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Bermuda Chapter 254
🕑 Added 2024-08-20 08:46:46 +0000 UTCChapter 254
"..."
The shocked golden eyes couldn't blink for a while. The current situation he had heard directly from the Commander was clearly quite hopeful, with everything having ended well.
He had heard that they had succeeded in minimizing the damage from volcanic ash by completing the barrier repair work, and that the locals were eagerly offering accommodations to the members who had returned from risking their lives in battle. Nearby regions had sent relief supplies, and the injured were receiving timely treatment for their wounds and recovering quickly.
When he had only heard about it, it had sounded overwhelmingly positive. What a beautiful and brilliant epilogue it had seemed!
It was like the ideal image Leonardo had hoped for in his heart. However, the scenes reflected in his eyes now were not so ideal.
Sorrow for lost comrades, crushed limbs, the indelible fishy smell emanating from rusty metal and dried blood.
Darkness had already descended on the exhausted bodies, making the pain in his left arm feel shameful in comparison. The panting of those who had returned alive through the horrific scene lay thick on the twilight ground. Amidst this, Leonardo couldn't bring himself to fathom what thoughts were behind the keen eyes flickering in the lamplight as they looked at him.
'I should have used the amplifier... earlier.'
He didn't regret using the amplifier. However, when the glass vial in his inner pocket had fallen out like a revelation, it had taken quite some time to open the lid and put the pill in his mouth. It had been difficult to overcome the fear of not knowing what would happen afterward.
But recalling that someone had died or nearly died even in that moment while he was hesitating, he regretted not using it sooner. If he had, the scene he was seeing now might have been somewhat less devastating.
'No, if only this hadn't existed in the first place...'
Leonardo clenched his teeth and wrapped his right hand around his neck. He clenched his fist with his left hand, which lacked strength.
If the survivors looked like this, the number of casualties must not be small either. Facing the full reality, his heart began to beat faster and faster. As that heartbeat sound began to distantly invade his mind, those who had been murmuring from all around took a step forward.
As having many people rush towards him wasn't particularly a good memory, Leonardo instinctively stepped back. At that moment, a high-pitched voice cut through the depressed air. It was a familiar voice.
"Blaine!"
Leonardo flinched at the loud call of his name. As he immediately turned his head towards the sound, he saw a familiar face.
"Blaine–!!"
Before he could react, another shout followed, and at that moment, a weight pressed against his chest. As his body was pushed back and he barely maintained his balance, Leonardo looked down with a dumbfounded expression at the figure that had flung itself into his arms.
"...Battalion Commander Rivera?"
Delua, who had suddenly appeared from somewhere, abruptly hugged Leonardo's waist tightly. It happened so quickly that he had no time to stop it, so rather than blocking it, Leonardo spread his arms wide. It was an instinctive action to avoid stimulating his casted arm, but as a result, it looked as if he had welcomed the Council's battalion commander who had rushed at him with open arms.
It was quite an incongruous yet natural scene. Although the person involved was extremely flustered.
"Ha, am I seeing this right? This isn't a dream, is it?"
Delua expressed a fairy tale-like delight as she rested her forehead against Leonardo's neck, which was wrapped with a handkerchief. Squeezing his waist as if she might crush it, she kept muttering in a choked voice.
"Thank goodness. Really, really thank goodness..."
Leonardo, who had been looking down at her awkwardly with his arms raised, just blinked with his mind at a standstill.
It wasn't because a woman had rushed and embraced his lower back in front of people. Her voice, mixed with breathing, was full of moisture.
'Is she crying now?'
Encountering another person's intense emotions once again confused Leonardo as much as when Flynn's eyes had been wet.
"Haa... Do you know how worried I was?"
He wore an expression of not knowing how to react. It wasn't a bad thing that someone was worried about his well-being. Rather, it was the warmth he had longed for for a long time, but when someone he had no real relationship with was crying saying they had been worried about him, he felt more bewildered than grateful or happy at the moment.
He hadn't expected to face such deep emotions in this group, having been more accustomed to being hit with stones thrown by strangers.
But Delua's continued heavy breaths allowed him to feel her heart that had been so anxious. Leonardo lowered his raised right hand and carefully patted her back. His fingertips hesitated for a moment when he felt the hard pressure bandage inside her battle uniform.
Soon, Delua, who had buried her face, raised her head following his awkward patting. She grabbed Leonardo's face with both hands and turned it this way and that with somewhat rough movements. Then a regretful sigh and numerous questions followed in succession.
"Oh my... Look at half your face. What can we do about this... How did this happen in just a few days? No, more importantly, is it okay for you to be out already when I heard you just woke up? Are there no problems with your body? Can you move your arm well? Are you not in pain? Can you speak properly?"
