'This is an opportunity, you know? Anyone can see that victory is a sure thing! Besides, it's not through illegal channels but a prize provided by the Council, so is there any reason not to do it?'
'Beatrice, it's not a problem you can speak of so easily. Even though you can use an alias during the matches, the participation application itself can only be done with your real name. The Council will immediately know that Leonardo Blaine has participated, and they won't leave Leo alone.'
'The Council has been chasing him for more than a day or two, so what's there to worry about if he just takes the prize and disappears?'
'Are you guys idiots? If he wins there, do you think only the Council will stick to him? All sorts of institutions will be observing the matches to scout, so it'll just increase the number of pests. There was even a tail on the train recently. What do you think will happen if he enters the league in this situation? I'm against it, absolutely against it.'
'But it's too wasteful to just let this opportunity slip by. It's the 'Cardo's Gemstone.' A pure crystal of expansion force without even 1g of impurities mixed in.'
Leonardo, leaning against a pillar with his arms crossed, looked up at the view revealed beneath the brim of his hat. His gaze reached the clock tower in the middle of the downtown area.
Though it was just past 7:30 PM here, it was 6:00 PM in imperial time. The league participation application deadline was approaching soon. There were more people than expected in front of the already constructed league preliminary arena. Street markets selling food and peddlers filled the square with their tents.
The savory smell of oil brushing his nose, the laughter of passersby, the market lights illuminating the dimly fallen darkness. It was a bustling and romantic place, but such things didn't catch Leonardo's eye.
Only scenes of the heated debate among his Libertas partners floated in his mind. The clearest voice was Mikhail's, who had uncharacteristically raised his voice.
'You might see such an item with your own eyes once in a lifetime, if at all. Moreover, even though it's single-use, when it causes an explosion, it remains only as intangible tension and disappears into the air. In some ways, isn't it an item with more certain power than etaide, which requires Quamare's magic stone to erase traces?'
Mikhail insisted that they must obtain the 'Cardo's Gemstone,' one of the final prizes of the league. The gemstone was a magic stone called 'Exacore' in academic circles, a special energy crystal that could only be mined from the epicenters of earthquake zones where underground plates interlocked.
It accumulated the rupture energy of rocks released from crustal faults or convergent boundaries during earthquakes in thin, solid frames formed by magic. It was a magic stone created through this repeated process over very long periods. Since it required borrowing nature's power, it needed patience over time, so its price was beyond question, and its rarity was unparalleled.
'It'll be six months since the nobility faction's uprising soon. During that time, aside from minor information gathering, funding, and weapon procurement, there's been no visible progress in surface matters. Even if we dealt with a few emperor faction guys, they were just low-level people who didn't even make the news, and we couldn't even approach the personnel holding the most important information. Though there's still time left, at this rate we'll just waste time. Now isn't the time to watch the Council's mood but to move boldly and make a decisive move.'
Mikhail's statement that made them face reality had momentarily quieted the hideout. Since he usually had a refreshing yet leisurely personality, his appearance of seriously setting the mood and expounding his opinions seemed both unfamiliar and desperate.
'During the nobility faction uprising, we were lucky to succeed in eliminating the target, but the gate overlaid with preservation magic and magic stone barriers will be even stronger. We need a powerful strike that can turn uncertainty into certainty. Cardo's core is that answer. Isn't that right, Mirail?'
Mikhail looked at Mirail, his twin who looked exactly like him. She, who had been watching the flutter of a butterfly's wings on her fingertip, answered dryly while keeping her gaze fixed.
'Yeah. You're right too. But it's not a problem to decide easily.'
'Hey, hey. Everyone seems to be seriously mistaken about something, but the league isn't child's play. Even if the preliminaries are easy, it gets brutal after the round of 16. No matter how strong Leo is, how can you be certain that guy will win? What if he's unlucky and gets eliminated? Last year's winner was also an A-rank who beat an S-rank mage to get there.'
It was Gillian who poured cold water on the heated atmosphere. Though he was quite drunk after downing three bottles of wine, he always threw in a word that hit the mark.
However, the partners present looked at Gillian as if listening to a drunkard's nonsense. Soon they asked back in unison as if incredulous.
'If not Leo, who would win?'
