Disappointed

"What happened? How is that possible?" Fin abruptly stood, almost knocking his office table over. 

During the past several months, he and Thorn had been wracking their brains, trying to figure out a way to pin Leonel into a corner. However, the longer they observed Leonel for, the more troublesome this matter seemed to become. 

By some magic, the refugee they had singled out suddenly became a vassal of the Keafir family and even entered Brave City. Though their organization wasn't necessarily afraid of the powers behind Brave City, Scithe's hidden meaning during his talk with them already made it clear that they couldn't so boldly use the strength of Shield Cross Stars. 

On top of this, even if they had the freedom to do as much, entering Brave City during the first phase would enrage all the powers of Terrain and entering during the second phase was all the more impossible. 

When they learned that Leonel had done this, they realized that their only chance was to wait for him to leave and then set a trap for him. 

The truth was that they didn't consider a possibility of Leonel being accepted as a member of this organization at all. After all, in the history of Terrain, no one had ever managed to pass over the final hurdle. And, those who had the best chance were on their second and final attempts like Syl's elder brother and the other Heirs. 

They thought that even if Leonel was talented, he would at least need a second attempt. But, with their influence, he likely wouldn't even live to see it. 

Unfortunately… just as they had calmed themselves with this narrative… Leonel's monitoring brand vanished. 

"Someone find out for me as quickly as possible what happened in Brave City!" Fin barked. 

Due to Scithe's warning, Fin and Thorn didn't dare to get too close to the situation. As a result, they didn't even dare to personally monitor the situation of the third phase. Even sending someone to scout the situation was risky, but at this point, they no longer had a choice. 

Thorn met Fin's gaze from across the room, both of them holding a complex look on their visages. 

In order to get rid of that Brand, someone exceptionally powerful within the Fourth Dimension or someone of the Fifth Dimension, in the very least, would have had to act. There shouldn't be anyone powerful enough on Terrain to accomplish this feat. If there was, they were all old recluses that didn't casually travel out. 

This meant that the likeliest explanation was that Leonel had gotten help from those behind Brave City. And, if that was the case, that made things much more complicated. 

Under normal circumstances this wasn't a big deal. There was no need for that organization to communicate with them before freeing one of their own from monitoring. Since they hadn't labeled Leonel with having committed any egregious crimes, they were perfectly in the right. 

Suddenly, their hope of keeping these matters low profile had come back to bite them. 

Hours later, Fin and Thorn received the report they were waiting for, only to read it silently with ever increasingly ugly expressions. 

Thinking back to their disdainful dismissal of Leonel, especially in the case of Fin who sneered as Leonel was forced to sign his name, their jaws clenched. 

The two looked at one another. They knew they had no choice but to bring this to Scithe… 

…

Scithe read the report Fin and Thorn brought him silently. But, this very silence felt like a mountain weighing heavily on their chests. The longer Scithe remained like this, the greater this pressure grew. 

A long while later, Scithe placed the documents down. 

"Have you two noticed anything interesting about this world?"

Fin and Thorn looked toward one another, confused about the question. Wasn't this supposed to be about Leonel? Why were they suddenly talking about Terrain?

"… Please enlighten us, Commander Scithe."

Scithe's head tilted slightly as he observed the two before him. It didn't seem like a normal human quirk at all. When his pale skin and sunken eyes were taken into account, he looked like a predator watching his prey. 

His black eyes darted between their vital points as though always calculating the fastest way to kill them. The feeling was like a coldness seeping into their veins. 

"If you two really have no idea, I would be greatly disappointed."

Fin and Thorn shivered, their teeth chattering. For some reason, it felt as though the temperature in the room had plummeted. 

"Tell me, why is it that you detained this Leonel Morales in the first place?"

"We… We detained him because of a tip given by a teleportation station attendee. Our organization's motto is to be a Shield across the Stars, but in order to do so we need to work together with the local governments. The officials of Terrain were worried about the sudden activity of a few fugitives, so we began to monitor anyone who looked suspicious."

Thorn explained quickly. In fact, her response was so textbook that she forgot to take out things that Scithe obviously knew already. But, it just went to show just how nervous she was feeling. 

Scithe looked back toward the documents on his desk casually. But, his subtle action took a world of pressure off of the two of them… Until he spoke his next words, that is. 

"'Work together with the local government', huh?... For a small fee, though, is that right?"

Thorn and Fin froze, beads of sweat pouring down their faces and backs. All the words they wanted to speak got lodged in their throats, unable to form into proper sentences. 

"… Some corruption is inevitable in such a large organization. In fact, I would argue that it's necessary in many cases. But, that doesn't give you license to be stupid. Such a big secret is looming over your heads and you don't even realize that you're being used to keep it as such. 

"Disappointing. Truly disappointing."

Scithe closed the documents once more and stood. By this point, Fin and Thorn were trembling uncontrollably. It felt as though there was only a thin string dangling from the tops of their heads to the ceilings above, stopping them from collapsing to their knees. 

"There's no point in explaining these things to you. Since you haven't understood it by now, it will only be a waste of my time."

Scithe crossed his arms to his back and looked out toward the blank wall. His actions seemed to be out of habit, but the fact there was no view to see made it all seem somewhat odd. 

However, with the amount of fear the two officers were feeling, they didn't even pick up on this detail at all. 

"The recruitment process of Valiant Heart Mountain won't finish for another one to three years. By then, there will be plenty of chances to complete what needs to be done. I'll have you two complete some preparations, I only hope you don't disappoint me again."

Hearing these words, the two could no longer stand it and collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath as Scithe strolled out from the hidden underground room.