it was unexpected to hear their name mentioned in the far north.

“I always thought Delberg mainly operated in the big cities down south or in the central region. I didn’t expect to hear about them this far north.”

“Oh, really? I only followed along when they were recruiting people in Köln, up in the north-central region. I’m still at the bottom, so I don’t know what the leader’s plans are for coming here. Guess it doesn’t hurt to supply folks with daily necessities while we’re at it.”

“That’s right. Makes life a lot easier for us too. You’ve got to cross the mountains to get anywhere near the lord’s castle.”

When the merchant group member with the hat replied, the skinny man added his two cents.

Hugo and Flynn exchanged a quick glance. It looked like they would need to dig deeper into Delberg’s purpose for operating in this area.

“By the way, you got a picture of the guy you’re after? Maybe we’ve seen him.”

“Ah, want to take a look?”

Flynn promptly pulled Leonardo’s photograph from his inner pocket and placed it at the center of the table for all to see. The men leaned in, studying the face in the picture with keen interest.

After a moment, the man who had been asking questions earlier finally spoke, sounding almost skeptical:

“...He’s ridiculously good-looking?”

“I know, right? I thought we’d be seeing some vicious-looking criminal.”

“Honestly, he’s kind of a beauty, isn’t he?”

Flynn, used to people reacting this way, simply gave them a polite, businesslike smile. He himself had been stunned when he first laid eyes on Leonardo Blaine’s photo.

Though it was taken a few years ago, Leonardo in the picture was a striking young man in his early twenties, with golden eyes and blonde hair. His sharp, fierce expression, even in the slightly grainy photo, only heightened his stunning appearance.

But as the men’s interest seemed to linger solely on Leonardo’s looks, Hugo unfolded his arms and casually turned his head. Judging by their reactions, they hadn’t actually seen Leonardo in person.

With that thought, Hugo’s eyes drifted to the small table tucked away in the far corner of the room—the one he had noticed upon entering earlier.

There, a lone figure in a black hooded cloak still sat, but their gaze kept drifting toward Hugo’s table far more than necessary. It felt suspicious—as if they were eavesdropping.

Sensing this, the cloaked person abruptly stood and made for the door the moment Hugo’s gaze landed on them. At their sudden movement, Hugo rose as well, determined not to let them slip away.

Realizing Hugo was following, the figure bolted, quickly flinging the door open and dashing outside.

The people inside turned to look, startled by the door being thrown open, but Hugo ignored their stares and hurried after the mysterious figure.