Gillian couldn't answer the unanimous question that came back. He just scratched the back of his head awkwardly and drank wine straight from the bottle. Around that time, Judy, who had only been fidgeting with her fingers, glanced around nervously. Finally, she shifted her gaze forward and muttered quietly.
'But what about Leo's opinion...? Leo might not want to do it.'
The core of the discussion, carefully brought up, led to silence again. Afterward, everyone's gaze turned to Leonardo, who held the final decision-making authority on this matter. Leonardo, who hadn't opened his mouth once throughout, met the several pairs of eyes directed at him.
The gazes of the partners, each harboring different opinions, were diverse, but all were entangled with deep conflict, anguish, and desperation.
Leonardo maintained an expressionless face but couldn't answer easily. Whatever he said, these people would follow, but a leader was always in a position to take responsibility for decisions. If he gave up the Exacore, he would have to find other plans for the future.
Just then, Tergio, who had been firmly opposing, softened his expression and asked.
'Prince, what do you want to do?'
Leonardo, who had been standing at an angle, immediately straightened up from the pillar as soon as he finished his recollection. After taking a deep breath, he stared at the clock tower's hands, which were now pointing to 45 minutes.
Fifteen minutes until the application deadline. It was time to finally tie up the worries he had been postponing.
He half-turned around the massive pillar and glanced at the Council's temporary tent that was finishing up participant registration.
An hour ago, the front of that place had been crowded with applicants, but as registration was ending, people's footsteps had completely stopped. His heart grew anxious at the atmosphere of wanting to finish earlier than scheduled and withdraw. Leonardo clicked his tongue and had no choice but to muster courage and step forward. Even so, he pressed down his hat firmly and pulled up his loose turtleneck to above his nose with one hand.
'Is this really the right thing to do?'
It was a very contradictory situation for him, whose daily life had become hiding and living in concealment, to voluntarily offer himself as a sacrifice before everyone's eyes.
'Even though I can participate in matches with my face covered, if someone sees the type or form of magic directly, they might deduce who I am. What if that happens? Should I just run away? ...No, damn it, but why should I run? I received a proper acquittal verdict and I'm participating officially.'
With each step toward the tent, all sorts of thoughts became entangled. If he didn't participate, he could escape from such complexity, and he wanted to just ignore everything and turn away.
'No... Anyway, I'm in a position where I have to hide my tracks. There's nothing good about receiving attention. I already lost the tail on the train, but if that tail increases to dozens of people, could I handle it? The guys at the hideout would be in danger too, our kids are involved too, and I've just now been forgotten by the public...'
Around that time, Leonardo's steps came to an abrupt halt.
'Forgotten?'
One word felt alien. No, it felt alien enough that he chewed on it several times. He kept measuring its dictionary definition with the tip of his tongue.
A life where everyone couldn't remember him and he disappeared into the back alleys of history. Days of just crouching with his head buried, screaming alone in indifference and growing exhausted.
'Did I want such a thing?'
Leonardo suddenly vaguely recalled himself screaming like he had lost his mind in the Commander's private room, and Agrizendro holding him tightly. Regardless of the cause, what would have happened if that person hadn't reached out to him when he was about to fall into darkness?
What would have happened if he had been left alone with no one beside him, forever swallowed by the calls of specters and loneliness?
Apart from the goal of the prize that was the point of contention in the Libertas debate, Leonardo agonized over the essential problem of this matter. Once again, Tergio from his memory asked him.
'What do you want to do?'
And the next moment, a white uniform happened to approach him.
"Are you here to apply for participation?"
The golden eyes that had fallen to his feet rolled up quickly. One of the Council members who had been organizing the tent was looking at him and asking. Leonardo answered in confusion.
"Ah... yes."
"You came just in time before the deadline. Please come this way, fill out the application form, and show me your ID."
The member naturally guided Leonardo as if familiar with the work he had been doing for several days.
Leonardo, who realized he was standing in front of the tent, stiffly looked around inside.
About five or six Council members had stopped organizing and were looking at him. The member who had first spoken took out several sheets of paper from a closed box and placed them on the table.
Leonardo stared blankly at that scene, then walked forward as if entranced. On the table, various consent forms were stacked behind an outline document organizing the league's schedule and procedures.
When he came to his senses, he was already holding a pen in his hand.