Leonardo, who was almost being attacked with questions, didn't even know what expression he was making as his face was increasingly squished between Delua's palms. His cheeks were so scrunched that his lips were about to form a fish mouth, when suddenly the thought that the Council bastards were watching this ridiculous scene made him feel increasingly embarrassed.
Snapping back to his senses, he grabbed Delua's wrists and pulled his neck back as far as he could, saying:
"Wait, wait! I'm fine, so first, step back a bit and slow down."
"Huh–, and why is your voice like that? Is it because you've been sick for a while? What did the medical officer say? Is it okay?"
Delua's relentless questions drained Leonardo's spirit. Faced with this déjà vu-like situation that seemed to have happened once before, Leonardo showed a troubled expression but lifted his head slightly, conscious of the gazes around him.
However, when the dense crowd came into view a moment later, he couldn't help but be surprised once again.
"...?"
This was because several people who had somehow approached quite close were looking at him with the same face as Delua.
Among them, some were rubbing their eyes vigorously, making Leonardo wonder if he was seeing things wrong. As he raised one eyebrow with an expression of cognitive dissonance, as if it were a signal, the people around him began to rush in all at once.
"Blaine!"
"Blaine–!"
The wave of people calling his name and surging towards him like a tide made him feel a fear he had never felt even in front of the mother body. Leonardo stumbled backward at the approaching tension, but first, Delua, who was holding him tightly, wouldn't let go. Moreover, due to the crowd rushing in from behind as well, he was squeezed between people and swept along, unable to do anything.
With his retreat blocked, he frantically turned his head around, and the words of the people surrounding him from all sides came at him like a hundred words.
"Blaine, are you okay? Why did you come all the way here?"
"Oh no... Is your arm injured?"
"They say you're the one who killed the mother body?"
"I saw it up close, I tell you. It was chilling."
"The war hero hasn't gone anywhere."
"Wait, don't crowd too much! Everyone here is a patient!"
"Move aside, let me get closer too-"
"I've only heard about it, how strong was it?"
"I survived thanks to you."
"Isn't this the Commander's battle uniform?"
"When did you wake up? It seems like you should still be resting..."
"But is it okay for you to be walking around like this? Did the Commander allow it?"
"Come on, it's rude, ask one at a time."
"Hey, is this the time for that? Let's quickly give him a lift, let's lift him!"
"Yeah, yeah, let's do it!"
"Are you crazy? What lift for an injured person?"
"Hey, you all. Return to your positions!"
Hands blooming like flowers reached out towards Leonardo as if they were really going to lift him. They were not the white hands from a nightmare, but the hands of living people with vitality and warmth.
Leonardo, who hadn't fully grasped the situation, couldn't avoid their hands. Against his will, one of his legs was lifted diagonally. Just as he felt his entire body being lifted, the voice of a commander who had come to stop the members rang out.
"What's going on here? It's not even maintenance time yet, who's acting on their own?"
Leonardo, buried in the crowd, couldn't hear well, but the commanders on the side sternly intervened. Of course, they were quickly dispersed by the wave of members, but Leonardo's body, which had been about to fly into the sky helplessly, came back down to its place.
As his feet touched the ground, Leonardo staggered, losing his sense of balance. It wasn't important that strangers had just touched his body. It was fortunate that Delua was hugging and supporting him, otherwise he might have fallen already.
However, although they had stopped trying to lift him, the members were far from backing off. On the contrary, even members who were passing by, unaware of the situation, gathered more and more, asking what was going on.
Although he had received various kinds of attention since entering the peninsula, it was the first time he had received it so directly and fervently. Leonardo's stiff heart softened at their crying and laughing faces, but his body shrank, his eyes spun, and his head whirled.
As carbon dioxide concentrated, breathing became difficult again. As dizziness set in with heat rising to his face, the faces of some nearby members who had been speaking to him suddenly tensed and hardened.
"Stop."
At that moment, the heat that had been swallowing even the commanders' orders instantly subsided. Some murmurs could still be heard intermittently, but the noisy voices of the members fell silent in an instant.
A low voice pierced his ears as a cool palm covered Leonardo's vision. As a dark shadow settled on his eyelids, Leonardo, who had been overloaded, naturally exhaled the breath he had been holding.
As his relaxed body was about to tilt, a broad chest firmly supported his back. Then a large hand gently pressed his face, tilting his neck back to rest on the person's shoulder.
"Hah... I told you not to let go."
A rough breath, seemingly having approached with quite some difficulty, murmured above Leonardo's head. Leonardo, who had been fumbling for the other's forearm as if searching for a lifeline, gripped Hugo's collar tightly as if in response to those words.
Comments
Jesse Gibson
I enjoyed it too and liked how the “hands” didn’t remind him of his nightmares
Mkslushi
Hahahahaha he almost got smothered by them 😂 I will say tho, seeing how everyone’s changed so far is so nice
