HPDBC Chapter 66
Chapter 66
Someone suddenly bolted out from the direction of the noise, sprinting straight to the opposite side. Just from a glance, it was clear they had seen the two men and decided to flee. Luke instinctively began to channel magic into his hand but stopped himself. He decided against it, fearing Theo would scold him yet again, and instead opted to use his legs.
Luke was a man who had once led the most agile unit in the army. Known for his incredible speed, he always came in first in the running competitions held at the quarterly division tournaments. His victories were so consistent that Mael, a fellow officer, once threw a fit, demanding that Luke be banned from participating in future events.
Luke sprinted in a straight line, quickly closing the distance. The figure ahead, draped in a cloak, radiated an air of obvious suspicion.
"Where do you think you're—!"
Before Luke could finish his question, he reached out to grab the figure’s shoulder. His hand slipped, however, only managing to snatch the edge of the cloak. As the hood fell back, a cascade of black, voluminous hair was revealed.
Luke’s eyes widened in surprise upon realizing the fugitive was a woman. Perhaps startled by his reaction, the cloaked woman stumbled, her steps faltering as though she might fall.
"...Ah."
Fortunately, she didn’t tumble to the ground. Luke swiftly caught her by the waist, steadying her just in time.
"Luke!"
Theo called out from a distance, running toward them. Meanwhile, Luke let go of the woman, who now stood nervously between him and Theo. She fidgeted with her long hair, tied back into a half-up style, her gaze darting between the two men, clearly unsure of what to do.
"Um... uh..."
Now that he looked closer, Luke could see she seemed a little frightened.
"My brother! Where is my brother?!"
Her voice suddenly rang out, sharp and desperate. The mention of a brother was news to both Luke and Theo, who exchanged glances.
"Your brother? What do you mean?" Theo asked cautiously, but the woman stepped back, her wariness flaring up once more.
"Don't play dumb! My brother started working with you people, and ever since, he hasn’t come home..."
"Wait... Are you saying your brother is missing?" Theo inquired, his voice steady but concerned.
"Yes?" The woman blinked, her eyes widening as though she had just realized something was wrong. Luke, watching the exchange, began to piece things together. This woman had been searching for her missing brother, desperate enough to spy on the building they had just been investigating as a suspected smuggling hideout.
Luke and Theo shared another glance. Both instinctively knew her situation was likely tied to the case at hand.
"Can you tell us more about your brother?" Theo asked gently, but the woman remained cautious. She seemed to realize they weren’t involved in anything nefarious, yet it was only natural for her to hesitate when speaking to strangers about such a personal matter.@@@@
Luke nudged Theo in the side.
"...You can trust us. I’m a soldier."
“Your lip is going to bleed.”
“Oh... right.” Luke blinked, startled by the unexpected contact. He quickly reined in his pounding heart, forcing himself to focus again.
“Right, we assumed earlier that they’d abandoned the building and moved to a new base.”
“Exactly.”
“But think about it. Does that make sense? The Kyleum branch wouldn’t have been sloppy enough to alert the smugglers about the investigation. Knowing Calon’s personality, he would have been methodical and cautious. Could the smugglers really have noticed the investigation?”
“You know Calon well?” Theo’s question was abrupt, almost out of place in their discussion.
“Uh, not really. I’ve only heard things. They say he’s meticulous, detail-oriented, and gentlemanly.”
Luke shrugged, his answer a collection of secondhand impressions. Still, he recalled how Calon had gone out of his way to show kindness to him when Luke, disguised as a civilian, had dealt with a high-level monster shortly after moving to the West.
At Luke’s final word—"gentlemanly"—Theo’s eyebrow twitched slightly.
“Did you know,” Theo began, “that Calon’s personality is so similar to mine that people call him ‘Theo of the West’?”
Luke blinked slowly, his expression clearly saying, “And why should I care?”
“Hey, is now really the time for this kind of chatter?” Luke snapped, realizing he’d fallen into Theo’s rhythm again. For some reason, ever since their reunion, conversations with Theo always ended with Luke discovering he’d been skillfully led by the man.
“Back to the main point,” Theo said, smirking.
“Right. What I’m saying is, I don’t think they abandoned their base because they noticed the military’s movements.”
“But you saw it yourself. There wasn’t a single trace of activity in that building.”
“And Angela said she hasn’t seen anyone there for a week either.”
Luke nodded, acknowledging Theo’s point, but continued, “What if they didn’t move their base but had two from the start?”
Theo’s eyes widened slightly.
“Angela told us, didn’t she? Her brother went into that building to change clothes and gather equipment before heading off somewhere. That sounds exactly like what a miner would do before work.”
Luke’s explanation flowed effortlessly, as though he’d been formulating this theory from the moment Angela shared her story.
“In that case, their other base must be...”
“In a mine,” Luke concluded.