Bermuda Chapter 153

"..."

Flynn said that this might not simply be a coincidence of terion's prediction, but an "intentional situation" created by soone leaking the movents of the 1st Battalion to the outside.

Of course, if his eyes and ears were in soone else's territory, he had to fully consider the possibility that soone else's eyes and ears were also in his territory. However, Hugo shook his head at Flynn's opinion.

"Except for the mbers who went with you, the entire 1st Battalion moved with all along. When they were out of my sight, I had them move in groups of three. So even if there was an opportunity for individual action, there would have been far too little ti to contact or convey a ssage to soone else."

"Hmm..."

"And Flynn, you know it too, right? The 1st Battalion undergoes a stricter process in unit formation compared to other battalions. So the probability of an insider being there is slim. Even more so for the possibility of them being under terion."

"But... Commander, you were too busy to pay much attention to the formation of this subjugation force. The Deputy Commander was in a similar situation, having returned from an inspection not long ago."

Flynn answered worriedly, but as if realizing his mistake, he hastily added,

"Ah, of course, I'm not saying that there must be an insider. It's just that this ti, there were mbers who were urgently deployed at the discretion of the officers due to the sudden scheduling. So..."

"mbers who were urgently deployed? Who are you talking about?"

"Uh... From the 1st Battalion, it's lanie Ross and Adrian Howard, who were on standby. And Kenis Weber, who was a probationary mber."

Hearing Flynn's words, Hugo narrowed his eyes.

"Are you suspecting that they, who suddenly participated in this subjugation, could be the insiders who leaked the situation of the 1st Battalion to the outside?"

"Hmm... To be honest, I don't think there's no possibility."

Thinking about the possibility of an insider close by always ca with a sense of skepticism and bitterness. Especially from the perspective of a commander. Flynn seed to speak carefully, knowing that, but on the other hand, his eyes showed that it was sothing that needed to be addressed.

"Then, among the three, is there anyone you suspect?"

At Hugo's question, Flynn pondered for quite a long ti before opening his mouth.

"Earlier, Commander, you said that the 1st Battalion mbers wouldn't have had enough ti to ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) contact or convey a ssage to soone, right? Actually, I don't think it's completely impossible. Because there's never a 0 or 100 in probability."

"..."

"But as you said, if we set the presence or absence of situational and ti constraints as a premise for judging an insider, there was only one person in the 1st Battalion who was free from that. The one who was out of your sight..."

"Kenis Weber?"

"...Oh, yes. Did you already suspect him?"

"No, it's not that..."

The 1st Battalion was under the direct control of the Commander and Deputy Commander. That's why, when Hugo had to go out in person, like for the peninsula subjugation, he tried to familiarize himself with the faces of the 1st Battalion mbers who moved with him, if not all of them.

However, the three people Flynn had ntioned earlier were not on the official list because they were urgently deployed without the approval of Hugo and Shorendo, so their faces were not familiar, and among them, Kenis Weber, who was said to be a probationary mber, was a face he was seeing for the first ti on the peninsula.

The first ti he properly recognized his existence was on the night they spent at the crater. When he found him dozing off while standing guard, honestly, if he were to infer the possibility of an insider, he had no choice but to suspect him, who had the least ti to get to know him.

"Rather than suspecting, Kenis Weber was the only one whose face I saw for the first ti on this expedition, so if I had to choose, I thought he had the highest probability."

"I see, that's right."

"But Flynn, to rephrase what you said, he was free from constraints, which ans he wasn't in a situation to find out the movents of the 1st Battalion up close. He was also unaware of our whereabouts. And if he had been close enough to figure out our whereabouts, I would have noticed first."

"Ah, that's true. But I don't think we can underestimate his ability when it cos to figuring out soone's movents or location. I don't know him well, but I heard from the 8th Platoon Leader that his hearing and sense of sll are extrely sensitive compared to the average person. That's why he was able to participate in this subjugation despite being a probationary mber."

Flynn added solemnly,

"He may be able to see further than we think is common sense."

"..."

"And the footprints in the swamp. Couldn't that actually be one of the ans to know the direction the 1st Battalion would move? I think anyone could have predicted that if they found the footprints, they would follow."

Hugo sighed, looking at the sky with increasingly complicated feelings. Then, he looked at him again and continued with a slightly tired face.

"Flynn, I believe that this illegal mining team has nothing to do with Leonardo. But Kenis Weber was with Leonardo. At least from the ti of the ravine collapse to the point when they left footprints in the swamp, and to the point when they found the deceased's belongings, the two were definitely together."

"..."

"In other words, if Kenis Weber had colluded with soone else during the period of disappearance, Leonardo cannot avoid that suspicion either."

"Ah, of course, I don't think Blaine has anything to do with the mining team or the 3rd Battalion Commander either. For Blaine, all the situations so far would not have been his intention at all, so it's even more difficult to see him as being involved. I'm considering it as Kenis Weber's individual action."

"If that's the case, they were together anyway, so Leonardo's eyes would also be a constraint for Kenis, if it can be called a constraint. Do you think he had a chance to secretly collude with soone else while avoiding those eyes?"

"Yes, first of all, the two weren't together when they were found. I don't know exactly when they started moving separately, but if there was even one situation where the two were apart around dawn when the superiors of the mining team escaped, I think there was enough opportunity."

Hugo, who had been thinking deeply about his words, soon rubbed his chin and slowly nodded, answering,

"...I see. Then, I'll ask Leonardo directly about that. Exactly when they started moving separately."

"Yes, then I'll consider the possibilities of the other two people I ntioned earlier. Because nothing is certain yet."

The conversation with Flynn ended like that. It was all suspicion stemming from circumstantial evidence, and there was not a single piece of solid evidence.

Afterwards, Hugo returned to the tent and directly asked Leonardo the question that had co up in the conversation with Flynn, and Leonardo answered that he had sohow beco separated from Kenis about an hour before eting him, and that they had been together all along before that.

Even if it was an hour before eting him, it was well into the afternoon, long past noon, so if that was the case, Kenis would have an alibi for the dawn, and Flynn's speculation would be off the mark.

However, Hugo couldn't completely exclude Kenis from the list of suspects. It was because he hadn't seen the situation at that ti with his own eyes, and he had no confidence in whether Leonardo's answer was really true.

Leonardo seed sowhat flustered when he heard the question. It could be because he asked suddenly, but to Hugo's eyes, who had quite a lot of interrogation experience at one point, Leonardo's gaze that he had montarily caught didn't look very natural.

However, his answer that ca out soon after was so comfortable and natural in voice and expression that it was hard to see it as a lie.

Moreover, when cross-checked with what Kenis had told the 8th Platoon Leader, it matched, and he also thought that there was nothing for him to gain by lying, and above all, the feeling of not wanting to suspect him kept tilting his objectivity to one side.

Hugo, who had a headache from constantly thinking about the situation at that ti, just like Leonardo, took his eyes off the tent used by terion at so point and looked up at the huge peak beyond the base camp. Then, as if trying to relieve his complicated thoughts, he let out a deep sigh.

At the sound of that sigh, Leonardo, who had been sitting on the edge of the hill and blankly staring into the void, suddenly raised his head towards Hugo beside him. A face that was clearly filled with worries and looked frustrated ca into view.

He had no intention of striking up a conversation, but seeing the face he had turned to look at upon hearing the heavy sigh, he felt like he had to ask.

"What are you thinking about that you're sighing like that?"

Hugo, who had been looking into the distance, glanced down at him at the sound of his voice. Then, staring intently at him, one of his biggest concerns since entering the peninsula, he spoke in a dry voice without much thought.

"Thinking about you."